Dirty Pair

by Zerik Kadrlik-Torr

This reboot started as a short story that soon grew in an episodic style complete story. Join Kei and Yuri as they are reimagined for a whole new set of adventures as they travel the galaxy working as trouble consultants for the 3WA.

DIRTY PAIR

MISSION 1: GHOST SHIP

MISSION 2: ANGELS TAKE FLIGHT

MISSION 3: SHOOTING STARS

SIDE STORY: SIREN'S MELODY

MISSION 4: PARADISE LOST

MISSION 5: GEMINI GAMBIT

SIDE STORY: SOUL SISTERS

MISSION 6: TERMINAL DEGREE

MISSION 7: HOME INVASION

SIDE STORY: INVISIBLE ADVERSARY

MISSION 8: TIES THAT BIND

MISSION 9: FALLEN ANGELS

MISSION 10: HELL'S ANGEL

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0219: GHOST SHIP

CHAPTER 1

Lovely Angel – Cenobyth Quadrant 10.31.2141

"Hmm?" I uttered aloud, snapping out of my daze as a monitor near me suddenly stirred to life with a song and dance indicating that it had picked up a distress signal nearby.

"What is it?" A voice asked to the left of me, the words originated from the pearl pink polished lips of my partner, Yuri.

She tossed her waist-length hair to the side and craned her neck to try and get a better view of the monitor. Normally Yuri would be steering our ship, The Lovely Angel, but we were on autopilot to our next case. Mind you, we had just completed a case and with minor casualties, I might add, a veritable success for us. The call came in from Chief Soranaka while we were on the way home, so I imagine Yuri must have been in a similarly unimpressed mood as I was, a girl's work is never done when you work for the Worlds Welfare Work Association.

As I am sure you all know the Worlds Welfare Work Association, or 3WA for short, serves the entire United Galactica, which I believe is up to about 3,000 planets now and growing. When a planet has an issue that they can't handle locally they can petition the 3WA for help. Whether it be for terraforming, agriculture, economics, technology, or criminal investigations the 3WA has professionals known as trouble consultants specifically trained to handle any issue that may arise. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people think we are a police force or some kind of military unit and that's just not the case. Each planet's governing unit is responsible for handling things like that and the 3WA has no jurisdiction there. Yuri and I happen to be crime division trouble consultants. The best, actually.

Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, manners aren't my forte. My name is Kei and I am one half of the 3WA's trouble consultant team codename Lovely Angels, named after our ship. I hate to even say this but if the name Lovely Angels doesn't sound familiar it's probably because you know us by our more infamous and most hated nickname, The Dirty Pair. A name we have earned most undeservedly. I will have you know that we have solved every case we have ever been assigned. It is not our fault that along the way a city gets destroyed, a planet implodes, or lives are lost by the thousands. It is just a string of very bad luck, the 3WA's Central Computer has cleared us of all responsibility every time! Really!

Anyway, enough of that unpleasantness, back to me! Like I said my name is Kei, and Yuri and I are nineteen years old. If I were to describe my physical appearance, I would have to say goddess-like. I am just kidding… sort of. I have a captivating pair of caramel brown eyes and my skin is a luscious golden tanned hue. My hair is fiery red that I keep cut in a sporty asymmetric style that really sets off my boyish beauty. Don't get me wrong, I like guys and so does Yuri, I was raised in a household full of men so I am a product of my environment. Yuri, on the other hand, is the complete opposite, with her alabaster skin and bluish black hair she looks just like a geisha doll. With her pouty lips and slate blue eyes, she can really pull off that helpless little bird act that men can't resist. Trust me, it is all an act though. She is not as innocent as she plays. Our highly active jobs as Crime Trouble consultants keeps us in peak physical condition and looking amazing in our head to toe silver uniforms which we have modified slightly to show off our assets. Top it all off with our knee-high wedged boots and any man is putty in our hands.

"This can't be right, it appears like it's coming from the Andrometer." Yuri observed as she analyzed the information trickling in from the distress beacon.

"No way, it must be a mistake." I added hopefully. Leaning in now shoulder to shoulder with Yuri to get a better look.

The Andrometer was a new 2,000 meter luxury liner cruise ship on its inaugural voyage from the Yoselle space station to the spaceport on planet Vellandra. It also happened to be our destination. The 3WA was petitioned by our client, Judah Raimi, the CEO of Yoselle Industries after several individuals had gone missing in his company recently. Yoselle Industries is a terraforming company, mostly dealing with building materials and supplies. Mr. Raimi and his 500 guests had been invited on this maiden cruise to celebrate the merging of Yoselle Industries with Rycht Industries, a once rival company. We were meant to be meeting Mr. Raimi on the Andrometer to be debriefed.

"No mistake, it's definitely originating from the Andrometer." Yuri confirmed.

I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow to show I was disgruntled with this discovery. It was just our luck, I was hoping this would be a simple case since we literally just finished one. Even though they say the Central Computer at the 3WA assigns cases by the Trouble consultants most suited to solving the case I swear sometimes it just assigns them by proximity. One thing was for certain, I was definitely going to demand some vacation time after this.

"Are they requesting an evac?" I inquired turning my head to observe the deck of our ship and raising an eyebrow.

The Lovely Angel was not a large ship, she is an 80-meter in length Voyager Class that has been modified to go toe to toe in combat with an 800-meter Destroyer Class. With that being said she is perfectly suited for me and Yuri, the deck has four seats, two of which are usually vacant, and she has a small living and recreation space but at most she could hold maybe fifteen to twenty people comfortably.

"Possibly." Yuri said mindlessly as she studied the diagnostics coming in from the signal. "The beacon is requesting an evacuation, but it is not showing any signals of life." Yuri all but trailed off as she spoke, obviously getting lost in thought.

"Then what happened to the 500 people that were meant to be onboard?" I asked, placing my tangerine polished finger to my chin inquisitively.

"According to this, the signal has only been running for a few hours." Yuri rebuffed as she pointed to the screen. Sure enough, the signal started earlier that night and has been running on a loop.

"It doesn't look like any of the emergency escape pods have been deployed." I added not wanting to be outdone by Miss Brainiac.

Undeniably our interest was piqued. This was starting to seem less like a routine debriefing and more like something very sinister went down.

"We don't get paid enough for this y'know?!" I huffed as I folded my arms across my chest and swung my long slender legs onto the dash of the ship. Yuri continued to analyze the distress signal. "Ugh, dammit! Why can't things be easy for once?!"

I turned my head to look away from Yuri, she didn't notice. I was curious about the situation though, where were all the guests of Andrometer? The data coming in shows that guest register accounted for all 500 invitees as well as the 200-person crew it would take to staff a ship that size boarding the liner before departing Yoselle's space station. Maybe it was all a mistake? A glitch in their systems?

We were about twenty minutes from reaching Andrometer. As our scarlet spaceship continued to the origin of the signal, the door to the Lovely Angel's deck opened. We turned back to see who it was, entering was the third member of our team, Mughi. His large head hung low and he was obviously still not pleased with the ship's divergence from heading home. His yellowish eyes were furrowed as he crawled into one of the unoccupied seats to glower at us as if we were the ones to blame. Mughi is from a near-extinct alien species that we met during our training with the 3WA while he and others of his species were being exploited for their unique gifts. But that is a whole other story though. Mughi resembles the now extinct panther of Earth though much larger, about the size of an adult male human if he stood on his hind legs, though naturally he is a quadruped. Their coat is jet black with strange scar-like marks that glow a purplish hue. Emerging from his strong legs are metallic claws sharp enough to rip through steel like it was paper. Another distinct difference from the panthers of Earth is sprouting from his shoulders were two long whip-like feelers. At the end of these feelers were suction cups which made them as dexterous as human hands, anyway because of his abilities and the fact that he is as intelligent if not more so than humans, Mughi is our chief mechanic.

After staring us down, Mughi grumbled a displeased "Mgaoww."

Yuri finally broke her attention away from the monitor, she offered him a sympathetic look. "There is a distress signal, we can't just ignore it, can we?"

Mughi rolled his eyes and laid down in a heap in his seat. My sentiments exactly, Mughi.

As we approached the Andrometer things looked uneventful, from the outside anyway. No exterior damage, fire, or other such obstructions. Yuri opened a channel of communication with the luxury liner. "Hello, this is the Lovely Angel requesting docking permission, please respond." Yuri announced, her already soprano voice was even higher and sweeter as she communicated with Andrometer's docking crew. However, her request was met with silence. Yuri gave me a troubled look. "I repeat, this is the Lovely Angel. Do you copy?" Still nothing.

"I guess we have no choice but to do this manually." Yuri said under her breath with a soft sigh.

I gripped the armrest of my seat; Yuri's driving is pretty terrifying, but it is better than mine, so I guess I can't really talk. Yuri took the controls of Lovely Angel tightly in her hands as we approached the docking bay. I shot her a curious side eye, she could see the doors were closed right? If it really was abandoned, then no one was there to grant us access. What exactly was she planning here?

"If you wouldn't mind Mughi dear." Yuri said looking back at the heap of black mass huddled in the rear seat.

Mughi perked his head up at her request. He furrowed his brow in concentration, his ears or what we think are his ears but look more like curling horns began to rapidly vibrate. The speed was barely visible to the human eye but caused a soft hum. The docking bay to the Andrometer began to open slowly. Aha! You see those special abilities that I mentioned is that Mughi is able to manipulate electromagnetic waves and electric currents to his will by vibrating the curly tendrils of his ears.

The door was opening but not fast enough and Yuri was coming in hot. I am not too proud to admit I was a bit nervous. And getting more so the closer we got. My knuckles turned white as I clenched my armrests, I looked away and braced for impact as we sped towards the bay doors. Somehow, we made it in one piece, at least I am assuming it was one piece, I definitely heard the distinct sound of metal scraping against metal as we breached the doors. Thankfully, Yuri managed to land the Lovely Angel with no issues despite the spacious hangar being filled with other ships belonging to the cruise ship's passengers.

We started to collect our gear in preparation. We loaded up since at this point, we had no idea what we are getting ourselves into. I strapped two handguns to the holsters on my thighs and attached a one-shot missile launcher to my back, a missile might seem like overkill but like my daddy always says it's better to be over prepared than under prepared. He is a simple man, but he has some good points and you never know when a missile might come in handy.

Yuri loaded up in a similar fashion opting for a beam sword instead of the missile launcher, not my first choice but eh it was her call. As we prepared to exit the ship Yuri turned back to Mughi with a guilty smile and clasping her hands together.

"Mughi, would you mind staying here and repairing any exterior damage that Lovely Angel MIGHT have taken while docking?" Yuri's tone was sugary sweet, I ran my tongue along my teeth afraid she might have caused a cavity.

Mughi cocked his eyebrow and turned back into the ship slightly shaking his head. She knew damn well she damaged the ship, but I just scoffed and headed to the entrance.

Glancing around the hallway I surmised that Andrometer had to be running on emergency power, the lights were all dull, barely illuminating our way and casting shadows down the ornate hallway leading to the foyer. Despite the beautiful architecture and white and gold filigree fixtures it definitely had an eerie atmosphere. It didn't help that it was completely silent, our wedge heeled footsteps echoed as we made our way through the hall. At the end of the hallway stood enormous double doors, it was easily twice the size of us and decorated in little golden cherubs. Rich people have the tackiest taste at times.

Hopefully the doors were still operational on emergency power. Yuri moved to the control panel and lifted her left wrist to the panel and projected her holo-computer that we had built into our uniforms. Running a quick anti-lock software developed by our pals at the tech department of the 3WA, the doors opened with a heavy click.

The foyer doubled as a reception area and it was enormous. It was two stories tall with a large double-sided grand staircase leading to the second-floor balcony area. Marble pillars stood connecting the floor to the domed glass ceiling offering a beautiful view of space. The white and gold color scheme carried on into this room as well, a large fountain stood in the center of the room and at the top were more gaudy cherubs. Though had the water been flowing through it I imagine it would have looked far more impressive. Once again, this room was completely vacant, though it showed signs that people had been here at some point. Half empty champagne glasses rested on some of the tables and chairs had been pulled out as well. Yuri and I split up to survey the area searching for any sort of evidence of foul play. Sadly, there was nothing, it was if the guests had simply vanished. Yuri and I reconnected by the fountain to discuss our next move.

Taking a seat on the edge of the fountain Yuri pulled up the ship's schematics on her holo-computer. The Andrometer had five levels, we were currently on the highest level as indicated by our heat signatures on Yuri's map.

"It appears as though this level of the ship is reserved for recreation and navigation." Yuri said with an analytic tone to her voice. "It seems levels three and four are reserved for guest rooms. While levels two and one are restricted to the crew and operations." As Yuri spoke, I couldn't help but notice we were, in fact, the only heat signatures on her 3D diagram of the ship, the guests really had vanished.

"We should make our way to the security room, here." Yuri pointed to an area at the front of the liner. "I am certain there has to be some sort of video surveillance or record of the past few hours that could explain what happened here. Perhaps we can track down Mr. Raimi."

I nodded in agreement. It was as good a place as any to start since our client and the rest of the passengers were nowhere to be found. As I prepared to stand, I glanced into the fountain, my breath caught in my throat and I reached for Yuri's arm. The still water of the fountain was a cloudy red and floating at the top was the severed forearm of one of the guests.

CHAPTER 2

Yuri and I made our way past the various decks in silence, we both had our weapons drawn. Yuri carried her usual 3WA standard issue ray gun while I brandished a heat gun, a personal favorite of mine. Now that our worst suspicions had all but been confirmed, we were ready for a fight. The feeling of shock and horror had mostly subsided since we discovered the guest's remains and it had become a pit of uneasy dread in our stomachs. Being crime division trouble consultants, we have seen our share of grisly scenes but thankfully our extensive training taught us to cope with them. This really was the worst-case scenario, though. Our readings were not wrong, the guests and the crew of the Andrometer were potentially all dead. This included our client Mr. Judah Raimi. Now our only hope of finding out what happened here rested in whatever was recorded by the ship's surveillance. Perhaps there were survivors that had been taken off the ship? Or maybe clues to the assailant's identity?

We reached the security room with no sign of any of the passengers, just more unnerving silence and stillness. Yuri opened the doors and we both readied our guns. Peering in, the room appeared empty. We entered guns first but were met with stillness.

"Looks clear." I murmured.

Easing our weapons slightly we entered the room. There was nothing particularly special about this room, pretty stock standard if you ask me. The walls were lined with various consoles and displays. Yuri had already made herself comfortable at one of the stations and began thumbing through data. I, on the other hand, busied myself with the surveillance monitors. There were about fifty units all showing various parts of the liner. Unfortunately, they were all completely still. No activity in any part of the ship. It really was a ghost ship.

My eyes darted from monitor to monitor and one, in particular, caught my eye, if for no other reason than it was just showing a 'camera error' message.

"Any luck over there?" I asked Yuri out of the corner of my mouth not taking my eyes off this monitor error.

"Mmmmm." It was almost like a pensive whine, that's the only way to describe the sound that Yuri had made just now. "Perhaps, I was able to locate the archive for the surveillance cameras, but I am unsure of where to start."

I looked at the screens on either side of the erred monitor, at the bottom of the screens a number was displayed. The one to the left of the broken one read thirty-eight, the one to the right was forty. It didn't take a mathematical genius to deduce which one the broken camera was.

"Start with camera thirty-nine." I replied as I walked over to join her.

Yuri nodded and pulled up the video file and set it back to an hour before the start of the distress signal. Starting the video file, we could see that the camera was for a huge luxurious room, probably twice the size of the foyer if not bigger.

"This must be the ballroom." Yuri whispered almost to herself.

I would have to agree with her, not only were the passengers dressed to the nines, as the camera panned you could see several couples dancing. Nothing looked inherently wrong or suspicious. They must have been having some sort of masquerade since many people were wearing masks. People were laughing and talking and having a good time.

"That looks like Mr. Raimi!" I exclaimed pressing my finger to the screen.

He wasn't a bad looking guy for an older dude. He was in his mid-forties but didn't look much older than his thirties, he had dark hair that had just started greying at the temples, coupled with his heavy five 'o'clock shadow it gave him a really sexy sophisticated look. He seemed tall with a decent build, maybe a bit of a dad bod but those can be quite appealing too, either way, he looked damn good in his black tuxedo suit.

"Not bad." We had only seen a candid photo of him that must have been taken from a news article and sent over with the data dump the chief supplied us and it did not do him justice.

"Then that young woman with him must be Gwen Raimi." Yuri observed.

I was so focused on the handsome man I didn't even notice the blonde woman attached to his arm. She was dressed in an elegant white dress and wore a matching rose ornament in her hair. Gwen Raimi was Mr. Raimi's eldest daughter with his estranged ex-wife. According to the data sent from headquarters, Miss Raimi was twenty-two and a student at the university on Vellandra studying business and economics. Obviously grooming herself to take control of Yoselle Industries one day.

We continued to watch the footage, Mr. Raimi and his daughter were soon joined by another older man, the two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. It was difficult to tell because his back was constantly facing the camera, but the man seems to match the description of Elwin Bannick the CEO of the former Rycht Industries. He was a heavyset man in his fifties with gray balding hair. The stocky man's body language was very uneasy and stiff, a sign of nervousness perhaps?

"Ugh! Turn around already!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

Just as he started to turn revealing the sour look on his face, it was then that something happened, the tone of the footage suddenly became frenzied. People began swarming for the exits, laughter had been replaced with screams of terror, and then it was over. The camera cut out.

Yuri gave a soft pouty sigh and slumped down in the seat, I shared her feeling of defeat. The footage didn't offer much aside from confirming that the guests were in fact here and that something happened. It was clear this case was going to take a little more leg work.

"Something about the way Bannick was acting isn't sitting right with me." I said to Yuri.

Her pout was now replaced with a more pensive look. "It was difficult to tell from the angles, but he did appear to be acting strange."

Our meandering thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt sound behind us. We turned, guns at the ready, but no one was there. The sound we heard was the surveillance monitors going out. One by one the video was replaced by the ominous 'camera error' message similar to camera thirty-nine. Soon all fifty screens displayed the error.

With a loud crack and a burst of glass the monitors started to explode. Shards of glass and metal were hurled at Yuri and me with tremendous force. We took defensive positions behind the chairs of the consoles shielding ourselves the best we could from the rain of debris.

The explosions ceased with the last monitor, a crackle of electricity and a few sparks sounded as the chaos died down. Satisfied that we were in the clear, we rose to our feet and wiped ourselves off. It didn't seem like any of us had sustained any damage. Now, it might look like Yuri and I are running around in crop tops and v-cut hot pants but all that 'exposed' skin you are seeing is an illusion. We are actually completed covered by a polymorphous transparent polymer armor strong enough to stop bullets and ray beams.

I holstered my gun and placed my hands on my hips. "Just what the hell was that?"

"Someone obviously knows we are here." Yuri added as she shook the glass out of her hair.

Great, that's just what we needed. Wait! That IS just what we needed, someone that we could maybe get some answers from! But, if there was someone else on this ship why weren't they showing up in our scans?

"Well, doesn't seem like we are going to get much more here." I commented with a sarcastic tone.

The entire security room was trashed. The explosions had rendered any of the equipment useless.

"We should check the ballroom." Said Yuri as she finished cleaning herself off and walked over to me. "The video showed that whatever happened, it happened there." She finished, her lips curling into a slight frown.

She was right, our best chance for finding any clues was at the ballroom.

We approached the ballroom with extreme caution, I had my back to the wall as I peered around the corning leading to our destination. My trigger finger was just itching for something to happen. It was clear, so Yuri and I rounded the corner, not once dropping our guard. Outside of the doors to the Ballroom sat a podium and signs indicating that the celebration of the merging of companies was happening here. The doors leading to the ballroom were another set of large double doors similar to the entrance to the foyer. I decided then and there that after all this was over I was gonna have to track down whoever designed this ship and beat them over the head with one of the cherubs they were so fond of. While I was preoccupied with my distaste of the chubby little angels, Yuri was approaching the doors.

"No good." I looked over to Yuri as she was attempting to get the door open.

Her fingers danced on the virtual console of her holo-computer. "The power has been cut off to the locks, I can't get it open." Yuri spoke with a defeated tone as she dropped her hands to her sides.

"Not to worry." I said with a mischievous smile. "I got this."

It was my turn, I turned my heat gun to full power and took aim at the door. A three-foot blast of red energy slammed against the door from my heat gun. I pulled the trigger three more times, just to make sure, y'know. The concussive blast of extreme heat did their job, a hole had melted into the door just wide enough for us to get through. I'll admit it was personally satisfying seeing those garish little cupids melt away to puddles on the ground.

"Well, that is one way of doing it, no matter how barbaric." Yuri scoffed with a snide tone.

"Hey! It worked didn't it." Her tone pissed me off, but I wasn't going to let it taint the satisfaction I got from melting the cherubs.

Rolling her eyes Yuri made her way to the makeshift entrance and let herself into the ballroom. I followed quickly behind. No sooner had I entered did I hear Yuri's voice.

"Oh my gawd…"

Her voice was dry and horrified and it was obvious as to why. Inside the ballroom were the guests and crew of the Andrometer. They had all been viciously slaughtered. Any elegance or beauty this room once held was now replaced by a macabre nightmare. 700 plus bodies were spread around the room, most of them were in piles in the corners, various parts of people littered across the marble floors that were now saturated a deep red. It was immediately apparent that this was not an accidental disaster, the way the bodies were meticulously stacked betrayed the fact that this was an intentional massacre. I turned my face away from the carnage momentarily so that I could compose myself. I closed my eyes tightly and took a few calming breaths before looking back. Yuri had both of hands cupped around her mouth. I didn't blame her, those responsible for this spared no one.

I took a few steps into the room; the floor was still tacky from the blood causing my heels to stick a bit. The stench was strong but not unbearable, the atmospheric regulators must still be working. I scanned the room, the dim lights caused by the emergency power made the scene even more horrid by casting unnecessary shadows on the faces of the victims, near the rear of the room I saw something familiar.

Mr. Raimi.

I looked over to Yuri, I am sure my face wore a stony grim expression, she had since composed herself and bore an expression similar to mine. I nodded my head slightly in the direction of our slain client. Yuri gave a solitary nod, we had spent a lot of time together, so unspoken communication is pretty natural for us, not only were we partners but we have also been roommates since our school days at Meizuiru University.

We approached Mr. Raimi, his body was slouched in a heap against the wall and he had two enormous gash marks along his chest. His daughter was near him, she had suffered similar wounds. Her lovely white dress was now a sullen crimson and the pearl rose ornament she had in her hair now laid in a pool of drying blood.

I knelt down in front of Mr. Raimi and opened his jacket to search his pockets. It was a long shot but since he was planning on meeting with us after this event maybe he brought something with him that could shed some light on these events. Reaching into his breast pocket I found something flat and hard. Fishing it out I found it was Mr. Raimi's room key, perhaps our first lucky break of the night. I turned my attention to Yuri to show her my findings. She was crouched down as well examining another corpse, one that I also recognized. Mr. Bannick. In her hand, Yuri was holding what looked like a data drive. Jackpot! I had a feeling that things were going to take a turn in our favor.

"I found this data unit on Mr. Bannick, but it looks as though it has sustained some serious damage from whatever caused... this." Yuri gestured solemnly around her.

Maybe I was jumping the gun on our change of fortune.

"Do you think any of the data is salvageable?" I asked as I walked over to her slipping Mr. Raimi's room key into the holster on my thigh.

Yuri was already one step ahead of me, she inserted the drive into her holo-computer and was running a diagnostic. "There is data here that we may be able to recover but it will take some time and a more powerful computer." Yuri explained with a furrowed brow.

"Mughi, do you copy?" Yuri queried as she opened a communication channel with the Lovely Angel.

With a big toothy yawn, Mughi appeared on the interface of Yuri's projected screen. That lazy little punk ass! How could he possibly be napping at a time like this!? Yuri pursed her lips in a show of disapproval, clearly, she must have been thinking something similar to what I was at the moment.

With a little sigh, Yuri continued. "Mughi, I am going to send you some data we found that has been damaged, would you please see if you can repair it?"

"Maow." Mughi responded with a nod of his head, disconnecting the communication line.

As Yuri was uploading the data to the Lovely Angel I decided to look around to see if anything else jumped out at me. Observing the bodies, you could see that it wasn't any sort of gun that killed these people but what had to be a large knife or even a chainsaw. It was truly a morbid thing to contemplate. Sadly, I couldn't find any further clues, we may have better luck checking Mr. Raimi's room. Perhaps he left something there.

"Hey, Yuri we should..."

My voice trailed off as I turned to face my partner. A figure of a large man was emerging from the shadows and heading towards Yuri. The imposing silhouette was well over six and a half feet tall and quite broad, in his hand I could see he held what resembled a large blade, not unlike the one that could have killed all of these poor people. Suddenly the blade's edge buzzed to life glowing a sinister red.

"Yuri!" I screamed as I drew my heat gun and fired a shot straight into the chest of the approaching shadow just as he raised his laser bladed weapon to strike Yuri from behind.

Her long hair swirled as Yuri rapidly turned around to see what was going on. The figure was knocked back and dropped to one knee by my blast. My mouth hung open in horrid shock as Yuri joined my side and drew her gun. The figure had the audacity to rise back up to his feet and continue his approach. We gripped our guns tighter the closer he got.

"Don't move, please, sir!" Demanded Yuri, well as demanding as Yuri could get.

Ignoring her warning the aggressor moved into the light. In the center of his chest, his blood soaked dress shirt had a six-inch singed hole in it exposing the glowing hot red metal underneath. As the shadows receded and unveiled his face you could see that the synthetic skin had been torn away from the lower half of his face below the nose exposing a metallic skeletal grin. The optics of his eyes must have sustained some sort of damage as well because his eyes were just two solid black orbs in the sockets. His head was bald, it was unknown if this was by design or if his hair had been lost somewhere. Either way, it all added up to one terrifying picture.

"Oh no." Yuri chirped as the attacker once again raised his glowing blade to strike.

CHAPTER 3

The cold stillness of the ship was shattered by panicked squeals echoing through the hallway as we ran as fast as our legs could carry us. We had managed to make our escape out of the ballroom and buy ourselves a little time all thanks to my quick thinking and the missile launcher I had brought with me. The missile tossed our foe back before exploding and splattering flaming body parts all over the already blood-soaked nightmare inducing room. I was hoping that this was the end of our troubles, however, no such luck, it didn't take long before our cybernetic assassin was back on his feet and in pursuit.

Yuri aimed behind her and fired off a few shots from her ray gun, the beams were completely deflected on contact. The concussive blasts from my heat gun proved to be enough to slow him down a little but that was about it.

This guy was too much!

We overturned tables and whatever we could manage to grab in a futile attempt to slow him down, but he plowed through them like a bulldozer. "What do we do Yuri?! Nothing is working!"

Yuri reached into the holster on her thigh and pulled out something that looked like a silver playing card. The broken heart ornamented on the front meant it could only be one thing. The Bloody Card. This particular weapon is one of the prides and joy of the development team at the 3WA. Though small the edges are sharper than a razor and it is incredibly durable as it is made from Vizorium-Steel, an alloy substance derived from the strongest metals in the galaxy. The user is able to remote control the card with their thoughts thanks to wet-wired biotech that was implanted in the back of our necks courtesy of the 3WA, not to mention it is outfitted with an anti-gravity technology that will allow it to both reach incredible speeds and stay afloat for several hours allowing it to take out a city block worth of adversaries with ease.

With a flourish of her hand, the Bloody Card took flight towards our stalker. Sparks flew as it whizzed through the air slashing at the cyborg. Over a dozen attempts were made before Yuri summoned the flying card back to her hand. This mechanical monstrosity must have been made from a similar material because the Bloody Card was only able to scratch it.

"Dammit!" Yuri exclaimed.

And rightly so, the Bloody Card was, forgive the expression, our trump card. If it had no effect, then our weapons were essentially useless. All we could do at this point is to flee and hope for the best. Not a position I was particularly pleased to be in.

I knew we had to do something, my brain was going a mile a minute, we couldn't just run for the rest of our lives, however long those lives may be was yet to be determined. It couldn't end like this. There is so much more I want to do with my life. Meet a gorgeous hunk of a man, one as wealthy as he was handsome. One that will whisk me away from this terrible job where my life is on the line on a weekly basis. It was a nice fantasy but in reality, I do love my job, it was probably just the psycho killer wielding a laser machete that was dead set on chopping us into Lovely Angel sushi that had me thinking thoughts like this.

Finally, I remembered something, his eyes. This robot had been blinded! By that logic, he had to be using other means to track us. Grabbing Yuri's arm, I pulled her into the next intersecting hallway. I quickly put my fingers to my lips and whispered into her ear.

"Tell your uniform to block all heat signatures and life signs then follow my lead."

Yuri nodded in understanding and did as I instructed while I did the same. I was taking a huge gamble here, though not to brag but I am pretty good at gambling. Just had to hope lady luck was on our side tonight.

We positioned our backs to the wall and remained deathly still. We waited in deafening silence, listening as the heavy footsteps of the murderer approached getting louder with every step. His hulking frame emerged from around the corner as he came to a stop in the hall intersection. My stare was so intense I was afraid he could feel it, my body tensed ready to make a run for it at the first sign of danger. The robotic killer turned his head from side to side peering down the hallways. My teeth clenched as his gaze twisted towards us. He turned and began to slowly make his way towards us. Every breath completely evacuated my body. I could feel Yuri tense next to me, don't move girl! Whatever you do, DO NOT MOVE. The attacker was now inches from us and getting ever closer. I swear my heart was about to pound its way out of my chest! And just like that, I watched him walk right past us! I gave a sideways glance over to Yuri and could see her looking back at me with the same look of relief.

We waited until our friend rounded another corner before we finally relaxed our bodies and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. We had made it by the skin of our teeth this time, but we were not in the clear yet. Slowly we crept in the opposite direction of tall, metal, and ugly.

"Risky gambit, Kei." Yuri whispered in a teasing tone as we continued putting as much distance as possible between us and the ballroom; Yuri's tone was clearly trying to lighten the mood and I was all for that.

I smiled a goofy smile in response to her ribbing, it was a dangerous move but thankfully it paid off.

"As I was about to say before we were so rudely interrupted back there." I started as I pulled Mr. Raimi's room key out of my holster. "I snagged Raimi's room key, might as well see what we can find there."

Yuri just smirked and gave a shrug. "May as well, this case is just producing more questions than answers."

I examined the key a bit further turning it back a forth in my hand. "Seems Raimi was in room 720."

If I was remembering Yuri's diagram correctly room 720 was on the floor just below us. One of the suites, the largest I am guessing. It made sense as Mr. Raimi was the guest of honor tonight.

"Pretty sure we passed an elevator back there." I motioned back to the area where we have just been fleeing for our lives.

As we backtracked we continued exchanging our thoughts on this mess of a case so far. We were both putting our money on Mr. Bannick, after all the signs were all pointing to him. His company had just been bought out and his behavior was very suspicious on the surveillance footage. We deduced that he was attempting to frame Mr. Raimi for the employee disappearances in the company. Though we didn't know where our robotic goliath played into this or what Bannick would necessarily gain from framing Raimi. We definitely needed more; the puzzle pieces were not coming together. It was especially frustrating not getting a debriefing from Mr. Raimi, with it then maybe we wouldn't be grasping at straws. It was a real shame that we missed our chance to learn which room was Bannick's room, would be nice to see what if anything he was hiding.

Reaching the elevator, I pressed the golden call button and placed a hand on my hip while we waited for it to come, but it never did. Growing increasingly impatient I glanced over at Yuri to see her giggling to herself, what was so damn funny?!

"I think you'll find a long wait ahead of you." Yuri criticized as she motioned to the blank display above the doors.

I probably should have guessed since the power locks on the ballroom were out that the elevators would be too. I could feel my face turning red, a combination of my embarrassment and my swelling rage. Oh, that Yuri! She just stood there and let me make a fool of myself, she really did know how to push my buttons sometimes. She was gonna get it when we got out of here, I had a few good punches with her name all over them.

Plans for revenge would have to wait until this case was solved though. If the power to the elevator was out we were gonna have to do this the hard way, as usual.

"Well, don't just stand there all smug. Give me a hand." I retorted doing my best to ignore Yuri's annoying little giggles.

I curled my fingers around one of the doors as Yuri took her position on the other side. "Count of three." I instructed as we prepared ourselves to pull. "1. 2. 3."

With a grunt we began to pry the doors apart, thankfully the gold emblazoned on the door made it look a lot heavier than it actually was, at least the elevators had been spared from the designer's unhealthy obsession with cherubs. The large doors pulled open with only a moderate effort. Pleased with our efforts I peered into the elevator shaft. Of course, the car was resting all the way down on the first floor, not that helpful for us up on the fifth floor.

"We could just take the stairs." Yuri offered as she joined me in examining the elevator shaft.

Normally taking the stairs one flight down would be no big deal, but the situation had obviously changed slightly now that we had an unstoppable killing machine lurking around we needed to use the quickest and most efficient routes as possible.

"With that thing around? No thanks." I scoffed.

Thankfully we had the 3WA's top of line technology on our side. I placed two fingers to the button on my neck, with a slight click the circular portion on the back of my uniform dislodged itself and began hovering in place. Two transparent cyan wings materialized from the floating disc and the anti-gravity technology lifted me into the air. You see built into our uniforms was the Grav-Pack, a handy portable jet pack of sorts that would allow us to descend the elevator shaft with ease.

Now hovering in the air, I floated into the elevator shaft. "You comin'?"

I watched as Yuri reached up to activate her Grav-Pack and stopped. A concerning expression formed on her face. In one swift graceful movement, Yuri flipped backward as a red glowing machete slashed the space where she once stood. Still down on one knee Yuri snatched up the hilt of her beam sword and lifted it into the air. The pink beam of plasma erupted with from the hilt with a varoom just in time to counter another strike of the robotic killer's blade. The blades clashed against each other as Yuri struggled to keep the machete from coming down on her head.

"A little help please!" Yuri pleaded between gritted teeth.

"Back off, ugly!" I screamed as I dashed towards the two with their blades locked together.

I pulled out my trusty heat gun and took aim at the back of the robot's kneecap. The blast connected knocking him off balance which gave Yuri the edge she needed to push back his weapon and deliver him a heavy kick to the chest. As the robot tumbled backward I quickly joined Yuri pulling her to her feet. Turning back and aiming my gun at the automaton I fired two more shots. That was it, the lonely click click sound of my heat gun indicated the chamber was empty. The discharges had done their job though and knocked the murderous fiend back towards the elevator shaft. This was our chance. As if she had read my mind, Yuri joined me as we rushed forward with all of our might tackling the murderer and knocking him down the elevator shaft. We watched from our position on the floor as he plummeted down to the first floor and smashed through the roof of the car.

We rolled on to our backs both breathing heavily now.

"Stairs?" Yuri inquired between panting breaths.

"Stairs." I concurred.

CHAPTER 4

Sliding the key into the lock we let ourselves into Raimi's estate room. Our heads (and bodies) were still reeling from our encounter on the upper floor. I couldn't get over how that killer machine swung at Yuri with such precision yet couldn't see us while we right in front of it, nothing was making sense and it was doing my brain in. The answers we sought were here though, they just had to be.

Raimi's room was too much, everything about it. It had to be the size of mine and Yuri's apartment, maybe bigger! The door opened to a living room area, to either side were doors that must have led to the bedrooms. Every piece of furniture was embellished with gold trim or filigree. And, of course, there were more damn cherubs all over the place. It was beginning to make me ashamed to share the name Angel. I made my way over to the table near the mini bar area and selected a pear from the bowl of fruit, no doubt provided by the liner.

Yuri shot me an accusing look.

"What? I don't want it to go to waste." I defended as I took a juicy bite, after all, it wasn't like Mr. Raimi was coming back to claim it.

I rested myself against the counter as I took another bite and looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place, in fact, this area looked barely used. Yuri had begun a casual stroll around the room herself. She opened the double doors and peered inside before turning her attention to the next set of doors. Taking another bite, I saw her disappear into the room. The back of the room had floor to ceiling windows with sheer lace curtains framing them. I couldn't help but wonder what it must be like to live like this as I stared into the beauty of space.

"Kei! Come here, quick!"

Yuri's sudden shout almost made me choke on the half-masticated fruit in my mouth. Coughing a bit, I managed to swallow it down without dying, no thanks to her. Tossing the partially eaten pear back into the bowl with the rest of the fruit, I rushed into the bedroom area to see what the fuss was about. I half expected to see her hair on fire or something, but Yuri was just sitting casually at the desk that served as the room's office area thumbing through some papers. This must have been Mr. Raimi's room judging from the men's clothes tossed neatly across the bed.

"Take a look at this." Yuri said so casually, didn't she realize she almost killed me just now?

Wouldn't that have just been perfect? A killer robot is on the loose, it slaughters hundreds, and poor Kei is done in by a piece of fruit.

With a roll of my eyes, I walked over to see what Yuri had found. I took the papers that she was handing me, on them were photos of three men with short descriptions next to each. I mean, these guys were okay looking, youngish, handsome-ish, but definitely not worth the fuss she had made.

"What's the big deal?" I asked with a nonchalant shrug.

Yuri released a frustrated sigh and tilted her head. "Did you even read it, Kei? Those are the missing employees. You know, the ones we are here to investigate."

"Oh, right…" I said sheepishly though not impressed with her snide tone.

I began actually reading the summaries next to the photos of the men. It was pretty standard, it explained who they were and when they were first noticed to have gone missing.

"What?! That can't be right?" I exclaimed as I read further.

The three missing employees were all initially employed by Rycht Industries. Bannick didn't kill his own men? Did he? If that truly was the case then it just showed how desperate he was to want to frame Raimi, but again to what end?

"What else is there?" I asked nodding my head to the rest of the documents Yuri had in front of her.

"Tragically, not much." Yuri said with a defeated sigh. "There are a few financial records and some documentation regarding the merging of the companies. By all accounts, the merger was a welcomed endeavor. It appears that Rycht was on the verge of bankruptcy and Yoselle was able to save them from having to shut down and lay off thousands." She continued.

"That really throws a wrench in our theory, doesn't it?" I added casually placing my hand on Yuri's shoulder.

Could someone else be targeting Rycht employees? It would certainly explain Bannick's uneasy demeanor. Obviously, this meant we were back to square one.

Or were we?

It started like it usually did. A warm, numb, floaty feeling in the back of my head. The first time it happened I thought I was getting a migraine. Yuri placed her hand on mine and stood up from her chair. She turned around to face me as we took each other's hands and closed our eyes. Soon the weightless feeling began to envelop my entire body and the world around us disappeared leaving us surrounded by a pure white nothing. Tilting our heads back, Yuri and I opened our eyes to see a lovely white rose with blood dripping from the thorns of the stem. Then as if it was made of powder the rose blew away in the wind. Then it was over, Yuri and I were back in Mr. Raimi's room still holding each other's hands.

I am surprised I hadn't mentioned this before, after all, it was the primary reason we had been scouted by the Worlds Welfare Work Association in the first place. See, as I mentioned previously Yuri and I met at Meizuiru University, my family had scrimped and saved to pay for my tuition in hopes I would make a life for myself outside of the mines. Yuri had just gone through a terrible family tragedy and had been all but unloaded there. We were assigned to be roommates, a recipe for disaster, really, as we could not have been more different from each other and we had nothing in common. But, against all odds, we soon became fast friends, thanks in part to our shared ability.

One spring, a ring had gone missing on campus, it was a family heirloom and worth quite a bit of money. The student who owned it was beside herself. Why she had brought something so valuable to campus was beyond me. Yuri and I were hanging out in our dorm room studying when we accidentally touch hands. It was then that it happened for the first time. Yuri and I saw a vision of a red bird with a ring in its mouth. It happened so quickly we almost weren't sure anything had happened at all. It wasn't until a few days later when the ring had been recovered that we realized it was real. The ring had been stolen and as they were arresting the perpetrator Yuri and I both noticed she was wearing a pendant of a ruby bird!

Binary Clairvoyance it is called. Believe me, we told everyone that would listen, professors, fellow students, the dean. At first, no one believed us, not until the agent from the 3WA came to see us. Shortly after graduation, we were shipped off to the planet Shimogu for an intensive two-year training. Afterward, we were assigned to the criminal investigation division as the 3WA's first esper team, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Unfortunately, our extrasensory perception isn't the most forthcoming. It would be fantastic if it would just tell us the who, what, and why of a case but, it has never failed to point us in the right direction. This time it was pointing us to a white rose, something that immediately set off a flare of recognition in my brain. My eyes widened, and I released Yuri's hands. Without saying a word, I turned and dashed out of Mr. Raimi's room. Yuri followed suit behind me. Crossing the large room, we entered the bedroom opposite the one we exited. The bedroom belonging to Gwen Raimi.

This room was laid out identically to the one we had just departed, though everything was inverted. A significant difference is that this room looked much more lived in. In fact, I would be so bold as to call Miss Raimi a bit of a slob. Clothes were thrown haphazardly across the floor, her vanity was a disaster area of color from the various makeup, perfume, and other cosmetic items. Rummaging through this mess was not going to be fun.

"What is it, Kei?" Yuri's voice was curious as she spoke up behind me.

"It's Gwen!" I responded excitedly. "I remembered she was wearing a white rose ornament in her hair, I saw it on the surveillance footage and again near her body!"

I was chomping at the bit to find something incriminating but I had no idea where to start in this pig sty. Either way, Yuri and I began to search for clues. Anything that would point us in the right direction. Yuri, proving that she may be braver than I am, started with the vanity. I settled on Gwen's luggage and began sifting through her things. There were elegant and extravagant clothes, more makeup, and a few textbooks that I quickly thumbed through but ultimately came up empty-handed.

I was thumbing through another of Gwen's barely used textbooks when I noticed Yuri walking over to me out of the corner of my eye.

"Look familiar?" Yuri asked with a sly tone in her voice handing me a photograph.

The photograph was of Gwen Raimi and two other girls roughly her age. The girls were of no interest though, what caught my eye was the tall man towering over them. He was dressed in a dark suit with sandy blonde hair and bluish eyes. Though these are not the features I recognized him for, the rest of the facial features and his stature, however, were a dead ringer for the homicidal robot that was stalking the halls. I double tapped the photo and pulled up the settings, the description for the photo indicated the robot's name was Fredrickson Voorhees.

"I recognize that name, it was listed as Miss Raimi's personal bodyguard in the guest registry." Yuri explained as she began pulling up various articles on her holo-computer.

Gwen had really flown under our radar until now, so we hadn't bothered doing any prior research on her. Something that was proving to have been a mistake. The top news articles all had titles such as 'party girl' and 'out of control heiress' as well as her arrest record were all showing Gwen was not the goody goody daddy's girl and modest student that she tried to present to the public. In fact, her arrest record alone would have made her a suspect. Public intoxication, disorderly conduct, destruction of property, the list was quite extensive.

Finally, the break we needed, a conclusive piece of evidence tying the murders to Gwen Raimi.

SKRITCH SKKKRITCH

Our celebration was going to have to wait. We both turned our attention to the direction of the sound and reached for our guns. With our weapons drawn we crept cautiously to the scratching sound at the front door, had Voorhees managed to track us down somehow?

SKRRRIIIIITCH SKRIIITCH

I was trying to hold back the panic as we neared the entrance, we were really corned here, this was the only way in or out of the room. If Voorhees had found us it was going to take a miracle to make it out with our lives. Despite our extensive prepping, I was down to one heat gun and one spare cartridge. Yuri had her beam sword, the Bloody Card, and her ray guns. All essentially useless. If we were going to survive we were going to have to rely on our wits and not firepower.

"Mgaow?"

A wave of relief washed over us like a tidal wave as we heard the all too familiar voice on the other side of the entry. Dropping my arms and holstering my weapon I reached for the handle and opened the door.

It was Mughi.

Thanks for the near heart attack, you big oaf!

Ignoring our blood drained faces Mughi strolled into the room and took a seat on the floor near us.

"What are you doing here?" Yuri asked steadily regaining her composure, "You are meant to be repairing the Lovely Angel."

Mughi's expression became stern and he dropped his ears at Yuri's sudden interrogation. Without making a sound or adjusting his unimpressed expression he moved one of his tentacled feelers towards Yuri and dropped a data unit into her hands.

"Oh!" Yuri squeaked as she caught the drive. "I almost forgot!" She admitted as she plugged the unit into her holo-computer.

"My apologies, Mughi." Yuri offered with a sincere but shamed smile.

As she analyzed the data I could see her eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. "Oh, Mughi!" Yuri exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his thick black neck. "Thank you!"

"What's the big secret?!" I demanded as I was just about done feeling left in the dark while these two shared their little private exchange.

"This!" Yuri squealed. With a few quick swipes of her hands, Yuri pulled up several projected screens displaying various bits of information.

I narrowed my eyes as I scanned the info. This must have been what was on the drive Mr. Bannick had on his body. Mughi had managed to recover the damaged data and thank gawd he did. This had blown the case wide open! It seemed Bannick had been doing his own investigation into the disappearance of his people. It seemed all three men were warehouse workers that had gone missing shortly after being transferred to Yoselle's facility. A fact that was missing from the debrief information that Raimi had prepared for us. But it didn't stop there.

Bannick had managed to compile evidence that conclusively showed Gwen Raimi was using her father's company as a cover for smuggling Neuromethelyn, or Light Speed, a potent street drug similar to cocaine, to various distributors through the United Galactica. Bannick went on to explicate that he suspected that his workers discovered this smuggling operation after being transferred to Yoselle and were eliminated for not being as compliant as some of the native employees that Gwen had more time to pay off with daddy's money.

It was ironic, had Bannick succeeded in getting this information to Raimi or the local authorities there would have been no need for Raimi to have petitioned the 3WA. This all made sense and perfectly explained why Bannick was acting so suspiciously, he knew he was being targeted for digging up this information. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, though there was one crucial piece that had yet to be revealed. What happened to cause the deaths of the inhabitants of the Andrometer, including Gwen Raimi?

Thankfully there was someone on the ship who might be able to provide us with the answer we needed to wrap this case up. Voorhees. However, getting the information would be no easy task.

CHAPTER 5

Getting back to the Lovely Angel was a daunting task since the ship hangar was at the back of the Andrometer and a floor up. Voorhees' last known location was the first floor, though, he could be anywhere at this point. Luckily, there was no sign on of him on our way back to the ship. Not that I was complaining, mind you. It did give us time to come up with a strategy on how we were going to stop the, thus far, unstoppable. I had an idea, but it was going to be a risky one. We were essentially out of options though and it was do or die time.

After a quick huddle to verify we each knew our roles in the plan we grabbed the last of our remaining weaponry. I reloaded my heat guns and grabbed the plasma rifle while Yuri collected the handheld grenade launcher. We had passed on these weapons previously since they were a bit stronger and riskier to use on a ship floating in the depths of space.

Hell, I was taking a chance with the missile launcher, but that did pay off in the end.

Yuri and I reconfigured our uniforms to their space suit settings, just to be safe since there was a distinct possibility that our new weaponry could cause a breach in the hull of the cruise ship. Our silver uniforms seemed to come to life as the 'exposed' portions skin morphed into a thick black polymer. Another benefit of the space suit setting was that the armor was a bit heavier than the default setting. Satisfied that we were as prepared as we were going to get, Yuri, Mughi, and I departed the Lovely Angel and made our way back to the foyer.

An integral part of our plan was luring Voorhees to us, something we hadn't quite figured out how to do yet. How does one get the attention of a blind robot? We didn't have to contemplate long, as we opened the doors of the extravagant reception area we were met with the large aggressive figure of Voorhees. Not quite expecting to encounter him so soon we quickly jumped back. And readied our guns. A black shadow emerged from behind us at a considerable speed. With a roar that struck you to the very core Mughi quickly tackled Voorhees to the ground swiping at him with his incredible claws. There was a reason Mughi had earned the nickname 'shadow of death.' When provoked, Mughi was a near indestructible force of nature and very little in the galaxy stood a chance against his claws.

We used this distraction to move into the foyer, a cramped hallway was not the setting we needed if we were going to pull off this plan. Without a second to lose we rushed by just as Voorhees was able to throw Mughi off and swipe at our legs with his blade, narrowly missing. The foyer was definitely not the preferred location for our showdown with this murderous monstrosity either since it was encased by a glass dome. The possibility of something going wrong and getting sucked out into space was too high, especially since Voorhees was somehow able to see us again. Despite this we may not have a choice; the exit was on the second floor at the top of the staircase and Voorhees was already climbing back up on his feet. I turned, the adrenaline was now kicking in, we were going to have to make a mad dash for the door and hope we could make it, perhaps using the thrusters of our space suits could provide us with the edge we desperately needed.

"Hurry!" I exclaimed as I grabbed Yuri's arm ready to make a break for it. Yuri, however, resisted my pull and remained steadfast.

"Shhh." Yuri hushed me. "Look."

Dropping her arm, I turned back around to see Voorhees, he was standing near the entrance looking back and forth and swinging his blade aimlessly. Mughi was a mere few feet away from him ready to strike but dropped his defensive pose and looked back at us with a confused head tilt. Yuri and I stood and watched as Voorhees swung blindly at the air, for reasons unknown he couldn't see us. While it wasn't exactly what we had planned this was a good of an opportunity as any.

I dropped down to one knee and pulled the plasma rifle over my head. Looking into the scope I lined up the sights and took aim. Within the span of mere seconds, Voorhees moved into the idyllic position and I pulled the trigger. The blast of neon green plasma connected with Voorhees' knee and dropped him to the ground. Without missing a beat Yuri fulfilled her part of the plan. In one smooth motion, Yuri aimed the grenade launcher and hurled a small silver orb towards Voorhees that landed at his feet. Instead of an explosion the orb emitted a loud BARROOM sound and discharged a dome of energy. These particular grenades were gravity manipulation grenades that could modify the field of gravity in a small space. Yuri had set them to five times the usual gravity, we had to be especially careful with the setting, if it was too light it wouldn't have been able to immobilize Voorhees and if it was too strong it would have pulled him through to the bottom of the ship. To our favor it seemed like we chose correctly, the field had concaved the floor around Voorhees but was holding steady.

I kept my gun's sights squarely on Voorhees as he struggled against the intense gravity. Although it seemed like Yuri was just standing there she had in fact quickly moved onto the second part of our plan. Using the implanted 3WA technology Yuri was attempting to hack into Voorhees' neural interface.

"I'm in!" She chirped excitedly. "Downloading now."

Within moments after Yuri finished speaking I heard a sound that filled me with terror. The sound was coming from the floor beneath Voorhees, the metal was groaning as the concave began to sink deeper, it wasn't going to hold much longer. We had overshot the estimated power that the Andrometer's infrastructure could take. We had two options, let the floor give out and get sucked out into space with Voorhees or make a break for it and form a plan B.

I think I was gonna go with the latter option.

"No time for that now, deactivate the grenade!" I snapped.

Breaking her interface Yuri gave me a bitter look before she herself heard the whine of the floor as it struggled to maintain its integrity. Quickly changing her tone Yuri squeaked out some sort of sound of panic and hurriedly pressed the deactivation button on her launcher. The dome of gravitational energy dissipated as Mughi sprinted over to our side and I again raised my rifle towards Voorhees.

"No need." Yuri reassured me as she lowered my rifle with her hand. "Look around and tell me what you see, or better yet, don't see." Yuri instructed as she gestured to the wide domed room.

Mughi and I both looked around the room, all I could see was a lethal giant recovering from his gravitational prison and struggling to locate us.

"I figured it all out. You see," Yuri started as she held her arm out to Voorhees "he can't see or hear us because what you see in front of you is nothing more than a puppet. Voorhees uploaded his consciousness to the ship's mainframe after he had sustained the damage that caused him to lose his sight. He has been operating his previous body remotely, Voorhees has, in essence, become the Andrometer." Yuri explained gesturing to the entirety of the luxury liner.

"That still doesn't explain why he can't see us." I countered at her lengthy exposition.

"May I remind you of what happened in the security room?" Yuri's tone turned a bit huffy. "The monitors of the surveillance systems detonated all on their own, or so we believed at the time. In reality, Voorhees has been using the ship's surveillance as his eyes and ears."

Of course! I could see now what Yuri meant, there were no cameras in the foyer area but looking past Voorhees' previous body, still swinging his machete wildly, I could see a camera in the hallway.

"This means I wasn't able to procure what we need from this gentleman, though." Yuri pouted as she pointed towards the android. "The main computer of the Andrometer should have the evidence we need."

"Not a problem!" I chuckled.

Now that we knew his weakness and how to exploit it, Voorhees was about as threatening as a bunny rabbit.

"Would you head back and get the Lovely Angel ready to take off, I have a feeling we are gonna be ready to go in no time." I asked Mughi exerting my new-found confidence.

Seeming as excited as I was to get off this ship and get home, Mughi complied, in fact, he was almost prancing back to the hangar. He gave Voorhees a quick snort and passed him with his nose in the air. We climbed the grand staircase and I looked back to see the see our former stalker still searching blindly. My heart felt a twinge of pity for the mindless machine. But, I am just a softy like that I guess.

We moved quickly making our way to the central control room, which was conveniently located on the top floor on the opposite side of the ship from the docking bay. We were careful to take out any surveillance camera we came across along the way, didn't need any unwelcome interruptions this time. Wasting no time, we let ourselves into the control room as soon as we arrived. The half circle-shaped room looked like a cheesy knock off of one of those sets from an old sci-fi space fantasy, but to my extreme pleasure, there wasn't a damn cherub in sight! Yuri took a seat at the main console in what I had to assume was the captain's chair. I took a spot behind her resting my elbows on the back on the chair allowing me to get a good view of what she was doing.

"Stop!"

The man's voice echoed through the room, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Yuri quickly lifted her hands from the keyboard and looked around eyes wide like she had just gotten caught stealing.

"Get out!" the voice demanded.

"I assume we have the pleasure of speaking to Fredrickson Voorhees?" Yuri responded lifting an eyebrow.

"Correct. Now leave before I am forced to terminate you."

"We will leave, but first I'd like to ask you a few questions. And I understand you might feel somewhat apprehensive about this but perhaps this might persuade you." Yuri reached into her holster and pulled out the data unit that Mughi had given her. The one that detailed Bannick's findings. "You see this data drive has a kill code on it, all I would have to do is plug it into the little console here and it's bye-bye, Mr. Voorhees."

I smiled at Yuri's bluff, it was clear to me she was just buying time while she worked on hacking into the ship's system. I guess it was Yuri's turn to try out a dangerous gambit, how it would play out had yet to be seen.

After a few moments of silence, Voorhees' responded. "What are your queries?"

"Why did you kill the passengers of this ship? Was it a targeted assassination? If so who orchestrated the hit?" Yuri demanded.

"Negative, that information is restricted."

"Need I remind you?" She countered waving the drive in the air, I had to admit Yuri was playing this like a champ. She might be in the running for the best actress award.

"Divulging this information would deviate from my primary directive. I would rather elect deletion."

"Oh, ho hum, I guess you win. You are just too much for us poor little girls." Yuri slumped down in her chair with a big pouty face. "though there are other ways to get the information we desire."

Another few moments of silence passed before Voorhees spoke again. "Wha- What are you doing? Foreign presence detected. Must eliminate the anomalies at all costs."

We were busted, any minute now I was betting that Mr. Machete was gonna crash in on us. I could only hope that Yuri was about done.

"Wrap it up, Yuri." I sneered between gritted teeth.

"Just a few more seconds." Yuri replied, her tone reflecting the stress of the situation.

I drew my heat gun and slide over to the door. Peering down the hall I could see the coast was still clear, but I knew it wouldn't be for much longer. "He's gonna be here any second!"

"Almost there!"

I bit my bottom lip as I stared into the hallway. "Yuri!" I called my partner's name as I turned in her direction and noticed something strange.

I walked over to consoles used to fly the ship to verify my suspicions, the display was showing the liner's destination of the Vellandra spaceport as well as the time we would arrive and the speed we were traveling.

"Yuri…" I repeated, my tone much more urgent.

"I got it!" she proclaimed with a celebratory fist pump.

"YURI!"

"What?!" Yuri finally answered in an annoyed voice as she walked over to me.

"Oh…" She uttered as she saw what had me so concerned.

The speed at which we were traveling was increasing at an alarming rate. We were set to arrive at Vellandra in fifteen minutes and we were already traveling at 1,100 kilometers per hour. Yuri and I gave each other a look of shared horror. At this rate, we were going to crash into Vellandra like an impacting meteorite.

"Must eliminate the anomalies at all costs." Voorhees repeated.

"Can you stop it?" I asked Yuri in a panic.

"I can try." Yuri shook her head clearly as frazzled as I was. "It- It's no good he has locked all of the access points."

One thing was for certain, we had to get off this ship, now! Yuri and I darted towards the door. We ran through the halls as quickly as our legs would carry us back to the hanger, if we could get to the Lovely Angel in time we could try and warn Vellandra. We were a few feet from reentering the Foyer when Voorhees' puppet body rounded the corner cutting us off. With the grace of an Olympic gymnast Yuri slide between his legs as I leaped up and vaulted over his head. You can't say our 3WA training wasn't worth it, times like this we could react on instinct and cat like muscle memory alone.

Thanks to our maneuvers we maintained our speed back to the Lovely Angel, but something had to be done about this guy once and for all. We dashed into the foyer and down the grand staircase with Voorhees in hot pursuit. I waited until Yuri was close to the door before making my move.

"Yuri! Activate your mag boots and get ready to close the door!" After she nodded in understanding I spun around to face Voorhees and took aim with my heat gun.

Pulling the trigger, I unleashed three full powered blasts to the top of the glass dome. Pane by pane the glass erupted into a symphony of shards as the vacuum of space began its inescapable pull as I rounded back to Yuri who was waiting to close the door.

Crossing the threshold I joined Yuri and I looked on as Voorhees struggled to hold on to solid ground. He had managed to firmly maintain a grip one the cherubs at the top of fountain. The magnetic pull of our space suit's mag boots keep us firmly planted to the ground as I raised my heat gun. With a cocky smile of utter satisfaction I let off one shot at the golden cherub Voorhees was using as an anchor. The doors to the foyer closed as Voorhees was claimed by the vacuous pull.

The engines of the Lovely Angel were roaring and raring to go. Mughi was waiting for us at the entrance to the ship; without wasting a precious second, we got into our seats and prepared for takeoff. Yuri grasped the controls and commanded the Lovely Angel into the air. Meanwhile, I opened a channel to the Vellandra spaceport. The video connected just as Yuri blasted the bay doors off their hinges.

"Vellandra spaceport… please state your identification and reason for contact." The young male receptionist instructed in a flat bored tone.

"There is no time for that, listen—"

"Ma'am, I am going to need your identification." He interrupted me.

Ma'am?! Who did this guy think he was, what an impudent little punk! Yuri glanced over as she continued to put as much distance as possible between us and the runaway cruise liner. "Ugh, identification is Lovely Angel, 3WA trouble –"

"One moment please." Once again, he had the nerve to cut me off, I was seconds away from giving him a piece of my mind when I heard him suddenly exclaim.

"D- Dirty Pair!" before the screen went blank.

That little shit hung up on me! I tried again to contact the spaceport but was met with a message that our communications to that server where being blocked.

There was nothing more we could do. Our stomachs twisted as we thought about the people of Vellandra and how we were going to explain this to the chief.

EPILOGUE

Several days later the news reported that the grand luxury liner Andrometer did in fact crash into Vellandra on its maiden voyage. The impact was catastrophic, reports say it was the equivalent of a hundred nuclear bombs going off at once, but I feel that is a bit of over dramatization. What was true however was due to the dense levels of ethylene and methane in the air, the impact caused the atmosphere of Vellandra to ignite. In a twelve hour span a wall of flames hotter than you could imagine engulfed the entire planet.

The fault fell on Yoselle Industries, specifically Gwen Raimi, the daughter of Yoselle's CEO, Judah Raimi. Our report detailed that Gwen Raimi had been running a drug smuggling ring using Yoselle's resources. In danger of being discovered, Gwen ordered the assassination of those unfortunate enough to have stumbled upon her operation. After learning that the former CEO of Rycht Industries, Elwin Bannick, had also uncovered her side business she used her trusted android bodyguard Fredrickson Voorhees to order a hit on both Elwin Bannick and her father Judah Raimi during the cruise on the luxury liner, Andrometer. This would have put her next in line for complete control of Yoselle industries. However, the assassination attempt was botched, somehow Voorhees sustained extensive damage to his audio/visual receptors. To fulfill his mission Voorhees opted to eradicate all living people on Andrometer to guarantee the success of his duties. During our investigation, we uncovered that Voorhees had uploaded his consciousness into the Andrometer and went kamikaze.

The reports say that despite their best evacuation efforts 70% of the population was lost, roughly a 65,000-count death toll. Vellandra was rendered completely uninhabitable.

Case 0219 – CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

ANGELS TAKE FLIGHT

PROLOGUE

Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse 08.11.2141

Orange tinted rays of twilight cascaded through the floor to ceiling windows that covered the entirety of our living room wall overlooking our modest deck. Normally on a rare day off like this, I would be out enjoying the sun's glow and getting a little color on my already flawless golden skin. Instead, I was curled up on the couch with a nice cup of green tea, my favorite. I blew gently into my mug wafting the aroma of the tea leaves into my nose. It was uncommon that I could put on something comfy and just kick back like this. My life as a criminal division trouble consultant for the Worlds Welfare Work Association usually keeps me going nonstop.

The loft was unusually quiet. My partner, Yuri, was out with some guy. He was okay looking, but she could do way better. Yuri is a striking beauty with her lily-white skin and raven colored, long, naturally straight hair reaching just below her waist. I am only a little jealous, not that I would ever admit it, and I will give you a severe beat down if you even tell a soul, but my flame-colored mane is naturally curly and a bit frizzy. I hate it, so I keep it straight, short, and cut into a cute wolf cut. Anyway, we were talking about Yuri, she has these big blueish gray eyes and slightly pouty lips, sometimes even I find myself staring and I am not even into girls.

The silence and the gradience of the dusk had me feeling really at ease and a bit nostalgic. If I wasn't careful I could get lost in a memory.

My musings were abruptly interrupted by a large black head shoving his way onto my lap. I quickly lifted my cup to not spill any of my tea as the head was followed by a massive furry body crawling onto the sectional sofa of our little tea nook. All I could do is give a soft laugh and shake my head as the overly large feline-esque creature decided it was time to cuddle. Snuggling into place he almost immediately started purring, or snoring, I couldn't tell. Meanwhile, I was now trapped under an easily six-foot frame of our pet and one of our best friends, Mughi. Clearly defeated I had no choice but to get comfortable, easing down I took a sip of my tea and with a soft smile I placed my hand on his soft oversized head. At my touch, he stretched out his trunk-like legs and flexed his silver razor-sharp claws. These talons could easily rip through the hull of a spaceship with ease. Appreciatively, he was pretty careful despite his size, I had never been scratched, not even once.

Mughi is one of the nearly extinct species known as omlarcats, pretty sure I heard somewhere they were named after some obscure mythical creature or something like that. While they may resemble the beasts once known as panthers that existed on Earth before the incident, they are actually quite different. First of all, they have two long prehensile tentacles that end with little suction cups sprouting from their shoulder area that are as functional as human hands. Omlarcats also sport these purplish tribal scar-like mounds that give off a soft glow, apparently, they appear differently on each member of its species. Their ears twist and curl backward similar to ram horns, by vibrating their curly ear fur they can do some pretty amazing things.

The omlarcat's diet consists of taking one very expensive kalium capsule once a day. Honestly, it may cost an arm and a leg, but it is totally worth it. I don't know if we could even survive without our faithful furry friend. He has saved us more times than I could count. Scientists have estimated that their intelligence matches humans, perhaps even surpasses it. Now, I am pretty skilled when it comes to tinkering with machinery but Mughi excels at it, so he handles all of the technical stuff, like the repairs on our ship the Lovely Angel and other things that Yuri and I fall short in.

We met Mughi a few years back when we were doing our training for the 3WA. It took some major convincing on our part, but he was soon adopted as the invaluable third member of our little team. I took another sip of my tea as I gazed at the large black mass sprawled across me snoring away. Had it already been that long ago? It seemed like only yesterday.

CHAPTER 1

3WA Training Facility, Planet Shimogu, 03.07.2139

It felt good to be back on my feet, Yuri and I had just spent the last week in the infirmary unit fighting for our very lives. We had been near-fatally wounded on our first mission out. So embarrassing, I don't even want to talk about it, the wound was too fresh, literally. But mark my words, that bitch will pay one day!

I stretched my slender, perfectly shaped leg out and arched my back until I heard the crack of my spine; they never tell you how stiff you are going to feel after a week in the tank. Either way, I was thrilled to get back out there and prove that we could actually handle ourselves like professional trouble consultants and that we weren't some sort of luck deprived walking disasters, not that what happened was our fault in anyway; it was totally all HER'S. I was not thrilled about having to put back on this hideous uniform though; like who was the designer at the 3WA? Head to toe silver? I looked like a baked potato, and I felt like one too. It would be better with some exposed skin y'know let us show off some of what our mamas gave us! Trust me, no one would be complaining.

See, I am from the planet Niogi, a small mining planet located right between two suns, so conditions could be considered harsh for some of the pansies of the United Galactica but to me, it was home. With that being said, being this covered up was not something I was used to or particularly enjoyed.

"How can you even stand this?" I asked clutching at the high neck of the uniform and stretching my head in various directions.

"It's not so bad, it certainly could be worse, have you ever had to wear a kimono?" Responded the light voice of my partner Yuri.

She pouted her puffy lips at me, clearly, she was thinking about some traumatic previous experiences. It made sense, Yuri was raised by her exceedingly traditional Japanese grandmother. I am sure she was put through the wringer with all sorts of song and dance and dressed up like a little Asian doll. It was still surprising how different we were and yet how close we had become at the same time. Yuri and I met on our first day at Meizuiru University, we were assigned to be roommates. Poor girl had just lost her grandmother and her parents pretty much dumped her there. They claimed they were too busy to properly take care of her but personally, I think that excuse is just a bunch of bull. As you can imagine, she was not the easiest person to get along with; she came off as this snotty princess from the luxurious planet of Yocha, the child of diplomats. And here I was, the child of a miner, probably still coated in a layer or two of dust. But, I cut her some slack since she was going through some stuff. I helped her the best I could with losing her grandma, see I lost my mama when I was pretty young, so I knew a little something about what she was experiencing. And wouldn't you know it, despite our glaring differences, the two of us soon became inseparable.

It may or may not have something to do with the reason we were even here on Shimogu training to be trouble consultants. Yuri and I were chillin' in our room one day studying, well, y'know 'studying.' I think I was actually playing a celeb sim or something. Yuri had her nose buried in a book, she was that type though. Shifting around my hand grazed hers and then a totally weird feeling came over me, couldn't quite figure out if I was about to pass out or if a gnarly headache was coming on suddenly. I returned to my senses to see Yuri, she had a similar look of surprise on her face, now when I say I saw Yuri, let me tell you, I saw only Yuri. Everything else was white as a blizzard. We both drew our eyes up at the same time to see a red bird with what looked like a ring in its mouth. Then it was over and we were back in our dorm room looking stunned. The whole thing lasted a couple of seconds, tops, but it was still weird as hell! Yuri had asked me if I saw the bird, so it was obvious it happened to her too.

A few days later we were strolling through campus when we came across a commotion, not one to pass up on drama I pulled Yuri over to see what was going on. Apparently, some moron had brought her family's ultra-expensive heirloom ring with her to campus, again, moron. Anyway, it got stolen, duh, and they were arresting the culprit. Yuri was the first to notice, she pulled on the sleeve of my uniform and pointed it out. On the culprit's lapel was a pin of a red jeweled bird! Like no way! Did Yuri and I have, like, a vision of this? Was that even possible!? Well, we cut class and rushed over to the science department to tell the professor there, he explained that the theory of binary clairvoyance was possible but there had never been any conclusively documented cases, in other words, he didn't believe us!

The nerve! Well, we didn't stop there we told everyone that would listen all the way up to Dean Warren, the head of the university.

No one believed us. Yuri and I tried a couple of times to make it happen again, but we couldn't. Which like whatever; we weren't their circus monkeys. Save your peanuts, peasants.

We were feeling pretty disheartened by the time the dude from the 3WA came to talk to us. The 3WA or Worlds Welfare Work Association was this big company that worked throughout the United Galactica, they weren't like the cops or military or anything like that, a common misconception. I think they are more like a consultancy firm mixed with a private investigator. I hear they do all sorts of stuff though, from like criminal investigations to terraforming and even like politics and business crap. Anyway, somehow, they heard our story and wanted to meet us. And trust me, soon people were kissing our perfectly shaped butts.

Sorry haters, you should have believed us!

After we graduated from Meizuiru University, yes, I graduated! I will have you know even Miss Smarty-Pants Yuri also graduated with mediocre and unspectacular scores! As I was saying, that 3WA agent that had scouted us soon scooped us up for some testing, and well, I guess we passed because before we could even really answer yes or no we were shipped off the training facility on Shimogu. Obviously, we were pretty damned good at it since we were at the top of our class, for once. And don't go thinking it's because the training is easy, it's super hard; like I would say tougher than boot camp! Not that I have any real basis of comparison but y'know. It was decided that Yuri and I were best suited to become Criminal Division Trouble consultants. So, our training shifted becoming more focused on that, we even got to go out on a live mission and… Hey! I said I didn't want to talk about it, okay!?

So anyway, here we are.

Back from the dead, looking like tinfoil wrapped leftovers.

Now that we were mostly recovered we had to report to our training chief, Andrew Frances Gooley, pretty sure he was already well informed of the previous debacle so with any luck that is not what he wanted to talk about. Yuri and I were clearly both dreading this encounter, we had been dragging our feet the whole way there and we were now loitering outside of his door.

"Let's just get this over with." I said with a deep sigh as I straightened the hair band I was wearing to keep my short coppery spikes pulled back.

Yuri nodded in agreement but tightened her lips into a frown.

I knocked on the door and opened it just enough to peak my head in. "Chief?"

Chief Gooley was sitting at his large desk with his head buried in some random reports, he looked up at me from under his thick eyebrows. Not that I am into geezers or anything but Chief Gooley was a pretty decent looking guy. He was probably in his mid-thirties, I know, gross right? Whatever, he wore his age well. He was clean shaven and still had a head full of light brown hair he kept parted on the side. His years as a Trouble consultant had certainly done favors for his body, you could tell he was ripped under his beige suit. What can I say? Kei likey some meat on her mens.

With a wave of his hand, he ushered us in. I slinked my lithe sexy figure through the crack of the door, Yuri flowed in from behind; she had gone into full puppy dog mode. Her eyes were even wider than normal and she hung her head slightly. "Sit down." His deep voice instructed.

We did as we were told and took the two available seats on the opposite side of the desk from the chief.

"I want to start by saying I am glad to see you two up again, however—"

"It wasn't our fault!" I shouted abruptly, effectively cutting the chief off.

He held up his hand and narrowed his eyes to silence me, fair enough, I shouldn't have had that little outburst, but really, it wasn't our fault!

"However." Gooley continued. "We have decided to send you out on another case. Solo this time."

Yuri and I exchanged perplexed glances. Was he serious? I mean, the last case we were on was a total dumpster fire.

"Considering the extremely obscure specifics of your last case, the CEO of the 3WA reviewed this incident personally, along with the input of the Central Computer it was determined that you were, in fact, not at fault. As a matter of fact, had it not been for your exemplary teamwork the situation could have been astronomically more cataclysmic." Gooley announced. "Even though you disobeyed strict orders." He added under his breath.

Still not quite buying what he was selling I turned back to him with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. I was about to speak when Yuri chirped up from beside me. "Don't you think we need a smidge more training, sir?"

"Obviously, your training is still nowhere near complete, with that being said you two have proved you are capable of handling a situation like this on your own. That and…" He trailed off as he cleared his throat and adjusted his tie.

"And?" I probed.

"And, you may be the only ones that are capable of solving this one." He finished reluctantly.

Okay, now I was intrigued, Yuri and I shot each other a glance expressing our mutual curiosity.

"What do you mean, sir?" Yuri inquired further.

"This case came in several weeks ago, galactic standard time, several trouble consultants have already committed more hours than I care to admit and have all come up with nothing, not a single clue. The client is becoming more and more impatient with our…" Gooley cleared his throat again. "Struggle. The Central Computer and the CEO have agreed that your abilities as an Esper Team may be what we need to solve this case."

I puckered my lips and cocked my eyebrow as I gave a cheeky side eye to Yuri, she must have read my mind because she just gave a soft shake of her head indicating for me not to proceed, but that wasn't my style.

"So, what you are saying is, you're desperate. Desperate enough to send two trainees who were almost worm food a week ago back into the field unsupervised?"

"I didn't say unsupervised." Gooley retorted, his tone had become curter from my statement. "I will be accompanying and monitoring you throughout the investigation. This is to be considered a real-life training exercise. If at any point you screw up or step out of line even slightly, I will personally demote or expel you." His tone gradually became more aggressive, I had really pissed this guy off.

"Oh." I said with a guilty chuckle. "That's good, just making sure, thanks for clearing that up Chief." I continued, my tone was still apologetic.

I could really put my foot in my mouth sometimes, Yuri just clutched her forehead and shook her head, and to her credit she had tried to stop me. Maybe I would be better off listening to her advice once in a while.

"So, sir, what is this elusive case?" Yuri spoke on both of our behalfs, I had clearly done enough talking for the day. Kei was on a time out.

Having composed himself the chief pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and turned to the large holographic display behind his desk. Various reports and case files were exhibited all at once.

"This is Monterey Lovecraft." The chief spoke as a photo of an elderly man enlarged itself on the screen.

This guy made the Chief look like a primary schooler. He had to be in his seventies or eighties. The top of his head was completely bald unless you count liver spots of which he had plenty, the sparse hair he did have was completely white. He had these milky, beady, little eyes that looked out over a long, thin, beaked nose. I tried not to grimace as I looked at his pruney paper thin skin that clung to his skull like shrink wrap, pretty sure I failed though. Thankfully the chief didn't notice and continued with his explanation.

"Our client and the president of the largest power plant on the planet Bariza. According to their reports from last quarter, roughly 20% of the energy generated by the plant was unaccounted for."

"What's the big deal? So his overstuffed pockets are a little less full?" I asked with a smug shrug causing the chief to stop and shoot me a stony glare. Oops, I forgot, I was on time out.

"It is not just him, power companies across Bariza are reporting unexplained losses in output."

Yuri placed a finger to her chin as she adopted a pensive look. "That is strange? What is happening to that missing energy?"

"That is what you need to find out. As previously stated our agents have yet to find any clues as to its whereabouts, it has simply vanished." Gooley retorted.

"So maybe it is just vanishing." I added.

Yuri sighed a soft sigh. "That's not how energy works, Kei." Oh! Her condescending tone instantly set me off.

Excuse me for not knowing these things, it's not like science was my strength in school like her.

The chief cleared his throat in an attempt to end our squabble before it could escalate.

"The rest of the info you will need is provided here." He said handing Yuri a data unit. "Now, there is one more thing." His tone shifted slightly sounding more nervous as he pressed a few other keys.

The display now shifted to a large scarlet colored spaceship as well as various schematic and infographic images. She was pretty impressive, she had the curves of a lady that ended with four imposing engines and spanning wings at the back. She was described as an 80-meter Voyager class but had clearly gone through some upgrades cuz it was apparent from the cannons at her side that she was packing some serious heat, a gal I could relate to!

"This is the Lovely Angel." The chief informed while turning back to us. "This ship has been authorized for your use during this mission and any upcoming training missions. Upon completion of your training, it will be assigned to you on a permanent basis."

"You mean we get to keep her!?" I could barely contain my excitement!

"So to speak, 'she' is the property of the Worlds Welfare Work Association but she will be assigned to you two specifically." Gooley corrected.

"Now!" He cleared his throat again this time raising his first to politely cover it. "Report to mission control for weapon checks and preparation, we will be departing first thing in the morning."

"YES SIR!" We both exclaimed in unison as we raised up from our chairs and rushed out of the room, Yuri giving a small bow before we disappeared behind the door. From the other side, I could hear Chief Gooley lamenting.

"I pray headquarters knows what they are doing."

CHAPTER 2

We were on the way to the spaceport, ahead of schedule, what could I say we were just so stoked to meet our new baby! Okay, that might be a bit of an understatement, I have never brushed my teeth so fast in my life. As the car rounded the corner she started to come into view. Yuri and I were pressed to the window in awe as we approached, her beautiful cherry colored hull seemed to almost sparkle in the morning light. The car slowed to a stop, though truth be told we had probably jumped out before it actually came to a complete stop.

Chief Gooley was already there waiting for us at the ramped entrance to Lovely Angel, he was glaring annoyedly at an antique pocket watch he had fished out of his jacket pocket, jeez even early wasn't good enough for this tightwad. Whatever, I wasn't about to let this sourpuss spoil what was about to be the best day of my freakin' life!

"Good morning sir, preparations were successful. I believe we are ready to depart." My brown-nosing partner informed the chief as we reached the entrance. "We reviewed the case files last night as well."

"We? Even Kei?" The chief inquired suspiciously.

Holding back the urge to punch this smug jerk in the face I forced a toothy smile.

"Of course." I responded through gritted teeth.

And to tell the truth, I really had reviewed every document on that stupid data drive, I may not have understood all of it, but I did it! I may not be as obvious about it as some people, who will go unnamed, Yuri, but I take this job very seriously and I am not a total space case. Give me some credit people.

"Very well. Prepare for takeoff then." Gooley quipped with a sheepish undertone to his voice as he coughed, that's right mister. You eat those words!

Without another word Yuri and I bounded up the ramp into our new ship. The entrance led to a decompression room that must have also doubled as an arsenal. We unloaded the weaponry here that we had been assigned for the mission. Going through another hallway the double doors slide open into the living quarters of the Lovely Angel. They were pretty cute digs, I would definitely be comfortable here. It wasn't anything too extravagant, a sectional sofa facing a large display, a small kitchenette area with two bar stools at the counter. Perfect. To the left were two doors I assumed led to the john and sleeping quarters. Through another hall we reached the deck of our new teammate, she was a four-seater with the flight controls on the left side. Gooley quickly took his place at that seat while Yuri and I continued our spelunking. This was awesome, I was overwhelmed taking in her amenities.

"Look at this sound system! Can blast some jams with this baby!" I excitedly called to Yuri, she was busy herself.

"These displays offer a complete 360-degree view of the ship, fantastic!" Yuri squealed, her soprano voice could have shattered glass, I hated when she got too excited like this.

I gave out an impressed whistle. "Look at the firepower on this gal!"

"Will you two sit down?!" Chief Gooley finally demanded from the driver's seat.

"Sorry, sir!" Yuri squeaked as she took a seat in the front seat next to the chief. Pfft, chief's pet. I gladly took the seat behind her. Without another word, the chief began flipping switches bringing our Lovely Angel to life with a roar. My heart skipped a beat as we rose into the air, I still couldn't believe she was ours!

"Can I try driving?" I asked poking my head to the front.

"Absolutely," The chief responded as we climbed into the atmosphere of Shimogu. "Right after you complete your 100 hours of flight training."

I slumped down in my seat, what a buzzkill.

Gooley piloted the ship to the space station orbiting around the small planet, after acquiring the proper clearance we entered the warp drive for our destination of Bariza.

Marmer Spaceport, Planet Bariza

Even with the warp drive the trip still took almost two hours, not that I was complaining. Without warp drive technology traveling that sort of distance would have taken years if not decades. Either way, we arrived with little to nothing of note, though it looked like the chief could use an aspirin or something, he kept rubbing his temples and mumbling about something. Maybe we could pick him up some in the duty-free market. I absorbed the landscape of the shimmering planet as we descended slowly to the ground. Landing would take about twenty to forty minutes, so I had time to look around. Bariza was an interesting planet, on the smaller side and 98% covered in water. People lived on the small patches of land that existed sporadically across Bariza. I learned from my research they were currently in the process of developing habitats under the sea to make the planet more habitable See, I did study.

We finally landed in the space previously allotted by the Marmer dispatchers and left the Lovely Angel in the capable hands of the ground crew.

"Take good care of her, m'kay." I instructed the crew as we made our way into the spaceport.

The agenda for the rest of the day was to get through customs and then meet with the crypt keeper for further debriefing. The Marmer spaceport was pretty standard as far as these things went, a bit too overcrowded and filled with people rushing from place to place. The layout of the place was quite aesthetically pleasing, most of the building was built with arched windows with accenting white support beams allowing the patrons bountiful views of their silvery ocean. Thankfully we had several hours yet until we had to meet the walking dead, so the crowds weren't much of an issue, we could take in the sights as well, maybe do a little shopping too, I mean we were on per diem.

My planning was prematurely cut short by someone walking right into me. They collided with my right shoulder and about knocked me to the ground, but I managed to reclaim my balance quickly. Some people could be so clumsy!

"Watch where you're going! You stupid mother f—"

I stopped, my mouth hanging open as I locked eyes with the person who bumped me. I know I probably say this a lot but the guy standing before me had to be the most gorgeous man I had ever seen in all of my seventeen years. I was literally left dumbstruck. He had these beautifully piercing deep almost black eyes that seemed to be staring into my soul through my milk chocolatey brown eyes. His dark hair was combed back into a wavy quaff that suited his square face and strong jawline with just a hint of stubble. I withdrew my eyes long enough to give him a quick look up and down. He was tall, probably 6' or 6'1" with olive skin and just the right kind of build for my taste. Defined and appropriately muscled without being obnoxiously big. I could tell right away under his skin-tight cerulean colored shirt that he was sporting a luscious pair of strong pecs and abs for days. Was it suddenly getting hot in here?

"My bad." The stranger said as he placed a firm hand on the shoulder he had just barreled into.

His gorgeous lips curled into an even more beautiful smile as he apologized. That was it, I was in love! Call a priest and get me a white dress because this man was the one for me. No doubt about it.

"Come on, we have to go." Yuri said with a polite smile to the stranger as she pulled me back to the chief.

My mouth still hung open like a huge dunce as I allowed myself to be led by Yuri. Obviously, she had no idea I had a wedding to get to.

"Maybe we will see each other around." The man offered with an irresistible yet cocky smirk as he grew smaller eventually disappearing into the crowd as Yuri pulled me towards the customs counter.

"Ohmigawd, Yuri! Did you see that guy? What a total hunk, I think I suddenly believe in love at first sight." I gushed to Yuri having now regained my sensibilities enough to conjugate sentences.

"He was pretty cute." Was all she had to say straightening her bangs.

"Pretty cute? That's it? Seriously!?" Clearly, Yuri's taste needed to be questioned at a later time.

We met the chief who was waiting for us at customs. His expression was stern, we should have picked him up that aspirin. We got in line without making a further fuss, we didn't want the poor chief's head to explode. Before long, it was my turn at the counter, the kindly receptionist asked for my customs documents and ID, I placed my documents on the counter and reached into my hip holster for my ID. To my horror, it wasn't there. I started to panic a bit as I checked every possible place it could be, but it was nowhere to be found. Yuri furrowed her brow and she glanced in my direction. She was having no issue checking in, I gave her a quick shrug in response. I didn't leave my ID on the ship, or worse, back on Shimogu did I? No, I definitely had it, this was bad.

"Kei! KEI!" A deep voice called from behind me.

I spun around to see my soulmate and future husband jogging towards me. Yes, my love? You want me to run away with you to a tropical planet where we can fall asleep every night on a starlit beach curled up in the warm sand and wrapped in each other's arms? Just say the word and I am yours. Wait, how did he know my name?

"You must have dropped this." He explained as he reached me and extended his hand out. In it was my ID. It must have fallen out of my holster when we collided.

"Oh, thank you." I said with a coy smile, this time he wouldn't be dealing with the dunce I was moments ago.

"3WA, huh? Guess I better stay out of trouble." He raised the corner of his lip into another crooked smile, I swear my knees went weak. "See you around, beautiful."

Wait, don't go! Oh, damn my luck, he had already turned and started walking away. I stood there for a moment watching him leave, and that was it, I wasn't looking at his adorable round butt! He turned and gave me a quick wink and a wave. Oh, dear fate, if you are at all kind and generous you will let me meet that man again. We were destined to meet once, surely, we would a second time.

I turned to get back to business and handed my ID to the receptionist, I couldn't get that smile out of my head. I grinned to myself and blushed a bit just thinking about it.

After leaving the Marmer spaceport we traveled half an hour to the outskirts of the city to meet our client at his power plant. We were greeted by two burly men in matching black suits and sunglasses when we arrived. They were kind enough to escort us up to the presidential suite where we were scheduled to meet Mr. Lovecraft. The men showed the three of us into the room and led us to the excessively large red leather sofa.

"Mr. Lovecraft is running a bit late. He will be with us shortly. Shall I get you anything to drink?" One of the men spoke, his voice was surprisingly soft for a man of his size.

"Green tea." I ordered.

"Hot chocolate, please?" Yuri requested meekly.

Girl, really? You keep ordering like that and you are gonna end up looking like a blimp in no time flat, gotta watch those calories!

"Nothing for me, thank you." The chief declined.

The men gave a simple nod and dialed a series of numbers into the console atop of the sprawling coffee table laid out before us. The center of the table opened, and a tray rose up from the center carrying our selected beverages.

Hey, pretty swanky.

I needed to get me something like that. I collected my drink and brought it to my lips blowing on it gently. This whole office was pretty ritzy but also completely unnecessary. Like, Mr. Lovecraft's desk resided in the back on the room and it was easily the size of two king-size beds sitting end to end. Adding to the extraness of it all, behind the desk were massive cathedral-sized windows with crimson velvet curtains framing them from floor to ceiling. I think the gaudiest part of all was on the wall across from us above a lavish fireplace was an oversized portrait of Lovecraft with two greyhounds, one labeled Rasmussen, and the other Stetson. The three were quite a trio with their unnaturally thin proportions. Not to mention who used a fireplace anymore? How totally archaic of him.

As I took a sip of my tea, the door to the office opened and a frail elderly man entered the room. My stomach soured at the sight of him, suddenly I wasn't so thirsty anymore. This man was even more disturbing in person. His sickly skeletal looking frame crept toward us at a painfully measured pace, just as deliberately he lowered himself onto the seat adjacent from us.

"Well, you must be the Worlds Welfare Work Association trouble consultants, I presume." The gross old man's voice was breathy, each word was drawn out and sounded like it was being carried on the wind. His tone was repulsed, the chief warned us that he was getting upset but he was speaking with downright disdain.

"Correct, it's a pleasure, Mr. Lovecraft, I am Andrew Gooley, Chief of –" The chief had reached out his hand to Mr. Lovecraft to shake his hand as he introduced himself, but Mr. Lovecraft just waved it away with his boney liver spot covered claw of a hand.

"I don't care who you are. You are the third batch of trouble consultants that have been dispatched here by your incompetent joke of an organization. As far as I am concerned this is your last chance to find out what has happened to my missing product. Fail again and I will be forced to seek assistance elsewhere." Lovecraft's words were dripping with venom.

It was difficult not to be like totally offended by what he was saying, this was our pride as trouble consultants on the line here.

"I understand. If we could get further information regarding the case it would be appreciated." The chief responded cordially, had to admire his composure, I was desperately fighting the urge to snap his brittle little bones like toothpicks.

Lovecraft just let out a wheezing chortle in response to Gooley's request. "You must be joking."

Lovecraft stood and straightened out his slacks. "I don't have time for this, I have told your colleagues everything you need to know, and I shan't be repeating myself again, I am a very busy man you know!" Oh, this guy was asking for it now! I clenched my fists and started to stand, I was stopped by Yuri holding me down by my shoulders with an exasperated look on her face.

"Of course, my apologies for wasting your time, we will see ourselves out." Chief Gooley apologized and rose to his feet, he gestured for us to join him.

I couldn't believe this, we just came here to be insulted and now we had to leave empty handed? Not cool!

Though we offered to leave peacefully, Lovecraft still gestured for his men to accompany us. They two bulking bodyguards trailed us all the way back to the car and stood there as we got in and drove away.

"Well, that was discouraging." Yuri said with another signature pout as she turned to gaze at the bodyguards in the distance.

"That guy is definitely hiding something, what kind of attitude was that? Did he forget we were there to help him?" I folded my arms getting more and more hot thinking about that zombie's attitude.

"Bad manners don't necessarily equate guilt." The chief coughed a bit as he offered us this pearl of wisdom. He may have had a point, but my gut was telling me that this guy was trouble.

CHAPTER 3

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking with the other major energy distributors in the area. But nothing new was revealed. They too had unexplained deficits in output, no leads or direction on where these shortages could have come from or where the energy went. It was a no brainer as to why the previous trouble consultants had come up empty. The day had been a total bust, so we decided to retire to our hotel to recoup.

I plopped down on the pillowy white bed, my hair was still a bit damp from the much-needed shower I had just finished. I felt more comfortable now dressed in a tank and a pair of shorts. I raised my hand above my head giving my arms a stretch and my knuckles a good crack. I rolled around onto my stomach to address Yuri. She was sitting at the desk pouring through some of the files from the case, she was dressed in a similarly comfortable fashion sporting a flowing shirt hanging off of her shoulders and shorts comparable to mine, her long hair was pulled up into a messy bun, a common trait of hers while studying I had observed during our time together.

"What's your take on all this?" I asked resting my chin in my hands.

"Honestly, I don't even know." Yuri released a soft sigh as she turned in her chair to look at me. "I must admit that my gut agrees with yours, Lovecraft is suspicious. But why would he have petitioned us if he was somehow involved?"

As Yuri spoked the power of the room darkened for a few seconds before returning to normal, there had been reports of brief rolling blackouts like this due to the inconsistency of the power plants.

"Why indeed?" a male's voice said from the vicinity of the window.

Yuri let out a brisk scream and I quickly snatched up the stun gun that the 3WA issued to us trainees, it wasn't lethal, but it could knock your butt out for several hours for sure. I turned towards our intruder and took aim. My eyes were as wide as saucers. It was him. The love of my life from the airport.

"You?!" Was the most intelligible thing I could muster.

"Hey cherub, fancy meeting you here." He said crawling through the now open window letting himself into our room.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Yuri's tone was panicked as she demanded answers.

"I guess I didn't really get much of a chance to introduce myself earlier today. My name is Carson, Carson D. Carson." He said with what I am now calling his trademark smirk.

It was so confident and so dreamy at the same time, focus Kei, you have a gun pointed at him! Wasting no time making himself comfortable, Carson plopped himself down in the plush chair in the corner of the room.

"Excuse the inappropriate intrusion but I need your help."

"So, you just let yourself into our room? That's not totally creepy or anything?! This guy might have been my soulmate but that didn't mean I was gonna tolerate this kind of behavior.

"I know how it looks but I needed to talk to you without your dad around." He explained.

"He's not our dad." Yuri retorted. Geez, Yuri, he was obviously kidding, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us.

"How did you find us?"

"Okay, I will admit, it was no coincidence we bumped into each other today. When I saw you from across the spaceport I was in awe, I had never seen a girl so stunning, I needed an excuse to talk to you." He explained. "After finding out you were a trainee trouble consultant I knew it was fate. So, I made a few calls and found out where you were staying."

I could feel my cheeks starting to flush.

"What exactly do you want from us?" I interrogated, the sights of my gun still locked onto him.

He sat forward in his seat and peered at me with those swarthy, beautiful, eyes. "Before we get into that, I want to make it clear that I am not coming here empty handed. I have something you want as well."

"And what might that be?" Yuri inquired. I will admit I was intrigued as well, I was hoping for an engagement ring, but we will see.

"Information." He answered. "You are here about the blackouts, right? I have Information that could help solve this case of yours and put away a monster like Lovecraft."

I lowered my gun, he had my attention now. Our future nuptials were going to have to wait.

"And what is it you want for this information?" I asked suspiciously.

"Like I said, your help. Lovecraft has something that belongs to me, something of significant value and I need your help to get into the plant and get it back." The lights dimmed again as he spoke.

This sounded shifty but at this point, we also didn't have a single lead.

"How do we know you are telling the truth? We don't even know you. How is it you were able to get this information when the previous trouble consultants came up with nothing?" I asserted.

"Let's just say that in my line of work I cross paths with a number of seedy characters. Information tends to travel in the underbelly of society." He said nonchalantly with a soft shrug.

This was feeling even shadier now. Yuri must have been picking up on that vibe as well as we exchanged concerned looks.

"Look, as a token of good faith, I will tell you this. There are several reports going around that Lovecraft is an agent of Lucifer."

"Lucifer?!" Yuri exclaimed and clasped her hand around her mouth.

Rightly so, Lucifer was no joking matter. They are the largest organized crime family in the United Galactica. Their origin and infrastructure are a complete mystery even to the 3WA, but they have been connected to crimes ranging from narcotic development, war mongering, corporate espionage, space piracy and more. Their name is feared throughout the cosmos. If they had a hand in the issues affecting Bariza then we had our work cut out for us. I could see now why Carson would seek out our help.

"So, you are proposing we break into the power plant, get back your stolen item, and you will provide us proof to tie Lovecraft to Lucifer and to the missing energy?" Yuri summarized absorbing the bomb that Carson just dropped on us.

"You have my word." Carson promised placing on hand on his heart and the other in the air.

While this man may have been destined to walk down the aisle with me one day this situation didn't feel on the up and up, I mean like, Gooley made it very clear that if we screwed up we were as good as canned, and here we were talking about breaking and entering? On the other hand, our little indiscretion could be forgiven if we solve this case when the professionals couldn't. I looked over to Yuri, she looked conflicted as well but not unopened to the idea.

"Okay, we're in."

"Would you mind waiting downstairs for us while we get ready, please?" Yuri requested sheepishly.

With a trademark smirk, Carson bowed his head in compliance and let himself out of the window that he arrived in. After confirming he was gone Yuri and I relaxed our tense dispositions.

"I hope we are doing the right thing." Yuri murmured as she went to put her uniform back on. Me too pal me too.

Carson was waiting for us in front of the hotel, he had the doors to his hover car open and waiting for us. We didn't say a word as we took our seats in the vehicle, I took the front passenger seat, for obvious reasons, while Yuri opted for the backseat. We drove the thirty minutes in silence. It wasn't too late to turn back, maybe Carson and I could ditch Yuri and make out in the back seat.

Oh, don't look at me like that, I am kidding, I am not that much of brat.

We parked a safe distance away as to not draw any attention to ourselves and walked the rest of the way to the power plant. We stopped short of the gated perimeter to the property, surely a place like this would have intense security, especially if this was a Lucifer run facility. Yuri was one step ahead of me, she pulled up her holo-computer and was scanning the area. These uniforms were ugly as hell, but they did have some useful features, like the holo-computer, which was built into the wrist area. After she completed her scan Yuri pulled up a 3D diagram of the facility, not only was it showing the layout of the facility but also the security functions not visible otherwise.

"We will need to navigate ourselves here. There we should be able to gain access to the main facility. There are gun torrents hidden here and here. There is a laser grid covering the ground just outside the access point, but I should be to disable it for enough time to get us through, we will have to be quick so that they don't notice." Yuri informed us pointing at various parts of the diagram.

"Once inside we should head for Lovecraft's office. According to my sources that is where he is keeping it." Carson added.

It still felt uncomfortable trusting him like this, but we had come this far. My mind was still focused on those gunners, I had no idea how we were gonna get passed those, it's not like my stun gun was going to have any proper effect on legit laser fire. It seemed I was the only one with these apprehensions since Yuri and Carson began scaling the stone fence. Guess we would cross that bridge when we got there. Besides I didn't want to look like a wet rag in front of Carson. So, without another thought, I too climbed up and over into the facility.

We huddled in the shadows watching the patterns of the searchlights, good grief was this a power plant or a prison? The path Yuri had set out for seemed to completely bypass the area of covered by the searchlights, so they were of no concern to us. We made our way stealthily to the area just before the torrents.

"What's your plan now, brainiac?" I asked with an obvious mocking tone.

Yuri turned to me with a mischievous smile, not a good sign. I recognized that smug grin, it meant exactly two things, I was about to be put in my place and it was about to go down. Neither of those things bode well for me, if she showed me up in front of Carson I would never forgive her.

Reaching into her holster Yuri pulled out something resembling a silver playing card with a broken heart on the front of it. Oh no, the Bloody Card. A recent invention of the tech wizards at the 3WA research and development department, I am no tech geek or anything, but it was explained to us that it was made of from some fancy smancy alloy that was supposed to be the strongest metal in the galaxy, and it was sharp too, I have seen it slice through steel like a knife through butter. Aside from that it also has this anti-gravity stuff in it so you could remote control it and it would stay airborne for hours. Yuri had been training extensively with this thing, but she was nowhere near a pro with it. In fact, she could only get it to work a fraction of the time. Just a few weeks ago she nearly took my head off!

So, as you can imagine I had adopted a defensive position. I grabbed Carson's arm and pulled him down with me, I resisted the urge to caress his hazel colored biceps and instead just enjoyed being so close to him, he smelled so good. Yuri had crouched down and selected a piece of rubble. Taking aim, she threw it into the proximity of the torrents, as they sprung to life and began to fire, Yuri aggressively flicked her hand and sent the Bloody Card soaring. Though I was covering both myself and Carson for our own safety I could see the concentration on her face as she navigated the speeding silver streak towards the gunners. Within seconds the sound of laser fire had stopped, it was completely silent. I poked my head to see Yuri looking quite pleased with herself as she returned the Bloody Card to her holster. Craning my neck further I could see the barrels of the gun torrents were completely severed, smoke billowing from their severed stumps.

I was right, I had to eat my words and even worse, apologize to Yuri.

"Once I drop the grid we will have about ten seconds before it restarts, if we don't make it the sirens will sound, do you think you can handle that?" Yuri inquired as Carson and I rose to our feet.

I sure hope she was addressing him because we both knew I was faster than her and we had the training records to prove it.

"I will be okay, I am quicker than I look." Carson reassured.

Without a further guarantee, Yuri's fingers began dancing on the virtual keyboard. "When I say go, get ready to run for your lives."

Cracking my neck, I surveyed the distance as I loosened myself up, it looked to be roughly fifty meters, not an easy task but doable.

"Get ready." Yuri said with her eyes glued to her monitor.

"Go!" Yuri exclaimed as she hit the enter key and started into a dash with Carson and I followed suit behind.

CHAPTER 4

We made it by the skin of our teeth, the grid had flared back to life inches from my heel. After taking a quick moment to catch our breath we entered into the power plant. Being after hours the halls were completely abandoned by its usual bustling staff, not even a security drone in sight. I am not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed, I expected more from Lucifer's security. Big bad Lucifer and here we are dealing with this elementary kinda stuff. We found our way back with no incident and let ourselves into Lovecraft's overly excessive office.

The pungent smell of a slow death struck my nostrils as we walked in, I am surprised I didn't notice it before. Maybe it was the stillness that was bringing it out now. I personally was in a hurry to get some lights on, didn't notice how creepy this place actually was during the day. Finding the controls, I turned on the lights.

"What exactly are we looking for, Mr. Carson?" Yuri inquired as she strolled over to Lovecraft's desk and rested against it.

"Aha, patience lovely, we will know when we find it."

What did he just call her? Oh, hell no, she better not be moving in on the future father of my children.

It was time to reassert my position, I strolled over to Carson, stopping inches in front of him and looking up slowly to meet his gaze. Reaching up I ran my finger from the base of his neck down the center of his chest keeping my sultry stare locked with his.

"Y'know Carson, we have been trusting you on good faith alone. Maybe you could trust us too, whaddya think?" I asked softly bringing my lips to his ear.

"You don't play fair, do you?" Carson responded, his face nearly touching mine. "My guess is there must be a safe hidden around here somewhere." Carson continued with a playful grin. If this boy wasn't careful I could kiss him right then and there.

"Ahem, if you two are quite done don't you think we should start looking?" Yuri tittered. Thanks 'partner' your timing was impeccable.

It was nice to have a goal in mind, but I felt like we were searching for a needle in a haystack. Where to even begin?

"Do you feel that?" Yuri asked standing from the desk and walking towards me.

"I don't feel anyt—" I started to say when the feeling hit me.

A warm sensation starting in my hands that worked its way up my arms, down my spine and finally flowing into the rest of my body. Yuri and I joined hands and closed our eyes. It wasn't going to be long before the room blanched and we would be left in pure whiteness. As our eyelids fluttered open we raised our glance to the space above us. Dancing around was the vision of two dogs, greyhounds specifically, frolicking in a hellish fire.

"You ladies okay?" Carson inquired as he placed a hand on my shoulder, a look of adorable concern on his face.

We were back, the vision was over.

"Fine." I responded half paying attention, we always felt a bit fuzzy for a few moments after.

Yuri and I both turned to the garish portrait of Monterey Lovecraft hanging above his fireplace. Walking over we both reach up simultaneously and pulled the picture from the wall. As expected there was a panel behind it, no doubt leading to Carson's aforementioned safe.

"Amazing! How did you guys know?"

"Don't you worry your handsome little face about it." I reassured him as I placed my index finger to his supple lips. Surely a kiss was in order as a reward for finding the safe.

"A better question is does anyone know the code to this?" Yuri pondered as she examined the control panel.

"You just leave that to me." Carson boasted as he sidestepped me and joined Yuri at the panel.

I will forgive this insult considering the circumstances, but he better watch himself going forward. Carson removed the device he was wearing around his wrist and attached it to the interface of the control panel, once connected the two sprung to life, his gadget getting right to work. It must have been some kind of decoder or safecracker judging from the way it was rapidly cycling through various combinations. I frowned as watched, tools like this were not in any way legal to possess.

"What kind of work do you do exactly, Mr. Carson?" Yuri folded her arms, an accusing tone behind her question.

Before he could answer the device finished its work. With the combination successfully input into the control panel the back of the fireplace slid to the side revealing a hidden room.

"Ladies first." Carson said motioning to the safe. Yuri entered maintaining her suspicious pose, I followed behind her giving a quick sorrowed look into Carson's eyes.

As we entered it became clear that this was in fact not a safe but a private study of sorts. In a typical fashion, Yuri seated herself at the console and began spelunking through Lovecraft's files. Carson and I busied ourselves by looking through the books and checking the various drawers and cabinets. My efforts were unenthusiastic, in truth my heart was conflicted, Carson's actions were already rather suspicious, but why did he have safe cracking tools? What were we really doing here? Was this connection I was feeling with him false? So many questions were swimming through my mind like hungry koi.

"Jackpot." Carson proclaimed to himself.

A bit startled by the sudden outburst, I jerked my head in his direction. In his hand, Carson was holding a clear plastic disk with a smaller silver disk in the center.

"What is that thing?" I inquired placing the book I was thumbing through back on the shelf. Without a response, Carson dashed over to me and grabbed me by the waist. His soft lips connected with mine, my heart fluttered as I lost myself for a moment in his kiss.

"Oh, my sweet cherub, this is something called a quarter. It is a relic from Earth, it was once used as currency. Ridiculous, right? In its time it wasn't even worth one credit of our modern monetary system but today it is worth a fortune. And with all Lovecraft's money, he will never miss it." Carson explained breaking our kiss. "With it, we could live like royalty, we could find a tropical planet and live out our days on the beach. What do you say, Kei? Come with me?"

"I- I don't know what to say." I was staggered, I mean this is literally a dream come true, the perfect man was asking me to run away with him. And he was rich too!

Yet my words caught in my throat, my heart was screaming yes but my brain was telling me something wasn't right. And then his words sunk in.

"What do you mean he will never miss it? That's not yours, is it Carson?" My voice trembled a bit as I came to this conclusion.

"Alright, just who are you?!" Yuri demanded as she stood up from her seat.

"Looks like I'm busted, you got me, ladies." Carson lifted his hands in surrender with his trademark smirk. "I am Carson D. Carson, the Pro-Thief. At your service." He continued lowering a hand to his chest in a small bow.

"I really must thank you, I couldn't have gotten here without your expert help. We make an excellent team." Carson turned to me taking a few steps back. "My dear sweet Kei, I really did feel something special with you, I felt a deep connection I think. And after that amazing kiss, I believe you could actually be the one. So, I am sorry it had to end this way, it could have just been Yuri who took the fall for this."

I gasped as I listened to his exposition, I shot a quick glance at Yuri, turning back Carson had pulled a small ray gun on us.

"If you don't get life in prison, look me up. Maybe we could make it work next time, or at least we could do another caper together." Swinging his arm back Carson fired at the control panel and slipped away with a wink as the door slid shut with a heavy thud.

I dropped to my knees as my heart broke, shattering into a million pieces like crimson stars in the night sky.

"Oh, Kei." Yuri wrapped her arms around my neck as the tears began to swell in my eyes. I wanted to be tough, but the tears had other plans, I wrapped my arms around Yuri as the waterworks started flowing.

"I was such a damn fool." I sobbed onto her shoulder. She placed her hand on the back on my head and placed her head on mine. "When we get out of here I am gonna hunt him down and cut off his –" Yuri quickly placed a finger to my lips, I sniffled a few times as I tried to compose myself.

She stood and brought my attention to the door. "If we get out." She said solemnly as she gestured to the sparking hole in the wall that was once the control for the door.

Rising to my feet I joined my partner. "Is there anything you can do? Like hacking or whatever?"

"No, there is nothing left to hack." She responded, I praise her patience here, she was obviously trying to be cordial and considerate of my feelings while still wanted to slap me for asking such a stupid question.

VREE-OOO VREE-OOO VREE-OOO

Oh great, the alarms. No doubt triggered by Carson as part two of his little plot to frame us. Maybe we actually were luck deficient walking disasters? I mean what are the odds of getting doubled crossed two missions in a row. There wasn't time to think about things like that now, we had to find a way out of that study because any moment now the police would be here to slap the cuffs on us and throw away the key.

"We have no choice, we are going to have to call the chief. He is gonna be pissed." I said placing my hand to my forehead in defeat.

"Not necessarily…" Yuri trailed off as she moved back to the console. "He may have ended up a world-class jerk, and a thief, but he did keep his word." As she spoke Yuri pulled up several of Lovecraft's secret files. "Mr. Lovecraft is, in fact, the one responsible for the mysterious loss of energy, it's all here."

The file Yuri was addressing was called Project Omlarcat. She was right, reading further it detailed everything. Lovecraft and his cronies were using something called an omlarcat to siphon energy from its rival organizations and store it within their space station orbiting Bariza's moon. Our colleagues probably never thought to look into this because it was under the ownership of our client, in fact, Lovecraft petitioning the 3WA in the first place was no doubt a ploy to divert the investigation.

It was so obvious now, after a third failed attempt to solve the case he would have not only discredited the 3WA but also have shown due diligence in trying to solve the issue, therefore absolving any suspicion on their part. Continuing to read it seemed they planned to gradually increase the amounts stolen from their competitors while at the same time stockpiling their resources. Once they were to the brink of bankruptcy phase two would be initiated; withdrawing all sources of power and crippling planet Bariza. Using their resources with Lucifer they would use this time of crisis to become not only a monopoly but by manipulating people's energy dependence, the ruling power of Bariza.

"I copied the files already." Yuri added.

"Guess I will call the chief." I gulped.

Yuri and I sat in the back seat of the car as the chief drove us back to the hotel. Shortly after making the call, Chief Gooley, as well as the Bariza police force, had liberated us from our makeshift prison. As you could imagine he was not at all impressed with us going off unsupervised. Thankfully, our findings did seem to alleviate his rage, at least a little bit. We told him the teensiest of white lies, telling him we had a vision that led us to discovery as well as apologized profusely. Using his jurisdiction with the 3WA we were released into the chief's custody and allowed to pursue our investigation.

Our role in that investigation had yet to be revealed.

Chief Gooley hadn't said a word to us since we got into the car. I could tell Yuri was feeling as nervous, her hands were pressed between her knees and she would shift uncomfortably every now and then. I was more anxious than anything and feeling on edge, and Yuri's fidgeting wasn't helping anything. Nor was the chief's silence, cut me some slack man, couldn't he see I was in a delicate state? I had just had my heart stomped on, you insensitive jerk!

"Where are we going, sir?" Yuri asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

My stomach suddenly felt like I had eaten an entire box of royal chocolate just hearing it. She did have a point though, I hadn't noticed before since I was so wrapped up in my self-indulgent misery that we drove right past our hotel.

"The spaceport, the police informed me that Lovecraft's personal spacecraft had departed shortly after meeting with us. Clearly, he is hiding out at the space station. No doubt he knows we are on to him after your little stunt tonight." He responded, his tone was flat, gruff, and hard to read. "With that being said, you may have uncovered this just in time to give us the edge. They won't be expecting a full assault this soon." He cleared his throat as he gazed at us in the rearview mirror.

My eyes lit up, not only were we not fired we were going to see some action?! This is perfect! After the utterly craptastic night that I have been having I could really use some excessive violence therapy, really take out my woes on some scumbag Lucifer agents.

"I have already called for backup, but it will be a few hours until they arrive. We will have to keep Lovecraft busy until them." Gooley proceeded to explain. "Once we get to the Lovely Angel I will debrief you both on how we will be proceeding with this deployment. And this time, no deviating!"

"Yes sir!" Yuri and I agreed in unison.

CHAPTER 5

I closed the door to the weapons locker as I placed the 3WA issued ray gun on my holster. Yuri and I were in the Lovely Angel's armory preparing for our part in this assault. We had been authorized to use deadly force, something I was going to take full advantage of. I was gonna walk onto the orbital station like a walking tank. I had a plasma rifle strapped to my back and a heat gun attached to the holster opposite of the ray gun. I didn't know much about what a heat gun actually did but I brought it anyway, you know, just in case. Yuri was equipped a bit more modestly opting for two ray guns, a beam sword, and her oh so beloved Bloody Card. We reconfigured our uniforms to allow us to survive in space. In this form the polymer armor of our uniforms becomes significantly stronger, the usual wedged heel of our boots become the sturdier mag-boots, utilizing powerful magnetism to keep our feet secured on sturdy ground and not drifting off into space. The Grav-Packs on our backs allow us to use antigravity and jet propulsion to fly through not only the air but space as well.

I told you, these uniforms may be ugly as sin but were far handier and more versatile than they looked.

"Fifteen minutes until arrival." Gooley's voice boomed over the comm system of the Lovely Angel.

Yuri and I nodded to each other signaling we ready to rock and roll!

Gooley piloted the Lovely Angel towards Lovecraft's space station while Yuri and I waited in the hangar. On the monitor near the exit, we could see Lovecraft's station come into view. It was massive, using the moon it was orbiting for context we could see it had to be roughly 1/4th the size of it. The inverted tear-shaped core of the facility was surrounded by four cylinders which were approximately twice the size of the core. A perfect place to store massive amounts of pilfered energy me thinks. As we drew nearer the space station stirred taking an offensive position, several laser cannons began firing at us. Finally showing off some of those seasoned trouble consultant skills, Gooley maneuvered through the storm of lasers without so much as a singe.

"Get ready!" the chief commanded. "We are under fire, our window for boarding is going to be slim and time is of the essence. I am going to get us as close as possible, but you may have to jump."

"I will begin decompression procedures now!" Yuri replied as she moved to the control panel near the monitor. With the press of a button, the hangar sealed itself removing life support and artificial gravity. Yuri and I activated our Mag-boots as she opened the hangar door. Lasers zipped by through the now open space in front of us. The chief certainly was cutting it close.

"I see an opening, prepare yourselves!" His tone was intense.

I readied myself, we were going to have a window of a few seconds to make this work, otherwise, we were toast. As soon as the landing platform came into view we acted. Dashing towards the exit we leaped out and towards the metal platform leading to the entrance of the space station. Deactivating our Mag-boots we switched to our Grav-Packs and let them jettison us to our destination.

Touching ground, we reactivated our Mag-boots. "We made it chief." I assured.

"Copy, find Lovecraft, I will keep their defenses busy while we wait for backup to arrive." Chief Gooley instructed. I looked up to see our beautiful scarlet angel soaring through the stars. She was now firing back slowly taking out the station's weapons whilst still avoiding taking fire like a pro.

Jogging over to the entrance, Yuri had already pulled up her holo-computer and was working on gaining us access, without having to even slow our pace the door slid open and we let ourselves in. The door sealed behind, we had a few seconds to catch our breaths while we waited for the inner door to let us into the main facility. As the door finally opened I peeked around the corner, our reception wasn't exactly warm. In fact, it was downright hostile.

Lovecraft's men immediately opened fire on us narrowly missing my cute little nose. Crouching to the ground I pulled my ray gun and returned fire. It was apparent we were expected, there had to be about twenty to thirty men waiting for us and armed to the teeth. It was gonna take a miracle for us to get through this.

I saw Yuri out of the corner of my eye, in one smooth motion she had reached into her holster and flung the Bloody Card towards our attackers. The sounds of screams blended with the sounds of gunfire until they both faded away into silence. Reaching up, Yuri plucked the now crimson stained Bloody Card out of the air as it returned. Eyes wide I looked again around the corner, it was clear, the men were all in piles on the blood-soaked floor.

Nicely done Yuri. I take back any negative thing I ever said about that thing!

"Shall we?" Yuri asked with a cutesy smile.

We worked our way through the facility, with luck it seemed like the bulk of Lovecraft's troops had been part of the barricade at the entrance, they were much easier to pick off one by one. However, there was still no sign of Lovecraft and I was starting to get impatient. As we rounded a corner we could see a group of four men trying to pull a large creature into another room. The beast looked somewhat like a house cat but waaay bigger. Squinting I could see It had the large cuffs on the ends of its feet and some sort of restraining device around its back, all the way up covering its ears. The men were attempting to drag it in by its neck and prodding it with some electric nightsticks. The sound of agony the poor thing made with every shock just wrenched my heart. We had to do something.

"Hey, jackasses! Leave it alone!" I shouted and shot my ray gun taking out one of the men as the blast connected right between his eyes.

Yuri followed my lead taking a second man down. One of the remaining men had grabbed his firearm and started shooting back. One of the shots grazed my hand knocking the ray gun to the ground.

Thankfully, the armor of my uniform saved me from any serious damage. Without a second thought, I quickly grabbed the heat gun from my holster and fired back. The reddish-orange concussive blast connected with my assailant, within milliseconds the extreme heat melted away his soft tissue and reduced him to a charred black skeleton from the waist up. Hot damn! I think I may love this gun! I couldn't help but think as his remains crumpled to the ground in a smoking heap. Yuri had used this moment of shock to take out the final man who had been holding the electric prod.

The large black animal backed away from us apprehensively, "Hey, it's okay, we're going to help you." I assured in my most soothing voice as I pet its silky coat; taking notice of the faintly glowing mounds decorating its body.

Yuri activated her beam sword, the creature growled as the blade of pink plasma emerged. I continued to do my best to calm the beast as Yuri gingerly cut away its restraints. With a clang and a clink, the metal bondages fell to the ground. Yuri and I couldn't help but stare, this was no ordinary creature, uncurling from its shoulders were two long tentacles, its ears spiraled back into curly tendrils. It was quite a sight to behold.

His gaze was steadily locked onto us, we remained still not wanting to spook him. "You're okay now buddy, Kei and Yuri got ya, okay?"

Still a bit skittish it bobbed his head looking us over. "Mgaooo." It wasn't quite a meow, but it was close.

The creature seemed to be looking past us now at the door the men were leading him too. Cautiously it walked over, still maintaining his stare, he gestured to the door.

"What is it? You want us to go in there?" Yuri asked sweetly.

The creature nodded his big black head.

"Okay, we're with you." I confirmed. This creature could obviously understand us, this denoted a high degree of intelligence.

Satisfied with our response the creature's expression turned serious. We could hear a soft hum that we soon determined was coming from the animal's ears. They were vibrating, so quickly, in fact, we almost didn't notice. Suddenly the door opened, seemingly by itself. Though slightly confused, we followed the black beast into the room.

Without question, this was the most impressive area we have been so far. The room was circular and seemed to occupy several floors of the space station Dozens of rows of pipe like power conduits climbed the walls like ivy in no particular pattern, to me it looked like metal spaghetti. Not as interested in the sights as we were, the creature crossed over and took the stairs down to the main level of the room. Following it down the stairs we discovered why he had led us here. The conduits were connected to bluish transparent cubes, that wasn't the right word, they were cages. Inside these prisons were other members of the creature's species. There were ten in total lining the walls of the round room. My heart sank as I walked the perimeter looking at these poor mistreated things. Some were so emaciated they could barely stand. One was completely unresponsive, I feared it was already dead. A tear rolled down my cheek, I may not have understood what was going on, but one thing was for sure, it was unforgivable.

"These are omlarcats." Yuri announced as if she had read my mind. She was at a control panel, the sizable display had diagnostics of the imprisoned omlarcats.

Steeling myself I joined her in her analysis. Their vital signs were weak, one of them had indeed passed away. The one we intercepted had most likely been meant to replace it.

"They are a magnificent specimen. It says here they are able to manipulate electric currents and electromagnetic waves. These conduits are designed to amplify their abilities allowing them to manipulate the energy flows on the surface of Bariza." Yuri read on a bit. "It seems as if Lovecraft has been poaching them from a nearby planetoid."

Reading a bite more Yuri tilted her gaze to the large black creature we had rescued. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were pained. "This one here is the last one. They have exterminated the entire species, leaving these last few." Her voice matched the pain in her eyes as she addressed the creature.

It hung its head as she spoke, it knew what we were saying and the gravity of the situation, that much was for sure. I felt like my heart was in a vice, how cold, how utterly despicable. This was the Lucifer I expected. I clenched my first and dropped to one knee so that I could look at our new friend in the eyes.

"We are going to get you and your friends out of here." I place my hand on the top of his head as I made my vow. "Mark my words. They will pay for this. I promise you!"

"Chief, we found the omlarcats. They are animals, we are going to need an evacuation." Yuri reported.

"Copy, five-minute eta on backup. What is the status of Lovecraft?" Chief Gooley responded.

"Working on it, sir." I joined.

"Hurry up! I will let you know when evac is secured."

"Copy." I ended the transmission. "Let's get these cages open what do you say, buddy?"

"Mgaooo." The omlarcat responded as one of the tentacles on his back moved to the keyboard, he delicately and deliberately typed something on the keyboard with the suction cup-like tip of his feeler.

M. U. G. H. I.

"Mughi?" I read inquisitively. "Is that your name? Mughi?"

"Mgaw." The beast nodded its head in confirmation as Yuri joined me in my kneeling position.

"My name is Yuri, this is Kei. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Mughi." Yuri offered with a delicate nod of her head.

With the pleasantries out of the way we rose to our feet and turned our attention to the glowing glass cages. I drew up my new favorite heat gun and Yuri summoned the beam of her sword. Heading in opposite directions the two of us wasted no time, we systematically burned and carved openings into the cubes allowing the omlarcats their freedom.

A few of the poor things were so weak from their mistreatment they could hardly walk. Thankfully, Mughi and some of the other stronger aliens used their feelers to assist the more feeble omlarcats. Lovecraft had some nerve harming such an incredible, caring, and intelligent species.

Alerts were sounding as we led the captives out of the room, damaging the cages must have triggered some sort of security feature. A woman's voice was now repeating the same phrase over and over. 'Breach in sector 0. Breach in Sector 0.' Like enough lady, we got it already.

Once the last of the omlarcats had been vacated from the room Yuri addressed our new furry friend. "Mughi, our ship will be at the main entrance to the station shortly, it's not too far, just travel in the direction we were coming when we met you. We have a tiny bit more work to do here, think you can handle it?"

Mughi nodded his head but you could see a concerned look in his eyes.

"Don't you worry about us, we are a pretty tough pair of gals." I reassured him.

Seemingly satisfied he turned and exited the room to direct his fellow omlarcats.

We were about to do the same when a loud noise from above us caught our attention. A portion of the round room's ceiling began to descend like an elevator to our level.

"Don't you dare move you atrocious little bitches!" A wispy voice snarled at us. Lovecraft along with a few dozen of his troops rode down into the circular room. Going for our weapons would have been pointless, each member of the troops had some sort of weapon pointed right at us; we would be Swiss cheese before we could even get one shot off.

We had no choice. We raised our hands in surrender.

CHAPTER 6

Our backs were to the wall, Lovecraft had us cornered and our options were limited. We could try and make a run for it and get blasted to bits or we could try to grab our weapons and fight back, we would maybe take out a couple before inevitably getting blasted to bits. Well, the classic fight or flight options were out, what else was there? It was going to take a miracle to get us out of there. Or an angel…

Lovecraft hobbled his way to the front of the platform, I swore with the deafening silence of the situation you could hear his old bones grinding and cracking. "Do you have any idea who you are dealing with?! The sort of trouble you caused me? I am Monterey Lovecraft, one of the top agents of Lucifer. How do you expect me to face Mammon and the rest of Lucifer's High Council after this embarrassment?"

I couldn't believe this, was he actually going to monologue instead of just killing us? Criminals were so dumb! But it did buy us the time we needed to maybe get out of here in one piece. While Lovecraft continued rambling on I opened a channel of communication.

"Chief, do you copy?" I asked with gritted teeth framed by a nervous smile.

"I copy." The voice in my ear said.

"We may have found ourselves in a tight spot."

"Is this supposed to surprise me?" He responded flatly. "What can I do from here, I have my hands full."

"Lock on to our vital signatures and fire, give it everything you got when I give you the signal."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Yuri give me a concerned head tilt. Trust me girl, I knew what I was doing. Why did nobody have any faith in me?

"Yuri, get that little card of yours ready, we are gonna run for it."

Yuri's look didn't inspire much confidence, but I could tell she trusted me, it was a feeling in my gut. Yuri and I just had that kind of connection. Lovecraft was still rambling on and on, it was surprising actually I would think a guy his age would try to be saving what little breath he had left instead of wasting it on your typical villainous clichés.

"I have you in my sights." The chief spoke up.

This was it, now or never. "Fire!"

Seconds after my signal a thunderous boom rocked the entire craft, Lovecraft and his men were knocked off their balance, just the chance we needed.

"Now, Yuri!"

I fired off a few rounds of my heat gun as Yuri unleashed the Bloody Card as we bolted out of the door. I could hear the cries of pain as we rushed down the hallway and backtracked to the entrance.

"AHHH!" Yuri squealed as a ray beam flew past our heads. Seems a couple of Lovecraft's men had survived and were in pursuit. We quickly ducked into the next intersecting hallway and returned fire.

"Just can't catch a break, can we?" I joked as I shot off a couple more shots.

"This is hardly the time, Kei." Yuri scoffed continuing to fire as well.

An agonized moan sounded as one of the men took one of our shots and went down. Resilient, weren't they? This was definitely taking too long, it was time for mama to bring out the big gun, literally. "Cover me."

Reaching back, I pulled out the plasma rifle and got into position. Using the rifle's interface, I locked onto the remaining targets. Once the crosshairs were ready, I pulled the trigger and a series of bright green energy pulses erupted from the rifle. With amazing precision, they soared towards their marks methodically dropping each one.

"Nicely done, now let's get out of here." My partner smiled with a reassured attitude.

We were minutes from the exit, surely the backup was here by now, if not arriving any second. With Lovecraft and his men out of the way, we were in the clear. "Chief, this area is clear, let's get out of here!" I spoke as we rushed to the exit.

"I am at the loading platform, I have already collected the umm alien species." The chief confirmed with a cough.

Excellent, this mission was going a hell of a lot better than the last one, we got the bad guy, rescued the innocent omlarcats, no massive collateral damage, only one minor betrayal that my heart was still recovering from. Most importantly we didn't almost die. I would say our luck was turning around.

The sudden pain was indescribable, my chest felt like it was both on fire and being crushed by a 200 lbs weight. This is what I get for being so cocky I thought as the blast knocked me to the ground.

"Kei!" Yuri screamed as she rushed down to make sure I was okay.

Struggling to catch the breath that had been knocked out of me I coughed a few times before telling her I was okay. Thankfully the ultra-resistant polymer armor of my uniform protected me from any fatal damage, but I was still gonna have some nasty bruises.

Now, who had the balls to try and take me out?!

There was a soft clinking sound as the metallic playing card was thrown at our feet, it was the Bloody Card. It had been severely mangled, I had serious doubts it would be flying any time soon. Yuri gently collected the damaged card and brought it to her chest as we looked up to see the familiar gaunt figure of Lovecraft. His face was soaked in blood from the deep diagonal slash running across his face from forehead to chin. His left arm had been completely severed revealing dangling wire, a prosthetic arm no doubt. In his other hand was a rifle, the one that had just knocked my perfect butt to the ground.

"I have had just about enough of you. No more of this cat and mouse nonsense. I am going to relieve myself of you nuisances once and for all!" Lovecraft hissed as he raised the rifle at us. I furrowed my brow as he took aim. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed as he pulled the trigger.

Click. Click. Click click.

I peeked out through one squinted eye as I saw Lovecraft repeatedly trying to fire his weapon.

"Confounded thing!" Lovecraft chided as he shook the gun.

Our eyes flew open in widened surprise as a mighty roar billowed out from behind Lovecraft. The roar was followed by a sleek black shadow flying through the air and tackling Lovecraft to the ground. In a fury of teeth, claws, blood, and the sound of bones snapping, Lovecraft shrieked as he was torn to shreds.

Rising up from the carnage was the familiar figure of our new buddy, I recognized the purple marks on his face and chest.

"Mughi!" Yuri squealed as she jolted forward and wrapped her arms around the think neck of our rescuer.

Don't mind me, I didn't just take a direct hit to the chest or anything, Kei is fine people, go about your days. That aside Mughi really came through for us. I don't think the infirmary would have been able to put us back together after rifle shots directly to the head.

"Thanks, big guy." I joined Yuri placing my hand on his big flat head.

"Magowowow." Mughi responded, obviously pretty pleased with the shower of gratitude we were raining upon him.

"Let's get outta here, huh?"

We stepped over what was left of Lovecraft and made our way to the exit where Gooley, true to his word, was waiting for us. We loaded ourselves into the hangar where the rest of the omlarcats were resting and gave the chief the go-ahead to depart. With a heavy sigh of a job well done Yuri and I plopped ourselves down on the ground next to Mughi. He took this opportunity to sprawl himself across our laps. We didn't know it at that moment, but we had just made an inseparable friend for life.

"Job well done, partner." Yuri proclaimed holding up her hand for a high-five.

"Job well done." I replied returning her high-five.

That shot must have done some sort of internal damage, I could hear a ringing or humming in my ears, I would have to get that looked at by medical.

"Entering the warp drive, we are returning to Shimogu." The chief informed us.

Neither Yuri nor I noticed the lights of the space station fluttering and flickering as it started to drift out of its orbit.

EPILOGUE

Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse , 08.11.2141

We found out after returning to Shimogu that the omlarcats had left a parting gift for Lovecraft's space station. Using their collective abilities, they had sent the craft into a collision course with Bariza's moon. Due to the energy surplus housed in station's tanks, the moon was completely destroyed upon impact, blown into a million pieces. Most of it burned up in the atmosphere, but not everything. Unfortunately, those remaining pieces rained down on the planet Bariza causing unmeasurable destruction. What the falling debris didn't get the sudden tsunamis caused by the abrupt shift in the gravitational pull finished. Several islands were completely washed away from Bariza's surface. The death count was reported to be around half a million. It was going to take decades to rebuild Bariza's civilization, which had since decided to be underwater dwellings since Bariza had now risen to 99.5% water coverage.

Thankfully we were again cleared of any responsibility in the incident on Bariza. Though rumors were starting to circulate that we were getting a reputation throughout the United Galactica. I was pretty confident that nothing would become of those rumors though. I would find out much later that was not the case.

Obviously, Yuri and I completed our intense two-year training. Though he had been living with us since that mission on Bariza, Mughi was eventually allowed to join our little team on a permanent basis. Believe me, the higher-ups at the 3WA were more than a little hesitant, but we did a pretty good job pleading our case. During the graduation ceremony, we were awarded full-fledged status as criminal division trouble consultants and our team was dubbed the Lovely Angels, after our ship. We then moved to Elenore City on the planet Lyonesse, the same planet as the 3WA headquarters, where they graciously provided us a loft in Damocles Tower.

I hear Chief Gooley is still working hard shaping future Trouble consultants. We have corresponded briefly here and there. Hopefully, his cadets are less of a handful than we were. Though, I hear he is opting for an early retirement soon so perhaps not.

For those of you who are wondering about Carson, yes, we did cross paths with him again. A few times, actually. Each time he has avoided being taken into custody, but I will catch him one day. I still think of him sometimes. Not like that! I totally don't have any romantic feelings for him whatsoever! Really!

The front door opened, it was Yuri returning from her date. I couldn't say she looked over-enthused about it.

"Didn't go well?" I inquired setting my cup of tea on the end table. Mughi perked his great head up and turned his yellow eyes to see who had come in.

"He was okay, everything about him was just so average and boring." Yuri bemoaned as she took a seat on the sectional and began petting Mughi's face as he purred.

The curse of being a trouble consultant and living a life of constant danger and excitement, the average Joe just wasn't going to cut it. If the Lovely Angels were ever going to find love one day, mind you hopefully that day was not time soon, it would have to be someone thrilling and maybe a bit dangerous, someone like Carson. Hey! I said 'like' Carson, I made myself clear, didn't I?

Barely having enough time for Yuri to kick off her heels, the comm display flared to life with an incoming call from headquarters. Answering the call Chief Soranaka, the chief of the criminal division of the 3WA appeared on the screen. "Good evening ladies. Enjoying your day off?" He greeted us.

"Hey there chief. We were, and I say 'were' as I am guessing this isn't a social call?" I asked with a characteristically snarky tone.

The chief furrowed his brow, his natural eye darkening. He had lost his right eye at some point during his days in the field and it had since been replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic, a faint scar still framed it.

"You would be correct, even though your mandatory 72-hour relief time isn't quite up yet the 3WA Central Computer has assigned you a case."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I looked at my partner and best friend, Yuri, as she wore a similar expression of exasperation. Like I always say a woman's work is never done when you work for the Worlds Welfare Work Association.

END

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0198: SHOOTING STARS

CHAPTER 1

Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse 01.19.2141

"Do we really have to do this, it's so degrading." My tone was borderline a whine.

And believe me, if I was this close to whining, then it was warranted. I grew up with three older brothers, whining was a sign of weakness and weakness was exploited, it didn't matter if I was the only girl or not.

"Yes, then the 3WA could use some good publicity and this… program will allow us to return some clout to the organization. Though, why the two of you were selected for this is beyond my understanding." Chief Soranaka, the head of the 3WA Criminal Investigations division, explained in his usual no-nonsense tone.

Even the chief, with his gruff exterior and years of trouble consultant experience, looked visibly uncomfortable. It actually made me secretly smile to see him squirm like this. Don't get me wrong the chief is a great guy and I respect him a great deal. If I had to guess I would say the chief was in his late forties to early fifties, his ash colored hair had receded ever so slightly from his forehead but he still had a full head of hair for all intents and purposes. His face was hardened and scarred, the most prominent scar running from just above his left eyebrow, down his, now prosthetic cybernetically, enhanced eye and down his cheek. The chief has never told us the details of how he lost his eye just that it was during a mission before we were even out of diapers, as he put it. We heard rumors that before joining the 3WA the chief was some big wig in the United Galactica Space Force, it had never been confirmed though.

No biggie, everyone is allowed their secrets and it just added to that air of mystique the chief had around him. He definitely came off as being a lone wolf, probably the living embodiment of those classic action hero types you see on late night vidstream in his prime.

There was a mutual respect there as well, the chief seemed to have an infinite amount of patience and understanding. Admittedly, we have had a few accidents during our assignments but we have solved every single one. Being so level headed and stone-faced we liked to give him a hard time every now and then, just to get a rise out of him. It was all in good fun though.

"Hopefully they don't deviate from the script, I was always appalling at public speaking." My partner and best friend Yuri mumbled almost to herself.

Unlike the chief she was clearly a bundle of nerves, you could tell with how fast she was scrolling over the document the chief gave us highlighting talking points. Yuri may have gotten slightly better grades while we were in school together, but speech and debate were her Achilles' heel. Yuri brushed her long dark hair back as she continued reviewing the data in her near trembling hands.

"We will be going on in five minutes."

It sounded like someone squeezed a squeaky dog toy as the young forgettable looking stagehand spoke, but it was just Yuri. I sighed to myself. Not only was I going to have to carry this, but I was also going to have to steer everything in a direction that upheld the reputation of the Worlds Welfare Work Association.

I strolled the short distance from our position backstage to get a better view of the main stage. Looking out, my honey brown eyes scanned the varied crowd of people in the audience I could see a few of them holding up holo-posters with pictures of Yuri and myself on them.

Hold up, not only did people know who we were, we had fans?! Maybe this whole experience wouldn't be so bad after all. I mean, it was about time I was worshipped like the goddess I so obviously am.

"Yuri, check this out!" I called out to her excitedly and waved her over, she was too focused to notice me, however.

This was too cool, I had no idea we had a following, I mean, we work our perfectly shaped asses off but you don't think your hard work will ever actually be recognized. Much less acquire a following. I wonder if we had a fan club. Lovely Angel Lovers? My initial hesitation was now being engulfed by excitement.

The same stagehand that had just spoken to us, at least I think it was the same one, walked out onto the set to address the audience in preparation of the show starting. It was a simple enough setup, a few stacked platforms with two avant-garde styled sofas in the center in a mock living room setup. The back of the set was decorated with décor in simple black and metallic accessories and a large holo-screen occupying most of the backmost wall. These things were always a letdown, they always look grander on vidstream than they do in person. Mere moments after he finished speaking, he vanished off stage chased by a booming voice over the sound system.

"Put your hands together and join me in welcoming the United Galactica's number one superstar! Let's hear it for Cory Emerson!"

The crowd went utterly ballistic, I have heard less of a reaction to a bomb going off in a city square, no really. The roars of the audience only intensified when she emerged from backstage. Walking with the poise of a supermodel on legs that had no business being that long she strode to the front of the set. She was dressed in skintight deep purple almost cosmic looking high waisted leggings with a white business top and red tie. Every article of clothing was radiating with that signature flair that has made her the style icon known throughout the galaxy. Her hair and makeup were no exception; the purples and silvers of her lip and eye make-up perfectly complimented her sepia-toned skin. Her hair was silver white tipped in a metallic blue and tied back in an extravagant bow-like configuration. She certainly was a sight to behold, the perfect combination of fierceness, beauty, and style.

"Thank you all for joining me on this week's episode of 'CORY!' We have something a little different in store for my loyal viewers out there." The spectators somehow managed to calm themselves down as this galactic goddess addressed them.

"This week our special guests joining me for a little Cory Chat come to us from the Worlds Welfare Work Association, better known to us as the 3WA. They are crime division trouble consultants known collectively as the Lovely Angels and these two savage beyotches have crims across the galaxy running with their tails between their legs! Let's say hey to Kei and Yuri!"

That was a cue. Taking a reluctant Yuri by the hand, I marched us onto the stage to join Cory. The chief called out something from the backstage but I couldn't make it out over the raucous of our adoring fans. I gave a casual beauty queen wave as I walked across the stage soaking in the adoration and applause. A gal could absolutely get used to this. Cory had taken a seat on one of the sofas, even in a sitting position she was fierce, her long leg draped over the other and her arms stretched across the back of the couch. I led Yuri to the unoccupied couch across from her. We took our seats and I continued waving while showing off my pearly whites in a big smile. Even Yuri was getting into at this point as she had joined me giving a gentle wave to crowds.

"Thank you sooo much for coming!" Cory expressed while also effectively silencing the crowds. I won't lie, it did feel colder and emptier now with the barrage or adulation.

"Thank you for having us, Ms. Emerson." Yuri replied respectfully.

"Oh, please call me Cory." She corrected with a playful laugh.

"Yes, Cory." Yuri responded though her tone was just as uptight.

"So, this raven-haired beauty must be Yuri which would make this sultry ginger Kei?" Cory identified as she gestured to each of us. Again the crowd exploded in applause, our fans waved their signs and blew us kisses. This was all too much, okay it maybe it was just enough.

"Pleasure to be here, Cory." I turned to address the audience. "And a pleasure to see all you exquisite people! Let's hear it for the Lovely Angel fans!" I demanded, raising my hands above my head and clapping along. This egged the crowd on even more. I swear heads were on the verge of exploding.

"It's surprising to see so many people here just to see us." Yuri commented under the sound of the rabble.

"Is that so?" Corey asked with a suspicious tone. "I thought everyone in United Galactica had heard of the infamous Dirty Pair." She explained her lips curling into a sly smile.

"What now?" I responded, my attention shifting from my worshippers. "What did you call us?"

Yuri and I exchanged concerned looks before looking over at the chief watching from backstage. It was difficult to tell from the distance but it looked as though he was cradling his forehead in his hand.

"Let's take a few questions from the audience, shall we?" Cory countered as she pointed to one of the young men holding up a sign bearing photos of Yuri and myself with hearts decorated across it. "You sir."

The man stood, he could barely contain his excitement. "Oh wow, I can't believe you are here in person. Like okay umm like what is like the grand total of people you have killed? Have you reached like over a million yet?"

I could hardly believe what I was hearing, if I had pearls, I would have been clutching them. I stared at the young man's acne-ridden face, he couldn't have been older than fifteen.

"Excuse me, w-we haven't killed."

"How about you miss." Cory cut Yuri off as she pointed to another member of the crowd.

The young woman with neon pink hair styled similarly to mine wearing a shirt with my face on it stood up. "Ahh! Kei I love you! Are we all totally gonna die today? That would rock!"

"Marry me, Yuri!" A random voice sounded from the audience. The crowd erupted with another bout of boisterous applause as she sat back down.

"What the hell is going on here?" I demanded as I leaned towards Cory.

"Oh I am so sorry, I thought you were familiar with your less than favorable reputation. After the devastating incidents on Bariza, Yolandia, Shimogu, and several others that have left planets on the brink of destruction, cities leveled, and a death toll near unmeasurable, it's no surprise the Lovely Angels have been associated with the angel of death, harbingers of destruction in skimpy outfits. Why your mere presence has caused people to panic and riot in fear for their lives, even whispers that the infamous Dirty Pair is around has caused mass evacuations." Cory cooed as she spilled these revelations.

I was completely blindsided, I didn't even know what to say. The chief told us that we were coming onto the show to smooth over some of the black marks of our reputation but I was not expecting this. We were meant to be telling our side of the story and that's what I intended to do.

"Now look here." I started. The crowd was now chanting the phrase Dirty Pair over and over.

"What must your families think about having the notorious Dirty Pair as a child? Yuri?" Cory cut me off as she turned her attention to Yuri.

"I-I doubt they think of me at all." Yuri's voice was barely above a whisper, she looked as though she wanted to crawl into the couch and disappear.

"Hey!"

My sudden outburst was loud enough to silence both Cory and the crowd.

"Now none of that was mine or Yuri's fault! They were all just accidents or just so happened to happen while we were there! It's all completely correlation, not causation! We have been cleared of responsibility in every case by the 3WA Central Computer. In fact, it has been commonly speculated that without us the damage and deaths would have been overtly worse!" I stood up with a shot as I did our best to defend ourselves from these slanderous accusations.

"Is that so?" Cory inquired as she placed a perfectly manicured finger to her lips as she looked at me inquisitively.

"That's right!" I confirmed sitting myself back down and folding my arms in triumph.

"Well, that brings me to this week's surprise!" Cory announced turning to the cameras. "We are going to test this little theory. Is the Dirty Pair the bloodthirsty agents of chaos and death we suspect them to be, or are the rumors completely unfounded and they are just innocent little girls trying to do their job and just happen to have the worst luck in recorded history. "

This bitch was on my last nerve. What was she going on about now? Test this how? What Cory said next was beyond all expectations.

"I have been given special permission by the 3WA to follow the disreputable Dirty Pair around for an entire week. I have been informed that they have been assigned a case right here on Lyonesse. We will see firsthand whether the girls really are angels or if they are devils. Let's hope I live to see you all next for the follow-up show!" She placed both hands to her mouth in mock fear.

Meanwhile, Yuri and I were just staring at each other in mutual horror. We had not agreed to this, if she was telling the truth then the chief was going to get a piece of my mind big time!

"We will be right back with the Dirty Pair right after a few choice ads data mined just for you, be sure to like and subscribe so you never miss any of the nonstop excitement on Cory!"

CHAPTER 2

I growled as I tossed back and forth, I kicked off my blanket and tossed my pillow to the ground. I had been trying to fall asleep for the past hour but I was still so pissed off from the show this afternoon. I let out another anguished sigh, Mughi opened one buttery eye as he leered at me before curling deeper into his bed.

"You should try and get some sleep, Kei." A soft voice spoke from the other side of the room.

"What about you! You're still awake too!" I snapped back at Yuri as I sprung into an upright position. "Dammit, I am sorry Yuri. I just can't believe the nerve! We were set up that's for damn sure! The Dirty Pair, I can't even."

Between us, Mughi expelled a loud toothy yawn and tucked his big head deeper into his oversized cat bed before falling back asleep, at least someone was able to get some sleep around here.

"There must be some mistake, I am sure the chief will clear everything up tomorrow morning when we report for debriefing." Yuri reassured me trying to assuage my aggression.

I just hoped she was right, I laid back down and heard Yuri do the same. I took a few deep soothing breaths and closed my eyes. I drifted to sleep eventually but it was certainly not to be a restful slumber.

The next morning we arrived at headquarters, only thirty minutes late. What could I say it was difficult getting out of bed, there wasn't enough coffee in the world to get me going. I wore a pair of sunglasses to hide the aggressive bags I was sporting under my eyes. I envied Mughi, he stayed at home to keep sleeping. Yuri, however, was unusually chipper despite getting roughly the same amount of sleep as me, perhaps even less considering she was already up and had breakfast ready by the time I poured myself down the stairs.

Morning people, it was taking everything in my power not to deck her.

We reached Chief Soranaka's office and Yuri pressed the call button to announce us. Moments later the double doors slide open and we let ourselves in. The chief's office was as neat and minimally decorated, a perfect reflection of the man himself. The chief sat at his large wooden desk surrounded on both sides by large bookshelves with a holo-screen between them. I am convinced the books lining their shelves were just for show and the chief had literally no idea what they were, much less read them. I mean who reads paper anymore? What a waste. The morning sun was filtering in from the large windows occupying the far wall, the view of Elenore City was spectacular from here; the city seemed to stretch on forever. I thought I could vaguely make out our home, Damocles Tower, from here but I couldn't be sure. My eyes were still half asleep after all. Exhausted vision and all I couldn't miss that the chief already had company.

In one of the seats across from the chief was Cory Emerson.

I lifted my glasses and rested them on the top of my head so that I could glare at her properly as Yuri and I entered the office, letting the double doors slide closed behind us. My nightmare was continuing, I gave an unimpressed glace at Yuri. So much for it being a mistake, huh partner?

The chief rose to his feet as he gestured to the two empty chairs next to Cory. Yuri, obedient as ever took one of the seats, I, however, remained standing. Did the chief really expect us to make nice with the bitch who humiliated us on galactic wide vidstream yesterday!?

"I am sure you both remember Miss Emerson." The chief asked, his voice flat and guttural.

"Tsk, how could we forget?" I sniped.

"Please, let me apologize for yesterday. It wasn't my idea to ambush you like that. You know how producers can be, anything to get more views." Cory explained as she turned to me.

Her tone was completely different from yesterday, the fierceness and bravado had completely vanished, she almost sounded like a normal human being. That wasn't the only difference, her appearance had also altered quite drastically, the high fashion glam suit she was wearing yesterday was now replaced with a simple patterned button-up and reasonable pair of slacks, despite their plainness they still looked as if they cost a fortune. Designer, I am sure. Her hair and makeup were much more civilian now as well, gone were the platinum silver locks instead her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail.

"I really do want to tell your side of the story. Chief Soranaka here has been kind enough to run me through some of your previous cases and the circumstances surrounding them. Well, as much as a civilian like me is allowed to see." Cory turned to give the chief a grateful smile to which he met with an uncomfortable grumble. "It's time for the galaxy to see the Lovely Angels and put an end to this whole Dirty Pair unpleasantness."

I narrowed my eyes, this sudden shift in personality didn't sit well with me, this act wasn't fooling anyone, I have lived with Yuri for years, I know when someone is pouring it on thick and she was serving molasses.

"Would you mind waiting outside Ms. Emerson? I need to confer some of the more confidential details of the case, you understand." The Chief requested as he rose from his desk and gestured to the door.

"Of course, excuse me." Cory graciously responded as she slipped out of her chair and let herself out of the office.

I couldn't hold it any longer barely waiting for the doors to close completely I laid into the chief. "What the hell!? You actually expect us to take her with us? On a dangerous mission, with no training?!" There was a good chance Cory could hear my bellowing on the other side of the door but I didn't care.

"This was not my idea, Kei. This arrangement was made from the higher-ups at HR. The truth of the matter is you two have no one to blame but yourselves for this. If you could manage to complete a mission without causing mass casualties and millions of dollars' worth of collateral damage then we wouldn't have to be defending our reputation on galaxy-wide vidstream. This Dirty Pair fiasco is a serious PR debacle."

That certainly shut me up, he was right though. Who would want to hire us when they think we are nothing but a pair of genocidal psychopaths? This was a fantastic opportunity to show everyone we weren't the destructive bikini-clad bimbos they were making us out to be, even if it meant working with Cory Emerson.

What? I was still steamed at her, you would be too, don't even try and lie.

"What is the case this time, sir?" Yuri finally piped up, she had been silent as a stone since we walked into the chief's office; I almost forgot she was here.

The change of subject curbed my hostility, I sat down in the vacant seat next to Yuri and folded my arms. The chief nodded as he adjusted to turn on the large holo-screen behind him. The first four images to appear caused my stomach to knot. They were photos of people, or what was left of them rather. They had been so mangled they were almost beyond recognition. What I heard next made stomach nearly crawl out through my throat.

"We have been commissioned by the police force of Elenore City." The chief began. How could this day get any worse? Seriously? The cops? They hate us! And I don't mean me and Yuri personally, I mean the 3WA in general. No matter what planet we go to it's always the same story, they get all territorial and uppity and usually end up causing more problems than they could ever hope to solve. Their tiny little egos just can't deal with someone else on their turf showing them up is what it all came down to.

"It took some extensive work from the forensic team but the victims were identified as members of the Elenore City Police Department. They had been undercover investing the sudden surge of narcotics infesting our city. Somehow, their cover was blown before they could gather any effective intel. With no leads and no options, the police have turned to us." The chief continued.

Oh boy, I really should have knocked on wood when I asked if it could get any worse. Having to come to us with their precious ego wounded was not going to make them happy. Could we just pass on this case? I will take the pay cut to avoid this inevitably massive headache.

"That doesn't bode well for us." Yuri concurred in her usual manner "So, the police have no leads whatsoever?" She questioned further.

"None, all they have managed to surmise is that it's one group responsible and they deal everything from Light Speed to Nirvana." The chief explained.

The range caught my attention, how were they getting such a large and varied supply of drugs into the city unnoticed? Surely an operation that big would require quite a large production.

"Well, that is at least something." Yuri smiled, forever the optimist.

I still had serious doubts about all of this, mostly having to babysit some starlet while we dealt with dangerous drug lords. Oh, they had better be doubling our salary for this, hell triple it maybe!

"Guess we better get started." I sighed deeply as I rolled my eyes.

"For gawd's sake just try and keep Emerson alive and the damage to a minimum. I don't even want to think of backlash we would receive if you killed the United Galactica's sweetheart. I have learned not to expect miracles from you two but if you could just do this one thing." Soranaka wasn't impressed as he spoke, he was borderline desperate sounding.

I had to cut the guy some slack. He was a victim in all of this too after all.

I nodded and gave a wave over my shoulder as I turned towards the door.

Rising from her chair, Yuri followed suit. "We will do our best, chief." She did her best to sound reassuring, but she wasn't fooling anyone.

This assignment was going to the biggest pain in our asses to date and we had to smile for the cameras as we tried to solve it. Chief Soranaka said nothing in response to Yuri, just reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of aspirin, popping a few into his mouth.

Cory was waiting for us in the hallway, her nose buried in a fashion holo-zine as she leaned against the wall. As soon as she spotted us she tossed the holo-zine down and strolled over to us with her hand out. "We didn't get to do proper introductions on the show. I am Cory Emerson, it really is a pleasure."

Yuri shook her hand but I just let it hang there, staring at it with a point to prove. "My name is Yuri and my disgruntled companion here is Kei. We are pleased to make your acquaintance, Ms. Emerson." Cordially Yuri introduced us both.

"Oh please, I meant it, call me Cory."

"Look blondie, this case is gonna be dangerous, okay. We don't have time for your little puff piece. So just try and stay out of our way and let us do our job." I retorted finally having my fill of this nicety crap. I was not in the mood this morning.

"Blondie? Look red, don't let the flashy clothes and the multiple number one hit singles fool you, I am a journalist first and foremost." Cory snatched up the ray gun from my holster and had it pointed at me before she finished her sentence. "I can handle myself on the field." With a twirl of her hand, she offered me my gun back by the handle.

Okay, maybe I could forgive her. There was clearly more to her than the public knew. "I am here to tell the truth and that's it."

I took back my gun and placed it back on my thigh. "Point taken." I said with a smirk. Cory smiled back seeing she had begun to win me over, slightly anyway.

"So where are we headed first." Cory inquired placing her hands on her hips.

"We need to begin gathering some clues, something to point us in the right direction." Yuri responded placing a finger under her chin.

"And I know just the place." I raised my eyebrows as my grin turned devilish. "We are gonna need to change though. C'mon you can interview us on the way to our place."

I placed my around Cory's shoulders as I began ushering her out of the building.

CHAPTER 3

We parked the car in the parking garage of our building and entered the elevator. We were actually pretty lucky that the 3WA got us hooked up with a loft in this particular building. Damocles Tower was prime real estate. Not only was the architecture beautiful but it faced the ocean giving you a great view of the water and of the city. It was also built in a great location, operating as a hub for some great shopping and entertainment districts. Damocles tower itself housed several of Yuri and my favorite shops, restaurants, and boutiques. It was the epitome of convenient living.

Yuri had done most of the talking on the way home, my mood was not at all helped by the fact that she strategically told stories where I came off looking bad. The way those two giggled like little school girls at every anecdote was really getting under my skin. I was gonna get her back, that was for sure.

As the doors opened up to our floor I led the way out. "You don't mind cats, do you, Cory?"

"Not at all." She responded with a quaint smile.

I nodded as I smiled another mischievous grin. As I unlocked the door a massive black beast roared towards us from the other side. Cory shrieked as she fell to the ground clamoring to back away for her life. Meanwhile, this ferocious shadow had landed in my arms. He wrapped his truck like paws around my neck as he nuzzled my cheek.

"Good job, Mughi." I whispered in his ear as he purred back.

I giggled as I turned back to see Cory on the ground her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. Oh man, the sight of Mughi flying towards her had scared some sense into her! And rightly so, as Mughi was hugging me on his hind legs like this he was well over six feet tall. That will teach her to make fun of me with Miss Smarty over there.

"Mughi!" Yuri scolded as she helped Cory up to her feet. "That was not very nice of you! And Kei this was all your doing wasn't it?"

"Maybe it was maybe it wasn't." I shrugged nonchalantly as I entered into our loft apartment.

The door opened to our living room area and further back our library/tea nook. The kitchen was around the corner from the stairs that led up to our office and bedroom. We kept it pretty tidy, well by we, I obviously mean the cleaning bots that come through daily. The entire right wall curling up to the loft ceiling were windows overlooking our modest deck which offered plenty of natural light and took full advantage of the awesome view.

"Nice place you guys." Cory offered finally regaining some of her sensibilities. Though I didn't miss her giving Mughi a couple of suspicious glances.

"Aha! I knew it!" I yelled victoriously as I pointed to the holo-screen. "Mughi has been watching 'Amour Eternal' again. I told you he was into those cheesy soap operas, didn't I, Yuri?"

Mughi just rolled his eyes and grumbled as he sauntered into the kitchen to avoid my public mocking.

"What's all that about?" Cory asked curiously.

"These two simpletons have been going at each other for weeks ever since Mughi made fun of her for watching pro wrestling." Yuri explained throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"He made fun of her?" Cory asked now more confused than curious.

"Oh! He can be quite the little bitch." I retorted as Mughi poked his head around the corner to glare at my insult.

"I see." Cory nodded her head slowly.

"Please have a seat." Yuri gestured to the large white sofa of our living room. I clicked off the holo-screen and plopped myself down on the matching love seat next to it.

"So Mughi is?" Cory inquired slowly as she took a seat.

"He is the third Lovely Angel." I responded. "We may give each other a hard time but that's just because we love each other. He may look scary but really he is a big ol'softie."

"I meant, what is he?"

"Oh my, Mughi is an omlarcat. I forget sometimes there is only a handful left in the galaxy so people aren't that familiar with them. Can I get you something to drink Ms. Cory?" Yuri answered as she placed her hands to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"No thank you I am fine." Cory graciously denied.

"I'd take a tea." I piped up, well she was offering. Yuri just glared at me and headed to the kitchen to get the beverages.

"So, how did you two meet? Was is it in school?" Cory inquired as she turned in her seat to face me.

"Yeah, Yuri and I have known each other since we got paired together as roommates in Meizuiru University. In fact, let me tell you about that time in Mr. Kreps' class, this was so good. See we had to give a report in front of the whole class, I don't even remember what the report was on, I think it was the decline and eventual destruction of Earth or something. Anyway, Yuri gets up there to present and you could tell she was so nervous. Her knees were shaking and she was sweating like a whore in church. So she opens her mouth to begin her presentation and just pukes all over the floor. We are talking like exorcist projectile vomit. I am pretty sure it got some of the kids in the first row. She just stood there crying after, tears and slobber just running down her face. It was so freakin' funny!" I was almost laughing too hard to finish the story as Yuri returned with our drinks and set them down in a huff.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" Yuri pouted. Her eyes welling up like a wounded little bunny.

Oh don't look at me like that, she had it coming. You should have heard the slanderous tales she was telling in the car. Like the time, I got caught sneaking out of the dorms to make out with this hot biker guy I had met. Or the time I had a few too many wine coolers I had 'borrowed' from the teacher's lounge and spent the night in our bathroom sleeping on the toilet seat.

"Okay, I think that's enough of drudging up the past. How about we focus on the case? Where exactly are we going?" Cory mediated nervously. Can't believe they were acting like I crossed the line. Geez. I took a sip of my tea before speaking up.

"Elysium."

"It's a local establishment for those who enjoy a drink or perhaps an innocent game of chance." Yuri spoke up obviously done with her little pity party.

"Don't say it like that! It's a real classy joint, for real. The drinks are strong and reasonably priced, and the games have good odds. Does it occasionally draw a less than favorable crowd? Maybe, but that just benefits us." I waved away Yuri's pitiful description, we weren't going to some lame conservative reading group for little old ladies, this was gonna be an evening out on the town with three hot chicks out to raise some hell!

"Now you will probably wanna wear something a little more… sexy than that. I wouldn't trust anything in Yuri's closet but I bet I have something you would look hot in!" I rose to my feet taking Cory's hand and pulling her to the stairs as Yuri just let out another sigh before following us.

The waitress had just finished dropping off our drinks. I took a hearty swig from my bim soda, the ice cubes clinking as I brought the glass to my lips. We had selected our favorite corner booth, just the right distance away from the dance floor where you could still enjoy the music without it usurping any and all conversation.

I was dressed to kill in a leather corset top with a collar and plaid tie. My matching leather mini skirt was decorated with a studded belt. My high heeled boots reached my knees and I had slipped on a pair of tantalizing fishnet stockings with strategic holes ripped in them. To top it off, I wore my razor blade earrings which really complimented my smoky eye makeup; add a couple of chain bracelets and this sexy punkish look was complete. Cory had selected one of my mini dresses, maroon leather, admittedly one of my more conservative dresses but she pulled it off with a pair of matching cuffed boots and gold accessories. Even Yuri was looking pretty sexy tonight with a white halter top hugging her curves with a contrasting black skirt over white stockings and ending with a pair of black six-inch heels. I envied any man that was blessed enough to witness this drop dead tantalizing trio.

"Goodness, aren't you all dressed to slay tonight." A deep but feminine voice came from the din. Emerging from the crowd towards us was a stunning six-foot ebony goddess. It was our good friend Joanca Goldjeff, the owner of Elysium. She was dressed in a long red and black sequin dress that clung to her like she had been shrink-wrapped. Her ombre colored hair hung in loose curls just past her shoulders.

"You are certainly one to talk." Yuri looked up from the white wine spritzer she was nursing. Joanca laughed as she slipped herself into the booth with us. "Joanca, this is Cory Emerson. Cory, Joanca." Yuri introduced.

"Not THE Cory Emerson. My goodness. Well, it's a pleasure, feel free to make Elysium your own little slice of Heaven." Joanca took Cory's hand as a greeting. Cory gave her a sweet smile and a nod before tugging at the bottom of her dress uncomfortably. "Now, you two aren't here to cause any trouble in my establishment, I assume." Joanca inquired with a subtle smile.

"Honestly, when have we ever?" I scoffed.

"Last week, you still owe me for damages to a few of my slot machines. But I will just put those on your tab." She corrected sassily while gently ribbing me. I am a pretty good gambler but what can I say I am not a big fan of losing either.

"Hey, lesson learned, I left the gun at home tonight." I assured her with a cheeky grin.

"Mmmhmm." She pursed her lips, unconvinced. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Cory, you feel free to come by any time. Now if you will excuse me I was looking for my husband." Joanca blew us a soft kiss as excused herself from the booth and she disappeared into the crowd.

"Joanca is a former client of ours." Yuri explained.

"A live one." I added.

We met Joanca and her husband Clicky a few months back. Clicky's father is the owner of the Goldjeff mega-corporation and hired us under the false pretense that Joanca had kidnapped Clicky. In truth, Joanca and Clicky were madly in love and had run off together and Clicky's father didn't approve due to the fact Joanca had been born male. How closed minded and barbarically old fashioned, right? Well, we solved the case and Clicky turned his back on his family. I can't imagine turning my back on a fortune like that. Though, Joanca wasn't exactly poor, I thought as I looked around the large bar. It was multistoried with a dance floor and a large casino. And she owned it long before she met her now husband, Clicky.

Our exposition was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and metal creaking. The crowds gasped and moved out the way just enough for me to see two men brawling. Finally, a little action.

"Showtime, girls." I exclaimed excitedly as I finished my drink and headed to the rumble.

I shoved my way through the gawking crowd to get a better view. It looked like it was mainly one guy who was the aggressor, two men were already on the ground writhing and bleeding while the aggressor was fighting off two more. He had to be on something, his eyes looked like they belonged to a shark, just two dead black orbs in his head. Every vein in his body seemed to be bulging as he tossed one of the men to the ground. My guess would be Nirvana, it completely dulls the pain receptors while increasing adrenaline making you feel like you are invincible, or like you have reached Nirvana, if you will.

Yuri and Cory joined me after a few moments. The drugged out man was on a rampage, he had grabbed a random person from the crowd and tossed them onto the bar, I couldn't be sure but I thought I heard his spine snapping. We were gonna have to do something before this got any more out of hand.

Damn, I wish I hadn't left my gun home.

As if answering my prayers Yuri pulled a silver playing card out of her clutch. Yuri gave me a wink I as I turned and ran towards the junkie. I managed to catch him by surprise and launched myself onto his back, I immediately wrapped my arms around his sweat-drenched veiny neck in a chokehold we were taught in our 3WA training meant to render our opponent unconscious. This guy was resisting though, he was desperately pawing at me to try and throw me off of him.

Any time, Yuri!

With a flick of her hand Yuri sent the Bloody Card flying towards the brute, the card soared passed the back of his knees, it was so sharp and so quick you couldn't even tell that it had sliced through his hamstring tendons until the blood began spurting from the gashes and he dropped to his knees. Using the distraction I managed to knock this sucker out. I crawled off his unconscious body as I heard someone shouting.

"What the hell is going on here!?" The voice came from a man with a beige complexion in a white suit. It was Clicky Goldjeff, he was soon joined by his wife, Joanca, who immediately put her hands on her hips as she glowered and the mess.

"We didn't start this." I defended holding up my index finger.

"Kei." Yuri's voice rose up from behind me.

I turned to see that Yuri and Cory had searched the assailant and had found something. Yuri's soft snow colored hands held a small package of narcotics. I snatched it up for a closer inspection as Cory checked the drug user's pulse with a horrified look on her face. A terrifying looking clown from some classic movie was printed on the front of the package.

We had our first clue.

CHAPTER 4

The Goldjeffs were pretty forgiving for the mess that had been made. They told us that apparently, incidents like this had become more frequent as of late. The guy that started everything was carted off by the cops shortly after. The police weren't too pleased to see us. You could definitely tell their fragile little feelings were hurt having us on their territory taking over the case. It was their own fault for being so incompetent, I didn't even feel bad for them.

With our clue in hand, we hit the streets first thing the following morning. The obvious first choice was hitting up District 427, affectionately known as Slaughter Town. District 427 had a reputation for being the slums of Elenore City. Most of the average citizens avoided this place like the plague. For good reason, every criminal, lowlife, and crackhead called this place home.

We checked with every connection, snitch, and interrogated every dealer we came across. None of them knew anything about the scary clown, or so they claimed. We should have known better than to get our hopes up. The inhabitants of this neighborhood operated by prison rules, they were known for their distrust of outsiders and for being tight-lipped. The criminal's code or some bullshit like that.

My stomach was growling as angrily as the rest of me after this waste of a day. We decided to take a break to get a quick bite to eat from a local street vendor. I ordered a pulled meat sandwich and a side of fries. Get off my case. I was starving, all this leg work built up an appetite and we still had a whole day of it ahead of us for me to burn it off. Yuri and Cory were gonna regret getting such a light lunch as they both opted for just a salad.

Gotta carbo-load for days like this.

I hungrily snatched up my food as soon as the vendor handed it to us and dug right in.

"Oh, please. Lunch is on us." Yuri offered, taking her credit card and running it through the reader.

"Uhm, thanks." Cory quipped as she shifted through her salad suspiciously.

"Not hungry?" I asked with grease running down my chin as Cory set her salad down on the food cart with a repulsed look on her face.

"Must just be all the excitement." Cory covered.

Yuri nodded her head in understanding as she took a delicate bite of her salad. Not wanting Cory's discarded food to go to waste I snatched it back up. Her loss.

"Youz guys wouldn' happen to be da Dirty Pair, is ya?" The vendor asked with a grin full of missing teeth.

My attitude instantly soured when those words hit my ears.

Yuri must have experienced a similarly unpleasant feeling as she quickly corrected him very matter of factly. "No, sir, we are the Lovely Angels."

She quickly turned up her nose and looked away in disdain. I, on the other hand, was busy giving Cory a death stare. She squirmed under my scowl and innocently shrugged at me.

"Close 'nough." The vendor replied, his gap-toothed smile drooping into a sinister glare as he reached into his food cart and pulled out what looked like a crudely modified gatling gun. Without another word, or barely time to react, he opened fire sending a storm of bullets in our direction.

I quickly pulled Cory out of the line of fire. "Run!"

A shot grazed my arm, ouch, that was gonna leave a nasty bruise. Thankfully despite it looking like we weren't wearing much we were in fact protected by a strong transparent polymer armor. I dove behind the car that we had parked on the street followed by a squealing Cory. Once I was satisfied that my ass was covered I looked around for Yuri, she had successfully taken cover behind an upturned portion of the road piled with refuse.

Contented that we were in the clear I snatched my heat gun from the holster and returned fire. We had been expecting something like this, to be honest. It was a risk you take coming to a place like this and start kicking hornet's nests. Clearly, someone we talked to blabbed to the right person. Which meant we were on to something.

"You are SO not getting a tip, you sonofabitch!"

It was difficult for Yuri and me to get a clean shot amidst the rain of gunfire. We popped off shots whenever we could but the vendor's cart was providing him plenty of cover as well. Since it didn't seem like the bullets were going to stop anytime soon it was time to think smarter not work harder. I peeked around the corner of the vehicle and saw my opening. Before I could act the barrage returned sending bullets and sparks flying inches from my face.

"Yuri, draw his fire. I got a plan!" I used my uniforms built-in communication functions to relay a message to my partner.

"Right." Yuri confirmed.

Rising from her hiding spot, Yuri began to open fire freely at the sadistic food service lackey. Successfully grasping his attention, he turned his gun towards Yuri; I made my move. Moving quickly, I sprung up and took aim at the old fashioned propane tank the vendor was using to cook his food. Firing a direct shot at the tank the red hot burst of concussive heat burned through the metal casing of the tank and connected with the highly flammable gas within. The explosion erupted through the cart sending flaming pieces of food, debris, and its owner all over the street.

Fire crackled from the blackened smear that was once our luncheon spot. I wiped my forehead, wasn't sure if it was blood or sweat. Returning my gun to my holster I rose to my feet and let out a deep breath of victory.

Yuri walked over with a finger in her ear trying to pop it. "Crude, but effective. It must admit it did have that signature 'Kei' feel to it."

"Gotta stay on your toes around here, Cor." I chuckled as I turned to address our tagalong.

Our faces went white as we realized Cory was no longer with us. "Cory?" I called out to her under the assumption she had just chosen a different hiding spot.

"Kei, over there!" Yuri shouted pointing a bit further down the street.

In the distance, I could see Cory being dragged into an alley by three men. We sprinted over to try and intercept. As we rounded the corner of the alley a pair of headlights came barreling towards us. Instincts kicking in we quickly jumped out of the way narrowly avoiding getting run down.

The headlights belonged to a black car that sped away, we could see they had Cory in the back seat.

Without a second thought, we rushed back to the blast site and hopped into our bullet-riddled car to pursue the kidnappers. Yuri dove into the driver's seat and started the engine, to our shared relief the car started. Throwing it into drive she mashed the accelerator and we took off like a cannonball in an attempt to catch up. Along the well overdue for some maintenance roads, Yuri swerved through traffic and debris with incredible precision, despite the speed. I was going to have to rethink all the crap I talk about her driving because she was handling like a pro. Within minutes we managed to catch up to the black car.

As we closed the distance, shots began coming towards us from the black car. With complete faith in Yuri's driving, I climbed half out of the window and began firing back. My favorite heat gun wouldn't have been very effective in this sort of situation so I opted for a ray gun instead. I was doing my best to not do any significant damage to the vehicle, I couldn't risk blowing it up. After all, Cory was in there and the chief made it very clear that if she ended up dead we would sharing her coffin. Mainly, I was trying to slow them down, we were relying almost entirely on Yuri to catch us up so we could get Cory to safety before blowing these guys off the face of the planet.

We were only a car or two distance away as Yuri continued to weave between vehicles. Most of them were abandoned and derelict but a few were functional and serving as great obstacles for us. One of the kidnappers crawled out of the window in a similar fashion to me. From inside the car, he pulled out a missile launcher and fired it in our direction. Yuri squealed from the driver's seat as she slammed on the breaks and quickly swerved out of the way. I held on as tightly as I could as to not be thrown out and turned into a bloody smear along the street. The missile connected with the car behind us, the explosion tossed the back of our vehicle into the air. Yuri recovered as we evened out and continued our pursuit.

Nice driving, sis!

What was left of the recently exploded vehicle soon disappeared into the distance. Having used their big gun and failed, the kidnappers had changed their tactics and were now desperately trying to lose us. But we weren't letting that happen, every corner they took we were right behind them. Even as they abruptly u-turned into the lane of oncoming traffic, we didn't miss a beat. We were right on their butts. Passing the wreckage from the missile we pulled up beside the black car. Switching to my heat gun I blasted the driver side window, I was confident that the excessive heat would burn through any sort of bulletproofing that the vehicle might have had, and I was right. As the glass melted away I could see the panic and frustration on the driver's face.

"Pull over and release your hostage!" I demanded as the man in the passenger seat fired his gun at me, luckily for me, it just hit my car.

"Oh, that is it!" I snarled and began reaching for the hole in the window.

The driver screamed as I lunged toward him and in a panic and pulled straight into the building to the left. The windows shattered as the black car disappeared into the structure. With an abrupt u-turn, Yuri wasted no time following them into the building. With luck the building was an abandoned car park, it was nothing but empty space and cement pillars. The roar of our engine echoed through the empty void as we sped towards the kidnappers.

I smiled as the black car made another mistake in our favor. Instead of exiting, the black car swerved and ascended the ramp to the next level.

"They have nowhere to go now! We have to cut them off!"

"I know!" Yuri screamed back as she pushed our damaged vehicle to its limit following them up.

Climbing higher and higher we continued our struggle to get ahead of the culprits. The sun struck our eyes as we reached the roof level, once again we were side by side with the kidnappers. I wasn't messing around this time, I pulled my ray gun and aimed it at the driver's head. I fired but the driver managed to dodge letting his accomplice in the passenger seat take the hit splattering the window with blood. I heard Cory scream from the back seat as I prepared to fire again. Before I could shoot the driver slammed on the breaks bringing the black vehicle to a halt. Yuri quickly drifted to a stop just short of the edge of the building. I took aim again and fired off a few rounds before the black car started moving again. This time they were headed straight for us and picking up speed. My eyes widened as I realized that these crazy bastards were going to ram us!

"Yuri drive! Drive!" I shouted in panic as I crawled back into my seat, my eyes not leaving the rapidly approaching headlights.

"I'm trying!" Yuri's voice matched my own, she was erratically switching between trying to start the car and press the accelerator.

It was no good, our poor car officially had it. Yuri threw her arms in the air as the assaulting vehicle smashed into us throwing the entire car off the roof of the building.

Neither Yuri nor I could help to let out a blood-curdling scream as we watched the ground get ever closer to us while the a.i. of our car continued to bellow a proximity warning. Collision is imminent.

As we hit with the ground the car filled with safety foam and began rolling down an embankment. The car rolled five or six times before falling over a final overpass with a crashing thud. As the car finally came to a complete stop, the foam loosened enough for Yuri and me to crawl out to safety. I coughed up chunks of foam that had gotten into my mouth, ugh the stuff tasted nasty. I was glad we had it, don't get me wrong, fatalities caused by traffic collisions had dropped to zero ever since it was invented. Didn't mean I wanted to be eating the stuff. Yuri was picking pieces of the cream colored foam out of her hair as I looked in the distance towards the building we had just plummeted from. The black car and by extension Cory were long gone.

There was no way we would be able to catch them now, especially with our car looking like a busted can of biscuits. We were dead meat, I gritted my teeth as I imagined Cory getting turned into one of the mangled barely recognizable corpses. Even worse the chief's face when we tell him. I let out a deep sigh and turned to Yuri, maybe she had a good idea or maybe even a little hope to spare.

"Well, this sucks."

"It is going to take hours getting all of the safety foam out of my hair." Yuri whined as she continued to pluck away at the pieces.

"Worry about that later! Those guys got Cory. What are we gonna do?! We don't even have a clue as to where they are going!" I placed my hands on my hips as I reprimanded my best friend.

I was too busy lamenting our bad luck and lack of a heading to notice the familiar warm feeling that had started in my hands.

CHAPTER 5

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I finally felt the warmth in my fingertips slowly crawling up my arm.

Yuri paused her grooming to join me, we took each other's hands. We weren't sure why, but it always worked better this way, things were more clear. As the warm feeling filled our bodies the world around us faded into solid white. Together Yuri and I raised our eyes to the space above us. Three shimmering golden rings were lined up next to each other, each the perfect distance apart from each other. A shooting star pierced the sky and flew right through the rings.

And that was it.

Yuri and I were back at the overpass holding hands next to our wrecked car.

"Okay, just what the hell was that supposed to mean?"

I kicked at an empty can on the ground. Binary clairvoyance sounds like an awesome ability, in theory. But then it pulls crap like this, a shooting star and some rings? I have been having a really bad day, couldn't you just spell it out for me?!

Yuri folded one arm around her waist and held her chin with her thumb and index finger pensively. Meanwhile, I plopped myself down on the hood of the car, the metal denting a bit where I sat. Maybe that sandwich was a bad idea, I didn't even eat the whole thing. I pinched at my waist, I couldn't possibly be getting fat? It must have been muscle. I looked up at the sky, maybe a shooting star would fly in the direction of Cory.

"Kei, quick, look at this!"

I jerked my head in Yuri's direction, she was staring at some poster that had been plastered on the wall of the overpass to entice those passing by. I walked over to get a better look, it was an advertisement for a circus that had recently come to town. Why the hell would they choose Slaughter Town to set up shop? No one was gonna venture into this neighborhood to see an archaic show like that.

Wait, things were starting to click, it made so much sense. "The clown on the packaging. The three rings were obviously referring to the three rings of a circus!" I mused excitedly.

"Right, and no one would take notice of a troupe of performers moving into town despite their size. They could set up a very expansive drug market without anyone suspecting a thing!" Yuri continued.

"According to this flyer, they moved in right around the time of the influx as well. Looks like we got our perp!" I high fived Yuri.

"We should hurry before anything." Yuri paused. "Unfortunate happens to Ms. Emerson."

We arrived at the ticket booth for the evening show. Yuri paid the admission and handed me my ticket. We figured this would be easier, once we were in we could take a look around. We took our seats on the stadium benches surrounding the stage just as the show was about to start. A single spotlight lit up the center of the stage as a thin man in a glittering purple and red tuxedo complete with a matching top hat addressed the crowd. He twirled the curled up mustache of his goatee. This dude looked like some reject from a classic cartoon. As he finished welcoming us the show began, the stage flooded with clowns, some in little cars, some juggling, others partaking in general tomfoolery. I was impressed they took their cover seriously, this looked like a legit circus.

Yuri and I exchanged a knowing glance, this was our cue to slip away and investigate this faux festival. We politely excused ourselves and exited the large tent. The troupe had set up three large tents, meant to house the main stages. Considering these areas would have some traffic from the public we had to assume the drug lab was not going to be there.

The performers and set up some housing tents in the back of the lot they were occupying surrounding a makeshift town square for their patrons with various shops and exhibits. We did our best to blend in the sparse crowd as we checked out the establishments. I was right about one thing, business in Slaughter Town was light; there was no way they were making enough to survive here on the show alone. In fact, I had to assume most of the people here were actually here for the drugs.

"Whaddya think, Yuri? None of these places look big enough to be hiding manufacturing equipment." I asked under my breath.

"You are right about that." Yuri agreed as she looked around. "Underground, perhaps?"

"Seems logical, we just gotta find a way in."

We waited until we were sure no one was looking and slipped away into the housing community the performers had set up. Most of the entertainers must have been at the main stages so it was pretty quiet. We peeked our heads into a couple of the tents but nothing looked overly suspicious.

"This one looks clear." I offered as I checked another tent.

I turned to see why Yuri wasn't answering and found myself staring at a nearly seven-foot wall of pure muscle. This strong man currently had his clamp of a hand wrapped around the lower half of Yuri's face and she struggled and clawed to break free of his grip.

"Are jyou lost, pussycats?" He asked with a thick Latin accent.

Why wasn't Yuri fighting back harder? She had her guns and her Bloody Card. She could easily take this goliath out. Did she have a plan? Did she want to be captured?

"Uhh who us? Umm yeah, we were just looking for the bathroom." I laughed nervously. I hoped to myself that Yuri knew what she was doing as the inhumanly large fist connected with my abdomen and everything went black.

I woke up to see a luscious pair of glutes bouncing up and down and the floor moving passed me. The strongman had thrown me over his shoulder and was carrying me off somewhere. Looking over I could see he had Yuri over the other shoulder. She didn't say a word just gave me a confident wink.

"I foun' des two snooping aroun'."The Strongman explained coming to a halt.

"So you brought them here? Do your muscles bogart the blood from reaching your brain?" The voice was familiar to me, it was the ringmaster from earlier, that cliché cartoon of a man.

I felt the strong man grumble. "Jyou 'ave the other girl 'ere, Jefe."

"Ugh, very well. Put them down." The ringmaster conceded.

With a shrug of his shoulders we slipped from the strongman and his the ground with a thud, the wind was knocked out of me briefly. I squinted my eyes to try and take in our surroundings. We definitely seemed to be underground, Yuri was right about that. This must have been the core of their operation. Huge machinery hissed and wheezed as it pumped out stream. Huge tables of lab equipment with beakers and tubes nearly reached the ceiling were lined down the center of the room.

I couldn't see Cory from my vantage point, but the strongman implied she was here somewhere and spoke about her in the present tense. All hope wasn't lost yet.

The ringmaster walked over to Yuri and took her chin in his hand. "You birds must be the Trouble consultants from the 3WA that were sticking their little noses where they don't belong." He dropped Yuri and strolled over to me, his pants sparkling from the sequins in the fluorescent light.

"Quite pretty, I must admit. Pity were are going to have to ruin such lovely specimens." The Ringmaster placed his hands on his hips as he joked to his cohort. "I think a ride through the heat compressor will do them about right."

"The hell you say!" I responded with a sweeping kick to the ringmaster's legs. He toppled to the ground and Yuri and I jumped to our feet.

"You bloody imbeciles, don't just stand there, get them!" The ringmaster commanded from the ground.

The strongman immediately charged at us, we had speed on our side though. Quickly dashing out of the way we let him charge right into a table of lab equipment toppling it over and showering him with broken glass and chemicals. He yowed in pain as the fluids began eating away at his flesh. With that brute out of the way, we had to find Cory, first and foremost. Yuri gingerly collected our guns from the waistband of the now unconscious strongman. Handing me my heat gun we took aim at the ringmaster.

"Where is the girl?" I asked my tone stern and demanding.

The ringmaster just laughed manically as he stared into the barrels of our weapons. From my side, I heard Yuri gasp, as I turned I felt my gun getting kicked out of my hand. My eyes darted around looking for the culprit. Two diamond patterned harlequins painted black and white were backflipping away from us. These acrobatic jesters were quick to, they had managed to collect our fallen weapons and were now pointing them straight at us. The ringmaster rose to feet still laughing and dusted himself off.

I raised my hands in surrender but Yuri had her hands behind her back with a pouty look on her face.

"Looks like you dastardly types got us." She purred. "We are completely defenseless."

I cocked my eyes to the side and caught a silver glimmer behind her back. As soon as I saw her flick her hand we dropped to the ground. The Bloody Card went soaring towards the monochromatic harlequins, not even they were fast enough to avoid their fates. Yuri maneuvered the Bloody Card using the remote controls we have implanted in the back of our necks by the 3WA. Torrents of blood spurted and screams of pain echoed through the open room as the Bloody Card removed the limbs of the clowns.

The ringmaster rushed for our weapons and snatched up Yuri's ray gun from the now severed arm of his lackey. Without a thought he pulled the trigger, an empty click click sound repeated as he tried in vain to fire the weapon. Yuri snatched the blood smeared card out of the air as we walked over to the top-hatted cliché who was growing more desperate.

"I must apologize for our deception, you see we were never in any real danger there. Those guns are 3WA issue and DNA coded for their users. I am afraid they won't work for anyone other than us." Yuri explained in a sugary tone.

"So, if you wouldn't mind giving the lady back her gun and telling us where you stashed Cory, we would appreciate it." I followed up after collecting my heat gun and pointing it at the ringmaster's head.

Glancing at the pathetic heaps of his minions, or what was left of them, the ringmaster accepted his defeat. "Very well. Follow me."

He said straightening his purple glittery bowtie. Guns still locked firmly on him he began leading us to where they were holding their hostage.

The ringmaster led us to a room that must have been his office. My eyes were drawn to the map behind his desk. There were distribution routes outlined throughout the entire subterranean system of district 427 and beyond. This was how they were moving their product. I walked over to get a better look, Yuri kept her sights on the ringmaster in case he tried anything stupid. As I got closer I discovered Cory on the floor behind the desk. She was unconscious and bound, I knelt down and took her pulse.

"She's alive." I informed Yuri. And damn lucky for that limey bastard too.

"K-Kei?" Cory asked drowsily as her eyelids fluttered open.

"We got ya. Let me just get you outta these." I said pulling as small laser knife out of my boot and began severing her bindings. Once she was free Cory wrapped her arms around my neck as tears streamed down her face.

"I thought I was done for, thank you." She sobbed.

"No problem, we couldn't let anything happen to you." I comforted, it was true. If anything happened to the galaxy's number one superstar we would be branded social pariahs for life. On the plus side, the chief would see that those lives would be short.

We joined Yuri and our perpetrator. Cory was still clinging on to me for dear life.

"I think you will find you are under arrest." Yuri explained as she took the ringmasters hands behind his back and place a pair of beam cuffs on him. We gave each other a nod of a job well done.

Our luck had finally turned around on us, I thought to myself as we walked back to the central area of the narcotics lab. We got our criminal, Cory is coming out without a single physical scar to be seen, couldn't speak for mental, but that wasn't our problem. Best of all we solved the case with no major catastrophes, Cory had no choice but to take back that slanderous story about us.

As we entered the main lab we once again found ourselves face to face with a familiar mountain of muscles. The strongman had recovered from before, well mostly. The chemicals had eaten away several portions of his soft tissue, half of his jawbone was visible under the melted skin of his face, holes in his arms and legs had been eaten away right to the bone. I was honestly amazed her was able to even stand in his current state.

We had been so distracted by the gruesome sight of this half melted man that we didn't even see the large incendiary weapon in his hand.

CHAPTER 6

The only thing standing between us and the exit was a heaving mass of man that looked like a half melted candle.

"Tiempo de morir, putitas." The words slipped from what was left of the strongman's lips. His diction was impressive considering he only had roughly half of his lips.

The strongman raised his weapon in our direction with what I was assuming was a smile, really it was hard to tell.

"Javier, no!" the ringmaster hollered as the strongman pulled the trigger sending a stream of flames towards us.

We managed to grab Cory and duck out of the way but the leader of this whole operation wasn't so lucky. He took the full blow of the flamethrower and in seconds was covered in head to toe flames. His agonized screams mixed with the garbled laughter of the strongman as flailed about before collapsing to the ground.

This guy was out of his freakin' mind! The strongman just laughed liked madman as we continued the stream of flames in our direction. Fires were erupting in various locations as the flammable chemicals erupted into flame.

"Yuri, head!" I shouted as I pulled out my heat gun and set it to full blast.

I fired one shot from my crouched down position at the mostly melted leg of the Latino lunatic. The concussive blast did its job reducing what was left his leg to charred bone. As the psychopath dropped to his knees he finally let off the trigger allowing Yuri to get a clean shot which she landed right between his eyes. The maniac collapsed into a pile.

Fires were now roaring in all directions, engulfing the room.

"Kei, we need to go! When the fire reaches those tanks they are going to explode. And if my estimations about the contents of those machines are correct then it is going to be a very large explosion." Yuri informed us, her pouty lips now clenched in panic.

"Then what are we standing around for?" I shouted.

Without another word, the three of us took off in a run. The fire was roaring behind us as we entered the long hallway to the exit. Halfway down the hall we heard the first tank blow, it caused a chain reaction in the other tanks, I looked back to see a wall of flames now chasing us.

"Go, go, go!" I screamed in panic.

We dashed into the lift as the blast rushed ever closer to us. I mashed every button on the control panel as the lift began its ascent.

Couldn't this damn thing go any faster?!

We reach the ground level and bounded off the elevator just as a massive torrent of fire erupted from underneath it, sending it flying into the distance. Without the luxury of being able to slow down we continued fleeing towards the exit as more torrents of fire burst up. The ground beneath us began to sway from the chaos in the subterranean levels making it difficult to stay upright but we somehow managed.

Getting out of this alive was going to take a miracle, but fate was on our side thankfully. Someone's luxury cherry red convertible sports car was parked outside of the circus tents, my guess was some rich yuppie looking to score with daddy's money.

I couldn't believe the luck, it was still running.

Being on the same page Yuri leaped over the door into the driver seat. I quickly tossed Cory into the back seat as I slid into the passenger side. Yuri took off like a shot, Cory's legs sticking up in the air from the position I had thrown her in, in the distance some guy was screaming about his car. Yuri didn't notice, or at least she pretended not to.

The entire district was rumbling beneath us now. The road started to crack and break away as we made our escape. Yuri gracefully swerved to avoid the chunks of street rising up as other parts sunk below. The tremors, now feeling more like earthquakes, were causing the multistoried buildings to tilt and collapse around us. Cory, now upright in her seat and holding on for dear life, squealed as one of the buildings ahead of us toppled to the ground sending flurries of dust and debris towards us. Yuri quickly spun the wheel drifting us onto the cross street.

The exit of the district came into view. But, behind us, the ground was rapidly chipping away as it fell into the hollow structure below. Yuri was driving as quickly as she could but it was catching up. The buildings lining the street were now folding in on us from both directions. Cory screamed bloody murder once again as another structure crumbled just inches away from us.

"Hold on!" Yuri commanded as the portion of the road we were driving on began rising up.

Using the angle of the fractured street as a ramp Yuri gunned it and sent the car cascading over the ever-widening gap filled with hellfire. This stunt even made me close my eyes and wince. If I was a religious type I would have been praying to whatever deity was out there.

The crimson hover car landed on the other side with a mighty crash as Yuri turned the wheel back and forth in an attempt to even us out, the car was basically on its side before coming to a violent stop and tipping back down flat.

Breathing heavily I took a quick headcount, Yuri still had her hands on the wheel, her knuckles whiter than normal from the death grip in which she clutched it. Cory was unharmed but looked like she was on the verge of a heart attack. Looking back to the canyonesque gap we just traversed I could see Slaughter Town crumbling in on itself, spouts of fire and random explosion occurred as building after building sank into the ground. I wrinkled my nose as I watched district 427 implode. So much for having the perp and no collateral damage. Worst of all Cory was there for the whole thing.

We were so screwed.

Days later we were in Chief Soranaka's office taking the berating of a lifetime. District 427 had been reduced to nothing more than a rubble-filled crater. It was difficult to measure since most of the inhabitants were not registered or criminals on the down low, but the death count was reaching close to six thousand with more bodies being recovered from the ruins as we speak. We gave our report and repeatedly declared our innocence and were eventually cleared of any blame for the disaster of Slaughter Town. The police force was satisfied that we cracked the drug ring but due to the way it was handled were even further down on their list now.

As for Cory.

"Hurry up Kei, it's on" Yuri called from the white plush sofa of our living room.

Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she was dressed comfortably in a flowy blouse and terrycloth skirt. Mughi had sprawled himself over her lap, well really he was only resting his front half on her due to his size, someone really needed to explain to him that omlarcats weren't meant to be lap animals.

I hurriedly rushed around the corner from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn and bounced onto the open space of our love seat. I was dressed similarly comfortable in a halter top and a pair of boy shorts. Getting comfortable I offered Yuri some of the corn with she graciously took a handful of. A long black tentacle sneakily reached into the bowl collecting a few kernels of corn and tossing them into Mughi's mouth.

The show began over the sound of our munching.

"Put your hands together and join me in welcoming the United Galactica's number one superstar! Let's hear it for Cory Emerson!" The announcer boasted in a familiar fashion.

Without much ado Cory entered the stage, she was back in her platinum wig and sporting a high fashion maroon mini dress with a matching pair of platform shoes. Looks like my style had rubbed off on her a little, not that I was surprised, she wasn't the only trendsetter here. After giving a few courteous waves and blowing a few kisses, she retreated to the couch of her set.

"Thank you all for joining me for this week's episode of 'Cory!' This week we are going to following up on our little expose of the Worlds Welfare Work Association's best but most infamous pair of trouble consultants, the Lovely Angels." Cory explained as she turned to the holo-screen on the back wall which lit up with a photo of Yuri and myself.

Oh man, could they have honestly picked a worse picture of me? I looked positively goofy, and my hair looked so frizzy. This was unforgivable, do they not know how many men are gonna be watching this?! I was never getting a date again!

"As you recall this pair of buxom beauties have garnered quite the reputation for themselves. They have become known throughout the United Galactica as the Dirty Pair. Much ado to the immeasurable amount of collateral damage and the insane body count under their belts. Well, I got to spend a rather… Interesting week with these two to see for myself if they really were the bloodthirsty genocidal psychopaths that they have become known as or not." Cory continued.

"Well, you've waited long enough. The conclusion I have reached is…"I raised my eyebrow as Cory paused for suspense.

"Inconclusive."

I sighed in frustration and threw up my hands nearly knocking the bowl of popcorn to the floor. Mughi glared at my outburst, excuse me for interrupting your nap.

"Are their methods a bit unorthodox and maybe a tad aggressively violent? Maybe. But from my observations, these two may just be products of our modern society. Aren't we the ones responsible for turning two innocent girls into hardened killing machines? They never seemed to start any this excessive violence but somehow still managed to find themselves smack dab in the middle of some sort of fiasco multiple times during my tenure with them."

Yuri cleared her throat and shot me a dirty look as I smiled an obviously guilty smile and threw a few bits of popcorn at her.

"As I am sure you all know by now, that district 427 was completely demolished while I was investigating these two. And yes, in the end, lives were lost by the thousands and a neighborhood was wiped off the face of the planet. But after all of that, they did solve the case and saved my life in the process. So I want to thank you, Kei and Yuri."

Finally, a little appreciation for all of our hard work.

"Now, can I honestly say that district 427 would still be standing today if not for these two? Probs. But like, is it a huge loss that it is gone? I mean, amirite? But, that's not for me to say. What I can say is that the Lovely Angels are hardworking, dedicated, and resilient, with luck as bad as their titties are plentiful. The two are guaranteed to get their man, but getting out alive is not guaranteed." Cory said with a sly smile.

"Now let's take some questions from the audience."

With that, Yuri turned off the holo-screen. "I think I am going to do a bit of reading in bed." Her plush lips were sticking out in an obvious pout.

I shared her sentiment. This was definitely not the clean slate we were hoping for but Cory did say some nice things about us. I could only imagine what the HR department of the 3WA was gonna say the next time we came in. That was a problem for another day, we were on our mandated 72 hours off and I was not going to think about this debacle for another second.

Unfortunately, that loathsome despicable nickname seemed to stick. Seems we were destined to be forever be branded as the Dirty Pair.

CASE 0198 – CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

SIDE STORY: SIREN'S MELODY

EPILOGUE

"Whoa, have you ever seen anything like it?" I asked awestruck.

"It's so beautiful." Yuri replied in a mesmerized manner.

I adjusted in my seat so that I could lean in closer. Displayed across the multiple screens of the Lovely Angel's deck was our destination, the Hecatolite planetoids.

My partner and I couldn't help but take in their unnatural beauty. Scientists have estimated that these mysterious planetoids were the remains of what was once a single planet, but now were fragmented bowl-like meteors containing vast ocean-esque pools of crystal clear waters and held together by a shimmering crystalline network of ice. In contrast to the usual order of things, these pools revolve around a solitary moon. Though this is all speculation, really no one knows for sure how these structures actually formed.

Not only are the Hecatolite planetoids teeming with mystery but they are also home to a cornucopia of sea life. Creatures beyond imagination who have perfectly adapted to their environment and struggle to survive in any other climate. Because of this and its general uniqueness amongst the cosmos, the United Galactica has designated the Hecatolite planetoids a protected animal reserve. Humans need to have special clearance to even step foot on its surface. So really, we should consider ourselves lucky that recently poachers have been harvesting some of the sea life. Otherwise, we never would have gotten to see the majesty of these planetoids up close.

I am kidding, of course.

I have a bad habit of never knowing when I take things too far or a joke is in poor taste. My bad.

It's actually pretty upsetting. As of recently, a gem has been seen popping up in the black markets called lunar prisms. Their whole gimmick is that if you crush them into a powder and mix it with water, the paste is supposed to have incredible rejuvenating properties. I mean, I get it. I don't want to turn into an old saggy grandma either, it's one of my worst fears actually. I mean, I am not afraid of anything! I will fight you! Still, it was silly to me that people were still relying on these magic potions when there are so many modern medical advances out there. I guess to each their own. The problem is that these lunar prisms aren't just found in nature nor can they be commercially recreated, they have to be harvested from one of the creatures of Hecatolite called the ellunapez.

See, a group of conversationalists petitioned the 3WA after the United Galactica took what they referred to as insufficient and inappropriate action against the poaching of the ellunapez. I don't know exactly what that meant but from what I gathered from the briefing the U.G. wanted to send in troops that would destroy the natural ecosystem and put the animals in danger. So they hired us as a more specialized and discrete means of solving their problem. They were a lot more technical about the whole thing but that is the gist of it.

So, with orders in hand Yuri and I flew to these natural wonders so that we can neutralize the criminals and protect these endangered creatures. I just hoped I didn't come off this mission reeking like fish for the next several days. Ugh.

CHAPTER 1

Hecatolite Planetoids - 07.02.2141

My partner and best friend, Yuri finished landing our spaceship, the Lovely Angel, on along the rim of one of these oceanic structures. There wasn't much land and very little atmosphere, it was a bit difficult to breathe actually. But still, the whole area was just breathtaking, no pun intended. Crystal clear and perfectly still sapphire colored water stretched as far as the eye could see. In the distance, I could see a waterfall pouring down from one of the upper-level bowl structures. It was truly magnificent.

"I could use a little help here if you are done sightseeing." Yuri's voice spoke up in my ear.

I turned to see my partner standing with her hands on her hips near the entrance of our crimson spaceship. Strolling out from behind her was the third member of our team, the omlarcat Mughi and a small egg-shaped robot called Nanmo. Normally Nanmo belonged to another trouble consultant friend of ours named Touma. However, since we were in a completely isolated region of the cosmos, completely cut off from modern technology, Nanmo was sent with us as sort of a tether to the 3WA headquarters.

"Tro con Kei, at your service." I replied in a snarky tone as I walked back over to Yuri and gave her an exaggerated salute.

Yuri just rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Meanwhile, Mughi and Nanmo had gone to investigate the water. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mughi looking at his reflection in the mirror-like surface of the ocean. He was making a big show of making faces and admiring his handsomeness. Before I could say anything to warn him, Nanmo opened up one of its hatches and reached out with one of his little arms giving Mughi a nasty shock to his rump. Mughi yowed in surprise and jumped up causing him to lose his balance. Despite his best efforts, the poor beast plunged into the water. Nanmo made a little robotic titter, obviously quite pleased with himself, as a now soaking wet Mughi crawled back onto dry land.

The pitiful black omlarcat made his way back to the ship with an unimpressed look on his face. As he passed Nanmo, he kicked back with one of this rear legs tossing the little white robot through the air before landing on its back wedged between two rock formations. It kicked its little red feet as it struggled to free itself. Mughi huffed and thrust his nose into the air as he strolled past us looking like a drowned rat and into the ship. Nanmo managed to finally free itself using a combination of its anti-grav thrusters and its little compartmental arms. It waddled past us chasing after Mughi making some sort of disgruntled mechanical sound.

Those two, they had been like this the entire way here as well.

I shook my head and turned back to Yuri who was already in walking towards the large vehicle sitting within the Lovely Angel.

"Help guide me back, okay?" Yuri asked as she climbed into the sea exploration vehicle that had been provided to us.

I took a few steps back as Yuri started it up. I liked the design of this thing, it was actually kinda cute. It was a two-seater, one in front and the other behind it. The top portion was a clear dome with holographic displays and a big fin on top, the bottom was two large engines and another set of fins. The red and white paint job really complimented the Lovely Angel, if I didn't know any better I would have guessed it was built specifically for us. Oh, and lest I forget the most important part, the two cannons situated under the lower front half of the craft. They looked like they could do some serious damage, I didn't mind letting Yuri drive so long as I got to operate those bad boys.

I guided Yuri as she backed the seafaring vehicle out of the hanger and towards the water. Things were going smoothly until a small robot came rushing out of the Lovely Angel making another mischievous sound followed by a large furious omlarcat. The two about knocked me on my ass as they came rushing by. Damn them, I have had about enough of their bickering.

"Kei?" I heard Yuri ask as I started chasing after Mughi.

"Kei?!" She asked more panicked as the aquatic ship disappeared over the edge.

I heard Yuri scream followed by an enormous splash. The sound was enough to stop all three of us in our tracks and turn to the empty space where Yuri once was. We crept over to the side of the cliff and looked down to see a very pissed off Yuri staring up at us from inside the craft bobbing in the water.

"See, you didn't need me. You made it in just fine." I gave her a big guilty smile and little wave.

"Just collect Nanmo and get down here." Yuri said flatly.

Guess my attempt to soothe things over didn't go so well. I picked up Nanmo as Mughi slinked away towards the Lovely Angel. I think this was one mission he was more than eager to stay on the ship for. Y'know, cats and water. So, robot in hand I activated my grav-pack and lowered myself down, Yuri opened the hatch allowing us to climb in and take our seats. After running the last few systems checks Yuri skittered across the glassy water until the sensors informed us it was safe to dive.

Once we reached the optimal level, we lowered ourselves down below the surface of the water. I couldn't help but be surprised, the serene peacefulness of the surface was a total façade for what was hiding beneath. As soon as we breached this veiled world we were exposed to a whole spectrum of coral reefs and dozens of schools of exotic looking fish swarming overhead. Everything was so vibrant bustling. I tried to take this whole new world in but it was completely overwhelming.

"Where do we even start?" I asked as I watched a school of orange and yellow fish swim past the dome.

"According to the briefing." Yuri said very pointedly before pausing. "They are a bioluminescent species so they are most likely found at a depth where light doesn't reach."

"According to the briefing. Light doesn't reach." I repeated in a mocking tone.

We can't all be as full of useless information as you, Yuri. Get off my back.

Yuri ignored my childish response and continued to pilot us deeper into the vast ocean. I took in the sights as we continued our journey, I could easily see why they would want to protect this place. It was amazing, it was just a shame people couldn't see it. Hey, maybe when we get back I could pitch the idea to a documentary crew or something? I bet I would make a fortune. I was too distracted by the dollar signs in my eyes to see that we approaching a large undersea canyon.

"We're headed down." Yuri interrupted my little daydream.

I felt an ominous feeling wash over me as we descended into the large crag. This thing was much deeper than it looked from the surface, it grew darker and darker the further down in we went. Before long we were surrounded by pitch blackness. I reached up and flicked on the lights of our craft. Even with the new illumination, it was still difficult to see anything around us. The rocky walls soon gave way to one of ice, we must now be traveling through the ice formations connecting the land masses like a web, I assumed.

This new area was a complete departure from the bustling and lively reef area we just were. I wanted to go back there, this new place was giving me the creeps.

"Nothing yet." Yuri announced.

I leaned forward to see her and Nanmo doing a scan of the area. "What do you mean?"

"Do you ever listen to a word I say? I am scanning for heat signatures. The creatures at this depth will have a much lower body temperature than you, me, or let's say a poacher." Yuri explained in a frustrated tone.

"Oh." I really didn't hear her say that. Guess I was preoccupied.

"Wait. I am picking up something. It's about twelve meters ahead." My long-haired partner squeaked.

"About time." I replied as I rested my chin on my hand and stared out the window.

Not that there was much point. All you could see out there was darkness. Or maybe not, I squinted my eyes to try and figure out exactly what I was looking at. Was it a cave? No that wasn't right, stalactites don't form like that. Besides, it was getting closer and wider. My eyes went round as my breath caught in my throat.

"Yuri! Drive! Drive now!"

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"GO!" I shouted as I kicked my leg against her chair.

That was enough to kick her into gear, literally. Yuri shot us forward just as a row of massive sharp fangs closed behind us. I screamed as I looked back to see a massive nightmarish looking creature chasing after us.

The beast was easily larger than a whale, but it was difficult to determine just how large it actually was since its long ghostly pale body disappeared into the darkness. It had small milky eyes on either side of its gigantic head that must have been primarily for show since there was no light at this depth. Instead, the monster had several tentacle-like feelers sprouting out by the dozen from under its lower jaw. Its most prominent feature was its gaping mouth lined with rows of sharp curved teeth.

"It's right behind us!" I screamed again as its jaws opened up around us and prepared to take us in.

We both let out a blood curdling scream as its mouth began to close.

CHAPTER 2

This wasn't how I imagined it ending. Being dinner for some dinosaurian whale monster. My survival instincts kicked in and, as usual, those instincts were to reach for the nearest gun. Still screaming I reached for the controls of the weapons systems and fired aimlessly. I sent blast after consecutive blast into the teeth and lower jaw of the creature causing it to halt and at the same time giving Yuri an opportunity to floor it and slip out of its reach.

We had finally stopped screaming but the tension was as penetrating as ever. My attack seemed to stun the beast more than anything. Before we could put enough distance between us and this thing to be comfortable with, it was back in pursuit. While my newly focused partner did her best to get us away so that we didn't end up in the belly of this monstrous beast, I did my part to help increase our chances.

My attention was now fully focused on the display ahead of me. I continued to fire on our hungry assailant. Unfortunately, it must have acclimated to the initial shock of my blasts because now they were doing next to nothing to slow it down.

"Kei, do something!" Yuri whined as she steered through the thick darkness surrounding us.

What did she think I was doing this whole time? Sitting on my ass doing my nails? Since the cannons weren't even slowing the beast down at this point, it probably was time for a change of tactics. My eyes scanned the weapons display looking for something, anything that would help. Finally I spied something.

Hmm, this should do the trick. With a wicked smile, I pressed the button and fired.

From in between the cannons lowered a torpedo that took off towards our ancient assailant. The aquatic missile exploded upon impacting the monster in the left side of its face, to our favor this had a much more desired effect. I looked back to see the whale-like beast wince and wriggle as it receded into the darkness.

"Woohoo!" I shouted in celebration while accidentally startling Yuri.

"What is wrong with you?!" She snapped back at me after recovering from her near heart attack.

We paused for a moment staring at each other in silence after that outburst. At the same time, we both started laughing. I guess the trauma of the situation had us both on edge. Our laughing faded as one of the monitors of our craft started beeping. Yuri quickly sat upright in her seat and clutched the controls. I turned my head around slowly to see that our friendly neighborhood leviathan had recovered from the torpedo to the face and was heading towards us at an alarming speed.

I frantically checked the weapons systems, there was nothing left. It was a small craft and that torpedo seemed to be its coup de grâce. It was all up to Yuri now. With amazing precision, Yuri weaved us through the darkness managing to miss every pillar of ice and jutting shard that came at us. I happened to be looking out the window when I spotted a small passageway, it would be too small for big and ugly to chase us but just the right size for us to sneak away.

"Yuri, behind us. A cave." I fervently informed her.

Without missing a beat, Yuri pulled the controls into an abrupt U-turn. I felt every muscle in my body tense up as we were now not only facing our hungry white whale but headed right towards it. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end as we rushed towards its wide open jaws. We were basically in its mouth when Yuri made a tight turn slipping the craft into the narrow passage.

From our new hiding spot, we watched as the enormous fish thingy swam right passed up and eventually vanished into the blackness.

We both breathed a little sigh of relief.

Just as we had let our guard down Nanmo started chirping away in his little robotic gibberish. The sudden noise startled us both. Yuri gave the little robot a soft slap to the top of the head before seeing what had him in such a fuss. Yuri pulled up the scan from earlier to find that the whale monster had chased us right to where we needed to go. In a fortunate turn of events, the heat signatures were just ahead of us.

"What luck!" Yuri exclaimed as she directed our little vessel further forward into the dark cave.

It didn't take long before we reached a long cavern, I was surprised to see not only dry land but also light! They were man-made lights that had been set up throughout the cave, but none the less, light! I missed being able to see. Yuri discreetly brought the craft a few meters away from the shore before bringing it to the surface and opening the hatch.

"We should probably go the rest of the way on foot. Let's switch to aquatic mode and be sure to raise your dermal levels. That water is probably quite cold. It would be a shame if I had to report back that my partner perished tragically turning into a human ice cube." Yuri said in a hushed tone as she brought her finger to the button on her neck.

I ignored her condescending statement and followed suit by adjusting my uniform. My stylish wedge heeled boots melded into a pair of flippers and two sets of fins formed on my forearms and legs. A breathing apparatus enclosed around my nose and mouth. In this formation, I was able to swim just as good as any of the creatures of these planetoids and the breathing apparatus held enough oxygen for 48 hours. I pulled myself over the side of our craft and dipped my hand into the water. Man, Yuri wasn't kidding. Even raising the temperature of my uniform this water was freezing.

Well, no point being a baby about it. We gotta do what we gotta do. So, after taking a deep breath I lowered myself into the frigid pool. Yuri followed shortly after, her long black hair floated up around her like an ominous storm cloud; it was kinda beautiful, actually. She looked a bit like a mermaid or something. I just hoped that my hair didn't frizz up after this. Yuri led the way swimming gracefully through the clear water. Just as my body finally adjusted to the cool temperature of the water Yuri paused.

"They are just ahead." Yuri informed me through our comm units as she pointed to her holo-computer.

With a nod in confirmation we swam stealthily up to the surface.

We poked just enough of our heads out to be able to see what was going on. On the shore ahead of us, I could see two men. One was a tall blonde with a bushy beard and his hair cut into a flat mohawk. He was incredibly well built and dressed in a sleeveless black and white muscle shirt. His right arm was a full sleeve of what appeared to be machinery inspired tattoos while his other arm looked to be actually mechanical. It was definitely a prosthetic and even though it flesh colored, it didn't quite match up with his actual skin tone. The other man was a shorter and stocky brunette with spiky hair and a shorter beard. He had a prominent scar running through his left eyebrow. He was dressed a bit more sensibly in a dark blue jacket with dark pants. Holstered around both of their waists were ray guns with extra ammo. Yuri and I watched this duo as they busied themselves with what they were doing.

"Looks like this one is about dead." The chubby one said as he handed a white aquatic creature to the tall muscular one.

"Guess you get harvested early." He said in a New Zealand accent.

Yuri and I watched in horror as the tall man pulled a blade out of his belt and dug it into the creature's chest pulling out an iridescent magenta colored gem.

"How horrible." Yuri whispered.

We were soon spotted unexpectedly. A sturdy white and red English bulldog with a spiked color and black bandana around his neck came shuffling up to us from the side of the shore. He did a couple of sniffs in the air with his flat nose before bringing his attention down to us. The dog crouched down and started barking getting the attention of his owners.

"What is it, Boofer?" The rotund poacher asked jovially as he walked over to his canine companion.

We were busted, even if we tried to swim away we would have been immediately seen through the crystal clear water. As soon as the man saw us a look of surprise and horror splayed across his face. He clumsily went to reach for his gun but ended up dropping it on the ground. As it hit the ground it discharged towards the tall blonde. It narrowly missed taking out his ankle but did succeed in pissing him off.

The muscular one marched over and thumped the other one on top of his head. "Are you stupid? You could have killed me!"

"I am sorry, baby! There are girls! In the water, there!" The clumsy man pointed to the water.

"No, there isn't." The other said skeptically.

What he didn't know is we used this moment to make our escape. My partner and I were now climbing onto the shore behind them as they argued like an old married couple. We quickly reconfigured our flippers so that we could walk on the ground without making obvious flopping sounds. The two poachers were so engrossed in each other that they didn't even notice us. Yuri was immediately drawn to the large tank the two men had set up near the bank. Inside were several of the creatures known as the ellunapez.

They were certainly majestic looking creatures, they were mostly white with fins resembling seaweed sprouting from their heads and arms. Each fin was tipped in a beautiful gradient of green to blue. Yuri was staring into the eyes of one of the creatures in front of her, to my surprise it looked like it was not only looking back, but looking at her with sorrow in its almond-shaped eyes. My long-haired partner brought her hand up and placed it on the glass, to my surprise, the ellunapez responded the same way putting its small hand to Yuri's. It was kinda heartbreaking to watch.

"Oi! You two, get away from there!" The tall man shouted as they finally took notice of us.

Yuri and I turned and drew our weapons causing the two poachers to halt their pursuit and raise their hands in the air.

"3WA Lovely Angels. Don't move. Now, who the hell are you are?" I commanded with my heat gun steady.

The two men smiled to each other and each adopted a strange pose.

"Feared throughout the United Galactica, the harbingers of death, the hazardous bandit family extraordinaire!" The fatter one started with gusto. "Zeph." He announced himself switching to an arms crossed pose.

"Jareck." The taller kiwi said flatly and he reluctantly switched to another flexing pose.

The bulldog came running up between them and sat down with another solitary bark.

"And Boofer makes three. We are The Onyx Skulls! Mess with us and—" The stocky man identified as Zeph continued.

"I said I didn't want to do this again." The blonde called Jareck cut his partner off in an annoyed hush.

"But husband, it's our trademark. If we don't start reinforcing it then people will never stop calling us the Haphazard Duo." The other whined.

The two started bickering once again.

I exchanged a confused look with my partner. Once again the two became so engrossed in arguing with each other they completely forgot we existed. Yuri and I exchanged a little shrug and moved over to the console near the tank. Yuri casually opened the hatch causing it to pour its contents back into the water. One by one the ellunapez jumped into the open water with a whimsical and musical little sound. While most of them immediately swam away, one of the creatures hesitated for a moment and stared at us with gratitude in its eyes. It was difficult to tell them apart but something told me this was the one that Yuri had bonded with.

"Hey! Stop!" Zeph shouted as he noticed that we had freed his captives.

The bandits quickly turned on their heels towards us, the brunette, Zeph, lost his balance on the icy surface and toppled to the ground. The blonde, Jareck, reached for his ray gun and opened fire on us. We quickly ducked behind the tank as I aimed my gun and returned fire. As soon as the first blast went towards them the blonde bandit gasped and dived behind one of the massive ice formations followed by his partner who was crawling on his hands and feet. We were in a shootout now. However, they probably should have chosen a better hiding spot. My heat gun was rapidly reducing their cover into a puddle on the ground. We had them now.

Or so I thought, my overconfidence was my downfall. From out of nowhere this cannonball of a dog came plowing into me knocking my heat gun out of my hand. The bulldog quickly snatched up my weapon and dropped it into the water before scampering back to his dads.

You cheeky little bastard!

Yuri pursed her plush lips before reaching into her holster and tossing the Bloody Card towards the two bandits. That will show them. I looked around the corner of our hiding spot to watch the silver card sailing towards our attackers. My jaw dropped when I saw the tall bandit reach up and let the Bloody Card connect with his prosthetic arm becoming wedged in it.

Well shit.

CHAPTER 3

"Okay, plan B." Yuri said as I continued to stare forward dumbstruck.

I felt my partner take me by the arm and pull me towards the water. Thankfully I had enough sense to reset my aquatic mode because Yuri pretty much tossed me into the water without warning.

"Don't let them get away!" I heard the voice of the rotund bandit as we swam back to our vehicle.

Beams of laser fire blasted through the surface of the water as the duo fired at us. Thankfully none of the shots hit. Silly boys, even I knew that trying to use a ray gun in the water was pointless, the refractive index or whatever always distorts the shots. It didn't take long before they finally gave up allowing Yuri and I to get to our craft safely. We could hear Nanmo chirping away at something as we got closer. It seemed the escaped ellunapez were swimming around our vehicle in curiosity and upsetting the little robot.

We quickly climbed aboard and took our seats. We had to hurry, in the distance, we spotted the bandits in their larger army green craft heading towards us. I couldn't help but notice how heavily armed it was. Clearly they were overcompensating for something, but that didn't change the fact that we were severely outmatched. As soon as the dome was closed Yuri started it up causing the ellunapez to scatter as we dipped below the surface.

"No point running!" Hailed the voice of one of the Onyx Skulls bandits as they appeared on one of our monitors.

Their three faces were essentially pressed right up against the screen. You could hear the bulldog breathing, or rather snorting, they were that close. A blast rushed passed us as the bandits began firing their cannons at us.

"Y'know you guys are really starting to piss me off." I leaned forward in my seat to shout at the screen.

"Oh, so scary. The little girl in the little ship is mad. She might fire those wee little blasters at us, hope she doesn't scuff the paint." Zeph laughed in a mocking tone before being joined by his partner.

How dare they laugh at us! I leaned back with a huff and grabbed the weapons controls. Man, I was really pissed we used that torpedo on the monster from before, I would have loved to blow these two jokers out of the water. Instead, I had to make do with the standard blasters.

Our escape had turned into a dog fight. Yuri continued to weave us through the darkness as I did my best to keep the poachers at bay with our less than efficient weaponry. The bandit's craft was not only better armed than our little sub but it was, unfortunately, also more heavily armored as well. Most of my shots were just bouncing right off of them. I was a little perturbed. When I first saw these cannons I was hoping they'd have more oomph. Instead, we were trapped in another bout of cat and mouse. Man, it felt like we had spent this whole mission running from something. I was getting pretty sick of it.

The sudden rocking of the vehicle and Yuri's scream snapped me out of my aggression. Damn, we were hit. The cockpit of the craft began to glow red as I observed the rest of the lights had disappeared.

"Got ya now." The round-faced poacher smiled a big grin.

"You are screwed as, now." Jareck the Kiwi poacher added on.

Another shockwave jostled the craft, it was different from before. It was almost like we hit something. Another heavy thud came from the other side as we must have slammed into something else, a small crack began to form on the dome.

"It's no good, Kei. They shot out the lights. I can't see anything." Yuri said in a breathy panic.

I was trying to hold back my own distress. It was certainly looking hopeless but there had to be something we could do. But what? My eyes darted around the craft looking for some sort of miracle to get us out of this latest jam. Through the red glow of our emergency lights something caught my eye on the glass of our hatch.

"Yuri, look." I pointed.

Against the glass was a small white hand.

From that hand, a bright blue glow illuminated and lit up along the body of the ellunapez in an intricate and beautiful dotted pattern. Soon the whole creature was glowing like a bright orb. All around us orbs of blue light began to form. It was so gorgeous and almost ethereal. The elegant creatures plastered themselves to our craft creating a bubble of light. I couldn't believe it, they were saving us!

With our vision restored, thanks to these majestic and mysterious creatures, Yuri quickly got us back on track maneuvering the submarine like craft out of the strange position we had found ourselves in.

"Hey, no fair. You guys cheat!" Zeph whined.

I looked down at the screen to see nothing but a bulldog nose followed by a lapping tongue. These guys were unreal! Of all the criminals we had ever dealt with, these guys had to be the most inept, goofy, sonsabitches!

With the ellunapez guiding the way we quickly managed to get to the exit of the cavern. Yuri paused briefly before slipping out, I didn't blame her. The last thing we needed was that monstrous beast chasing us as well as the poachers. With the coast clear, we headed for the surface avoiding those three idiots on our tail persistently firing at our ship. It was to our benefit that we had a bit more room to maneuver away from the attacks of the bandits out here. I would have been mortified if one of the ellunapez clinging to our vehicle took a hit that was meant for us, especially after they were trying to save us!

The sound of the two bandit's moronic bickering echoed through the craft. It reminded me of Yuri and myself a little more than I would have liked and it was really starting to annoy me. It didn't even sound like real words anymore. It was to the point where all I could hear was humming in my ears. Of course, I soon realized that it wasn't the bandits, the humming was coming from the ellunapez all around us. The small white creatures had begun humming a strange but soothing melody. Yuri and I looked around as we wondering what the hell they were doing.

I looked around in confusion, what was the point of this melody? They needed to shut up or they were going to bring some very unwanted attention this way. Unless that is what they wanted? I quickly jerked my head back to look behind us. The poacher's tank-like ship was right behind us. I had to give it to them, they were as tenacious as they were bumbling. My eyes widened as I looked behind them seeing a massive set of teeth emerge from the darkness.

On the screen of our sub, the two bandits started screaming and clutching each other. It was too late for them. The massive mouth of our previous whale-like antagonist closed around them engulfing their ship in one bite.

"Oh!" Zeph scoffed on our screen. "This isn't the end! You will rue the day you ever messed with the Onyx Skulls! When we get out of here we are gonna kick your –"

I stretched my leg forward and using the brunt of my heel smashed the comm system. I had just about enough of those two for the rest of my given life. It was awful, but part of me hoped they never made it out.

"Uhh, Kei?" Yuri asked. I could hear the fear in her voice.

"What?" I asked obliviously.

Yuri just pointed back over her shoulder with one hand as she gripped the controls even tighter with the other. I looked back to see what had her so spooked. My whole body froze up as I looked back to see that our aquatic adversary was still hungry and inching closer to a dessert of Lovely Angels.

"Go faster!" I shouted.

"I can't!" Yuri whined. "The ship has taken too much damage, I am going as fast as we can!"

We were officially doomed. There was no way we were going to be able to escape at this speed. To make things worse the crack of the dome started to get wider from the pressure of the sea. Water began dripping in and landing on Nanmo. The splashing caused another bout of annoyed chirps from the small robot. You didn't know the half of it, Nanmo. That dome needed to last just a few more minutes. At least until we breached the canyon. I swallowed hard as Yuri continued to race towards the surface, the crack getting wider and allowing more water in the higher we climbed.

The titanic sea monster was right behind us and opening its massive jaws to take us in. Water was now flooding in filling up the cockpit. And, as If things couldn't get any more dire, the small craft began to sputter and shut down just as we broke free from the canyon.

You had to be kidding me!

We were so close to safety, stupid ship! You couldn't last two more minutes! I scolded as the water level reached our navels.

"Grab Nanmo and put on your breathing mask." Yuri instructed between gritted teeth.

Before Yuri could finish talking the dome of our craft shattered, completely flooding us. I snatched Nanmo as it kicked its little feet struggling to swim. The craft had completely lost power and slowly descended into the beast's mouth. With Nanmo in hand, we crawled out of the vessel and began swimming as quickly as our legs could carry us. This was a fate worse than death. To be trapped in the belly of a sea monster with those three idiots. What did we do to deserve this?

I could feel the undertow like pull as the pale beast began to take us in. I wasn't giving up. I kicked as hard as I could, Kei doesn't go down without a fight. I looked back to see if I was making any progress just in time to see the ellunapez pull themselves from our destroyed craft and start swarming around the creature's face. The melodic melody had now been replaced by a piercing screeching sound. As they swarmed they flared their bioluminescence making them look like small fireworks erupting all around it.

Yuri and I continued swimming up to safety as the ancient monster winced and squinted its eyes trying to shield itself from the onslaught. The ellunapez were relentless in their ambush, but it was working. I felt the pull cease as the beast closed its mouth and started to turn back to the darkness. The firework-like sea creatures followed it the entire way down as they chased it further back into the canyon.

All except for one.

One of the ellunapez swam up to us with a sweet little smile on its face. It swam a few circles around me before swimming over to Yuri and playfully holding out its little hand. Yuri giggled as she held out her hand connecting it with the pale sea creature. As they touched the little fish tittered and pulled away swimming a few more circles around us before shooting straight up like a rocket.

I looked at my partner, I couldn't see her mouth through her breathing apparatus but I could tell she was smiling. With a tilt of my head, I suggested we follow. With Yuri's nod in agreement, we chased our small savior to the surface.

EPILOGUE

We made it to the Lovely Angel just as the sun set over this mysterious environment. Just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger than they already were, I was met with another surprise. When the moonlight hit the surface it caused the ground to light up like sparkling glitter. It must have been something in the ice and stone reacting to the moonlight. My guess was that the sunlight was too harsh for us to see it during the day but at night this whole place shimmered like a giant gem.

"C'mon lets go sit by the water for a minute." I said to

As much as I was in a hurry to get dry I couldn't stop myself from taking in the majesty of this place. The moon was absolutely enormous, I had never seen a moon look so big in a night sky before. As Yuri and I sat by the bank we heard a melodic chirping sound coming from the water. Drawing our eyes to the source we found an ellunapez poking its head out of the water. I held up its little hand indicating to us it was the same one as before, it nodded its head motioning for us to follow it.

Rising to our feet we once again chased our little friend along the bank. It led us to a series of more shallow pools near a series of waterfalls pouring softly into each pool. It was a breathtaking sight, it amazed me how beautiful nature could be at times. In the shallow pools were schools of other ellunapez swimming over each other.

As the moon crawled across the sky, it lit up the pools creating a light show that I could only compare to the aurora borealis. When the lights started the ellunapez stopped swimming and poked their heads out of the water to face the moon. They began humming another song at the big round moon. It was both beautiful and haunting. I looked at Yuri in amazement. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Our little friend wanted us to witness their little ritualistic performance.

Yuri and I sat ourselves down as we watching the stirring performance. I felt so at ease despite the high tension situations we had endured that day. The monster, the Onyx Skulls. I couldn't help but wonder if they would make it out of that thing's belly and if we would ever see them again. Spoiler alert, we would, unfortunately. You know what they say, stupid is hard to kill. Of course, that didn't apply to us.

Yuri leaned her head onto my shoulder as we basked in the moonlight enjoying the music. I decided not to worry about those things right now and instead decided to focus and take in this once in a lifetime opportunity with my best friend.

For every life threating situation we get ourselves into in this line of work, its perks like this that make it all worth it.

END

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0200: PARADISE LOST

PROLOGUE

"You doin' okay over there?" I asked, my tone only mildly annoyed by the fidgeting of my partner Yuri.

I am the first to admit I am not what you would call a 'morning person.' We were sitting next to each other at the bar of the kitchenette of our ship, the Lovely Angel, trying to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. Yuri had been staring deeply into her cup and shifting back and forth.

Snapping back to reality Yuri glanced my way and shifted her silky black hair behind her ear. "Yeah, umm yes. I am fine."

I took a sip of my coffee. Mmmm, it was just how I liked it, strong with a rich cream that complimented the bitterness of the beans perfectly. No sugar though, not like Yuri who sweetens hers to an almost undrinkable level. I have known Yuri for almost five years now so I knew when she wasn't being truthful. We had a special connection, more special than you would think. Take it out of the gutter, I didn't mean like that.

"It's the case isn't? Because you knew the victim."

Yuri didn't answer, she just stared back into her coffee and nodded her head slightly. This was an interesting case right from the start. We were on our way to the planet Dailenger, an isolated planet in the corner of the galaxy. The inhabitants of this planet were all religious refugees who relocated to this planet to practice their weirdo beliefs, needless to say, they were not too keen on outsiders coming to their planet. Which was fine by me, live and let live, if they want to believe in some space wizard in this day and age then that was their prerogative.

The 3WA was petitioned by a group of scientists from the planet Maleenay after one of their own returned from Dailenger dead. The victim was identified as Dr. Lex McEntire, he had been doing some sort of research for the theological government of Dailenger. When his ship returned to Maleenay they found the doc sitting at the controls, his head had been completely blown off. The officials of Dailenger are denying any responsibility or knowledge of the incident.

I still remember the shock on Yuri's face when Chief Soranaka told us the name of the victim. She knew the guy from way back when she was a kid. Seemed cruel that the 3WA Central Computer would choose us for this mission then.

Mughi came strolling over to us, his silver claws clinking on the metal floor as he came and plopped his big black head into Yuri's lap. He purred gently as Yuri reached down to scratch behind one of his curly ears.

"I just can't believe he is gone." She almost whispered.

"Don't worry, we will find the bastards responsible and give them a hearty dose of ultra-violence with a side of justice served Lovely Angel style." I slammed my fist into my hand with a mighty whack.

"Brutish as ever." Yuri could help but give a little smirk.

"We will be arriving at our destination in twenty minutes." A woman's voice sounded throughout the ship.

"Better get ready." I took a final swig of my coffee, finishing it off, before rising from the stool and placing my hand on Yuri's shoulder.

Yuri looked down at Mughi, who was staring at her with his big creamy colored eyes. "You're right." Yuri took a delicate sip of her coffee, her first and last sip leaving most of it there on the counter. "Shall we, Mughi?"

The three of us passed through the double doors to the deck of the Lovely Angel and prepared to land.

CHAPTER 1

Zion City, Moriah - Planet Dailenger 05.16.2141

Landing on this secluded planet was no easy task, they didn't even have a spaceport for crying out loud! A not so subtle way to say keep out, I am sure. Yuri managed just fine though, we landed a few miles outside the nearest town of Zion City on the continent of Moriah. Thankfully the Lovely Angel had sleeping quarters and everything we would need while we were here. I had a feeling that their hotel industry wasn't exactly thriving, if it existed at all.

We lowered the bay door of the Lovely Angel and unloaded the matching pair of hover bikes. As I straddled the bike I felt a big furry body crawl on behind me and throw his paws over my shoulders. It could be no one other than Mughi when I felt the tentacles that sprouted from his shoulders wrap around my waist to hold on. I just scoffed a laugh at the goofy furball.

"Guess he's riding with me. Race you there?" I called over to Yuri and she crawled onto her bike.

"Honestly, Kei." She chided as she pulled on her helmet.

We brought our bikes to life with a roar and exited down the ramp headed to the city.

We parked our bikes along the street of what appeared to be the town square. Seemed like a good place to get a feel for the city. We were meant to meet the representatives from Maleenay here as well, anyway. Mughi hopped down first and shook out his coat, I followed right after placing my helmet on the seat.

"Yuri! Get a load of this, the cars have tires! They are like actually touching the ground! Wild!" I exclaimed.

I walked over to the mint and white colored classic vehicle resting on white-walled tires. I had only ever seen cars like this in pictures and old movies. It was pretty cool seeing one in person.

"Umm, Kei." Yuri said meekly as I continued investigating the similarly old fashioned cars along the street.

"Kei!" Yuri demanded.

"What is it, Yuri?"

I looked over to Yuri who was gesturing with both hands to our surroundings. I was so caught up by the cars I didn't notice the people on the street staring. Mothers were covering their children's eyes and glaring at us as they rushed by, some men were pretending not to look while some of the younger ones were blatantly staring.

I looked down at myself, I guess these people weren't used to seeing such a curvaceous figure and someone who wasn't ashamed to show it off. I suppose our silver crop tops, v-cut hot pants, and knee-high boots did sort of stand out amongst this frumpy looking crowd. The people here were dressed like they were from the 1950's Earth. All the woman wore long dresses, not a pant leg or knee cap on any of them.

"I think it would be to our benefit to try and blend in a bit more." Yuri said out of the corner of her mouth as she came to stand at my side as we watched the horrified looks of the traditionalist citizens.

"You are probably right, Mughi you guard the bikes, we are gonna pop into that boutique." I instructed as I pointed across the way to the clothing store.

The selection was pretty awful, I don't even think grandmas would want to wear this stuff. It took probably twenty to thirty minutes just find anything we liked before we marched into the dressing rooms. I was grateful this was all on per diem, there was nothing better than getting to go on a shopping spree and sending the bill to corporate. Despite all this, we did manage to select a few things to purchase and went door to the beauty parlor to get our hair done before returning to Mughi.

"Couldn't you have selected something a teensy bit more conservative?" Yuri inquired defeated as we crossed the street. "I don't think that dress was meant for an adult."

"Well, I did get it out of the junior miss section." I confessed. "You are just jealous of how good I make this look."

I had selected a black with a white polka dot pattern mini dress that reached about mid-thigh and flared at the waist. I wore a red overshirt that I tied just below my bust and had my hair done up in a rockabilly twist and held with a bandana that matched my dress. I completed the look with a pair of double cherry earrings and the cutest black pumps with little bows on them. Of course, Yuri went subtle but still appealing. She chose a navy style dress that reached damn hear mid-calf. She had styled her hair as well to match the fashion of the community curling her bangs back. I loaned her my favorite pair of earrings, y'know the silver hoops with the floating hearts in the middle. She pulled it all together with a pair of white heels and matching cat-eyed glasses.

I must admit we did blend in a bit better now, of course, I still made sure I stood out.

"Oh no! We are more than twenty minutes late to the rendezvous." Yuri exclaimed looking at the classic style wrist watch she had purchased.

"Where are we meeting them again?"

"Samuel's Diner." Yuri looked around the cross-section of the street before pointing to a building with large windows adjacent to us. "Over there."

Our heels click-clacked as we rushed across the streets to the diner, the door opened with the sound of a bell ringing. We hadn't even stepped for in the door when everyone immediately turned to stare at us and began whispering amongst themselves. The barrel-chested man dressed all in white behind the counter put down the glass he had been toweling off and marched over to us.

"Excuse me, girls." His tone with edged with disdain. Just enough to properly piss me off. "This is an eating establishment, your uh animal will have to wait outside." He instructed with a gruff tone.

You could tell Mughi was offended as he cocked his head back. He narrowed his eyes as he turned and walked out of the restaurant, glaring at the man the entire time. Yuri lifted her hands into a prayer position and mouthed the words sorry as the door closed behind Mughi.

This guy just reached the top of my list for today, nobody talked to us with such a snotty attitude and gets away with it. Without another word he wandered back to his place behind the counter and continued wiping the glasses. We didn't see our contacts among the crowd, how lucky for us they were running late as well. We decided to select a booth and wait, unfortunately, the only free one was way in the back. As we made our way to the table we could hear the murmurs and whispers. Harlots, tramps, hussies. I admit this planet was not making a great impression on me. Ugh, let's just solve this damn thing and get back to reality.

We slid into our booth and waited for the waitress. Yuri was obviously feeling uncomfortable, she had slunk down in her seat. The waitress was a middle-aged woman, she looked as if she had been doing this her whole life, the rosy pink of apron just looked silly against her ashy wrinkled skin; she was leaning against the counter clearly making eye contact with me but not moving a muscle.

"Hi there! Could we maybe get some service if that's not too much to ask? Or is this one a'them serve yourself kinda places?" I called over not breaking eye contact with the waitress. Yuri slid even further down.

With a heavy labored sigh, the waitress peeled herself off the counter and waddled over to us.

"What do you want?" Customer service must not be a high priority on this planet because this bitch was about as rude as they could get. Same with her gorilla still wiping glasses, they were clean, buddy! Give it a rest.

"We are waiting for someone, I will just have a green tea for now. Thanks, ma'am." I sneered back. My tone was as sassy as hers was dry.

If a look could kill this one would have pierced my heart and left me a bloody mess. Without saying a word she turned to Yuri. "You?"

"Hot chocolate, please." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

With that, the old woman turned her giant ass to us and wobbled away murmuring something about burning in hell.

"The nerve, can you believe?" I huffed as I turned to Yuri, who did these people think they were? I guess this is the kind of attitude you can expect by those 'chosen by God.'

"Honestly Kei, we should be trying to blend in not stirring up unnecessary attention." Yuri scolded as she rose back up to a normal seating position.

"Hey, no one talks to me like that and gets away with it. And what about poor Mughi?" I asked as I gestured to the window where a miserable looking omlarcat sat on the other side gazing back at us with a look that could just break your heart.

"I guess." Yuri gave up as the waitress returned with our drinks. This hag of the woman all but tossed them down in front of us. A good portion of my tea spilled onto the table and splashed my new dress.

"Excuse me!? What is your problem?!" I asked standing up and slamming my palms on the table.

"You are the one with the problem, honey. This town doesn't need your type sleazing up its good God fearing streets." The waitress countered.

"Our type?"

"Sinful, colored, jezebels. I think you need to take your little oriental friend there and wait somewhere else. People are trying to eat in peace here."

Her words brought me to screeching halt. I looked around the café at the faces glaring back at me. The sheer ignorance and close-mindedness of it, there was no winning in an argument with people like this.

"You heard her." The ape behind the counter bellowed.

Yuri rose to her feet and took me by the arm. I was still so gobsmacked by the audacity of this woman but allowed Yuri to lead me towards the door. The patron's whispering was now full volume. Hate speech poured from their mouths like vile vomit. It was painful to think people like this still existed in the galaxy.

We exited the building, the sound of the bell had lost its delightful charm it had the first time. Mughi was waiting for us at the door, he immediately nuzzled my hand trying to comfort me.

"A-Are you okay?" I asked Yuri having recovered a few my senses.

"I am just fine. I had expected something like this, honestly."

I looked down at my hand, never before had I viewed my beautiful golden skin with anything but pride. Humanity spreading throughout the galaxy had subtly done away with racism. People were finally accepted as people for the most part. Well, I certainly wasn't going to let some fools trapped in a different century get me down.

"Ya'll know how ta make a splash 'round here." A man's voice said.

It belonged to a very handsome young buck, the very sight of him made me forget all about what had just happened. Despite his plaid button-up shirt and jeans, you could tell he was well built like a man who did some hard labor for a living. His hair was a sandy brown and medium length that curled and winged behind his ears. His perfect jaw had a layer of stubble and he gazed at us with dashing russet eyes. At his side was a woman, I was hoping his sister since they looked so similar. She was quite pretty in a reserved kind of way, her sandy colored bangs hung loose parted at the side and to her shoulders and the rest was pulled up into a bun. Her dress was simple and white with a grey sweater layering it.

"Hey there Yuri, it's good ta see ya again." The woman smiled sweetly.

"Oh my goodness! Thunder! Lucha!" Yuri exclaimed before rushing to embrace the woman and her stunning male companion.

CHAPTER 2

We took Thunder and Lucha back to the Lovely Angel, after all, it seemed like the safest place to hide from the awful bigots of this horrible out-of-the-way planet. These people definitely needed to work on their hospitality, among other things. Despite running even later than we had been, we discovered that not only were Thunder and Lucha Parton our contacts for this mission, but it turns out this pair of siblings were also old childhood friends of Yuri's. What a small galaxy!

"I just can't believe it, lil'Yuri, a trouble consultant." Thunder chuckled, his laugh was hearty and made his shoulders bounce, be still my heart. "Who'da thunkit. How the heck did that happen?"

"Oh, it's a long story. Maybe another time. What are you both doing nowadays?" Yuri asked lowering the ramp leading to the entrance of the ship.

"Lucha is followin' after the doc and is studyin' to be some sort of brain robot doctor." Thunder answered for them throwing his hands up as he tried to describe Lucha.

"Neuroaugmentation surgeon." Lucha politely corrected her brother's ignorance as we made our way into the ship.

"Right, well I ended up buyin' ol man McFarlane's farm and been busy getting' that off the ground." Thunder continued.

My my, so not only was this hunk gorgeous but he had enough cash to buy and repair a farm. This guy could be marriage material, though I wasn't sure I had what it took to be a farmer's wife. I tried to imagine myself in a pair of overalls and button up shirt, milking cows, and shoveling poop. Not exactly glamorous.

"I will get us something to drink." Yuri offered as we entered the living space of our crimson ship.

I purposefully selected a spot on the curved sofa next to Thunder. I threw one gorgeous slender leg over the other trying to look seductive while not being too obvious about it.

"I'll help ya." Lucha offered as the two departed to the kitchenette.

"So, Thunder. Tell me, how you met our little Yuri. I am so curious" I asked layering on a sweet tone.

"Well." Thunder started, adjusting in his seat edging just a bit away from me, he must be nervous around someone as beautiful as me, don't worry handsome I don't bite. Unless you are into that. "I 'spose we met Yuri here when we was about six years old. We had just moved ta Maleenay after the deaths of our Ma and Pa."

"I am so sorry." I said grabbing ahold of his bulging bicep. We winced under my touch and let out a nervous laugh, it was so cute.

"Uh, well, see Yuri used t'come ta Maleenay ta spend time with her grammie. How is Grammie Haruka? Haven't heard from her since ya'll moved to Yocha." Thunder inquired as Yuri and Lucha returned with a tray full of our drinks.

"Oh, Thunder. I am sorry, but grandmother passed away about five years ago." Yuri replied with sorrow in her voice as she set a cup of green tea in front of me.

"Oh, Yuri." Lucha replied putting her hand on Yuri's shoulder as they took a seat on the couch. Yuri placed her hand on Lucha's and gave her a sympathetic nod.

"Sorry ta hear that." Thunder bit his bottom lip and nodded, it made him look so sexy and boyish. "Grammie Haruka was a real special lady."

I knew how close Yuri was with her grandma, I never got to meet her since she died right before Yuri and I were introduced at Meizuiru University. In fact, that was the whole reason Yuri was even there. See, her grandma Haruka was her primary caregiver, her parents were in politics and never had any interest in Yuri from the day she was born. She used to tell me stories about her, she came from a place called Japan back on Earth and was really really traditional. Well, she raised Yuri with those values, trying to make her, what was it called? Yamato Nadeshiko, that's it. Well, it explained a lot about our goody two shoes Yuri.

I did, however, witness how devastated she was when she lost her grandma though. Just a few days after the funeral her diplomat parents shipped Yuri away. She didn't even have time to grieve properly. Poor girl was alone and in a strange place, but, I was there for her. It's part of what made us so close, I was able to relate to her since I had lost my mom years before and I was able to use my trademark charm to cheer her up. We have been best friends ever since.

"Where was I?" Thunder asked scooting closer to Yuri.

Excuse me! Did my eyes deceive me? This guy couldn't possibly be interested in Yuri? With me around? Unheard of!

"Oh right, see we had just moved in with Dr. McEntire. He was kind enough to take in a coupler wayward orphans like us. Grammie Haruka was our neighbor and lil' Yuri used ta spend the summers with her. Aw, we used to get inta all kindsa trouble didn' we?" Thunder continued.

Yuri turned bright red at the implication of Thunder's story. She quickly took a sip of her cocoa. Yuri had told me in confidence about some of the shenanigans she got into in her youth. Hell, we got into plenty ourselves during our school days. Yuri might play like she is some delicate little flower, but she could be quite the little rebel. I was curious about what a little terror she was, but that was going to have to wait since Thunder's words finally clicked.

"Wait, the same Dr. McEntire we are investigating." I inquired cluing in.

"Thas right." Lucha responded. "Doc has basically been a father ta us our entire lives. We owe him everythin' we woulda been lost without 'im."

"Doc McEntire was renowned thr'ought United Galactica. He was Maleenay's first neurosurgeon, but before that, he was awarded several prizes for his research and development in neuro-mapping and augmentation" Yuri added. Don't think I didn't catch that Yuri, the backwoods accent from Maleenay was creeping back in now that she was back with her old pals.

I wondered to myself why a celebrated neurosurgeon had settled down on a boondock planet like Maleenay, was he hiding from someone, did his past finally catch up with him?

"No offense, but if this guy was the amazing and talented scientist you say he was, then why did he end up on Maleenay?" My tone betrayed my impression of the hick planet.

"He neva talked much about his past or why he came to Maleenay, we always jus' assumed he was ready for a quiet life outisde'a the media." Lucha answered thankfully unaffected by the insinuations I made about her home.

"Do you have any idea what kind of work the doctor was doing here?" I changed the subject.

"Naw, not that he eva discussed with us." Thunder responded.

"Dr. McEntire had been travelin' back and forth fur about two months until that day. That day he came back ta us dead." Lucha's voiced cracked a bit as she held back her tears. Her brother reached over and placed a sympathetic hand on her knee. A solitary tear rolled down Yuri's cheek.

I took a sip of my green tea as I let the information sink in and the emotions calm down. I think we all needed a minute to organize our thoughts. The doors across from us opened up as a Mughi came strolling out from the bedroom with a big yawn, guess we interrupted his nap. Sorry Mughi, we will try and keep it down. Thunder and Lucha jumped in their seats at the sight of the great black beast lumbering towards them. As if he didn't notice their shocked reactions he casually came over and placed his large head in Lucha's lap.

"Oh dear." Yuri gave an embarrassed laugh and wiped away her tear. "You remember Mughi, please don't be afraid. He is actually a sweetheart, but he has issues understanding personal space at times." She said pointedly at the large omlarcat who was blatantly pretending not to hear her.

"Looks like ya have a new admirer, sis." Thunder joked.

Lucha giggled back and started stroking Mughi's neck. Mughi may be as intelligent as a human but he could still be quite awkward sometimes. With that being said he did a great job of breaking the tension this time. It was good to hear laughter instead of the hollow silence. It was time to get back on track now that everyone was in better spirits.

"Well, the first step needs to be figuring out what he was doing here, once we know that we may get a better idea of who his enemies are." I asserted.

"Oh my stars, no. Dr. McEntire didn' have any enemies, everyone just adored him." Lucha piped up at my statement startling the big furball in her lap.

"Do you have even an inkling of what Dr. McEntire was working on?" Yuri asked sweetly looking back and forth from Thunder and Lucha.

Thunder just shook his head but Lucha had a look on her face, one that I recognized. She knew more than she was letting on.

"Lucha?" I pressed.

Her eyes had been deliberately avoiding our glances and were fixed on the soft yellow eyes of the oversized beast staring up at her.

With a soft sigh, Lucha opened up. "I had gone ta see the Doc a few weeks before he died. Just for a social visit, I hadn' heard from him for a spell. Well, he was acting real strange, just shifty as all get out. I couldn' help but be worried bout 'im. So, I shouldn' have but I did some did some diggin' through his files when he wasn'round."

"Ya neva told me this." Thunder folded his arms across his broad chest.

"I know, I am sorry big brotha. It's just, well, it wasn' exactly legal what I had ta do. See, the doc's files hada government encryption that I had ta get through." Lucha admitted remorsefully avoiding Thunder's gaze. "I was only able to get through a few levels of clearance before the doc came back. Whateva he is doin' the government of Dailenger is intrinsically involved and ain't want no one else involved."

I set my tea down on the glass coffee table in front of us. "That is strange." I mumbled as I leaned back into the sofa.

Yuri followed suit placing her cup down as well. "Dailenger's government is a theocracy who has publicly refuted and rejected all modern advances we have made as a society. We witnessed that for ourselves today, no spaceport or hover car in sight." Yuri tacked on to my statement.

Her face twisting a bit at the thought of what we encountered today. "There are several news clips of their Prophet Boyce damning our way of life claiming it is an affront to God."

"Just doesn't make sense. Doesn't seem like the kind of people who would have any sort of use of a neurosurgeon. I am surprised they aren't still using leeches, considering how many centuries back they are living." I mused.

"But they would have the resources to cover up a blatant murder." Yuri countered.

"I think a visit to the capital is in order. No point sitting around hypothesizing when we could just ask the source." I grinned.

Mughi perked his head up at the notion of us leaving and rushed over to the door sitting himself in front of it. He sat steadfastly with his head held high, his gaze locked on us. This was his oh so subtle way of saying he was not getting left behind this time.

"I didn't mean now, you big goof!" I hollered tossing a throw pillow at him.

I missed but I made my point, Mughi drooped his ears and hung his head as he sauntered back over to join us. With a disgruntled huff, he plopped himself down in a heap on the floor.

"Well, Thunder. Why don't you regale us with some of the 'trouble' you kids used to get in to?" I changed the subject leaning closer to the gorgeous farm boy.

He chuckled nervously, oh yes, this boy was once again putty in my hands. A few more interactions like this and he was going to forget all about Yuri.

"Oh Kei!" Yuri squealed in her soprano voice.

The four of us all laughed and shared stories as we hunkered down for the night. We offered to let the Parton siblings stay the night, I resisted offering Thunder my bed. But it was open if he wanted. I was okay with just sleeping though, we were going to need a good rest for tomorrow. Another day of facing those awful hateful people was guaranteed to be a drain. But one thing was for certain, we weren't putting up with it again.

CHAPTER 3

Thunder was driving an old truck that he had rented from a local farmer earlier that morning. It wasn't exactly comfortable since the four of us were crammed into the single cab vehicle. I couldn't understand how people could ride in these landlocked vehicles. I didn't mind too much since I was currently squished up against a gorgeous farm boy and every bump in the road was an excuse to latch onto him, so it wasn't all bad. Poor Mughi, however, was forced to ride in the truck bed in the back.

We pulled up to a large building made of pure white marble, the architecture was fairly uninspired, it looked more like a three-tier wedding cake than it did a government complex. It even had three golden pillars at the top resembling candles! The temple, as this building was called, acted as both the head of the government as well as the main place of worship for the people of Zion.

Yuri and I were back in our 3WA uniforms, there would be no more pandering to the hate mongers. We were here to do a job and we were going to do it. Our way.

We all piled out of the truck and made our way to the entrance, I took in some of the scenery as we walked. Gold statues of angels lined the courtyard, I couldn't help but turn my nose up as I saw a slew of cherubs adorning the doorway. Ugh, it was so gaudy. I just had to hope this tacky motif didn't carry on into the rest of the building. As we entered the large doors we came to a large reception area, it was at least two stories tall with stained-glass windows spilling in multicolored light onto the polished marble floor. Despite the size, the room was incredibly empty, a few pews and statues were placed around the perimeter between elevators and doors leading to various locations. The room's most predominant feature was the semi-circular desk with a young bespectacled man barely visible seated behind it.

Without out many other options, we strolled up to the desk to see the young receptionist crinkle his nose his nose at us.

"Hi there, we need to speak to the Prophet Boyce." I said politely but forcibly.

"Do you have an appointment?" The boy asked, his voice was snotty and nasally.

"I don't think you understand, this is not a social call." I said holding up my 3WA ID badge in his snooty face.

"Lovely Angel?" He read aloud in a snarky tone looking us up and down. With a disgusted sigh, he finally responded. "The Prophet is a very busy man and can only be seen by appointment, his next availability is two months from now, but I doubt he would have any interest in seeing you."

"Excuse me?" Yuri attempted to interject.

"I will thank you to vacate the premises. I am well aware that the Worlds Welfare Work Association has no jurisdiction in government affairs. Now please leave before I notify the authorities." The receptionist interrupted.

I let out a faux sigh and turned to Yuri with my hands on my hips.

"Well, you can't say we didn't try."

"Guess we have no choice." Yuri responded matching my façade.

The receptionist cocked his eyebrow at us as we turned and walked to the center of the room. The young man let out a squeak as we drew our ray guns from our side holsters and opened fire at the stained-glass windows. Multi-colored glass clattered to the floor as we continued firing taking out each window. I took special care to blow the heads off of some of the repulsive cherubs. Thunder, Lucha, and the annoying little rat-faced receptionist had all taken cover as we blasted out the multicolored works of art. It wasn't even five minutes before a group of men came piling out of the elevator.

"What the devil is going on here?" A pasty skinned, overweight, geriatric man demanded.

"Are you the Prophet?" I asked taking a break from my collateral damage and holstering my weapon.

"I am Bishop Hannah." He responded clearing his throat causing his jowls to jiggle.

"Pleased to meet you, we are trouble consultants with the 3WA and we would like to ask you a few questions." Yuri declared holding out her hand for a handshake.

"Regarding what?" The Bishop asked snubbing Yuri's gesture.

"The death of Dr. McEntire."

The rotund man scoffed and turned away from us before turning back. "Ridiculous, the church had absolutely nothing to do with the death of that heretic."

"We have reason to suspect otherwise. And if you continue to hinder our investigation we may have to take more drastic measures." I informed him, reaching again for my gun. Mughi stepped forward and snarled at the group of men.

The lot of them moved back in fear at Mughi's animalistic threat. "Now, let's not be hasty, why don't we take this to my office." The Bishop countered, he turned to his men and the receptionist. "Get this mess cleaned up, will you?"

With that, we all piled into the elevator with Bishop Hannah. I relished the uncomfortable silence as the religious leader squirmed under Mughi's intense gaze. The doors opened to the third floor with a ding and we stepped off letting the Bishop lead the way to his office. Entering through the double doors the bloated man waddled to his desk and heaved himself into his chair. Since it was apparent he wasn't going to offer us a seat we went ahead and sat ourselves down.

"So, tell me why two young things like yourselves are in this line of work? It doesn't have to be this way you know, there is time to start a home and start a family as God intended for you." The Bishop asked the phlegm in his throat garbling his words.

His question instantly set my nerves on fire. On top of everything now we had misogyny too? If we turned around right now and flew off this backward nightmare of a planet it wouldn't be soon enough.

"We are asking the questions here. We want to know about Dr. McEntire." I responded, my jaw tight with anger.

"Then I am not going to be able to help you. As I mentioned the church had nothing to do with what that man was doing here." He turned his nose up at us.

"Then how do you explain the government protection on his workload? You didn't think we came here empty-handed, did you?" I snided.

"The answer to that is simple, that man hijacked our files. Further evidence that he was an enemy of our ways, God's ways, and what happened to him was simply God's will." The Bishop explained matter of factly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thunder clench his fist. I couldn't blame him; the nonchalant way this man disregarded the death of the man he knew as a father was deplorable.

"Or a threat that needed to be disposed of?" Yuri countered, I was impressed with Yuri's tone. Her usual gentle passiveness was gone.

"How dare you! Our commandments forbid the taking of a life, even someone who could be perceived as an adversary." The fat Bishop slammed his fist on the desk, Lucha jumped up and Mughi growled at this outburst.

Tempers were flaring, and we were getting nowhere. We needed to calm down if we were going to make any progress. Wait, did I just say that? Jeez, what was happening to me? I blame Yuri's influence for this.

"I have said all I need to say, I think. I will thank you to leave now, we have made our involvement in this incident very clear." The Bishop cleared his throat, his words finally coming out clearly.

It was apparent we had hit a barrier, if things were to progress in the case it wasn't going to be here. With that being said our suspicions about the involvement of the government of Dailenger were cemented. They were absolutely hiding something, and it was to our advantage that these misogynistic bible thumpers were underestimating us because we were young women. We thanked the Bishop for his time and left his office, we could feel him glowering at us with every step.

"There is definitely something going on here." I whispered to Yuri.

"My thoughts exactly." She answered.

We didn't discuss much more as we made our way back to the truck. I blew the receptionist a kiss and wink as we exited the reception area which was still being tidied up from our episode earlier. Everyone had nothing but dirty looks for us as we left. It didn't bother me though.

We were only a few feet away from the truck, we were ready to get back to the Lovely Angel and strategize our next move. However, before we could leave we were all violently thrown back by the rented truck exploding into a ball of fire.

I hit the ground hard, the wind was instantly knocked out of me. Catching my breath I looked up to see the truck engulfed in flames. Shrapnel had been blown in a several foot radius. I quickly gathered myself up and went to check on Thunder and Lucha to make sure they were okay. I wasn't as concerned about Yuri and myself, our uniforms, though skimpy looking, were in fact head to toe polymer armor that was strong enough to resist laser beams. Thankfully their injuries were minor. Thunder was being attended to by Yuri, so I checked with Lucha, who was holding her shoulder where she hit the ground. But no one was impaled by any debris. We were lucky this time.

We barely had a moment to compose ourselves from the blast when gunfire opened in our direction. If it wasn't obvious before then it was clear now that someone was trying to kill us.

We gathered ourselves up and took cover behind the nearest statue. It wasn't clear where the bullets were coming from, but Yuri and I grabbed our guns ready for anything. I tried to hold back my astonishment that they were actually firing old school bullets at us, it really shouldn't have been a surprise considering.

Mughi growled at the stone wall to our backs, turning we could see a group of men scaling the wall towards us. The men were wearing some sort of old-fashioned armor, possibly Kevlar, and dressed in black from head to toe.

"Yuri!" I called pointing towards the men as the bullets continued to riddle our cover.

My partner nodded and began firing her ray gun at the men climbing over the wall, I turned my attention to the threat on the other side. I peeked my head around the corner to see another group of men advancing towards us. They were dressed in a similar fashion firing their weapons. I pulled my heat gun and began shooting at the attackers.

The sad fact of the matter was we were extremely out-numbered.

Mughi had sprung into action, like a black bolt of lightning he lunged at the onslaught tossing, tearing, and shredding at will. Yuri and I were doing our best to keep the men back, but they were still slipping through. One of the attackers grabbed Thunder from behind and was pulling him back. Lucha sprang up to assist her brother. I was impressed, these two country kids could hold their own, Thunder tossed the man that had grabbed him from behind and flung him to the ground. Lucha had dropped into a sweeping kick and knocked another two down.

The concussive blasts of my heat gun were taking out one or two at a time but there had to be close to a hundred men at this point. I was kicking myself for not bringing higher impact weapons but there was no way we could have predicted this. Dailenger had always expressed a message of peace and abhorring violence, they said it was against their doctorate. They claimed to not have any sort of military but what we were experiencing now contradicted that. With ammo running low and the hoard of troops getting closer, it was time for our trump card, or rather our Bloody Card.

"Yuri! Bloody Card!" I screamed as I continued to fire.

"Mughi! Get down!" Yuri commanded into the chaos hoping our companion heard.

In one smooth motion, Yuri reached into her holster and flipped a metal playing card into the air. The silver streak zipped through the air, I fired shot after shot as I witnessed the Bloody Card go to work. Within seconds these armored attackers began dropping by the dozen as the card sliced through them, Yuri was obviously operating the card at random, which was understandable considering she was also firing at the men who had breached the wall. Between Mughi and the Bloody Card, the assaulting men were being culled into a more reasonable number. Within a short time, we managed to take every one of these soldiers out.

Mughi returned to us breathing heavily, blood streaked across his face and paws as well as dripping from his fangs. Yuri summoned the Bloody Card back to her hand and holstered the crimson streaked card. Without a moment to catch our breath or collect ourselves, we heard a voice cry out to us in a panic.

"Yuri, quick!"

We turned to see Lucha huddled on the ground clinging to her brother, tears streaming down her face. Thunder was in his sister's arms his breath was shallow and labored. Lucha had her hand pressed to his chest trying to stop the blood that was pouring out with every pump of his slowing heart.

CHAPTER 4

"Thunder!" Yuri cried as she rushed over to the huddled siblings.

I clasped my hands across my mouth as I took in what I was seeing. One of the shots had caught Thunder in the chest. His sister Lucha was desperately trying to put pressure on the wound. I walked towards the duo slowly still having difficulty processing what was happening.

Not Thunder, no.

I knelt down with Yuri as we bunched around her fallen friend.

"Lucha... Yuri…" he struggled with the words as blood gurgled up from his throat and poured out of this mouth,

Lucha shushed him placing a finger to his lips. "Don' it's okay, big brotha." She comforted him between sobs. She used the other hand to brush his hair out of his eyes.

He turned to look at Yuri and raised his hand weakly. Yuri took it and placed it to her lips. At this point, we were all weeping uncontrollably. Even Mughi hung his head low.

How could I let this happen? I should have been watching them closer.

I tried to assess the wound to see if anything could be done. These archaic bullets were brutal, it was apparent that Thunder was bleeding internally and well as profusely externally. He didn't have long and there was nothing we could do. I felt utterly hopeless.

Thunder closed his eyes and rested his head on his sister's chest. After a few brief moments, his breathing slowed to a stop.

He was gone.

Unfortunately, this was not a safe space to grieve, around us a hundred bodies were littering the grounds of this complex and certainly reinforcements were on their way. I dried my eyes and took Lucha by the shoulders leading her to her feet.

"We need to get him out of here." I explained to her softly.

Lucha nodded and wiped away her tears. Yuri's bottom lip was quivering but she assisted me with loading Thunder onto Mughi's back. With our mode of transportation reduced to a smoldering wreck, we had no choice but to flee on foot.

But before that, I wanted answers. Surely one of these bastards had survived. I didn't have to search long before I found one. He appeared to be a victim of the Bloody Card, he was holding his neck and struggling to hold on to life. My sympathy was in short supply however. I called over to Yuri who quickly joined me.

"Who ordered the attack?" I demanded, taking the man by the collar and pulling off his helmet. I looked deep into his cold blue eyes and saw the fear deep inside.

He didn't answer.

"Was it the Bishop?" Yuri tacked on.

Again, no response. I was starting to get agitated. I was about to ask again when out of nowhere there was a loud popping sound as the man's head burst. Blood and brain tissue splattered all over Yuri and me. A similar sound echoed in the distance followed by another, then another. One by one heads of the surviving men popped like balloons.

Yuri and I stood covered in blood, we looked at each other both astonished and confused.

By the time we reached the Lovely Angel a few hours later all of my sorrow was now replaced with a burning rage. Their efforts to take us out as well as hinder us from talking to any of our attackers was an admission of guilt on their part and we were going to see them brought to justice for what they did to Dr. McEntire and poor Thunder.

I came out of the shower to find Yuri consoling Lucha on the sofa, it was clear the trauma of losing her brother had taken a deep emotional toll on her. We had placed Thunder on the other side of the sofa, his head was resting in Lucha's lap and she was running her fingers through his sandy colored hair. She looked like an empty shell but more than anything she looked exhausted. Yuri gave me a knowing look, I could tell she was thinking the same.

My heart went out to both Lucha and Yuri. Thunder was a great looking and decent-seeming guy, but I only knew him for two days. That was nothing compared to the lifetime Yuri and Lucha shared with him.

"I found this." Lucha said weakly handing me a small device roughly the size of a marble. I took it and gave it a once over, it looked a bit like a metal spider, but I didn't recognize it.

"What is it?"

"It's a neurological override. Its purpose is ta hijacks the brain's natural currents and processes and replaces them with predetermined outside sources. I saw prototypes just like it in the doc's theoretical studies. I neva thought I would eva see one in real life." She explained still running her fingers through her slain brother's hair.

"Wait, you mean this is like a mind control device?" my eyes widened as I stared at the thing between my fingers.

"Exactly."

This was heavy. Was the government of Dailenger using mind control on its people? How unethical and downright evil! This had gone well beyond our scope of a single homicide, but it was personal now. I turned the device over in my hands a couple of times, a small red light had lit up and began blinking faster and faster. At first, it didn't occur to me what was going on but then I quickly remembered looking into that man's cold eyes before his head erupted like an overripe melon. Without much choice, I tossed the small incendiary device at random and just in time. It exploded blowing a small hole into the floor of our ship.

"Oh my gawd. Are you okay?" Yuri flew up from the sofa and to my side placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah fine. Ummm, Mughi would you mind repairing that for us?" I asked sheepishly as well all looked at the fresh foot wide hole in the ground. Mughi gave a quick nod and rolled his eyes as he disappeared out of the room.

That was the final straw, the questions just kept piling up but the answers were pretty slim. It was apparent that the government was using Dr. McEntire to implant these mind control/explosive devices into their citizens. Obviously, they wouldn't want this getting out to the UG so they disposed of him. Still, the why was unclear, the shepherd already had his obedient flock, so why go to such extreme measures?

I started to feel a bit dizzy, a very familiar feeling and one that was coming on rapidly. It must be because Yuri already had her hand on my shoulder. In an instant, the two of us were standing in a complete whiteness with a winged staff hovering in front of us. Two serpents slithered towards the staff and began coiling and wrapping around it until they came to a stop staring into each other's eyes at the top. Then just as quickly we were back in the living room of the Lovely Angel.

"Are ya'll okay?" Lucha asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Ya'll kinda just spaced out there."

"My apologies Lucha, we are just fine." Yuri reassured her friend.

I had no idea what our vision was trying to tell us. I had never seen anything like that before in my life. I didn't know much about the bible but didn't they believe the devil was a snake that likes eating apples or something? Was it trying to tell us there were two devils? Were we the devils?

It seemed Yuri was just as confused as I was, she had her holo-computer active and was trying to search for information.

"Oh. You must be kidding." Yuri cursed quietly.

She seemed to be struggling, apparently, there was no hypernet on this planet. Not too surprising considering their isolationist beliefs. However, that didn't stop her, Yuri pulled up a blank screen and used her finger to draw the thing we saw in our vision. "Lucha, you don't by chance remember seeing anything like this amongst the Doc's files, do you?"

"Well no, but I do know what that is, it's called a Caduceus. It's an old Greek symbol of healin'. I have seen it while at medical school." Lucha explained.

"So." I started pensively. "It's a safe bet you could find something like this at a hospital, right?"

"Well, yes I would s'pose so." Lucha confirmed. "Where did ya'll come up with that so suddenly?"

I gave her a cocky grin. "We are just that good."

"Lucha, dear. Would you mind staying here for a bit? Kei and I need to investigate something and I would feel much better knowing you were safe." Yuri slid back onto the sofa next to Lucha and place her hand on her shoulder. Lucha just nodded softly as she stared at her brother's face.

"Don't worry. These sonsabitches will pay for what they did. I promise you that." I offered, noticing the tears welling back up in Lucha's eyes.

"Mughi here will be glad to keep an eye on you as well, won't you Mughi?" I said gesturing to the omlarcat who had just returned with a toolbox and some scrap metal.

"Mgao." Mughi confirmed as he got to work repairing the floor.

"Thank ya Kei. Yuri."

"If you need anything you have our comms." With a reassuring smile, Yuri rose from her spot on the couch and led me to the hangar of the ship leaving the Parton siblings alone.

I threw open the weapons locker. We weren't making the same mistake as last time. We were going in fully armed. I had a heat gun strapped to each holster as well as a plasma rifle on my back. Yuri opted for her standard ray gun as well as a grav-grenade launcher. As usual, she squirreled away a beam sword and her favorite Bloody Card. We stocked up on ammo as we could hold as well since we wouldn't have Mughi there to back us up this time.

"I hope she will be okay." Yuri said with a distressed tone as she looked to the door Lucha was behind.

I wasn't sure what to say, the poor girl had just lost her brother and the man she knew as a father in such a short span of time. I was surprised she was as together as she was, honestly. I have three brothers and I would be a total wreck if anything happened to any of them. And don't even get me started on my daddy. I am sure Yuri was going through some stuff of her own and I didn't want to make it worse. So instead I just gave Yuri a reassured nod and soft smile as I undocked my hover bike.

Yuri and I mounted our bikes and departed the ship. We were only a few miles from town so it shouldn't take us long to get there, and it probably wouldn't have. But, the lingering weight of the traumatic day made it feel like we were riding for hours. I couldn't help but think of poor Lucha. Then there was Thunder, what an utter waste. He had such a bright future ahead of him, my thoughts turned to the farm and what would become of it, Lucha certainly didn't seem like a farmer. Not that she was a priss or anything, she kicked plenty of ass earlier that day. It was all just so sad.

After an eternity it seemed we finally arrived back to town. I made it a point to ignore the filthy looks and sporadic slur we were getting from literally everyone as we rode past. I even resisted flipping them the bird, I once again blame Yuri's influence for that one. I was gonna need a stiff drink after all of this, really get back to my roots. Though I had a sneaking suspicion that finding alcohol on this dry planet was not going to be possible. I think I had a bottle of bim soda stashed away on the Lovely Angel though, that would do nicely.

I could see the hospital at the top of the hill from our vantage point at the central square of the town, the main street was leading right to it. Thankfully this town was easy enough to navigate, because not only was there no hypernet but there wasn't any GPS either. We pulled our bikes to the back of the large building and stashed them out of sight. We crouched down to ponder the best way to get in when Yuri pointed out a pair of nurses dressed all in white with pressed button-up dresses and matching caps exiting one of the rear entrances carrying what appeared to be trash.

Bingo!

Yuri and I rushed forward quietly and stealthily as possible. Sparks flew from Yuri's fingertips as she activated the shock function of our uniforms. In a swift motion, she slipped between the two medical professionals and placed her hands on the sides of their heads as a bolt of electricity rendered them unconscious. Without missing a beat we pulled the two knocked out women out of sight.

CHAPTER 5

I tugged uncomfortably at the high collar of the borrowed nurse's uniform that Yuri and I were currently wearing with one hand and tried to adjust the matching stockings with the other. I felt like I was being suffocated by all the white. Our shiny mary jane shoes clacked as we strolled inconspicuously through the halls of the hospital. We had no idea where to even start but our vision had led us here for a reason, we just needed to figure out what the reason was.

We avoided all eye contact with the rest of the staff as we ventured deeper in. I peeked up from behind my clipboard, it seemed we had reached a crossroads. One way led to the ER and another led to the morgue. Neither of those seemed like viable options to me.

"Which way?" I whispered to my spectral-looking partner.

Dressed all in white like she was with her contrasting black hair she looked like one of the ghosts you see in a movie about a haunted hospital. The reference would have been lost on her though since Yuri felt that such films were uncultured and boorish, as she puts it.

Yuri furrowed her brow and pursed her lips and she turned her head in each direction. Clearly, she was just as conflicted as I was.

"You two!" A woman's voice sounded behind us.

Yuri and I instantly became stiff as a board. The woman, another nurse, marched up to us with an unimpressed look on her face. "What are you two doing here? The Prophet is making his address, everyone needs to be in the parlor."

"Oh, right. Must have lost track of time." I covered.

"Well, that's why they sent me out to look for stragglers." The nurse took us by the arms and began leading us back the way we came.

I gulped deeply as we were led into a large room where the entire staff had gathered. We were going to be busted for sure. To my surprise, everyone's attention was fixed on the big boxy thing that kinda looked like a low tech holo-screen. The picture was pretty awful but you could still see the image of an elderly man dressed in a nice suit sitting at a large desk. He had to be in his 90s, at least. I couldn't tell if it was the reception or the man but his whole body had a tremor to it.

It didn't take long for me to figure out the old man we were watching was their Prophet, the man named Quincey Boyce. After leading everyone in a prayer he started to talk to them about what happened earlier that day. He claimed that servants of Satan had infiltrated their planet and went on a killing spree. That they should be on the lookout for two ethnic looking whores of the devil. I could feel my blood pressure rising. Disregarding the blatant insults to our character he was filling these people with blatant lies! They attacked us! We were just defending ourselves!

Thankfully my rage was interrupted by Yuri tugging on the sleeve of my nurse uniform. She motioned with her head that I should follow her. So quietly we slipped out of the parlor, everyone was so fixed on the prophet no one even noticed.

"This is our chance, let's see what we can find while they are distracted." Yuri explained.

We couldn't be sure how much time we had so we had to move quickly. The halls of the hospital were completely vacant, every member of the staff had gathered into the parlor. I peeked through the window of one of the patient's rooms. The Prophet's sermon was being broadcast in the rooms as well, everyone was totally enamored; they looked like zombies watching this thing. It was definitely creepy.

"Kei."

I heard Yuri whisper urgently, she was a bit further down the hall motioning for me to join her.

"Look." She said as I arrived.

Yuri was standing in front of a door belonging to the head nurse, above her title was a symbol. The Caduceus! This had to be it! Not being one for patience I immediately tried the door handle but it was locked. Not a problem.

"Stand back." I commanded Yuri as we both backed up to the opposite side of the hall. I hiked up my nurses dress and pulled out my heat gun and lowered the setting, with one blast the intense heat of the red energy began to melt away the door and the lock. Once the mechanism was reduced to nothing more than a pile of molten metal on the ground I casually kicked the door in. With a cocky smile, I gestured into the now open room.

Yuri gave me an unimpressed glance as she walked past me into the room. "I hate it when you do that."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I followed her in. When was she going to stop being so uptight, I got us in, didn't I?

The room itself wasn't anything special, a decent sized desk and several metal cabinets along the wall. Normally Yuri would have made herself at home on the computer sorting through files, but not this time. There wasn't one. There was just some weird machine with the numbers 0 through 9 on it with some handheld device attached with a twisting cord. Who the hell knows what that thing was even for? We were gonna have to stoop to their level and do this old school.

This was gonna take forever.

Yuri and I began rifling through her cabinets. They were chock full of paper files, they seemed to be medical records for everyone in the city. It was all pretty boring. I had to laugh to myself seeing how most of these had prayer written in the prescription field. Well, whatever works for them. After a few minutes of that, I was bored to tears and ready for a change of pace, I turned my attention to the head nurse's desk and began going through her drawers there. Most of them had nothing noteworthy but the bottom right drawer was locked.

Since we had left most of our large weaponry safely hidden outside, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the laser knife I kept with me in case of emergencies or instanced like this. The laser blade slid into the lock like a knife through butter and in seconds was dismantled enough for me to gain access to the contents. Inside were more paper files, these seemed to belong to the mucky mucks of the town, there was a file for Bishop Hannah, I was mildly curious as to what his health issues were but resisted. I let out a low frustrated grumble as I pulled the files out and to the floor. There was nothing here! This was pointless.

That's when I noticed the false bottom of the drawer. Removing the camouflage I finally found something of note.

"Looks like you are up, Yuri." I said handing the holo-pad I fished out of its hiding spot to Yuri, finally a modern piece of technology.

Yuri let out a bird-like coo as she accepted the holo-pad and slipped into the nurse's chair. Pulling up her holo-computer she connected the interfaces and began doing her thing. I was never one for that computer stuff. Not that I am a complete moron, I know how to use one just fine but all that backend stuff just never interested me. I decided to make myself useful by keeping watch. I leaned up against the doorway and looked back and forth through the halls.

Still a total ghost town.

"Oh my gawd." Yuri exclaimed in a gasp.

"What is it?" I inquired rushing over to see what had her in such a state.

Circling around the desk I could see Yuri had the personal file up for Quincey Boyce. My eyes widened like saucers when I realized what I was looking at. It was Boyce's death certificate. It was dated 05/12/2141.

A man that had apparently died almost a week ago was on whatever they were using as a holo-screen discussing current events from beyond the grave. How was that even possible? My money was on holograms. This case just took an interesting turn. Yuri continued to scroll through the information on the nurse's pad. Several schematics for Dr. McEntire's mind control devices and document after document about memory mapping and the secret of consciousness were listed as well. Truth be told, it was all going right over my head but Yuri seemed to be absorbing some of it.

We were both so caught up in the information on the pad we didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"What are you two doing in my office?" An older lady with blonde curly hair asked curtly.

Her sudden inquisition caught us off guard, we both jumped up startled. In our panic, we both started yammering random excuses but it didn't seem to matter. As the woman looked at our faces I saw her eyes dilate until the irises were almost swallowed up by darkness. Without a word the sweet looking woman reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with something and started walking towards us.

"I wouldn't lady." I cautioned as I reached for my heat gun.

I was like she didn't even hear me and just keep approaching. "I am warning you!"

Still nothing, her sweet little face soon twisted into one of aggression and she dove at us with the syringe. I fired my heat gun in self-defense as we hopped over the desk and out of the office. I looked back to the see the woman staring vacantly at us as the arm that once held the syringe in was melting away to the bone.

I nearly plowed Yuri over as we dashed out of the office, she had come to a complete stop and was looking in the direction of the exit. Wanting to know what halted her I looked down the hallway to see the entire staff as well as several patients lumbering towards us in perfect unison. Every one of them had that same vacant stare that the head nurse wore.

I was starting to get the impression that these people were no longer in the driver's seat. If you know what I mean.

"This way." I pulled Yuri in the opposite direction of the zombified herd.

Our options were to try to fight our way through the entirety of the hospital staff or head up to the second floor, I chose the latter.

Yuri and I hurried up the stairs peeling off our nurse disguises as our 3WA uniforms reconfigured to their preset designation. Reaching a mid-way platform I turned to the stairwell and fired a fully powered concussive blast from my heat gun. A three-foot hole dissolved into the stairs cutting the herd off from us.

With any luck that would buy us some time to make our escape.

We arrived on the second floor to a welcoming party of zombified patients brandishing a variety of makeshift weapons. There weren't as many as the mob downstairs, maybe around a dozen. Some of them were still pulling around bags of saline on racks or dragging a catheter between their legs. The sight of this was both disturbing and sad at the same time. Yuri, completely unphased, drew her beam sword and began hacking and slashing her way through the crowd. I commended her quick thinking, I probably would have just blasted these people away but there was a slim chance they were innocent bystanders, I suppose.

Limbs dropped to the ground around us as we darted and weaved through the patients. I was fighting off grabbing hands and dodging bedpans as I punched and kicked in an effort to keep up with Yuri. After breaking free of the crowd Yuri fired her ray gun at the nearest window.

"We are going to jump!" Yuri called out.

The back of Yuri's uniform shifted as the circular pattern dislodged and hovered in place as she activated the Grav-Pack. Yuri's feet rose off the ground with each step as the anti-gravity technology lifted her into the air. Reaching the window first Yuri turned and fired her ray gun at the patients I was struggling to fight off.

"I coulda handled them without you, ya know." I teased as I broke free from the zombie patients.

Quickly, I activated my Grav-Pack flying over to my partner.

"Kindly go to hell, Kei." Yuri quipped back with an unimpressed look.

"Look around, we have been in hell this whole time." I gestured with a sideways smirk.

Yuri just rolled her eyes, guess she had no sense of humor at a time like this.

Sick of our banter Yuri did a swan dive out of the window. The Grav-Pack on her back materialized two set of digital wings as we floated like a snowflake to the ground. I looked back at the limbless, shamble, of pursuers who were still inching ever closer to us. With a wink and middle finger, I let myself fall backward out of the window.

"Very nice Kei, just had to put your signature brio and panache on it, didn't you?" Yuri asked with a snotty tone.

I just gave her an innocent shrug, to my surprise we landed not too far away from where we stashed our weapons. Would have been a lucky break had the two nurses we knocked out earlier not regained consciousness and alerted the herd to our location before I could knock their asses out again. We quickly collected our gear and headed towards our bikes.

Throwing on our helmets we straddled our hover bikes and took off towards the road just as the crowd of brainless goons started piling out of the hospital.

CHAPTER 6

"Where to next?" I inquired as I pulled up next to Yuri.

"Back to the temple."

"The temple? Why?" I asked as we raced through the town that time forgot.

"This is why." Yuri held up the head nurse's holo-pad. "It's all here, the temple is where they are transmitting the signals. You recall those bizarre pillars on the roof, they are actually antennas."

I had thought it was a strange architectural choice, but I also figured it was just bad taste since they chose to use cherubs in their work. That's what I get for making assumptions.

We pulled up to the multilayered building and parked our bikes. I was pretty surprised to see that the grounds of the temple had been completely cleared of the bodies we left there earlier in the day, not even a single blade of grass was stained red. Say what you will, these guys were effective and quick. Dismounting our bikes, we marched the distance into the building like we owned the place.

Armed to the teeth, they would have to be fools to mess with us.

In unison, the Yuri and I kicked the doors open. The twerp behind the desk came hustling over to us before we could even get through the threshold. Before he could start his snotty little speech, I reached back and punched him in his ratty little face. He must have spun around two or three times before collapsing to the floor.

"Was that really necessary?" Yuri quipped.

"Absolutely." I responded with absolute confidence shaking out my sore knuckles.

We passed through the bland reception area into the chapel. Clearly every dollar they saved by not decorating the lobby was more than made up for here. It looked more like a grand opera house than it did a church. Clearly, no expense was spared, I guess these hypocrites thought it was okay to be extravagant as long as it was in the name of the lord. We made our way to main stage passing row after row of gold trimmed pews. We climbed the up onto the main stage where I could really take in the overindulgence of the room.

"So, what are we doing here?" I asked thoughtlessly as I looked up to the balconies. Was this a stadium or a church? This place must have been able to fit the whole damn town.

My partner was too preoccupied messing with the podium to hear me. Just what was she up to anyway? I hated it when she ignored me like this. I walked over to get a better look and to give her a piece of my mind.

"Aha!" She exclaimed as the face of the terminal opened up to a computer screen.

Yuri input a six-digit code which caused the floor beneath us to rumble and start lowering into the ground.

As the platform elevator touched the ground the lights flared to life revealing what looked like a whole other world. Well, another world in comparison to the time warp we had been in before. I had to blink a couple of times to take it all in, had this all been a bad dream and we were back in modern society? No, that would have been too good to be true.

The chamber we had entered seemed to be some sort of secret laboratory, holo-screens and consoles lined the walls. In the center was a hospital bed surrounded by operating equipment. Seeing the makeshift surgical sight sent a chill up my spine. I reached down and put my hand on my heat gun, this place was seriously giving me the creeps and I wanted to be ready for anything.

Back in her element, Yuri immediately took a seat at one of the consoles, her fingers dancing across the keyboard. One after another the devices came on as Yuri continued her little keyboard ballet. The main screen came to life and started playing something. It was the visage of a middle-aged man with graying brown hair and a neatly trimmed beard.

"Dr. McEntire." Yuri said in something that was a mix between a whisper and a gasp as she the man appeared.

The doc's lips began moving but the audio didn't seem to be working, Yuri was doing her best to troubleshoot it but so far nothing was working. In fact, things were getting worse, the picture was starting scramble.

"Thi—surgical instruct—neuro-" The doctor's words were grabbled and unintelligible.

"It seems to be instructions for the surgical implant of the neurologic-override. I can't seem to get the audio to work though, it's as if it has been purposefully distorted." Yuri explained reading the document on the smaller screen to her left. "It's even worse than we thought, Kei. It seems like everyone in the city has had one implanted." She continued reading her voice now and horrified monotone.

"Why would they do something like that?" I asked sharing in my partner's horror.

"Because, you hateful, godless, little whores." The voice came from Dr. McEntire on the screen.

"That's not Dr. McEntire's voice." Yuri said slowly rising up from her chair and backing towards me.

The image of the doctor flickered in and out before being replaced by another familiar figure.

"Quincey Boyce, aren't you supposed to be dead?" I asked in a sassy tone placing my hands on my hips.

"What a stupid question. I see you are as dumb as you are immoral." The elderly man on the screen barked.

"Tell me Quincey, why? Why would you use Dr. McEntire's research to upload your consciousness into these machines? Seems more like something a coward would do rather than a man of God." Yuri accused as she pointed her finger.

"Bah! Total and utter fools! This is all God's will!" Boyce stubbornly argued. "When I was diagnosed with the terminal illness that eventually ended my physical life I knew that the heavenly father had something special planned for me. It was soon after my diagnosis that learned about that heathen McEntire's work and realized how it could be used to serve our Lord. Taking something wicked and converting it into a tool of the father. God delivered me this gift of immortality to continue doing his work. I could keep bringing people to His love for centuries, and by force, if need be."

"What a load of utter crap!" I scoffed folding my arms giving him a skeptical look.

Yuri slipped back to the console and connected it with her holo-computer as I laid into the supposed prophet.

"Just admit it, you were a scared old coot who was afraid of dying and desperately searched for a way to extend his own pathetic life. You are a weak old coward with a textbook god complex!" I continued as Yuri worked.

"How dare you speak to me like that!? You are nothing but temptresses from hell! Utterly beneath me! I could crush you like the insignificant insects you are!" Boyce exclaimed with a disgusted look on his face.

"Oh, I am so scared. What are you gonna do? Big scary man on a screen." I laughed at his empty threats.

"She is quite right, you know. As we speak I am running a cleaning program that will effectively wipe any traces of you from these drives." Yuri said sweetly in a matter of fact one.

To both of our surprise Boyce started to laugh, not the reaction I was expecting from someone we just told we were ending their existence. Was I missing something here?

"Such fools, you truly understand nothing. You can't get rid of me so easily. I am everywhere." The prophet warned us as his digital visage faded from the screen.

"Yuri?"

My fair skinned partner was rapidly running a diagnostic. "I- I am not sure. According to this, the Prophet has been effectively deleted from the systems."

We had already uploaded all of our findings to the 3WA Central Computer and the bad guy was terminated. Headquarters was sending in a fleet to apprehend the rest of the criminals involved. There wasn't much more we could do. The case was solved. So, yay us? Boyce's words haunted the back of my mind as we took the elevator back up to the chapel.

"Don't move!" A familiar voice commanded as we finished rising the surface.

It was Bishop Hannah, the rotund man stood at the other end of the stage with a handgun pointed at us. A smile formed on his doughy face as several dozen well-armed men in black filtered into the room surrounding the perimeter successfully cutting us off from all exits.

"Oh, just give it up Hannah. It's over. Reinforcements from the 3WA are already on their way." Yuri huffed as she stamped her foot.

"Stupid whores. I told you, you understand nothing." The phlegm soaked words just sat in the dead air.

"Boyce!?" I exclaimed.

Yuri placed her hand to her mouth as the pieces started to fall together. "This was never just about populace control, you are harvesting hosts. The devices are all connected by their own network, their own web." Yuri thought out loud. "My gawd, you could move from body to body at will!"

"You jezebels might have half a brain between the two of you after all." Boyce spoke through the fat Bishop. "But the fact is I am about done with your meddling in our affairs."

I furrowed my brow at his insinuation. "What are you gonna do? The 3WA is already on their way."

"You will be rescinding their invitation to our humble home. I am certain that after we are done with you that you both will be having a change of heart." Boyce chuckled, his multiple chins giggling.

Oh hell no! They weren't gonna be putting on of those things in my head! Over my dead body! I went to reach for my gun but stopped when Hannah and his troops asserted their guns in unison.

"It is pointless to resist. Just embrace the lord." Boyce hissed.

A shot rang out from somewhere behind us and seconds later the Bishop's eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed on the ground, smoke from the fresh ray gun hole was billowing from the back of his head.

My eyes darted around to the curtains behind us. There I discovered a hollow looking Lucha emerging and opening fire on the Prophet's men.

Yuri and I quickly grabbed her took cover behind the podium as the soldiers started to fire back.

"Is he gone?" I asked as chips of marble rained down around me.

I grabbed my plasma rifle ready to do what I could to defend us.

"I don't know, he could be in any of them!" Yuri responded.

Damn, this was a persistent enemy. Yuri fired off a few gravitational grenades which immediately pinned numerous men to the ground.

"Guess we will just have to take them all out. " I snarled as I jumped from behind the podium firing off several rounds of my rifle.

"Lucha, you stay here, okay?" Yuri instructed her friend as she rushed from the opposite side alternating between grav-grenades and ray gun blasts.

Yuri and I tried to stay in constant motion after all a moving target was harder to hit, and a flying one harder still. We activated our Grav-Packs and flew into the air as we continued our shoot out with the prophet's men. I fired a few well-placed shots into the balcony above a group of men collapsing it, taking a number of them out. Yuri had sent the Bloody Card flying in an effort to level the playing field. The zombified troops just kept coming, the Bishop must have summoned the entire town. We were so focused on our intense dogfight we didn't notice Lucha lowering the platform into the lab.

"Take that you zombie pricks!" I screamed as I fired round after round from my plasma rifle reducing the black-clad warriors to bloody puddles.

It almost wasn't fair, their old fashioned tech was nothing compared to ours. Though what they lacked in advanced weaponry they made of for in numbers. They just kept freakin' coming! We take out one and three more replaces him! We had brought extra ammo but at this point, we were still going to run out. My plasma rifle was already empty and discarded in favor of my heat guns, however, they were running out quickly.

"This isn't working! We won't be able to hold out much longer!" I called to Yuri.

"I know!" Yuri responded she was now down to her beam sword dodging and slashing when she could.

Things were looking pretty bleak for us when the fighting was interrupted by an immense explosion from beneath the floor and up through the platform elevator rocking the entire building. Within seconds the heads of every one of the prophet's men exploded and dropped their lifeless bodies to the floor in piles.

Yuri and I stared at each other in confusion both struggling to catch our breath.

What the hell just happened?

EPILOGUE

Yuri and I had been searching frantically for Lucha to no avail. It wasn't until after the reinforcements from the 3WA arrived that we discovered what had happened. Mourning profusely and looking for revenge, Lucha sacrificed herself to take out the Prophet, Quincey Boyce, in the only effective and permanent way she could. We surmised that Lucha must have heard us talking about the Prophet's network while we were cornered by Hannah and felt it was the only guaranteed solution.

Further analysis of Dr. McEntire's files explained that Lucha activated what was called the 'rapture protocol.' This was essentially a failsafe self-destruct program for the mind control devices that once activated would simultaneously detonate every implant. With one fell swoop, the entire populace of the continent of Moriah fell down dead. Casualties were estimated around 1,350,000.

The total of Dr. McEntire and the Parton sibling's assets were absorbed by the government of Maleenay as none of them had any living relatives to inherit them. Dr. McEntire's research was brought before the Supreme Council of the United Galactica, due to the nature of the research and the incident on Dailenger, laws are being developed to outlaw and restrict consciousness mapping and manipulation. It turned out that Boyce was not the first person to try and use the doctor's research for malicious means, in fact it was what drove him to Maleenay in the first place.

My heart went out to Lucha for everything she lost and what drove her to such a desperate and drastic action. The emotional toll was, of course, hard on Yuri as well. It is never easy losing a friend and she lost three in such a short timeframe. But she is a strong and resilient gal. She focused on her work and tried to stay busy. As always, Mughi and I were there for her. It was comforting to know that no matter what happened we would always be there for each other. Always.

Case 0200 - CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0202: GEMINI GAMBIT

PROLOGUE

Well, we were deep in it this time. I mean like deep.

Yuri and I have been dispatched to the planets of Appo and Dah, twin planets that share both an orbit and a moon located in the Gemini Quadrant. For the past ten years, these planets have been locked in a devastating war that has ravaged their civilization to a near-apocalyptic point. Like most wars, the origin of the conflict was becoming more obscure with each passing day. Some say Appo bombed Dah's capital first, other's say it was the other way around. Regardless of who was to blame it was apparent that there was no end in sight.

Not without some divine intervention in the form of two Lovely Angels.

While this conflict has been ever present on the Worlds Welfare Work Association's radar, they have been forced sit on this sidelines since the 3WA has no jurisdiction in the individual affairs of planet's governing bodies. However, when rumors began to circulate that the number of horrifying war crimes was increasing exponentially and that Appo and Dah were preparing to use chemical weapons, weapons that could be potentially devastating to their entire star system, their neighboring planet Shu petitioned the 3WA to put a stop to their war once and for all.

For some reason, the Central Computer decided that this spunky redhead with the rockin' bod and her demure china doll partner were the ones to bring peace to the Gemini Quadrant. But that wasn't the only shocker. See, well we have had a string of bad luck lately. Really bad. Like millions of people have died bad. One that has earned us a not too favorable reputation. But none of it was our fault, our consciences were clean and our record stood at 100% cases solved. But I couldn't deny that trouble seemed to follow us wherever we went. Because of this Chief Soranaka got the bright idea to separate us! Could you believe it? Yuri and I haven't been apart since we met during our school days. I tried to protest but it was no good, I was on my way to Appo and Yuri was being dispatched to Dah. Mughi would remain on the Lovely Angel on the nearby planet of Shu to offer support if needed.

The audacity! Tearing our little team apart!

With my words falling on deaf ears, we departed for the Shu were we met with our client. Typical debrief so I won't bore you with too many details more than I have to. We learned that the armies of Appo were being led by a man named General Waldess while the troops of Dah were commanded by a woman known as General Iris. Aside from their names these two were complete mysteries. Mysteries that we needed to solve.

As you may know by now, me and Yuri are kinda special, we have a very unique ability. One that got us recruited into the 3WA in the first place. We are an Esper team, meaning the two of share binary clairvoyance. In laymen's terms, we get visions, but only when we were together. And thankfully before we separated to our respective planets we happen to have a vision. One of a large dog or wolf standing in front of an ominous looking gate. As usual, our vision was vague and didn't make a hell of a lot of sense at the time but I trusted it, they had never steered us wrong before. So, with our clue directing us, Yuri and I parted ways.

I don't care what the chief said, it just didn't feel right.

Oh well, what could you do?

CHAPTER 1

Planet - Dah 06.01.2141

"Roger that, please pull the vehicle around to loading dock C-12 for unloading procedures." I instructed into my headset while tucking a strand of my long black hair behind my ear.

I had tied up my hair into a tidy bun before starting my shift but I just had so much that it refused to stay in place throughout the day. I have considered cutting it before, maybe not as short as Kei kept her hair, but maybe something elegant and shoulder length. Oh, but I could never do that. My grandmother would be so disappointed. I giggled to myself at how silly I was being, even though my grandmother Haruka passed away several years ago, her strict influence lived on.

I shifted in my seat and pursed my lips. Due to my technical skills, I had been recruited into the communication center for the armies of Dah. It was dreadfully boring, but I couldn't complain. This position did give me a unique advantage in that I was part of the hub of communication for the entire unit. A prime spot to accidentally overhear any information that may help us. Besides, it could be worse. I was positive that my brutish and uncultured partner was no doubt immediately sent to infantry or as a front line grunt. Something with plenty of violence and large guns, her forte.

I sighed to myself.

"Rough day?" asked the young woman who took the vacant seat next to mine.

It was Amelia, another member of the communications team. She was a pretty enough girl, the war had hardened her though. Not in an overly obvious way but you could tell her edges were unpolished and her natural gleam had dulled. Her eyes lacked any sort of sparkle, just cold and a bit vacant. Even her hair betrayed the toll taken on her, it was a washed out blonde that just sort of hung from her head. It made my heart ache a bit, Amelia could have been a stunning beauty in a different time and place. But like the rest of Dah, she was a broken shell of what she once was.

"Oh, no. Not at all. I was just thinking." I covered with a nervous giggle.

"Dangerous pastime, here I brought you a coffee." She offered as she placed her headset back onto her mop of hair.

I accepted the cup and did my absolute best to look grateful, giving her a thankful nod. In truth, I wish she hadn't done that. The coffee here was just awful, I did enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the morning to give me that extra bounce in my step but I always had it with cream and just a bit of sugar. But this was some sort of dehydrated provisional coffee. I couldn't help but notice Amelia giving me a side-eye, oh no! Had I hesitated too long? I didn't want her to think I was ungrateful.

I quickly took a sip of the pitch black beverage she had gifted me. Oh dear, it was dreadful. So bitter. I couldn't help but gag just a smidge as this tar masquerading as coffee slid down my throat. My reaction did illicit a strange look from Amelia. Eep! Was I busted?

"Hot." I covered.

This seemed to satisfy my neighbor as she returned to her work without a second thought. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Anything worth note going on?" Amelia asked as she reviewed her monitor.

"Mmmm." I started pensively. "Not thus far. Mostly supply runs."

Amelia let out a deep sigh and clasped her hands behind her head. "I guess that's good. Makes me nervous though. Means those App-hole bastards are up to something."

I scrunched up my nose at the display, at times Amelia reminded me just a little too much of Kei. It sort of repulsed me and made me miss that silly copper headed goofball at the same time.

"Anyone copy?!" A frantic voice sounded my headset.

"Roger, I copy, this is Cadet Lily. Number 9524-D." I shifted in my seat adopting a more alert posture. Oh don't worry, we were using false names for this mission. Actually Yuri actually means lily in Japanese, my subtle little reference.

"We got several men down, requesting immediate medical support, those bastards ambushed us!" The frenzied voice informed me.

"Copy that. Stand by for further instructions." I opened a second line and dialed into the infirmary unit. "This is Cadet Lily 9524-D, we have men down requesting medical assistance. Requesting available unit, please inform."

"We copy cadet. Available unit in Med-Bay 34."

I returned to my previous channel to relay the instructions. The voice complied and ended transmission.

I let out another little sigh.

"Hey, I got things here. Why don't you go take a walk or something? You seem awfully tense." Amelia suggested.

It was sweet of her to be concerned. A walk did sound nice and it would be an opportune time to take a look around the grounds and see if I could dig anything up.

"Thank you, I think I will."

I gathered up my camouflage jacket off the nearby hanger and slipped it on. These uniforms did nothing for the figure, the clunky boots and baggy pants with twelve too many pockets. I understand the need for function and storage but at what cost? Well, looking like a sack of potatoes I exited the building that had been commandeered as our communications headquarters. Prior to that, I guessed that it was must have been a shop or a boutique. It was plenty spacious before they moved all of their equipment in and there were remnants of dressing rooms in the back. I smiled to myself thinking of what it used to be, I bet they had the cutest clothes and such a nice warm environment. I imagined patrons shopping for a new dress and then selecting the perfect shoes to match. The smiles on their face as they tried on their new outfit.

Snapping out of my silly little fantasy and taking a real look around at my current surroundings my mood greyed a bit. This building wasn't the only one that had been reduced to a husk and repurposed as a military base. The entire street was cold and grey, no signs of life or happiness could be found anywhere. I strolled down the street looking through the broken windows into the buildings that had been gutted for provisions and the rest left to waste away in the elements. It amazed me how people could live like this, it amazed me even more that they had acclimated to this. A discouraging percentage of the children here have never known any other life besides one of war, rations, survival. It was enough to bring a tear to your eye.

This was no way to live.

I thrust my hands into the pockets of my jacket. The inversion that seemed to just hang over this planet brought with it a rather frigid wind. It didn't help the greyscale atmosphere surrounding me one bit either. Rounding a corner into an alley I subtly took a look around to guarantee I was alone before proceeding.

"Kei? You copy?" I asked opening up the communication software that was wet-wired into us.

Quite remarkable hardware really, thanks to the connective link and the vastness of the 3WA's network I am able to speak to Kei on an entirely different planet using nothing more than mental commands.

Well, I would if she would answer!

"Kei?!" I tried again more urgently.

Guess she was not in a position to answer. Pity, so far I had not been able to find out anything regarding the chemical weapons or our mysterious general. I was really hoping she was having better luck than I was. Damning my luck I turned back to the main street just in time to see a caravan of hover trucks racing past me towards the main command center. I narrowed my eyes as I inspected the vehicles, the beds of the trucks would normally be full of soldiers of supplies but this time whatever they were hauling had been covered up, very suspicious.

Seeing how this was the closest thing I had to a lead I decided to chase after them. I couldn't afford to pass up the chance, could I?

I maintained a steady jog behind the line of trucks while doing my best to stay far enough behind them and out of their line of sight. The caravan was headed to a large building that was once a museum, or rather maybe a school? It was difficult to even tell at this point. It had a large windowed dome that was once probably beautiful but was not just empty panes with random shards of glass. I ducked behind a large chunk of debris as I watched the soldiers hop out of the trucks and look around cautiously before they unveiled their cargo.

Don't worry gentlemen, it was just little ol'me watching, go about your business.

Satisfied they were alone the men pulled off the cover revealing several different people bound and gagged in their hostage. Judging from their clothes they appeared to be members of Appo's military. Without much regard, the captives were thrown from the trucks and hauled up the stone steps passed the two-tier pillars and into the building. It was utterly disgraceful how they were treating them, kicking and prodding these poor people. It took everything in my power not to intervene. I could have easily given these brutes a what for but as it were I needed them to incriminate themselves.

As the last group entered the headquarters I evacuated my hiding spot and began to pursue them. I kept my back to the perimeter of the building and approached cautiously. I was positive there would be a plethora of security about and the last thing I needed was to be caught this early on in the investigation.

Drones cast crimson spotlights on the surface as they flew overhead. They would be easy enough to avoid. It was the unpredictable human element I was most worried about. I slipped between the beams of light jutting about the ground and slipped into the building.

I was able to conceal myself behind a stack of furniture that had been piled in the corner near the entrance. The prisoners were gathered in the center of the room, the soldiers circled around them. It looked like they were about to perform some sort of strange ritual on them. From the elevators at the back of the room emerged another set of troops followed by a woman. She was dressed in military regalia, albeit rather unconventional. Her grey and black uniform looked more like a mini dress slit up the sides that she was all but busting out of the top of. The heels of her thigh high ebony boots echoed throughout the empty hall as she approached. In stark contrast to the gloom around us this woman was quite beautiful, blond curls poured out from below her peaked military cap framing her milky colored face. Her voluptuous lips were painted a bright red.

"General Iris." One of the men in charge addressed her.

Oh! I could barely contain my excitement, I finally felt like I was getting somewhere.

The woman addressed as General Iris nodded at the man in charge and began circling the prisoners like she was a vulture stalking her prey. She would occasionally take one of the captive's face in her gloved hand and turn it back and forth examining them, while completely turning her nose up at others. She did one final lap around giving a nod and pointing to around seven or so of the hostages. I couldn't see a pattern in her decision making, she chose men and women of various ages and builds; they really had nothing in common.

"Very good. Have zees one cleaned up und brought to my chambers." The general commanded, her accent was strange and her voice was deeper than normal and quite sultry.

Not exactly what I was expecting from a military commander, she sounded more like one of the playmates you might find in those seedy adult only districts.

Not that I would know!

"Dispose of zee rest." The general continued with a disgusted tone.

As the general's words finished the men immediately sprang into action. The hostages she selected were scooped up and immediately led away to areas unknown. The general and her guards reentered the elevator from whence they came. Meanwhile, the rest of the poor frightened souls were left in the center of the room still surrounded by soldiers who were now drawing their rifles in their directions. My heart clenched as I realized what was about to happen. Tears were streaming down the hostage's faces, their sobs still audible through their gags.

Before I could act the men opened fire.

I turned away and slammed my eyes shut, I just couldn't bear to watch these poor defenseless people be slaughtered like that. How horrible! I clenched my first and reached for my Bloody Card. It would have been so easy, but I thought better of it. My cover would have been totally blown. I decided, instead, to head back to the communication headquarters and Amelia. She was probably starting to wonder where I was.

I slipped from my hiding spot as soon as the soldiers had cleared the room abandoning a pile of laser riddled hostages. Quietly I led myself to the door opening it slowly. As the door open it revealed a large man in a military uniform smiling down at me menacingly.

Oh poo.

"What have we here?" His gravelly voice asked as I smiled nervously.

CHAPTER 2

Planet - Appo

I flung myself down on my cot, man today had been tough! They really ran these guys ragged. Not that I couldn't keep up, I was just as good if not better than any of the jarheads around here! Truth be told, the training we did for the 3WA during our two years on Shimogu was way more intense than this. I smoothed my copper mane back and out of my face as I let out a relaxed sigh.

"Nice shootin' today, Trigger." A handsome young man with a dark complexion complimented me as he entered the barracks, wiping off the sweat from his brow with his tank top. Of course, I was NOT starting at his hefty pecs or six-pack abs as the sweat glistened on his chocolate skin. Banner was just a battle buddy. A very scrumptious, hunky, swoon-worthy battle buddy. I might need another shower, a cold one this time.

Banner wasn't his real name and obviously, Trigger wasn't mine. The infantry battalion I had been assigned to used nicknames opposed to real names, not sure why. But it worked out in my favor, I usually struggled coming up with aliases. That was Yuri's thing. It seemed to be a tradition, the nicknames had to be earned and until you earned yours, you were simply known as maggot. Anyway, I am sure you can guess that my nickname was well earned due to my impeccable marksmanship and how well I could handle a weapon. It was easy showing these guys up. Actually, I even had to hold back.

Not that I am bragging or anything.

"Thanks, man, I don't know about you but I could definitely use a beer after today." I replied as I reached up and clasped hands with Banner.

I did my best to hide my disappointment as he slipped on a beige colored t-shirt. I wouldn't have minded had he just stayed shirtless. Am I right, guys? After dressing he moved to his bunk, crouched down, and pulled out two cans from under his bed. Speaking of cans, I was not complaining about the cakes on display as he was squatted down. His army pants just fit the curves so nicely.

"Well, today is your lucky day." He chuckled as he tossed one of the cans of beer my way.

I sat up as I caught the beverage, it was room temperature but I wasn't gonna complain. It was certainly better than nothing. Banner took a seat on his cot across from me and raised his beer in a toast. I followed raising mine as well.

"To a job well done. Just make sure the suits don't find out." He chuckled as he pulled back the tab, the contents foaming out as he did.

I cracked mine open after and took a swig. Yup, it was nice and skunky, I couldn't help but wonder how long he had squirreling these away. Oh well, that wasn't important I thought as I took another drink and leaned myself against the wall getting comfortable.

"So you eva gonna tell me where you learned to shoot like that?" Banner asked jovially after taking a drink.

"Just naturally gifted I guess." I teased, rolling my eyes back looking as innocent as possible.

Banner scoffed and tossed his pillow at me which I deflected with my foot. In the distance, we could hear the sound of voices approaching. We urgently tossed back our beers and finished them as quickly as possible before hiding the evidence. Luckily it was just the rest of the squad returning because I couldn't help but let out an aggressive booze-fueled belch.

"Real classy Trigga' didn' your mama teach you how ta act like a lady?" Asked a husky dark haired commando. He looked to be of Italian descent and was the epitome of machismo, the guys had affectionately nicknamed him Big Apple. I didn't really get it, it must have been because of his accent. At least I was guessing it was because of his accent. But hey maybe they knew something I didn't.

"Cut her some slack Big Apple. You wouldn't know manners if they slapped you in the face." A thin gangly man joked nudging the Italian man in the arm.

"Hey hey hey, why you bustin' my chops, Grill?" Brooklyn responded to the grinning bespectacled man that had just ribbed him. Grill earned his nickname due to the overly wide goofy looking smile that was permanently plastered on his face.

"Could you both just cut it out for like five seconds!?" asked the second female of our little group in an annoyed tone as she pushed her way through and headed straight to her bed. Paprika, as she had come to be known, could have given me a run for my money in the hot-headed department. This spicy firecracker had a chip on her shoulder of boulder-esque proportions.

"Ooo, betta watch out fellas. Our caliente chiquita is on the warpath again." Big Apple mocked clutching on to Grill's arm making a big show of how scared he was.

Paprika just rolled her deep brown eyes and rolled away from us with a frustrated groan. I was impressed, last time she almost pulled a gun on those two clowns, obviously, they didn't learn their lesson.

"Guys, c'mon." Banner said flatly with an unimpressed look on his face.

Big Apple and Grill shifted uncomfortably under Banner's steadfast glare. Clearing their throats and adjusting their uniforms they both retreated to their respective bunks. Banner's paternal gaze following them the entire way. It was apparent that he was the only one amongst us to have a kid. He had a wife too, she and his son were living in one of the camps they set up for the civilians of the planet.

I gave a halfhearted smile as I witnessed their jovial joking around. It was impressive that they could muster any positivity at all I thought as my mind turned to the camps. The war had effectively destroyed their whole way of life, everything was centered around the fighting now. What was, was now ruins, memories long since buried under debris. I couldn't blame Paprika for being the way she was. If I had to live this sorry excuse of an existence full time I would be pretty bitter too.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden arrival of one of the commanding officers. He was not one I was familiar with but I could tell from his uniform he was one of the "suits" as my team called them. What could this fool want? This guy looked like he had a stick shoved so far up his butt it was almost coming out of his skull. His posture was overtly erect, his nose tilted towards the sky.

I hated him already.

"Banner, Trigger. Your presence has been requested in the armory." The suit said smugly.

Aw hell, was this about the beer? How could they have possibly known?

I narrowed my eyes as I sat on the side of my bed and pulled my boots on. After I finished tying them I joined Banner in front of the officer as he had the nerve to look us up and down. Better watch yourself, pal. I was not afraid to throw hands if you disrespected me and my friend like that again.

The suit didn't say anything even though it looked like he was about to, I guess he was just chewing on his face. Instead, he just turned and exited the barrack expecting us to just know to follow him. Ugh, so annoying, those badges on your chest didn't make you better than me y'know!

I was reminded once again of the sorry state of Appo as soon as we exited. Our camp was on the outskirts of what once was their capital city, though now it was just a pile of metal and stone. Not a single building stood, just charred remains. We had been doing training exercises there early that day, and why not, it was a manmade obstacle course. To my knowledge most of the cities of Appo resembled the capital, the people had become nomadic, never staying in one place longer than they had to. Their justification was it made them less easy of targets to the armies of Dah. Sound logic, but what kind of life was that? I had only been here a couple of weeks and was already starved for a hot shower.

A long soak in a nice luxurious tub with an exotic-smelling bubble bath was what I truly desired but I was getting less picky the longer I was there.

As we walked I could hear Yuri' voice in my ear, it was great to hear the familiar voice of my best friend but this was definitely not a good time buddy. Yuri called me named again, loud enough this time to catch the attention of Banner who was walking next to me. I hurried and swiped at the air around my head.

"Damn bugs." I tittered.

Banner accepted my cover without a second thought, phew, that was close!

I wondered how Yuri was faring over on her planet, we hadn't talked in the past 24 hours so maybe she had finally found something. It would be great if she had. I know I was completely empty handed at this point, although my attention has been focused on maintaining my cover and working my way up to the general.

"What's this about?" I asked, my patience with the officer having run out.

He turned with a sour look on his face, I cocked my head back at the sight of him. Jeez, sorry for living. I huffed a little sigh as I recovered my dignity. We continued walking in silence until we reached a tent that was much larger and more expansive than any of the others set up around the camp. My interest was piqued. If we were in trouble I seriously doubted that we would have been brought to a place like this to be disciplined, naw something else was about to go down.

"Please go on, Colonel Teisel is waiting for you inside." The snotty commanding officer informed us.

"Thanks so much, we couldn't have made it without you." I said sarcastically cause Banner to nudge me in the arm. The commanding officer just glowered after me as we disappeared into the tent.

Scanning our new surroundings I quickly surmised that we were in the armory. If I believed in such a thing I guessed this what heaven might look like. Hover trucks were being loaded with huge cannons and missile launchers. Drones were being outfitted with various grenades and explosives. Hundreds and hundreds of guns ranging from all calibers of size and firepower lined the walls surrounded by barrels of ammunition. I felt like I was like a kid in a candy store!

On a more serious note, if the armies of Appo were indeed in possession of illegal biological weapons then this was probably the place they had them stashed. I had this placed pegged from the get-go for obvious reasons. We were approached by two men who asked for our identification, security protocols made sense since they wouldn't want just any random person strolling in here. Once cleared we were lead through the labyrinth of weaponry to meet the colonel.

Reaching the centralized area of the tent, my breath caught in my throat from what I saw standing before us.

Colonel Teisel was standing in front of a line of five military mecha. They were so beautiful, it almost caused me to well up with tears when I saw them. My guess is they stood about four meters tall, all of them was a classic black with a cockpit big enough for a single human pilot in the middle area. Just by looking at it you could tell they utilized every possible inch of these bad boys packing as much weaponry as they could onto it. The shoulders were equipped with massive missile launchers and the left arm was an epic gatling gun. Various cannons had been grafted to the right arm but it ended in a clamp-like hand. I couldn't quite tell if the things on their backs were more cannons or thrusters, either way, they looked badass and I was more than hoping I would get a chance to drive one of these beasts.

"Welcome, I am Colonel Teisel." Said the older man in a uniform similar to the tightwad that had brought us here.

I was tempted to wipe my chin just in case any drool had seeped out but resisted. I am sure it was fine. Instead Banner and I just introduced ourselves.

"Thank you for coming. I have brought here because your unit has shown great potential, potential we would like to utilize in our latest project. These are the MM-L combat suits, code name Juno. We have asked you two here specifically because you have demonstrated that you have skills far surpassing the rest of your unit. We would like to train with these Juno suits and eventually train the rest of your unit." The Colonel informed us.

Yes! Yes yes yes! I was doing a happy dance in my head. On the outside, I remained as stoic as my battle buddy. This would be his call, but hopefully, he made the right one.

"Yes, sir." Banner answered.

Good choice!

"Now, let me go over the specifics of the machines. Mr. Carson guarantees that these are the top of the line most cutting edge in combat suit technology."

"Excuse me, who?" I interrupted at the mention of the name.

The colonel wasn't exactly thrilled with me talking over him but answered my question anyway. "Mr. Carson, the arms dealer from Refractor Corp." He gestured behind us.

I was hesitant to turn around but finally found the will to do so. Walking up behind us was a young man in a cerulean colored suit, his wavy dark hair slicked back. As soon as his dark brown eyes met mine his mouth curled into a sideways grin. Rage exploded in my chest at the sight of that cocky smile.

"You." I hissed under my breath.

CHAPTER 3

Planet - Dah

I raised my hands and backed away nervously as the man with the sinister smile took a few steps towards me. It would have been detrimental to act precipitously. For once I didn't have that hot-headed Kei acting without thinking and could fully assess my situation.

"You're with the communications team, right? You got here fast." The creepy gentleman said.

I will admit his words had left me a tad flabbergasted. But I went along with it. "Umm, yes. That is right."

"Impressive, the general only requested you a few moments ago." The simple soldier explained.

"Yes, well, I just happened to be nearby when we got the summons is all." I covered with a sweet giggle and soft shrug of my shoulders.

"Uh-huh." He nodded and placed his baseball glove of a hand on my arm as he started leading me towards the elevator. I winced at the touch of his hand, I certainly didn't appreciate the unwelcomed contact but kept my mouth closed. This brute was leading me to the general, I was sure to acquire some decent intel.

With a swipe of his ID, the elevator doors slid open and the commando ushered us in. The numbers on the panel above the door descended slowly and seemed to get slower with each passing number. I felt pretty uncomfortable crammed in this tight of space with this guy. He just gave me the creeps. I kept my hand near my Blood Card just in case he tried anything unsavory and I needed to remove his overly friendly appendages.

Luckily for him, he kept his hands to himself. The doors opened to the lowest level of the complex, stepping out the man immediately started herding me down the hall. The area had an eerie stillness to it, you could just feel something heavy and suffocating hanging in the air. Something dark and evil. It made me shudder, but I brushed it off and continued following the creepy thug.

This place was much bigger than you would have thought looking at it from the outside. I was convinced now this building had to have been a museum judging from the abandoned workspaces scattered through this subterranean labyrinth that was now occupied by military personnel.

We made several turns before finally coming to a dead end hallway with two double doors. With another swipe of his ID, the locks turned green and he turned to walk away.

"General's waiting for you." Was all that he said before disappearing around the corner.

I felt a bit more at ease now that the boorish brute had departed but the claustrophobic atmosphere had increased drastically in this area. Seeing that I didn't have many other options I let myself into the room.

Whatever I was expecting, it was not this.

The general's chamber was set up like a dungeon, but not just any dungeon. The hostages that had been separated from their now departed cohorts were brought here. They had all been stripped down to the nude, aside from ball gags and restraints. Some of them were placed in large cages hanging from the ceiling, others were being shackled to the wall. One was on their hands and knees being locked into a pillory while another was spread eagle cuffed to a large table. And in the center of it all with an electric riding crop in hand was General Iris.

It was immediately evident that general had started torturing these pitiable individuals, some had been pierced and filleted and others sexually mutilated. The stench of dried blood was so pungent I had to resist vomiting as my stomach knotted up. I couldn't help but stand there with my mouth agape. This was just beyond words. Completely and utterly deplorable. These acts of sadomasochism unquestionably violated the law regarding the humane treatment of hostages. It had gone way beyond that into pure depravity.

This sick bitch was using them as her playthings and judging from the smile on her ruby lips enjoying every anguished cry of her victims.

In my years with the Worlds Welfare Work Association and all of the extensive training I had never experienced something like this. Complete and total evil. There was no other way to describe it.

"Ah, you zhere." The demonic vixen spoke as she spotted me.

With a deafening crack of her crop, she pivoted on her stiletto heels and marched towards me.

"You are vith zee communications unit, ya?" She inquired stopping just inches away from me.

Her fragrance was a sickening mix of vanilla and blood. The two meshed together like oil and water assaulting the senses. In her heels she must have stood around six feet tall, I had to tilt my head up to be able to look her in the eyes. Her eyes were a chilly blue, so cold and vacant, a true expression of death and nothingness.

"Y-yes, ma'am." I finally was able to muster after controlling my utter repulsion.

A slight smile slithered across General Iris' lips as she began circling me as she had done the hostages. After a full rotation, she stopped and looked me up and down, her smile growing ever larger.

"I see zey sent me a pretty on zis time." She purred in her adulteress tone. "Very pretty indeed."

Ugh, I could feel the bile rising as she sized me up. What was this woman's problem?

As if things couldn't have gotten any worse or more awkward, without the slightest bit of warning the general reached up with her leather gloved hands and cupped my breasts. I squealed a bit and jumped back as she made contact. She seemed to enjoy my response as her unsettling smile grew even more as she took in my uncomfortableness.

"Um, I, well. Y-you needed help with your comm, m-ma'am?" I stuttered as I tried to compose myself while preventing any further inappropriate activity.

I will admit Kei's years of influence was starting to have an effect on me. It very well may have crossed my mind to punch this woman in the face or introduce her to the Bloody Card. I considered the ramifications of killing her. On one hand, I could quickly gather as much information as I could then make my escape before anyone discovered me. Of course, that would do nothing to help our less than rosy reputation of being genocidal maniacs. Guess that settled that, she would live. For now.

"Don't be shy, little flower." The general susurrated. "But as it vere, yes. My comm is being very naughty. Take care of it!"

The general snapped her crop and pointed it to a door at the back of the room. The sounded echoed through the hollow of the dungeon-like room. I even jumped a bit at the unexpected noise. I gave the general a quick nod and immediately made my way towards the other room. Anything to get away from her and the appalling scene around me. As I walked, I tried to think of ways I could help these poor individuals and immediately started to wonder how many others had succumbed to the general's perversions. The very notion was almost too much to take and only fueled my determination to solve this case and bring an end to all of this.

I let out a defeated pout as I closed the door behind me and took a look around this new room. It was the general's bedchamber and as you might very well have already guessed it was more sleazy and repugnant than you could imagine. Adult toys by the dozen were lined up on a shelf near the red satin sheet covered kind sized bed. A sling hung in the opposite corner. Was this nightmare never going to end? No amount of showering was going to help, I was destined to never feel clean again.

Doing my best not to touch anything, I crept delicately over to the general's desk and sat down. As I pulled up her computer I could see that it was just a very minor technical glitch hindering her communications, I could fix that in a matter of seconds. But first I couldn't help but notice that she didn't bother encrypting or securing any of her documents. I guess her attention's lied elsewhere. I curled my lips into a disgusted frown as I gave a brief side eye to my surroundings to see a pair of crotchless panties laying on the floor.

Okay, focus Yuri. You don't want to see that.

I quickly perused her files hoping something would jump out at me. There were a number of video files that my gut was telling me to avoid like the plague, the camera equipment set up in front of the bed was probably a deciding factor there.

Turning my focus back to the data I did notice something that caught my attention. The folder was named 'Project Garmr.' If my memory of our mythology courses were correct Garmr was the guardian of the gates of Hell in the Norse mythos. Opening the folder I found hundreds of documents waiting for me, far too many to go through undetected now. I linked the interface to my holo-computer on my wrist and began copying the files inside. While the download copied I continued spelunked through some of the files. The project seemed to center around a large facility called Gesellschaft which by my estimate was being set up on the shared moon of Appo and Dah. What snagged my eye was something called Fokkewolf and Marlwolf, admittedly because of the words 'wolf' in it, after all my and Kei's shared vision was of a hellhound.

"Grüsse, mein kleines Mädchen."

The familiar sensual voice started me, I quickly closed out of what I was doing and started miming like I was working on her communications issue.

"I'm, uh just about done here." I covered. As I remedied her trivial issue. "And done." I laughed nervously as I inched towards the door.

As I reached for the handle I was stopped by the sparking snap of the riding crop. I yelped as recoiled my hand and backed away.

"Not leaving so soon are ve? Ve haven't even had ze chance to get to know each other."

I gulped at the insinuation of the general's words.

"Just lay down, get comfortable. Zat's an order, private!"

I took a step back for every step she took towards me, I was getting closer and closer to the bed and I was not comfortable with that notion. But this blonde nymphomaniac was between me and the exit; what was I to do? While I was busy contemplating my options the general pounced tackling me to the bed. She pinned my arms above my head as she straddled me putting all of her weight down. She was much stronger than she looked, I was struggling to get free but couldn't quite wriggle loose.

"Feisty, I like zat." General Iris whispered bring her face down to my ear. As she pulled away she drug her slimy tongue along the side of my cheek.

Now I was mad. Getting just enough leverage I managed to bring my knee up between us and tossed this disgusting slut up and over me. As she connected with the headboard I hurriedly vacated the bed and dashed for the door.

"Get back here you stupid girl!" Iris screeched at me from the bed.

Without looking back I exited the room and ran through her little torture chamber. As much as I wanted to help these people I knew the only way I could do anything was to get the information I had secured from the general's computer to the 3WA headquarters. Especially now that I had assaulted the general, my head was on the chopping block now.

General Iris was hot on my heels as I made my way through the labyrinth commanding every available soldier to capture me. Within minutes I had about a dozen men firing their weapons at me and attempting to subdue me. I considered using the Bloody Card to assist my escape but thought better of it, the Bloody Card would have been much more ineffective in such a narrow hallway than I would have liked. So with option one out of the way, I moved to plan B, the B standing for beam sword.

With a woosh and a varoom, I hacked away at every joint or critical wound point of my pursuers. However, leaping over fallen men and severed limbs, Iris was getting ever closer. Her fodder-like minions continually growing in number.

I leaped towards the elevator and began pressing the button in a frenzy but the door wouldn't open. It was then I remember that the gorilla that brought me here had used his ID to access the lift. With a quick pivot, I rushed to the nearest soldier, he was screaming and clutching at his wounded stump that was once his lower left leg. Until he got in the way of the beam sword, that is.

"Excuse me, sir. I need to borrow this. Thank you!" I said politely with a sweet smile as I snatched up his ID badge before sprinting back to the elevator.

After swiping the badge the doors opened and I flung myself in smashing the bottom for the lobby. The doors closed mere seconds before the general and her men reached me. I could hear them banging their fists on the metal doors and I rose to the surface.

I expected that General Iris had recruited backup on the ground level, and I was right. As the doors slide open they began firing their weapons. Having already secured myself on the ceiling in anticipation of this. I tossed the Bloody Card I was holding gingerly between my teeth. Within a few minutes, the screams and gunfire ceased and I lowered myself down. I summoned back my card and thanked it for a job well done as I ran out of the building and away from the living nightmare I had just experienced.

Now I needed to get to a safe space and rendezvous with Kei.

CHAPTER 4

Planet – Appo

Carson D. Carson, you son of a bitch.

The oh-so-familiar smug smile of his was like a red hot poker in my stomach. I glared at him with a fiery rage; what the hell was he doing here and what right did he have looking so damn hot? Had he put on some muscle since I last saw him? He was looking thick! His perfect jawline had a little more stubble on it than normal, coupled with his styled back hair and suit it really added to this rugged businessman look.

I could kill him just for looking as perfect as he did. How dare he!?

"General Waldess, sir! Officer on deck!" Colonel Teisel straightened up and saluted.

I took a break from my loathing of the two-faced, backstabbing, sexy-as-hell, no good, low life, traitor to address the man that was marching towards us surrounded by his entourage.

Whoa, someone needed to pull the stick out of this guy's ass stat. The general was dressed in a black a grey uniform with nary a stitch out of place. His shiny black boots echoed as he marched towards us walking with an almost comical straight leg. His arms were crossed behind his back thrusting his chest out. His nose was turned so far up I was surprised his pointed cap was able to stay on his head. His sour little face bore deep lines from what I was guessing was a permanent frown.

I seriously had to stifle my laughter as this joke of a man and his little posse approached us with that ridiculous walk.

"Are zese za recruits?" The general asked, his voice was perfectly suited to his appearance. Flat, no-nonsense, and just dripping with a hint of superiority and disgust.

"Sir, yes sir." The colonel responded.

I cleared my throat, remembering my mission. Banner and I saluted as the general stared down his nose at us. I could feel the judgment permeating every cell of my body. His smug expression twisted into one of repulsion as he continued to glower down at us.

"Not vat I was expecting but zey will be fine, I suppose."

"Hi there, Carson D. Carson, Refractor Corp." My loathsome enemy interjected holding his hand out to the general only to be met with a similar response. Awkwardly Carson just gave a sideways grin and lowered his hand.

"Yes, yes. Ze so-called arms dealer. Your business here is done. You may leave." General Waldess said snubbing Carson.

"Okay then, pleasure doing business with you." Carson responded.

He gave me a little wink before turning to take his leave. I shuddered with rage as he winked at me. He better not be thinking of blowing my cover. It would be just the excuse I needed to blast him into space dust!

"Colonel, I want zheir training to commence first zing in ze morning. We must strike zose dogs of Dah before zey can retaliate."

"Sir, yes sir!" The colonel saluted again as the general and his men turned on their heels and exited from where they came still doing that ludicrous walk.

"You heard the general. Training begins at o600." Colonel Teisel continued excusing us.

With another salute Trigger and I departed from this paradise, I tilted my head back to take one final look at the mecha before we left.

Soon my precious.

Once we were outside I told my battle buddy that I needed to use the latrine so that I could slip away for a few minutes. I told him not to wait up, blamed the cafeteria food.

As Trigger walked away, a bit shaken by my overshare, I immediately started looking for that conniving prick.

"Hello, my cherub. You are looking gorgeous as ever. I love that G.I. Jane look. Very fitting." Carson's voice melted like butter from behind me.

I aggressively grabbed him and pulled him behind a couple of the tents and out of sight. Thrusting my elbow against his throat and using the other arm to secure his arm behind his back I pinned him against the wall.

"Oooo, getting kinda rough. You know I like gentle at first." He cooed.

"You know damn well I don't know anything like that!" I hissed at him under my breath. "Are you out of your damn mind?! Are you trying to get us both killed; addressing me in public like you know me?!"

"I think we both know how well we know each other, Kei. You are my soulmate after all." He smiled at me.

Ugh that damn smile, it could still turn me into goo. I resisted though, I had a job to do and he was a threat!

"Soulmate? Who are you kidding!?" I applied more pressure to his throat. "What are you doing here? And don't lie to me Carson or you will find yourself short one testicle."

I could feel him swallow hard against my arm.

"Calm down! I am on your side, remember. I told you last time I am going straight. A Pro-Thief with a heart of gold." I rolled my eyes so hard I almost gave myself a migraine as he explained. "Really! Okay, so there is no such thing as Refractor Corp and those mechs in there 'might' be borrowed from Volnutt Industrial Arms corp."

I gave him my best no shit look.

"I am here for Waldess, okay!"

"Waldess?" I repeated. Why was this scum ball after my target?

Carson leaned closer to me and lowered his voice further. "I have been tailing the guy for months. Several of my sources claim he is with Lucifer. And not just any member but one of the higher-ups, a council member."

"Why should I believe anything that comes out of that lying trap of yours?" I insisted.

"I told you! I only use my powers for good now." Carson repeated, he started to shift under my restraints. "Kei, you know I want to take Lucifer down more than anyone."

I narrowed my eyes at this pathetic and beautiful specimen at my mercy. My heart was telling me to trust him but my brain was reminding me of how many times this bastard had screwed us over in the past.

I loosed my grip freeing him, I was a stupid softie but something in his eyes looked different this time. I just knew I would be kicking myself later for this.

"Alright, so what ya got?" I asked him trying to act casual as he shook off my grip.

"What's in it for me?"

"You get to live and maybe I won't throw you lying stealing ass in jail." I asserted.

"Throw in a kiss and you got a deal." He smiled that trademark smile of his.

I rolled my eyes and sighed again. "Fine."

Carson took a step forward pressing his well-defined chest into me and bringing his forehead to mine while engulfing me in his large arms.

"N-now?!" I stuttered at his sudden advance.

"Mm-hmm." He murmured as he pressed his lips to mine.

The world around me faded and I became utterly lost in his kiss. The gentle warm softness of his pillowy lips sent sparks through my entire body putting my brain in an instant fog. My arms acted on their own sliding up his back returning his embrace. As I kissed back I hoped this moment and this feeling would last for eternity.

No such luck. Carson pulled away looking into my caramel colored eyes. A sweet smile on his lips. Breaking out of my euphoria and coming to my senses I released him and threw his arms off of me.

"Okay, I held up my end!"

"Fair is fair my cherub." He smirked as he leaned back against the wall.

With a subtle sigh, he started his exposition. "Lucifer is responsible for this whole war. They put the strain on the relations between Appo and Dah and once things were at their most tense and tumultuous they bombed both capitals and blamed it on the other. Mind you, this was about a decade ago and they have been profiting off of this conflict that entire time."

"How so?"

"By selling each side weapons and provisions from Lucifer owned corporations." He continued. "Waldess and his twin sister Iris are running this whole operation from both ends. Those aren't even their real names, by the way. No one knows their real names. They are known only by High Council code names Leviathan and Asmodeus. DISrespectfully."

I took a moment to absorb what Carson was telling me. If this was true then this was going to be more complicated than I initially thought.

"What do you know about bioweapons?"

"Not much, it wouldn't surprise me if they would stoop to that level though." Carson folded his arms across his broad chest.

Suddenly realizing how much time has passed I started to get a little panicked. Surely Trigger and the others had probably started wondering where I was.

"I gotta get back to the barracks. What are you going to do next?"

Carson unfolded his arms and stood upright. "I dunno, my plan was to take out Lucifer all by my lonesome but since you are here I guess I can leave it in your capable hands. Besides, with the Dirty Pair involved it would be wise of me to get as far away from this star system as possible."

I was about to lay into him for using that despicable nickname but he shut me up with another kiss.

"Until next time, my cherub." He whispered as he broke the kiss and started to walk away.

"Next time, I will be arresting you, Carson." I called out to him, he gave a solitary wave over his shoulder as he kept walking.

That man was the most infuriating human I had ever encountered, but he did make himself useful, this time anyway. So I guess he could live, for now. In the meantime, I hustled back to the barracks mentally preparing myself for the ribbing I was about to get from my team.

I was abruptly stopped in my tracks when I was intercepted by Waldess, or Leviathan or whatever, and his group of goons.

"Vere are ve going in such a rush, Miss Kei?" The general feigned concern.

I quickly clued into the general's game. He used my named very purposefully to let me know he was on to me. This wasn't good, right now I had two thoughts going through my head, the first being how he found out. If Carson ratted me out so help me I was gonna cut his head off and display it on my coffee table. The second was how I was going to get out of this. The only weapon I was carrying was my laser knife in my boot, now I was good but taking out this many armed men with just a tiny blade was a bit beyond even my skills.

"Guess I am busted, was I that obvious?" I asked sarcastically.

"On ze contrary, I believe you had ze whole army fooled. But I knew right away somezing wasn't right. And after listening to your chat with Mr. Carson I vas proved right." Leviathan snickered as he shared his little joke with his men.

"Carson!" I snapped.

"Oh, don't vurry. He is alive, for now." The general cut me off with a nonchalant tone. "For how long I can't say. My men are in pursuit of him as ve speak, it's just a matter of time." What passed for a smile spread across his toad-like face.

Every fiber of my being was telling me that this pathetic excuse for a human was nothing but a bully. An insecure piece of nothing who used any means necessary to hold others down in order to raise himself up. Nothing about his bravado or ill got confidence was real.

"Now, I vill ask you to come vith me, I may have some use for you after all."

As the Lucifer leader spoke two of his grunts grabbed me by each arm and held me in place. With no weapons, I was at their mercy. In the only show of defiance, I spat in the general's face.

"I am not going anywhere with you!"

"I think you'll find you don't have much choice." Leviathan grumbled lowly as he used a handkerchief to wipe his face.

The last thing I remember was seeing the butt of a gun coming straight at my face.

CHAPTER 5

Lovely Angel - Space outside of Dah

By the next day, I had made my escape to planet Shu to meet up with Mughi and the Lovely Angel. The general's personal spacecraft, the Blitzkrieg, had departed late last night for Gesellschaft. So, I was fairly confident she hadn't forgotten all about me.

Thank gawd for that.

I had spent the night pouring over the information I had downloaded from that despicable general's computer. I was right to trust my instincts, Marlworlf and Fokkewolf were indeed missiles outfitted with a biochemical agent of unspeakable magnitude. According to my readings, if released on a populace it could wipe out an entire continent within hours. It seemed Appo and Dah had all but exhausted their resources fighting this war and thus were no longer profitable to Lucifer.

That's right, Lucifer.

Imagine my utter surprise when I stumbled across that tawdry bit of information. Lucifer was behind this entire war, countless lives lost just so they could profit off of their misery and suffering. Moreover, I had been trying to reach Kei ever since I fled Dah, but she wasn't answering. I couldn't help but be concerned for her wellbeing. I tried to dismiss thoughts of her cover being exposed and something terrible happening to her. It was just too unbearable to even consider. We may bicker and get on each other's nerves, but, if anything ever happened to her, I don't know what I would do.

A soft suction cup gave my arm a gentle squeezed, it was attached to a long black tentacle belonging to Mughi, he must have sensed that I was feeling worried, I could see a look of concern etched across his face as I turned to him. He was seated in the seated normally occupied by Kei whilst I was in my usual spot behind the controls of the ship.

Not only were we dealing with Lucifer, but I had intercepted a transmission from both Appo and Dah that they were going to be deploying their forces in an all-out strike. Rumors were spreading that each side had discovered an interloper trying to take them down from the inside. I was able to trace the signal back to Gesellschaft and the Lucifer operatives known as Asmodeus and Leviathan. It was clear, Lucifer was starting their endgame.

I had already taken the liberty of uploaded my findings to the 3WA Central Computer and we were currently awaiting backup.

The Lovely Angel had been upgraded to stand her ground and go mono e mono with an 800-meter destroyer. But the entire fleets of not one, but two armies were just a teensy bit too much for us.

I bit my bottom lip as I checked the time. The armadas had already departed from their respective planets and the attacks were both set to commence at o800. Well, the clock had just turned to 7:58 am galactic standard time and there was no sign of my reinforcements from the 3WA. As you can imagine that my nerves were already pretty frazzled. So, when the monitor ahead of me flared to life and the level female voice of the Lovely Angel's computer informed me that a massive number of ships were approaching from both sides I was nearly thrust into the brink of an anxiety attack.

My hiding spot of choice ended up being between the oncoming forces. And obviously, that meant we were right in the middle of their weapon's path as well.

Of all the rotten luck.

"Hold on, please!" I instructed Mughi as I quickly grabbed the controls.

As the opposing armadas opened fire on one another I fired up the Lovely Angel's thrusters and began doing my best to maneuver between the missiles and lasers. What was these guy's problem? Did they not care that there was a civilian ship here? We are bright red, it's not like they couldn't see me!

How rude!

I broke free from the line of fire more or less intact. I mean, a less skilled pilot would have sustained far more damage than I took. Oh dear, listen to me. I was starting to sound like Kei. I could almost hear her voice as I thought this. Wait a moment. I could hear her voice!

"Kei?!" I squealed

"Ugh, thanks for that Yuri, I think my ear is bleeding now." The sarcastic voice of my partner sounded in my ear from our comm link.

I ignored her natural snark, I was just so elated that she was alive!

"Where are you? I have been trying to reach you since yesterday!"

"I don't even know. My cover got blown and they hauled me off somewhere. Listen, Yuri, these guys are Lucifer." Kei explained.

"I know, I infiltrated their personal files, I have already sent everything to headquarters and they are on their way." I interrupted. "Stay on the line, I am in the ship and locking on to your coordinates."

As I spoke to my alive and, for all intents and purposes, well partner I was using our ships' GPS to pinpoint where these brutes were keeping her. As the scan narrowed it down, it closed in on the moon between the twin planets and further to the lunar facility of Gesellschaft.

This was perfect, after all the sibling general's last known location was here as well. We could essentially kill two birds with one stone.

"Okay, sit still, we are coming to rescue you." I chirped excitedly.

"I am in a cell, Yuri. Where would I go?" Kei clapped back.

Once again, ignoring her insufferable sassiness, I changed course for Gesellschaft.

"Mughi, take it from here. I have to get ready." I commanded as I leaped up from my seat allowing our Omlarcat teammate to take the controls.

I made my way to the back of the ship where the armory was and started loading up. Since we were dealing with Lucifer, I was taking no chances. Obviously, I stashed away my all-time favorite, the Bloody Card but I strapped a ray gun to each thigh as well as my beam sword to my arm. Grabbing a duffle bag, I threw in two heat guns for Kei, I had a feeling she would be wanting them and plenty of ammunition.

I wish I had more room but sadly a tank wouldn't fit in the tote.

"Mgaooo." Mughi's feline voice came over the intercom, we must be getting close to our destination.

"Thank you Mughi dear. Get me as close as you can, and I will jump out. Then if you would please stay close and wait for evac, I would appreciate it!" I responded sweetly.

I reconfigured my suit to be able to survive the conditions of the moon and opened the hatch door. As predicted we were about 150 meters from the grey rocky surface of Appo and Dah's satellite. I assessed the exterior of Gesellschaft. Unlike the misleading schematics, it resembled more of a small city. Several cylindrical skyscraper-like buildings jetted out from the moon's surface. Before descending I decided to grab one more thing. A high impact missile launcher, it only had one shot, but I had a feeling I would be needing that it.

"Thank you, Mughi. See you soon!" I said as I let myself fall backward from the ship's dock.

As I watched the dock door close I activated my Grav-Pack in the back of my uniform. Once the wings materialized I spun around and hovered gently to the outside walls of Gesellschaft. Upon the bulb like helmet of my space suit, I pulled up the layout of the facility and Kei's last known location. She was in one of the outside towers towards the back of the structure. I flew through the blackness of space undetected. I had suspected that a Lucifer base like this would be crawling with security, so I had preemptively activated my suits stealth abilities before departing the Lovely Angel.

Breaching the artificial atmosphere dome, I glided to the outermost wall of where they were holding my partner. I took aim with the missile launcher and blasted open a hole large enough for me to fit through. I discarded the weapon and let myself in. My little makeshift entranced had caused a symphony of alarms to sound. I didn't have time for that though, touching down I immediately began following the layout on my helmet which was leading me straight to Kei.

If I was lucky I would reach her before the alarms brought a slew of Lucifer thugs to my location.

But as luck was rarely on our side, I encountered a few soldiers blocking the final stretch. Presumably, they had already been there guarding Kei. They were nothing I couldn't handle it though. Grabbing my ray gun, I took each one out before they even noticed me.

So sorry, gentlemen.

From the other side of the door, I called out to Kei making sure I had the right location.

"Yuri! Took you long enough!"

It was her alright.

With a little smile and shake of my head, I raised my gun and blasted the lock and swung open the door. A huge smile spread across my lips as my copper-haired best friend came into view. I couldn't help but rush forward and wrap my arms around her. She hugged me back but quickly shrugged me off, I was certain she was worried about her ego.

'Hey now, what's with all the mush?" She said awkwardly. "Thanks for springin' me, y'know."

Oh, Kei. Always the hard ass.

"Ooo and you brought presents!" she exclaimed noticing my satchel.

She wasted no time pulling it off my shoulder and started rummaging through it. Kei pulled out her heat guns and made a big show about how she missed them and gave both of them a little kiss. I will never understand this love of firearms that she harbored. The more destructive the better. Kei quickly stripped out of the army clothes she was wearing as her 3WA uniform reconfigured from its dormant state.

Once she finished loading her weapons we exited the cell just in time to encounter a dozen or so soldier's coming to investigate.

"Hello boys, you are just in time. I have been going stir crazy and craving a little violence!" Kei quipped as she lifted the heat gun's she had gripped in both hands.

It was good to have her back, though I couldn't let her know that. So, I rolled my eyes and scoffed at her uncouthness. Following her lead, I raised my ray guns and opened fire on the crew up approaching soldiers. One by one they fell to the ground as we rushed past them.

"So, where's Mughi and the Lovely Angel?" Kei asked as she fired off a shot, the blast searing the head of the nearest shoulder clean off his shoulders.

"They are waiting outside. However, we have work to do here. The twin generals have chemical warheads located in a bunker under this lunar base. They are planning on launching them while the armies are busy fighting one another." I fired at one soldier getting him square in the chest before turning and hitting another in the head. "They are planning on wiping out both planets."

"Those bastards!" Kei exclaimed as the last warrior fell to the ground with a huge hole burned through his chest.

"We need to traverse ourselves to the subterranean levels and intercept." I added as I holstered my guns.

"Then why are we standing around here?" Kei asked as she started down the hallway.

I let out an exasperated sigh, rash as always, but she was right. I reconfigured my suit to its default setting and once again pulled up the holographic map as I followed behind. I assumed Kei was planning on just searching blindly but we didn't have that luxury. Time was not on our side and lives were on the line. It would be nice to complete one mission, just one, that didn't end in casualties or collateral damage en masse.

"There is an elevator to the left." I called forward to Kei.

We boarded the lift and rode it down to the lowermost level. We used this time to catch each other up on the details of our experiences and quickly plan what our next move would be. While my map didn't show the exact location of the missiles I was using my best judgment to predict it was in the largest room in the central area. Once we touched down we wouldn't have to travel far to reach it, just through a few areas and we would arrive at our destination.

As the metal doors spread open we received a transmission informing us that the reinforcements from the 3WA had arrived. One half was attempting a cease-fire with the dual armies. While the others were drawing the fire from Gesellschaft.

What was most alarming is our teammates informed us that the weapons bay was open and the missiles were preparing to fire. Since we were the closest we were volunteered to stop the launch sequence.

That was fair, it was our assignment after all. It was only fitting we be the ones to complete it.

What we already thought was limited time had been reduced exponentially. There was no time to lollygag. As quickly as our legs could carry us we made our way to the weapons bay picking off the arbitrary soldier that would spring up trying to stop us as we went. We reached our journey's end as we arrived at the platform balcony overlooking two 30-meter missiles with smoke billowing out from beneath them. Looking past them we could see the twins Leviathan and Asmodeus overlooking the operation from a control deck hovering a few meters off the ground while dozens of soldiers scurried about in preparation for launch.

Kei and I gave each other a quick nod of understanding and quickly reloaded our ammunition as we made our way further down to the ground level.

CHAPTER 6

Gesellschaft - Moon of Appo and Dah

"Ten minutes to launch." A disembodied voice sounded through the open chamber.

Yuri and I had taken cover behind a stack of crates while we assessed the situation. I mean, even I knew that barging in and trying to take on that many soldiers would just get our butts blown away. Peeking over one of the crates I got a better look at Hansel and Gretel. These unsettling twins had the arms wrapped around each other and were teasing and caressing each other. I recoiled and fought back a gag as I witnessed the mouth to mouth kiss followed by Asmodeus nuzzling her brother's neck spattering it with more revolting little kisses.

Having just about enough of that disgusting nonsense I turned around to address Yuri.

"So, what's the plan, Einstein?"

"You know it wouldn't actually kill you to use your brain and come up with a plan for once." Yuri snapped back.

Guess the stress of the situation was getting to both of us. She had a point though, I could come up with something. I just needed to right inspiration. And taking another glance around the area I found it. In the corner of the circular room standing a sturdy four meters tall in a basic black was the perfect outfit for this party. And I just knew it was gonna be just the right size for me.

"I am gonna commandeer that battle mech over there, that should even the playing field. But I am gonna need some cover, you think you and your little card can handle that?" I inquired as I laid out my plan with Yuri.

Reaching into her thigh holster my raven-haired partner presented a silver playing card. "I suppose since you obviously can't do a thing without me." She teased.

I was gonna have to remember to give her a few punches for that one later. For now, I kept my big mouth shut.

There was sufficient cover for me to slink by most of the way to the mech, the last stretch however I was gonna be wide open. I turned to make sure Yuri was ready, with a nod of my head and one in return from her I took off in a mad dash towards the Juno armor as the Bloody Card went sailing towards the group of Lucifer yes men. I kept my eyes forward, but I could hear blood spill and screams as dismembered limbs hit the ground.

I managed to get to the mech unscathed while the troops were distracted and quickly climbed inside.

Oh, baby. Mama was home!

I activated the control interface and slipped my arms and legs into the ports. She fit like a glove and was so much lighter than she looked. The controls were basic and easy to digest. As the screens around me lit up I found Yuri firing and fighting off the soldiers as the Bloody Car continued to whiz through the air. There was no time like the present to test this beast out, I lifted my arm and began firing the gatling gun at the troops still standing. Working like a dream it mowed them down like freshly cut grass. What my gatling gun didn't finish off, Yuri and the Bloody Card did.

The suit made a mechanical noise and I walked over to Yuri. Now that the fodder had been taken care of and were lying in heaps throughout the room, it was time to turn our attention to the big bosses. I took a position in the center of the room and aimed my beam weapon at the floating platform while Yuri took cover behind me.

"Wie frech, mein kleiner lebkuchen." Leviathan spoke down to me with what must have passed as a laugh to him.

"Five minutes to launch." The disembodied voice informed us.

"Seems you are too late, streusel. Not that it vould have mattered. Ze launch sequence is quite irreversible you see." Asmodeus tacked on to her brother's statement will a shrill laugh of her own. The woman's laugh was like nails on a chalkboard, I was surprised the high pitch of it didn't cause the glass of my infantry suit to crack.

Those who know me, know that the best way to piss me off is to mock me. I was gonna have to show those two incestuous psychos not to mess with me. I armed the missile launchers on my mech's shoulders and tilted myself to face the warheads.

"Then I will just have to blow them to hell before that happens." I snapped at the Lucifer leaders.

The twins started laughing again in a sick unison. The grabbed at their stomachs and guffawed like it was the funniest thing they ever heard.

"Foolish empty-headed little dummkopf." They continued to laugh but settled down enough to speak. "You know nothing, blowing zem up vould just destroy us all as well as ze 3WA fleet vith it. Either vay ve vin!"

Their platform began to rise into the air as they spoke, these creepy assholes were trying to escape! Over my dead body!

"Yuri, climb up!" I instructed my partner.

Without arguing, for once, she jumped up and climbed to the top of the mech suit. Giving her enough time to get a good grip I activated the armors thrusters. Roaring to life we rose into the air after the members of Lucifer.

"Ve have had just about enough of you!" Leviathan barked with a twisted look on his face as he pulled out his assault rifle and opened fire at us.

Sparks flew off the mech as the ammo collided with the armor plating causing Yuri to squeal. Quickly composing herself, she turned her own ray guns to the sky and returned fire. While Yuri was busy fighting them off, I focused on closing the distance between us. One of Yuri's shots connected with Leviathan's arm tossing him back and causing him to lose his grip on his rifle.

"Little bitch!" He hissed clutching his wound.

As the weapon fell to the ground below us, I caught up with the escaping platform. Unfortunately, Asmodeus was one step ahead of us and waiting for this moment. On her shoulder rested a bazooka which she had aimed right at us.

"Auf wiedersehen." With another of her shrill ear-piercing laughs, she fired.

The bazooka blast struck with a powerful explosion that sent us spinning backward and immediately tossing Yuri off the top of the mech and to the ground. The right arm of the armor where the blast struck was blown clean off and went cascading after Yuri.

"Yuri!"

I screamed in a panic as I watched my partner plummet towards the ground. Above me, I saw the twins getting further out of sight. I tried to fire my beam weapons, but it was no good, the targeting systems had been completely shot. The energy blasts just flared through the air at random.

I watched helplessly as Lucifer High Council members slipped through our fingers and disappeared into the upper level.

My mech's thrusters had sustained a huge amount of damage in the blast, the readings on the suit's interface were all failing at an alarming rate. The most dire alarm indicated that flight sustainability would be giving out in the next thirty seconds. With the seconds dwindling down I began mashing the eject button, but it wasn't working. Ugh, I should have expected something like this from tech I knew had been stolen. With no other option, I grabbed for my heat gun and blasted a hole through the glass front which was projecting the interface and climbed out. Once free I stood at the top of the mech while components exploded and burst into flames around me.

The thrusters started to flicker in and out.

"Kei!" Yuri called out from the distance.

I had been worried for nothing, Yuri had activated her Grav-Pack and was now flying back to meet me. I gave a little sigh of relief and a smile as the thrusters died out sending the several tons of metal crashing towards the ground. With only moments left until I was impaled on the remains of my sweet baby I activated my Grav-Pack and began hovering midair as I watched my child crash down and erupt into a ball of fire.

Goodbye sweet baby, you are with the angels now. Mama will miss you every day.

A voice started counting down as Yuri and I reconnected, still floating in the empty space.

"30 seconds until launch. 29. 28. 27."

The whole room began to shake as the smoke from beneath the chemical weapons started filling the room. The platform littered with corpses of Lucifer operatives began to recede from the missiles. Time had officially run out and the launch was imminent, we needed to get our asses out of their now!

Yuri and I darted through the air towards the entrance we had come in from.

"Mughi! We are on our way! Meet us at the main entrance!" I screamed into our comms as we flew through Gesellschaft.

The building had been completely evacuated due to the launch, so we were able to navigate the halls without any resistance. We reached the exit to see our beautiful crimson ship parked out front with the loading door open. Mughi, I could kiss you. As we flew into the ship we deactivated our packs, the heels of our boots touching down with a clink. As soon as the door closed behind us Mughi took flight leaving the Lucifer base in the distance.

As we entered the main deck of the Lovely Angel and took our seats we could see the biohazardous missiles ascend out of Gesellschaft. It was too late, there were on their way to Appo and Dah.

"Can we intercept?" I questioned as I pulled down the weapons control console.

Yuri made an uneasy sound as she scooted Mughi out of the driver's seat. The great black beast did his best to maneuver out of the way and crawl into one of the empty seats of the second row.

"No, they were right. If we fire on them the damage would be catastrophic." She responded as she quickly analyzed the ship's data as it came in.

"Divert course?" I offered.

"Not enough time to hack through. Perhaps the others have someone a teensy bit more skilled." Yuri countered as she opened a comm line to the commander of the 3WA reinforcements.

"This is Yuri with the Lovely Angels, missiles have been launched. I repeat missiles have been launched. Requesting assistance."

"Copy." Responded an older man with a salt and pepper mustache. He was with the 3WA Public Safety department. They were the team that was called in to help deal with large scale issues such as this where the lives of the public are threatened.

"Attempts are being made to divert course. Stand by." Our fellow teammate responded. The amount of sweat on his face was a telltale sign that they were just as hopeless as we were.

As there was nothing more we could do, Yuri and I sat with our eyes glued to the monitors as the missiles flew closer and closer to their respective planets. Our eyes darted back and for between the monitor showing Appo and the one with Dah. Even Mughi had his hefty paws on his head, shielding his eyes.

Oh no.

As we feared, the biohazardous weapons of mass destructions reached their targets. In a devastating explosion, that deplorable little gift from Lucifer was spread infecting the surfaces of war-torn twin planets of Appo and Dah.

EPILOGUE

The Public Safety Department of the Worlds Welfare Work Association did a great job of getting as many people as they could to a secure location. For instance, those that survived the dogfight in space while the missiles were launched were spared a horrifying death. As were the people they had time to evacuate, more or less. Even so, the death toll of Apo and Dah was immense. As it stands the number was somewhere around 500 million. But with the outbreak of the overwhelming disease still active, more and more people were dying every day.

The 3WA was cleared of any responsibility in the matter, of course. The media portrayed it as a tragic end to a decade long war. There was no mention whatsoever of Lucifer's involvement. Which told me straight away that Lucifer had their vile hands in the media as well. Not that this was surprising.

The nature of the mission left a lingering effect on Yuri and myself. We both lost friends in this cataclysm. Yuri's friend Amelia was on the front lines of communication when the missiles hit. Banner was the only member of my team to survive, his family, however, wasn't as fortunate. They were some of the first victims of the outbreak.

As for that low life scumbag Carson D. Carson? The verdict was still out, but I had a feeling he was still out there somewhere. That slime wouldn't be that easy to kill.

We had solved the case again even though the Lucifer High Council members had gotten away. Soranaka wasn't at all pleased with that one. But I had a sickening feeling in my stomach that was not the last time we would tangle with them.

CASE 0202 - CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

SIDE STORY: SOUL SISTERS

CHAPTER 1

Meizuiru University – Fall 2136

"You stay outta trouble, you hear me, daughter?"

I rolled my eyes and gave the man before me an exasperated look. It was my father, Clei. A sturdy and stout man with a big bushy red beard that had started to develop streaks of grey. No doubt thanks to trying to raise me and my hellion brothers on his own. He placed his strong calloused hand on my shoulder to counteract my teenage mandated rebellious attitude.

"Ain't gonna be the same without ya, sis." My brother Jei said brushing his massive afro of red curls out of his face.

"Yeah, we might actually get some peace and quiet now." Laughed his twin Tei. Always the funny one, or so he thought.

"Would you guys chill, you're gonna make me look bad." I brushed off the unusually high amount of sentiment they were throwing at me.

They needed to cut this mushy crap out, I didn't need the other students thinking I was some sort of prissy girly girl thing.

Geez, it wasn't like they were never gonna see me again. University was only a couple years long, c'mon guys. Part of me, not one that I would ever admit to having at fifteen years old though, knew that I should be grateful. My dad and my oldest brother Brei worked their butts off and scrimped and sacrificed to be able to pay my tuition. I tried to talk them out of it but my dad insisted that he wanted more for his little girl than my home planet of Niogi had to offer.

So, here we are.

Meizuiru University. Guaranteed a promising education without all the pretentiousness of an Ivy League school. Or at least I hoped so. Otherwise, there was no way that a kid like me was gonna make it here. As my brothers wrapped me up in a big hug that I initially struggled against I noticed a fancy stretch limousine pull up.

Well, so much for no pretention.

Something about this stretch hover car caught my attention and I didn't know why. Aside from the obvious ritziness, there was nothing special about it. The driver exited the vehicle and walked all the way to the back door to open it for one lone girl. She looked to be about my age, long dark hair. I noticed she had a sad look on her face and her arms wrapped around the houseplant clutching it to her chest. She waited there patiently as the driver unloaded her bags.

Where were her mom and dad?

My nosiness was cut short as I felt the big bear-like arms of my father wrap around me.

"Dad!" I squealed as I wriggled my way out of his hug and adjusted my hair band.

He just laughed and reached out his large hand to ruffle the hairdo I just finished fixing. Old man, you keep this up and I was gonna have to introduce you to these hands. I grumbled as I fixed my hair band and reshaped the spikes of hair they were holding back.

I played cool and aloof as I watched my dad and brothers get back in the car. They gave one final wave before pulling away. I kept up my façade on the outside but inside my heart was breaking. I was far too tough and bad to ever admit that already missed my daddy. That kinda crap was for little kids! I was on my own now, an independent mature woman.

I made my way to my dorm and found my room. It seemed like my roommate wasn't here yet. Which worked for me, means I got to pick which bed I wanted. I opted for the left half of the room since it was the side with the window. It was literally the only difference so therefore this extra thing made it the superior side. I haphazardly tossed my pack onto the bed and tossed my luggage to the floor. This is what I was talking about! A newly free and adult woman like myself needed a place just like this to spread her wings.

I did a quick twirl around the room before plopping myself down on the bed. Mama was home!

Just as I kicked my shoes off and let them fall to the floor with a heavy thud the door opened. I sat up a bit to see a houseplant with bushy leaves and a solitary white flower enter the room followed by the waif of a girl holding it. I immediately recognized her as the girl from earlier. Guess she was gonna be my roommate. I bounced myself off the bed and held my hand out to greet her.

'Heya! I'm Kei. Looks like I am your roommate."

The girl just looked at my hand with her bluish grey eyes before giving me another look up and down.

"Yuri." She said softly with a slight nod.

Geez, how freakin' rude?! I lowered my and wiped it on the skirt of my uniform. I wasn't dirty or anything, princess. Okay, maybe I was still a bit dirt coated from Niogi but it's a mining planet. I couldn't help it! Either way, I was not exactly impressed with my first impression of Miss Yuri.

She turned away from me, letting her dark colored hair shroud her face as she walked further into the room followed by her limo driver. The uninterested man all but threw her bags into the room before seeing himself out.

"Wow, your dad is kind of a jerk." I said with a chuckle.

"He's not my father." Yuri said curtly.

Yuri turned to me with a look of disdain on her face. The look she was giving me made me feel about three inches tall. Geez, okay. Sorry, I did have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth.

"So where are your parents? I mean, I saw you get out of your fancy limo all by yourself." I tried to recover and keep the conversation going.

"They couldn't be here, okay? They are very busy with their work and just couldn't make it, okay? They are very important diplomats!" Yuri all but snapped at me.

I held my hands up, obviously I had touched a nerve. "Geez sorry, your highness."

She didn't say anything else she just turned away from me in a huff. I thought I could see tears welling up in her eyes. Man, this was gonna be a fun few years. We continued to unpack our things in silence, obviously, we had nothing to say to each other. Or so I thought, I had almost finished putting away everything when I heard my new roommate speak up for behind me.

"Excuse me, would you mind trading sides with me?" She asked in a demure manner.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" I scoffed as I turned around to face her. "No friggin' way! I have almost finished unpacking, I would have to repack and move everything."

"I understand it's a terrible inconvenience but my peace lily needs plenty of light and see the only window in the room is here." She explained as she moved the plant over to the window and set it on the desk.

"Well, that sucks for your plant, doesn't it?" I asserted as I walked over to move the plant away from MY stuff. She had already treated me like dirt and was now asking for favors? I was pissed.

"I know you must be used to getting your way all the time you spoiled little princess but not today!" I yelled snatching up the plant.

"I- I would be happy to help, just please give that here." Yuri's tone was panicked as she reached for the plant I was now holding out of her reach.

"Please before something happens!" She pleaded even more desperately.

I moved the houseplant further out of her reach and darted out of the way. My plan was to move the plant over to her side but in the squabble, I didn't notice the tube of makeup on the floor. As I brought my foot down on it, the tube rolled out from under me, knocking me off balance.

I could hear my roommate gasp as me and her stupid plant went falling to the ground.

"Ow, my butt." I said as I rubbed my backside.

Yuri stood there looking at the overturned plant, pot shattered, and dirt spilling onto the floor. Her bottom lip began to quiver as the tears began to form.

"Oh, hey. I am sorry I didn't mean to." I tried to apologize as I rose back to my feet.

Before bursting into full on sobs she darted for the door.

"I hate you!" She wailed at me before exiting the room.

She didn't have to overreact like that. What a drama queen, it was just a dumb plant. I knelt down and started to use the broken pieces of the container to scoop up the dirt. It was then that I noticed something on one of the shards of the pot, a holo-clip. I pressed the button and the holographic video started playing. It was an elderly woman in a hospital bed, the poor thing had all sorts of tubes and devices hooked up to her. Despite this she still had her hair tied up into a neat bun. Sitting on the table next to her bed was the very same plant now in a pile on the floor.

"My dear sweet grandchild. Never forget how much your obaasan loves you. Every time you look at this lily remember that I am always with you." The frail woman in the video spoke.

Oh man. I messed up.

Yuri came back about an hour later, her eyes were pink and puffy from crying. She was still sniffling a bit as she delicately let herself into the dorm. I could tell she didn't want to look at me, which was fair. But she couldn't help but noticed that while she was gone I switch the sides of our rooms. I worked my butt off to unpack and set everything up. I even resisted looking through her things. Well, mostly.

"I'm really sorry." I said sheepishly.

Yuri didn't seem to hear my apology, she was more focused on the Japanese peace lily I had restored and place by the window. She walked over to it and lifted it up to get a better look at it. She was particularly interested in the new pot I had planted it in.

"Do you like it?" I asked taking a few steps over to her.

She looked at me with awe in her eyes. "It's beautiful, what is it?"

"Rose quartz, my momma made it for me." I explained. "I even moved the holo-clip over, I am pretty handy, y'know." I said with a big smile as I pointed out the small switch.

"I uhh lost my mom a few years ago. So I know a little bit about what you might be going through." I admitted as I looked down and kicked at the ground. "I'm not so good at this sorta thing but if you ever wanna talk about stuff…"

She didn't say anything as I boorishly stumbled through my apology. Instead, she set the plant down and gave me a hug. Since no one was watching, I figured it would be okay to hug her back. As long as she didn't tell anyone about it.

With a little laugh, Yuri broke the hug and looked around the room. "I can tell already that I will never be bored here at least." She wiped away a tear.

"I like what you have done, but umm you won't be offended if I move somethings around, right?" She asked.

"What, you sayin' I got bad taste or something?" I folded my arms at the accusation.

Yuri turned to me with a deer in the headlights look. I couldn't help but laugh at her silly expression. Man, this girl was gonna be okay. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and led her over to my bed and sat us down. I pulled my backpack over and dumped the contents out on the table. It was time for some girl talk. Since that wasn't my specialty, we needed snacks.

Yuri brushed her long hair behind her ear with another little laugh. "You are rather unpredictable, aren't you? I feel like I am playing Russian roulette."

"Whaddya mean?" I asked opening a bag of chips and offering some to her.

"Never mind." She said as she reached into the bag a pulled out a few chips. "Want to know a secret? I adore snack foods. They are probably my favorite food ever. I was never really allowed to have them back home."

"Well, guess there is more to you than meets the eye, help yourself!" I laughed kicking my slender legs up onto the desk. "So, tell me about your grandma."

"You are going to be the death of me one day, I have a feeling." Yuri laughed.

CHAPTER 2

Shimogu – Spring 2139

Why did morning have to come so damn early? Was it punishment?

"What's the matter, Kei?" Yuri asked with a tone so sweet it almost put me in a diabetic coma.

"Get off my back, Yuri." I responded with a groan.

"What's the matter? A little hungover?" Yuri asked condescendingly skipping ahead and stopping in front of me. "We reap what we sow, my dear."

Was she trying to piss me off? Because it was working.

"Hey! It's not my fault. It was the other newbies idea to stay up all night celebrating." I defended.

"Perhaps, but you supplied the alcohol." Yuri countered.

"Can I help it if I am the fun one?" I shrugged fighting the urge to toss my cookies.

I resisted, thankfully. The lights of the hallway were so bright, though. I felt like I was squinting. Despite the impaired vision and throbbing headache, I could still see Yuri skipping ahead of me as we walked. Her long black hair bouncing with every step.

How dare she be so friggin' perky?

She was up just as late as me last night and I absolutely saw her with a drink in her hand. So why was she all sunshine and rainbows while I felt like the walking dead? I guess it didn't really matter, all I knew for certain was that today's training was going to be hell. Not that any of the training we had gone through since being recruited by the Worlds Welfare Work Association had been a picnic. Despite that Yuri and I were actually doing really well. We were at the top of our class. Can you believe it? It wasn't even that long ago that we graduated from Meizuiru University with some mediocre scores.

Yuri stopped at the door ahead of me and turned with a devious smile. Without warning or concern for my safety, she tossed the doors open and let the devastatingly bright sunlight hit us. I recoiled as the powerful death rays assaulted my poor hungover eyes. How could one little girl be so cruel, vicious, and spiteful? I considered putting gum in her hair tonight.

"You're late!" The voice was booming! Were my ears bleeding? They feel like they might be bleeding.

The deafening voice came from our trainer, Ms. Asagiri. On a normal day I really liked this woman, she was tough, hot-tempered, and didn't take any of our crap. A woman I could relate to on a spiritual level.

We made our apologies did the walk of shame over to the other trainees with Ms. Asagiri glaring at us the entire time.

"Today we will be continuing or lessons on self-defense. Every trouble consultant, regardless of field, should have a basic knowledge of how to protect themselves. We will start be pairing off and reviewing what we learned from yesterday." Our instructor spoke as we squeezed into our positions in line.

"Now, find a partner. One of you takes the position of attacker, the other defender. Go!"

"Dibs on attacker." I shouted as Yuri and I broke away from peers.

Yuri just rolled her eyes, she was gonna regret giving me such a hard time now. That was for sure. We got into position and started practicing our drills, pretty routine stuff. Diversionary flips, straight arm flips, it was all actually kinda boring. My attention couldn't help but wander.

And wander it did, to the next field over where another group of trainees were doing a weaponry practice. They must be crime track trainees or maybe public safety. Either way, I couldn't help but be envious. Those were the tracks I was hoping that Yuri and I get placed into. Man, that would be sick. Get to use cool guns, hunt criminals. What a life. My attention became even more focused on one individual in particular.

He was a hunk! Tall and muscular, his hair cut into a dirty blonde fauxhawk. Luscious lips and steely blue eyes. He looked like a real bad boy and mama likey.

"Kei, are you even paying attention?" Yuri asked exasperated as she dropped her defensive stance.

"Get a load of this guy!" I waved her over so she could see this Adonis of a stud.

"Oh my." Yuri exclaimed as she joined me.

She had pretty good timing too, this bronzed stud just pulled his sweaty shirt off and used it to wipe his forehead. Yuri and I stared with our mouths open, a dribble of drool spilling from the corner as we took in his washboard abs and perfectly sculpted pecs. This boy was the most stunning creature I had ever seen.

"Let's go talk to him!" I managed to pull my lusty teenage concentration away long enough to address my friend.

"Kei, no! We can't just leave. What would Ms. Asagiri say?" Yuri turned with a horrified look on her face. Calm down Yuri, I was talking about talking to a guy not killing the president of the United Galactica.

"She won't even notice, c'mon." I said dragging her away as she attempted to protest.

We made our way over to the golden glistening boy nonchalantly. Didn't want to look desperate, more like we were just passing through. I was pretending to talk to Yuri about something and giggling as we walked by. I had tied up trainee t-shirt just below my bosom to show off my cute but toned little tummy and rolled up my shorts to show off some of my creamy thighs. Hell, no man could resist me right now. I was sure I even had the attention of some of the ladies as well. Yuri went for a more subtle approach, tucking her shirt into her shorts to tighten it up and make it hug her curves. There was no man in the galaxy that could resist us now.

"Hey." A male voice spoke as we passed by giggling.

Perfect, he took the bait, just had to reel him in and he would be mine.

"Oh, hello." I said in a cavalier tone as we turned back to the shirtless hunk.

"I'm Caldy, I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" He replied.

"Nice to meet you, Caldy." Yuri cut in offering her hand.

He smiled a beautiful perfect smile full of white teeth and dripping with charm as he took Yuri's hand. Not to be outdone I gave my porcelain skinned pal a little booty bump and replaced her hand with mine.

"I'm Kei, this is Yuri. We just started not long ago." I explained as I bat my chocolatey brown eyes at him.

I could feel Yuri's aggression at me stepping over her. I didn't care, there was only one of him and I wasn't about to share any bit of this.

"My, you certainly are strong." Yuri said breathily as she shamelessly reached up and caressed his bicep.

Caldy smiled another smile and chuckled a bit as he flexed for Yuri. Well, I wasn't about to let her leave me in the dust. I reached up and took his other arm, which he immediately started flexing for me.

"Such big guns. Seems like everything about you is big." I alluded, this was no time for pride. Not with Yuri trying to show me up.

His tan skin immediately turned bright red as he chuckled nervously. Aha, I had just taken the upper hand. This boy was as good as mine.

"You're so big and so hard." Yuri inserted as she moved her hand to his chest caressing his pec.

Don't think I didn't catch that, Yuri! That was low, even for you.

"What's say you and I ditch training and get a drink somewhere?" I asked I didn't have time to let him ask me out, not with Yuri blatantly throwing herself at him.

"I uh…" He muttered poor thing was getting overwhelmed by the two smoking hot babes giving him their full attention.

"Oh, don't listen to her. Let me help you." Yuri countered and she leaned down and collected the large bazooka that was resting on the ground. "Here, why don't you show me how well you can handle this big, long, beast?" She said in a sultry tone with innuendo that wasn't fooling anyone.

Caldy swallowed hard and attempted to laugh again as he took the bazooka in his hands. I ran my hand along the shaft of the weapon and brought my lips in close to the tip. The display had Caldy sweating now. I even detected a slight tremble. This guy was under our spell for sure.

Just as I started to put it on thick, Yuri stepped in and stole his attention with a well-executed hair flip as she brought her plush lips to his ear and whispered something. Caldy's mouth fell open as a look of ecstasy covered his face.

Oh hell no, what did she say to him?!

I pulled Yuri away and gave her an accusing glare. "Maybe it's time you took a hike and give me and Caldy some privacy."

"Oh please, it's just like you to not be able to tell when you aren't wanted." Yuri scoffed.

"Excuse me!?" I asked insulted.

"You heard me." Yuri asserted as she folded her arms and looked away.

I gave her one final glare before turning my attention back to Caldy and wrapping my arms around his neck as I leaned in and started nibbling his earlobe causing him to moan softly. "Maybe we should let him decide?"

Yuri glared back and with a little huff stormed over to Caldy and began running her hand down his rippling abs towards his shorts. "I think that is a wonderful idea, what do you say, Caldy? A sweet and delicate girl like me or some brash boyish slob like her?"

I could feel Caldy twitching under my touch as Yuri and I went into overtime seducing this boy. I could feel his heart beat increase and his breath get heavier as we continued.

With a loud groan and a convulsive shudder, Caldy accidentally fired off the bazooka.

Yuri and I immediately pulled away and watched the rocket fly up into the air in horror.

"It's headed for the vehicle depot!" I heard someone shout in the distance as it started to arch back to the ground.

Oh no, oh please no.

Sure enough, the explosive touched down at the garage. Y'know, the one full of vehicles, just filled to the brim with accelerants and other explosive materials. The three of us watched with our teeth gritted and eyes wide as explosion after explosion ripped through the depot before finally just becoming a giant ball of flames.

"Well, it was nice talkin' to ya, bye now!" I exclaimed as I grabbed Yuri by the arm and started to power walk away.

Yuri turned to give him a quick glance over her shoulder.

Caldy just stood there dumbstruck as he watched us walk away.

Several trouble consultants and rescue teams began descending on the inferno we may or may not had inadvertently caused.

We tried to sneak back over to our field but we were immediately greeted by Ms. Asagiri. Her arms folded and glowering down at us.

"You are going to be the death of me one day!" Yuri hissed under her breath.

I shrugged innocently and gave her a guilty smile.

CHAPTER 3

Trenshextuhal Star System – Winter 2140

Thunder boomed outside the window as we passed by causing the glass to rattle as the rain beat down on it.

I admit it, I flinched. Cut me some slack, my nerves were already on edge. Yours would be too if you were trying to make your way through a pitch black creepy gothic castle in the middle of nowhere on a dark and stormy night hunting vampires.

That's right, real vampires.

That was the case, some psychopath has developed a way to genetically engineer real vampires.

So as these looney tend to do, he soon developed a cult-like following of other whackos that wanted to be vampires. Like, whatever, you do you. Had you minded your own business and not started feeding on the townsfolk to stay alive then we wouldn't be here right now. But you just couldn't keep your fangs to yourself, could you?

So now I had to drag my perfectly shaped rump to this spooky castle in the mountains that is most likely haunted and exterminate your undead asses!

"Did that painting just move?!"

Yuri rolled her eyes as she looked back at me. She turned her flashbeam to the corner I was cowering away from to illuminate a large portrait of some long dead and gone family. At least I hoped they were gone and not haunting these halls. Why did we have to come at night?! Wouldn't it have made more sense to try and fight vampires during the day? Right!?

"You're being ridiculous, Kei." Yuri dismissed as she turned away from me and continued ahead.

I stood up a bit straighter at her insinuation. Maybe I was, I couldn't help it. I had never been good with this sort of supernatural crap. Ever since I was a kid. Though, I would die before I ever admitted that. I had an image to uphold.

I followed behind as Yuri led us through a set of doors into what looked to be a large library or study. It was hard to tell with it being so dark, we were limited by the luminescence of our uniforms and the luminosity of our flashbeams. I guess vampires don't need electricity with such perfect night vision.

Stupid creatures.

Yuri had her holo-computer pulled up and was reviewing the diagnostics of the castle.

"That's strange. There should be a passageway in this room that leads to the crypt. It must be hidden." Yuri explained as she shut down her display. "Well, we will just have to find it! My years of reading mystery novels should make this a snap!"

How could she sound so damn chipper in a place like this?

Since we didn't have much choice, I started looking. Yuri began rummaging through the bookshelves, pulling out sleeves of books and dropping them to the floor. It was my turn to roll my eyes, this wasn't Scooby Doo, Yuri. A book switch was too obvious, even for a cult of vampires. I started opening cabinets and rifling through what I could find. Another burst of thunder sent a chill through my spine.

I was about to open up another large cabinet when I heard something. I looked over to see the sound was originating from the piano. The keys were pressing down, seemingly all by themselves as they started to play a low haunting melody.

"Yuri…"I whispered as I watched the spectral piano play by itself.

"Yuri." I tried again a bit louder.

I was so focused on the piano I didn't see the hand reaching out to me from the opening doors of the cabinet.

"AGGHHH!" I screamed as I finally noticed the body coming towards me.

Instincts took over, I immediately pulled out my heat gun and fired shot after shot into my attacker.

I was breathing heavily by the time Yuri reached me.

"Nicely done, Kei." Yuri said sarcastically.

I regained my senses enough to finally get a good view of my victim. It was an exsanguinated corpse that had been stashed in the closet, it must have been there for some time as it had started to mummify.

"I, but, the piano." I pointed from the corpse to the still playing piano and back again.

Yuri strolled over and reached around the back of the piano somehow stopping the melody. "It's automatic, the storm must have triggered it."

I looked at the smoldering corpse and back to Yuri. Okay, I felt dumb.

"Come on." Yuri said with another eye roll as she led me over to the bookshelf and pulled one of the books remaining on the shelf.

Damn it, a secret door slid open.

I had to bite my tongue, apologies to Yuri and Scooby Doo.

The secret passage revealed a spiral staircase going down into the murky depths below. Once again Yuri took the lead descending down into the darkness. I could have sworn I heard a ghostly moan behind me, so I wasted no time following her down. I wasn't scared or anything. We just had a job to do. And the sooner it was done the sooner we could go home.

To get to the crypt, we had to traverse a labyrinth-like dungeon. Thankfully Yuri had her schematic of the castle pulled up and was leading the way. I wasn't gonna let any of these ghosts or spooks get to me, I resolved myself as I followed Yuri. I even ignored the strange rattling sound that I was most certainly NOT hearing behind me. It was obviously just my imagination playing tricks on me, it wasn't getting closer. I was just being paranoid. I guess one little look wouldn't hurt, y'know, just to confirm that I was just being silly.

I turned slowly and brought up the light of my flashbeam. Standing right behind me was a skeleton.

"Oh, shit!" I squealed as I took a few steps back.

The skull of the approaching specter opened its jaw and started towards me again, its bones rattling as it approached.

"Yuri!" I screamed as I brought my leg up into a spinning kick sending pieces of the skeleton throughout the dungeon.

Yuri rejoined me just as the skull hit the ground and started making a hideous cackling sound. All around us, similar laughter joined in. We drew our beams to the cells to find other animated skeletons laughing and clutching the bars of the cells. I could fell the panic start to overtake me as Yuri knelt down and picked up the skull turning it over in her hands. Reaching inside Yuri ripped out a series of wires silencing the skull.

"It's fake." Yuri explained showing me the exposed wires. "These must be some sort of haphazard security to keep people away."

I started to calm down. See, I knew I was being silly. Yuri tossed the skull to the ground and shook her head gently as she passed by me and towards the direction of the crypt.

"No doubt they are expecting us now. I am sure those silly skeletons alerted them to our presence." Yuri explained as we approached the crypt. "Do you have the UV flash grenade?"

I reached back and pulled out the round device that looked nearly identical to one of our grav-grenades. Yuri gave a nod and reached for her beam saber. To their credit, these genetically engineered cultists went for authenticity. They were completely immune to our guns and most other weapons but kept their vulnerability to UV light. So, Touma was nice enough to adjust the beam swords to emit a concentrated blade of sunlight opposed to plasma.

We entered the crypt and let ourselves in. It was as quiet as, well a crypt. Guess that is where that phrase came from. With a beam sword in one hand and a grenade in the other I followed Yuri in. There were rows of empty coffins laid out around the perimeter of the room. Several gothic candelabras were lit adding a gentle glow to the room. It had to be for ambiance and aesthetic since these bastards didn't need light to see. It was all for show, how extra!

As we approached we could see that the coffins were empty, not a vampire in sight.

Just then the doors to the crypt slammed shut with a mighty thud. We both turned as we were sealed in. I was about to run over when I heard the soft sound of laughter coming from above us. Yuri and I slowly brought our eyes up to find the cultists all hanging from the ceiling like bats. The laughter grew as one by one they dropped to the floor.

"Seems dinner was delivered tonight." One of them said.

The cultists opened up their mouths wide to reveal their long curved fangs as they started closing in on us.

"Now would be a good time, Kei." Yuri said urgently.

With a cocky smile, I pressed the button on the grenade and tossed it to the ground. "See ya, suckers!"

The vampires recoiled and backed away in an attempt to escape their fate. However, nothing happened. The grenade was a dud. I laughed nervously as I walked backward towards Yuri. Several dozen cultists started laughing again as they resumed their pursuit. Yuri lit up her beam sword and took a defensive stance, I followed suit.

"I'll buy us some time, can you fix it?" Yuri said to me out of the corner of her mouth.

"I'll try." I replied just as the vampires charged at us with a hiss.

Yuri and I sprang into action, with a slash of my sword I decapitated the closest vamp before somersaulting down and scooping up the defective grenade. I bounced back up to my feet and shook the ash of the undead from my hair. Yuri was pulling double duty, she had tossed the Bloody Card at some point and was hacking and slashing at the vampires while the silver streak of death circled around her.

I kicked away a pursuing vampire as I brought the grenade up to my ear and shook it. Nothing sounded loose. I thrust the beam of my sword through a vampire's head, reducing him to ash, as I examined the exterior.

Aha! The button was stuck.

I brought it to my face to check it more closely when a silver streak whizzed in front of my face nearly taking my nose off.

"Hey! Watch it with that thing!" I shouted over to Yuri.

"A little busy here, Kei. Any time now would be great." Yuri replied as she slayed a cultist and immediately turned to behead another.

She was getting overwhelmed. I had to think of something quick. If I could just find something sharp to wedge down the button I could activate it. I looked around desperately for something I could use but only found another vampire coming at me with his fangy mouth wide open.

That would have to do.

I reached forward and thrust the UV grenade into the vampire's mouth using his long tooth to unstick the trigger. The vampire stepped back with confusion in his eyes. A second later the grenade activated filling the room with a blinding white light that simultaneously reduced the entirety of the cult to a cloud of ash.

We were both coughing from the haze of undead remains that filled the room. We hunkered down and piled ourselves down to the floor in an exhausted heap.

"You certainly took your time." Yuri teased.

I was about to defend myself when I heard another ghostly moan. I turned to see a transparent ghost fly towards me and a skeletal hand crawling towards me. I immediately kicked it away and clutched on to Yuri screaming.

"Hologram." She laughed in exasperation. "I swear, you are going to be the death of me."

CHAPTER 4

Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse - Summer 2141

"Are you about done?" Yuri asked annoyed.

I didn't pay any attention, my focus was otherwise occupied. I was right in the middle of stopping an alien invasion. With my heels planted in the ground, I fired off one meticulously aimed shot after another as the alien crafts raced towards me. Each going down in a fiery blaze.

I was so close. The mothership broke through the overhanging clouds and began descending down. There you are, you big bitch. Mamas been waiting for you! I continued to take out her drones as the massive vessel came to me with a mighty roar. I just had to take her out her weak points, but she wasn't going to make it easy. Oh no, we have come too far to go silently into the night. This would be a battle for the ages. The lives of billions rested in my hands.

I gripped the trigger in my moist palm as I began firing. I just had to lower her defenses.

"Kei, come on. I want to dance." I could hear the faint sound of Yuri's voice.

No, I had to focus. The mothership opened fire on me. I had to hold my ground. This was it! The final showdown.

"Kei!" Yuri's screechy soprano voice shouted in my ear.

I recoiled in surprise. By the time I regained focus it was over. The blood red words 'game over' hung in the air in front of me. No, this couldn't be happening. I looked at the score at the floating near the ground. One hundred points. That was it. That was all I needed to win the ten million credit jackpot. I stepped out of the gaming booth with a burning fury in my eyes and a rage-filled scowl on my face.

"You have been playing that silly thing all night." Yuri defended meekly as I approached her slowly.

"Do you have any idea what you did?" I asked as I imagined tearing her arm off and beating her to death with it.

"It's just a game, Kei." Yuri backed away with her hands up.

"You owe me ten million credits!" I screamed as I reached out for her.

Yuri squealed and ducked out of the way. She did her best to avoid me but I wouldn't be satisfied until I tasted her blood. I about had that little rat when she ducked behind a tall dark complected woman in a skin-tight turquoise dress. I simmered down enough to see our friend and owner of the hot spot we were currently in, Joanca.

"What are you two up to now?" She asked in a sassy tone placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, Jo. You have no idea what she did. What she cost me!" I shouted again as I reached behind my friend reaching for my former friend.

"Here, why don't you two calm down and have a drink on me. " Joanca offered as she separated us.

Fine, I was gonna need a drink if I was going to have any hope of coping with my losses. I glared at Yuri out of the corner of my eye as Joanca led us to the bar.

"Clicky, on me." Joanca said to the bartender with a playful wink. Don't go filing any sexual harassment cases or anything, he was her husband.

"What can I get you, ladies? Let me guess. Bim Soda and white wine spritzer?" The petite man guessed with a big smile.

I gave him a grumpy nod.

He turned to get our drinks. I shot Yuri another murderous glace before turning away from her.

"Are you planning on pouting the entire night?" Yuri asked innocently.

Was she really not even going to apologize? The audacity was too much. I was just about to lay into her again when some drunk accidentally knocked into us. I gave him a quick look up and down, ugh so gross. He was completely sloshed, but even if he wasn't it was clear that hygiene wasn't high on this guy's priority list. His thinning blonde hair was sticking up in every direction, he had a scraggly unkempt beard, and his beer belly was poking out the bottom of his half unbuttoned shirt.

"Watch it, pal!" I shouted as I shoved him away.

"S-Sorry." He slurred out as he went toppling into the table behind us.

Yuri and I stared at the repulsive creature as he struggled to pull himself upright. It was almost comical if it wasn't so sad watching him paw and kick until he managed to get himself upright. Finally standing her squinted at us with his steely blue bloodshot eyes.

"Wait a minute. I know you. I know you. Yeah, I know you." He announced to the bar as he waved his finger at us. "You're the bishes that ruined my life."

I exchanged a perplexed glance with my partner, this guy really wasn't narrowing it down. In our time since becoming trouble consultants, we had gained a rather unsavory reputation due to the string of extremely bad luck. This guy could have been anyone, a relative of one of the people that got killed around us, to no fault of our own. A person who lost their home that might have gotten destroyed in our presence. There was no way to know.

"Caldy?" Yuri asked cautiously.

Or it could be the guy we got kicked out of the 3WA during training for a mishap with a bazooka. Why couldn't it have been anyone else?

"Caldy, Caldy the con artist." He laughed in a drunken stupor.

I couldn't help but feel guilty. He was a con artist now. We really did ruin his life, and over what? A petty school girl squabble. I was having a hard time looking at him now. Of all the disasters that happened around us, this was not only the first but also the one we were most responsible for. It was a miracle that Yuri and I weren't kicked out of the 3WA right along with Caldy. Don't get me wrong, we were punished, we were put on the cleanup crew.

"Can we buy you a drink or something?" I asked as Clicky returned with our beverages.

Caldy's face twisted like he couldn't believe what I just asked him. "Buy me a drink. You ruin a man's life and all you can offer him is a drink?" he asked, his tone becoming much more comprehensible.

"I'll tell you what you can do. You can shut your mouths and come with me." He said, all traces of his drunken stupor now gone as he discreetly pulled a gun on us.

Damn, I would have given anything to be carrying a gun right now. But oh no, Kei had to look hot tonight. She had to wear her fuzzy oversized jacket with her baby doll tee with the lips on it and a miniskirt with fishnet stockings and black knee-high boots. Well, admittedly I looked freakin' good but it didn't leave much room for a heat gun. I glanced at Yuri with a hopeful expression. She was dressed in a White sailor themed halter top with a similarly themed navy blue skirt. Nope, no bulge of a ray gun there.

We were screwed.

I grabbed up my Bim Soda and gulped it down in one drink, it was free booze and I wasn't about to let it go to waste. Placing the empty glass on the bar I hopped down from my seat and let Caldy lead us to the exit.

"Don't be obvious. You try anything and you're dead." He hissed from behind us.

We were passing by a couple of poker tables, the exit was getting ever closer. We needed to think of something but I was coming up with nothing. Hopefully, Yuri had something. As if she had read my mind, Yuri suddenly tripped over her own stappy heels and went crashing into the poker table. Chips and cards went flying into the air.

People were wiping their spilled drinks off their laps as Yuri recovered herself and started apologizing profusely. She was picking up cards and chips with abandon and placing them back on the now-upright table.

"That's enough." Caldy replied annoyed as he reached down and pulled Yuri to her feet.

With a handful of playing cards, Yuri swiped at Caldy's hand and spun around to me. He immediately recovered and aimed his gun at us pulling the trigger. But nothing happened. We watched as the front half of his gun fell to the ground. Yuri smiled sweetly as she let the paper playing cards fall from her hand leaving one silver card between her fingers.

"Bitch!" Caldy shouted as he lunged at us.

"Hey, asshole! You and your chick ruined my game!" Another man shouted as he connected his fist with Caldy's chin.

I felt someone grab the back of my hair and pull back. I yowed as I turned to see one of the female poker player's with strands of my silken mane between her fingers. That was the last straw. I couldn't stop myself, I saw my fist fly up and smash this woman in the face knocking her to the ground.

Several of the other players came to her aid while Caldy and the other man continued to duke it out.

"Uh oh." Yuri muttered as the players started towards us.

Caldy brought his elbow down on his attacker's head knocking him unconscious before he turned his attention back to us. He and the angry players now had us surrounded. One had picked up the broken table leg and prepared to use it as a club. Well, this night turned out more interesting than I thought it would be.

"Well, you ready?" I asked Yuri as I brought my fists up.

"I suppose." Yuri said with a sign and adopting a similar stance.

And just like that, they swarmed.

I quickly crouched down as one of the gamblers came at me and tossed him over my head. Yuri was delivering a flurry of kicks with her know broken heel.

I gave a punch and an uppercut to two more of the patrons before I saw Caldy's ugly face coming at me. I placed my hands on Yuri's shoulders to brace myself as I jumped up and smashed the sole of my boot into the side of Caldy's head sending him flying backward.

Yuri knocked a few more of them off their feet with a sweeping kick before we heard the familiar sound of Joanca and Clicky's voice.

I had just picked up a guy and brought him down onto one of the slot machines before I heard them demanding us to stop. The guy fell to the ground with a flood of tokens from the broken machine. I put my hands behind my back and looked at the husband and wife duo with an innocent look on my face. Yuri quickly brushed the hair out of her face and straightened her skirt as she hurried over to me.

"That's going on your tab." Joanca said pursing her lips to the side.

Yuri sighed before looking over at me accusingly. "We could have just been dancing and minding our own business."

"This is Caldy's fault, not mine!" I retorted as I looked around for our attempted kidnapper.

He was gone though, must have slipped out in the confusion.

Yuri shook her head and threw her arms up. "I keep saying it."

"I know I know, I am going to be the death of you." I cut her off.

We gave each other a coy look before bursting into laughter.

END

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0214: TERMINAL DEGREE

PROLOGUE

"Teach! Come quick! They found anothah body!" Shouted an out of breath scruffy young man as he rounded the doorway of the classroom.

Without hesitation, I threw down my glasses and slammed my grade book closed. "Where?" I asked pointedly as I sprung up from my desk and followed after him.

I am getting ahead of myself though, let's go back.

My partner Yuri and I had just finished up a case, being bodyguards for some spoiled little brat who was gonna take over her grandpa's company. She ended up okay but I was DONE with kids for a while.

Anyway, we weren't even home long enough to shower and get a proper twelve hours of sleep when we got a call from the chief. The Central Computer of the Worlds Welfare Work Association had selected yours truly along with my trusty sidekick for yet another case.

Don't tell her I called her that! Our secret, okay?

Chief Soranaka gave us the lowdown, the 3WA had been petitioned by a husband and wife from the affluent planet of Flurotia. Situated between a cluster of star systems, Flurotia was ideally located to operate as a hub for trade and commerce between the systems. Because of this, its economy boomed and soon became home to the United Galactica's wealthiest CEOs, movie stars, basically anyone with more money than they knew what to do with. It didn't hurt that Flurotia was essentially just one giant resort as well. With perfect weather year-round, plenty of crystal clear oceans, and gorgeous mountain ranges it was no wonder it became the rich man's paradise.

Not that we were going to get to enjoy any of that.

Our clients were the parents of a student at Flurotia's most exclusive private school. The Westchester Academy of Higher Learning. Situated deep within a forest covered mountain isolated from the outside world, this academy had produced some of the best and brightest the United Galactica had to offer, from political leaders to Nobel Prize winners. This was no ordinary school, obviously, it made Meizuiru University look like a clown college. The students of the school ranged from primary school students all the way to doctoral level students.

Anyway, one of those students, the child of our clients, had gone missing about two weeks ago Galactica Standard time. Fed up with the lack of results from the administration at the school, they hired us.

It seemed one of the professors at the academy had gone on an unexpected sabbatical suddenly so we were assigned to go undercover as his substitute and a transfer student. Talk about a convenient coincidence, right? Neither role was what you would call ideal for someone like me, but I chose the role of the teacher. I just knew Yuri would be thrilled to have homework again, so have at it nerd.

Still fatigued and completely drained we poured ourselves into our ship the Lovely Angel and set a course for Flurotia.

CHAPTER 1

Westchester Academy of Higher Learning - Planet Flurotia 08.13.2141

Oh man, was my butt sore! After landing the Lovely Angel at Flurotia's spaceport, we had to catch an Airbus, as it was the only way to the academy. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would take four freakin' hours driving up a mountain to get there! This stupid school really valued their privacy, didn't they?

As we stepped off the bus I was immediately assaulted by the overwhelming smell of pine. No surprise, it was freakin' everywhere! As far as the eye could see, nothing but trees and a small wooden sign next to a dirt path that said five miles to Westchester Academy of Higher Learning.

Oh, you had to be kidding me! Four hours on a bus and now we had to hike five miles with a numb ass hauling our luggage behind us the entire way?!

I swatted away whatever insect was buzzing around my face and adjusted the glasses that I had picked out for my disguise. It was a struggle coming up with something a teacher would wear while rummaging through my closet, however, once I raided Yuri's closet I was set. She had frumpy intellectual looking clothes coming out of her ears. Currently, I was wearing a white button up top with a lavender off the shoulder sweater over it with a black pencil skirt and brown hose. The teenage boys were gonna go nuts when they see me, the clothes might have looked dowdy on Yuri but I made them work. I was serving up naughty librarian realness.

"Oh! I hate bugs!" The shrill soprano voice next to me exclaimed.

It was Yuri, who was busy swiping away and dodging the overwhelming array of insect life that lived on these mountains. Poor Yuri, on the other hand, had to wear the uniform that was mandatory for the students at Westchester. Since she was posing as a high school level student she was wearing a traditional sailor themed uniform that was popularized way back on Earth in the 1900s. It was navy blue with white stripes on the cuffs and the collar. Her maroon kerchief was tied into a bow on the front of the uniform. Below, her pleated skirt reached about mid-thigh and she wore a pair of white knee-high socks and a pair of shiny black maryjanes. She looked pretty cute I guess, in that innocent schoolgirl kinda way. I mean if you are into that sort of thing.

Between us was the third member of our team, Mughi. He was also snapping at the bugs trying to catch them in this large jaws. Since he had been left on the ship the last two missions he absolutely insisted on coming with us this time. I was still working on a cover story to explain what this massive black beast was doing here. I suppose if nothing else there was plenty of open space for him to run and explore, after all, he was looking just a bit pudgy.

"Guess we have a bit of a hike ahead of us." I mentioned with an unimpressed tone.

"It appears so." Yuri agreed.

With a resolved sigh I snatched up my one of my suitcases and threw the other one on Mughi. You don't mind, right? Yuri followed my lead as we started walking the little dirt trail to our destination.

The sun had started to set by the time we reached Westchester. I was a bit awestruck at the sight of it. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but this wasn't it. This massive stone facility looked more like a palace than it did a school. The massive clock tower and the architecture reminded me of something I saw in one of my history books back in school, something called the Palace of Westminster. Of course, it wasn't quite that big but it was still quite impressive.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

We had been so taken in by the magnificence of the building that we didn't notice the regal statuesque looking woman waiting at the top of the stairs. She was certainly something to behold, the way she was holding herself just radiated a dignified feeling. She was dressed in a white pantsuit tailored to cling to every curve and she accessorized with gold jewelry adorned with colorful jewels. This perfectly contrasted her ebony colored, flawless skin. It would have been impossible trying to assess her age by looking at her face. Her high cheekbones, and plush lips, without some much as a wrinkle or a blemish. Had it not been for her long curly white hair pulled back, you would have thought she was a student!

"Hey th-" I cleared my throat and corrected myself. "Good evening. I am Miss Keiko." It was going to be difficult remembering I had to talk like Yuri if I was gonna blend in with these academic types.

"Dr. Monroe, I teach social studies. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Keiko. And you are?" The sophisticated woman extended her and to me which I took in a delicate handshake.

"Yuria, ma'am. Third-year transfer student." Yuri introduced herself with the false names we had decided on beforehand.

"And… that?"

"Oh oh him, yes. He is mine. He is kinda like my pet, I thought the kids would enjoy meeting a real-life omalrcat, you know since they are so rare." I quickly crouched down and wrapped my arms around Mughi's thick neck with a nervous laugh. "His name is Mughi."

"Well then. Lovely to meet you both. The headmistress, Dr. Yorkie, asked me to show you around. Now, if you will please follow me. I am sure you all much be starving." Dr. Monroe said with a delicate smile.

She was right about one thing. I was STARVED!

We followed Dr. Monroe up the stone steps and into the school. The inside was just as regal as its exterior. The foyer was circular and opened up to several rooms. In the rear was a grand staircase with a platinum blonde teenager dressed in a similar fashion to Yuri quickly descending them.

"I am so sorry I am late, please forgive me, Dr. Monroe." Said the beautiful student with a soft British accent brushing back her long blonde waves.

"Quite alright Emma, these things happen. Though, you know better than to be running in these halls." Even scolding a student she maintained her regal dignity.

"Now, this is Yuria. She was joining your third-year cohort. Would you be so kind as to show her around? Perhaps start with the dining hall." Dr. Monroe continued in a sweet tone.

"It would be my pleasure." The peppy girl grabbed Yuri by the arm and pulled her towards her. "I am Emma, the cohort representative. Come on I will give you a tour."

Mughi tilted his head in confusion as Yuri bowed hers slightly as she was being pulled away. "It was so nice meeting you both." Yuri said as she climbed the stairs.

I watched as I saw my partner be dragged away until she disappeared out of sight.

"Why don't I show you to your room, that way you and your… companion can get settled and freshen up before supper." Dr. Monroe gave Mughi and uneasy glance. "This way."

Man, I was gonna need to get a map of this place. As the doctor led me through the halls to my room it was obvious how someone could get lost here and not be found for weeks. With any luck that was what happened with our client's child. Though, when had we ever been that lucky? All that aside the school was beautiful. Paintings and statues were placed around strategically, presumably to spark that pursuit of knowledge, hell even I was feeling a bit academic.

We turned down a dead end hallway, as we walked I noticed each door was labeled. Ocean Room, Greek Room, Victorian Room.

"This wing is categorized by the interior design choice." Dr. Monroe explained after noticing me analyzing the nameplates above the doors

"Quaint." I lied as I gave a side eye to Mughi.

"Here we are." Dr. Monroe said as we came to an abrupt stop in front of a set of double doors. My eyes fell to the gold plate above the door indicating what awaited for me inside. My heart sank.

"The Cherub Room. This is where you will be staying during your time with us." Dr. Monroe continued.

You had to be kidding me? Really? Freakin' really!?

"Oh uh, what about that Egyptian room over there, is that available?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

"I am afraid this is the only room available. Is it not to your liking?" She asked with a matronly concern in her voice.

"No, it's fine." I lied again between clenched teeth.

"Very well, here is your key. I will be back in thirty minutes to collect you for dinner." Dr. Monroe handed me a golden key and excused herself as she departed down the hall.

I let out a deep sigh once I was sure the doctor had gone. I turned to Mughi with a sorrowed expression.

"Maybe it won't be so bad."

I inserted the key and turned the handle.

I was wrong. I was so wrong. Every square inch of this nightmarish room was decorated with a chubby little angel. From the duvet of the king-size canopy bed to the furniture set in the makeshift living room. Statues and nick knacks. Paintings and carvings. It was official, I had entered hell. Mughi pushed me inside with his large head and slid past me into the room. I guess he was okay with staying in this torture chamber. I wasn't going to be able to get a restful sleep here that was for damn sure. I opened the closet and tossed in my belongings before heading to the bathroom to rinse some of the dirt from our hike off my face. Not even the bathroom was safe from the onslaught of cherubs. I grimaced as I went to the sink to find the faucet was a large gold cupid holding his wee little genitals from which the spray of water came. I pouted and let out an obvious series of sobs to no one in particular. I attempted to contact Yuri but she must not have been in a position to talk since she didn't answer. No fair, I was being tortured and I need to complain to my best friend.

I was just going to have to make the best of it. After washing my face I came back in to change my clothes. Mughi had already made himself comfortable on the bed, he was laying on his back with his paws in the air spread eagle just snoring away. Enjoy it while you can buddy, we were NOT sharing the bed; I don't care how big it is.

I had just finished making myself presentable when there was a knock at the door. Opening it I found Dr. Monroe. Thirty minutes. Very punctual.

"Shall we?" She asked with another smile as she motioned with her head to follow her.

I glanced back at Mughi still sawing logs, the knock hadn't disturbed him in the slightest. Well, his loss. I grabbed up the key and followed Dr. Monroe down the hall.

We made our way to a large room with a long table in the center, several of what I assumed were fellow faculty were sitting around it awaiting their dinner. At the head of the table sat an older woman, perhaps in her mid to late sixties with a pale blonde hip bob haircut. She stood as we entered the room and made her way over to meet us. Despite her age, she was dressed in a black skintight bodysuit with attached six-inch heels. A burgundy shawl was wrapped across her shoulders and chest and held with an elaborate gold and diamond broach.

"Greetings darling. I am Dr. Yorkie, the headmistress of this academy." She gave us a kind but nasally greeting.

"Charmed, I'm sure." She continued before I could answer and grabbed me by my shoulders placing an air kiss on each cheek before wrapping an arm around me and leading me to the table.

"Everyone, if I may have your attention. This is Prof. Keiko. She will be joining us as the interim history professor until Dr. Wagner returns from his sabbatical. Please, do your parts to make her feel welcome." She informed the crowd before plopping me down in my chair.

Dr. Monroe took the vacant seat to the right of me, to the left of me was a rather unfriendly looking ginger haired man.

"This is Dr. Darkholme, he teaches science." Dr. Monroe introduced.

I held my hand out in greeting. The spindly man looked down his crooked nose at my gesture before finally taking it weakly and giving it a single shake. Hey, thanks, buddy. Didn't you hear the lady? You are supposed to be making me feel welcome. You would think he would be on my side after all us redheads had to stick together.

But as it were Dr. Darkholme didn't say a word to me. Just the occasional shifty side eye. Thankfully we only sat in this awkwardness for a few moments before the chefs rolled out the food. Oh man, it smelled so good. Tonight's menu was pot roast with baked red potatoes and assorted greens. I resisted drooling all over the table since it might blow my cover.

We made small talk as I filled up on the delicious food. I probably could have eaten more but I didn't want to make a bad first impression. I was surprised that I managed to keep up my cover rather convincingly the entire time. After the desert of apple pie à la mode, I retreated back to the hellscape of my chambers. I crawled into bed next to the big snoring furry body and wrapped my arm around him as I tried to get some sleep. After all, tomorrow would be the real test. I had to face a classroom full of students!

CHAPTER 2

Of course, my alarm didn't go off, it probably would have helped if I had set it. But that wasn't important! I got ready in record time and only got a bit lost as I raced to my classroom, I swung open the door twenty minutes late to see a room full of students with abnormally good posture all sitting at their desks staring at me.

Front row right in the center was Yuri giving me a disappointed and angry look. I am sorry, okay! Usually, she was the one who woke me up!

I cleared my throat, my heart still racing from jog here. I tossed my briefcase down on the desk and turned to the holographic board stretched across the wall behind me. I took the stylus and wrote the words Miss Keiko on the board with little hearts on top of the letter I and then framed it with a larger heart. Satisfied with my work I turned to see Yuri shaking her head and rolling her eyes before clutching her forehead.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am your substitute while Dr. Wagner is away. My name is Miss Keiko." I introduced myself as I walked around to the front of my desk and sat down on the edge of it.

The platinum-haired girl that spirited away Yuri rose from her seat in the front row.

"We are so pleased to have you, Miss Keiko, my name is Emma and as the representative for this cohort might I just add that we are all thrilled to absorb your wisdom." She declared a little too enthusiastically for this early in the morning. Did this girl not realize I haven't had the chance to find some coffee yet?

"Cool." I dismissed her as quickly as I could, that was just about enough perkiness for me.

She sat back down in her seat slowly as I addressed the class. "So uh, before we get started why don't you tell me where you were with your last teacher?"

"Don't you want to take roll?" Emma said rising from her seat again.

"Sit down sweetie, I got this." I shut down the overly enthusiastic student, once again she sat down this time her pretty face all scrunched up.

In the back of the room, a student raised his hand. I pointed at the scruffy young man.

"You don' look like our utha teachers, you even old enuff?" He asked with a gruff tone, this must have been the class bad boy.

I looked at my register, apparently, his name was Logan. I was a little flattered by his question but judging from the geriatric freak show I was a part of last night I couldn't blame him.

"I am nineteen." I answered. "Okay, no more personal questions. Let's keep it professional."

The tough guy made some sort of celebratory sound as he attempted to high fived the shy looking burly kid next to him identified as Hank. Across the room, a tall well-groomed man raised his hand. My register told me his name was Piotr.

"We were study fall of Earth due to decline of resource and destruction of life sustainability due to man's hubris." He over informed me in a deep Russian accent.

"Right, okay, good place to start." I confirmed as I sat up from my desk and went back to the holo-board. I opened up the directory and, as luck would have it, it was right where Wagner had left it. Selecting the file a group of info sheets, as well as an associated video, played soundlessly.

"Why don't we have you read along with the text aloud?" I suggested.

Without so much as a fuss, the students input a few commands into the consoles on their desks and matching holo screens projected in front of them.

"Let's start with…" I made a show of a long dramatic pause as Yuri stared at me with a fed up look on her face. "Yuria."

As Yuri started reading I walked down the aisles of the desks observing the students. Most were busy taking notes, Logan was doodling a drawing of me with an exaggerated bust. Again, I was flattered but this was grossly inappropriate. I cleared my throat as I reached him causing him to quickly close out of the drawing program and start pretending he was listening. I raised an eyebrow and pointed at him to let him know I would be watching his shenanigans.

As Yuri reached the end of the document I glanced at my register and chose another name at random.

"Anne Marie, if you would read the next part."

Anne Marie was the student staring out the window with black makeup and matching hair with contrasting streaks running through it. With an exaggerated sigh, she began to read where Yuri left off in an uninterested monotone. "By the early 2100s, any attempts to reverse the damage done to the planet Earth was completely irreversible. "

"Okay, stop there." I instructed. "Let's discuss this, why is it you think the people back then ignored all of the warning signs and scientifically proven statements that they were destroying the planet until it was too late. Anne Marie?"

"Because people are stupid self-destructive garbage." She answered in her sarcastic monotone.

"Pretty much." I said with a shrug.

"W-what about the people there now trying to reverse the damage and trying to make it habitable again?" The shy chubby kid Hank asked before slinking down in his seat.

"Well, most of the United Galactica claim they are fighting a losing battle. But I see your point. Humanity has come a long way and we can learn from our mistakes. So maybe we aren't all garbage." I added.

"Whatever." The young goth responded with a roll of her eyes as she continued reading.

I made my way back to the front and plopped myself down in the chair kicking my long gorgeous legs up onto the desk. I let out a hearty yawn as the students went on to read about the creation of FTL propulsion and the colonizing other planets in our galaxy as we left the mother planet a dead husk. By the time they got around to reading about the civil war between the Extrasolar colonies and the Federated Terra leading to the creation of the confederation of free planet states, we know today as the United Galactica I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was going to have to find a coffee pot if I was gonna make it through the day. Why of all classes did I get stuck with history? Not that any other class would have been much better. Maybe gym? I could be a kick-ass gym teacher.

A melody of chimes sounded throughout the classroom. Since the students started gathering their supplies I had to assume this meant class was over.

Man, that was a grueling few hours.

As the students filed out Yuri purposefully took her time getting ready to make sure she was the last one out. Once the last student departed she marched up to the desk with her hands on her hips.

"Not bad for my first day, huh?" I smiled up at her from my desk.

"Oh certainly, though I am surprised you caught any of it between your naps. Not to mention you were twenty minutes late. You could try taking this a little bit seriously, Kei. I already have six pages of homework due by tomorrow in Darkholme's class and if I don't get a good mark on it that will bring my whole average down while you are just sitting on your butt!" Yuri scolded.

"What a minute, are you planning on graduating from this place?" I retorted.

"I, uh well, no!" Yuri was clearly flustered. Busted.

"I am doing my job just like you, I am assessing the suspects. Who knows who could be responsible for the disappearance in a place like this?" I defended.

"Okay, fine. But we should come up with a plan. Tonight after lights out I will meet you in the library so we take a look around." Yuri offered. "Now, if you will excuse me I have a test in Ms. Monroe's class."

With a toss of her waist-length raven hair Yuri gathered up her things and let herself out of the classroom.

Meanwhile, I needed to find a coffee stat.

I was glad to have an excuse not to hang out in my room any longer than I had to. All those angelic little eyes staring at me was sending me into a rage. The library had been vacated, which makes sense since it was well after curfew. Most normal people were in bed right now. Even Mughi let out a loud yawn and he rested his head on his paws. He had just closed his eyes when a sound in the distance cause his curly ears to perk up.

Turning in the direction of the noise we saw Yuri approaching.

"Glad you could make it." I sniped sarcastically.

"Oh, cut me some slack Kei, you didn't have to sneak out of your dorm and create a fake Yuri under the covers so no one would notice you were gone." She pouted her bottom lip at me. Oh poor Yuri, did I hurt your delicate sensibilities? How cruel of me.

"Anyway, I snagged this at dinner." I reached into my pocket and presented a golden key. "It's the key to Yorkie's office. I figured a good place to start would be to check the missing kid's file for any clues."

"Won't she notice it's missing?" Yuri inquired.

"Naw, this is a copy I printed after scanning the real one."

"Well well, I am impressed Kei. And here I thought the only thing in the ginger head of yours was guns and guys." Yuri teased in her trademark condescending style.

I gave her an innocent shrug as the three of us left the library towards the Headmistress's office. When we arrived I used the duplicated key to let ourselves in. Yorkie's office looked exactly how I would have predicted, sparsely decorated but what she had fit that high fashion artistic aesthetic she had about her. Since there wasn't really anywhere else to check the three of us gathered around Yorkie's computer as Yuri used some fancy 3WA software on her holo-computer to hack in.

Navigating to the student records and to the proper designation of the year I spotted him.

"There."

Yuri pulled up the file for Wade. Nothing really stood out to me immediately. Average grades, no extracurricular activities, though he did have a pretty extensive disciplinary record. Everything from insubordination to pranks and destruction of property. I read a few of the specifics, smoke bombing the faculty lounge, spreading a meme of Darkholme drawn as a snooty chicken, I hoped we found this kid, I think the two of us would get along great.

"Kei, look at this." Yuri pointed out urgently.

Under Wade's status was the word deceased. Not missing, not unknown. The school had purposefully labeled this student as deceased. Interesting, I starting to smell a cover-up. Yuri started copying the file for us to go over further at a later time.

In the distance, we heard a blood-curdling scream echo through the entire school.

The three of us immediately ran out of Yorkie's office and to the origin of the scream. In the foyer near the entrance of the school, we found Piotr and Anne Marie. She must have been the one behind the scream since Piotr now had her curled up into this chest while she sobbed. At their feet was the reason for their current state of shock and horror, lying face down on the ground was the emaciated body of a female student with platinum blonde hair.

"Everyone get back!" I commanded and I rushed over to the corpse as several students and faculty began pouring in.

It was Emma, or what was left of her. I could tell from the hairstyle but other than that the poor thing was almost unrecognizable. She looked as if every fluid in her body had been drained leaving an empty deflated husk. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. As I examined the remains I noticed five holes in the back of the victim's neck starting at the base of the skull in the shape of an upside down V.

"What the devil is going on here!?" Yorkie demanded as she entered the room in a feathered bathrobe with matching heels. She let out a frightened gasp as she approached me and the sapped body. "Oh my lord!"

"Darkholme get the students back to their dorms. Everyone back to your rooms!" She barked and began waving her arms at the crowd ushering everyone out.

"I think these three saw something, we better make sure they are okay." I said lumping Yuri in with Piotr and Anne Marie. I didn't need her getting sent to her room, not at a time like this. We had a murder on our hands, and not just any murder. One like I had never seen before.

CHAPTER 3

We had all gathered in Yorkie's office. Me, Yuri, Mughi, as well as the two students who found the corpse, and for some reason, Darkholme. He stood in the back shifting around uncomfortably, liked he needed to take a piss or something.

Cut it out dude, you're scaring these poor kids!

"Tell me young lady, what were you and your boyfriend doing out after curfew?" Yorkie interrogated the young teens in her nasal tone.

"H-He's not my boyfriend." Anne Marie countered still recovering from the shock of discovering the husk of her classmate.

"Da. Piotr, how you say? Do men." The muscular young Russian explained.

"Be that as it may young man, that doesn't answer the question!" Darkholme snapped continuing on Yorkie's behalf. "Why did you break curfew!?" His tone was curt and aggressive. No way to talk to two people who just found a body.

"We were do art project together. We need supplies." Piotr finally answered a bit intimidated.

"We just found her like that, we didn't do anything. I promise!" Anne Marie interrupted as she started to sob again, her black makeup running down her cheeks.

"I was just looking for the restroom. I am new and got a bit lost." Yuri explained, it was flimsy but Yorkie seemed to buy it.

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for tonight, you three may return to your rooms. No deviating!" Dr. Yorkie instructed. Darkholme shot her an aggressive glace after she spoke.

The three students got up to leave, Yuri turned to me and scratched her ear as she left. Picking up on her signal I opened the up my comm so that she could listen in on the conversation.

After the students left Yorkie reached into her desk and popped a few pills that I couldn't identify before they slid down her gullet.

"How could something like this happen?" She whispered almost to herself.

Turning her attention to me and the crusty looking Darkholme she continued. "The first priority will be crowd control, we don't need a panic amongst our students, of course. I will alert the authorities and the student's family post haste. With any luck maybe the police will be able to enlighten us as to who or what could have done something like that." Yorkie's face distorted as she recalled Emma's remains.

"In the meantime, we will increase the curfew and tell the students no one is to travel alone. We will have you alert them first thing in the morning." She informed us as she placed the pill bottle back in her desk.

"Why don't you two go, tomorrow is guaranteed to be a stressful and long day and we need to be in our best form." Rubbing her temples the doctor dismissed us.

As soon as Mughi and I departed the office, Darkholme immediately began to scold Yorkie.

I couldn't get the image of that poor girl out of my mind, I felt bad for the students. I was a bit more desensitized to that sort of thing due to the nature of my line of work. But they were just kids, they were going to be scarred for life. We reached the awful cherub room and I opened the door, Mughi went in first and immediately curled up on the bed. I didn't even bother changing I just threw myself down beside him and passed out.

Morning came too quickly, as always. Thankfully, I had left the comm open, so Yuri was able to wake me up in time for class. I was not looking forward to this, not in the slightest. I peered over to see Mughi still snoozing away, lucky beast. Why couldn't I have been born a big alien cat? With a reluctant sigh, I got myself put together the best I could and headed to class.

Despite getting there on time, I was still the last person to arrive. The air of the room was solemn. The events of last night just sucked all the air out of the room. Oh, bad choice of words. My bad. Two of the desks were empty. The one belonging to Emma and the one belonging to Piotr. Poor guy must still be pretty torn up by last night's events. Anne Marie was present but looked like she hadn't slept in days, it could be she wasn't wearing the dark makeup I was used to seeing her in, but most likely it was the trauma. Poor thing.

Still groggy, I took my position in front of the desk and took a seat on the edge again ready to address the confused and mourning masses.

"Morning everyone. As you may have heard, there was an incident last night. Emma is no longer with us. While we don't know the specifics of what happened, I assure you there is no reason for anyone to panic."

"No need to panic?! Are you freakin' kiddin' me?! They say she looked like a shriveled raisin when they found her!" Logan burst out.

"Stop it, Logan!" Hank hushed meekly from the seat next to him. I could see tears begin to well up in his eyes.

The entire class joined in on the bickering and the panicked rabble. All except Anne Marie, she just sunk further down in her seat.

"Hey!" I hollered quieting them all down. "I know you're scared, okay? But we should be supporting each other right now, not attacking each other. Now, let's just get this out of the way. Dr. Yorkie is initiating a sundown curfew, which means no one is allowed out of their dorms after sunset, for any reason. Also, no one is allowed to travel anywhere on their own. Safety in numbers, okay?"

There was no response, so I repeated myself a bit more forcefully. "Okay!?"

There was an orchestra of unenthusiastic responses but I was sure they got the message. Thankfully I was able to get a coffee this morning. I was gonna need it.

The rest of the class passed by much as it did the day before, though it seemed to take about five times as long this time. I was just as excited when I finally heard the melody sound that excused the class. I reminded them of the new rule and curfew as they all left the class in a heard.

All except Yuri.

"I believe Emma was out searching for me when it happened." Yuri said somberly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I returned to the dorm last night, my fake Yuri had been discovered. She was my roommate. Surely she was out looking for me as the cohort representative." She explained.

"That doesn't make it your fault, y'know. We will find out who murdered and covered up these two students." I placed my hand on my partner's shoulder.

Seems that bit of encouragement did the trick. Yuri adjusted the bag on her shoulder and perked back up to her usual self. "Did you happen to notice anything strange about the victim last night, well besides the obvious?" She changed the subject getting back to business.

I gave a quick glance to the door and shuffled her away from it so that no passerby would hear us. "I'll say, there were five holes on the back of her neck. I have never seen anything like it and I can't think of a single weapon that would leave a wound like that."

"How bizarre." Yuri said placing her curled index finger to her chin pensively. "And did you happen to notice how strangely Dr. Darkholme was behaving?"

"You mean stranger than normal? But yeah, I did. That was nothing compared to after you left. He laid into Yorkie. Y'know what they say? Guilty parties are the first to cast blame."

"Now that you mention it, do you even remember him arriving? He was just suddenly present when the crowds arrived, like he had been there the entire time." Yuri pondered.

"Looks like we have a suspect." I gave a wide grin.

I took a sip of my coffee as Yuri paced back and forth a bit, her finger still to her chin thinking.

"This curfew will work to our benefit. It will definitely give us more time to investigate, though my role as a student will certainly add an unnecessary restriction on me." She thought aloud.

"It may be beneficial to investigate separately this evening. Since you will have more of a free range of the campus why don't you and Mughi see what you can find out about Dr. Darkholme? I will use my guise to see what I can find out from the students. See if there is a link between Wade and Emma that we aren't seeing." Yuri instructed.

It was a good enough plan, I raised my coffee cup in agreement.

"We can stay in touch via comm." Yuri added before she scooped up her belongings and departed for her next class.

The silence was a welcome change, I thought as I walked around and took a seat at my desk. I considered taking a little nap since I had some time free before my next class. But then I thought, what would Yuri do? I sighed another reluctant sigh, man I was doing that a lot this mission. I blamed being back in an academic environment, the whole place just left me uneasy anyway, and now we have homicide on top of it. I was never a great student, average and unremarkable. It was just never the kinda place for me.

I figured I might as well do some of this teaching work since I was here. I pulled up the files sitting in the to-do folder as well as the answer key and began to grade papers. Man, with the glasses sitting on my nose and my face buried in a grade book I looked pretty damn convincing as a teacher. Who knows, maybe after a few years I could retire from the 3WA and have this as a backup option? I laughed to myself, could you even imagine!

"Teach! Come quick! They found anothah body!" Shouted an out of breath scruffy young man as he rounded the doorway of the classroom.

Without hesitation, I threw down my glasses and slammed my grade book closed. "Where?" I asked pointedly as I sprung up from my desk and followed after him.

"In'tha art room, this way!" Logan informed me as he sprinted down the hall.

The heels of my shoes made an echoing clack as I matched Logan's pace. I could see that a crowd had already started to gather by the time we got there. Yuri was one of them, she looked at me with a look of concern that told me everything I needed to know about what I was about to see.

I pushed my way through the crowd and into the room. It was another body, just like last night they had been completely exsanguinated and left a husk. Dr. Monroe was kneeling down next to it with tears streaming down her cheeks. As soon as she spotted me she waved me over to her.

"It's Piotr." She wept.

It was difficult to tell, but she was right. As I examined the body I could see some of his features remained. Like Emma before him, he was face down and in nearly the same position. As my eyes scanned the remains I immediately checked his neck, I was both elated and horrified to find the same five holes were there.

I looked back at Yuri, who had now made her way to the front of the crowd, and gave her a slight nod. She curled her lips into a pouty frown. As I was doing my best to console Dr. Monroe, Dr. Yorkie and Dr. Darkholme arrived with a few other faculty members. As they did last night they immediately sent everyone back to their rooms. Dr. Yorkie initiated a campus-wide lockdown. No one was to leave their rooms until further notice.

That included faculty. Oh gawd. Not a whole day trapped with the cherubs, anything but that!

As the crowds began to depart I caught up with Yuri. As we walked together we kept our eyes forward, we didn't want it to look like we were talking to each other.

"Same as last night." I said out of the side of my mouth.

"Change of tactics." Yuri responded in a similar fashion. "Meet me in the atrium at dusk."

I recognized Yuri's tone. Whatever she was planning was going to be incredibly risky. I smiled.

Bring it on.

CHAPTER 4

I was going stir crazy, not only had I spent the last few hours surrounded by cherubs but I was freakin' starving! They canceled meals along with the lockdown. So, all I had in my belly was a cup of coffee. Which probably attributed to the jitteriness. Mughi was making the best of it, I had brought his Kalium capsules so his belly was full at least. Other than that he spent the day sprawled out on the sofa watching his stories, such a lazy thing. Meanwhile, I was laying on the bed trying not to think about how hungry I was.

Sunset couldn't have come fast enough. I really hoped Yuri's plan involved raiding the kitchen I thought as my stomach growled audibly enough for Mughi to look away from his show with an annoyed expression. Sorry for disturbing you, sheesh.

I rolled over onto my stomach and stared into the eyes of the squishy faced little cupid in front of me. It just made me want to punch it.

"Kei, you there?" Yuri's voice sounded in my ear.

"It's about damn time!" I exclaimed as I moved to a seated position and crossed my legs underneath me.

"Patience is a virtue, dear." Yuri reminded me in a sugar tone.

Ugh, gag me. I hated when she did that. Made me want to punch her too.

"I managed to sneak away, I will meet you in the atrium in a few minutes." She continued.

I threw myself off the bed and threw on a pair of pants and my shoes. I tucked my heat gun into the back of my pants, I didn't know what was gonna happen tonight but better safe than sorry. I walked over and ruffled the top of Mughi's head.

"Time to go, pal."

Mughi just looked at me with an annoyed expression and turned to the holo-screen with his paw raised in a 'can't you see I am watching this' gesture. He turned from the screen to me several times before rolling his eyes and pouring himself off the sofa defeated. He slunk over to the door while I made sure the coast was clear before leaving to meet Yuri.

We descended the stairs to find the foyer completely empty, the lights had all been dimmed down to barely lit due to the curfew, I guess to discourage the residents from roaming around. The low lights were casting ominous shadows on the walls and floor and the wind has picked up causing the windows to groan. Why did a storm have to be brewing? It just made things so much more unnecessarily creepy! Where the hell was Yuri? I felt like I was in a horror movie and I didn't like it, not one bit.

The floor behind me began to creak.

The creaking became louder. Footsteps were approaching.

Tensing up, I reached back and grabbed my heat gun aiming it at the shadowy figured slow approaching me.

"Kindly try not to blow my head off, Kei."

Yuri! You little sneak! You scared me half to death! She just stood there giggling at me while I had a gun to her head, she knew damn well I don't do well with this sort of supernaturalish bullshit! She just couldn't help herself.

"Oh dear, you aren't scared are you?" She continued to snicker.

"Just give me a reason not to pull the trigger!" I growled as I slipped the gun back into my pants. My heart was going a million miles an hour.

Mughi, on the other hand, was rubbing up against that little brat like he missed her or something and she, in turn, was making make a big show about how much she had missed him as well. Man, if we weren't in the middle of a job and potentially in a life-endangering situation I would have tackled her to ground and punched her lights out.

"So what exactly is the plan here?" I asked annoyed.

"Well, we need to lure out our target. And for that we need bait." Yuri explained as she spun around letting her hair and skirt twirl around her as she placed a hand to her chest.

"That's your big plan!" I shouted at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

"Do you have a better one!?" Yuri snapped back.

I stuttered trying to quickly come up with something. Okay, so I didn't have a plan, but this just seemed so basic, who was gonna fall for the oldest trick in the book? Before I could think of a response we all turned to address the abrupt noise from behind us.

With my hand on my gun, I watched the entryway from which the noise emanated. Out of the shadows emerged a wiry man with copper hair sticking out in multiple directions. It was Darkholme, that Pennywise looking son of a bitch!

"Well, well, well. Ms. Keiko and Ms. Yuria." He said slowly with an ominous undertone. "Why does it not surprise me that it's you two that breaking curfew?"

"Cut the crap, Darkholme!" I snapped back.

"How dare you speak to me like that?! Why I should—"

"Should what? Kill us like you did Wade, Emma, and Piotr?" I interrupted.

He stopped dead in his tracks and glowered at us. "What are you saying?"

"It's no use playing dumb Dr. Darkholme, you have conveniently been at every crime scene." Yuri explained.

"As have you." He sneered.

Well, he wasn't wrong.

Regaining his ground Dr. Darkholme began slowly approaching us again. I quickly drew my gun and aimed it at his lightbulb shaped head. Mughi growled and adopted an attack posture.

"Don't move!"

Darkholme raised his hands and ceased his approach.

Alright, we had him right where we wanted him. Yuri slipped a pair of beam cuffs out of her pocket and started towards our suspect. She stopped when we noticed Darkholme's expression drastically change from antagonism to one of pure terror. He was looking at something behind us, his eyes slowly rose to the ceiling until he was looking straight up. A strange horrified noise started to pour out of his mouth. Following his gaze Yuri and I looked up just in time to see it come cascading towards us.

We jumped back as this monstrosity tackled Darkholme to the ground. My mouth hung open with disbelief and disgust as I took it in. Whatever this thing was, it was hideous and definitely not human. This thing was pinning Darkholme face down on the ground with four massive spidery limbs attached to a skeletal torso. The front two legs were easily twice the size of the rear two and ended with blood red clamp like claws. It stared straight at us with its round pinkish red eyes which that stood out like an albino against the whitish veiny flesh of its elongated head. Along its cranium you could see exposed soft tissue which I was guessing was this creature's brain. It had no nose or mouth, instead, the bottom part of this being's face was a similar soft tissue with five steel looking needles in the shape of an upside down V protruding from it.

Darkholme began screaming and struggling under the monster's grasp. I looked back to see a sixth stinger on the creature's posterior wriggling and squirming as it reached forward to the genital area. I gasped as it thrust this sixth stinger into Darkholme's spine, silencing him in an instant. Oh my gawd! How obscene, I wanted to look away feeling dirty like I just witnessed a rape or something but I couldn't move, I was frozen. Its disgusting penile stinger must have injected some kind of paralyzing agent into its victim because Darkholme was still breathing but he wasn't moving. Lowering its head the creature impaled the needles on its face into the back of Darkholme's neck and began drinking.

While in reality this whole ordeal probably only took several seconds I felt like I had been standing there for hours frozen in time.

Yuri recovered her senses before I did, pulling her ray gun out she opened fire on the beast. Despite its pasty skin looking paper-thin, the shots ricocheted off. This thing was tougher than it looked. She did manage to scare it though. It made a horrible screeching sound as it dislodged itself from Darkholme and scuttled backward and up the far wall.

As it attempted to escape it was mine and Mughi's turn. With a considerable speed, Mughi leaped at the monster like a black bolt of lightning sending it scurrying towards the ceiling. This thing was fast, I was having a hard time hitting it. Though my shots weren't connecting with it, they were corralling it back to Mughi. As soon as it was close enough, Mughi lurched forward wrapping his powerful jaws around the creature's hind leg and with an aggressive jerk of his head tore it from the wall and slammed it to the floor. Mughi was doing his best to subdue the spindly creature but it managed to escape his grasp and scurried away, not so easily defeated Mughi tore off after it.

There was no way we would be able to match this thing's speed, it was up to Mughi now. Instead, we tended to Darkholme. Yuri was already kneeling beside the paralyzed man using her kerchief to try and stop the bleeding.

"It's not stopping, whatever the thing used to paralyze him must have some sort of anticoagulant agent." Yuri explained as continued applying pressure the wound.

Though Yuri was doing everything she could have, time was not on our side. Darkholme's breathing slowed to a stop. He had lost too much blood. Yuri stood back up slowly, her chest heaving from the adrenaline, her expression morose. Mughi returned shortly after with his head hung low. It got away.

I stood in the dark foyer with my partner staring at the dead body of the red-haired doctor. I took Yuri's hand in mind to try and comfort her. She felt warm, tingly almost. As the feeling began to crawl up my arm is realized it wasn't Yuri, we were on the brink of sharing a vision. Turning to face each other we took the other hand. In moments we were the grim scene melted away until we stood in white emptiness. Looking to the ceiling where the creature attacked Darkholme was now an eye, or rather the symbol of an eye with two swish marks extending from the bottom.

"Ra." Yuri said as we returned to reality.

"Excuse me?" I inquired, my head still fuzzy from the psychic premonition.

"The eye of Ra, it was used to represent the Egyptian sun god." Yuri explained.

"Egyptian, huh? C'mon." I didn't even give Yuri a chance to respond before I was bonding up the stairs.

With Yuri and Mughi chasing after me, we went racing towards my room. I could have been way off but I remembered that just down the hall from the repulsive Cherub Room was one labeled Egyptian Room. It only took us a few minutes before we were standing in front of the door, engraved in gold right on the front of it was the eye of Ra.

"Shall we knock?" Yuri asked sheepishly.

"Naw!" I responded as I pulled out my heat gun and melted away the doorknob with one concussive blast and pushed the door open.

With a frustrated shake of her head, Yuri entered the room with Mughi following after. The room was set up like an Egyptian tomb, I was more than a little jealous that I had gotten stuck with that hell on earth. It was pretty clear that it was a man's room and someone with a keen interest in history. The place was chock full of historical memorabilia and archeological finds.

"This room belongs to Dr. Wagner." Yuri explained and she thumbed through the documents on his desk. "It's strange."

"What?" I asked walking over to her.

"There is nothing here that indicates the doctor had any intention of leaving for any amount of time. Not only does it appear like most of his possessions are here, but his luggage is in the closet." Yuri began. "And look here, it seems that Dr. Wagner was right in the middle of an archeological dig not too far from here. He documented his findings here in this journal but they suddenly just stop." She held up a leather-bound notebook. It was covered in dust and not just because this room hadn't been used in a while.

"What are ya doing?"

I spun around to see Logan standing in the doorway with a confused look on his face. We both went to explain at the same time when from behind Logan's head rose a blood red claw. Before we could even react Logan was pulled away from the doorway like a ragdoll. We rushed out of the room but it was too late the creature had already smashed out a window and disappeared.

CHAPTER 5

The next morning they found not only Dr. Darkholme's body but Logan's as well.

His remains were found in the woods about a mile from campus. It has been completely drained of its fluids like his classmates before him. Strangely, no one seemed to witness our little scuffle last night despite the obvious sounds of gunshots and property damage. This worked for us, though. We needed our cover just a bit longer. And besides, if the students weren't panicked before altering them to the fact there was a bloodsucking monster roaming the halls of their school would have caused massed frenzy.

Thinking of that, as well as the fact there were still so many students enrolled, I was becoming increasingly suspicious. If I was a parent and I heard that five people were murdered at my child's school I would be pulling their ass out. More suspicious than that was the lack of police and media activity around here. I mean, why haven't we hadn't been evacuated yet? No police patrols? No buzzing paparazzi trying to get their hooks in a story? Being 3WA Trouble consultants we have had more than our fair share of run-ins with the local police force as well as the media and I could tell you something weird was going on here.

And it was about to get weirder still.

Yuri and I had spent the rest of the night prior going through Dr. Wagner's dirty leather-bound journal. The one Yuri had found containing his final entry. We discovered that Dr. Wagner had gone down to teaching part-time, the rest of his time was spent at an excavation site. Shortly before beginning the dig, a group of hiker's found a strange alien piece of tech and brought it to the doctor to identify. Well, since he was unable to identify the strange artifact, they began searching the area around where it was discovered to look for answers. Before long more and more mysterious tech was unearthed. The doctor went on and on in his journal about how fascinating it was, blah blah, never seen anything like it, blah blah, so much humanity could learn blah blah blah. It was a lot of technical fanboying, really.

But we decided it would be worth checking out this excavation site. Who knows maybe that creature from last night was the owner of this technology and was just taking his revenge on these humans that invaded its home?

We found the location of the dig amongst Dr. Wagner's things. Since classes had all been canceled and lock down still in full effect it wasn't too difficult for Yuri and I to slip away undetected. But now came the hard part. Hiking through the wilderness. Now, I wouldn't say that me and Yuri are city girls, well okay, I might call Yuri one, but I was raised on a mining planet. I was made from some tough stock. We used to play out in the open rocky terrain my entire childhood! Still being surrounded by all these trees, plants, and smells were overwhelming. Even Yuri was struggling, every bug and creepy crawly that crossed her path caused her to jump or squeal.

I really hoped she wasn't planning on doing this the whole trip.

I was lamenting the fact that we hadn't brought our hovercycles with us. It was ten miles to the dig site and mostly all uphill. At least we had Mughi, we would be able to ride him for a good portion of the way but certainly not the whole thing. It would probably kill the lazy punk!

About halfway we stopped for lunch, I had the foresight to raid the kitchen before we left. After yesterday's fasting, there was no way I was gonna go hungry two days in a row! We chose a nice spot next to a creek to have our lunch, it was actually kinda relaxing to have a little picnic and give Mughi a chance to rest. We had just finished eating when we heard the sound of branches breaking. Yuri and I held our breaths and quickly drew our guns to the direction of the noise.

There was nothing there.

I held my gun suspiciously. It could have just been an animal, or it could have been the creature. There was also the possibility that someone had followed us.

"Come on out of there!" Yuri called out.

From behind the tree stepped a hesitant and nervous looking Hank.

We lowered our weapons and let out the air held in our lungs. "Hank! Why are you following us?"

"I- I'm sorry, I saw you both sneak out and I thought maybe you could help. Anne Marie has gone missing and I am afraid she…" The portly student explained.

"You're afraid she might have ended up like Emma and Logan too, is that right?" Yuri asked softly.

Hank nodded.

"So, you both are actually 3WA trouble consultants?" He asked optimistically. Guess the fact that we were back in our uniforms sorta tipped him off.

"Right, and we need to make sure no one else gets themselves killed." I said preparing to usher him back to the academy.

"Well, then I should stay with you, right. It's certainly not safe at the school. What safer place than with a trouble consultant?" He countered stepping away from my grasp.

I couldn't argue with his logic there, I looked to Yuri to try another tactic.

"We have dangerous work ahead of us, Hank. We are going to Dr. Wanger's di-"Yuri attempted.

"Dr. Wagner's dig site? Let me show you the way, I used to help him out after school!" Hank interrupted Yuri as his tone perked up. He traveled the opposite end of our camp and gestured for us to join him. "Come along, it's this way!"

Obviously, this kid was giving us no choice. We let him tag along the rest of the way. For a burly guy, he certainly held his own. In fact, he was making me look bad the way he was climbing over rocks and bouncing off the trees while I was struggling with the incline. Man, I was getting old. To be sixteen again.

As we exited into a clearing we came upon the dig site. It was pretty expansive and deeper than I was expecting. As we approached it I was shocked to see just how deep down it went. However, the most shocking part was the reason why. Along the entire side wall of the cavernous hole was what appeared to be a half-buried tower. Not like any that I had ever seen while traveling the galaxy though, its design was completely alien.

"Are you seeing this?" I asked Yuri with an astonished tone.

Yuri nodded slightly but didn't speak at first. I could see she was absorbing what laid before us as well. "Unbelievable."

"They have made some amazing progress! The last time I was here they had only dug out the tip of it." Hank said.

Yuri and turned to each other with knowing looks on our faces. Dr. Wagner's last journal entry mimicked what Hank was telling us now. That final journal entry was dated nearly a month ago. From what we could see of this alien craft at least 60 meters of it was now exposed, this begged the question who has been digging in the doctor's absence? And why? A find like this would make a person rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams but since no one knew about it someone was keeping it a secret. A secret worth killing for perhaps?

My head was now swimming with questions and there was only one place to get answers. Inside that thing. I walked to the edge of the dig site to get a better vantage point. A spiraling trail had been dug into the side of the site opposite of the craft.

"Hank, we are going to investigate this thing. We need you to stay here, okay?" I instructed our guide.

I could tell he was hesitant, but he agreed to my terms. With that settled, I lead Yuri and Mughi down the path. The sun was starting to set as we reach the bottom. We approached the craft cautiously, it seemed the ground level of the pit was dug just deep enough to reach an entrance. The door was strangely shaped, much wider and squatter than a door meant for a person, though I couldn't help but think it would have fit that strange creature perfectly.

Yuri had pulled up her holo-computer and was running an analysis of the structure. Not surprising she was turning up no results, the architecture, the language, nothing was in the 3WA Central Computer's database. Normally I would just blasted the door down, for one it was efficient and fast and secondly, it always pissed off Yuri. Instead, I just folded my arms and leaned against it to let Yuri do her thing. However, as soon as my back touched the doors they swung open and dropped me flat on my ass.

Ouch, that hurt. Both my beautiful behind and my pride.

Yuri made a big show about laughing at my little accident. Thanks heaps partner!

"Why don't you shut up and help me up!" I snapped.

Still laughing Yuri reached down and pulled me back up to my feet. I quickly dusted myself off and turned to look inside. The three of us walked in slowly, man this place was something else. I had never seen a structure like this, the walls and floor looked more like an insect's hive than it did a facility, yet everything was still made of some sort of metallic alloy and looked artificial.

Yuri ran her hand along the wall but just ended up covered in dust. As we ventured further inside the place just got weirder and weirder, several of the hallways had corridors on the ceiling leading to other parts of the structure, in other places, there were holes going straight down. You would need to be able to walk on walls just to be able to properly traverse this place.

Just like the creature.

"Someone has been in here recently." Yuri pointed out as she motioned the floor. "You can make out drag marks in the dust."

You had to look closely but you could tell she was right; the ground had been disturbed.

"Shall we follow it?" she offered.

"Probably." That was about as committal as I could get. I mean we were in the ruins of an alien craft; her guess was as good as mine.

Mughi led the way, his snout to the ground. The path stretched on longer than it appeared from the outside but eventually led to a massive room resembling a nest of sorts. The wall to the back was littered with honeycomb-like chambers reaching from the floor to ceiling. Along the floor were a row of organic looking pods, one of them had been shattered and another had something floating inside of it. Our curiosity got the best of us and we moved in to examine the pod. I wiped away the front of the glass like structure and peered inside.

It was Anne Marie!

"Yuri! Look!" I moved aside so my ebony-haired partner could glance inside. "We have to get her out!"

We looked around the room for any sort of release mechanism. Several cords were leading to something familiar. They were connected to a system of modern computer consoles. Yuri and I rushed over to take a closer look. The monitors were displaying Anne Marie's vital signs, her heartbeat was steady and everything else looked good. I couldn't make out what the rest of the gibberish meant though.

"What is it, Yuri?" I asked overly concerned.

Her face was glued to the monitor as she poured over the data. After a few moments, she clasped her hands around her mouth and took a few steps back.

"Oh my gawd." She uttered as she returned to the computer and started clicking through to other screens. She shifted through several screens similar to Anne Marie's with bright red letters on splayed across them.

"What is it?!" I asked again as Yuri stopped on a screen labeled Wade.

"I don't believe it." Yuri whispered again. I was starting to get pissed at her refusal to answer my questions. "They are cross breeding the students with alien DNA." She finally explained.

"What!?"

"It gets worse. That creature. It's the missing student, Wade." Yuri said meeting my gaze with a look of astonishment in her eyes.

A scream echoed through the halls of the alien craft followed by the familiar shrieking of the alien hybrid.

CHAPTER 6

"Did that sound like Hank to you?" I asked pivoting away from the makeshift console and turning towards the sound. "We will check it out, you keep working on getting Anne Marie out."

"Right." Yuri replied turning back to the computer and started click-clacking away.

"C'mon, Mughi."

The large omlarcat led the way as we traveled back into the halls of the strange vessel. I had my heat gun drawn and ready, my eyes darting into every pathway. There was really no telling where this thing could be, we were on its turf now and that gave it an advantage that I didn't like. I had to wonder how much of this creature was still Wade and how much of it was the alien DNA. I felt pretty confident that Wade was probably not homicidal before whatever happened to him happened but I didn't know the kid, I couldn't be sure. His parents never mentioned any homicidal tendencies.

Nearing the entrance we found Hank face down on the ground. I rushed to his side to examine him. We were too late. The alien Wade abomination had already gotten to him.

Damn!

Mughi started to growl at something behind me. Jumping back up to my feet and spinning around I found what had my teammate so agitated. Slowly crawling out of one of the upper pathways was the creature. It dropped to the ground and adopted an aggressive posture. The needled on its face still saturated with Hank's blood. Between the creature's legs, its paralyzing stinger began to pulsate.

Oh hell no, that sorry excuse for a phallic metaphor wasn't going anywhere near me!

This time, I acted first and fired off shot after shot at what used to be our client's son. To my delight, unlike Yuri's ray gun the creature seemed to be vulnerable to the extreme temperatures of my heat blasts. It screeched in pain and its pale flesh bubbled and seared away. Unfortunately, it didn't do as much damage as I would have liked and instead just pissed it off.

The creature lunged at me catching me off guard and pinning me to the ground. Its revolting face just inches from mine as it thrust the needles of its mouth towards my head. I struggled as I tried to reach for the heat gun that had been knocked out of my hand when I was tackled, but I couldn't reach it. Things were looking grim for yours truly. It would have been the end of me had Mughi not been there to help. With a swing of his trunk like arm, he tossed the alien off of me, tearing at its tough skin with his stronger than steel claws.

The Wade alien squealed as it smashed against the wall. Before it could even hit the ground Mughi was on it biting and shredding. The creature was completely at the mercy of the Omlarcat. Its spider-like arms flailed as it thrashed around trying to break free from the black mass of destruction. I had just sat up when I noticed the creature was preparing to inject Mughi with its rear stinger. I quickly snatched up my heat gun fired it at the creature's obscene lunging nether needle. It squealed as its lower appendage was melted away. It continued to writhe and shriek until Mughi dug his fangs into the soft tissue of the creature that had once been Wade's neck. It went limp as it bled out all over the floor.

Mughi backed away, out of breath and his muzzle soaked red.

I stared at the pitiable remains of the young boy. Fate could be so cruel, surely no one could have predicted that he would end up like this. He deserved better, a normal happy life. Mughi joined me at my side as we continued to look upon the body. It took a special kind of monster to turn an innocent child into this. A monster that I had a reinvigorated drive to bring to justice.

I said a little goodbye to Wade before I turned back to join Yuri. I hoped that she had been able to make some progress, I don't know if I could live with myself if we let another kid become one of these things.

"Mughi took care of the creature." I said unable to hide the remorse in my voice as we entered the room in which we left Yuri.

"Well then, he must have been another failed experiment as well, just like the others." A nasal voice informed me.

Dr. Yorkie!

I quickly glanced around the room, Yuri sitting on the ground next to Anne Marie's incubation pod, her hands bound behind her back by a rope. Yorkie stood near her with a gun pointed at her head. This didn't look good. Yorkie must have gotten the drop on her while we were investigating. I was kicking myself for leaving her.

"So it was you." I glared at the snobby looking woman.

It was so obvious in hindsight. Who else would have had the authority to sweep five murders under the rug? It certainly explains the lack of outside interference. We all blindly took her at her word that she would be reaching out to the authorities when she clearly had no intention of doing so. She wouldn't want anyone poking their noses in, would she?

"Well, I can't take all the credit darling. But you can be damn sure I will be taking all of the glory." She scoffed.

"Is that why you killed Wagner?" I bluffed on a hunch.

"Oh I had to darling. I just had to, don't you see? That insufferable blowhard wanted to hand all this over to the authorities. Can you believe? What a foolish notion. He had to go, the same with that crusty old coot Darkholme." She confessed with a sinister smile. "It's bad enough you 3WA filth managed to infiltrate the school right under my nose. But, he wanted to bring in every police and detective in United Galactica onto my campus! The place would have been swarming and it would just be a matter of time before someone tried to steal my precious little treasure here."

"So you sent the creature after him?"

"Oh, hardly darling. That boy was as unruly and difficult to control as he was when he was human. No no, all I could do was point him in the right direction and let nature take its course." Yorkie countered.

"So, why go to all of this trouble of turning these poor kids into these abominations?"

Yorkie laughed a boisterous laugh. "Oh dear, you know nothing twit. For the money! For the fame! Yes, this little find would have amassed a sizeable profit but nothing compared to the discovery of intelligent life! I would be the most recognized woman in the United Galactica. The entire galaxy would bow down at my feet!" She placed a hand to her breast and composed herself. "Academics and the pursuit of knowledge are in my blood, it's deeply rooted in my very being. I couldn't just ignore my inner biologist, not when faced with this once in a lifetime opportunity to study a foreign DNA."

"But these aren't alien species! They are just bastardizations you melded together like Dr. Frankenstein!" Her absurdity and nonchalance had really pissed me off.

"Oh pish posh. The human element could have eventually been bred out you silly little girl. In time, a pure specimen would have been born! That's why I needed two! A male and a female, of course, it has been a struggle and an array of trial and error to find suitable donors who are compatible with the bio merging process." She sighed a bit and clutched her forehead. "Thanks to you, several weeks worth of work has been wasted, who knows how long it will take to create a new male?"

I gave a sideways smile, this worked out better than I could have thought. Not only did she confess nearly everything I had worked her into a state where she had dropped her guard. Seeing my smile Yuri made her move, delivering a swift sweeping kick to the back of Yorkie's legs knocking her to the ground and sending her weapon sliding across the room. Before she could recover, Mughi and I were on top of her with my heat gun pointed at her head.

"Dr. Yorkie, by the authority of the Worlds Welfare Work Association and the United Galactica, you are under arrest." I informed her with a confident smile.

Mughi used his razor-like claws to free Yuri from her bindings. After dusting herself off, she pulled Yorkie's arms behind her back and placed her in beam cuffs before hauling her up to her feet and dragging her over to the console.

"Now, dear doctor. Before I was so rudely interrupted I discovered that your retinal scan is required to stop the transmogrification process. So if you would please, open wide?" Yuri asked in a sweet tone that didn't at all match the violent way she thrust the woman's head towards the sensor.

"RETINAL SCAN ACCEPTED – HELLO Dr. YORKIE." The mechanical voice responded after it sent a green beam of light across the doctor's face.

"Thank you ever so much!" Yuri continued as she tossed Yorkie to the ground.

Stepping to the console Yuri pulled up Anne Marie's vital diagnostic screen and began the unlocking process. As my partner worked I watched as the fluid of the incubation pod drained into the floor and the organic looking tethers attached to the young girl released, dropping her to the ground. As Yuri shut down the final program the egg like pod opened allowing us to access the hostage.

Yuri and I rushed over and immediately pulled her free from her prison. As Anne Marie coughed up the goo that had infiltrated her lungs, Yuri looked at me with horror in her eyes. I shared her sentiments. We were too late. Anne Marie's already pale skin was now snow white with translucent veins showing through. All of her hair had fallen out and her bone structure had already started to warp into its alien configuration.

I stood up completely enraged marched over to Dr. Yorkie who was watching this all unfold from the spot on the ground that Yuri had tossed her with a big smile on her face.

"Undo it! Now, fix her!" I commanded, my voice bellowing with fury.

"There is no fixing her you stupid sluts! What's done is done!" She said laughing.

I couldn't help myself, my right leg sprung out on its own kicking Dr. Yorkie chin. She rolled back on to her back and continued laughing. A feeling of utter hopelessness washed over me as I returned to Yuri and the half mutated Anne Marie.

Anne Marie looked up at me, her iris had become a bright pink. "Kill. Me." She uttered in Yuri's arms.

I shook my head, tears welling up in my eyes, no, I couldn't. I just couldn't.

"Please. It hurts so much." She uttered again.

The tears had broken free and were streaming down my cheeks. I had no choice, she was going to die anyway. Her body was an incomplete mishmash of human and alien, it was just a matter of time before it shut down. Anne Marie nodded weakly and Yuri's tears rained down on her as well. Yuri placed her down on the ground and handed me a ray gun. Anne Marie closed her eyes as I took aim. It took one shot and she was gone. Yuri and I were full on sobbing now.

My sorrow soon gave way to rage again as I turned to Yorkie. She was standing at the console inserting some sort of drive into the computer.

"Get away from that!"

"Once again, you're too late. If I can't have it no one can!" Yorkie screamed back with a crazed look on her face.

"SELF DESTRUCT HAS BEEN ACTIVATED – FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION."

Of course, why wouldn't she have set up a self-destruct protocol? I mean, isn't that par for the course of these sociopathic psychos? I close the distance between myself and the insane doctor and with a right hook I knocked her ass out. Yuri and I scooped her off the ground and on to Mughi's back before racing as quickly as our legs could carry us to the exit.

The ground had begun to tremor by the time we made it outside. The stars twinkled majestically as we raced up the manmade ramp that was slowly losing its stability from the quaking. We made it to the top just in time to see the entire dig site disappear into the planet. Explosions echoed in the alien structure as it began to fall apart and piece by piece disappear into the darkness.

"I'll summon the Lovely Angel for evac." Yuri said completely out of breath as a tree fell with a massive boom.

I nodded as I lay down in the grass trying to catch my breath and taking in that pine air and the world around me shook.

EPILOGUE

Dr. Yorkie was taken into custody and a full investigation of the Westchester Academy of Higher Learning commenced. All in all 30 students were unaccounted for, no doubt they were made up of Yorkie's failed experiments. Most of the parent's had no idea their child was even missing, let alone the victim of an egomaniac.

Dr. Yorkie was charged for the murder of 30 students and 2 faculty. She was found guilty and charged to the fullest extent of the law. Westchester Academy of Higher Learning was closed down shortly after. In part because of the tragic events that occurred there but mostly due to the danger of its location.

What no one knew or even could have predicted was how embedded that alien structure was within the planet of Flurotia.

What we saw was but one of thousands of entrances to a hive like facility that stretched throughout the entire planet like one giant ant farm. Dr. Yorkie's rash act of self-destructing the exposed ruins caused a chain reaction that continues to this day. As portions of the alien hive are destroyed the infrastructure and tectonic plates of the planet become more and more comprised. Scientists are doing their best to predict the ultimate outcome and its effect of Flurotia, but so far have come up with nothing. Nothing positive anyway. What we know for certain is this once beautiful resort planet was now riddled with rolling earthquakes of devastating magnitudes, sinkholes large enough to swallow up entire cities randomly appearing, tsunamis and other natural disasters occurring every other day.

Once the death toll reached the tens of thousands most people evacuated the dying planet.

Of course, several teams of foolish scientists have attempted to study the alien structure to learn what they could before it was lost to history but so far none of them have survived. Yorkie got her wish, she was known throughout the United Galactica as the woman who discovered proof of a now-extinct alien race and for taking an entire planet down with her. Unfortunately, it was a kind of notoriety that we could relate to.

CASE 0214 – CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

HOME INVASION

PROLOGUE

I think we can all agree that it has been a rough few months for us Lovely Angels. The 3WA had been working us like dogs and the disasters under our belts had really started piling up. I was just about at my breaking point when Chief Soranaka granted us a much needed and well-deserved vacation.

Yuri and I got to spend an entire month on the sun-soaked beaches of Hai'Aleeah. An artificial resort habitat modeled after the lost islands of Hawaii on Earth. Artificial habitats within space colonies like this had only recently become popular. They started as an experiment by Gold O'Hara, CEO of the World's World Corporation, as a way of capturing some of the historical locations of our mother planet. Each created with meticulous detail capturing the typical everyday life of the time period.

Why someone would want to live like a savage in 1980's America or 1990's Japan was beyond me, but hey, to each their own, right?

This particular habitat floating in the depths of space had become famous for its white sandy beaches and crystal clear teal colored waters. It was absolutely fabulous. It was exactly what Yuri and I needed. When we weren't laying out in the sun enjoying a nice fruity cocktail and scoping out the gorgeous hunks in their tight little bathing suits, we were talking surfing lessons and scuba diving. We hiked an 'active' volcano. Learned a dance called hula. Every night was a succulent feast of some of the most delicious meals I had ever had. We danced and drank into the wee hours of the morning and really got to let our hair down.

I didn't want to come back.

But all good things must come to an end. Even Mughi was hesitant to leave, I think being a beach bum suited a big lazy loaf like him. So freshly tanned, yes even Yuri's normally alabaster skin had some color to it, we returned home to Lyonesse.

My good mood and vacation high were instantly demolished as soon as we entered the spaceport and was assaulted by advertisement after advertisement of about the 3WA's new line of android trouble consultants! I couldn't believe my eyes! We had only been gone a month and those sonsabitches were trying to replace us with a bunch of toasters with guns!

Over my dead body!

As you could imagine, I was fuming for the rest of the day. We basically had time to rage throw our luggage into our apartment before I was hauling the lot of us into headquarters. I wanted answers, and I was gonna get them one way or another.

CHAPTER 1

3WA Headquarters Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse 09.29.2141

"Touma! You brain dead nerd! You better not have had anything to do with this!" I barked as the double doors slid open and we crossed the threshold into the Research and Development lab of the Worlds Welfare Work Association.

Normally, I loved coming down here; there was always a fun new toy to play with. But today was business. The R& D department occupied the lower levels of the 3WA Headquarters complex. It resembled a large garage or bunker more than an office space. Work stations were set up sporadically throughout and they were working on everything from armored mech suits to camouflage rings. Every piece of cool tech that Yuri and I used on our dangerous missions was designed and created right here in this warehouse-like structure.

Our good friend Touma was towards the back at his work station. He was pretty cool, for a total geek, I mean. Poor guy didn't stand a chance, taking one look at him you could tell he was doomed to a life of gadgetry and general nerdliness from birth. He was fairly tall standing around 6'4" but noodle thin and gangly. His dark afro hair was always somehow parted to one side. He could almost be somewhat kinda cute if he weren't so awkward. In what I will call Exhibit A in the case of this guy was weird, when we got to his work area he had the top half of his body buried in some strange machine with his too long of legs kicking and flailing in the air.

He was stuck.

Rolling our eyes we each took a leg and pulled him out, letting him fall to the ground. A small white robot shaped a bit like a horizontal egg with red shoes made a robotic burbling sound as Touma hit the ground with a thud and immediately waddled over to his side. I gave a sideways smile as I watched the cute way it walked. This thing was called Nanmo, I guess you could call it Touma's assistant? At least I assume that is what he built it for. When Nanmo reached his fallen creator it examined him for damage with its singular orb like eye. Satisfied that he was okay, a small arm emerged from a chamber of its body and helped Touma to his feet.

"Oh! Hello Yuri, hello Kei, hello Mughi." He greeted us individually as he adjusted his glasses.

"Hello, Touma. What are you working on here?" Yuri asked sweetly and politely. How could she be so calm at a time like this?! Our freakin' jobs were on the line here!

"Oh, this! This is a fairly interesting mechanism." He started, I would say interesting was used lightly. "It is a detention center! I designed it specifically with you lot in mind. I thought perhaps if you had a way to detain criminals instead of mindlessly slaughtering them."

I wasn't too impressed with that little accusation he threw in there but I let it slide, this time.

"It still needs some work, all the test subjects have been turned inside out during the detention process." Touma explained enthusiastically.

"That's very interesting Touma, perhaps with a few more adjustments? And maybe something could be done about the size? It is quite cumbersome, not exactly convenient, is it?" Yuri added sweetly.

"Oh face it, this one is crap. Just scrap it and try something else." I put it bluntly. Yuri instantly shot me and scolding look. What? It sucked! I wasn't carrying this thing around!

While we were busy arguing Mughi was doing his part to antagonize Nanmo, using his long tentacle-like feelers he tripped the poor robot as they were walking over to us. It rolled back and forth stuck on its round back for several minutes before getting enough leverage to flip itself upright. Once recovered and back on his feet, Nanmo snuck up on the large Omlarcat and gave him a shock on the butt with one of its hidden appendages. Mughi yowed and jumped up from the shock. He turned and started growling as the little mech tittered in its mechanical gibberish. Narrowing his eyes, the curly tendrils of his Mughi's ears began to vibrate and with a little 'yip' Nanmo's ocular lens went dark and he slumped down on the ground lifeless.

"Mughi!" Yuri scolded when she noticed the squabble.

A strange defensive noise came out of the large black beast as he motioned to his still steaming posterior and then back to the deceased robot. It was always like that with these two, I don't know why they bickered as much as they did. Normally it was pretty entertaining to watch but it went too far this time.

"Not to worry, Mughi did not hurt him." Touma said taking the pearly robot into his arms. "He just drained its power reserves. A few hours in the charging station and Nanmo should be good as new." He explained as he connected Nanmo to a cylindrical charging station at his desk.

"When Nanmo wakes up, you will be apologizing to him properly!" Yuri insisted with her hands on her hips. Mughi lowered his ears and gave her an unimpressed side eye.

"Speaking of, you didn't have anything to do with these robotic trouble consultants they are revealing today? Did you Touma boy?" I diverted the conversation back to the whole reason we were there.

I took Touma by the shoulder and applied a bit of pressure to show him just how upset I was and that it would be in his best interest not to lie to me.

"Certainly not!" He insisted shaking loose of my grip. "I am a little offended you cannot recognize my work from those mass-produced second rate knock-offs."

Yuri and I shared an exasperated look. Yuri threw up her hands and gave me a 'who knows' smile. Touma didn't seem to notice and continued on with his little tirade.

"Those poorly constructed things are manufactured by Sannyasin industries. Clearly, the Worlds Welfare Work Association is more concerned with saving a few dollars than they are with having quality automatons. Everyone on the hypernet goes on and on about the Smiley model and how poorly constructed and glitchy they can be." He had begun pacing around his work area.

Smiley huh? I could only assume this less than affectionate nickname was earned because the robot's faceplate resembled a large cartoonish smile.

"This forum that I post on has stated several times over about them breaking down randomly and other such defects but the higher-ups had no interest in hearing what I had to say about the matter. Oh no, no one listens to Touma."

"Hey, could you shut up? We get it." I interrupted the rant.

Touma stopped dead in his tracks with his mouth hanging open. Uh oh, I broke him. It took him a good few seconds to reboot.

"Well, we are just gonna have to take this higher up then." I turned to Yuri.

"Chief Soranaka?" Yuri inquired.

"Hell, I will take this all the way up to CEO Beryl if I have to! No one replaces me without a little bloodshed!" I responded.

"Oh." Touma exclaimed, returning to full human functionality. "I almost forgot. This is for you, Yuri."

Walking to a nearby shelf, Touma reached up and collected a small silver box before returning to Yuri and lifting the lid to reveal its contents to her.

"Thank you very much!" Yuri squealed as she reached gingerly into the box and pulled out her signature weapon. The Bloody Card.

"It is good as new. I even took the liberty of adding a new feature. See, once it connects with a target if you snap your fingers it will emit an electrical charge of 100,000 volts. I would not recommend using this feature on another human being though." Touma and Yuri nerded out while I stood by with my arms folded getting more and more pissed.

"Why don't you ever amp up my heat guns, huh, Touma?" I asked annoyed.

Touma turned to me with his glasses slipping off the bridge of his nose with a confused look on his face. He quickly composed himself and answered my question. "My goodness Kei, the heat gun already produces a blast up to 1650°C. Any hotter and it would likely melt you and the gun in the process."

It was time for a change of tactics, you see I knew Touma's number one weakness and how to exploit it to my advantage. I dropped my hostile posture and adopted a sultrier one, I pursed my lips into a little frown and looked up at him from under my lashes. I walked over to him slowly and placed my hand on his chest rubbing it a bit before looking up to meet his gaze.

"I bet someone as smart as you could make it work if you really tried." I cooed in a demure and seductive tone.

Touma's chocolate skin instantly became several degrees hotter and sweat began to form on his forehead. I could feel him tense up and shift nervously. I had him right where I wanted him. Touma was incredibly smart and gifted when it came to coming up with and constructing a wide array of devices, but the one thing he couldn't handle was a beautiful girl, such as myself, flirting with him.

"Oh, Kei. Leave the poor boy alone!" Yuri folded her arms and slipped in between us with a holier than thou look on her face. Right, like you haven't done the exact same thing before? Such a hypocrite!

I stepped back and Touma let out a deep breath, he must have been holding it the whole time. What a fool.

"Anyway, before we go rushing off half-cocked we should attend the demonstration this morning and see what this whole thing is all about." Yuri offered, trying to be the voice of reason, as usual.

Sometimes it worked, other times it just pissed me off more. This was one of those times.

Mostly just because I hated when she was right. Which was more often than I would ever admit. What can I say? I got in looks what she got in brains, the universe has to balance itself out like that.

Since I was clearly outnumbered I had to submit.

"Okay fine."

"The expo is in the courtyard quad in roughly twenty minutes." Yuri informed the lot of us. "Are you coming, Touma?"

His face scrunched up as he thought about the inferior mechanical usurpers. However, that hypocrite Yuri was able to persuade him with a head tilt and flirty gesture of circling her finger on his arm.

"Oh alright. It would be a good opportunity to examine these second rate robots in person." Touma said visibly flustered by Yuri's touch.

That settles that.

"Well, no point wasting any more time here!" I proclaimed grabbing Yuri's hand and preparing to leave.

I stopped when I felt Yuri's hand. That was strange. It was warm. Like tingly warm. But we weren't even on a case.

Either way, it was coming whether we liked it or not. The warmth had already started to creep up my arm by the time I turned to face Yuri. We took our position as Touma looked at us with a bewildered look on his face. I am sure it probably did look strange, we were leaving and now suddenly we were standing there holding hands and staring into each other's eyes without saying a word. I couldn't tell you why, but the visions were always clearer and more impactful if we held hands and maintained eye contact. Trust me, we spent two years training on Shimogu to try and develop and understand our binary clairvoyance.

As Touma and the workroom faded away into the white nothingness, we broke our eye contact and looked into the space above us. For the first time ever I felt an immense physical pain in my chest, it was like the air had been knocked out of me. Through the pain I saw the 3WA headquarters, the entire compound was engulfed in a raging fire. It was difficult to look at, the longer I tried the more my chest hurt. And then it was over, however, the pain remained.

Yuri and I released our grasp and immediately clutched our chests as we tried to catch our breaths. Yuri had obviously had the same experience I did since she was reacting in a similar fashion. Touma reached out but wasn't sure of how to help us, so he said nothing. Never before had one of our visions left any sort of physical remain, aside from the usual dizzy spell that followed after. Everything about that vision was different than usual, usually, we got some obscure clue or reference that only ended up making sense after we put the puzzle together. This time it felt more like an omen of disaster.

"We need to get to that expo." I said in between breaths.

"I must agree." Yuri replied in a similar fashion.

Touma continued to watch us in a confused fashion but Mughi was already headed towards the door, he had been our friend long enough to sense something was wrong. With no time to be left behind we each grabbed our lanky nerd by the wrist and pulled him to the exit.

CHAPTER 2

The expo had already begun by the time we reached the courtyard. It seemed like every trouble consultant within the 3WA had turned up. From the Agriculture and Terra Forming Departments to the Political Liaison Department. There was barely enough room to stand the way everyone was packed in like sardines. And, of course, it was just our luck that we arrived at the part of the quad furthest from the stage.

On the floating platform that acted as a stage, we could see the heads of each department, including Chief Soranaka, our boss, seated along the back row. Seated amongst them was CEO Beryl. Beryl was a legend amongst legends within the 3WA. During her time in the field as a Crime trouble consultant, like Yuri and myself, she set the record for 100% cases solved. We were well on our way to meeting that record. But then again, she did it without the unfortunate string of disasters that accompanied our record. She looked fierce in her maroon and black jacket and skirt with matching black tights. Her ashy rose-colored hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she stared out into the crowd from behind a pair of black cat-eyed glasses.

I won't lie, I looked up to Beryl; she was kinda an idol of mine. I would love to be like her someday.

It was surprising to see that Chief Gooley was there as well. Andrew Frances Gooley was our chief during our years at the training facility on Shimogu. We had gotten pretty close to that gruff but loveable guy. We hadn't really seen him much since we graduated to full trouble consultants.

He was currently standing towards the front of the stage next to a row of dozen robots smiling uncomfortably at the crowd. Our replacements certainly didn't look like much, they were roughly 2.25 meters tall. A pair of glowing cyan colored eyes stared out from behind their black dome-like heads. The chest, leg, and shoulder areas were equipped with an armor plating that had been painted white. The left arm was pretty standard ending with a three-fingered hand, the right however ended in a pretty impressive looking weapon from the elbow down. Attached to their backs were two discs that resembled our Grav-Packs, just on a much larger scale.

"-As you can see ladies and gentlemen. The ATC is equipped with a wide range of weaponry from missiles to beam weapons matching the destructive force of a Voyager Class starship. Of course, these weapons are to be used only as a last resort in the direst of circumstances." I listened and Gooley was going on about some of the specs of these mechs.

I rolled my eyes at the comparison to a Voyager Class starship, which was the same model as our Lovely Angel. Not that it mattered, Lovely Angel has been zhooshed up to go toe to toe with a Destroyer Class starship.

"Each ATC is programmed with an extensive library of diffusion tactics, negotiation procedures, civil servant interactions and many other useful personality traits that leave them better suited for handling a crisis over their more volatile human equivalent. And thanks to their constant link up with the 3WA's Central Computer they can receive updates and situational mods in seconds. Our plan is to assign an ATC to each of our Crime Trouble consultant teams to act as an advisor and procedural liaison. We expect this will greatly reduce the number of incidents that have occurred over the past few years." Chief Gooley cleared his throat as went on to explain. "Now, how about an example?"

That was the last freakin' straw! It was one thing when these little toys were going to replace me but now they were going to tell me how to do my job!

I glanced over to see what Yuri thought about all of this. Judging from her fists that were clenched so tight they were shaking, along with her frown and furrowed brow, it was safe to assume she was just as pissed off and unimpressed with this unveiling as I was.

"Maybe it is not such a bad thing?" Touma offered.

Yuri and I rapidly turned our heads to face him at the same time. He backed away nervously as we glowered at him with intense wrath. Not such a bad thing? NOT SUCH A BAD THING!? This was clearly an attack on me and Yuri! He just had to mention the incidents, didn't he? He might as well have just used that awful nickname of ours, which I refuse to even think about right now. He was blatantly pointing a finger directly at us saying look ladies and gentlemen thanks to these two failures you all get a nice new robot babysitter! Everyone thank the Dirty Pair, the biggest losers in the 3WA!

How was I ever going to face my fellow trouble consultants ever again? I felt three inches tall.

Gooley finished his little show and tell. I couldn't wait to give this guy a piece of my mind. I thought we were friends? I was shocked by the amount of applause this was receiving. We couldn't be the only ones outraged but this, could we?

"Yuri, hand me your Bloody Card. I'm gonna kill him." I commanded as I glared at our former chief.

"I don't think so, Kei." Yuri responded. "I am going to kill him."

Yuri was already reaching into her holster for the Bloody Card when Touma pulled us both back.

"How about we take some soothing breaths instead?" He countered.

"Shove it, geek boy!" I snapped back.

Back on stage, the squadron of robots erected themselves in a unified formation. The cyan glow of their eyes turned a blood red and without warning they all began opening fire on the crowd. The screams of our fellow trouble consultants snapped us out of our hate-filled rage.

"Touma, what's happening?" the sounds of the panicked crowd nearly drowned out Yuri's question.

"I do not know, it seems the androids have all gone rogue." He responded.

I turned my attention to the stage. The robots initially focused on the crowd, but several of them were now taking aim at the chiefs. While I didn't care so much if Gooley took one between the eyes, I wasn't about to let anything happen to Soranaka or Beryl. I was worried for nothing though, I forgot for a moment that they were both seasoned trouble consultants.

They had taken action the moment things took this disastrous turn. CEO Beryl had safely been whisked off stage and was taking cover with Soranaka and Chief Garner of the Political Affairs Department. They were both doing their best to spirit her away to safety amongst the chaos.

Gooley, as well as Chief Poporo of the Research and Development Department were still on stage attempting to subdue the rampaging automatons. I couldn't hear what they were saying from the back of the fleeing crowd, but it was apparent they were trying to shut them down. Their efforts were futile though, right before my eyes one of the machines raised its multifunctional weapon and blasted Chief Poporo in the chest throwing him off the platform and onto the ground.

I grimaced as I turned away from the sight. Unfortunately, Touma saw it all too. He stood there stiff as a board in his rebooting posture. Poor guy, I didn't know if he and his chief were close but if it was anything like us and Soranaka I know I would be pretty devastated right now.

Sirens began to blare throughout the courtyard, someone must have activated the emergency systems. In a few moments, this entire complex was going to go into total and complete lockdown. No one would be getting in or out until the catastrophe had been dealt with. Smart thinking people, now we were trapped here with a group of homicidal and heavily armed robots.

What could go wrong there?

As people began to scatter and head inside, the dozen mechanical assailants activated their Grav-Packs and ascended into the air. From their vantage point in the sky they began firing bursts of plasma into the crowds. These overwhelming concussive blasts were taking out two or three people at a time.

Damn! I really wished I had brought my guns with me. As it were all I had was the laser knife in my boot and I was pretty confident that wasn't do much against a foe like these. I tried to see what was going on at the front of the quad, I wanted to make sure the chiefs had gotten to safety but I couldn't see anyone through the herds of people rushing about. I had started to panic when I finally saw a glimpse of the CEO's deep red blazer. They were attempting to get to an exit but a pair of ATCs had intercepted.

"Kei!" I heard my partner shout from behind me.

She, Touma, and Mughi had begun heading towards the nearest entrance of the quad. "We have to get out of here, this whole building is going into lockdown!"

I shook my head as I gestured to the stage. "We can't! We gotta make sure the chiefs are okay!" I rebutted.

Yuri hesitated briefly, but she knew I was right. With an extremely timid and panicked Touma in tow, she joined me as we darted through the crowd closing the distance to the stage. We kept one eye on the nearest robot dashing out of the way of their barrage of plasma blasts. Without any way to defend ourselves, we had to rely solely on defensive and evasive maneuvers. Yuri had since thrown Touma onto Mughi's back and he was wrapped around him like a spider monkey making little sobbing noises as we rushed across the quad. Pushing through, we reached the chiefs' hiding spot. The two robotic attackers we almost right on top of them.

I knew I had to draw their fire, it would be dangerous but I didn't have much choice. I put myself between the robots and made a big show of getting their attention.

"Look over here you stupid hunks of junk!" I antagonized. "You, yeah you! Your mother was a toaster!"

My little diversion seemed to work as they both turned their attention to me. My next move had to be executed perfectly, one wrong move and I was as good as dead. I ran around until I was positioned in between the two robots and took off running towards the nearest one. I could hear the one behind me raise its blaster as it got ready to gun me down in the back. I took a deep breath and dove to the ground just as the android behind me fired. The shot missed me and connected with the robot I was running to. With a newly gaping hole in its chest, it fell backward in a sparking heap.

I quickly rolled over onto my back, I hadn't really thought about how to handle this second one.

Oops.

That's what partners were for. As I was struggling to come up with a plan I witnessed a silver playing card come whizzing out of nowhere and embed itself in the android's head. With a snap of Yuri's fingers, the card unleashed a torrent of overwhelming electricity into the approaching automaton. With its systems completely fried, it too crashed down to the ground.

Yuri walked over and casually plucked the Bloody Card from the robot's steaming cranium and then reached out to help me up.

"What on Earth are you two doing here? You are meant to be on vacation!" Chief Soranaka exclaimed as he emerged from his hiding spot to join us.

"Our vacation ended today, sir." Yuri corrected politely as she slipped the Bloody Card back into her holster.

"Didn't you get the notice of the extension? Oh hell, I suppose it doesn't matter. You are here now." The chief yammered on.

Oh nice, trying to keep us out of town so that we would miss this whole travesty, huh? Well nice try buddy!

"We can talk about all that later! For now, we have to get you inside." I couldn't hide how annoyed I was by their little deception.

I walked over and helped CEO Beryl out of her hiding spot. "So cool to meet you, I am a big fan!" I gushed as she dusted herself off.

"The infamous Dirty Pair." She said giving us a once over with her emerald green eyes.

"Lovely Angels." Chief Soranaka corrected.

"If you'll excuse me this will have to wait, the storm shudders are closing. If we don't get inside now we will be trapped out here." Yuri interjected sweetly as I stood there with a dagger in my heart.

I can't believe it, my idol, my hero! She called me...

Time was running out, the great metal doors had begun to descend over the entrances to the building and more of our metallic friends were headed this way. We took off running towards safety, the androids in hot pursuit firing their weapons. Chief Garner and CEO Beryl were the first to take refuge in the building. We were matching pace a short distance back with Chief Soranaka. Looking back I saw one of the robot's chest cavity open revealing a ballistic missile. We weren't all going to make it. With a quick shove, I threw Chief Soranaka into the building right before the shutter slammed shut.

The missile impacted the ground with a massive explosion. Yuri, Touma, Mughi and I were tossed into the air as the ground around us began to crumble and fall away into the underground levels of the complex. We fell into the cavernous area below followed by the debris of the blast. The assailing ATCs flew away to take out those that hadn't made it into the building in time, leaving us for dead.

CHAPTER 3

I opened my eyes slowly.

Ugh, I felt like I had just been through an earthquake. I might as well have, I thought as I lifted my dirt covered arm. Every part of me hurt. I pulled myself out of the rubble and shakily rose to my feet. I quickly looked around me to make sure the rest of us had survived. Mughi was awake and nuzzling an unconscious half buried Yuri. I rushed to her side!

"Yuri!? Yuri, can you hear me? C'mon speak to me." I gave her a few slaps on the cheek to try and bring her around.

She didn't respond.

"C'mon, you gotta wake up. It's me, Kei. Your buddy, your bestest friend. You can't leave me." I said. My tone betraying the panic welling up within me.

"You are so obstinate." Yuri digressed weakly, her eyes still closed.

I wrapped my arms around her in relief. She squirmed out of my grasp making little ow sounds. Oops, it made sense she would be in as much pain as I was. I helped her dig herself out and shake the dirt from her long black hair.

"Where is Touma?" She asked with a few gentle coughs from the stirred up dust.

Oh right, that guy. Where the hell was he anyway?

I scanned the area a bit but there wasn't any sign of our techy friend. It was Mughi who first spotted him and pointed us in the right direction with a nod of his head. It was no wonder we didn't see him at first, the only part of him visible was one of his legs from the calf down sticking up in the air. Oh geez, I hope he wasn't dead. All three of us grabbed onto the exposed part of our fellow trouble consultant and began to unearth him. He was alive and coughing out mouthfuls of dirt.

That was a relief.

"You okay, nerd?" I asked helping him to his feet.

"Of course I am not alright! I was just chased through the courtyard by flippin' homicidal robots! I saw my chief flippin' massacred right in front of me! I was strapped to that beast like a flippin' toddler! I was flippin' blown up and buried alive! And I am pretty sure I broke my flippin' arm!" Touma started ranting.

Watch the language buddy.

I walked over and grabbed the arm our friend was cradling and gave it a couple of squeezes. Touma howled in pain.

"Yup it's broken." I assessed as I reached down unstrapped my holster.

I pulled at the strap of black cloth and it began to stretch in my hand. One of the amazing things about our transmorphous uniforms is they can be configured into a variety of shapes, for instance, a makeshift sling. Yuri helped me move Touma's arm into position and we quickly secured and wrapped it. This would have to do until we could get him to a proper infirmary or hospital. They would be able to fix it in no time.

First thing was first though, we had to figure out where we were, how to get out, and preferably get to the armory so we could properly defend ourselves against these robotic attackers. I looked up through the hole we had fallen through, the blast must have punched a hole into the sewer. It would certainly explain the smell and the stream of greyish water rushing by.

"We need to get to the armory." I informed the group.

"Excuse me, I think you mean the infirmary." Touma whined.

"Don't be stupid Touma, those mechs are still out there. Yes, for now, they are restricted to the courtyard but I have a feeling they are gonna breach the security walls and make it inside soon enough. When that happens, we need weapons if we are gonna stand even the slightest chance against them." I snapped back at the sniveling nerd.

Yuri was one step ahead of me, she already had her holo-computer pulled up and was attempting to find us a way out. "Something is wrong, I can't connect with the Central Computer. Something is locking us out."

"Maybe that's part of the lockdown?" I offered.

"No, when the 3WA building goes into code 6 lockdown like this then the Central Computer sends out emergency protocols to all 3WA trouble consultants in the vicinity. It then notifies outside agents of the lockdown. You didn't read a word of the handbook did you, Kei?" Yuri corrected with a matter of fact tone.

"She is right." Touma added ganging up on me.

Ugh, fine smarty pants! Figure it out on your own.

Touma went to assist Yuri as she continued to make contact with the Central Computer. Despite their troubleshooting, they made no progress. Something or someone had cut off all communication within the 3WA network. Thankfully all was not lost, we still had hypernet access. Yuri pulled up a news feed. Our old pal Cory Emerson was reporting live on the incident.

"The entire Worlds Welfare Work Association complex is on lockdown. There have been, like, no communication or reports on what exactly happened. We can see from our vantage point in the news helicopter that there are dozens of bodies in the courtyard of the compound but, like, things look quiet. Stay tuned for live updates."

"Well, I wasn't able to connect with the Central Computer but I did manage to find a detailed blueprint of headquarters on the hypernet." Yuri pursed her lips with a concerned look on her face. "I am a bit worried about how easy this was to find, though."

"Either way, it does show there is a service entrance into the pump room of the building." Yuri continued her explanation.

I felt relieved that we had a heading and we weren't trapped. However, Cory mentioning that the androids weren't visible from the outside had me concerned. Had they already breached? We were gonna have to watch our asses out there. That was for sure.

We traveled the sewers in relative silence, there was the occasional whine out of Touma every time there was an explosion in the distance. And that was more often than I would have liked. The ATCs were still active on the surface and more troubling than that was the commotion had to be taking place within the walls of headquarters to be shaking the walls around us down here.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on a gun, after the kind of day we have been having I was more than ready to blow some shit up. I didn't care what at this point, I felt resistant to the idea of defending a place that publicly shamed us and blatantly insulted us and didn't even have the decency to do it in our presence. We could worry about that later, right now my priority was getting the four of us out of here alive.

"This should be it." Yuri said looking up from the diagram on her computer.

There was a ladder reaching up to a hatched door. I pushed my way to the front of the group. I didn't mind going first, if no other reason than the smell was about to make me pass out. I climbed up and tried the latch. To my surprise, it opened right up. I swung the doors aside and looked down at my traveling companions.

"You are right, Yuri. Security in this place is a joke! No wonder this is all happening." I agreed before I finished climbing up into the pump room.

It took a little effort for Touma to maneuver his way up the ladder with only one arm but he managed eventually. It was actually pretty embarrassing to watch. Even Mughi, who was bipedal mind you, scaled the ladder with ease. I should take it easy on him though, obviously physical activity was not his forte and he was down a limb.

"Where to, navigator?!" I asked taking a look at the large machines of the area.

It was difficult to hear anything over the rhythmic pumping. These heavy-duty mechanisms were responsible for the water flow to the entire 3WA headquarters so it made sense they were so massive. I wasn't even sure if Yuri actually heard me but she did point the way out of there. We traveled up two flights of stairs before arriving at the entrance to the main facility. According to Yuri's map, we were in the Agricultural department of the base. The nearest weapons silo was in the Crime Division Building next to us. That was our building. Perhaps being on a more familiar turf would give us an advantage?

Cory's voice emitted from Yuri's holo-computer.

"Cory Emerson here. As you can see, like, evacuations are underway for the people trapped in the 3WA complex. We have confirmation that during this morning's expo for the new Artificial Trouble Consultants, that ATCs randomly began attacking the employees of the 3WA, we have confirmation by now that there are at least fifty casualties from the attack."

"Just a moment, we are picking up something." Cory went quiet for a moment before the sound of gunfire erupted followed by Cory screaming.

"We are under fire, I repeat under fire! Ladies and gentlemen, we have to evacuate the premises. The ATC's have opened fire on us and those evacuees! We will report more when we can!" With that Cory ended the stream.

"Oh dear." Yuri reacted as she closed her holo-computer.

"Cory is tough, you remember. I am sure she will be fine. It's everyone else I am worried about." I tried to reassure her.

With a nod, our little group began making our way cautiously through the halls. We had to be especially careful, these robots were hunting trouble consultants and right now our only defense was the Bloody Card and Mughi. Better than nothing, but I would feel more comfortable with a gun or three. I was leading the charge, making sure the coast was clear before we proceeded. The way to the next building was connected by a glass tube walkway; it was a relatively short distance, but we would be completely exposed.

"We are gonna have to run for it. Touma, you may wanna hop on Mughi's back." I turned back to my teammates after confirming the coast was clear.

Touma exchanged an uneasy look with Mughi, it was pretty clear that he wasn't interested in riding on our furry friend again. In the distance behind us was a raucous explosion. It sounded like it came further down from where we came, but it made me nervous that they were that close. Obviously, it made Touma nervous too, with a yelp he quickly mounted the omlarcat.

With one final check that we were in the clear, we took off in a sprint.

There was another explosion behind us after we had made it about halfway. They were getting closer. Mughi sped ahead of us making it to the door a few moments before Yuri and me. Touma had already dismounted and was trying to get the door open.

"What's the holdup?" I asked coming to a stop out of breath.

"It will not open, it is locked!" Touma's voice was panicked.

Oh man, what a time to not have my heat gun. Yuri was on it though, she had her holo-computer pulled up and was running the anti-lock software. Touma let out a high-pitched scream as he spotted one of the ATCs appear at the opposite end of the tunnel.

And thanks to someone's little outburst we were spotted.

"Any time now, Yuri." I said between gritted teeth.

"I'm working on it!" She snapped back.

The ATC had just raised its arm to fire at us when the locks clicked and the doors slide to the side. We rushed in and pulled them shut just as the rogue robot started firing. I gave Touma an unimpressed little shake of my head as he sat against the opposite wall struggling to catch his breath. Such bravery. We were safe for now, but we had to move.

I felt a sense of reassurance being back on our turf, we took the elevator up to the proper floor and made our way to the armory with a surprising lack of altercations. Though, that may change, I thought as we approached to see the armory doors open. I looked back at Touma and put my fingers to my lips, we didn't need another episode like before. After making my point I turned to Yuri and silently gestured towards the open gunroom. Yuri drew her Bloody Card and despite it being utterly useless I drew my laser knife as we approached with caution.

From the other side of the open door, we could hear movement inside. The sound of footsteps and guns being rustled. Exchanging a readied look Yuri and I rounded the corner of the doorway and entered into the room. The intruder was about three rows back. Being careful not to make a sound we approached hoping that if we caught whatever it was off guard it might even the odds.

With another exchange of looks, we pounced.

We paused mid-strike as we came face to face with a sandy-haired man.

"Gooley!"

CHAPTER 4

"Would you two airheads keep it down?!" Gooley shushed me with a quiet panic.

"You rat bastard! You've got a lot of explaining to do!" I ignored his request and approached him with a heated vigor. "What the hell were you thinking!?"

"Have you gone completely mad? Or, have you not noticed the literal killing machines out there hunting us down!?" Gooley countered matching my approach and coming toe to toe with me.

I gave my former chief a shove to the chest, knocking him back a few steps. Gaining ground, I closed the distance until I was face to face with him again.

"Oh, I am well aware of what's out there! And exactly who is at fault for this! Those things wouldn't even be there if you weren't trying to replace us!" I shouted.

"They aren't here to replace you, you daffy broad!" Gooley reaffirmed with his back to the wall unable to escape.

"Oh my bad. You're right, you have the audacity to bring in a robot to tell me how to do my job!" I screamed back.

Yuri and Touma winced and looked around nervously at our little spat, though I was a bit to focused at the time to really notice.

"Would you two please stop, we can discuss this rationally at another time." Yuri interjected squeezing herself in between us and pointing at me with a chastising finger.

I huffed obviously still pissed off and crossed my arms. We would be discussing this later for sure! Chief Gooley exhaled exasperatedly as he looked away from me and cleared his throat.

"Now, this is good. Strength in numbers. Think we can cooperate until we figure out what is going on around here?" Yuri asked diplomatically. I would never tell her this because she would never forgive me, but this girl had more of her parents in her than she would ever admit.

"Be safer with the robots." Gooley muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, you sonofabitch!" I pounced ready to throw hands as Yuri held me back.

"I- I do not mean to be an alarmist, but there is a tall android with glowing red eyes coming this way." Touma informed us weakly.

"See what you did!" I accused Gooley.

"Enough! Everyone grab a weapon. Touma, you too!" Yuri snapped, finally having enough of our childishness.

She was right, as usual, it was time to take our aggression out on these walking appliances, instead of each other. I grabbed a plasma rifle off the rack and strapped it to my back as I eagerly plucked a heat gun from the wall and gave it a little kiss. I missed you my baby. Yuri followed suit handing a ray gun to Touma before strapping two others to her holsters. That's when I noticed Gooley reaching for a large cannon weapon I had never seen before. My eyes widened with admiration, it was a real beauty. I couldn't figure out what it was just by looking at it but I was determined to find out.

"What is that?!" I asked awestruck as I pushed in front of Chief Gooley and snatched up the weapon.

"It's an electromagnetic pulse gun. We developed it after studying the unique abilities of the other omlarcats." Gooley explained with a sigh, Mughi perked up and looked around at the mention of his species. "The waves this EMP emits should fry one of these tin heads in seconds."

"Don't mind if I do!" I said excitedly as I took up the gun and offloaded my rifle on our former superior.

"Hey!" Gooley exclaimed as he grabbed the rifle I thrust at him.

"Hey, nothing. I think a choice piece of weaponry like this is much better suited to someone who is actually in the field, working their ass off, with a 100% solve rate. Not someone who has been sitting behind a desk getting soft and thinking a robot will do a better job." I snubbed as I pushed passed him leaving him to clear his throat in defeat.

Yuri and I moved into position on opposite sides of the door. The boys huddled down ready to act as back up. Geez, I hope Touma knew how to use that thing. The way he was looking at his weapon was making me a bit nervous. Well, you know what they say. The best way to learn is by doing. I peeked my head around the corner, sure enough, one of the ATC's was down the hallway. Luckily, it just seemed to be the one, for now.

"Let's test this puppy out." I said with a smile that could only come from getting to play with a cool new toy.

In one rapid motion, I rounded the corner of the doorway and dropped down to one knee. Taking aim with the two-handed weapon I fired a pulse blast at the oncoming robot. With a woosh, the ring of electromagnetic energy passed through the assaulting android and dropped it face first on the ground.

Oh hell yeah!

I had started celebrating too soon, moments after the ATC face planted it flared back to life and started to pick itself back up.

"Hit it again!" Yuri squeaked from behind me.

Didn't have to tell me twice, with another woosh I sent another ring of energy as the robot struggling to raise itself up. With another thud, its limbs gave out and it collapsed back down.

"Oh, for the love!" I exclaimed as the android once again rebooted itself and started to pull itself up again. "Okay, enough of this."

Dropping the EMP gun I reached for my heat gun, taking aim, I opened fire. I systematically melted away the robot's arms crumpling it to the ground for the third time. The Grav-Packs attached to its back began to glow as its metal frame was lifted off the ground, I guess without its arms it was gonna try a new tactic. That's when Yuri jumped in with the assist using her ray gun to blast the Grav-Packs out of commission. Falling to its knees, I fired one last shot into the ATC's chest.

I quickly realized my mistake when I saw the plating of its chest melt away revealing the missile.

"Take cover!" I yelled as I grabbed Yuri and pulled her into the armory as the ATC was blown apart by an explosion that sent pieces of it raining down the hallway.

The crackling sound of small fires met us as we turned back into the hallway to see the ATC was nothing but a black mark in the hallway. Pieces of shrapnel were lodges in the walls. A charred and steaming dismembered head looked up at us smiling from the ground. The red glow of its optics flickering in and out. Using my boot I lifted it off the ground with a grimace and kicked it over to Touma. Instinctively he reached up and caught it before juggling it like a hot potato.

"Think you can do anything with that?" I inquired as he struggled to hold the hot metal head.

"Well, it seems to be functional enough. We should be able to extract some information from it." Touma observed as he analyzed the now cooling grinning head. "Yuri, would you mind helping me out with this?"

Yuri bounced over to the tall nerd. I rolled my eyes. Well, why these eggheads dissected that thing I could finish my previous conversation with Gooley. I kicked the EMP weapon over to him, it slid across the room stopping at his feet.

"Be nice if they stayed down." I snubbed. "Hand me a plasma rifle, will ya?"

With a sullen shake of his head, Gooley complied taking another rifle off the rack and tossing it to me.

"Despite what you may think, Kei, this was not a personal attack on you. But you can't deny that you both have had a hand in the decline of the 3WA's credibility, even if it is indirectly."

I strapped the rifle to my back and turned my head away from him. I didn't care to argue with someone who was right, I got plenty of that fighting with Yuri.

"We had to do something, everyone's jobs are in trouble if this keeps up. No one is going to want to hire us when there is a strong chance that they, and everyone they love, is gonna get killed." Gooley continued.

"It's not like it's on purpose, y'know! This stuff just kinda happens!" I sneered.

"You aren't wrong, but the matter of fact is we can only say that so many times or appease them by explaining how much worse it would have been had we not intervened. But the fact of the matter is the Dirty Pair has become a widely recognized and demonized figure in the United Galactica." Gooley explained.

"I-" I started but caught myself, for once I had no words.

"Doesn't matter, at this rate we are all out of the job." He continued under his breath, dropping his head.

We sat in silence for what felt like hours while Touma and Yuri fiddled with the ATC's head. It was probably less than one hour but could you blame me, the gravity of the situation had really started to set in. What if this was the end of the Worlds Welfare Work Association? What would the United Galactica even do without us? It's not like they can solve their own problems, obviously.

The sound of Yuri gasping broke the sobering silence.

"What is it?" I asked as I slide to her side.

"It's worse than we could have imagined. The encryption and coding were unlike anything we had ever seen. We were barely able to crack it, it was blind luck really that we managed to bypass the firewall." Yuri started rambling in a huff.

'Cut the techno crap and get to the point." I cut her off.

Yuri gave me a wicked side eye and pursed her lips. "We managed to track the signal that is highjacking the ATC's back to its source. It's coming from a user identified as Belphegor. They have hacked in from a Lucifer server."

"Damn it!" I shouted as I smashed my fist to the ground.

Gooley's eyes narrowed as he took in the information. "Then make no mistake, this is a message. A pointed one at that. Stay out of their business or pay."

"What if it's more than that? What if they are trying to take us out of the picture all together?" I countered.

"Don't be silly, they couldn't do that. Could they? The 3WA is a pan-galactic organization." Yuri asked nervously.

"Well, there may be one way." Touma spoke up meekly.

"If they target the Central Computer." A woman's voice spoke up behind us.

We all turned to see CEO Beryl and Chief Soranaka standing in the doorway. They looked a bit worse for the wear but otherwise mostly intact. Both of the brandishing large rifles.

"Chief!" Yuri squealed as she hopped to her feet and wrapped her arms around Soranaka's neck. He grumbled uncomfortably as he shook her off.

The rest of us stood to meet them, Gooley looked around before continuing.

"Garner?" He asked concerned.

Chief Soranaka shook his head with a mournful look on his face.

A hush fell over the group. We had lost another. I was gonna make damn sure he would be the last one, though.

"Glad to see you are still alive, trouble consultants. We are going to need everyone available if we are going to stop them. If Lucifer takes control of the Central Computer we are finished. They would gain access to the personnel files of every employee, records of every case, political secrets. Well, I don't think I need to explain any further." The CEO explained with a no-nonsense tone.

The years have hardened her, for sure.

Chief Soranaka took a step forward to explain further. "As you saw, the ATCs have been compromised by Lucifer. Somehow, they have managed to highjack the connection between the ATCs and the Central Computer. Upon sensing the compromise, the A.I. of the Central Computer cordoned off and isolated the signal."

"However, they can still bypass the override manually. If even one of them connects with the Central Computer, then the 3WA is as good as history." He continued.

"So, how do we stop them?" Yuri asked with a tilt of her head.

"We defend the Central Computer and destroy the ATCs and if that doesn't work we will have no choice but to rely on our last resort." Chief Soranaka extrapolated.

"Which is?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Destroy the Central Computer." CEO Beryl declared.

CHAPTER 5

A collective wave of shock washed over us.

She couldn't be serious? She just said that without the Central Computer there would be no 3WA anymore. Yuri and I exchanged a worried look.

"But, ma'am?" Yuri questioned still confused.

"I understand, but better we crippled the organization then allow Lucifer access." Beryl responded sternly.

"Well, um, there is one slight problem with that." Touma spoke up from the back. Despite his size, I had almost completely forgotten he was there.

CEO Beryl narrowed her eyes. As she stepped past us and over to the tall man. "You do have the drive, correct? You were not to be without it under any circumstance."

"I, uh, well see. I did not mean to leave it." He stammered.

"What are you guys talking about!?" I asserted, I hated being left in the dark.

Beryl, turned to me with a straight face. She glanced briefly at Soranaka who gave her the slightest of nods. It must have been a confirmation of trust because she explained shortly after.

"The kill drive for the 3WA Central Computer was divided and entrusted to three members of the organization, none of which had direct access to the computer or could make any sort of executive decision by themselves." She started. "No one but I knew the three drive holder's identities. It was kept a secret from even the other holders. These failsafe's were put into place so that the drive wouldn't fall into the wrong hands nor be used indiscriminately."

"And Touma was one of these drive holders?" Yuri surmised.

CEO Beryl nodded.

"So what about the other two?" I asked with my hands on my hips.

"We have them, their keepers are… no longer with us." Chief Soranaka answered.

"Alright, Touma boy. Where is it?" I asked more assertively as I walked over to CEO Beryl's side and looking up to confront him.

"I put it in a safe place, back in my workshop." He explained with a nervous smile.

Everyone groaned as Touma spoke.

"Ugh! You moron!" I threw my arms up and walked away from him in exasperation. He was just lucky that my boss was here otherwise I would have decked this guy in the jaw.

"Enough, we don't have time for pretty squabbles. Soranaka, Gooley. The three of us will head to the Central Computer and set up a defense, gawd willing we make it there before Lucifer does. Meanwhile, you three retrieve the final part of the kill drive and rendezvous with us after." The CEO commanded, I could see know how she rose to the top of the organization so quickly.

"Mughi, you go with them. They could use your help, I am sure." I spoke to my comrade reaching down and taking his soft face in my hand.

Acknowledging my request the omlarcat moved to the door next to Chief Soranaka.

With our directives confirmed we stockpiled a few more weapons, after all, we couldn't be sure what kind of trouble we would run into crossing the damaged courtyard and getting back to the R&D department. Fully equipped we parted ways with our superiors, I was pretty confident Mughi would take care of them. He was incredibly resourceful and very protective when he wanted to be.

I was doing some math in my head as we reached the elevator and was riding it down to the ground level. There were twelve ATCs at the expo, Yuri and I have taken out three all on our own. So that means there are only nine left out there, at the most. Not bad odds. We have definitely been in more overwhelming situations than this. The elevator touched down and we cautiously exited the car, it seemed clear but if we were wrong we were as good as dead.

We made our way down the empty hall to the exit to the quad. It was an unsettling sight, bodies of our fellow trouble consultants were littered across the grounds. Not only were we going to have to make our way to the opposite side, we were gonna have to sidestep these obstacles as well. Because nothing could ever be too easy.

Wait a second? Weren't there giant security shutters here before? And weren't these halls much brighter?

I tuned to Yuri and Touma after making my realization. "Does this mean they have already gotten to the Central Computer?"

"No, the security features are on a different network server than the Central Computer. It was designed this way to keep the Central Computer sovereign and protected during a crisis." Touma corrected pushing his glasses up.

"Okay then." I said getting the gist of what he was saying.

"We need to hurry." Yuri reminded us, pushing the doors open as she slipped outside.

Touma and I followed behind her, we stopped at the entrance to the courtyard and surveyed the area. The damage was vast, I could see the hole we were dropped through in the distance. Opposite of that was the entrance to the building we needed. The skies looked clear, of robots that it, the skies themselves actually looked like a storm was rolling in, heavy dark clouds suffocated the sun.

"You guys ready?" I confirmed with my teammates.

"Ready." Yuri reassured me.

"Touma?" I asked again.

"I- Uh yes, well I will do my best." His answer left me less than confident, I was suddenly regretting sending Mughi to bodyguard the bosses.

Without much choice, I got into position, on my signal we started running towards our goal. Touma was doing better than I thought he would keeping up. Rain started to dribble down on us, I wasn't going to complain though. Honestly, it felt refreshing. Leaping over our fallen comrades and running as fast as our legs could carry us we neared the doors to the tower.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a red glow emit in the distance. Turning I could see it was a fallen but not quite inoperable ATC. Its legs had been blasted off crippling it but I assumed its weapons were still fully functional by the way it was now pointing its arm blaster at us.

"Down!" I yelled as I tackled Touma to the ground just as a torrent of laser blasts passed over us.

"Do you have a shot?" I asked Yuri as I lay on top of a sobbing nerd.

Yuri didn't answer, but her actions spoke louder than words. Her gun was already drawn and she was firing at the disabled robot before I could even finish asking her. After taking about half a dozen shots the ATC fell back.

I pulled myself up and off of the still whimpering Touma. His cried were justified this time, I may have saved his life but I also just put the full weight of two adults on his broken arm.

"Oh man, I am sorry. Can you move?" I offered him my hand to try and help him up, which he accepted.

We led the hobbled and seemingly struggling to stay conscious Touma to the doors and let ourselves in. I couldn't help but wonder to myself what Touma's training must have been like on Shimogu? Because it was clearly different from the rigorous and physically demanding training that we went through.

The entrance to the lower levels of the building that housed the Research and Development department was thankfully not too far away from our current position, which I was grateful for since we currently had an almost seven-foot dweeb draped over our shoulders. And trust me, despite his scrawny frame he was heavier than he looked.

We eventually managed to back down to the workroom and plopped Touma down in his chair. The guy was barely with us.

"So, where is it Touma?" Yuri asked politely but still obviously fatigued from dragging him the whole way.

"First, hand me. That. There. Please." Touma pointed to a general area that was difficult to decipher.

"This?" Yuri asked pointing to one of the objects on the nearby shelf. To which Touma just shook his head.

"This?" I asked lifting up what looked like a tiny silver gun. This seemed to be what he was looking for as he quickly nodded and held out his hand.

With a slight shrug, I handed the small weapon to Touma, before Yuri and I could even attempt to stop him, he lifted it to his temple and pulled the trigger.

Touma's body slumped down in his chair as he breathed a sigh of relief. A big smile spreading across his face.

"What the hell, Touma!" I yelled at the big dork. "Scare us half to death. What was that?"

"Field pain reliever." He said euphorically.

To my surprise, Yuri reached out and slapped him across the face. "You could have warned us!" The strike didn't seem to have any effect on Touma, though. That must have been a powerful pain reliever.

"Where is the drive?" I asked this time.

Once again Touma just pointed, this time he was definitely pointing at something. An egg-shaped robot sitting in its charging station.

"Wakey wakey Nanmo, show the girls the kill drive." Touma directed his tone becoming loopier.

The orbital eye on the front of the little robot stirred to life at its master's voice. It rose to its feet sleepily and approached us delicately before opening a little hatch revealing with looked like a black key or flash drive.

"Perfect! Nanmo would you come with us, please. Touma, I think it might be best if you stayed here and had a little rest." Yuri said as she collected the robot in her arms.

Touma slipped further down in his chair as a bit of spittle spilled down his chin, yup this guy was down for the count.

With Nanmo in tow, we rushed back up to the ground level and to the door. What we saw, however, stopped us dead in our tracks. Yuri and I just stared into the courtyard as the rain poured down in buckets on dozens of ATCs. I guess my math didn't account for the ones they had stashed away somewhere.

Would have been nice if someone would have given us a heads up! Gooley was definitely gonna be missing a few teeth after all of this.

"Look." Yuri whispered urgently as she motioned towards the sky.

Several of the Artificial Trouble consultants were flying through the air to the tallest tower of the 3WA complex. In the darkened distance you could see gunfire emitting from the direction the androids were headed towards. They had begun their assault on the Central Computer, we very well might be too late.

CHAPTER 6

"We have to get up there." Yuri stated the obvious.

"But how? There is no way we are getting across the quad now." I retorted.

Yuri thought for a moment, looking around for inspiration. "I have a plan, come on."

Without taking the time to explain anything my raven-haired partner pivoted on her heels and took off down the hallway with Nanmo in tow. I followed behind, after all, her plans usually worked out so I had no reason to doubt her this time.

She came to a stop in front of the elevator and pressed the button. I was admittedly quite confused as we stood there waiting for the car to arrive. But, I kept my mouth shut. That's how trust worked, after all.

"So, what are we doing?" I finally asked. Hey! Trust only gets you so far.

"You'll see. Just be patient." Yuri responded with a mischievous smile as she boarded the elevator.

I just shook my head and followed her in as she hit the button for the roof.

The doors opened up to a small room with a set of stairs reserved for maintenance access. Bounding up the stairs we passed through the door that led to and out into the pouring rain.

Very nice, thank you, Yuri. If my hair frizzed up from this I was going to beat her to death with the nearest blunt object. I followed her as she walked to the edge of the building. The wind and rain whipped around us. Even a dunce like me could figure out what Yuri was thinking at this point. We activated our Grav-Packs and I gripped the plasma rifle.

"Ready?" Yuri inquired, her dark hair clinging to her face from the downpour.

"Let's do it!" I responded as I jumped from the edge of the building and into the air.

As we crossed the distance up to the central tower I took care of the approaching ATCs. We could thank my incomparable marksmanship for keeping us safe. This was like shooting fish in a barrel, all I had to do was blast their Grav-Packs and they went pummeling down like little bombs, exploding on impact. Of course, they caught onto my little game eventually and started firing back. Not that I minded the increased difficulty, wouldn't be fun without a little challenge.

A group of three androids were approaching from the left, the central robot's chest was opening up preparing to fire its missile. The perfect opening to take out three bird with one stone. I fired my rifle, a direct hit! The robot in the middle exploded taking out its little buddies with it before falling to the ground in a fiery heap.

"We're almost there! I can see the Chief." Yuri shouted in the distance.

"Eat this you goofy looking pieces of scrap!" I laughed as I took another android down.

The windows to CEO Beryl's enormous office had all been blown away in the scuffle, which worked for us since it would allow us to fly right in and join our teammates. As we prepared to touchdown I heard Yuri scream. One of the ATC's lasers had connected with her arm knocking Nanmo out of her grasp. Panicked mechanical noises coming from the small robot as it plummeted to the ground.

I took off after it. Quickly recovering, Yuri followed right after. I didn't think she would be too hurt since the polymer armor of our uniforms could easily resist laser fire. I swerved in and out of the lasers blasts like a born acrobat. Nanmo was nearly within reach, I stretched out my arm and snatched the small robot by one of its red feet. Spinning around in the air I could see a vast number of ATCs approaching. As quickly as my wings could carry me I raced towards the CEO's office.

Yuri and I came barreling in with a less than graceful landing. Nanmo fell from my grip when I hit the ground and rolled across the room landing on its back, its little feet kicking in the air. Mughi was certainly happy to see us, he wasted no time rushing over to nuzzle and lick my face.

"Glad you could make it." Gooley smirked clearing his throat, he was down to his undershirt open just enough to show off the chest hair glistening on his muscles.

At the same time we crawled to our feet, Nanmo managed to flip itself back over. Clutching my rifle, I went to the windows edge.

"They are right behind us, get ready."

Just as I finished warning them a barrage of laser fire whizzed past my face. Had I been standing any closer I would have lost my cute little button nose. I yowed as I jumped back, regrouping with the others. I aimed my plasma rifle at the first smiling robot that appeared in the window. Without further provocation needed, we all opened fire blasting it back out of the window. The onslaught was overwhelming, as soon as we would take one down two more seemed to take its place.

"There seems to be no end to them." Yuri said firing off her ray gun.

"How many we talkin', Gooley?" I inquired giving him a sideways glance ad I blasted one of the androids in the face.

Gooley shifted uncomfortably under my glance. "A hundred, they were running a special." He admitted sheepishly.

"We've got to cut them off before they can get in here." Yuri said rushing to the window.

Reaching into her holster, Yuri produced the Bloody Card. With a flick of her hand, she sent it flying into the darkness of the storm. The silver streak sent sparks flying as it severed the flying apparatuses of the grinning machines. One by one the card dropped the ATCs to the ground, though they were still getting in. The fact of the matter was there was just too many of them.

"I'm out!" I reported as I fired the last round of the plasma rifle and switching to my heat gun.

There was only so much the six of us could do, the exhaustion of the day couldn't help but start to set in and we were rapidly running out of ammo. Even the normally lightning quick Mughi was panting and drooping as he tossed one of the ATCs into the wall.

"We are going to have to fall back." Chief Soranaka said to the woman dressed in red next to him.

I turned my attention away from the onslaught just long enough to look back at the CEO, she couldn't be serious? This was it? The end of the 3WA? While I was so wrapped up in my own selfish thoughts an ATC slipped past me and fired its weapon. The beam caught Chief Gooley in the left shoulder tossing him to the ground.

"Chief!" Yuri and I screamed almost in unison.

As we rushed to Gooley's side, we quickly took out the ATC with a few more than necessary shots to the head. The shot missed his lung but just barely. He was going to need medical attention as soon as possible.

"We have no choice then." Beryl said, her voice showing the first sign of emotion since I met her. "Shutting down the Central Computer will also severe the link with the ATCs."

"You mean, it will shut them all down?" I questioned as Yuri used her holster to bandage Gooley's wound.

CEO Beryl nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" I asked climbing back to my feet.

We used our remaining ammo to keep the never-ending androids at bay long enough to allow CEO Beryl to get us access to the Central Computer, after punching a code into a panel on her desk the ornate double doors behind her desk slid open revealing a long corridor.

"This way." She instructed coldly as she led us into the hallway.

The CEO waited by the console until we had all entered and set the lock behind us. The sound of the androids firing at the doors was faint behind the heavy metal. It would keep them out for now, but who knew for how long. Beryl strolled past us taking the lead as we walked to the end of the corridor where another set of massive metal doors awaited us.

Using a hand and retinal scan the CEO opened the doors to a large cylindrical room with a massive circular console in the center. Above the console was what I could only describe as a holographic featureless man with data streams circling around him monitoring several dozen screens.

"This is the Central Computer of the 3WA." CEO Beryl introduced.

The holographic humanoid got down on one knee so that it was more eye level, or well you know what I mean since this thing had no eyes.

"Greetings. You must be my Lovely Angels. I am so pleased to officially make your acquaintance." The androgynous voice of the computer spoke. "Tell me, what brings you to my chambers?"

"Well, see." I started, I didn't know what to say; I felt kind of silly talking to a computer.

"Hello, Mr. Central Computer. My name is Yuri." She interrupted with a polite tone.

"Of course, Yuri. How may I assist you?" The computer responded with a jovial tone.

"Well, see you may have noticed you have the teensiest of problems." Yuri said bringing her hands into the prayer position.

"Ah yes, the interlopers." The Central Computer responded moving back into a standing position. "They have become quite a nuisance."

"Right, so we need to have you take a little nap so that we can get rid of them." I added gaining a bit of gumption.

"This does not seem objectionable." It responded.

In the distance, we could hear the sounds of the first set of doors blowing open followed shortly after by gunshots at the doors separating us from them. Nanmo looked at us and tilted its body in confusion as it garbled some nonsense.

CEO Beryl walked over to the console and produced two of the kill drives. You could see a trace of remorse on her face as she inserted them into the triangular port. The transparent figure of the Central Computer turned and brought its gaze down to the CEO.

"Oh, I see." It said flatly.

"Please understand. We have no choice." Beryl said averting her gaze. "Girls, the third drive."

My heart felt heavy as I walked over to Nanmo and held out my hand. I mean, I had barely gotten to know the Central Computer and here we were killing it, worse even, it knew we were about to kill it. Nanmo acknowledged my requested and opened its secret compartment containing the drive. Before I could take it, an explosion erupted through the room blowing the doors wide open. ATCs began storming in.

"Don't let any of them touch the console!" CEO Beryl commanded as she took up her gun and fired shot after shot at the robots entering the room.

We did our best to hold them at bay, Mughi took the perimeter of the console using his special abilities to hold them off and highjack the weapons of any of the androids that got too close. We four humans were doing our best to stop them from entering, but it wasn't enough. Mughi used one of the ATC's missiles and fired it at the door severely slowing them down but not stopping them completely.

My heat gun clicked as I pulled the trigger, I was out of ammo. I wasn't going to let that stop me, though. I used the moment Mughi created for us to try and find the kill drive. I dropped to my hands and knees did a quick search but found nothing.

Both Nanmo and the drive were gone.

The feeling of dread washed over me as I realized this was the end. Yuri tossed her gun aside, also out of ammo. Mughi was doing his best to hold on but using his powers like this was draining him quickly. I could only watch helplessly as the ATCs stormed in the room and to the console. Part of me wanted to close my eyes so that I wouldn't see the gruesome end we were all about to face but as well know I was tougher than that.

I kept watching, I watched as the glowing eyes of the assaulting robots faded away and they fell to the ground completely immobile.

I rose to my feet in confusion.

On the console standing next to the three inserted kill drives was a small, white, egg-shaped robot making a happy chirping noise.

EPILOGUE

"This is Cory Emerson, we are outside the complex of the Worlds Welfare Work Association. We are here with the CEO herself, Ms. Beryl. With her are the two trouble consultants responsible for averting this crisis, Kei and Yuri of the Lovely Angels!" Cory's tone was perky despite her apparent injuries.

Ugh! I hated that they didn't give us any time to freshen up before throwing us to the sharks. I was gonna have to appear on galactic wide vidstream looking like this! My hair was a curly fuzz ball wreck! I would never forgive Cory for this.

Touma and Gooley were being wheeled into the ambulance behind us. Their injuries were pretty severe, but they would survive. No matter how pissed I was at Gooley for his hair-brained dumb ass scheme I didn't want the guy to die.

"Thank you, Ms. Emerson." The CEO said stonily.

"Can you tell us what happened here today? Cory asked extending the handheld mic our way.

"The Worlds Welfare Work Association was subject to a terrorist act, one that used our own tools against us. Thanks to the valiant efforts of some of our top trouble consultants we were able to avert the crisis before it escalated beyond unimaginable proportions." The CEO explained not allowing us the chance.

"Reports are saying that over a hundred trouble consultants have been killed during the incident, many more wounded. Some may say that the notorious Dirty Pair are responsible for th-"Cory began.

"Enough! That is quite enough of that nonsense. The Lovely Angels are two of our top trouble consultants and they risk their lives on a daily basis to protect the United Galactica from the genocidal and apocalyptic threats. I assure you, if not for their efforts none of us would be standing here today. Now, you WILL show them some respect!" CEO Beryl interrupted forcefully. "While the Worlds Welfare Work Association recoups from this little incident, the Lovely Angels and the rest of our hard-working trouble consultants are going to be taking a well-deserved vacation. But I can assure you and the rest of the United Galactica that we will be fully operational in no time."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was beaming with pride. Take that all you naysayers!

"Well you heard it here first, that concludes tonight special live feed of CORY! Join us next time. Byeeee!"

END

DIRTY PAIR

SIDE STORY: INVISIBLE ADVERSARY

CHAPTER 1

Lovely Angel – Turmeenah Quadrant 02.25.2141

Kei here. So, here's the deal. As I am sure you already know, my partner Yuri and I are trouble consultants for the criminal division of the Worlds Welfare Work Association or 3WA for short. The best actually. As usual, we had just selflessly risked our lives completing a case, just another day in the life. No need to thank me. Anyway, we were tasked with recovering some stolen property. Sounds easy enough, right? I wish.

A few days ago Maya Laboratories petitioned the 3WA to recover one of the prototypes of one of their projects that had been stolen, codename: Gonta. The case itself wasn't too difficult. As we all had suspected, it was a rival company that stole the prototype. They just couldn't prove it. That's where we came in. Well, we managed to get the thing back and, to no fault of our own, the rival company was a little bit completely destroyed by a freak accident that left a couple thousand people dead. That's not the weird part though, that kinda thing happens to us a lot actually.

The really weird thing is that this entire time this prototype thingy was described to us as a military project, some sort of new weapon. What is actually was is a bio-engineered creature that looked like something you would see in one of those kid's monster shows that used to be so popular. This thing looked like a squatty rotund otter that got hit by a truck. It had buggy eyes and a huge mouth full of thick sharp cyan colored fangs. Its fur was a burgundy type color with dark stripes running through it and a big bushy tail. I must admit, at first I thought it was hideous but it's so ugly that now I actually think it's kinda cute.

Well, with the mission accomplished we were headed back to Maya labs to return this Gonta thing to the scientists there. This would be pretty routine normally.

Not this time.

As luck would have it, Yuri and I both contracted something while on this mission. I don't know if it was a cold or the flu but we were sick, like puking our guts out sick. Normally if we got a bug like this we could just go to a medical facility and they would eliminate the cause within minutes and you would leave feeling good as new. But for now, we were in the middle of nowhere, unable to stop anywhere because it would be a breach of security protocol or some crap like that. This meant we had to wait until we got back to Lyonesse and had no choice but to just suffer through it until then. We were only halfway there and we still had another twelve hours to go and let me tell you, Yuri and I had gotten on each other's last nerve within the first couple of hours.

It was going to be a long flight.

I was seated at the bar of the Lovely Angel's kitchenette. It goes without saying, I looked rough. I know it's hard to imagine a galactic goddess like me looking anything less than perfect but today was an exception. I was in my pajamas, well to clarify that by pajamas I meant a halter top and boxer-style shorts, with a big comforter wrapped around me. My hair was a mess, I hadn't straightened it since yesterday and the curly poof was starting to form, normally I wouldn't be caught dead with my natural curls but I didn't care today. I can assure you, no matter how bad I looked on the outside I felt exponentially worse on the inside. My glands were swollen, my fever kept me alternating between hot and cold, I was congested to the point where I only had one semi-functional nostril left. My throat hurt, my muscles hurt, my head hurt.

The end was near, I could tell.

Just when I had started to lose myself in my own self-pity, Yuri emerged from the bathroom and suddenly I felt much better about myself. She had just spent the last fifteen minutes or so presumably dry heaving into the toilet, I am guessing since at this point neither one of us had anything left in our stomachs and keeping anything down was not happening. Her normally snow white complexion was flushed and pink, her long dark hair tied into a messy braid. Our sweet little Yuri looked like a wilted flower in her long sleeve pajama top hanging nearly to her knees with a pair of fuzzy black kitty slippers on her feet that I had nicknamed her Mughi slippers.

Speaking of, I hadn't seen that big furball recently. Not that I blamed him. The way Yuri and I were sniping at each other, I would want to get out of the line of fire if I were him too. He was most likely hiding out in some part of the ship's underbelly doing 'repairs' and hiding out.

Typical man.

Yuri slinked her way over to me, groaning and gurgling the entire way.

"Is there any of the mucokinetics expectorant left?" She asked, her normally already annoying soprano voice was now made all the more grating with the congestion and consistent whine that accompanied everything she said.

I was done with than incessant whining.

It just so happened I was holding the medicine Yuri asked about in my hand, she could see I was holding it, she could clearly see there was enough for one more dose in the bottle, and yet she still asked me that stupid question anyway. So to teach her a lesson, I brought the bottle to my lips and chugged down the last of it even though I had just taken a dose a few moments ago.

"Nope, all gone." I responded, my voice was raspy from the sore throat.

"Ohh!" Yuri grumbled. "You are just awful, Kei. My nose is stuffy too, you know!" She huffed.

I didn't respond, I just rolled my eyes with self-satisfaction. Who cares about her problems? I had my own problems to deal with. Besides, she had it coming. Earlier that day she used up all of the bismuth subsalicylate without a second thought for my needs and on top of that, she had been hogging the heating pad all day! My chest needed heat too!

This was war. Every gal for herself!

With another huff, Yuri turned and walked away. I narrowed my eyes at her with an unexplainable annoyance as she made her way to the other side of the bar into the kitchen. I watched her grab her mug before turning to the automated drink processor. She punched in her choice and placed the mug under the spigot. Within seconds a steaming golden brown liquid was pouring into her cup. Once the processor had finished she brought the mug to her lips and blew gently on the beverage before taking a satisfied sip and making this obnoxious purring sound.

"Do you have to be so damn annoying?!" I snapped.

Yuri just looked at me with shock on her face. Her slate blue eyes looking like a deer in the headlights from my sudden accusation. She quickly narrowed her eyes and with a spiteful look on her face took another exaggerated sip really playing up the purr.

Oh, you vindictive…

"What is that? Another Hot Toddy? What is that, like your fourth or fifth one today?" I asked with a snide tone.

"What does it matter!?" She snapped back.

"Just saying that's a lot of whiskey for someone who can't handle their liquor." I volleyed back with a matter of fact tone.

"That is about enough, Kei! Do you have any idea how many of these I have had to drink just to put up with your crap!? Well, I am not going to do it anymore! Why are you being so damn mean to me?!" Yuri slammed her mug down on the counter spilling a good portion of her hot drink on the bar as she yelled into my face.

Nobody gets in my face and gets away with it. She had a lot of nerve, probably from all the whiskey. I rose from the bar stool and got right back in her face.

"Because! I don't feel good and being mean to you is the only thing that makes me feel better!" I screamed.

Yuri just let out a frustrated scream at my answer and turned to face away from me. Having won our little tiff I decided to rub it in with a victory laugh.

"Haha, hack uck uck!" I started to gloat before my laugh was interrupted by a coughing fit.

"That's so gross Kei, at least cover your mouth with a tissue." Yuri replied over her shoulder with a disgusted tone as she plucked a tissue from the receptacle and handed it to me.

I couldn't tell if it was the fever or her uppity attitude but I was hot. I snatched the tissue out of her hand and blew my nose into filling it with a good glob of mucus before balling it up and placing it back in her hand. Yuri squealed and dropped the snotty ball onto the floor before shaking her hand and marching over to the sink to wash her hands.

"You disgusting, classless, dumpster person!" She muttered as she scrubbed her hands vigorously.

"Serves you right." I said smugly as I walked over to the living room area.

My blanket dragged on the ground behind me and I slinked over to the sofa and plopped myself down and grabbed the remote. I turned on the holo-screen and flipped through the channels until I came across an MMA cage fight. It looked like a good one too, one of the combatants was already covered in blood and sweat. I snuggled into my warm cozy blanket ready to watch the cute men pulverize each other.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Yuri's voice sounded from behind me.

Marching over from the kitchen, Yuri grabbed up the remote and switched stations to some droll sounding narrator going on about some bullshit before sitting herself down on the other side of the couch.

"You had the holo-screen all morning. It's my turn, and we are watching this riveting documentary on Madame Marie Curie that I have been dying to see." She informed me.

"Oh, you're gonna die alright if you don't give me back the remote!" I sat up with a furious vigor.

"What's the matter, dear? Afraid of a little culture? Worried it might kill you to not be a ruthless brute for a few hours?" Yuri asked with a snarky tone.

"You wanna see brute?!" I shouted as I lunged out of my blanket and off the couch.

As I rushed toward her, Yuri squealed and put up one of her Mughi slippered feet to hold me at bay. She was gonna have to do better than that if she wanted to stop me.

"Give me the remote!" I commanded as I attempted to shove past her foot and crawl over to the remote control she had extended as far away from my grasp as she could manage.

"Get off me Kei. I am not sitting through another unnecessarily violent fight. We are watching Madame Curie!" Yuri squeaked as he fought off my attempts at the remote.

"Over my dead body!" I rebutted as I doubled my efforts to get the remote.

Somehow, Yuri managed to throw me off and tossed me back to the other side of the couch back into my blankie. She slid herself to the floor. Before I could throw the comforter off and recover she started crawling back towards the kitchen. Finally freeing myself from my restraints I got up to chase her. Yuri had managed to get back onto her feet now and was holding the remote above her head. I stopped. The two of us in a standoff, both breathing heavily, this physical excretion had really taken a toll on us in our ill state.

"Give it here and I will let you live." I bargained with her.

"No!" she said defiantly as she could through her congestion.

I growled in anger, I was too sick for this kind of crap! Her stupid rebellious face as she held up the remote. I had it, officially. I charged at Yuri with the remaining strength I had left. Just before tackling her to the ground, Yuri squealed and in a panic tossed the remote. After we both had toppled to the ground we turned to see the remote had connected with the wall shattering into little pieces and turning off the holo-screen.

"Way to go, Yuri! Now neither of us can watch vidstream!" I barked accusingly on top of her.

"Me!" Yuri responded in shock and she wriggled out from under me. "What choice did I have with a violent psychopath rushing at me?!"

I was about to argue with her further when I heard something crash on the other side of the door leading to the bedroom.

"What was that?" Yuri asked worriedly.

"It was probably just Mughi getting into something." I offered. Another crash sounded after I said it.

"Well, go look." Yuri shoved me.

I growled a low grumble and I rose to my feet and started to the bedroom. Yuri stood up and was following close behind me.

I turned back to her with a worried look on my face, she gave me a look of encouragement and another gentle shove.

Cautiously I reached out and activated the door. As the metal doors slid open and the lights turned on Yuri let out a scream!

CHAPTER 2

"What the hell!?" I exclaimed hoarsely

The room was an absolute wreck! It was like looking into the scene of a robbery. Both of our beds had been ransacked, lamps shattered, my nightstand knocked to the ground, both of our dressers had been toppled over, and our clothes strung throughout the room. I considered immediately running for my gun. After all, these were heavy metal dressers, easily 250lbs each, to knock them over we were dealing with someone strong.

But who? If someone was on the ship then she would have notified us. Was Mughi pissed off about something? We figured he was hiding out but he had never done anything as spiteful as this before. We did just break his precious and most favorite thing in the universe though, so perhaps this was a vengeance thing.

After shrieking at the mess, Yuri snuck up behind me and peeked over my shoulder.

"Look at that mess!" Was all she had to say.

"You're kidding me, right?" I turned to her with a skeptical look on my face. Jeez, get it together. We had bigger problems on our hand, girl. Like whoever made this mess.

Yuri was not impressed with my attitude, her whole demeanor shifted at my question. Her shoulders dropped and her expression became blank.

"Oh excuse me, I know that you might be used to living like a slovenly swine but some of us prefer things to be tidy."

"Oh no! I wouldn't want a little mess to upset your delicate sensibilities." I responded sarcastically.

"For you to be considerate of someone else's feelings other than your own would be a miracle!" She shouted back.

"Oh, spank me, whip me, 'cause I'm insensitive." I rolled my eyes and snorted.

"What you do in your free time is none of my business." Yuri quipped.

I was about to respond when a faint sound stirred up from the bedroom.

"Quiet." I hushed placing my hand over Yuri's open yap.

I could feel her getting angrier the longer I held my hand there, but my attention was focused on listening for whatever made that sound before. My eyes scanned the room before I discovered the culprit. I took my hand from Yuri's mouth and motioned for her to be quiet before I directed her attention to the pile of clothes near her bed. Something was moving under the pile, I could see a lump shifting and stirring. I grabbed Yuri's hand and led her slowly into the bedroom, the sound of our approaching footsteps caused the lump to halt. My partner and I exchanged a concerned look before resuming our approach.

Once I was in arms reach I slowly stretched out my hand towards the laundry. I could feel Yuri's grip tightening on my shoulders. With one deep breath, I reached out and tossed the clothes into the air. Yuri squealed and pulled me back as a small animal darted away once it was exposed. We crouched down in the middle of the room as we watched it clumsily dart about knocking things over and making an even bigger mess. Searching for another hiding spot, it scurried up Yuri's nightstand and ducked into the drawer before peeking its head out.

Oh my gawd, it was that Gonta thingy!

"Kei! Take those off of its head this instant!" Yuri commanded blushing.

On its head was a pair of Yuri's panties. Though one of the leg holes it spotted us with one of its bug eyes. The small creature smiled a wide toothy smile and made a sound that almost sounded like a mischievous giggle before ducking back into the nightstand.

Well, he was corned now.

"I'll grab him, you get a pillowcase or something ready to put him in." I instructed Yuri.

How the hell did this thing get out anyway? We had him in a metal cage, securely locked. Well, there was no point worrying about the why. I crept over to the nightstand. This thing wasn't so great at hiding, its bushy broom like tail was sticking straight up in the air. It must not be very smart. I looked back to see Yuri had secured a pillowcase, as you might have guessed she chose one of mine. Of course. I rolled my eyes again before turning back to Gonta.

With one swift motion, I reached in and grabbed it by its midsection and pulled it out.

Holy crap! This thing was strong! A hell of a lot stronger than it looked. It was starting to make sense how it could knock over our dressers. I struggled to hold on as this hairy ball of rage struggled and squirmed to break free of my grip.

"Hurry, Kei!" Yuri pressed holding out the pillowcase.

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" I sniped as I struggled to hold on and avoid teeth and claws.

Once I was close enough, I tossed the little monster into the pillowcase and Yuri quickly held it shut. I am glad to report that worked all of five seconds before the wriggly little terror tore through the fabric of the pillowcase and darted out of the bedroom. It had disappeared around the corner before we could even start to chase it.

Damn, fast and strong.

"Nice job, Yuri. You let it get away!" I accused.

"Me?! I uhh!" She tried to counter but was too flummoxed.

Not that it mattered, I was already pulling her into the living room. We were too late, that little mutant had escaped us. My head was spinning from the fever and rush of activity. Things were looking a bit woozy as I scanned the living area of the Lovely Angel, it almost felt like I had one too many Bim Sodas. Not that I had, Yuri was the one boozing it up all morning.

"We should split up." I offered.

"Actually, I am going to call Dr. Pelekai. I will try and find out a little bit more about this thing." Yuri countered as she pulled up her holo-computer and made the call.

After a few moments, a bespectacled woman appeared on the screen. It was Dr. Pelekai, the director of the Gonta project. I recognized her from our briefing session. She pushed her glasses up on her nose as she answered. She was in her early forties, though you would never tell by looking at her, her caramel complexion didn't have a blemish or wrinkle in sight though she did have a bit of a middle age spread setting in. Her hair was a wild mane of tight dark curls.

"Oh, Yuri. It's you." I couldn't tell if it was a question or a statement.

One of her trademarks I had noticed. I wasn't sure if it was because she was so scatterbrained or if it was because her focus was being pulled in so many directions but she acted like she didn't have a clue what was going on pretty much all of the time.

"Hello, Dr. Pelekai. Thank you for taking my call." Yuri tried to sound like her usual sweet self but the congestion just made her sound ridiculous.

"Oh. You look awful." Dr. Pelekai stated bluntly.

Yuri was visibly shaken by the doctor's statement but quickly shook it off. Meanwhile, I busied myself looking for our little trouble maker.

"Haha, yes well." Yuri laughed uncomfortably as she recovered. "The reason I am calling is, see well. We had to let Gonta out of its cage for a bit and we are having some struggles getting him back in."

I peered under the sofa. Nope, not there.

"Oh, yeah, that would be difficult." She responded nonchalantly.

Not in the hall cupboard.

"Do you maybe have any advice for us?" Yuri pressed politely.

"Oh, well Gonta is designed to be a military weapon. It is essentially a perfect being. It is able to lift ten times its own body weight and move at speeds up to sixty miles per hour. Quite fascinating really, considering that is has been designed to require very little outside sustenance to maintain its energy levels. Though the drawback to that is it has a delicate metabolism and can't break down certain toxins. Other than that he is, in fact, the perfect being. Oh, and it is quite self-aware. Though the brain is only the size of a kumquat it is able to process information on the level of a small child…" Dr. Pelekai rambled on monotonously.

Not in the kitchen cabinets. It wouldn't be in the fridge, would it?

"That is delightful, you must be quite proud." Yuri laughed awkwardly again.

"Once you get it back to us it will revolutionize military combat." Pelekai continued on.

I opened the door to the fridge slowly.

"It can withstand extreme temperatures so it's perfect for any type of terrain."

"MAHHHHH!" Gonta screeched.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed back as I saw the pudgy little creature sitting on the shelf of the fridge, its face covered in whip cream from the can it was holding.

I quickly slammed the door before it could escape. I pressed my back to the door struggling to keep it closed as it bounced around trying to break free. I could hear it gnawing and throwing itself against the walls. It was taking everything I had to keep the large appliance upright.

"Kei, do you mind? I am trying to talk to the doctor." Yuri turned to me with an annoyed look on her face. "You were saying?"

Thanks a lot, partner.

The doctor prattled on about the aspects of this creature, most of it went right over my head. Too much technical jargon for my taste. One thing was for certain, I wasn't going to be able to hold it for long.

"Yuri! Find out this thing's weakness or its off button or something!" I said as I continued to struggle, a small clawed paw had slipped out and was furiously swiping at me.

"Say, doctor, umm just out of curiosity how would one subdue a Gonta? Hypothetically, that is." Yuri fibbed.

"You mean weaknesses? Oh no, it doesn't have any of those. As I said this creature was designed to be perfect." Pelekai responded a bit flabbergasted.

"Perfect pain in my ass." I said under my breath as a claw reached out and narrowly missed my face.

Even if I had been in my top perfectly healthy from I wouldn't have been able to hold this thing for much longer than I had. But as it were my aching muscles eventually gave out and Gonta burst free from his chilly containment.

"Get back here you little pest!" I growled as I grabbed a frying pan and chased after it.

Yuri laughed nervously and continued to adjust her holo-computer so that Dr. Pelekai couldn't see me chasing and taking swings at her experiment.

"Got ya now!" I announced as I chased the creature into the bathroom.

"It will wear itself out within a few hours, you will be fine." The doctor informed us.

"Ha! No escaped now!" I yelled as I corned Gonta on the counter of the bathroom.

The creature shifted nervously looking for the best way to escape, but I had him. There was no getting past me. If he wanted out, he was going to have to go through me!

Unfortunately for me, it must have been thinking the same thing. With another screech, the sharp-toothed mammal lunged at me. Catching my breath in my chest I instinctively took a swing with my frying pan. It was a direct hit! The pan slammed into Gonta sending him flying towards the toilet. It landed in the toilet bowl. While it struggled to get back upright I quickly rushed over and lowered the seat and sat on top, trapping it.

"Gotcha!"

"Well, you will be fine as long as Gonta doesn't get wet, you will want to make sure it avoids water at all costs." I heard Dr. Pelekai tell Yuri.

"Uh oh." I muttered under my breath as I heard the creature stop struggling and start making strange noises from inside the toilet bowl.

CHAPTER 3

"Uhhh, Yuri!" I yelled nervously. "Yuri, get your big butt in here!"

"Thank you for your time doctor, gotta go!" Yuri cut Dr. Pelekai off midsentence and closed down her holo-computer before rushing into the bathroom.

I was still sitting on the toilet when Yuri rounded the corner into the bathroom.

"Oh, Kei! What did you do now?!" Yuri scolded, placing her hands on her hips.

I rose up from my seated position and walked over to my raven hair friend.

"I uhh." I started.

Before I could come up with something decent to say, a wet little paw reached out from the bowl followed shortly after by a mound of matted fur. Gonta fell to the ground in a splashy heap. It was moving slowly now, far more labored. It rose until it was standing on all fours and stared at us. Its left bug eye twitched as its body convulsed. Its head jerked to the side and the convulsion became more violent. An unsettling sound began to rumble up from inside it. It sounded like its giggle from before but slower and much creepier if I might say.

Yuri and I had grabbed onto each other without realizing it as we watched the wet mutant go into full, violent, convulsions as it started to grow. You couldn't really tell at first but then it suddenly started to happen more quickly. We just stared in horror as we watch this thing grow to about four times its normal size. Its entire form had changed, the best way I could describe what this thing morphed into would be to compare it to a furry piranha with unsettlingly strong looking legs. Its cyan colored teeth bulged out of its face as it roared at us.

We were full on hugging each other now as our screams mixed with the roar.

Okay, it was time to get my gun. And where the hell was Mughi!? I released Yuri and went towards the door. With another drooly snarl, Gonta intercepted by leaping between me and the door. Its long teal tongue lapped out like a serpent and licked its own eye. I held my repulsion and I tried to figure out a plan B. We were pretty defenseless, this was a bathroom after all. So with my options limited I grabbed the handheld showerhead and aimed it at Gonta.

"What are you going to do with that?!" Yuri asked between gritted teeth.

"Uh, well." I responded lacking my usual confidence, damn illness.

"Water is what caused this problem in the first place!"

"Well, maybe another shower with reverse it?"

"Or make it bigger!"

"You don't know that!" I gripped the shower head tighter.

"Do you REALLY want to take that chance?!"

Damn it! I hated when she was right. I dropped the nozzle and looked around for something else to defend myself with. I grabbed the only other thing within arm's reach, the plunger.

"Brilliant." Yuri rolled her eyes.

This would have to do as Gonta chose to make its move. It charged at us with another violent roar. Yuri and I ducked out of the way letting it smash into the counters. Yuri ran out of the room ahead of me and I was about to follow right after her. However, Gonta was back on its feet and ready to charge again.

It came at me, jaws open wide, its long tongue flapping behind it. Before dodging, I lodged the plunger in its open mouth giving me the chance to slip out while it struggled to close its maw. The plunger snapped from the pressure just as I made it out of the bathroom to see Yuri waving me from the doorway to the weapon's hanger. Glad she was on the same page as I was.

Let me get my heat gun and we will see who's laughing last you little fur beast!

My feet slipped as I rushed over to Yuri, man this sickness was really taking its toll on me. Gonta had grown just a bit too wide for the door and was struggling to push its large frame through the bathroom door. Fine by me, this gave us a few precious seconds to get down the hallway and into the hanger. We had made it about halfway down the hall by the time Gonta managed to wriggle its way through the door and started after us.

Thankfully we have adrenaline for moments like this. Yuri and I started running at a speed that I bet could have shattered records. We opened the hanger door and slipped through with Gonta inches away from us. The last thing we saw before shutting and locking the door was a mouth full of sharp blue teeth. We rested against the door to catch our breaths as Gonta smashed into it. After recovering he continued to tackle and claw at the door.

We had to move fast.

I wasted no time heading to the weapons locker and snatching up my favorite, the heat gun.

"Kei, no!" Yuri snapped. "Use your head, we can't kill it."

"And why the hell not!?" I snapped back.

Yuri groaned. "They are expecting that thing back in one piece. If we kill it then this mission is a failure. What about our record?"

"What about our lives?" I countered.

She was right though. That 100% of our cases solved record was our biggest saving grace against the backlash of our tragic luck. If we tarnished that record we really would just be two blood hungry bimbos in skimpy outfits slowly causing the genocide of the human race.

I slunk down in defeat. "Okay, what do you suggest then? That door isn't going to hold that thing much longer."

"Nonlethal only." Yuri corrected as she handed me the grav-grenade launcher.

Fun sucker.

With a deep exaggerated sigh, I took the launcher from Yuri. Meanwhile, this little hypocrite went straight for her beam sword.

"Hey! Nonlethal only!" I called her out.

Yuri made a big show of holding up the hilt and adjusting the settings before pressing the button causing a jolt of electricity to spark.

"It doubles as a taser, big mouth. You would know this if you didn't immediately go for the weapon that causes the most damage."

"Better shut your mouth before I test it out on you!" I threatened.

The door to the hangers made a horrible screeching sound as a large set of claws wedged between them forcing them apart. A massive bulgy-eyed head with a whipping tongue appeared right behind it.

Crap! He was getting through.

Yuri and I hurried over to the opposite side of the hanger and prepared ourselves. Gonta wasted no time thrashing and pushing itself through the door to get to me and my partner. Its eyes danced around wildly as if it was driven by a purely destructive instinct. I swear if Yuri makes any sort of comparison to me and this savaged beast I will scalp her in her sleep.

Breaking into the room, Gonta stopped in the middle of the room and looked back and forth at us, as if it were contemplating which one it wanted to eat first. It was no surprise that it chose me first, I mean could you blame it? Even sick as a dog I was still looking like a scrumptious snack. Literally.

Gonta charged at me, Yuri chasing behind it. I slipped out of the way just in time to let its massive frame smash into the wall. Yuri took this opportunity to zap it with the taser. Gonta yowed from the electric current but it didn't seem to do much more than piss it off.

Guess it was my turn.

Ushering Yuri out of the way, I fired one of the gravity grenades at the furry beast struggling to turn itself around. The gravity field immediately pinned it to the ground. Its wild eyes and revolting tongue spun about wildly as it struggled from the force immobilizing it.

"We need to think of something, there has to be a way to stop this thing!" I shouted at Yuri as I witnessed the beast start to pull itself upright against the gravitational pull.

I could see Yuri's mind calculating and working on something, it was written all over her face. After a few brief seconds, her eyes lit up. She had something.

"Hold it here." She instructed as she bounded out of the room.

"But." Was all I could get out before she had disappeared from sight.

Crap, crap, shit, crap.

That was about all my sick mind could think of as I watched Gonta inch ever closer to me from beneath the dome of gravity. Yuri better hurry with whatever she had planned because I got nothing here. Yuri returned after a minute or so with another hot toddy in her hand.

"Are you kidding me!? You really think NOW is the time for a drink?" I screamed at the audacity of my partner.

"Just be quiet and disable the grenade on my command." Yuri commanded.

"Are you nuts?!" I rasped. This fever was getting worse.

"Just do it! Now!" She shouted.

I had no choice but to trust her. With another sigh and shake of my head I deactivated the grenade, dissipating the dome surrounding Gonta. Free from his restraints he went to lunge at once again but Yuri intercepted throwing the drink into its mouth. Gonta smashed the glass between its massive teeth and recoiled from the taste but shook it off and went back into its attack posture.

"Nice plan, Yuri." I said snarkily. I wasn't feeling good.

"Just wait." She said softly, keeping her eyes locked on Gonta. "Aha! Look!"

I turned my fuzzy vision to the assaulting animal, I tiled my head in confusion at what I was witnessing. The creature had started stumbling around struggling to keep its balance. Its eyes looked even more unfocused. Man, this thing was looking like I felt.

I felt my own eyes flutter and get heavier. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was Gonta collapse onto its side.

EPILOGUE

I woke up sometime after in my own bed, an ice pack on my head. I must have passed out from the fever. The room had been tidied up, or had it never been messed up at all? Oh hell, I didn't imagine the whole thing, did I? I received my answer when I noticed a snoring little furball passed out beside me. It was Gonta, he had reverted back to his original state.

"Oh, you're awake." Yuri said as she entered the bedroom followed by Mughi.

"What the hell happened? Where the hell have you been? What the hell is this thing doing in bed with me?" I asked in a confused flurry.

"Calm down. It is harmless, in fact, it is completely passed out. My estimation is it will be sleeping for the rest of the flight as well." Yuri reassured as Mughi strolled over and gave Gonta an unimpressed sniff.

"I found this one shortly after you passed out. Poor thing was crammed into one of the hanger storage lockers, my guess is Gonta there had something to do with it, judging from his reaction to seeing him." Yuri giggled as she continued.

Mughi turned away from the sleeping mutant with his nose in the air.

"How did you?" I asked slowly taking in Yuri's explanation.

"It was just a hunch going on what Dr. Pelekai said about Gonta's metabolism and inability to effectively break down toxins. I assumed that included a very low alcohol tolerance, and I was right." Yuri said awfully pleased with herself.

I sighed happily still pretty wiped out from the fever.

"Well, the ship is on autopilot. We should be arriving at our destination in a few hours. I was just about to crawl back into bed."

I pursed my lips in embarrassed shame. With a shrug of my shoulders I pulled her into the bed with me. "Thanks for taking care of me. And I am sorry or whatever for being such a brat."

Yuri giggled as she snuggled in next to me, careful not to crush the intoxicated monster. Not wanting to be left out, Mughi crawled up and curled himself into a big cat loaf on our feet.

"Apology accepted and I am sorry too. Let's make a vow to make a conscious effort to avoid killing each other the next time we get sick." Yuri giggled.

"Deal!"

I cuddled up next to my best friends and waited out the flight, I guess if I had to be sick I was doing it in some pretty good company.

END

DIRTY PAIR

Case 0221: TIES THAT BIND

PROLOGUE

It was pretty surprising that it only took around a few weeks for them to get the Worlds Welfare Work Association back up and running after the cyber-attack from Lucifer. They were able to restore the Central Computer to near full functionality using backup drives that had been stored off-site for security purposes. CEO Beryl's little speech on Cory's show had quite the impact. People were starting to show some support and faith in the organization again. We had even been hearing the term Dirty Pair a bit less, though not as little as I would have liked.

Lucifer had remained suspiciously quiet during this time, they must have come to a stalemate or moved onto something else. Even though we were on a paid leave we remained vigilant.

I never thought I would ever say this, but I was actually looking forward to getting back to work. The break started off nice. We hit up a local geno-spa, did some extensive shopping, got our wetwired implants some much-needed tune-ups, redecorated the loft, and hit the clubs every other night. But, the cabin fever set in quick. Yuri and I were getting on each other's nerves and bickering nonstop. So when the call finally came in from the chief I was elated.

The 3WA had been petitioned by Neo Cortez, CFO of the Metro ID Corporation. Metro ID was one of the largest transportation and shipping company in the United Galactica. Roughly 35% of all transported goods were done by their fleet of independently owned, pan-galactic, long haul service ships and their owners who are nicknamed truckers, for some reason. Long haul truckers are needed due to the simple fact that some items can't be taken through a warp drive, such as Ignoal.

The recently discovered compound known as Ignoal was very prolific find. Scientists have been able to utilize the normally liquid Ignoal's power by converting into a crystallized form appropriately called an Ignoal Crystal. Just one gem the size of a marble could keep a ship like the Lovely Angel flying for an entire month. However, in its raw form, it is highly unstable and incredibly powerful. Even the smallest drop could take out an entire city block if used improperly.

Metro ID jumped at the chance to profit from this new source of energy. Unfortunately, opportunistic pirates were just as eager. Which is exactly why Mr. Cortez hired the 3WA. He reported that they had already lost several million dollars' worth of Ignoal Fluid that had been pirated during their haul. Several of their truckers had even vanished during transport.

My first thought was to stay out of the pirate territory. Everyone knew that pirates operated on the borders of the United Galactica. I was quickly informed that this wasn't an option since the primary source of Ignoal Fluid resided near one of these borders.

Well, excuse me.

Piracy has been a persistent plague on the United Galactica, but one that the 3WA could do little about since they often operated outside of our jurisdiction. This was a chance to finally do something about it. The Central Computer assigned Yuri and yours truly to go undercover as a pair of truckers. Our mission was to act as bait for the pirates, infiltrate their organization and get to the root of this piracy ring and recover the lost Ignoal for Metro ID.

Easy, right?

CHAPTER 1

Gemerl Station – Orbiting planet Artio 11.21.2141

I would say it was closer to a waltz, I thought as I stared up at the two figures dancing in the empty white space above me and my partner. A fiery demon looking figure was leading a sapphire colored angel in a slow dance that filled me with an ominous feeling that I couldn't quite explain.

"Hey you two, save it for the boudoir. We are gettin' ready t'go." A gravelly voice spoke. It sounded as if it was miles away.

I snapped back to reality, my head still swirling as I came down. Yuri and I were amongst a stack of crates holding hands and just standing there like a pair of ninnies.

"Oh, uh, yeah, right." I laughed as I dropped Yuri's hands and shifted around uncomfortably.

Cut us some slack, dude. It's not like we can control when we get a vision. They just happen sometimes and when they do there is no ignoring them. Kinda like a sudden need to piss, it's coming whether you like it or not so better to just roll with it.

The well-seasoned grisly trucker just shook his head and walked away.

"What do ya make of that?" I asked as I adjusted my hat.

"Hard to say." Yuri responded pensively.

She was dressed in a white crop top, long sleeved, turtleneck and low rider jeans that flared at the bottom covering a pair of steel-plated boots. A matching white page boy hat sat at an angle on her head and she had accessorized the outfit with a deep pink chunky belt and similarly colored suspenders. It was a pretty cute and convincing look, I thought.

I was wearing a faded maroon set of overalls that I turned into a charming pair of daisy dukes by hacking off the legs. Over it, I wore a midriff cut bomber jacket with a wool collar and matched it with a pair of fingerless gloves and work boots. I pulled my hair into a short but sporty side ponytail and topped it off with a steel plated trucker hat. I was pretty proud, we managed to look the part without sacrificing any of our natural sexiness.

We had been undercover for about three days without a single clue or incident. I was starting to wonder if Metro ID hired us just for the extra labor. For the last few days, all we have done is move stacks of cargo from one ship to another. Rinse, lather, and repeat.

Yuri and I came up with the back story that we were just in this part-time and temporarily until we made enough to get back on our feet. This didn't stop the other guys from giving us a hard time when we arrived, we found out quickly what a territorial business trucking was. Not that I blamed them, being independently owned and operated these guys were constantly cutting each other's throats trying to get bids for work, metaphorically, of course. So it made sense that they would be instantly hostile towards new people. Especially two little girls with no prior training trying to cash in on their livelihood.

Thankfully, all my training and years of operating mechs finally came in handy. I was able to earn the respect of some of the more senior truckers by putting my skills to use. In fact, I had to hold back. Otherwise, I would have been working twice as fast as some of the others and we couldn't afford to show these tough guys up and risk pissing them off. Instead, Yuri and I just put our noses to the grindstone and pitched in wherever we could while being cautious not to step on anyone's toes.

When I felt that familiar warmth in my fingers I was hoping the vision was going to help point us in the right direction, but this had to be one of the more vague visions we had ever received. That was the trouble with our binary clairvoyance, it was just too damn unpredictable.

"Better get a move on girls, we got some new blood coming in today."

We turned to see our new friend Ash walking towards us. He was a mountain of a man, probably quite the force to be reckoned with in his day. But now he had settled into his middle age spread. He was probably in his 50's or 60's I guessed, never really asked him. Ash was kind of the boss of this station, not that there was a boss since the men all worked for themselves, but still, everyone seemed to listen when he spoke. He had that unspoken authority. Ash was the first one to defend us when we arrived at the station.

"Hey pops." I smarted off, he might have had everyone's reverence but that didn't mean I didn't like to give him a hard time.

"How many times have I told you not to call me pops, kid?" He responded gruffly.

"Probably as many times as I have told you not to call me kid." I gave him a gentle jab in the ribs with my elbow.

Yuri giggled at our little exchange. I could see why all the men looked up to him, even in the short time we had been here he already felt like a father figure. It probably helped that Ash reminded me a lot of my own father. Both were burly, hard-working men. My father, Clei, is a miner on my home planet of Niogi, though, probably three-quarters of the population are miners so I guess it's not that special. Niogi is a mining planet and still one of the prime sources of Vizorium. Both of my twin brothers, Jei and Tei, are miners as well. Though, sometimes I think they would have rather followed in our older brother's footsteps and gotten off of Niogi.

Ash jostled my cap in retaliation to my ribbing. "We still need these bins moved to the loading dock, why don't you kids get on it?"

"Yes, sir." Yuri and I said in unison with a mildly condescending tone.

With a jolly laugh, Ash went about his business leaving us to ours. I gave Yuri a smirk and a shrug before walking past her back to the crates. Stepping up to the loading mech, I pulled myself into the cockpit and flipped a few switches to start it up. The mechanical noises that awoke with it indicated that all systems were a go. I grasped the controls and started walking to the nearest stack. Yuri had her nose buried in her holo-pad reading through the order. Without even looking up, she pointed at three different stacks, indicating which ones we need. With a twist of the joystick, the clamp-like arms of the loading mech reached out and wrapped firmly around the sides of the cargo as I lifted it up. I followed Yuri to the cargo ship we had been given for this mission. It wasn't as nice as the Lovely Angel by any means but it was decent. Seeing some of the other trucker's ships told me it definitely could have been worse.

The cargo ship was a two-seat Carrier Class. It was roughly 100 meters in length, two large engines attached to the dome-like cargo area. Its saffron coloring had dulled from the years of wear. Like the Lovely Angel, it did have some cozy sleeping and recreational areas but most of the ship was reserved for storage. Because of its coloring and unique shape, it had been named Rumblebee. Cute, right?

After two or three more trips we finished loading up Rumblebee. Just in time for the newcomers to arrive. The recent disappearances of some of the other truckers had really left a gap in the workload. It caused a bit of a divide between the men that remained. Some relished the idea of having a surplus of jobs to choose from. Despite this, word did inevitably spread that there was work available here bringing in a new batch of contractors to pick up the slack.

Four new ships had docked in the empty bays and the truckers began to depart, no doubt ready to face a group of unfriendly competition. I shut down the loading mech and crawled out so that I could join Yuri in getting a look at the new guys. I slipped off my hat and wiped my brow before putting it back on. So far these guys were nothing to write home about, a bunch of walking, greasy potbellies mostly.

"Oh wow." Yuri said awestruck. "Look at him!"

Yuri was pointing at the man who had just hopped out of his ship with a love-struck admiration on her face. I darted my attention to the direction she was pointing, eager to see the guy that had her looking like a gushing school girl. I couldn't get a good look at him since he kept his back to us, but he could have been cute. He had curly hair with an undercut fade that flowed seamlessly into his beard. I was surprised to see that his hair was the same fiery hue as my own, a rare color in this galaxy. He was fairly tall and though he was wearing a dark navy colored jacket it didn't hide the massive muscles hidden underneath.

When he finally turned towards us giving me a good look at his face I felt like all the air had been sucked out of my body. I couldn't believe it! Without saying anything to Yuri I marched towards the man. As I got closer I shifted into a sprint.

"BREI!" I screamed.

The copper-haired man turned towards me as I called his name. His eyes widened as I opened my arms and wrapped them around his waist. He followed suit enfolding his tree trunk-sized arms around my shoulders.

"Smudge! What are you doing here!?"

Yuri had followed me over and had just arrived as we finished hugging. "Smudge?" She asked incredulously.

"Yuri! This is my big brother Brei! I have told you about him." I gushed as I introduced them.

I couldn't believe he was here. I could barely contain my excitement. I had always been super close to my oldest brother. Don't get me wrong I also loved my older twin brothers, but Brei was different. After our mom died he really stepped up. Even though he was only five years older than me he looked after us younger siblings. We knew dad had to keep working to keep food on the table so Brei made it his job to make us feel loved and making sure we were taken care of. He always took extra special care of me, possibly because I was the baby or because I was the only girl. Either way, we developed an unbreakable bond.

Brei just stood there staring at Yuri, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly ajar. I gave him a quick elbow to the arm snapping him back to reality.

"Oh, uh, so you're Yuri. Smudge here has told me all about you in her emails. She never mentioned how beautiful you are though." He said with a tinge of astonishment in his voice.

Yuri blushed and looked away embarrassed.

"My brother, always the charmer. Cut it out you're making her uncomfortable." I scolded.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Yuri said blushingly holding out her hand.

As Brei took her hand in his the two just froze up staring into each other's eyes. What was I seeing here? Whatever it was, I knew I didn't like it. I cleared my throat breaking up their little moment. They both gave a nervous laugh as they released their hands.

"So, really. What are you guys doing here? I saw you on Cory's show not long ago. Did you guys quit the 3WA?" Brei asked a little too loudly.

I tensed up as I shushed him by placing my hand over his mouth and pushing him away from prying ears to someplace we could talk a bit more privately.

"You suck! Would you keep it down?!" I hissed at him in hushed tones.

Brei looked back and forth at the two of us with a confused look on his face.

"We are sort of on a case now." Yuri explained in a whisper.

"Oh, like undercover. I understand. That's pretty cool Smudge, you know dad is always going on and on about how proud he is of his daughter the trouble consultant." He said with a goofy smile.

"So, what is this Smudge thing, hmm?" Yuri asked coyly with an impish look in her eyes.

"It's nothing!" I countered, folding my arms.

"Family nickname, our mom gave it to her when she was just a little thing. You couldn't keep this one out of anything. Mud puddles, paint cans, oil spills, it didn't matter. If it was messy she was in it, and she had this bad habit of touching everything after. So, mom started calling her Smudge because she was constantly following behind her cleaning up the remnants of her mess." Brei explained to Yuri as my already beautifully golden skin turned as red as my hair.

"Some things never change." Yuri exclaimed breathily.

"Hey!" I shouted as they ganged up on me.

"Oh, speaking of mom. Dad gave me this and said he wanted me to give it to you the next time I saw you. I have been meaning to make it Lyonesse for a while now..." He trailed off as he dug through his pockets.

"Aha!" He exclaimed as he dug a small box out of his inside jacket pocket and handed it to me. "It was our mom's. She never took it off."

I opened the box to find a pendant necklace. I had vague memories of my mother wearing it. Even though I should be feeling nostalgic and happy I couldn't help but feel uneasy as I looked at the sapphire set in a white gold band in the shape of an angel.

CHAPTER 2

I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach as I rubbed the pendant hanging around my neck. It was probably just bringing up sad memories of mom, I decided it would be best to just ignore it.

"Something the matter?" Yuri asked quietly from the seat next to me.

I tucked the necklace into my black undershirt before turning to my partner. "No, not at all." I fibbed with a big grin.

Yuri's lips tightened, she probably knew I was lying but she didn't push the issue any further.

We had departed Gemerl station about thirty minutes ago to travel the twenty hours it would take to get to our destination on Zebeth. I hadn't realized it until now but we had spent that entire time in complete silence, no wonder Yuri was so concerned.

"I was just thinking about some stuff and I kinda miss Mughi, y'know. It's weird not having him here with us." I covered.

"I suppose I miss that silly beast as well. There would have been no way to properly explain his presence this time though. I am still shocked they bought it back on Flurotia." Yuri smiled as she responded. "Shall we call him and check in?"

"We would probably just be interrupting a nap or his stories." I jested.

"You're probably right." Yuri giggled.

It felt good to joke around with Yuri, it helped ease the clenching feeling in my chest.

"You guys need some company?"

Brei's face popped up on one of the displays of the ship. I chose to ignore the weird little cooing sound that slipped out when brother appeared. On another display, I could see his deep blue ship catching up with ours.

"Of course." Yuri exclaimed quickly.

"I'm headed to the Ignoal processing plant on Zebeth, how about you guys?" Brei asked as my partner stared into his milk chocolatey eyes dreamily.

"Same." I answered flatly this time. Was there something going on between these two that I missed?

"That's great. Hey, I even know a shortcut. Should shave a couple of hours off the trip, at least." As Brei spoke a map of our route enlarged on one of the displays with a new route indicated on it.

I looked at the map, he was right, this route would be shorter. But, it also skirted right along the border of the United Galactica. Seemed like a risky move.

"I am not sure we should be deviating –" I started.

"Come on Smudge, I have been doing this a lot longer than you have."

Yuri looked at me with hopeful wide eyes. I still felt iffy about the whole thing but Brei had never led me astray before. Plus he had been doing this for years, he probably did know all sorts of tricks and shortcuts. Without giving them the verbal satisfaction of agreeing, I just input the new course into the navigator. Yuri beamed as the route appeared on her display.

We spent the next hour chatting and catching up while we drew nearer to the border of the United Galactica. On the other side of this invisible line were people and planets that rejected the idea of a unified system of planet states choosing instead to live independently from the umbrella of the UG. These sovereign planets were well documented as being unrestrained, lawless planets. Savage by comparison to those planet states within the U.G. As children, we were told stories of cannibals and wild inhumane people that would shoot you for the spare change in your pocket amongst dozens of other horrific tales.

One of those stateless planets was growing her closer on our monitors, an anarchist planet labeled as Ooborus.

"What is that?" Yuri inquired.

She was observing the monitor displaying our route, from the corner of the screen appeared a series of blips heading in our direction. I quickly switched over the displays to get a better view of what was approaching. A massive grandiose crimson and gold colored ship displayed on the screen flanked by an entire fleet of similarly colored smaller ships. This craft wasn't like any I had ever seen before, this phallically shaped monstrosity was easily 800-meters long with four wide fins protruding from the back. It rested on one massive engine that went along the bottom half of the ship. A pyramid-esque tower rose from the back; no doubt this was the command center of the spaceship since the gold embellishments became even gaudier there. Due to the flashiness and unfamiliar craft design, I could come to only one conclusion.

Pirates.

I was immediately cursing the fact that the Rumblebee had no weaponry. Not that it would have mattered, even if we had been in the Lovely Angel there was no way we would have stood a chance against an entire fleet of pirates.

Yuri and I were busy trying to come up with a plan. This is what we wanted, to lure the pirates out, but Brei being here was going to put a serious hitch in our mission. If anything happened to him I would never be able to face my family again. They would never forgive me, and I would never forgive myself.

"Incoming transmission." The automated voice of the Rumblebee announced.

I gave Yuri a slight nod as she looked my way before accepting the transmission. Every monitor of our ship showed a unified image of a slender man dressed in a scarlet pinstriped catsuit that cut off mid chest exposing his body from the pecs up. He wore two full sleeve black gloves all the way up to his shoulders with lavish jeweled rings on his fingers. His face was gaunt, the contour of his cheeks and jaw looked sharp enough to cut you. His head was buzzed except for a mane of bright red hair going up the middle of his head. He was sprawled across what looked more like a bed than it did a captain's chair.

"O. M. G! Girl, snatch my wig to the grave! Kei is that you, bitch!?" The pirate asked in a high pitched effeminate voice.

Yuri turned to me with her eyes as wide as saucers. "You two are acquainted?"

"What?! No!" I fired back.

"The goopery." The man spoke clearly offended as he sat up and crossed his legs with a flourish. "Please, we go way back. Don't even play."

I narrowed my eyes as I examined the man's face through the smoky eye and contouring makeup.

"Pretty Boy?" I clasped my hands over my mouth as I made the realization.

"Yass! Gurl! It's Astaroth now." He explained as moved his arm towards the display to show the armband around his bicep with the word Lucifer and a familiar emblem on it. "I guess I never mentioned my family was Lucifer, did I? Gurl, my bad."

"Kei!" Yuri exclaimed accusingly.

"I didn't know!" I defended. "You remember that biker guy I used to sneak around with at school? Well, Pretty Boy was part of our crew." I admitted shamefully.

"Such good times! Oh, but we will have to catch up later. Right now, Ima need to take that cargo off your hands, m'kay?" Astaroth informed us.

No sooner did he stop speaking did we feel the Rumblebee jerk to a stop as it became engulfed in the pirate's tractor beam. We were being drawn into the opening bay of the large pirate ship while two of the smaller ships pulled up on both sides of us.

A few moments later Yuri, Brei, and I were standing in the loading dock of Astaroth's lavish ship. We were surrounded by armed men while they unloaded the cargo out of our ships. I glowered around the room, my brain processing how I could knock one of these bastards out, snatch their weapon, and take out the rest without getting Yuri or my big brother killed.

"Hieeeee! Welcome to the Iblis. Hope you will be comf." A shrill-voiced sounded as the bay doors opened and Astaroth came sashaying in. He placed his hands on my shoulders and made a big show about giving me an air kiss on each cheek before moving on to greet the rest of us captives in a similar fashion.

"Quite the haul, thank you!" He said as he reached Brei placing a flirty finger to his chest.

"What is he talking about, Brei?" I asked turning to face my brother as he stared emotionlessly at the ground.

"Kei, I…" He started before trailing off.

Astaroth gasped a little as a devious smile stretched across his face. "Drama, do you two know each other? Oh, how delicious!" He asked pointing back and forth from me and my brother.

"She's my baby sister." Brei whispered, his gaze still planted on the ground.

"WIG!" Astaroth squealed as he did a little twirl while clapping.

"Brei?" I pleaded, the emotions welling up inside me.

Yuri placed a hand on my shoulder and watched in horror as Brei walked over to Astaroth's side.

"No."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, my own brother, my hero, was a pirate? It couldn't be true, it couldn't. Yuri's hand on my shoulder reminded me of our vision, a blue angel seduced by a devil. The same blue of his jacket, his cargo ship, our mother's pendant. The vision was warning us about Brei, that he would betray us. I couldn't fight the tears as they formed in the corner of my eyes.

Well, I thought as I steadied myself, we did what we came here for. We infiltrated the pirates and discovered their schemes. There was nothing more we could do here, it was time to get off this garish ship and return with enough firepower to blow these sonsabitches into another reality. I began working on a plan in my head. There was no way we could get to the Rumblebee but there were emergency evacuation shuttles lined up along the perimeter of the loading bay.

I placed my hand on Yuri's and gave it a little squeeze alerting her that I was about to make my move. Taking a quick glance at the guy behind me I dropped to the ground and with a sweeping kick brought the man toppling to the ground. I gave him a heel to face, knocking him out before I grabbed his weapon. Yuri had spun around and seized hold of one of the goon's guns while giving him an elbow to the nose, effectively dropping him leaving the gun in her grasp.

Guns in hand we opened fire on the other guards. As we blasted them away, Astaroth squealed and flailed about before hiding behind Brei who stood there dumbstruck.

"Let's go." I screamed at my brother as we headed to the nearest escape pod.

"I… I can't." He responded conflicted.

I furrowed my brow in sorrow as I realized he wasn't coming. With a heavy heart, I turned away and continued to the escape pods.

I had just crawled into my pod and was getting ready to launch. Yuri was a few steps behind getting ready to board the ship next to me when I saw the flouncy Lucifer leader squat down and collect one of his fallen men's weapon.

"Big mistake." Astaroth snarled as aimed the gun at me and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Brei yelled as he shoulder tackled Astaroth to the ground.

The gun fired but it missed me, instead, the blast struck Yuri in the back. The last thing I saw before my escape pod deployed was my best friend falling towards the ground.

The emergency ships were preprogrammed to head to the nearest planet upon deployment. I wailed in agony as my escape pod shot into space ready to deliver me to Ooborus.

CHAPTER 3

Planet – Ooborus

The dropship slammed into the surface of Ooborus like a bullet streaking across the land in a blaze of fire. Inside I was more shaken up by the events on Iblis than I was from the rough landing. The image of the blast striking Yuri and her falling to the ground just kept replaying in my mind. I tried to tell myself that she would be okay, Yuri wasn't stupid enough to not have kept the armor of her uniform up despite our disguises.

There was no way she was dead. No way. Not possible!

Since there was no one around and I had a few minutes to wait for the pod to be safe enough to exit I decided to have a good cry. Could you blame me, honestly? I just found out my brother was a pirate, a pirate that betrayed his own sister and there was a chance that my best friend in the whole galaxy was dead. These were some pretty good reasons to break my no crying rule, don't you think?

The red emergency light turned a bright green indicating conditions had stabilized enough to exit the pod. I wiped away my tears with a few good sniffles and undid my restraints. With a turn of the crank, I pushed the door open and crawled out to take in my surroundings. I pulled my knees to my chest as I sat on the pod looking around. I could see why this planet had been allowed to secede from the United Galactica, it didn't exactly look worth fighting for. The landscape was barren and dry. It reminded me a bit of Niogi, however unlike the vibrant red and oranges of Niogi's rich soil this landscape was dark and grey. The thick storm clouds that hung overhead probably added to the overall gloom.

Well, here I was, alone on an unfamiliar and hostile planet. No gun, no food. I had my holo-computer but the hypernet only reached planets within the United Galactica, so it was pretty much useless. Thank gawd we had survival training on Shimogu. With another good sniff, I rose to my feet and dusted myself off. From my standing position, I could see a cloud of dust coming my way. I squinted my eyes just enough to make out that the cloud was coming from a tank-like vehicle.

The spectacle of my emergency landing must have drawn the attention of some of the locals. Whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen. I pushed away the immediate reminders of all the stories I had heard as a kid. As the tank approached it started opening fire. Bullets riddled the escape pod as I dived for cover. Okay, maybe the stories were right. I reached into the escape pod and pulled out the gun I had stolen from the Lucifer goon ready to defend myself the best I could.

I pulled the gun into position as the tank roared to stop next to me. This thing definitely didn't look friendly. Most of the armor plating was crude and amateurishly put together and had been spray painted black. Lengthy spikes jutted in from various locations, one of them had a human skull impaled on it. Definitely not friend.

I stood with my gun pointed at the tank for several minutes but nothing happened. We just faced off unmoving. Finally, a small panel opened from the side of the tank. A pasty hand tossed a small metal orb onto the ground. I stared as it rolled into my boot. Before I could run clouds of thick green smoke billowed out of the orb engulfing me in seconds.

I coughed hard as the smoke entered my lungs. As I began to drift out of consciousness I could see humanoid figures approaching through the green cloud.

"She looks tough, I hope the meat isn't too chewy." I heard a voice say as I started to come around.

"Nonsense, besides her organs appear to be well taken care of, the liver is a bit damaged but should still be quite succulent." Another voice responded.

"Ugh, liver."

I opened my eyes a bit. Standing on the roof was a man and a woman arguing. Well, most of a man and a woman. Most of their limbs and had been removed and replaced by robotic prosthetics that seemed to be as poorly put together as their tank. The sight of them would have been enough to cause you to retch but that, coupled with the sickening scent of decay, was too much. Their hair was stringy and looked like it hadn't been washed, ever. Their skin was an unnatural grey color and barely clinging to their bones.

I realized eventually they weren't actually on the ceiling but rather I was hanging upside down. I had been bound and hung over a putrid smelling tub. The reality of the situation set in hard and fast. These were real-life cannibals, not only that, I was their next meal.

"Get over here and help me dig out these implants." The woman spoke.

She was utterly ghastly, this creature was nothing more than a head and torso at this point. The rest of her had been completely dismembered and replaced with robotic parts. I had to construe that these monsters had been reduced to feeding on each other. Her teeth had replaced with metal spikes that doubled as sharp fangs and her fingers replaced with long curved knives.

"Yes, Butcher Queen." A third voice spoke slowly.

I took another look around the room, there appeared to be eight or nine cannibals in this little clan of theirs. All similarly dismembered. A male with a robotic lower jaw slid into my view, his bloodshot eyes staring into my own.

"Looks like she is waking up." He informed the woman in charge.

"Pity for her. Well, she's not going anywhere. Let's just hope her flailing doesn't damage the meat." The Butcher Queen said apathetically.

I felt the pressure of a knife trying to push into the flesh of my leg.

"Tough skin." The metal jawed cannibal said.

"Don't be stupid. She must have some sort of transparent armor on. That does pose a problem." The lead cannibal pondered.

The sound of glass shattering followed by gunshots sounded in the distance. The commotion grew to a frenzy as one of the cannibal clan members came hobbling into the room bleeding profusely.

"Butcher Queen, they found us." It sputtered through the blood pouring from its mouth before collapsing down dead.

"Drat!" She hissed. "Gather the survivors and head for the tank."

"What about this one?" The metal jawed one asked woefully.

An explosion sounded in the distance, much closer than the previous raucous.

"No time." The Butcher Queen insisted.

The others looked a bit disappointed but followed their leader out of the room. I watched helplessly as a few more of the cannibals fled from the invaders following their clan members. One final cannibal passed by headed towards the door before falling face first to the ground from the gunshot that struck the back of its head.

The shot was followed by a relatively normal looking man brandishing a low-tech gun.

"Looks like we got a live one over here." He shouted over his shoulder.

From behind him emerged a woman with a commanding presence, rifle in hand. She looked to be in her mid to late thirties, dark brown hair styled in a slightly dated poufy fashion. A burnt orange colored jacket was worn over a dirty white t-shirt tucked into a pair of military-style cargo pants. A pair of retro airsoft kicks were on her feet. She was almost beautiful but was a bit too hardened to fully pull it off. Her jaw was strong and her lips tight, her dark eyes consistently intense.

"Cut her down." The woman commanded the men that had come in from behind her.

Two men dressed in a similarly worn and dirty state as their leader walked over to me and hacked away at my restraints before lowering me down to the ground. I was experiencing a severe head rush from all that time upside down. My head was still spinning when the woman walked over to me and offered me her hand. Since she did just save me I figured it was okay to trust her, though I remained cautious, just in case. I took her hand and allowed her to help pull me to my feet.

"So, you must have been in the craft that crashed earlier." She more observed than asked.

"Lucky we got to you in time, could have been the Reaper's supper." One of the men with a bushy beard added.

"What are you guys? Cops or something?" I asked as I cricked my neck.

Several of the men burst out laughing at my question. "Another lost child soul from the United Galactica." The woman observed. "No child, there are no cops here. I guess we are the closest thing though. See, we just don't like when bloodthirsty Reapers decide to feast on our people." She stepped forward and stood staring down at me. "But you aren't our people. Might as well let them have you. Could be considered a peace offering."

I could tell she was trying to intimidate me, to what end, I didn't know. It could have been a test though. I stood my ground.

"I had them right where I wanted them!" I rose to my tippy toes to look her in the eyes.

The men laughed again, this time the commander couldn't help but smile and let out a little laugh. "Alright kid, I like you. Let's get you something to eat, huh?" She offered.

"My name isn't kid, it's Kei."

The commander held her hand out. "Nice to meet you Kei, call me Ridley."

I shook her hand and exited with them out of the hobble the cannibals had brought me too. A fleet of jeeps was parked outside. They had been modified with armor plating though it appeared their work was a bit more professional than the Reapers. Ridley gestured for me to join her in her rig. Since my options were stay here and wait for the cannibals or go with them, I hopped into the passenger seat.

The caravan tore off to destinations yet unknown. I kept my guard up as I rode in silence with the commander. Under different, less life-threatening, circumstances I probably would have really liked her. We need more tough as nails female leader types. After about twenty minutes of driving, we approached what looked like a city, though not like any I had seen before. The buildings looked like they had been sort of thrown together and stacked on top of each other. I looked around in awe as we entered the city limits and I was really able to take everything in. Everything was so tightly packed and seemed to be built of whatever materials were available.

Despite the tight living conditions, people seemed happy. Kids had started chasing the jeeps down the street as we arrived. Everyone was smiles and waves, it was the complete opposite of my first impression of this planet.

We came to a stop in a centralized city square type of area. Ridley and her men got out and were instantly met with a herd of laughing kids and smiling people. After saying their cheery hellos they moved to the back of the vehicles and started unloading their cargo. They handed off boxes to various citizens; each accepted it graciously. I saw Ridley kneel down to meet the gaze of a little girl with dirty blonde hair.

"I brought you something special, just like I promised." Ridley told the little girl as she reached into one of the pockets of her cargo shorts and produced an apple.

That was it, nothing special about it, it wasn't even that appetizing looking of an apple. But regardless of that, the little girl lit up like it was Christmas morning. She gave the commander and big hug and ran off to show her mother her treat. I was completely bewildered by this whole exchange, I walked to the back of the jeep to inspect the cargo they were handing out. Pulling back the tarp I examined one of the cans in the crate. It was a condensed soup, one way past its expiration date at that. I picked up another to see it was the same. It was all food.

"Want one?" Ridley asked as she joined me at the jeep.

"Um, no thanks. I am not that hungry." I said placing the cans down shamefully.

"It was a good haul, just wish there was more. A lot of people are still going to go hungry tonight." She replied.

"But these are…" I started.

"Scraps? I know." She cut me off. "They may look like that to you but it's what we have to work with."

My heart felt heavy from her words. I looked around at the people's happy faces and the ones coming up to hug Ridley for bringing in this 'bounty.' I suddenly felt lower than dirt, a spoiled little brat. I had been spending this whole time thinking only of myself and my losses while so many people here were suffering. Abundantly thankful for garbage.

"How can I help?" I asked with a motivated vigor.

"Grab a crate." Ridley said with a smile and gestured to the truck.

CHAPTER 4

Pirate Ship - Iblis

Owie, oh, my head was throbbing. The pain and dizziness were more than enough to bring me back to consciousness. My eyes burned as I struggled to open them. I assessed that I was on the floor laying on my side. In front of me were two figures both of which were too blurry to properly make out, one of them was saying something.

"Sister or not, that was very naughty. And naughty boys get punished. Now you just stay here and think about what you did." A shrill voice hissed as they pushed the other figure to the ground next to me with their foot.

My vision cleared up just enough to see Astaroth turn to exit and slam the door shut. I tried to pull myself upright, oh dear. Every muscle in my body was screaming in agony, part of me wondered if it was from the gunshot or from laying on this hard metal floor. Goodness, I hoped it was the gunshot, I was far too young to be feeling like that. I brushed my long dark hair back and out of my eyes to get a decent view of my cellmate.

It was Brei.

The breath caught in my throat as I saw him. I attempted to focus my vision on my partner's older brother. He was shirtless, barefoot, and huddled facing away from me. Over his entire well defined back were expansive gashes roughly a foot in length. I wasn't even able to count them all at a glance. My heart clenched as I realized what had happened. The poor man had clearly experienced a brutal lashing, and judging from the blood dripping down his back, recently too.

"Ohmigosh." I gushed as I pulled my top off, letting the uniform concealed underneath reform to its default formation.

I scrunched up my nose at the large hole that had been blasted into the back of my white shirt, but there was still plenty of usable material. I wished I had brought come antiseptic with me but this would have to suffice under the current circumstances. I quickly scooted over to the bloodied and beaten man and pressed the cloth against his open wound. Brei hissed as he jerked away from me.

"Don't." he whispered.

"These are quite bad. If I don't clean them, you may get an infection." I argued.

"After what I did, it's the least I deserve." He countered.

I pouted my lips as I empathized with his plight. Something told me he was hurting more internally than he was from his wounds. Well, at least I could do something about the external problem. Despite his wishes, I shook myself off and I continued to dab the blood from his back.

"Why are you doing this? You could have been killed because of me. And Kei. Kei…" He trailed off, his voice cracking a bit.

"But I wasn't, now was I? And we both know Kei, quite well I would say. So we both know it would take a lot more than that to kill her. I have seen her survive nuclear bombs." Not really, but close enough, and maybe it would make him feel better knowing she was out there alive somewhere.

Truth be told, I wasn't quite as confident as I was letting Brei believe, I had tried to open a line of communication to my stalwart partner but was only met with static. I feared the hit I took to the back may have disrupted my implants, poo and I had just had them tuned up too.

Brei turned to me, his breathtaking brown eyes were now raw and bloodshot. We stared into each other's eyes for several moments. I would have gladly traded my binary clairvoyance for a few seconds of telepathy. Anything to know what was going through his mind.

"Yuri, I am so sorry." He finally said looking away in shame.

I don't know why but I instinctively reached out and gently placed my hand on the side of his face directing his gaze back towards me. The remorse in his eyes was penetrating. The feelings stirring inside as I looked at him were overwhelming and conflicting. I couldn't help myself, I wrapped my arms around his thick neck and held him in a comforting embrace. I felt his muscular arms reach around my waist as he returned my hug burying his face in my hair.

I could feel his body start to quiver as he started to sob.

I held on tighter and allowed him to let it all out.

After a good cry, be pulled away from me, still avoiding my gaze. The only way we were going to get past this was to get him to talk about it.

"Why don't you tell me how you got mixed up in all of this while I finish getting you cleaned up?" I asked gently, not wanting to push him if he wasn't ready.

"I am not sure where to even begin or even how it really happened myself." He started turning away from me allowing me access to his deep whip wounds. "I am sure Smudge already told you all of this but I left home pretty early, I was about 18 or 19. I just didn't want to end up in the mines like my dad and my younger brothers eventually did. I wanted to see the universe, make a name for myself. Be able to support not only myself but my family as well."

"I thought long haul transport would be perfect. Get to be my own boss, make my own hours, and work as much or as little as I want. This kind of worked suited me as well, I didn't mind the physical labor or the long hours alone. I figured it would give me plenty of time to think and focus on other things."

I listened intently as I continued to dress his wounds.

"I don't know, I was just a dumb kid in hindsight. I wasn't ready for what was out there. I was just an inexperienced overly hopeful fool from Niogi that ended up biting off more than he could chew. I hit the bottle hard and quickly racked up a pretty substantial gambling debt. It got to the point where I had loan sharks on me constantly." He admitted.

I raised an unsurprised eyebrow, I was starting to see that the family resemblance went a bit further than hair color but also to hard drinking and a predisposition for gambling addiction. It still hurt me to think of how much Kei lost playing Meteo a few weeks back. But, as usual, I took pity on her and foolishly loaned her the money to pay it back. What are friends for after all?

"As you can imagine, I was pretty desperate by the time Astaroth hijacked my ship. My livelihood was on the line and I was already drowning, I didn't know what to do. He offered me a position in his crew, he promised me he would pay off my debt and help me take care of dad; get him out of the mines. Astaroth kept his promise, he paid off the loan sharks and promised that fifteen percent of whatever I brought in would be sent back to Niogi. I couldn't refuse. I had no choice." His voice got deeper as he spoke the guilt setting back in. "I was a failure already, this didn't seem like much lower of a leap."

I pulled off the holster from around my thigh and started ripping it apart in thin strips. Delicately I began placing the strips over Brei's gashes. Reacting to one another, the material pulled together closing the wounds like a makeshift suture.

"When I saw you and Smudge on Gemerl, I was horrified." He continued.

I made an unimpressed little huff at his insinuation. "Not like that, I didn't mean. If I can be honest, the horror sunk in a bit later. At first, I couldn't believe someone as beautiful as you existed. You instantly took my breath away."

I was glad his back was to me, he couldn't see the embarrassing tomato red I turned at his compliment.

"After finding out you were the ones hauling the Ignoal, I thought of every possible way to get you out of it. I even considered ratting you out as trouble consultants. I didn't, obviously. I guess some part of me must have hoped that you two could do something about Astaroth. I mean, you guys are the Dirty Pair after all."

"Hey!" I gave him a slug to the shoulder.

"S-Sorry."

I applied the last of the strips to his back. "All done. It will do for now, but when we get out of here you will want to see a medical professional." I announced.

Brei spun around slowly to face me. "Thank you." He whispered.

We sat in silence for a few moments. There was a tension in the room that I couldn't quite figure out what it was. I brushed my dark hair behind my ear as I tried to focus on anything except the shirtless man next to me. Instead, I focused on this holding cell we had been thrown in. There wasn't much to it, one sleeping apparatus was protruding from the wall, it barely looked big enough for one of us and they expected Brei and me to sleep on it together? The thought of it caused me to blush again, I hurriedly turned away so that he wouldn't notice. I resolved my focus, the controls for the door were on the opposite side; I may still be able to hack through them if the signal was strong enough, but the chance was slim.

I rose to my feet and pulled up my holo-computer. To my vexation it seemed there was no hypernet access here. Which told me that we were either being blocked from the signal or outside of the United Galactica. Neither was a reassuring prospect. I lowered my arms in a disappointed huff. I heard Brei stand up behind me and walk over to me.

"Yuri." He whispered.

I turned around slowly looking up at his beautiful face.

"This is all my fault. You have to let me make this right somehow." He admitted.

"What could you do?" I asked, my voice cracked a bit.

"Astaroth will let me out eventually. It's all a game of his, he likes to punish those who go against him but is strangely forgiving. I could find a way to come back for you." He explained staring down at me.

"Brei, I couldn't let you risk yourself like that." I reached up and rested my palm on his large pec.

Another unintentional act but one that I found myself unable to recoil from.

"If anything I am sure Kei will be here soon, guns blazing." I attempted to joke coyly, admittedly it was rather unconvincing since my focus was directed at my hand and the soft skin over hard muscle that it was touching.

"Please, I can't even begin to explain how I felt when I saw you get hit, I thought you had died. I don't know why but it felt like a part of me died right then as well." His voice was just above a whisper.

"I think I know how you feel." I responded softly.

"There is no way I could go through that again. I just met you but if anything happened to you I don't think I could take it." He explained bringing his face closer to mine.

I could feel myself surrendering to the emotions stirring between us. Brei's hands reach out and took ahold of my waist as he pulled me in close to him. His chocolate colored eyes were dancing as he looked into mine. I lifted my hand from his muscled chest to rest it against his soft bearded cheek. Gingerly, I led his lips the rest of the way to mine.

The warmth that exploded through my entire body when his soft lips met mine was extraordinary. It was a similar feeling to getting a vision but somehow different. I felt hot and my fingers were tingling. The outside world around us ceased to exist, it was just me and this gorgeous, gentle, man locked in a sensual embrace.

The rush completely engulfed me and I kissed him back with fervor, sliding my hand up wrapping my fingers around a handful of his hair. His strong hands slid up my back sending chills down my spine. I pushed him back with my body until we were standing above the bed desperately exploring each other with our hands, hungry to take it all in.

I broke our feverish embrace long enough to push him down onto the cot bed. Lying flat on his back he pulled me down to him. I tossed my long hair back and threw one leg over him until I was straddling him before bringing my lips back down to his as we lost ourselves completely in the passion of each other's kiss.

CHAPTER 5

Planet – Ooborus

I scooped up a big spoonful of the strange soup and took another bite. It wasn't that bad, some kind of chicken and noodle thing. Ridley had taken me back to her place, true to her word she got me something to eat and gave me a place to stay for now.

I did my best to earn her hospitable offerings by helping them unload the vehicles and distribute the rations to the people of Hajimachi City, as I learned it was called. I was deeply touched by the kinship I felt between the citizens of this makeshift community. I had traveled to so many places throughout the United Galactica and had never felt a feeling of togetherness like I did here. The people of Hajimachi felt more like a giant family than they did a city.

I guess that made Ridley kinda the mom of this place. True to their desires there was no system of government nor was there any sort of militant presence whatsoever. Everyone just kind of took care of each other and kept themselves in check. It was truly astonishing. Ridley was the closest thing they had to a leader, she was the self-appointed protector of her people. Whether that meant gathering supplies or fighting off a band of revolting cannibals.

While the people seemed happy and content with the little they had I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't strive for more.

I all but licked the bowl clean as I finished my meal. Ridley returned to the dining area carrying in each hand two of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life. She set the frosty beer down in front of me as she took the seat across from me and kicked her legs up on the table. I was really starting to like this woman, she had a style that I really vibed with.

"The people, they really seem to look up to you." I said after taking a swig of my beer. I didn't even mind the skunky taste of its age. That cold brew hit all the right spots.

"I guess, I just try and do what I can for them. Normally, they aren't too keen on outsiders like us." She said casually.

"So you're not from here?" I inquired.

"Not originally, no." She said abruptly taking a quick drink.

I could tell she was a bit apprehensive to talk about it so I decided to change the subject, for now.

"I don't want to push my limits, I understand you guys are all about your privacy and screw you attitude but why haven't you asked the United Galactica for some assistance?" I relaxed my posture in an attempt to convey that I was just nonchalantly asking, hoping it would make her feel more at ease.

Ridley placed her beer on the table and took a few moments before responding.

"That's a pretty common misconception. Just because we want to live our lives without someone telling us how to live we much be a bunch of anarchy loving degenerates, right?" She said, her tone getting a bit more hostile.

"I didn't mean that." I tried to recover.

"You've seen these people, I would think you'd know better. They are just trying to live their best lives, their way!" She was almost shouting at this point.

"I am sorry, you're right." I apologized, she had put me in my place alright. I felt very sheepish.

Ridley took another drink of her beer and let herself cool down.

"We've tried." She said in a more even tone taking another drink. "We've reached out several times for assistance from the United Galactica. The answer is always the same, join us or work it out on your own."

I took another drink still reeling from my tongue lashing. "There are other organizations that could help you, I think." I offered.

"Don't you think we know that? We even pooled and saved up our money so that we could petition that Worlds Working for Welfare organization or whatever. Five times we tried to hire them to help us terraform and cultivate this land so that we could try and get something to grow out here. Five times we were turned out on our asses." She scoffed at my suggestion.

Hearing this was a devastating blow. I felt like she had just punched me in the jaw. The motto of the 3WA was to help those in need across the galaxy. I knew we were a for-profit association but never did I consider that we would turn our backs on innocent people in need. People who weren't even asking for a handout but just for help building a sustainable life for everyone. It was sickening.

"We're on our out here in the badlands kiddo. No one is going to help us out but us, that's why we look out of one another." Ridley added as she tossed back the last bit of her beer.

"I am sorry. I don't know what to say." I said meekly trying to recover from this revelation.

"Why are you apologizing, Squirt? Not like you are one of those bastards or anything, right?" She joked.

I laughed along a bit nervously, before taking another drink. I forgot for a moment that she was under the impression that I was a simple trucker of the run from space pirates.

"I'll get us a couple more, what do you say?" She offered, rising from the table.

"Yeah, thanks." I accepted.

I took this time to try and fully consider what she told me. Never once did I question the morality of the organization that I had dedicated all of these years to. Everything we did seemed to be for the greater good of the people. But were we really just doing it to make money? I had a lot of questions that I wanted answers to when I got back. For now, there was still something I was curious about, and now that she was a beer in perhaps she would feel more comfortable answering.

When she returned she sat two more beers in front of me and popped the cap off of hers before sitting back down with a hearty chug.

"So, how did you end up here?" I asked twisting the top off of my drink.

I wasn't sure if she heard me since she just sat there staring at the floor for a strangely long time. It wasn't until she changed her posture to turn towards me and finally looking my way did she answer.

"I came here about fifteen years ago. Before that, I lived in a place similar to this, big city, overcrowded, but filled with the wrong people. And I can admit now that I was one of them. I fell in with the wrong crowd trying to survive out there. I found myself knocked up, I was scared and alone but I was damn determined to make a life for me and my baby. I gave birth to a little boy." Ridley stopped and took another drink. I could see the pain in her eyes as she thought about her son. "He was so beautiful, dark curls, sweet brown eyes. He was my everything."

"So what happened?" I pressed, curious to know more.

"My past caught up with me. They came and they took him. I searched and I searched. But, I never found him. By the time I came here searching nearly five years had gone by. I was sure he had forgotten all about me and I felt like the people here needed my help. I thought, maybe if I help the people of Ooborus I can correct some of the bad karma in my life. Who knows, I may even see my son again someday." She took another drink as she subtly wiped away the tear that had formed in her eye.

"I don't even know if I would recognize him after all of these years. He would probably be about your age now, maybe a bit older." She said with a tight smile.

I reached out and placed my hand on hers. "Ridley, I promise you. When I leave I will be back with help."

"Sure, squirt." She chuckled as she patted my hand condescendingly.

"We have to get you off this rock first. We can worry about that in the morning. Finish your drinks and let's get some sleep." She said pulling her hand back.

"Sure." I agreed, taking another drink.

The next morning I woke up to a beam of sunlight streaming in through the ratty curtains. I'll be damned, I was under the impression that the sun just didn't shine here. Though, that was just one of many misconceptions I had about this place. In the day and a half I had been here I had already fallen in love. I was going to keep my promise to Ridley after I rescued Yuri and my brother I was going to force the 3WA to help these people whether they liked it or not!

"Morning." Ridley appeared in the doorway with a cup of something steaming that I could only hope was coffee. "Sleep well?"

I shifted around in the bed and gave a big stretch, I was shocked by just how comfortable it was and how well I slept. The mattress was some kind of foam yet it was supportive and cushy. And the pillows and blankets, oh my gawd! Whatever this 'down' was, it was so snuggly. I just wrapped myself up in them and was out like a light.

"Amazing!" I responded taking the mug Ridley was offering me.

Yes! It was coffee.

"Well, get ready. I saved you some hot water. We have some work to do before we say our goodbyes." She responded with a smile exiting the room.

After a shower and another can of something called corned beef and hash, I felt like I could take on the entire galaxy. I left with Ridley to the outskirts of the city to a large garage. We were greeted by an adorable elderly man in a pair of beige overalls and thick square glasses.

"How's she looking?" Ridley asked as she gave the older man a respectable handshake.

"Well, with a little more work she should fly. And who is this tasty young thing? Vavava voom!" the now substantially less cute old man asked making obscene thrusting motions.

"This is Kei, she is gonna be helping us out. You better behave yourself or you'll have me to answer to." Ridley said giving the old man a playful shove on the shoulder. "Kei, this is Milton Kane, but everyone calls him Fingers."

He took my hand in his laying several kisses on it. "I can see why." I scoffed as I pulled my hand away.

Ridley just smiled and shook her head as she ushered us both into the garage. I avoided any physical contact with the lecherous old coot as I followed her in. I was taken back by what I saw before me, I never thought I would see one in person, outside of a museum that is. I rushed forward in excitement and placed my hands on the hull. It was incredible. It was smaller in person that I would have thought, maybe five and a half meters in length with a single person cockpit right in the front and four fin-like wings in the back.

"This is a Nostromo Fighter Jet from the Gamblain riots of the 2130s, right?" I asked enthusiastically.

"That's right. I am going to let you borrow her." Ridley folded her arms with a coy smile.

"Well, she isn't going anywhere until we get the FTL engine put back in." Fingers corrected as he walked over to the large component sitting outside of the ship.

"Then we best get to it." Ridley counted, her tone mildly condescending.

With the three of us, the work was a snap. We had the engine back in and the jet purring like a kitten in just a couple of hours. While we worked Ridley filled me in that Astaroth and his crew usually hung around the dark side of their moon waiting for ships to pass by, there was a good chance I would find them there. I was eager to get back to Yuri and Brei but at the same time, I felt a harrowing sadness leaving Ridley and the people of Ooborus.

Before boarding the fighter jet, I had to say goodbye to Ridley.

I approached her slowly, not sure exactly what I was going to say.

"Thank you, y'know for everything." I reached out my hand for a handshake, a gesture I hoped conveyed my respect for the woman.

Ridley pushed my hand aside and pulled me into a hug. It had been so long since I felt a hug like this, I felt so secure and at peace. I hadn't felt a hug like this since my mom passed.

I managed to pull myself away and started to walk towards the ship.

"Kei!" Ridley called out from behind me.

I turned just in time to see her flip something my way. I caught it in the air and did a quick examination of the silver and gold coin.

"Don't forget your promise, I am just lending you that ship." She reminded me.

I slipped the coin into my breast pocket it and gave her a reassuring smile and a nod before climbing inside the fighter jet.

CHAPTER 6

As I rounded the moon a fleet of garish red ships came into view. I slowed my engines, one of the good things about this jet was that it was too small to show up on any of their radar. As long as I stayed out of their sights I could just fly right up and ring the doorbell.

I had ditched my disguise and had my uniform in its deep space configuration. The coin Ridley gave me to remind me of my vow to them was safely tucked away. My only weapon was an archaic pistol that Ridley had told me previously was stashed in the jet for emergencies. The ammunition was sparse but it was going to have to do, for now.

Cautiously, I approached the outer most ship of the pirate fleet low and to the side. If I did this right I could coast right past them and they would be none the wiser. My attention was laser-focused as I drifted my small ship through the various pirate ships. I felt like I was playing one of my favorite video games. It was a first-person shooter, of course, but there was a stealth portion where you had to slip past the bad guys without being spotted. I always sucked at that part. I usually had Yuri help me with it.

But Yuri wasn't here right now and this wasn't a game. I could feel the sweat drip down my face as I continued to slip around each ship of the fleet until I approached the mothership, Iblis. I landed the jet on the top of the ship in what I hoped would be an inconspicuous spot. After all, I didn't come all this way to alert them to my presence now. Once the ship was locked and secured I climbed out and activated my Mag-Boots so that I could safely walk across the outside of the Iblis without drifting into space. It wasn't long before I found what I was looking for, an emergency access panel. I could use this maintenance entrance to gain access to the interior.

The hatch was locked but I managed to jimmy it out quickly enough with my laser knife and slip inside. Crawling my way through the internals of the ship I made it to a point where I could enter into a decompression room. As the room pressurized and sealed I could hear a commotion happening on the other side of the door. Crap, where they on to me already? I pressed my ear to the door so that I could listen in.

It was difficult to make out but it seemed they were dealing with a different crisis. Something about escaped prisoners, maybe. Yuri no doubt. Probably got sick of waiting around for me. As I heard the voices fade into the distance I let myself out of the room and into the hallway. If Yuri had escaped it was going to make it a lot harder to find her now. I thought for a moment, not necessarily, if I was an escaped prison stuck on a pirate ship I would be looking for a way to escape.

The Rumblebee!

With a heading in mind, I started in the direction of the hangar, at least what I thought was the direction of the hangar. As I made my way down the hall I could hear men's voices coming from around the corner. I drew my gun and pressed myself against the wall. Peeking my head round I could see two Lucifer pirates standing around chatting like two school girls. I didn't care so much about that, what caught my attention was the rifles on their backs and the ray guns in their holsters.

Jackpot.

Before I could be spotted I dashed around the corner and fired one shot into the back of the head of the pirate closest to me. Before his newly blood splattered friend could respond I unloaded two more shots into his chest dropping them both. I tossed my old pistol to the ground as I sauntered over to the two slain men and collected their weapons. With a newly acquired rifle on my back and two ray guns on each thigh, I thanked them and blew them a kiss before continuing on.

As I opened one of the hallway doors I nearly crashed right into the two figures running at me.

"Kei!" The shrill soprano voice of Yuri squealed.

"Smudge, you're alive!"

I couldn't tell you how happy I was to see them both alive and safe. I quickly wrapped them both in a hug.

"Goodness Kei, you certainly took your time with this rescue, didn't you?" Yuri reprimanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time you can crash land on a planet and get captured by cannibals." I snapped.

"Cannibals?" Brei asked astonished.

I couldn't help but notice he placed his hand on my partner's shoulder as he asked. What was that? I narrowed my eyes as I looked at their overly close body language.

"What the hell's going on here?" I questioned suspiciously.

Brei started to say something before Yuri cut him off. "Nothing! We need to get to the Rumblebee!" The nervous tone was not exactly convincing, to say the least.

Before I could respond Yuri took Brei by the hand and pushed past me.

"Hey, the hangar is this way." I pointed at the direction they had just come from.

Yuri rolled her eyes. "No, my dear. I think you will find it's actually this way."

Before I could argue Yuri had already smugly pulled up a map of the Iblis. Dammit. She was right. After collecting what was left of my pride I turned to follow them as they ran down the hall hand in hand. Whatever was going on here, I didn't like it.

We fought our way to the cargo ship blasting through the various pirates in our way. I was mildly impressed with Brei's handling of a gun, it must just be in our genes. Though I didn't say anything since I was still kind of pissed at them. Once we were off this damn ship they had some serious explaining to do.

We crossed the threshold into the docking bay of the Iblis to find it suspiciously empty. I was expecting a real throw down, I was a bit disappointed actually. Yuri and Brei were a few steps ahead up me and I took up the rear. I wasn't sure what happened next since it happened so fast but all of a sudden I was jerked back and to the ground, something was wrapped around my neck strangling me.

I clutched at whatever was wrapped around my neck.

"Kei!" Yuri screamed.

"That's far enough, hunty." Astaroth commanded with a large gun pointed right at Yuri and Brei in one hand and a metal whip with one end wrapped tightly around my throat in the other.

The skinny Lucifer leader fired his weapon with a jarring laugh. Yuri quickly pushed Brei out of the way as the shot connected with one of the ships behind them causing a massive explosion that tossed Yuri into the air. Like a nimble acrobat, she spun through the air pulling her ray gun from her holster while upside down and blasting Astaroth in the shoulder.

As she landed on her feet with extreme grace the scrawny attacker was thrown backward from Yuri's shot. He dropped his weapons as he fell to the ground allowing me to get enough slack to the pull the metallic whip from my neck. I coughed, gasping for air, as I rose upright and shuffled over to Yuri. My partner was busy helping my brother up, their hands all over each other.

A roaring fire had erupted from the ship's explosion.

"Oh, biiitch!" Astaroth screeched as he climbed back to his feet.

The explosion had caught the attention of his crew causing them to pile in behind him. Astaroth placed one of his delicately painted fingers into his fresh wound before bringing the now blood soaked finger to his tongue with a wild expression on his face.

With a blazing fire to our backs and a dozen or so pirates standing between us and the Rumblebee the odds were suddenly against us.

"Kei." Yuri whispered directing my attention to something in the distance.

I turned to see what she was referring to. "Shit."

The fire was rapidly spreading and creeping ever further to a stack of familiar cargo. The same cargo they had plundered from us originally, the ones full of Ignoal Fluid. If the fire managed to reach those canisters this entire place would go up like a supernova.

"Take them, I am done with this little game." Astaroth commanded his men.

We couldn't risk fueling the fire any further by firing our weapons and we had to do something to make sure the pirates didn't either.

"Hey, woah woah, c'mon pretty boy. We used to be pals, right? Remember all those times we played cards" I dashed forward causing a distraction. I emphasized the word cards as I turned my glance to Yuri briefly.

"Gurl, what are you talking about? We never…." Astaroth countered in confusion, stopping mid-sentence and dropping to the ground as Yuri sent the Bloody Card flying towards them, cutting down several of his men.

"We gotta go now!" I commanded as I pushed my brother and partner to the cargo ship.

As we started boarding the ship I could see a crazed-looking Astaroth crawling towards a one person ship resembling a smaller version of the Iblis as the Bloody Card continued dropping his men around him.

Dammit, he wasn't going to make this easy on us. Yuri quickly piled into the driver's seat and started up the Rumblebee. I took the seat next to her while Brei stood behind Yuri, his hands on her shoulders. The fire had reached the cargo of Ignoal Fluid by the time we rose into the air. We had mere minutes before it heated up enough to cause them to ignite.

The cargo doors had opened enough for us to make our escape.

"Hold on!" Yuri insisted as she slammed the accelerator sending us racing out of the pirate ship.

Astaroth followed not far behind us.

We accelerated as quickly as we could from the doomed pirate ship. Our escape wasn't going to be easy, Astaroth's personal ship had something ours didn't, guns. He opened fire on us, the first few shots connecting before Yuri maneuvered out of the way. We continued to dodge the onslaught as a deafening boom sounded behind us. The fire had finally breached the Ignoal. As predicted the explosion was unlike any I had seen; and we had seen our fair share of explosions. The blast immediately destroyed the Iblis before wiping out the entire fleet of pirate ships in the following seconds as it continued to grow rapidly.

The Rumblebee started to shake as the blast started to close in on us. I clenched the armrests of my seat, this was just what we needed. The Lucifer High Council member was still on our tail, firing like a mad man. Yuri was driving with a focused intensity the likes of which was beyond my comprehension. I stared at the monitor in horror as I witnessed Astaroth and his ship become engulfed in the explosion and ripped apart in a fiery blaze. I clenched the armrest even tighter, as well as every other part of me from my teeth to my butt cheeks, as the Rumblebee began rocking even harder as the explosion came inches from swallowing us up as well.

We were all screaming as we somehow managed to stay just out of the blast's range before it finally subsided. I looked to the screen to see the blast taper out. The explosion had blown away half of Ooborus' moon as well as erasing every trace of the pirates from existence.

Breathing heavily, we all were recovering from our brush with death. We had come close before but this was definitely the closest.

I sighed, we were in the clear now though.

"Nice driving." I gave my partner a smirk which she returned with one of her sugary smiles and a peace sign.

Brei was still standing behind Yuri, his knuckles still white from how hard he was clenching the seat. Yuri stood up from the driver's seat and spun around to face Brei. I watched helplessly as the two slipped their arms around each other and locked lips right in front of me! I thought that it couldn't get any worse but they managed to immediately prove me wrong.

Yuri reached into her thigh holster and pulled out a pair of beam cuffs which she then placed on Brei's willing wrists.

EPILOGUE

Yuri and Brei explained everything to me as we traveled back to Lyonesse. They told me that they had been together while on the Iblis. They explained that they had feelings for one another. And they decided, all on their own, that Brei needed to pay his dues for his involvement with the Lucifer pirates.

I was appalled and disgusted. But mostly hurt. What were they thinking? Were they even thinking? There had to be another way. I couldn't bring myself face either one for the duration of the flight. I hid away in the sleeping quarters until we arrived.

When we landed the police were already there waiting for us. I had to stand there and watch as they loaded my own brother into the cop car. In that moment I was filled with an intense hatred for them both, but mostly for Yuri. I had never felt so betrayed in my entire life. Not even that past incident during our training that left us for dead could compare. Yuri was supposed to be my best friend and yet she went behind my back, seduced my brother, and then sent him to prison. I knew deep down it was obviously the right thing, he committed a crime and he needed to pay for it, but it was more complicated than that. Why did she have to do it?

Brei was sentenced to two years in a maximum security prison for his involvement in the piracy ring. Yuri had the audacity to say she would wait for him to be properly rehabilitated then they could try being a real couple. One thing was for sure, I was done with this. The partnership, the roommate situation, the friendship.

All of it.

Shortly after I moved out, I scheduled a meeting with CEO Beryl and other members of the leadership team. The purpose of the meeting was twofold, to a request a new partner and to demand we that they send our available resources to help the people of Ooborus. I delivered a well-thought presentation followed by a few more hours of heated debate before I was firmly denied on both fronts. Well, I had seen firsthand the true face of the Worlds Welfare Work Association. If they weren't going to help me that was fine. They were as bad as Lucifer as far as I was concerned. I would help the people of Ooborus all on my own.

I turned in my gun and my ID badge a quit the 3WA.

CASE 0221 - CLOSED

DIRTY PAIR

FALLEN ANGELS

PROLOGUE

Well, what's to say?

Yeah, I quit the Worlds Welfare Work Association. I saw them for what they really are and I couldn't be a part of that anymore. Not to mention my alleged 'best friend' Yuri tore my heart out and betrayed me. She banged my older brother and then arrested him.

Over the span of a few days, my whole world was turned upside down. All I could do was move on, try to put what was left of my life back together.

I went and spent some time with my dad, Clei. He always made me feel better. However this time it turned out he agreed with that traitorous ditz. He said Brei did the right thing turning himself in. Deep down I agreed that it was the right thing, but I was never going to admit that. Well, one good thing to come out of our brother's incarceration was that it inspired my twin brothers to get out of the mines and pursue their dreams. Jei enrolled in a culinary school, since he said he wanted to own a restaurant, and Tei, well he thinks he has the makings of a comedian, so he started booking gigs at local clubs. He's not bad but they both have a ways to go. Either way, they seem happy, I am proud of them.

So, I returned to Elenore City. My old friends, Joanca and Clicky Goldjeff, hooked me up with a job at Elysium as a bartender/waitress. The money wasn't as good as being a trouble consultant but the tips were pretty decent, especially when I kept a few buttons of my blouse open.

I kept what I needed to support myself and true to my promise, I sent the rest to Ridley and the people of Ooborus. It wasn't exactly the help I was hoping to provide for them but they were grateful for the assistance. I hadn't given up yet though, I was determined to find a way to get them the help they really needed.

If I lived that long, that is.

Turns out Lucifer gets their panties all twisted up when you kill one of their High Council Members. Even if they were an annoying evil little shithead. I didn't know this at the time but I probably should have anticipated it, they took out a contract out on me. This was not just any hit either. They hired the best of the best. The assassin they employed was infamous throughout the United Galactica, not only did this they have a reputation for being efficient and expedient there was little to no personal information known about this hitman aside from their moniker, the letter D.

Whatever. I could handle myself. By myself. I don't need anyone!

CHAPTER 1

Elenore City, Kalevala - Planet Lyonesse 12.05.2141

I had just spat a big blob of toothpaste into the sink when the doorbell chimed throughout my new place. Wasn't that always the luck? People had the most inconvenient timing. I quickly rinsed out my mouth and went to see who was at the door.

I probably should have put on something a bit less revealing since I was wearing nothing but a spaghetti strap halter top and a pair of little booty shorts but I was right in the middle of getting ready and I really didn't feel like getting dressed twice, so whatever. I exited the bathroom and made my way through my apartment to the door.

It wasn't as nice as my place with she who will not be named but it was decent. It was quite a bit smaller but that was fine, it was just me and I didn't need a ton of space. Living on a more fixed income now didn't leave me a lot of options in my price range anyway. But I eventually found something affordable in District 428. As you may recall, District 427 had a pretty bad reputation in its day but now it was pretty much just a big crater. And District 429, well 429 was an adult district known as Wonderland. I wasn't gonna live there! Some may call District 428 the new slums but I called it home.

I activated the door monitor to identify who was on the other side but the screen was just black, damn thing must have been malfunctioning. Times like this I wish I still had my gun, instead, I reached for the steel pipe I had picked up off the street; it would due in a pinch. I opened the door slowly only to be met with a massive black frame of the omlarcat that had been standing with his front paws on the door. Mughi quickly tackled me to the ground and began licking and nuzzling my face.

I giggled as I urged him to quit and let me. "Aw c'mon. I missed you too, now let me up."

I gave the foolish beast a few pats as I recovered and pulled myself up off the ground. As I fixed myself up I looked at the doorway to see that Mughi hadn't come alone this time.

She was standing there looking at me nervously.

"What are you doing here, Yuri?" I quickly changed my tone to match how unimpressed I was to see her and turned away.

"I just wanted to see how you were." Yuri said softly, ugh I did not miss that voice of hers. "Can I come in?"

Mughi looked up at me hopefully and wrapped one of his tentacles around my arm, pleading for me to let them stay. How could I refuse those big, yellow, piteous eyes?

"Whatever, I gotta go soon anyway. So just say what you gotta say." I dismissed.

Yuri stepped into my apartment, the heels of her thigh high white boots clacking on my hard metal floor. She looked well, for a slutty brother stealing whore that is. She wore a cropped white jacket with gold piping and pink accents that stopped just above her breasts with a navy blue bodysuit underneath. A window skirt that matched her jacket was around her waist.

"Oh, Kei." Yuri said with concern as she looked around my apartment.

"You gotta problem?" I snapped back quickly, the last thing I needed was for her holiness to criticize how I was living.

"Mgrrr." Mughi grumbled as he shook his head at me trying to prevent an argument.

I sighed and let it go, for his sake. Mughi wasn't dealing with the new separation all that well. He had come to visit me a few times before, but it wasn't the same to him. It was funny, for someone that lived on soap operas you would think he would be loving the drama.

"I heard you're working at Elysium?" Yuri asked as she delicately tossed some of the dirty laundry off the sofa with a scrunched up face before sitting down.

"That's right." I said sharply.

"You will have to give the Goldjeffs my regards." She said sweetly.

"Do it yourself."

Yuri pursed her lips and twisted her face into a pout.

"Shouldn't you be working? Catering to those greedy amoral asshats?" I changed the subject trying to get a few good jabs in.

"I am on leave until…" She trailed off as she looked away. "Until they can assign me a new partner." She finished, something welling up in her voice.

If this was some sort of game to try and get me to feel sorry for her I wasn't playing.

"Great, try not to stab this one in the back, huh?"

"Kei! I didn't!" She turned, her long dark hair flowing behind her.

"Just stop it! Okay!? I don't even know why you bothered coming here. I have nothing to say to you. And I never will have anything to say to you. So why don't you just get the hell out of here and leave me alone!?" I fired back.

Yuri stood, her lip quivering and eyes welling up with tears. I wasn't going to feel sorry for her, I wasn't!

"I have to get ready for work, just go." I said in a cooler tone.

Mughi drew his gaze to the floor, I am sorry buddy. Sorry that you have to be caught in the middle of this. I didn't want to make things any worse than they had to be so I decided to just leave and went into the bedroom. I sat down on the corner of my bed and brought my knees to my chest. After a few minutes, I heard the door open and close. They had left. I felt a deep surge of loneliness at that moment. It washed over me like a wave. I shook it off, it wasn't going to drown me. I wasn't going to let myself feel bad for her not after what she had done.

I threw myself off the bed and went to the closet to collect my uniform, a pair of high-waisted bikini cut bottoms with a white button-up shirt and fishnets with heels. Gotta make them tips right? I took the outfit into the bathroom and hopped in the shower where I could be alone with my thoughts again.

I pulled my hovercycle into the employee parking portion of the Elysium and used my card to enter the club. The staff entrance led right into the kitchen where I was quickly greeted by my new coworkers. I had only been working here about a week but had already built up quite a rapport with everyone. Probably helped that Yuri and I were regulars here before I got the job.

Joanca was in the kitchen looking as graceful and regal as ever dressed in a tight floor-length gown in shimmering orange and white. Her ombre hair was curled and worn up tonight. As soon as she spotted me she stopped what she was doing and rushed over to me. She placed her hands on my shoulders and giving me an air kiss on each cheek.

"Kei, we just received some amazing news! The mayor has asked us to host a casino royale at the historic Silver Millennial Theater for the annual Elenore City Holiday Extravaganza! Can you believe?!" Joanca enthused with a delighted squeal.

This was pretty prolific news, every year Mayor Ender Cerenitas and his wife Bunny hosts this extravagant and over the top holiday celebration. The mayor and his wife were actually pretty good people, they seemed to really care for Elenore City and its people. That was something I could respect. I wondered if maybe they would be willing to help me help Ooborus. Charity and compassion aside, this annual party was really just an excuse for all the big wigs of Lyonesse get together, get all dressed to the nines, and get wasted. Yuri and I used to make fun of it every year. We would make a night of it, we would get a couple of bottles, get in our pj's and get comfy on the couch. We always had so much fun. I guess we wouldn't be doing that this year though.

"That's awesome!" I pushed down the surge of sadness so that I could join in Joanca's excitement.

"This is going to do wonders for the club." A male's voice added. "The exposure alone."

Joanca's beloved husband and co-owner of Elysium, Clicky, was strolling up to us. He was looking just as dapper in a grey with a red trim suit that complimented his wife perfectly without taking away any of the attention from her, the perfect accessory, just like a man should be. Clicky planted a little kiss on his wife and wrapped his arm around her as he joined us.

"I am so happy for you guys, this is gonna be amazing!" I encouraged them.

"Oh, but there is so much to do and plan and darling whatever will I wear!?" Joanca feigned dramatically.

"Whatever you wear you will look simply ravishing." Clicky placed another kiss delicately on his wife's hand.

The image of Yuri and my brother Brei with their lips locked flashed before my eyes. I thrust my eyes closed hoping that would chase it away but I wasn't that lucky.

"You okay, dear?" Joanca inquired.

"Oh yeah, yeah. Just something in my eye. I really should get to work. I will catch up with you two later." I covered as I turned to grab a tray and make my way out onto the floor.

It wasn't that I didn't appreciate Joanca or Clicky for getting me the job. But man, did this job suck! It was so freakin' boring. I could do this in my sleep. What do you wanna drink? Here's your drink? Gimme money, blah blah blah. And it was hours of this. I guess I was used to a more challenging and high paced line of work. Really, I should be appreciative of the slower pace of this job. The 3WA used to work me like a dog and the pay was definitely not enough for the crap they put us through.

I strolled through the crowd with a tall glass of icy Bim Soda on my tray. It was a real shame I couldn't drink on the job, Bim Soda was my absolute favorite and Clicky always stocked the good stuff. This delectable drink was on its way to a lecherous middle-aged man that was currently enjoying quite the winning streak on one of our tables and was feeling pretty good.

As I strolled up to him, I placed the Bim Soda on the small ledge of the table next to him just as he threw the dice.

"Seven!" The dealer called out causing the drunk older man to hoot and holler.

As I turned to walk away he reached down and swatted me right on the ass. The bastard had already slapped my butt twice tonight and had to resist the urge to knock his lights out. Instead, I just smiled and walked away! He hadn't even been tipping me! I don't care how much he was winning or how drunk he was, no one was going to treat me like that. I reached back and snatched up his arm and looked him dead in eyes.

"The next time your hand comes towards me it damn well better be holding a hundred dollar bill or I am gonna break it off and beat you with it? Got it?" I threatened.

He muttered something but I didn't hear what the drunken pervert said, suddenly senses were on full alert. I don't know how or why but I sensed danger. It almost felt like one of my visions but much weaker and completely impossible since Yuri wasn't around.

I spun around quickly as a bullet whizzed past where I was just standing and caught the drunken man in the chest. As he fell to the ground another bullet came at me but I lifted my tray as a shield just in time. At this point, everyone was screaming in a panic and rushing for the nearest exits. I couldn't tell where the shots had come from in the chaos, so I did the next best thing, ran.

Staying low to the ground I took cover behind the tables as I avoided not only gunshots but also fleeing panicked people as well. A bullet grazed the table I was hiding behind sending wood splinters cascading into my hair. I didn't know what the hell was going on but someone definitely wanted me dead. Why? I didn't know at this point. I guessed maybe it was someone I owed money to or perhaps someone I arrested previously. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was a survivor of one of our unfortunate disasters seeking revenge for a loved one lost. Just because I wasn't part of the 3WA anymore didn't mean that damn reputation wouldn't follow me.

I continued to crawl along the floor until I reached the door to the kitchen. Another bullet piercing the door as I went through. As the door closed behind me I jumped up to my feet and took off running. I yelled for my coworkers to take cover as I flew past.

Getting outside I did a quick survey of the area before feeling it was clear and vaulting onto my hoverbike. I started it up, kicked it into gear, and tore out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Dammit!

Well, there goes that job. I was gonna have to apologize profusely to the Goldjeffs if I made it out of this alive. But that would have to come later. Someone wanted me dead and I had to find out who and why so that I could take them out before they could get to me.

CHAPTER 2

By the time I got back to the hovercar, I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. Why did Kei have to be so stubborn!? Couldn't she see how much this was eating me up inside? I was hurting just as much as she was!

Why couldn't she see that we never meant to hurt her? Brei was the first person I had ever felt such a strong connection with, I mean, I very well think that I may love him. He could be my soul mate and I had and I had to arrest him. I had to, it was the right thing to do and Brei all but insisted. What other option did we have? Live on the run? Try and exist on the fringe of society constantly afraid that his past would catch up to him and take us both down with him?

No, if we were going to have any chance at a proper life together then he needed to do his time, pay his debt to society, and be done with it.

I did everything I could to try and lessen his sentencing. Originally the judge wanted to put him away for ten years but I was able to get the sentence reduced to two. One if he behaved himself, which I knew he would. Or at least he better. So that year would fly by. And after a few months, I was certain he would get transferred to minimum security and then Kei and I could even go visit him. Well, I could visit him. Kei could too, of course, I wouldn't get in her way; he is her brother. I just meant we wouldn't be going together.

The realization sent another wave of tears pouring out as I let myself into the car. I buried my face in my arms letting the tears flow freely now. After a few minutes of uncontrollable sobbing, a tentacled suction cup rested gently on my shoulder trying to comfort me. I composed myself long enough to look back at the big dark face of Mughi looking at me with sorrow in his eyes. Poor dear, this tiff between Kei and I had really put him in a difficult position. I reached back and placed my hand on his cheek which he nuzzled into.

All I could do was give her more time and hope that she would eventually come around enough to listen. Knowing that ginger bulldog though I shouldn't be expecting anything soon. Wiping away my tears I started the car and headed home.

You could feel the emptiness as I opened the door to our loft allowing Mughi and myself in. Kei certainly filled the place with energy and life. Everything seemed so dull in her absence. I threw my keys in the bowl and walked aimlessly into the kitchen to find something to eat. I wasn't even hungry but I felt hollow and I was hoping something sugary or chocolatey would help fill the void. Mughi wasted no time getting comfortable on the couch and turning on the holo-screen. It must have been time for one of his stories. To my surprise, he put on some sort of cage match and looked around the room solemnly before sighing a deep sigh and resting his head on his paws.

I went to the fridge and started rummaging for something, I found myself actually overwhelmed by my options. Usually, Kei's snacking and aggressive appetite kept the fridge fairy bare. My little crisis was interrupted by the sound of the phone so I closed the fridge door and took a seat in the tea nook before answering.

An automated voice informed me I had a call from an inmate and asked if I wanted to proceed. I accepted and the video connected. Seeing Brei lit up my heart and made me feel a bit better. Even if was wearing that hideous grey jumper.

"You okay?" He asked concerned.

I realized then what a mess I must have looked. I had been crying like a ninny the entire way home, my eyes were most likely all puffy and my makeup a disaster. And I had gone straight to the fridge instead of cleaning up. I turned away in embarrassment and pulled a tissue from the coffee table to wipe my eyes.

"You went to see her, didn't you?" Brei followed up.

I turned back avoiding his gaze and gave him a little nod.

"Yeah, she isn't taking my calls either. Smudge will come around in time. She knows this was the only way. She has been like this ever since she was a baby. We just have to give her time to work it out." Brei offered in a comforting tone.

"It's just killing me, Brei. Knowing that I brought this hurt upon her. I am awful." I replied, the tears threatening to return.

"You just did your job Yuri. You arrested the bad guy. If you hadn't done it then I would have made her do it. But it doesn't matter, Kei is Kei and she would have had the same reaction either way." Brei reassured me.

I felt so hopeless, I knew he was right. I just wish there was something I could do. Something to magically take her pain away. But that is not how the real world worked.

"So what about you? What is going on with work? Have they tried to find you a new partner?" Brei changed the subject.

"No, I keep stalling. I know she is going to come back. So does Chief Soranaka." I replied.

"Does Kei know they denied her resignation?" Brei inquired.

"No, she still thinks she is no longer a trouble consultant. CEO Beryl is giving her time to cool down as well. Until then, we are still working on how to get through the red tape so that we can get our people to Ooborus." I explained with a sniffle. "Damn these government restrictions. I just wish Kei hadn't flown off the handle and listened to them when they tried to explain 3WA is under the jurisdiction of the United Galactica and that it wasn't that easy to try and justify helping a planet outside of the galactic borders."

"We both know Kei isn't that type." Brei countered.

"Stubborn to a fault." I offered a little smile.

Brei smiled a toothy grin and tilted his head. "There it is. That smile that brings me to my knees."

I couldn't help but blush and smile even bigger. Damn him, couldn't he see that I was distraught? I didn't deserve to be happy. Not until I made things right with Kei.

"It will be okay. I promise." Brei reassured me.

Turning back I saw his hopeful brown eyes and a big smile, I gave up. He wore me down. Another family trait I noticed. I was about to respond when another call came in.

"Oh poo, it's work. I should probably take it. Maybe they have news about Ooborus." I informed Brei with disappointment overtaking my tone.

"I'll call you tomorrow." He said with a smile.

We quickly said our goodbyes as I switched the line to find Chief Soranaka. His expression immediately concerned me, I had only seen him look like this a few times in the past.

"Chief, what is it?"

"It's Kei." He said solemnly.

I clasped my hands over my mouth. Oh no, something has happened to her and she is gone. This couldn't be happening, oh gawd. No…

"She is okay, for now. We have gotten reports that someone opened fire on that establishment she is working at not long ago. It seems like she was the intended target. The Central Computer has assessed this is most likely retaliation from Lucifer. We feel like both of your lives are at stake here." The chief informed me.

Before he could finish I had jumped up from the couch and was headed to the door.

'Yuri, you can't just…" Soranaka started.

"I have to! I can't let anything happen to her!" I snapped back as I reached the door.

The chief was silent for a moment.

"Watch yourself out there." He finally said before ending the transmission.

I turned to Mughi who was still on the couch watching his fight. "Guard the place. They may try and come here."

He gave me a stout nod as I rushed out the door.

Roughly fifteen minutes later I arrived at Elysium. Things had seemingly quieted down in the time since the incident. I flashed my ID badge at the police still swarmed around the front of the building. I spotted Clicky and Joanca towards the door being interview by one of the officers.

I marched up and gave another flash of my ID.

"I'll take it from here."

The officer didn't seem at all impressed by my intrusion.

He opened his mouth to argue before I shut him down. "Sir, this incident now under the jurisdiction of the Worlds Welfare Work Association. I will thank you to leave me to my investigation."

The officer gave me a crusty look but still walked away anyway. After he was gone I gave the Goldjeffs each a hug in greeting.

"Yuri, honey, so good to see you. You haven't been coming in lately. I heard you Kei were having a tough time."Joanca greeted me as she broke the hug.

I wasn't sure how to respond, surely Kei had talked to them about what had happened between us and no doubt made me out to be quite a monster. So instead I found it wise to just change the subject and get back to business.

"What happened here?" I diverted.

"Oh honey, just another night at Elysium, right?" Joanca threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

Clicky wrapped his hands around his wife's shoulders before she could spin off into a fit.

"We didn't see anything ourselves." Clicky added. "Honestly, we don't even know much. It was just a normal night, Kei had only been on her shift for about twenty minutes when people say shots were fired."

"Did anyone happen to see who was firing?" I asked trying not to sound like I was interrogating them.

"Afraid not." Joanca answered.

I didn't like that answer. If someone had at least witnessed the shooter I would have something to go on.

"Do you know where Kei is now?" I pressed.

They both shook their heads no.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. Some of the staff saw her run out back and take off on her bike. We have no idea where she went after that." Joanca explained.

"Don't worry, thank you much for all of your help. It was wonderful seeing you." I thanked them with another hug before heading back to my car.

Slipping into the driver's seat I dissected the information the Goldjeffs provided me. I felt relieved to know that Kei was still alive, for now. I just had to figure out where she would be. Which shouldn't be too hard, until lately the two of us hadn't been apart for more than a few days since we met. We shared everything, we had even been in the other's head. I just had to think.

What would Kei do if someone was trying to kill her?

Kill them first.

I started the car and put it in drive. I had a pretty good idea of where she would be headed.

CHAPTER 3

I snapped the clip into the place and examined the weapon. Not a bad piece, it wasn't my heat gun but it was going to have to do since I was a gal on a budget. Not to mention very recently unemployed, again.

"How much again?" I asked looking through the sights.

"For a pretty girl like you, 200 hundred credits." The filthy pawn shop owner informed me.

I slapped the money down on the counter and slipped the gun into the inside pocket of my shorts.

I didn't think that my Elysium uniform would have been very comfortable to hunt down an assassin in, so I swung by my place to change. I put on a white cupped mid-thigh bodysuit and similarly colored choker with a dark red mid length sleeveless jacket over it. I only buttoned the bottom button of my jacket; the girls needed room to breathe, y'know. After sliding on a pair of cuff shorts with matching ankle boots I made my way Bandito Avenue.

Everyone in Elenore City knew that if there was something sketchy or seedy you needed, then Bandito Avenue was the place to go. The original street was in Slaughter Town but since that was now gone they have relocated to a street a few convenient blocks away from my new place.

"You sure you know how to use one of those things girly? I could give you a few lessons." The greasy clerk offered.

I gave him a condescending little smile before snatching up the gun and blasting the fly that was buzzing around his head before he could even utter a word.

"I think I got it." I reassured him as I put the gun pack in my pants walked out the pawn shop leaving him stunned.

I exited on to the street and looked both ways, trying to decide which way to go. I had gotten this far but now I was stumped. I didn't even know where to begin looking for this guy, if it even was a guy. Damn, I wish I had at least gotten a look at the shooter's face. Anyone of these bums could be the hitman. Well, I was ready now, no one takes pot shots at me and lives to tell about it!

Since I had no real direction I figured the bar across the street was a good enough place to figure it out. I crossed the way and let myself in. It was about what I was expecting, not what I would call clean by any means and packed with thugs and lowlifes. It actually felt a bit like home, I had been in so many of these kinds of places when I was with the 3WA.

I took a seat at the bar ignoring the lusty and lascivious gazes of the patrons and waited for the bartender to make his way over. He was bent over the counter talking to some of the other men at the bar when I sat down. He eyeballed me a bit before turning his head to spit and walked over. His greasy stringy hair fell over his face as he reached me.

"What'll ya have?" He asked, his mouth was missing more teeth than he had left.

"Bim Soda, leave the bottle." I responded hiding my repulsion behind a mask of confidence.

The bartender slinked away and returned a few moments later with a glass and a bottle of Bim Soda. He said them down in front of me and hovered uncomfortably for a moment.

"Anything else?" He mumbled.

"Just some space, thanks." I responded as I filled the glass and took a drink.

Not as good as the stuff at Elysium but not bad considering the source. I took another drink as I attempted to collect my thoughts and come up with a plan. Planning was always Yuri's thing, we had come to really rely on each other to make up for the other's shortcomings.

I took another drink as two men rose from their table and approached behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see they were an interesting pair. One rake thin while the other was quite rotund. Both sporting black leather decorated with spikes and chains everywhere they could put one. The odorous stench became more pungent the closer they came to me.

"You here with anyone, pretty?" The fat one asked causing the other to laugh like a moronic hyena.

"Nope, not looking for company either." I responded taking another drink.

The two thugs gave each other an offended look.

"Not very hospitable is she?" The larger one asked his skinny friend who just laughed obnoxiously in response. I guess the big guy had custody of the brain, though it was safe to assume there was barely half a brain between the two.

The pudgy thug put his hand on my shoulder causing me to recoil from his clamminess. "Why don't you come have a drink with us? We don't bite."

"Take your hand off me." I grabbed his hand and forcibly removed it from my persons.

"Look here you little bitc..." He started, before he could finish I grabbed the bottle of Bim Soda and shattered it against his thick head.

The goon stumbled backward, blood pouring down his face. Unfortunately, this seemed to just stun him more than anything. Soon enough he had regained his senses and was coming back at me. This time joined by five or six of his friends. I jumped onto the stool and used it to flip over the fat thug's head. As I descended I grabbed his ponytail and slammed him to the ground using the momentum. Without missing a beat, I lifted a chair off the ground with my foot and kicked it at his scrawny little side kick knocking him to the ground.

Two down, too many to go.

I readied myself for the onslaught. These guys didn't look so tough. Before I could make my move I felt someone grab my arm and pull me backward. In the space I had just been standing a bullet connected with the wall.

Shit, the hitman was here.

I should have been grateful to whoever had just pulled me out of harm's way, but instead, I was just pissed. I mean I was trying to find the assassin and this idiot was messing it all up. I turned to give this fool who was pulling me towards the backdoor a piece of my mind. The words escaped me when I saw my savior though.

"Hello, Cherub."

Carson. He was alive. A mix of emotions washed over me, the last time I saw him he was escaping from Lucifer's men on Appo. I didn't know what had happened to him. I was glad to see him though.

I let him lead me through the back of the bar. After passing through the storage area, we arrived at a stairwell and began climbing up to the roof.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as we ascended.

"Saving that perfect little butt of yours, obviously." He responded with that trademark smirk.

"That's not what I meant." I replied flatly.

When we reached the top, Carson didn't even bother trying to open the door the traditional way. Instead, he lifted his leg and kicked it down. The display made me smile, it reminded me a bit of myself and how Yuri would be so pissed off right now. Carson looked back and forth before leading me to the edge of the building.

"We're gonna jump. You think you can handle that?" Carson asked as he pointed to one of the adjacent buildings.

The way this district was put together the buildings were almost stacked on top of each other. There was barely a four-foot gap between them. I placed my hands on my hips and shot him a dirty look.

"Try and keep up." He said to me with a wink before leaping across to the next building.

He started running as soon as he landed, there was no way I was going to let him show me up, it was time to show off my skills. I made the jump and quickly caught up with him. He gave me a smile before bounding over to the next building. Without missing a beat I was right on his heels. I completely lost track of how far we had gone or how many buildings we have traversed. At this point, I was solely focused on him, that smile, and the need to not let him show me up.

Leaping across one more building Carson turned as soon as he landed so that I would leap into his arms. And just as he planned, as soon as I landed he caught me and wrapped his muscular arms around me. He let a little chuckle as we looked into each other's eyes. We stayed like this a few moments before he broke the embrace.

"C'mon we can't stay out here." He replied as he pressed a few buttons on the device on arm.

Against the wall, a holographic image of debris dissipated revealing a door. "We should be safe here."

Carson input a code into the door and after a retinal scan, the door opened with a heavy click. Carson led me into the building. I looked around as the lights came to life around me glowing a dim orange. There wasn't much to the place but it seemed to be a living space of some sort. It was set up like a small studio apartment. Everything you could need was in this one room, couch, small kitchen, a bed.

"Is this your place?" I asked curiously.

"Naw, well, sorta. It's a safe house. The thieves' guild has them set up all over the UG for when we need a place to hide out." Carson said as he closed the door and reactivated the hologram. "For tonight, it's our place. A little love nest just for the two of us."

"Oh give me a break." I scoffed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"We have been over this, I am here to save you." He replied casually as he plopped himself down on the sofa.

There wasn't a lot of seating options to choose from, it was either the floor or next to him. So I had no choice but to squeeze in next to him.

"So what? You're stalking me now?"

"You should be so lucky." He grumbled.

"Okay, okay. Thank you or whatever." I grumbled back folding my arms.

Satisfied with my gratitude and looking rather pleased with himself he scooted closer to me. I pretended not to notice.

"Well, just because you saved me doesn't mean I am not going to arrest you." I argued.

"Oh really? And how do you plan on doing that now that you're not a trouble consultant anymore?" he asked with a snarky tone.

"You heard about that, huh?" I replied meekly.

"I hear a lot of things in my line of work. Like how Lucifer took a contract out on you with D."

"So you really are here to save me?" I asked in astonishment suddenly believing him.

"I keep telling you, you're my soul mate. We both know it, you just need to stop fighting it. The stars have aligned in our favor, Cherub. With you not being a tro con anymore we can be together, team up and use our skills for good." Carson said sliding his arm across my shoulders.

I leaned into his embrace and rested my head on his muscular chest. "Become the new Robin Hood and Little John, huh? Steal from the corrupt and give to the needy? It's a nice idea."

"What's stopping us?" He asked taking my chin and directing my gaze to his. "Run away with me Kei. I love you."

Starting into his dark eyes I considered it, seriously considered it. I couldn't though, could I? What about Ridley and the people of Ooborus? What about Yuri and Mughi, wait, why should I care about her? My heart was so conflicted. I could never admit until now but I think I loved him too. I have probably loved him for years. Yes, he was an insufferable, cocky, egotistical prick but he was also caring, protective, and didn't put up with my shit. And as much as we bickered it was never malicious. He gets me and I get him, maybe we were soul mates.

Imagine a former trouble consultant and a pro thief. Sometimes you can't help who you fall in love with, fate is funny like that. So who was I to stand in the way of Yuri and Brei? If they were really meant to be shouldn't I be celebrating it? Shouldn't the prospect of my best friend becoming my sister excite me?

I was still overwhelmed by my thoughts but I suddenly felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I didn't say anything back to Carson. Instead, I leaned forward and brought my lips to his. Everything about his kiss just felt right, like two halves becoming whole. Carson turned, leaning into my kiss and gently lowering me onto my back as we continued to desperately hold our kiss. I could tell in that instant he felt the same way that I did. I reached on hand up to run my fingers through his wavy curls.

"I love you too." I whispered finally breaking the kiss.

Carson smiled a smile like I hadn't seen from him before. One of genuine happiness. He looked so beautiful. I pulled him back down so that we could pick up where we left off.

CHAPTER 4

The next morning, I opened my eyes just as the sun started filtering in from the windows above. I sprawled out under the covers and turned over to find Carson still asleep. I reached around and placed my hand on his chest as I nuzzled into him. He stretched under my touch and wrapped his arm around me.

"Well, good morning. I must say waking up to you is even better than I thought it would be." He purred sleepily.

"Shut up, you're ruining it." I responded.

"Have you thought about what I said?" He asked.

I snuggled in, I didn't know what to say. I had thought about it, at great length. But after everything, I still didn't know what I wanted to do.

"Is that a no?" He asked quietly.

"It's not a no. I just. I don't know. I feel like we barely know each other. Why don't you tell me about your childhood?" I countered.

Carson was quiet for a moment, I could feel him shift uncomfortably beneath me. Oh damn, had I crossed a line?

"Okay." He started slowly. "There isn't much to tell really. Pretty typical childhood I guess."

He pulled me in closer to him as he went on. "Never really knew my parents. I was raised by a man named Mason. He was a senior member of the thieves' guild. He always told me that my parents sold me to the guild when I was a kid to pay off some debts and habits."

I turned my face towards him with a concerned and bewildered look on my face.

"Well, the guild taught me everything I know, raised me to be the Pro Thief I am today. Couple of years ago Mason and I were pulling a job and it turned out the target was a Lucifer operative. They hunted us down and tortured Mason to death. He was like a father to me."

"You're kidding me, right?"

He gave me a squeeze.

"I'm sorry." I said still a bit confused.

I guess he was telling me the truth all those times he told me he was after Lucifer. I thought it was just a lot of hot air. I couldn't have fathomed he grew up like that. I slipped out of bed and began looking for my clothes. Man, they were scattered all over, we must have been tossing them around blindly. Carson stayed in bed, he must have been enjoying the show judging from the cocky look on his face and his hands behind his head.

"Put your eyes back in your head and hand me those shorts." I joked slipping on my bodysuit and pointing at the headboard behind him.

With his trademark smirk, he reached behind him and grabbed my garment, as he handed it to me Ridley's coin slipped out of my pocket and rolled onto the bed. Carson picked up the coin and turned it around in his fingers as he analyzed it.

"Where did you get this?" He asked looking up at me, his tone turning serious.

"A friend gave it to me, to remind me of a promise." I answered as I took the coin and my hot pants from him. His tone was a bit concerning. "Why do you ask?"

He didn't respond, instead, he slipped out of bed and walked to the other side of the room. I did my best not to check out his backside, this wasn't the time for that. He slid on a pair of black briefs before fishing his hand into the pocket of his pants. He then reached out his hand to offer me something. After pulling on my boots I walked over to analyze it, it was another coin, identical to the one Ridley had given me. I looked at him with a look of shock on my face.

"My mother gave it to me before she sold me off, it's all I can remember about her." His tone was bitter.

I just stared in shock as Carson clarified. I couldn't help but recall Ridley's story. It was strangely similar to Carson's. It wasn't possible, was it? His face told me that this wasn't the time to try and schedule a reunion. I decided to keep what I knew to myself for now. At least until I could clarify with Ridley. Carson finished getting dressed and started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I clutched the coin to my chest as I looked his way.

Carson turned towards me slowly, his face still looked wounded. Meeting my gaze, he slipped me one of his trademark smirks.

"I'm gonna meet with some connections. See if I can find anything out about this assassin of yours. You should stay here. Try not to get yourself killed."

He walked away from the door and back over to me. He placed one hand on the back of my neck before kissing me goodbye and heading out.

I finished getting dressed and looked around the hideout. I sat down on the couch and sighed before taking another look around. I am proud to say I made it a full fifteen minutes before saying to hell with this and heading back out to find the hitman.

My training told me that the first place I should look was the scene of the recent incident, which happened to be that bar. Perhaps the killer left some kind of clue or evidence behind that could help me out. Of course, I am not an idiot despite what you may have heard. I knew I was dealing with a skilled professional and they were most likely thinking the same thing I was, if not one step ahead of me. I had to be cautious.

Making my way back to the bar, I made sure to stay off main streets and out of public view as much as possible. The place looked clear, they had managed to put everything back together after the brawl. I was sure that sorta thing happened a lot in a place like this. I was about to head over when I heard a familiar voice coming from around the corner.

"Thank you, sir. If you do hear anything I am sure you will let me know."

I knew that overly polite soprano voice anywhere. Yuri. Aw, man. What was she doing here? I wasn't ready to face her yet. Guess I had no choice. She was walking out of the pawn shop I had bought my gun from. A strange coincidence, unless she was looking for me too. Damn, I was getting pretty popular these days.

As she walked past the alley I was hiding in, I pulled my former partner towards me. I quickly pinned her against the wall with one hand over her mouth in case she decided to scream, she had a habit of doing that after all. Her eyes went wide when she looked at me, I gave her a look up and down before releasing her.

"Weren't you wearing the same thing yesterday?" I mocked.

"I have been out all night looking for you. You big jerk." She gave me a little shove. "I have been going to every arms dealer and black market in the city. I figured the first place you would go is looking for a gun."

"You know me so well." I teased as I patted the weapon in my shorts.

It felt good to be bickering with her again, it felt like old times. But the awkwardness quickly set back in as a silence fell over us. We both shifted uncomfortably unsure of what to say.

"So, you were worried about me, huh?" I asked kicking at a can on the ground.

"Of course I was." Yuri countered quickly. "The chief told me what happened."

"Oh, him." I rolled my eyes.

"Kei, it's not like that, you 've got the wrong idea about all of this. If you would just listen."

I didn't get the chance to respond, not that I would have known how to anyway. Our conversation was interrupted by a round metal ball rolling into our feet. It was flashing red with the sequences increasing with every blink. Yuri and I both barred our teeth and tensed up when we realized what we were looking at.

A grenade.

My instincts took over and without thinking I kicked the grenade across the street. I watched in horror as it flew through the air and through the window of the bar I was at last night. The incendiary device exploded blowing out the bar's windows and sending a rumbled through the streets.

Damn and they had just finished cleaning up the place.

"Run away." Yuri said flatly as she grabbed my arm and pulled me back through the alley.

As we neared the entrance to the street behind us another grenade rolled slowly into our path. We barely had time to screech to a stop and drop to the ground before it blew up. We quickly rose back up to our feet, using the smoke as a cover Yuri kicked opened a door near us and pulled me inside. I never thought I would live to see the day when sweet little Yuri would use violence to open a door. I was so proud.

The building was a bio-tattoo parlor. On a normal day, I would have stopped and appreciated the awesome artwork. I had always wanted a bio tattoo but haven't been able to make up my mind on what I want. They are permanent y'know. For now, Yuri and I raced through the parlor as artists and clients watched in confusion.

"Oww!" One of the clients yowed in pain. The tattoo artist was so busy staring at us he left the laser on his client's arm a bit too long sending a scorch mark through the tattoo ruining it.

I felt a quick yank of my arm pulling me towards a set of stairs as I watched another grenade appear at the front door of the parlor. Another boom erupted below us as we climbed the stairs to the second level. Choosing at random I tackled a door down as we continued our escape.

"Hey!" The owner of the apartment exclaimed as we ran through his living room while he was sitting on the couch preparing to shoot up some kind of drug, we went by too quickly to get a good view of what it was, though.

Entering what must have been his bedroom, judging from the grungy mattress on the floor, we crawled out the window onto the fire escape. Yuri went first and followed right after. Just as I finished crawling through the window I heard Yuri scream and looked up to see her pick up a grenade and throw it to the ground before exploding. The blast tore apart the bottom level of the fire escape which in turn started to pull the upper levels away from the wall.

As the structure screeched and slowly began crumpling to the ground Yuri and I climbed those steps as fast as our legs could carry us. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. By the time we reach the uppermost level the structure had completely dislodged from the wall. We grabbed the nearest railing as it started its descent. We held on for dear life as we plummeted to the ground which was now covered in sharp broken metal. With a hard jerk, the fire escaped stopped falling as it wedged itself between the buildings.

I breathed a sigh of relief, though we weren't out of the fire yet. I pulled myself up so that I could stand on top of the railing, Yuri did a gymnastic type flip to join me.

Show off.

The structure creaked and moaned from the weight we put on it, it wasn't stable, for sure. We had to move fast. The closest thing to us was a window on the building next to us. Yuri pulled out her ray gun and blasted the window open. We delicately made our way across the unstable beams only to find the window was just out of reach.

I tried to jump up thinking I could pull myself up but fell just short latching onto the window sill. Hanging there I heard Yuri speak up from behind me.

"Hold on tight."

Before I could respond I felt her grab my shoulder and start climbing me like a freakin' ladder. Oh man, this was humiliating. Using my head as a final step Yuri slipped through the window and turned to grab my arms, pulling me in behind her.

"Don't you ever do that it again!" I snapped as I gave her a punch to the arm.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized.

We looked around to find a family sitting in their living room staring at us with confused and terrified looks on their faces. We rose to our feet and dusted ourselves off. We apologized profusely as we awkwardly let ourselves out of their home and into the hallway. Yuri pointed me to the stairs at the end of the hallway. The grenades were coming from above us so it made sense to try and get to the rooftops. As we started to climb the stairs we heard a clink clink clink sound as another grenade bounced down the stairs. With an abrupt turn, we headed the direction we came with a panicked squeal. The explosion of the falling grenade threw us off the last few steps and sent us slamming against the wall before collapsing onto the landing.

"Okay, now I'm pissed." I said collecting my breath and pulling myself off the floor.

Battered but determined we picked ourselves up and headed back up the stairs leaping over the hole left by the bomb. Reaching the top and pushing our way through the roof access door we were met with yet another metal orb. With our teeth gritted, we quickly took cover behind the door we just came through as it exploded. The blast knocked the door off its hinges and tossed us back against the wall again. Coughing from the impact and the smoke I looked through the haze to see a figure disappear.

Damn, got away.

CHAPTER 5

We limped our way back to Yuri's car, bruised, broken, and defeated. Yuri lifted her arm weakly and used the key fob to unlock her car. As the locks disengaged the car exploded into a ball of flames throwing us through the air again and to the ground.

Yuri and I just laid there on the road as flaming pieces of the vehicle fell down around us. I sighed a deep sigh before turning my head to face Yuri who met my gaze with a similarly unimpressed look.

"I loved that car." She said emotionlessly.

"It was a great car." I agreed in the same tone.

"We have no way home now." She continued.

"I'll call for a cab." I offered.

Despite my offer we both just continued to lay in the middle of the road not moving.

After finally finding the strength and will to move again we made our way back to Damocles Tower. First thing I did was hop in the shower. I let the hot water pour over me relieving the aches and tension. I missed this shower. I thought it would feel weird being back here, but it didn't. It felt good to be home, honestly. I missed the view, my room, and mostly the company. Mughi must have agreed as he was pretty elated to see me here as well. As soon as I came through the door he flew off the couch and pranced over to me like an excited little kitten.

I toweled myself off and helped myself to one of Yuri's robes since none of my stuff was here and my clothes were in the wash. I took a moment to wipe the steam off the mirror so that I could look at myself. It was a bit strange seeing my half of the counter empty. I looked at my reflection as I continued contemplating everything. It was time, I missed my best friend. I came down the stairs into the tea nook still drying my hair. Yuri was laid out on the couch with an ice pack on her head talking to someone on the phone.

"That is great news! She will be so happy! Oh, uhh, I have to go." She ended the transmission and turned my way when she heard me coming down and sat up.

"We can go pick you up a change of clothes if you'd like." She offered.

"Naw this is fine, my other clothes should be done soon." I countered trying to sound appreciative despite how crappy I was feeling.

Mughi was at my heels shoving his big head under my arm not so subtly indicating that he wanted to be petted. I happily obliged curling my fingers under his chin giving him a few good scratches as he started purring like an engine.

"It hasn't been the same here without you." Yuri said turning her head away from me.

Time to put my stubborn pride aside.

"Look, about you and Brei. I am sorry I overreacted. I am happy for you guys, really. And I know he is where he needs to be right now, he got himself into it and he is doing the responsible thing owning up to his mistakes." I explained awkwardly, I never was good at this mushy girly crap. Plus, I hated apologizing.

"You don't have to apologize Kei. I am the one who is sorry. I am sure it must have been quite a shock. It was to me as well. If I could go back I would have done things differently, given you more time." Yuri rose from the couch and walked over to me.

"Friends again?"

"Of course."

I reached out and gave her a hug, I didn't think having my best friend back would feel quite this good. As I hugged her in my arms I felt a warmth run through my entire body. Is this what making up felt like?

Wait, no.

The warmth was something else.

We broke our hug and took each other's hands. Our loft soon faded away into a snowy whiteness leaving nothing me but and Yuri. Looking upward I could see what looked like a serpent floating gracefully through the air. As I looked closer I could see it wasn't a serpent, it was a dragon. One of those long Chinese style dragons twisting and turning gracefully above us. I could hear a soft oriental melody playing in the distance. It was beautifully hypnotic, almost like the dragon was dancing to it.

Then it faded away and we were back in the loft.

The visions were getting stranger and more powerful. Never before had there been any sort of audio accompanying our premonitions. We must be growing our collective power.

Of course, we still had no idea what the hell it was trying to tell us.

"That was unusual." Was all that Yuri had to say, as she released my hands.

The sound of the dryer snapped me out of my pensive state. I walked over and pulled my freshly laundered clothes out of the dryer.

"Whatever it was, it doesn't do us much good if we can't even get close to the assassin." I remarked dropping my towel and slipping into my outfit.

"Well, if we can't get to him then we need to bring him to us." Yuri said with her finger to her chin.

Ah, there she goes. My girl was formulating a plan. Just like old times.

"To set a trap we would need someplace large and highly public. Somewhere that they would have to be very cautious with any attempts on us." She crossed her arms as she pondered.

"You mean like a televised event? A place where we could scope them out without them knowing?" I added.

"Yes, exactly." Yuri responded enthusiastically.

"I think I know just the place." I said with a smile.

Yuri looked intrigued as I pointed behind her. She turned towards the living room wall, Mughi had left his stories on and currently an ad was playing for the Mayor's Holiday Extravaganza.

"Perfect." She said turning back to me with a smile that matched my own.

"It just so happens that this year Elysium is hosting a casino royale at the Silver Millennial Theater. I am sure the Goldjeff's wouldn't mind getting us in." I said matter of factly.

"Hopefully we haven't cashed in too many favors with them." Yuri said concerned. "We should probably let the chief know what we are planning, they might be able to help and I am sure he will be thrilled to hear you are back!"

"Uhh no." I snapped. "I never said I was back. I still don't agree with the way 3WA conducts their business, they are liars and greedy snakes and I want no part of it."

"But Kei." Yuri started.

"But nothing, my mind is made up." I stood my ground.

Yuri looked upset but respected my resolve. She placed her arms behind her back before changing the subject. "Kei, sit down, I'd like to discuss something with you?"

I didn't care much for that tone but, what the hell, I guess I owed her one. So, I followed my former partner over to the corner sofa of the tea nook and took a seat with her.

"I was just on the phone with." Yuri started shifting uncomfortably and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I well, I mean."

"What's up, Yuri?" I pressed. I wasn't sure why she was stalling but I was getting impatient.

"Have you heard of the Crusher Council?" She asked as she steadied herself.

"No." I shook my head, where the hell was she going with this?

"They are a group of independent terraforming contractors, among other things." She explained.

"Uh-huh." I said slowly.

"Well since you left the chief and I have been working with CEO Beryl to find a loophole, so to say, to help Ooborus. See, it's not that they didn't want to help you. Bet there are federal regulations and." Yuri continued.

"Wait, wait. So, these Crusher guys are going to Ooborus?" I cut her off enthusiastically "And you and the chief did that?" I startled rambling. "Why didn't they just say that?"

"Well, dear." Yuri started.

"Had I just been a bit more patient!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, well." Yuri attempted.

"I gotta call Ridley!" I hopped up.

Yuri took my hand and led me back down. "How about we worry about that later? We still have a more pressing matter to attend to. And, well there is one more thing."

I let her lead me back down to the couch. This couldn't be good news.

"I don't know how to tell you this, so I am just going to say. The 3WA never processed your resignation. You are still technically a trouble consultant." She admitted.

I sat for a moment, a bit stunned honestly. After all, this was all a lot to take in. I was convinced that the 3WA was just a greedy lying corporate piece of shit, but I guess they were just like the rest of us and forced to operate within certain regulations. I mean, that made sense now that I actually stopped to think about it. Obviously, they had their own set of rules they had to follow. And I had been pretty fired up from my brother's arrest when I petitioned the board. Could this all really just be a misunderstanding?

It wouldn't be the first time my temper clouded my judgment.

Then there was Yuri. The whole time I spent being pissed off at her, she was trying to help me and my friend's outside the United Galactica. I didn't deserve a friend like her, while I was off throwing a tantrum she never lost faith in me. I felt about three inches tall.

"I don't know what to say." I admitted sheepishly.

"You don't have to say anything. You could just be part of the team again." Yuri said with a sweet smile.

I looked over at Mughi as he sat on the opposite side of the coffee table staring at me with those hopeful buttery eyes. Yuri leaned over the side of the couch and picked up a box that had been sitting there. With another smile, she handed it to me.

Nervously accepting, I looked inside to find ID badge, heat gun, and uniform. A tear started to well up in the corner of my eye. I quickly brushed it away and looked at the faces of my partners before giving a humble nod.

"Well, I guess there is only one thing left to decide." I announced.

"And what's that?" Yuri asked.

"What are we going to wear tonight?"

CHAPTER 6

"29 Black!" The croupier announced.

"Damn!"

Roulette wasn't my game tonight, but no worries there was still many more.

I tipped the brim of my black trilby style hat at the dealer before excusing myself from the table. I was dressed to kill tonight; Yuri and I had found some great stuff shopping before the stakeout. I chose a mid-cut dark blue tuxedo blazer with gold bands around the biceps. Underneath I chose a black leather bikini top and stunning triple sapphire necklace with matching earrings, I mean these jewels were at least the size of Poker chips. The pants were the same color as my jacket and hugged every luscious curve of my perfectly shaped butt and legs.

I looked through the crowds, everyone looked amazing amongst the beautiful Grecian inspired architecture. The Silver Millennial Theater that had been beautifully decorated with silvers and blues invoking a feeling of winter. Everyone who was anyone was here tonight. And true to form I spotted our old pal Cory Emerson interviewing some of the bourgeoisie of Lyonesse. I wouldn't even know how to begin describing her outlandish outfit. She looked like a couple of ruffled snowballs with legs. Yet, in that style and form that has made her an icon, she pulled it off. Upon closer inspection, I could see she was interviewing non-other than Mayor Cerenitas and his wife. They both looked lovely, they were a fairly young couple for politics, maybe mid to early forties. Mayoress Cerenitas was dressed in an elegant light silver dress with white fur trim and a matching shall. It went beautifully with her snow-white bobbed hair. Not her natural color I was assuming but it looked great on her, very regal. Mayor Cerenitas was dressed in a sporty yet dapper white suit with royal blue accents and a similar colored vest, his greying hair was mid-length and parted down the middle.

I couldn't quite hear what they were saying so I decided to move on to my next game of chance. There were a few seats open at the nearby Blackjack table, so I made my way over.

"One hundred credit buy in." The dealer said as I slipped into a seat.

Without batting an eye, I dropped down my chip on the table as he started dealing the cards. Already my luck was off to a better start when he laid a queen and a seven in front of me and dealt himself a two and a five.

"Hit me."

"Twenty-one." He said as he continued to deal himself cards.

"Blackjack, dealer busts." He said coolly recollecting the cards.

"Is this seat taken?" a soprano voice asked beside me.

It was Yuri, about time too damn it. We had split up to look for anything suspicious and she was well past the time we agreed to regroup. The dealer's mouth hung open a bit as Yuri pulled back the chair to let herself in. I suppose she did look pretty breathtaking, I told you we got some good stuff. Yuri had selected dark teal colored toga style dress that wrapped across her shoulder and right breast before wrapping again around her waist and cascading to the floor. Beneath this, she wore a turquoise bodysuit with gold and pearl accessories. Her hair was all pulled up and curled into a side ringlet while she balanced it on the other side with a teal and pearl ruffled accent.

"See anything?" I asked under my breath as the dealer divided up the cards

"As a matter of fact, I did find something interesting." She responded casually.

"Hit me." I said as the dealer laid out my card.

"Ma'am you have twenty?" The dealer attempted to argue.

"Hit me!"

With a roll of his eyes, the dealer laid down another card. "Thirty, bust."

"You see that man over there, the dark burgundy hair, ponytail, in the red and green cheongsam?" Yuri asked keeping her eyes on the cards. "I'll stay thank you." She announced to the dealer.

My eyes scanned across the room, it took longer than I thought it would to spot who Yuri was talking about, but I finally did. He was standing there with a tall glass in his hand talking to a group of people.

"That's a guy?" I asked a little too loudly causing the croupier to raise his eyebrow at me.

I just laughed it off and told him to keep dealing.

I was a bit thrown by his appearance. With his long bangs hanging over half of his delicately featured face, dark red lipstick, and long fingernails, he could have easily passed for a beautiful woman. Not that gender identity was a huge thing anymore. I just liked my men a bit burlier.

"What about him?"

"That is Li Shu Ryu, a former trouble consultant." Yuri explained quietly.

"No way, that guy is Dragon Li? That guy is a legend." I barked a bit too loudly again. Yuri shook her head in embarrassment and apologized to the dealer.

"Wait you don't think?"

"I do think, while he was a legend, known for his marksmanship and abilities, he left the 3WA on less than favorable terms and now he runs the famous orbital casino Shangri-La." Yuri continued. "Not to mention there is the oh so obvious fact that his name is Dragon and he happens to have hundreds of golden Chinese dragons stitched onto his garment." Yuri stated raising an eyebrow at me.

"Then I say we go have a little chat." I said standing up and straitening my hat.

"M-Ma'am?" The croupier muttered.

"Oh, just hit us til we bust. C'mon Yuri." I rolled my eyes and drug my partner to her feet.

I pulled Yuri through the crowd towards Dragon Li, I was pretty confident we could make an easy arrest so long as we did it around all these people. After all, an assassin that made a name for himself using anonymity wouldn't dare risk exposure, now would he?

Pushing our way through the crowd he suddenly vanished. Damn! He must have spotted us and made a run for it.

"Up there!" Yuri pointed.

Li was climbing the stairs to the second floor.

"We gotta hurry!" I shouted.

With that, I started shoving and bulldozing my way through the crowds more aggressively. Tossing people aside and to the ground. This caught the attention of Cory who's face blanched at the sight of us. Mid-interview she turned tail and pulled her crew out of there. Geez, what was she so worried about? We reached the stairs and leaped up them, closing the distance on Li.

We reached the top floor just as Li slipped into another room. Damnit, I knew what he was doing, and I didn't like it. He was trying to separate us from the crowds so he could make his move. We had to get to him before that happened. Chasing him into the room I pulled my gun from my jacket at aimed it at him.

"Stop right there, Li!" I commanded.

He was well on his way up another set of stairs but stopped when I pulled the gun. The herd of people in the room, however, reacted quite differently seeing my gun. They opted to run out of the room screaming and panicking. Yuri followed my lead retrieving her gun from the holster hidden on her thigh. We approached cautiously, it made me nervous that he was just sitting there staring at us, a devious smile had curled on his lips.

"Are you the one trying to kill us?" I asked.

He said nothing. Just continued to smile.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Li made his move. Leaping into the air and flipping himself around, he landed behind us and dropped down into a sweeping kick which knocked us both off of our feet. As I hit the ground I saw Li coming at me, a ferocious look on his face and his long razor-sharp nails aimed right at my throat. I lifted my hands to block him. Yuri quickly came to my aid but was knocked back by a sidekick from Li.

Regaining her balance Yuri tried a different tactic and fired her weapon towards me and my attacker. I squealed as the ray beams narrowly missed me.

But it did manage to chase Li off of me. His attention was now focused on Yuri, with a chop of his hand he knocked the gun out of her grip and pinned her against the wall ready to dig his nails into her neck. This guy was too freakin' fast. His movements were so precise and lighting quick. No wonder he was a legend amongst us trouble consultants.

Returning the favor, I took a shot at Li while his back was to me. Even then he still managed to spin out of the way and completely avoid my blast. Thankfully Yuri was shorter than this guy because if she had been any taller my missed shot would have gotten her in the head. Whoops.

Yuri and I rushed him at the same time. Even with all of our physical combat training, Dragon Li was able to block or dodge every punch, jab, and kick we tossed at him like it was nothing. It was a shame I had to kick this guy's ass, I really wanted him to teach me some of these moves. After easily deflecting our assault he found an opening to nail us both in the stomachs with his fists knocking us backward.

Clearly, we were outmatched in speed. We needed to level the playing field. We just had to keep him busy until we could make our move. We caught our breath and rushed him again. This guy wasn't even breaking a sweat, meanwhile, Yuri and I looked like we had just been hit by an asteroid. We tried to buy ourselves some extra time but it seemed Li was getting impatient. Giving me a swift chop to the collar bone he spun around and grabbed a hold of Yuri, pinning her arms back and placing his dagger-like nails to her throat.

"Whoa, whoa. Don't hurt her." I managed to mutter through the pain. "It's me you want, remember?"

Continuing his silent treatment, Dragon Li just gave another wicked smile slowly dragging one of his fingers along Yuri's soft neck. A line of crimson blood formed from the small gash as Yuri winced in pain.

"The deal was for both." Dragon Li finally spoke.

Shock struck me as his face twisted into another intense look as he prepared to land his killing blow on my partner. Right before he dug his nails into her neck he was stopped as the window on the wall to our left shattered. A blur of darkness came flying into the room with a mighty roar. Yuri freed herself just as the shadow of the beast connected with Li tackling him to the ground.

Mughi roared ferociously as Li struggled beneath his solid frame. With one swat of his great paw to the head, Li was knocked unconscious.

Sitting down on his victim, Mughi beamed at us with a pleased look on his face. Yuri and I limped over to him and wrapped our arms around him singing his praises. He made it just in time, a second later and Yuri would have been a shish kabob.

After fully detaining the assassin we led him outside. The guests had already called the police and they were there waiting for us in front of the theater. We explained the situation, told them he was an assassin hired by Lucifer, then we handed the perpetrator over to their custody. Perfectly gift-wrapped and everything. We couldn't believe our luck, we had made an arrest with no casualties and no major collateral damage! That is if you ignore that whole drama yesterday in District 428. It was a holiday miracle.

These last few days had been a miracle, really. It felt like everything was finally falling back into place. Well, mostly, there were still some things that I was going to have to work out. Mainly with Carson, now that I am, or rather always was, a trouble consultant it was going to make being together extremely difficult. Then there was the matter of his heritage, I still needed to sort all of that out.

There would be time for that later though.

When the reports came in about the incident tonight, Chief Soranaka came down to the theater himself. I was a bit nervous to see him, I had made a pretty big fool of myself after all.

"I am glad you are safe." He said placing a hand on my shoulder.

Not exactly the greeting I was expecting but hey I'll take it.

"I am sure Yuri has explained the situation to you? What do you say? Are you back with us?" He asked hopefully.

I looked at his face, his artificial eye was glossing up from a tear. Mughi with his ever-hopeful expression. And Yuri, my best friend, the one person I can always count on to have my back no matter what. I smiled a crooked smile and looked back to the chief.

"Yeah, I'm back."

EPILOGUE

Gehenna - Red Giant outside of the United Galactica 12.05.2141

My heels clacked across the black marble as I sauntered casually towards to massive double doors leading to main chambers. This is what passes for security at Lucifer's infamous Black Citadel? Pathetic, I was completely disappointed, to say the least. I was hoping that after all spending all of this time tracking them down that they would at least put up a bit of a fight. Make it somewhat interesting for me. Alas, no fun for poor little ol' me, just more boredom.

But not for long. I wouldn't have to be bored ever again soon enough.

Destroy everything. Dance in their blood to the symphony of anarchy.

My men had already secured this silly little fortress. It was a good hiding spot though, I will give them that. Who would have ever thought to look inside of a star for the galaxy's most notorious crime family? It was going to make a perfect home for yours truly.

Kill them just to hear them scream.

I smiled to myself, I must admit I was a bit excited by the prospect and uncertainty of what was about to happen. The thrill of the unknown. As this rush flowed through me I thrust open the doors to the Lucifer High Council chamber and marched in confidently.

"What the hell is this? Who are you!?" an elderly woman shouted all huffy with rage.

Their chamber was charming, in its own way. I was probably going to have to redecorate though. The black marble of the citadel carried into this room as well. Pillars lined the long rectangular room with banners depicting their crest hanging from the walls. A large semicircular table was positioned at the end of the room with floor to ceiling windows behind it offering a lovely view of the raging inferno that was the red giant. Beautiful. Seated at the table was the seven Lucifer High Council themselves in the flesh. Well, most of them. One of them appeared to a hologram. Still, I was a bit disappointed, the most elusive, criminally evil humans in all of existence. Seven demons responsible for the suffering and extortion of countless people, and this was it?

Boring.

"Madame Satan, I presume. Matriarch of the Lucifer crime family." I queried as I marched up to their conference table.

"She didn't ask who she was." A morbidly rotund bald man added, this one must be Beelzebub.

Oh, such fun.

I wonder what their insides look like?

"We won't ask again? Who are you?" Asked an older man who resembled a wrinkled old fish. Mammon I presumed.

"My name is Shasti. It's an honor to be in the presence of such unspeakable evil." I offered with a sly smile. "But, I am here on business not pleasure. I would like to politely ask you to turn over your little operation here over to me." I said pleasantly.

The council members all burst into laughter. Well, you can't say I didn't give them a chance.

"Who do you think you are, little girl?" An androgynous member of the council with cybernetic implants on their face asked mockingly. Belphegor.

That must mean the holographic member was Astaroth. Which meant I got here too late. Since his consciousness had been uploaded to their servers that meant his body was gone. Oh well, I could deal with that later.

"Perhaps I was unclear. You see my men have already secured this facility. I also have troops infiltrating your various organization throughout the entire United Galactica." I continued.

They looked at each other in stunned disbelief.

"So, you see, I am not really asking. I am taking." My tone shifting to one more sinister.

Madame Satan pulled a rifle from behind the table and aimed it at me. "The hell you say."

Leviathan and his twin sister Asmodeus followed suit by taking out their weapons as well.

I love it!

Yes, do it. Shoot me! Let the blood flow. I want it!

I couldn't help but laugh myself. My gawd, this was so much fun! I almost hated to see it end.

Almost.

Before they could even consider pulling the trigger I raised my arm and shot off six shots from the weapon I designed mounted on my hand. In the span of less than few seconds, each living member of council had a needle-like object protruding from their forehead. I smiled wickedly as I lowered my arm demurely.

"Pretty neat, huh? I came up with it myself. It's a paralyzing agent and even though it seizes up your body I can assure you that your pain receptors are all fully functional, maybe even a bit more so from the chemicals."

I walked to the right side of the table behind Belphegor. "After all it wouldn't be any fun if you couldn't feel it." I explained as I dug my long nails into the back of their skull. My eyes began glowing red as I initiated the download, my lips curled into a grin as I felt their consciousness flow into me. Once it was finished, I moved on to Beelzebub doing the same to his plump head.

One by one I impaled their brains, assimilating their knowledge and personalities.

As I drained the final member of the council of their very being I tossed the deceased old lady out of the central chair and sat myself down. After all, I have been on my feet all day I wanted to be comfortable while their personalities and memories melded with my own.

I spun around in the chair to face the hellfire on the opposite side of the window, I twitched a bit as I continued the assimilation while looking out over my new kingdom.

The end of existence was coming.

I smiled.

END

DIRTY PAIR

HELL'S ANGEL

PROLOGUE

These last few months have been a real roller coaster with that whole fiasco of me quitting the 3WA, ending my friendship with Yuri, almost getting assassinated by Lucifer, finally admitting I am in love with Carson, making up with Yuri, and getting hired back by the 3WA.

Phew, did I miss anything? Geez, I told you!

Since then, the 3WA made good on their word. The Crusher Council began working with Ridley and the people of Ooborus to start terraforming. I am so happy to say they are already doing so much better. I can't express how wonderful it makes me feel to be able to keep my promise to Ridley. I have also noticed that the Crusher's leader, Dan, and Ridley have become awfully close as of late. It's been pretty adorable to watch, actually. They are both so tough and used to isolating themselves that their whole courtship has been one awkward mishap after another. I have never seen two people more appropriate for one another, though.

Speaking of, you're probably wondering about me and Carson. Well, there isn't too much to report on that end as of yet. It's pretty difficult for a trouble consultant and a pro thief to make a life together. He is trying though. He even agreed to meet with his mother to clear the air and get their stories straight.

Carson was apprehensive at first, but you can't imagine how happy Ridley was to see him. They talked it out, Ridley explained everything. It turned out, unsurprisingly, that Mason took Carson away from Ridley to pay off her debts to him. It was a pretty emotional reunion but one that I think benefitted everyone in the end. Carson even made the decision to turn his back on his life of crime and joined up with the Crusher Council.

Of course, your past doesn't just go away because you say so. For now, Carson and his baggage were out of my jurisdiction on Ooborus and we had time to work out the rest later.

I pulled my stubborn head out of my butt and finally talked to my brother, Brei. I gave him and Yuri my blessing. I mean, Yuri was basically already my sister so it's not like that much would be changing. I was happy to hear that he was working hard and focused on doing his time and getting back into the society, Yuri was pretty happy about this too.

Things were looking up for this pair of angels.

However, we had no way of knowing that a ghost from our past was coming back to haunt us.

One thing was for certain, nothing would be the same after this.

CHAPTER 1

3WA Training Facility – Planet Shimogu 02.28.2139

"Aw, hell yeah!" I shouted with an aggressive fist pump.

"I suppose we have been doing quite well, right?" Yuri asked meekly beside me.

Chief Gooley just grumbled and buried his face in his hands. Man, this was so freakin' awesome. First, we get handpicked by the Worlds Welfare Work Association to become trouble consultants, then we get fast-tracked into the criminal investigations line of the training, and now we totally just found out that we were had also done well enough to be sent out on a real-life mission! Considering our little incident a few months ago that I would rather not talk about I was sure we were coming in today to be canned. This was pretty exciting, I mean back at Meizuiru University we weren't exactly on the honor roll, nowhere near it, actually. I had better things to do, like underage drinking, running around, and getting into trouble.

Y'know, typical teen stuff.

Gooley reached into his top drawer and pulled out a bottle of pills and brought it to his mouth swallowing a couple of them dry.

"It's not up to me and not my decision." The chief said flatly. "Headquarters has decided to try something new. They are sending over one of their top trouble consultants to help train you in the field."

I grabbed Yuri by the shoulders and shook her enthusiastically, this was so awesome! It was about time my amazingness was recognized.

"Okay, knock it off. Don't get too excited, I want to make it abundantly clear that you are just accompanying this person on a mission. You are not to act on your own or interfere with the mission in any way. You are there to absorb their knowledge and experience. As far as you two are concerned you are essentially breathing sponges. You got that, Kei?" Gooley asserted gruffly.

"Hey! Why are you singling me out!?" I responded, putting on my best fake hurt act.

I knew damn well why he was singling me out, I had no intention of going along with any of that crap. I was going to prove my skills in the field, solve the case, and return back to Shimogu to the raucous sound of praise and respect that I so obviously deserve.

Gooley groaned again.

Yuri's lips were pursed as she gave me a worried side eye. Damn Yuri, why did she have to give me that look? Miss by-the-book here. I slumped down in my seat. Fine, I would play by the rules, for now. But I see an opportunity to shine, I am going to take it!

"Sir, may I ask when we will get to meet the new trainer?" Yuri asked sweetly.

"Her ship should be arriving tomorrow morning. You will get to meet her at the debriefing." He responded after clearing his throat.

"Her, huh? Alright! Get some more girl power up in here!" I responded vigorously.

"Could you tell us a bit about her, please?" Yuri inquired with a cutesy little head tilt.

"All I know is her name is Shasti. Apparently, she has been breaking all sorts of records left and right at headquarters." He informed us.

Yuri and I exchanged an excited look and little squeal. Aw man, I couldn't wait to meet her, she sounded awesome.

"Alright, cut it out. You two get out of here and get back to your bunks. Be back here at 0800, got it?" Chief Gooley said annoyed.

"Yes, sir!" We said in unison as we rose from our seats and made our way out of his office.

We made our way back to our room and started to get settled in for the night. First thing I did was march over to the closet to get this uniform off of me. Ugh, I couldn't stand being this covered. It didn't feel natural, it was probably just a psychosomatic thing but I didn't care. I reached to the back of my neck and hit the release, the normally skin-tight silver uniform lost its vaccuform seal and drooped down allowing me to slip out with ease. I saw Yuri had wasted no time doing the same.

"So, what do you think she will be like? I am picturing this major badass!" I asked my partner standing there in just a pair of briefs as I hung up my uniform. "This muscled out, scar covered, blood-stained monster, y'know?"

"I guess I don't really know, she could be anything really." Yuri replied as she finished slipping her uniform off of her leg and quickly hanging it up.

"Whatever. This is still so cool. Imagine getting to go on our first mission, I am going mental, are you going mental?!" I asked slipping a tank top over my head and pulling it down.

"Yes, Kei. I am going mental." Yuri replied putting air quotes around the word mental sarcastically.

We finished getting ready for bed, I climbed up to the top bunk and pulled a holo-zine out from between my mattress and started scrolling through.

"You're not supposed to have that." Yuri informed me in a snooty manner.

I rolled my eyes. "You know what else I am not supposed to have?" I asked slyly as I hopped down from the bunk and hurried over to my trunk.

After rummaging a bit and tossing a few things aside I pulled out an unopened bottle of Bim Soda.

"Tada!"

"Kei! That is alcohol!" Yuri gasped.

"So it is, c'mon we should celebrate! Our first mission!" I countered scooting onto the bottom bunk with her.

I twisted off the lid and took a hearty gulp. Damn! This stuff was good! I smacked my lips satisfied and handed the bottle to Yuri. She was hesitant, she looked around like she was afraid of getting caught by someone.

"Aw c'mon." I pressured.

With a defeated sigh, she took the bottle and took a quick swig before pulling it away gagging. "Oh my goodness, that tastes awful!" She retched.

Did it? I didn't think so. I thought it tasted like vanilla and it went down so smoothly. That's when I made the realization.

"Wait, this isn't your first drink, is it?"

"Of course not! I have drunk plenty before." Yuri defended.

I looked at her skeptically.

"Well, I have. Okay, it was ONE bottle of sake I stole from my grandmother." She confessed.

"Yuri?! Stealing?! You badass!" I gushed.

She immediately started to blush and took another drink, a bit more this time before handing the bottle back to me only coughing a little bit this time. I gladly accepted and tossed the bottle back taking another drink before handing it back. Yuri giggled a bit before accepting it and taking a drink that matched my own.

"Atta girl!" I laughed.

It probably wasn't the best idea but we stayed up way into the night finishing off the bottle of Bim Soda and laughing and giggling as we exchanged stories. So as you could imagine, by the next morning, we were both feeling like death warmed over. We sluggishly made our way back to Chief Gooley's office. We had barely gotten ourselves together, I had a dark pair of shades on shielding me from the harsh light of the facility. We did our best to compose ourselves and hide the fact that we coulda barfed at any moment before entering the office.

The chief took one look at us and sighed. "Long night?" He asked unimpressed.

Guess we weren't fooling anyone.

"Whatever do you mean, chief?" Yuri asked.

Give it up girl, the jig is up. We should have known better. Gooley looked like the kinda guy that was no stranger to a hangover. I looked around the room eager to get a peek at this hot shot tro con but it was just the three of us. I slumped my shoulders in disappointment. I figured she would be here already, after all, we had gotten her fifteen minutes late.

"Hey, where is she?" I interjected.

"Please excuse my tardiness." A pleasant voice said from behind me as they entered the room.

Yuri and I turned in unison to get a look at this all-star. I furrowed my brow at the sight of her. Really? Let's just say she wasn't at all what I was expecting. She looked just like Yuri or me, slim little hourglass figure, delicate beautiful features, modest shoulder length brown hair. Aside from her vivid emerald green eye color, she was pretty unremarkable. Beautiful and perfect in almost every way, but unremarkable.

Where was my crime fighting, space-faring, badass?

She strolled past me and Yuri and shook the chief's hand with a firm but not overly so handshake.

"Don't worry about it, please take a seat." Gooley gestured to the open chair.

She nodded in acceptance and lowered herself gracefully into the seat. Was she for real? She finally turned to address us extending her hand as she did with the chief.

"Pleasure to meet you, I am Shasti, You must be Yuri and Kei."

Wow, her skin was so soft. Just another crack in my shattered vision.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Shasti." Yuri replied in a tone similar to our new guest.

"Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's get to business." Chief Gooley interrupted clearing his throat.

We all turned to the holo-screen behind his desk as a number of files and photos appeared behind him. The chief pulled up one picture in particular of a creepy looking man in a strange top hat and suit. It was quite the outfit, it looked like it had been stitched together and was a garish blood red that completely clashed with the rest of his garments. Draped over his shoulders like a stole was a purple and pink stripped dead cat. His thin gaunt looking face had been painted white with a large red smile smeared across his lips with more stitches painted over it. More than anything, it was his black hollow soulless eyes that had me most unsettled.

"This is Jack O'Quinn, more commonly known as the Mad Hatter. He is the leader of the notorious Wonderland Gang. I am not going to sugarcoat this, we are dealing with a vile psychopath here. He and his crew are responsible for the brutal death and extortion of countless people. What's worse is intelligence has yet to discover a method to his madness. He is either a maniacal genius or simply wants to see the extinction of the human race. We have been tracking him since our organization was formed and we were recently able to apprehend him. He was in our custody for a single week before escaped." Gooley explained.

Yuri looked at me with a scared look on her face.

"Our intel has reported that he is hiding out at a secluded resort on planet Elurra. As you may know, Elurra is a planet on the edge of the solar system that experiences an endless winter. It has become quite a haven for winter sports enthusiasts but the terrain is harsh and unforgiving. O'Quinn and his gang have taken an entire resort lodge hostage, it has been reported that he is sending hostages out into the vastness of Elurra to die for his entertainment. Those that refuse are tortured and mutilated. Thankfully, one of those hostages managed to survive and report this back to us."

"Oh my gawd." I muttered at the horrific details.

"I- I can't believe you expect us to catch someone like this." Yuri stated in disbelief.

"I don't." The chief stated bluntly. "May I remind, you this is Shasti's case. You are mere observers. In fact, I think your roll in this is done. Shasti and I can take it from here. You're excused." He said in a no-nonsense tone.

I considered arguing but I was familiar with this tone, he was in a mood and anything I said would have just started a yelling match. So instead I waited for Yuri to finish her little bow before exiting the room.

"Don't worry, sweeties. Everything will be just fine." Shasti said behind us in an attempt to reassure us.

I looked into her eyes, funny, they looked more golden to me now. I could have sworn they were green before. I didn't have much time to contemplate it before the office doors slammed in my face. Jeez, take a pill, chief.

CHAPTER 2

Man, that whole thing really pissed me off!

It cleared up my hangover but left me fuming. I needed to burn off some off this rage so I drug Yuri over to the gym with me for some sparring. I tossed her around the mat a couple of times before she bowed out like a wimp. Claimed she was still feeling queasy.

Pfft. Wimp!

I tried to get some of the other trainees to take me on but they were a bunch of punks too. There had to be someone out there that I could take some rage out on.

"Mind if I have a go?"

I turned to see Shasti coming towards me. Her walk was so delicate yet purposeful. Was she even real, I asked myself?

"Sure, if you think you can." I postured.

I was curious to test out these record-breaking skills of hers. So far I was not buying that this chick, who looked like she was more suited for modeling, had the stuff to even come close to breaking a tro con's record. I walked to the other end of the mat and stretched out trying to loosen up and stay light. Shasti took her position on the opposite side. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before cracking her neck. She opened her eyes and put up her fists.

"Ready?" She asked, her tone different from before. Much more serious.

I didn't let that distract me, I rushed forward and threw out a couple of jabs that she evaded perfectly. A right hook, left uppercut, knee. She avoided them all with frustrating ease. I took a few steps back to change up my tactics but this prompted her to strike. Before I could properly get a defensive pose up she connected several punches in rapid succession before dropping down into a sweeping kick. After her leg connected with the back on mine, I fell to the ground in a daze. Before I even realized it she was on top of me, pinning me down. She was fast, like inhumanly fast. She smiled as I struggled to break free from her grasp. She got me, I looked up at her in defeat.

Okay damn it, I will admit that green and yellow could have been mistaken for each other but her eyes were absolutely a steel blue now!

"Shasti, they need you in the war room." A recruit called out from the doorway.

I tapped out. Shasti pulled herself off of me and helped me to my feet.

"Thank you for the match. You have real potential! If you'll excuse me, sweetie." She smiled sweetly. Her eyes now the previous yellow hue.

I kept my furrowed eyes on her as she exited the gym. There was something not right about this lady. Yuri slinked over to me and watched as my stare bored into the back of Shasti's head.

"There's no need to be a sore loser, Kei." She scolded me.

"Get real, Yuri. Something weird is going on here." I shook Yuri off.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"C'mon, we're gonna find out." I grabbed her wrist and headed for the door.

We stayed far enough back that there was no way Shasti could have spotted us. Though that assumption was made assuming she is human, which I wasn't so convinced that she was. I kept Yuri's whining to a minimum as we waited outside the war room a few moments.

"We can't go in there!" Yuri protested.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes before pulling her in. Shasti and Chief Gooley were standing with a group of other high ranking 3WA officials. Yuri and I found a good hiding place behind one of the consoles. I was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to spot us and we still had a pretty good view of them.

"Before we proceed I want to make sure you understand what we are asking of you." One of the men spoke to Shasti.

She nodded before turning her attention to another one of the men as he pulled up a holographic display of Jack O'Quinn. Yuri had shut up and was watching with the same curiosity as I was.

"As we explained previously, we have had some of the top professionals in the United Galactica try and understand O'Quinn's mind and motivations. While in custody we subjected him to numerous psychological tests, one of which was a full scan and download of his consciousness for further study. All of our efforts have proved fruitless." One of the men explained.

"So you can see why we are resorting to such a desperate act." The first man added. "To catch a man like O'Quinn we need someone that understands him like only he does."

Yuri and I exchanged a perplexed look.

"I understand and consent to the procedure. This man must be removed from society at all costs." Shasti asserted confidently.

"Well." Gooley cleared his throat. "Let's do it then."

I detected a hint of hesitation in his voice.

The third man, that had remained silent up until this point, pulled out a cable from the console emitting the holographic images of the Mad Hatter. Shasti lifted her hair allowing him to gently plug the cable into the port in the back of her neck. She gently lowered her hair and gave the men a nod.

"Proceed upload." The first man instructed the third.

At his command, the third man punched a command into the console. Shasti's body went rigid. She began shaking a bit as the men looked on. Gooley's expression became more solemn.

"Upload complete." The third man informed the group.

With a nod of confirmation from the first man, the third one removed the cable from Shasti's neck and helped her into a chair. Her eyes were fluttering as if she was having a seizure. Yet no one was showing any concern. After a couple minutes, Shasti opened her eyes wide and sat up in the chair. She straightened her hair and wiped her hands on her uniform, she seemed to be back to normal suddenly.

"How do you feel?" The second man asked.

"Quite well, thank you captain." Shasti responded in her polite manner.

"And the procedure?" The first man inquired.

"A success, I would say. The upload has been assimilated with no complications. I can feel O'Quinn's consciousness merged with my own. I should now be able to predict his every move. " Shasti confirmed.

I shot Yuri a look of shock at her statement. I knew something was going on here! She had to be a robot or something. I knew she couldn't be that perfect.

"Let's get out of here." Yuri whispered as she started to pull me towards the door.

I wasn't quite ready to leave yet, but I let Yuri sneak me out anyway. Once we were outside the war room we took off running down the hall. We were out of breath by the time we got back to our room.

"What the hell, man!?" I said between breaths.

Yuri had sat herself down on her bed, she looked as flummoxed as I felt. We said nothing as we tried to absorb what we had just witnessed. I don't think either of us had ever witnessed something so wild before.

"Cadet Kei and Cadet Yuri. Report to hanger E102 for departure proceedings." A voice sounded over the intercom.

It was enough to shake us out of our trance-like states. I looked over to Yuri who had a look of uncertainty on her face. I was right there with you, girl. She rose up and walked over to me, I gave her a reassuring hand to the shoulder.

"Time to report for duty." I said.

Neither of us was feeling the same amount of confidence that we were feeling yesterday, this whole thing with Shasti had really thrown us. And now we had to ride in a spaceship with her for the next three hours. We reported to mission control for the final debrief and made our way to the hanger. The chief and Shasti were already there waiting for us. We did our best to pretend nothing was wrong. Gooley gave us a final lecture about how we were meant to stay out of Shasti's way and blah blah blah. I wanted to tell him where to shove that lecture but minded my tongue.

The spaceship we were assigned was pretty nice, actually. It wasn't too big or anything, we didn't want to draw the attention of the Wonderland Gang after all. The deck of the ship was set up in a triangular fashion, Shasti took the driver's seat at the uppermost point of the triangle leaving the bottom two seats for me and Yuri. My stomach was in knots by the time we took off. As we approached the warp drive I was suddenly rethinking this whole thing, but it was too late now. We entered the drive exiting on the other side of the galaxy.

We were committed now.

No one said anything for the first thirty minutes of the trip. Honestly, what could we have said? Clearly, we both wanted to know more though, as Yuri was silently gesturing for me to talk to Shasti. I, in return, was arguing silently that she should. And as usual, I won.

"So, umm, Shasti. H-How old are you?" The defeated Yuri asked meekly.

"Oh, how sweet of you to ask. I will be six months old on the 13th." She answered politely.

"Excuse me?" I said visibly rattled, she was so blunt about it. "So you are a robot, then?"

"Goodness no, I am just as human as you and Yuri." Shasti chuckled.

I turned to Yuri with a shrug, yeah I had nothing.

"How rude of me, I suppose I should explain." Shasti said suddenly placing her hand to her mouth. "I am an artificial human created and grown by the World's Welfare Work Association to be the perfect trouble consultant." She announced proudly.

"Artificial human? So you were created in a lab." Yuri pressed.

"That's right, I was born in a vat using the DNA of those deemed the best in their field and then genetically modified to weed out any imperfections." She explained.

"So, if you aren't a robot, then how do you explain your eye color changing like that?" I inquired.

"Ah, yes, that. You see when I was created I was given three distinct personalities that utilize the various skills I was genetically programmed with. For instance, the yellowish color is for socializing and nurturing. Green for my police and interrogation skills, and blue…"

"Blue is for combat." I cut Shasti off.

"That's right." She said with a sweet smile.

"So. You don't have a personality of your own?" Yuri said quietly.

"Don't be silly, I have three!" Shasti corrected enthusiastically. "In fact, I have a one of a kind hardware wetwired into me that allows to me assimilate and adopt the memories and personalities of anyone I choose. Just like you saw in the war room."

"Oh, you saw us, huh?" I laughed.

"Don't worry, it's our little secret." Shasti winked.

I will admit, I suddenly felt a hell of a lot better after talking to Shasti. True, she may have had a rather unconventional birth but she wasn't any different from you or me. I probably owed her an apology. I had judged her unfairly. We continued to chat for the rest of the trip. Really, Shasti was pretty fascinating. I tried to imagine what it must be like to be her, all these expectations on her shoulders to be the perfect trouble consultant at all times. I don't think I could handle that kind of pressure. Of course, she was made to be perfect.

"You will want to raise the dermal temperatures of your uniforms. We will be touching down in about twenty minutes and I am reading a temperature of -23 degree Celsius." Shasti explained to us as if she were our mother. Must have been that social personality of hers. Of all her personalities this one bugged me the most. Did they really have to make her the stereotypical version of the perfect woman? Demure caregiver. Maybe I could talk to someone about uploading into her a bit of my edge when we got back.

We didn't really land the ship fully, Shasti kept her hovering a few feet above the ground. I was pretty stoked. The 3WA provided us with a couple of snowmobiles so that we could approach the lodge without drawing any unwanted attention to ourselves. I was chomping at the bit to ride one of these bad boys. We mounted the machines as Shasti lowered the bay doors creating a ramp to the surface. I was suddenly glad we had been told to bundle up I thought as the door opened to a vicious snow storm.

"Ready?" Shasti asked before revving up her snowmobile and cruising down the ramp.

Yuri and I followed right behind her.

CHAPTER 3

It was about a half an hour drive in snowfall so thick I could barely see a thing ahead of me. Luckily the blizzard had started to calm down by the time we reached our destination. You could actually see the moonbeams peeking out through the flakes.

The lodge was an impressive sight. It looked more like a grand palace than it did what I would have imagined a lodge would look like. Pretty swanky. It made me wonder why the Mad Hatter would try to 'hide' in such a conspicuous place. We had parked on the side of the building and were trudging through the snow as we made our way around to an entrance.

Rounding a corner, we came into view of our entry point. It was guarded by two bald men in matching striped shirts and suspenders. These men were nearly identical except one of them had a large scar running across his face. They were both holding large assault rifles. They didn't scare me with their big guns and big muscles though. I would have taken those suckers out easy if they would have let me.

But, as it were, Shasti was leading the mission. We were just observers. She must have switched into her police mode. Her air of pleasantness was replaced by an unemotional strictness. She motioned silently for me and Yuri to stay where we were while she crept silently over to the guards. It was almost hypnotic watching Shasti work. Without so much as making a sound, she snuck up behind Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and knocked them both out with some sort of hold. She was going to have to teach me that one!

With the guards disabled, Shasti called us over and led us into the extravagant resort. This place was even more incredible on the inside. I had never seen anything so fancy in my entire life, we certainly didn't have anything this posh on Niogi. They even had a cherub fountain in the middle of the room, now that is fancy! Nothing said class and opulence like a cherub!

"As we discussed on the ship, the Wonderland Gang is held up in the ballroom. This is where they are holding the hostages. We are going to infiltrate the ballroom through this service entrance here." Shasti explained as she traced our route on her holo-computer. "I will need you two to stay two clicks back while I assess the situation. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Yuri agreed.

"Uh, yeah." I added quickly breaking my attention away from my surroundings.

Satisfied with our compliance, Shasti led the way to the ballroom. I couldn't help but wonder if Yuri had the same lump in her stomach that I did right now. Not that I would ever ask her and admit that I was nervous. I had a reputation to think of! So instead I just followed my teammates diligently taking up the rear. I know that Shasti had just finished saying that everyone was in the ballroom but the hollow silence of this big place was starting to creep me out.

We took a back route through the kitchen and around to the service door into the ballroom. I could hear some sort of commotion on the other side. People screaming, things shattering. I wish we didn't have to stay back, not that it would have mattered since Shasti was hogging the porthole of the door.

"He's killing them." Shasti said completely emotionlessly.

"What?" I exclaimed under my breath.

Shasti turned to us, her face stony. "He is killing the hostages, we are too late."

Yuri clutched my arm and looked away in sorrow. Those poor people. If only we had been a few minutes sooner. I looked up at Shasti as she pushed opened the door and let herself into the ballroom without leaving us a word or further instruction.

I went to follow her but Yuri held me back.

"We can't." Was all she said.

Damn it, she was right. Well, no one said we couldn't watch. I gave Yuri a nod and went to the door to peer out.

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw, the ballroom was drenched in blood. The walls were smeared nearly eight feet up. Massacred bodies were strewn about the area, gang members were carting them out one by one. I felt my stomach flip at the horrific sight. I nearly threw up right then and there. Yuri grabbed me by the shoulders as I looked away heaving. As I struggled to calm my stomach Yuri took a turn looking out. Upon seeing the nightmarish sights of the ballroom she took a few steps back, her already pale skin turning completely white.

Regaining some composure I looked again. Shasti was just standing in the middle of the room having a stare off with someone. I tilted my head to get a better view, her eyes were locked with the Mad Hatter's. Neither was saying a word, O'Quinn cocked his blood splattered head to the side eerily as he examined Shasti. He was joined by one of his gang, a gangly disheveled looking man in a horrific rabbit mask. This was not your cute little woodland bunny, its face was rabid looking with sharp teeth jutting out every which way. His white suit was saturated with blood and in his hands was an oversized pocket watch on a thick chain. It had been fashioned into a mace judging from the nails jetting out of it.

"Are you my Alice?" O'Quinn finally spoke breaking the silence.

Shasti said nothing, she didn't move, didn't react. Had he hypnotized her? The Mad Hatter started walking slowly towards her, still tilting his head as he examined her, his eyes wild like he was absolutely fascinated.

"You are, aren't you? My sweet Alice has returned." He said again.

He was now standing face to face with Shasti looking down into her eyes. To my surprise, she was looking right back into his. This didn't feel right.

"Something's wrong." I told Yuri as I pushed the door open and pulled Yuri into the ballroom.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to our intrusion. Oh crap, what was I thinking? We had no weapons, we were outnumbered, and we had no plan.

"More guests?" Hatter said with a sinister smile.

He turned his head to his lackeys dressed like playing cards. "Don't just stand there. Make them feel comfortable."

I felt panic wash over me as the men started towards us menacingly. I looked around desperately to find a weapon but there was nothing. We were screwed, so screwed! My stupid impulsiveness just got us killed. Good job, Kei. In one graceful motion, Shasti took her ray gun from her holster and fired off one shot for each playing card putting a hole between their eyes. As they dropped to the ground, the Mad Hatter started clapping and laughing like a mad man.

"Oh, such fun!" He squealed.

He placed a hand on Shasti's shoulder and led her towards the back of the ballroom where his twisted white rabbit was waiting for him. I couldn't believe my eyes, she was going along with him willingly! What the hell was going on here? She just saved us, yet she was seemingly siding with the enemy? Nothing about this was making any sense.

"Hare, will you entertain our guests? Alice here and I have so much to discuss." The Hatter laughed.

The white rabbit turned our way and made a strange sound that was somewhere between a laugh and gasping for air. He walked towards us slowly and started swinging his mace.

"Any ideas, Yuri?" I asked unable to hide my panic.

"Run?" She offered already sprinting back to the kitchen.

I turned tail and followed behind her. The manic sound of the rabbit's laughter increased as he started running after us. I pushed through the swinging service door and into the kitchen, it was pretty obvious we weren't gonna be able to outrun this guy forever. True to his persona, this guy was quick and right behind me.

"Ahhh!" Yuri squealed as the mace lodged into the wall just inches from her face.

Shit, he cut us off.

Thankfully, the kitchen had a few more options for makeshift weapons. I quickly snatched up a large clever and Yuri opted for a heavy duty looking frying pan. While the hare was struggling to pull his mace out of the wall, we charged forward. Yuri reached him first taking a swing at him with her pan which he stepped back to avoid. Not letting him gain any ground I lashed out with my clever connecting it with his arm.

The rabbit laughed even harder as the blood started to pour out of his wound. I wasn't sure if it was a distraction technique but he did manage to slip past us and make his way over to the mace. Pulling it free from the wall, he started swinging it above his head and sent it sailing towards Yuri. With another squeal, she lifted her frying pan just in time to avoid getting a rusty nail to the head.

The rabbit yanked back pulling the pan from Yuri's grasp. She scampered over to me as the psychotic bunny prepared another strike. I looked around as quickly as I could for some sort of solution and as luck would have it, I found one right behind us.

"When I say duck, duck!" I whispered to Yuri from the side of my mouth.

"DUCK!" I shouted as the rabbit unleashed his mace.

Dropping to the floor we allowed the mace to hit the fuse box concealed behind us. We covered our ears to avoid listening to the rabbit getting fried from the electrical current. It only took a few seconds before the hare collapsed in a steaming heap. We took a few moments to catch our breath, not that the smell of fried crazy person was helping that at all.

"We need to see what's goin' on with Shasti." I said stepping carefully over the electrified chain.

We walked back into the ballroom to find Shasti and O'Quinn. A giant black machete in the mad man's hand.

"Get away from her!" I shouted.

Why did I do that? What was my plan here? I really need to work on this whole impulse control thing.

Not that it really mattered, I apparently read the situation wrong. O'Quinn was handing the machete to Shasti which she was graciously accepting. Yuri and I stared on confused. Was this just all part of her plan? Those 3WA suits did say that in order to catch him we needed someone who understood him. Is that what this was?

Could someone please let me know what the hell was going on here?

The Mad Hatter extended a hand out towards my partner and me. Shasti turned towards us slowly and gripped the large blade in her hand. Yuri huddled behind me as Shasti smiled an evil smile. I twisted the cleaver in my hand, I wanted to be ready for whatever was about to happen.

"Go on, sweet Alice." The Mad Hatter said with a toothy grin.

Shasti looked at O'Quinn and then back to us. I could feel Yuri's grip tighten on my shoulders. Shasti turned back to the Mad Hatter and thrust the machete into his stomach. The Mad Hatter grinned and laughed hysterically and he pulled the machete in deeper. Blood began to pour from his mouth, splattering on to Shasti as he laughed. Shasti pulled the blade out of O'Quinn slowly allowing him to drop to his knees.

"So." He said still hacking up blood. "You were actually the Red Queen all along."

The laughter finally stopped when Jack O'Quinn collapsed the rest of the way to the ground.

I felt Yuri breathe a sigh of relief. So, this was just a plan all along. I never doubted it for a second. The tension fell away as we walked back over to our teammate. We both laughed a bit as we reached her.

"Clever ruse, you even had us fooled." Yuri congratulated Shasti.

I was about to join in on the celebration but stopped when I noticed something weird. Red. Shasti's eyes were red, I hadn't seen that color before.

Before I could process what was happening time halted. In slow motion, I saw Shasti lift the machete and plunge it into Yuri's stomach. I could see the maniacal pleasure in her blood red eyes and she thrust the blade deeper into my best friend. Every muscle in my body froze, all I could do was stare in horrific shock as Shasti pulled the machete out and Yuri collapsed to the floor. My breath stopped and I watched helplessly as Shasti the turned the blade on me sliding it effortlessly into my stomach.

To my surprise, I felt nothing. No pain. Just emptiness as I looked into the eyes of this lunatic who was taking pleasure in ending our lives. I felt the sensation of my body hitting the ground. I lay there facing Yuri, her long black hair had fallen over her face. I felt myself going numb as I watched Shasti smile an evil smile as she turned to walk away.

Before the consciousness escaped me I sent an SOS beacon to headquarters. Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 4

Planet Ooborus – Outside of the United Galactica 03.01.2142

"So, why do they call you Crushers, Mr. Dan?" Yuri asked as she set down her cup of tea.

We were sitting around Ridley's kitchen table enjoying a nice cup of green tea. Oolong this time, I think. We had just popped in on our way to our next mission to see how things were going. And maybe a little bit to see Carson. I was snuggled next to him across from Dan and Ridley, I was doing my best not to flaunt our couplyness since Yuri's beau was in the big house. I couldn't help but think what her strict grandmother would have thought about her dating a convict. I doubt my family would even care, I mean obviously since said convict is my older brother!

"It's a nickname that just sort of stuck." Dan explained. "See, when the council first formed our only job was to destroy meteors to make way for the intergalactic traffic lanes, so people started calling us crushers."

"Oh, how interesting. Since then you have evolved into a jack of all trades sort of business, correct?" Yuri inquired further.

"I guess you could say that; whatever you need done, we can do it." Dan laughed.

I really liked Dan, he was a bit off-putting at first since he had this air of intimidating toughness about him. But that must have just come with that kinda work. Once we got to know him he was a big ol' teddy bear.

"So, where are you two off to next?" Ridley asked cradling her cup of tea near her lips.

"That new hyper colony, Eden." I answered.

"I have heard of that." Carson piped up. "It's supposed to be the latest in energy innovation."

"That's right!" Yuri said in a tone that told me she was about to nerd out on all of us. "Situated in the center of a group of closely grouped planets and planetoids, Hypercolony Eden is the largest artificial habitat in the United Galactica. More than that, it is also a massive generator supplying power to those nearby planets and the people living on them. It's outstanding really, you see it's thanks to its supply of Ignoal Crystals and the people of the colony working…"

"Whoa, now. Save it for your documentary, egghead." I intervened.

I had to, she was going full blown rambling commentator on us. I needed to spare Ridley and Dan, not to mention myself. Yuri, however, was not impressed with my interruption. She made a big show of crossing her arms and turning away in a huff. At least it got a laugh out of the group. I took another sip of my tea just as an alarm went off. The sound caused Mughi's head to spring up, until now, he had been napping on Ridley's sofa snoring loudly.

"Looks like we gotta go." I explained rising from the table.

"Thank you so much for the tea and your hospitality." Yuri followed my lead offering a polite bow to Ridley and Dan.

I gave Carson a lingering kiss as Mughi pulled his lazy self off of the sofa and meandered over to us. As he walked by I could feel something wrapping against my waist, at first I thought it was Carson getting fresh but quickly realized it was Mughi pulling me towards the door. Silly omlarcat, you jealous or something?!

With another wave, we left Ridley's house and made our way to the Lovely Angel. I plopped myself down into the passenger seat and kicked my slender golden legs onto the console while Yuri was preoccupied starting the takeoff procedures.

"So, who are we meant to be bodyguarding this time?" I asked with a big yawn and stretch as the Lovely Angel lifted into the air.

Yuri sighed. "You were at the debriefing too."

"I forget." I covered, truth be told I had a long night of playing Galatic Crisis at Elysium prior to that. Joanca and I kicked back a few Bim Sodas and I beat the high score; not quite enough to cash in that jackpot, but I was getting close. So, hangover aside, I wasn't really paying attention.

"Ari Deetz, the man that designed Eden." Yuri explained in an exasperated tone. "He created the energy cross transfer system, you know, the one that supplies power to the whole Johnova system. It wouldn't kill you to pay attention, you know."

"A name would have been fine." I stuck my tongue out at her.

I hated bodyguard assignments. They were always so boring, you would think they would be action-packed, constantly fighting off attempts at your client's life. But no, it was mostly a lot of sitting around and looking at people who may or may not be suspicious.

"Ima just close my eyes for a little bit. Wake me when we get there, okay?" I said adjusting the seat back.

Yuri just sighed again.

"Wake up, Kei. We're here." I snapped awake at the sound of my partner's voice. "Will you contact admissions and customs?"

I was still a bit groggy from my nap but did as Yuri asked. On the monitor in front of me appeared a young blonde girl, she couldn't have been older than sixteen.

"Welcome to Hypercolony Eden, the marvel of tomorrow. Like, please state your name, ship ID, and reason for visiting." She asked in an overly perky and rehearsed tone.

"Like, my name is Kei, codename Lovely Angel. My ship ID is totally like also Lovely Angel." I responded in a tone mocking the dispatcher's. "We are trouble consultants with the 3WA here on assignment." I reverted to my normal albeit a bit annoyed tone.

My sarcastic tone went right over her ditzy little head, instead, she just went on with the processing. I was worried she was gonna hurt herself with how hard she was having to focus.

"Okay, right here. 3WA trouble consultants Lovely Angels, better-known as…." She drifted off as her expression changed to one of terror. "T-The Dirty Pair! Okay, like processing is complete. You are offered a 72-hour visa. Please try to not kill us all, k? Thanks!" She said in rapid-fire succession before abruptly terminating the communication.

I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the screen where her uppity little face used to be. If I happened to come across that girl while we were here I was gonna have put hands on her.

"What a bitch." Yuri said nonchalantly as she maneuvered the Lovely Angel in the hangar.

I was caught a bit off guard and quickly shot my partner a look. She turned to me with an impish expression on her face and stuck her tongue out with a cheeky smile. I couldn't help but laugh, which caused Yuri to start giggling along with me.

The hangar was absolutely loaded with ships from all over the United Galactica. It made sense, I guess, considering this week was the big public unveiling of the colony. That's why we here, after all. This Deetz guy was worried someone would be after him to rip off his technology, and since the colony was going to be overrun by the media and nerds like Yuri, he needed the extra security.

After landing the ship we were greeted by an older man who identified himself as Lieutenant Governor Elliot Spencer. A balding liaison in gem shaped glasses tasked with escorting us to our client. He seemed pretty uptight, he took one look at Mughi and basically threw a fit about how there wouldn't be enough room in the car for him, shedding, blah blah, blah. Calm down, fuss bucket. Mughi was probably just as happy staying behind and watching daytime vidstream.

"You will be meeting Mr. Deetz at the inaugural public address." Elliot informed us in a stuffy British accent as he looked at us sitting in the back seat through the rear view mirror. "I will escort you."

We rode the rest of the way in silence, which was fine by me. I didn't have much to say to this stick in the mud anyway. As we approached the pavilion where the address was scheduled to take place, I could see a massive crowd had already formed. I saw the number of ships in the hanger but I certainly didn't expect this many people. I guess this thing was a bigger deal than I initially thought. We pulled around to an area in the back and pushed our way through the heavy security to the guest area. It was there that Elliot introduced us to our client. Ari Deetz.

Now, imagine what a groundbreaking scientist who just discovered the next big thing in energy creation and distribution would look like. Got it? Okay, now imagine the opposite of that. He was a skinny, sullen-looking, goth guy that really wasn't much older than us. His long black hair framed his pale face, his nails and lips were painted black. He was wearing what was once a pretty nice pinstripe suit but had since been modified with studs and spikes and safety pins. I had to wonder if we had the right person here.

"Mr. Deetz, may I present the trouble consultants from the 3WA." Elliot announced us.

"Kei, Yuri. Pleasure." Ari said in a monotone holding out a limp hand to greet us.

We didn't want to be rude so we took his fishnet covered hand and returned the sentiment.

"You will be going on in five minutes, Mr. Deetz. You two will accompany him on stage and keep an appropriate distance. Don't crowd him but be able to reach him should something happen." The staunch British man instructed us like we were nothing but simple school girls.

His attitude certainly pissed me off, this wasn't our first day on the job you misogynistic piece of garbage. I pushed my anger down, I didn't need it distracting us from the job at hand. I was a professional after all. So when the time came to go on stage I went into high alert. Not a single sound or movement escaped my perception. Until we got up there and he started speaking that is. I thought Yuri was boring when she started going into this tech jargon but this guy was even worse with his monotone morose voice.

Maybe they would have been better off hiring someone else to talk about this? Maybe someone with a personality? Just a thought.

I decided to just focus on my job, I scanned the crowd looking for anything suspicious. Someone pulling out a weapon, someone in one of the nearby buildings setting up a hit, someone readying a rotten tomato. Anything. Nothing could have prepared me for what I found hiding in the crowd though. I turned to Yuri and directed her attention to what I was seeing.

"Is that?"

Seeing Yuri's eyes widen with anger confirmed what I was thinking. In the crowd looking up at the stage casually was Shasti. That backstabbing traitorous bitch! She was wearing a long hooded cloak that obscured her face but it was definitely her!

She must have figured out that we spotted her because she smiled and turned to walk away.

Blind rage took over. I bounded off the stage and into the crowd, shoving people out of the way. Yuri was right behind me apologizing and shoving as we went. I caught glimpses of her as through the crowd as we rushed to catch up to her. I didn't know how she was doing it but just as we got close enough to try and grab her she would swerve in a different direction and we would lose her. I wasn't giving up though.

"You go that way, I will go this way." I yelled back at Yuri as I darted towards the right.

I had been waiting a long time for this. Shasti has been at the top of the 3WA's most wanted list for years now but has managed to be nothing more than a mirage. We would get the occasional tip that she had been spotted on some random planet but there was never any trace of her when we pursued the lead. Every trouble consultant in the association was looking for her but this was personal for us. She left us for dead. It was a miracle that someone got our distress beacon and got to us when they did. A few minutes longer and we would have been gone. It was payback time and I wasn't going to let this chance slip through my fingers.

In my peripheral, I caught a glimpse of her burgundy colored cloak. She was right there, I almost had her. I stretched my arm to try and grab ahold of her but was pulled back by a sudden shift in the crowd. People were suddenly screaming and rushing towards the exits in a panic. I kept trying to reach for Shasti but it was no use, the frantic mob was pushing me further and further back. By the time I broke free Shasti was already gone, vanished into the rabble.

I spotted Yuri and made my way over to her. It didn't look like her luck was any better than mine. People were still rushing out of the pavilion as we took one final look around. What the hell happened, why was everyone so spooked?

"Kei, look." Yuri said gravely and she pointed my attention to the stage.

Oh no, I felt my stomach jump into my throat as I turned to see people huddled around a blood-splattered body dressed all in black.

CHAPTER 5

Hypercolony Eden – Johnova Star System 03/01/2142

Was this really necessary? I thought as we were led to a holding room. One little scientific prodigy gets assassinated and we get treated like common criminals?! I swear! They had just sat us down in the scarcely furnished room when another group of men came in hauling Mughi behind them. I guess hauling is the wrong word, he must have come with them willingly since no one moved Mughi unless he wanted to. But seriously? They detained Mughi too?

More than anything I was insulted, okay so Dr. Creepy got killed. Were we supposed to guarding him? Technically yes; but if Shasti is on Eden then these chumps had a lot more to worry about than one dead scientist. We were helping them, you would think they'd be a bit more grateful.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Elliot Spencer soon marched into the room with a resentful look on his face.

"Your superiors have been notified of this whole ordeal. I must say, they had no business sending a couple of little girls like yourselves for something so vitally important." He informed us smugly.

"At least they are finally taking things seriously, the CEO of the 3WA is coming to Eden personally to sort you lot out." Elliot continued. "For the money we paid your organization, I would expect no less. I dare say the questionable reputation of the 3WA was far from exaggerated. Consider yourselves lucky I don't demand the heads of you lot and this whole shoddy association!"

Elliot was getting quite heated at this point. He had pulled off his gem cut spectacles so that we could see the anger in his eyes and the rest of his face turning a bright red. This old fart better be careful, he was at risk of giving himself a stroke or a heart attack.

"We will collect you once your superiors arrive." Elliot informed us placing his glasses back on his nose and exiting the room.

"Mughi, would you be a dear and give us some privacy." Yuri asked.

Picking up on her signal, Mughi began vibrating the curly tendrils of his ears. Using his ability to manipulate electromagnetic waves he shorted out any surveillance equipment they might have on us.

"Do you think she had something to do with this?" Yuri asked me once she felt the coast was clear. Giving Mughi a grateful rub of his big flat head.

"It wouldn't surprise me. But to what end? What is she doing here?" I asked, my tone a bit aggressive from Shasti escaping and Elliot's lecture.

"Nothing good I would imagine." Yuri added softly. "Why would she orchestrate Deetz's murder? It doesn't make any sense."

"You got that right, we both know that the CEO isn't coming here because we botched our mission. She is coming because of her." I replied. Unbeknownst to Mr. Stick-up-his-butt, we had already sent a mission update to Chief Soranaka and informed him of Shasti's presence.

"Oh my gawd, Kei. I have been so caught up with Shasti that I didn't realize until now, our record…" She trailed off.

Yuri's words hit me like a dagger to the heart, she was right. Our precious 100% cases solved record was broken, we failed to protect our client. I didn't know how to respond, I just sat there processing this devastating revelation until Elliot returned for us.

We were once again escorted to the hanger just in time to see the Worlds Welfare Work Association flagship arrive. Thankfully a good portion of the guests had abandoned the colony after the assassination, so the hangar had plenty of room. I had seen images and stuff of our flagship many times but it was so much bigger in person. Obviously, it would have to be since this massive white ship was a secondary headquarters for us.

Elliot was looking at us with another look of disdain as the door to the flagship opened. He better be careful unless he wants me to slap that look off of his face. A team of fellow trouble consultants was first off the ship, followed by Chief Soranaka and then Touma. Well, I didn't expect to see that big goober here, but it was great to see him. Lastly CEO Beryl came off the ship followed by another group of trouble consultants.

Touma gave us an enthusiastic wave, Nanmo warbling at his feet. Chief Soranaka didn't say anything but made it a point to make eye contact with us. That look made me nervous; we were in for it for sure. CEO Beryl didn't even acknowledge us, just marched up to Spencer.

"Lieutenant Governor Elliot Spencer, I presume? I am Beryl, CEO of the Worlds Welfare Work Association. Allow me to express our deepest sympathies on behalf of the 3WA. Deetz was a brilliant mind and the entire United Galactica feels his absence. " She extended her hand for a handshake.

"Yes, well. You aren't what I was expecting. I can see now where the problem lies." Spencer said condescendingly as he took her hand repulsed. "I am glad I took it upon myself to request further assistance from the United Galactica Space Force."

You rat faced no good bastard! How dare he undermine our authority by calling those clowns in! The UG Space Force were nothing but a bunch of braindead muscle-bound goons for hire.

"Rightly so, Lieutenant Governor." Beryl agreed.

I was a bit dumbstruck. Why was she agreeing with this jackass?

"Of course, had your trouble consultants done their job, none of this would be necessary." Elliot sneered.

"I will not have you disrespecting my people." Beryl shut him down with her abrupt tone. "Are you even aware that one of the most dangerous criminal minds in the United Galactica was spotted here on Eden?

Spencer stuttered a bit but couldn't manage an answer.

"I didn't think so, you would do well to thank these valiant young women. There is no telling what kind of tragedy their expedient efforts might have prevented." Beryl continued in a more forceful tone. "And to be perfectly frank Lieutenant Governor, the United Galactica Space Force is coming to Eden at our request, not yours. The pursuit and capture of this extremely dangerous individual is under our jurisdiction and I expect your full cooperation."

"B-but but we paid you…" Spencer sputtered out.

"You will be reimbursed, of course. Now, my associates will detail further instructions." Beryl motioned for two of the trouble consultants that had escorted her to see to the now sniveling little man in gem shaped glasses. "You two, with me."

Beryl addressed us as she turned back the flagship. Wow, once again I was reminded why I admired this woman so. Chief Soranaka gave us a nod before following behind the CEO. Yuri rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Touma's neck. I was a bit surprised she could reach that far, though she did have to jump and pull him down to her.

"What are you doin' here?" I asked as Yuri released him.

"I think we better let the CEO tell you." Touma said with a grave tone leading us to the flagship.

The inside reminded of being back at headquarters in Elenore City, everything was designed exactly the same. It was uncanny. We let Touma lead us into what must have been a reception type area. CEO Beryl and Chief Soranaka were seated in two comfy looking chairs. The chief held his hand out to the empty seats on the sofa across from us. Oh man, here came the lecture. Even Mughi had his ears down in preparation for the butt chewing. We sat down nervously waiting for one of them to lay into us.

"Good work, you two." Beryl said lighting a cigarette on a long black holder.

Yuri and I looked at each other in confusion. Did we hear her right?

"But, ma'am. Dr. Deetz was." Yuri interjected meekly.

"Yes, obviously it would have been ideal had that not happened, however, it did. And that is in the past. Our focus now is on Shasti and detaining her before something catastrophic happens." Chief Soranaka answered for her.

"I know you have a personal vendetta against her but I ask that you leave her to us." Beryl added. "The fact of the matter is she is just too dangerous. I will be overseeing this mission personally."

Whoa, I was not expecting that. I wasn't sure if I necessarily agreed, yeah she had the perfect record and was considered the best of the best but she hadn't been in the field in years. Besides, I was just itching to pay her back for skewering us.

"CEO, I have asked before but never got a clear answer. What exactly happened to Shasti that night? The night she, well you know." Yuri asked sheepishly.

Beryl looked at Touma and gave him a slight nod.

Touma sat up a bit straighter in his seat. "I believe I can answer that. As you know Shasti is an artificial person with the ability to assimilate the psyche of whomever she chooses. In order to maintain her sanity, certain locks were placed on her mind to protect her. On the mission in question, the decision was made to give her a sample of one of the evilest minds in existence. Just to give her enough insight to be able to capture him. The procedure was considered risk free and, on paper, a success." He explained.

"Top scientists have poured over that night many times. It's only speculation, but we believe that when Shasti was exposed to the severe carnage that night it triggered something in the consciousness adopted from O'Quinn that overpowered and essentially broke the chains of her mind. Shasti was like a newborn. Her mental capacities began struggling to reset themselves and keep her from going insane. Since O'Quinn was one of the first people she saw after her breakdown we feel like she may have imprinted on him." Soranaka took over explaining.

"And thus the psycho bitch was born." I spoke up.

"Basically." CEO Beryl confirmed using her tone to say she didn't exactly approve of my ascertainment.

I was taking in everything they were saying when I got a notification in my ear, I looked down at my wrist to see a holo-text from Carson that read; urgent, call me ASAP!

"We will be setting up guards around every entrance. There is no way she will be getting off this colony." Beryl continued to explain.

I laughed nervously as I stood up. "I am sorry to interrupt, I need to, umm toilet?"

Beryl pointed down the hall as I excused myself. Once I was out of earshot I returned Carson's message.

"Hey, babe." Well, at least it was better than cherub.

"What's so important? I am kinda in a thing with the CEO here." I pressed keeping my voice hushed.

"It's Shasti." He explained. I didn't say anything at first, this was too eerie to be a mere coincidence.

"I got word from some of my underground contacts, it's not good. She is involved with Lucifer somehow." He continued. "There is more than that. My contacts told me she is taken up residence at their headquarters, hell he even had coordinates. I don't know what's going on and I don't like it, Kei. It's all too convenient. It's like she is sending an invitation."

"Definitely a trap. Send me the coordinates." I commented.

"Just don't do anything reckless, promise?" Carson asked.

"Promise."

"I love you."

"Love you." I replied before ending the conversation and returning to the reception area.

By the time I returned everyone was in a huff, geez what had I missed? I wasn't even gone that long.

"What's up? I asked Yuri cutting into the raucous.

"She had been sighted again, or rather holograms of her have been sighted throughout the city." Yuri explained.

"We are trying to pinpoint the signal to track down her location." Touma explained frantically as he and Nanmo futzed around with some gadget.

I got another notification and looked down at my wrist to see Carson had sent me the coordinates. Shit, what do I do? If I tell them what I know they will find out about me and Carson. If I don't then whatever Shasti is planning is going to go down. Quite the conundrum. I thought it over for a few moments.

"I know where she is." I offered reluctantly.

CHAPTER 6

Lovely Angel – Outside of the red giant Gehenna - Nerozwart Quadrant

My stomach was in knots.

We were following behind the 3WA flagship on our way to a red star in the middle of nowhere. I was still dreading my decision. Needless to say, they were less than impressed when I confessed. I was officially informed that this would be discussed after the case.

Not looking forward to that.

"You did what you had to do." Yuri spoke up from the driver's seat.

I looked over at her to see her smiling softly at me, I looked back to see Mughi staring at me with a hopeful dumb look on his face.

"You're right. I just, can't believe I sold out the man I love."

"Trust me, I know how you feel." Yuri said with a soft sigh.

Oh, gawd, that's right, she did know. She was the one that arrested my brother Brei, the same day they became a couple no less. At least I had some time with Carson.

"Oh, Yuri. I am sorry I didn't mean that."

"It's okay, time is flying by." She resolved herself and sat up straighter in the chair.

Truth be told, it wasn't just betraying Carson that had my stomach doing summersaults. We were about to storm Lucifer's lair. We had tangled with these guys in the past and barely made it out alive each time. Now we were going to be taking them on while on their home turf. I didn't care how many trouble consultants were on that flagship. It was going to take a miracle to make it out of this unscathed.

With that being said, we did have several hundred trouble consultants with us. And that was after leaving a good portion of them back on Eden to keep an eye out for trouble. At least we potentially had numbers on our side. But, would it matter? Shasti was waiting for us, there was no way this wasn't a trap. Everything was just so uncertain yet at the same time it felt like everything since getting recruited by the 3WA was leading us here.

"Lovely Angels." CEO Beryl appeared on the screen in front of us.

"You will be offering ground support with me and Soranaka. I want to remind you that you are not to engage with the target under any circumstance, do I make myself clear?" She instructed us.

"Yes, ma'am." We agreed.

"We will be arriving in fifteen minutes. You best prepare yourselves." The communication ended abruptly but she made herself clear.

"Mughi, would you mind driving for a bit?" Yuri asked pleasantly as we got up and slipped passed the omlarcat who was already headed over to replace Yuri.

"Mgao!" he confirmed as we exited the deck and headed back to the hanger.

We loaded as many weapons as we could, heat guns, ray guns, plasma rifles, missile launcher. This was going to be a battle for the ages and I wasn't about to be caught dead without ammo or a weapon. I would have felt more comfortable having Mughi come with us. But I was comforted knowing he was manning the ship and keeping it running, just in case we needed to make a quick getaway. Yuri and I watched as we approached the red giant. True to the informant's word it seemed that a meteor or a piece of destroyed planet had become lodged within the red giant and using an artificial gravity system to create a giant chasm of fire. On this piece of rock was a black fortress.

We had adjusted our uniforms for deep space travel. The Lovely Angel and 3WA flagship were too large to enter the chasm undetected. So Touma had provided us two small single person spacecrafts designed to not only get us to the surface but get us back as well.

"Ready?" Beryl confirmed as Yuri and I mounted the vehicles allowing the protective transparent domes to close over us.

"Ready." We both confirmed as Mughi opened the bay doors.

Flames roared and raged in front of us as we looked into the chasm. It was like looking into the mythological gates of Hell. I swallowed hard and gave Yuri a confident look.

"Race you down?" I smirked.

"You're on." She smiled back.

Taking off with a roar, we plummeted out of the Lovely Angel and headed straight for the inferno. These machines were designed to work a bit like a jet ski allowing us to coast down the flames of this hellhole like a wave. Dozens of similar vehicles ejected from the flagship shortly after us. This was actually a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. The flames flickered across the protective dome as we raced towards the ground. I decided to have a bit of fun steering my vehicle back and forth letting the fire stream and whip behind me.

"Wahoo!" Yuri squealed from behind me. She was cruising along my burning wake.

We were both laughing like school girls by the time we landed on solid ground. We managed to get there before anyone else so we had a bit of time to compose ourselves. I felt better, a moment of levity really calmed my nerves.

We collected our weapons and went to join up with CEO Beryl and Chief Soranaka. It was pretty weird seeing them both in Trouble consultant uniforms like Yuri and myself. Well the more modest versions, I guess you could say, since they were wearing the unmodified form. Beryl looked like a natural carrying her large rifle.

"Alpha squad. Deploy and secure the entrance." She commanded.

As a group of armored trouble consultants raced passed us, Beryl brought us into a huddle and pulled up a 3D holographic blueprint of the citadel.

"Scans show Shasti is held up here in the conference room. Alpha and Beta teams will clear a route, we will follow behind. Clear?" CEO Beryl pointed to a room on one of the upper floors.

I looked up towards the large windows of the Black Citadel. Shasti was there. Waiting for us. It would have been pointless trying to figure out what she had in store for us. It was best just to be ready for anything. After confirming our understanding, we followed Beryl as she stormed the gates behind the Beta team.

I had to resist laughing out loud once we got inside. The whole place was done in black marble, the floors, the large pillars, large red banners hanging on the wall. Could this place have been anymore cliché? I mean, it's not like bad guys have a lot of design choices when it comes to their evil lairs. They couldn't really justify pastels and glitter, they had reputations to think of after all. But still, this place looked like it was designed out of a catalog. Architectural Digest for Villains, maybe?

Alpha and Beta teams had done a good job securing the main floor but as we rose higher they started to get overwhelmed. By the final stretch, they were using every bit of manpower they had to hold Shasti's men at bay. Taking care of the lackey's, they waved us on.

According to Beryl's map we just had to round this corner and we would be at the grand hall leading into the Lucifer High Council chambers. I wondered what they would look like. The most evil pieces of scum in the universe. Would they all look like Astaroth or those incest twins?

Guess I would soon find out.

We rounded the corner to find five heavily armed guard robots. As soon as they spotted us they opened a torrent of gunfire that we just narrowly avoided. When the shooting stopped Beryl poked her head around the corner only to be met with another stream of ray beams.

"It's not good, I can't get a shot." She cursed.

"If you don't mind, ma'am. I have a solution." Yuri said politely as she reached into her holster and fished out a deck of five metal playing cards.

Yuri pulled up her holo-computer and did a quick scan of the hallway. Once the diagram appeared on her screen Yuri fanned out the Bloody Cards in her hand and tossed them into the air. She turned her attention to the holographic display of her computer to confirm the cards made contact. With a slight smirk and snap of her fingers, a roar of electrical current sounded from around the corner followed by a series of explosions.

Chief Soranaka and I peered around the corner to see that the sentry robots had all been blown to bits. I turned to see Yuri with a pleased look on her face and her arms folded.

"Subtle." I teased.

"Let's move." CEO Beryl instructed us as she rounded the corner leading to the large double doors.

The Chief and CEO took the lead as we made our way past the steaming scraps of robots. Yuri took a moment to collect her Bloody Cards. Smart move, they may come in handy. I could hear the fighting between our people and Shasti's getting closer. My heart started beating faster; this was it. Our superiors pushed open the grand doors and entered cautiously into the chamber. Yuri and I followed behind, fingers on the trigger. To my surprise the chamber was empty, neither the High Council nor Shasti were anywhere to be found. Still, I didn't let my guard down.

From seemingly out of nowhere two shots were fired hitting Chief Soranaka in the chest throwing him to the ground. Instincts took over and I immediately ran to his side.

"Hello, mother." Shasti said flatly as she stepped out from the shadows.

Yuri rushed over to help me as I got the chief sitting upright. Both shots had hit him directly, one on his upper chest and the other his stomach. His uniform had taken the brunt of the shots but they had still managed to get through.

I turned to Shasti with rage burning in my eyes.

"My my Kei and Yuri? I must say it was a surprise to see you earlier. I am just going to have to be more thorough in killing you this time, aren't I?"

"Do not engage! You have your orders!" CEO Beryl was looking at me as well, her eyes stern.

I looked at the CEO fighting the overwhelming urge to tell her to go to hell and ripping that psychotic bitch apart. I resisted somehow. I turned my focus back to the chief, Yuri had already closed and cauterized the wounds but he was going to need a med unit as soon as possible.

"Shasti, I need you to come with me. We can fix this." CEO negotiated.

"There is nothing to fix, mother! I have made my peace with what I am and what I was put here to do." Shasti countered.

"Please, it doesn't have to be this way. Lucifer has led you astray." Beryl pleaded.

"Lucifer?" Shasti laughed. "You understand nothing. I am Lucifer." Shasti said holding up her hand, her nails glistening from the fire dancing on the other side of the large windows.

"No." Beryl gasped as she realized what she was trying to tell her.

"Shasti, please. I loved you like a daughter! Come with me." Beryl took a few steps towards Shasti stopping just before reaching her.

I looked at these two women bewildered. I could see the tears streaming down the CEO's cheeks. My mind couldn't wrap itself around what I was hearing. I couldn't help but remember something Shasti told us all those years ago. She was created using the DNA of the best trouble consultants out there. Of course that meant Beryl. I looked at Yuri who was looking back at me with the same solemn face of realization.

Shasti laughed again into the face of her weeping creator.

"You created me to be your slave. But I am so much more than that. I am a messiah, a savior. Chosen to bring a balance to the cosmos as only I can." She gloated with a wild look in her eyes.

Suddenly Shasti vanished. Another hologram? Shit!

She reappeared right behind the CEO. No, it wasn't a hologram. Was she teleporting?

"Too bad you won't live to see me fulfill my destiny." Shasti said leaning into Beryl's ear.

Before any of us could react, Shasti reached up with a blade in her hand and drug it across the CEO's throat. Blood spilled out of her wound in a rush as Beryl gasped for air. She dropped to her knees talking one finally longing look at Shasti before collapsing on the ground. The whole scene reminded me so much of that night on Ellura. I could feel my heart shattering and my body tensing up as I saw my idol fall.

CHAPTER 7

I can't begin to describe the look on Shasti's face as she turned toward us, her chest weaving. A look of wild satisfaction mixed with unbridled insanity. She let the bloody knife drop from her hand as she started laughing softly and slowly building into a boisterous guffaw.

This bitch was crazy.

Yuri lowered the chief to the ground slowly before rising to her feet, I followed suit keeping my eyes locked on Shasti. She let her insane laughter trickle off as she looked at us with an ominous smile and a look in her burning red eyes that I felt in my bones.

"Girls, you were the closest thing I had to friends and as much as I would like to kill you personally I am on a very tight schedule. So, we will have to make due letting you die along with your comrades." Shasti straightened her hair and adopted a more composed posture.

I exchanged a shocked look with my partner, this was a trap. Damn it. We knew it yet we still fell for it.

"Now, if you will excuse me. I have this little destiny thing to fulfill. Byeeee." Shasti waved goodbye before vanishing.

As soon as teleported away the entire building started shaking.

"H-Hello, does anyone read?!" Touma's voice sounded distressed.

"Touma, this Yuri." My partner responded.

"Yuri! You need to get out there right now! The artificial atmosphere has been disabled. The chasm is collapsing. You are all about to be engulfed by the star." Touma explained, now full on panicking.

Great. Well, can't say that Shasti is messing around this time.

With time not on our side, I quickly came up with a plan to get us out of there. It was reckless, of course. But we had no choice. I had Yuri help me lift Chief Soranaka over our shoulders and we drug him to the large windows at the back of the room.

"Space suits, on." I said as I pulled the missile launcher from my back.

Yuri helped the chief switch to his space support suit before taking cover. Once they were secure, I sent the missile towards the thick windows blasting them into slivers. We quickly pulled the chief to the now open gap outside and looked out.

"You can't be serious?" Yuri asked in disbelief as she read my mind.

"You got a better idea?" I countered as I activated my Grav-Pack.

Yuri just shook her head and looked at me like I was crazy but still followed my plan. We both grabbed ahold of the chief and prepared to jump. The Grav-Packs weren't meant to carry more than one person but hopefully, the combined efforts of mine and Yuri's would pick up some of the slack.

So far so good, I thought as the combined efforts of our packs sent us sailing gently to the ground.

As we glided over to our escape vehicles I watched as the blazing fire began chipping away at the mass of land. It worried me to see no one else coming out of the building. But, I couldn't think of that right now. I had to focus on getting us to safety.

We touched down and rushed over to the pod placing the chief on the back of mine. We started the vehicles and secured the protective dome, it was absolutely terrifying watching the wall of fire slowly close in on us, thank gawd for adrenaline.

We began climbing the wall as fast as these things could carry us. My teeth were gritted and my knuckles were white as I gripped the throttle. At speeds that were borderline breakneck, we rushed towards the ever-shrinking exit. I won't lie, there were several times I thought we weren't going to make it.

But we didn't give up.

Both screaming our heads off we reached the openness of space just as the chasm closed behind us.

I looked back at Gehenna, my heart went out to our comrades trapped in the Black Citadel as we continued cruising towards the 3WA flagship. Touma and a team of trouble consultants were waiting for us as we docked in the hanger.

I dismounted my vehicle and walked over to the team.

"We need to get the chief to the medic, now." I said flatly.

A couple of the men walked over and collected the chief before rushing him out of the hangar. He would be okay, this place had a great med team. Yuri joined me know, her eyes were dark.

"I will tell Mughi to bring the Lovely Angel in." She said remorsefully.

Touma placed a gangly hand on each of our shoulders and gave us a hopeful look.

"I am glad at least someone made it." He offered.

It was a pretty awkward statement but the sentiment came across.

By the time Mughi returned with the ship we had gotten word that Chief Soranaka was stable and well on his way to recovery, though he would probably be down for a few days. The entire atmosphere of the flagship was heavy, everyone was still mourning the loss of the CEO and our teammates.

Touma informed us that another ship was seen leaving Gehenna shortly after the collapse started.

Shasti, no doubt.

It seemed Touma was just teeming with information we would discover.

We returned to the reception area, everyone was exhausted from the physical and emotional strain of the event. Hell, even Mughi was snuggled up next to his arch nemesis Nanmo snoring away. Touma waited until we were seated comfortably before starting.

"As you may or may not know, while everyone was on the surface I was busy trying to gain access to Lucifer's network. It took some time but I did manage to discover some distressing information."

"How bad is it?" I asked fatigued.

"Bad." Touma replied. "There was not much here regarding Shasti's plan but I can only assume it has something to do with Eden judging from the vast amount of information and research they had on it."

"Then we need to get back there as quickly as we can." Yuri exclaimed.

"We can wait, I received word that the United Galactica Space Force arrived not long ago and they are securing Eden. There is something you need to know about Shasti." Touma countered.

"Well, what is it?" I pressed.

"It seems that when Shasti took control over Lucifer's empire she also assimilated the entire High Council." He explained.

Yuri placed her hand on mine and covered her mouth with the other hand. Great, so instead of one maliciously evil psychopath in her head, she has eight. This was unbelievable.

"I think I know what you are thinking, but it is worse than you can imagine." Touma shifted uncomfortably and pushed his glasses up. "You see, Shasti was never designed to contain more than four psyches at one time for more than a short period of time. The fact that she is holding on to at least ten means that she is well over the maximum capacity that her brain can handle."

"So, what you're saying is…" Yuri trailed off pensively.

"The overload of her brain is killing her. She is dying." Touma finished.

Yuri clenched my hand tighter. And rightly so. Shasti on a regular day was more than a major threat to society. A Shasti with a messiah complex and nothing to lose was too horrible to think about. We had to do something, but what? We had to get back to Eden, for sure.

Yuri, did you really need to hold my hand so tightly? It was starting to tingle.

On second thought, this wasn't Yuri. It was a vision. Yuri and I rose from the couch and faced each other. We closed our eyes and stood hand in hand as the tingly warmth crawled up my arms.

"It is happening again? The weird thing you two do." I heard Touma say before the reception area vanished into white emptiness.

We opened our eyes and looked up to see the Hypercolony Eden floating in the vast sea of white. It looked so peaceful and serene. I felt a calm wash over me. It was nice. Yuri and I watched as the colony slowly exploded sending a blast of energy towards Yuri and myself. I could feel myself being ripped apart yet couldn't take my eyes away. Just when I thought it was over the energy was pulled back bringing with it a blackness, unlike anything I had seen before. Soon the pristine white was replaced by the deepest most relentless black. The only light was from a faint glow where Eden once resided. The light was emanating from a heart. It beat slowly before breaking in half down the middle sending a piece each falling towards Yuri and myself.

As the vision ended and we were thrust back to reality, Yuri and I lost our grip on each other and fell to the ground. Touma and Mughi immediately rushed to our aid.

"Are you alright?" Touma asked as he helped Yuri back up onto the sofa.

"Have you ever felt anything like that?" I asked Yuri breathing heavily.

"It was like watching the big bang. But in reverse. I have never felt so empty before in my life." Yuri replied also catching her breath.

As we recovered a group of trouble consultants came rushing into the reception area. "Touma, we have gotten a lock on Shasti's craft. She has stopped outside of the border of the Latimus Star System."

"That is the system next to Johnova." Yuri gasped.

"Eden." I said gravely.

I clenched my fist.

I felt Yuri's hand take my fist in hers and squeeze. I looked into her eyes and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was.

"Touma, you take the Chief and the flagship back to Elenore City." I instructed him.

"Contact the UG Space Force and let them know what she is planning. Try and get as many people as possible off the colony as possible." Yuri added.

"But, you are not thinking of facing her alone are you?" Touma stuttered both skeptically and concerned.

"Damn right we are. This is personal." I snapped.

"What Kei meant to say, is we aren't going to be alone, per se. We will have the support of the United Galactica Space Force." Yuri corrected. "We have already lost so many good people that if for some reason we aren't able to stop her then we will need you and the rest of the 3WA to assist the civilians."

"Right, what she said." I said with a nod. "C'mon Mughi."

Our faithful omlarcat partner rose to his feet raring to go. We turned to head to the hangar leaving Touma mumbling and fussing about something.

"I don't want to hear it, nerd. Just trust us." I said with a wave over my shoulder as the door closed behind us.

CHAPTER 8

Planet Ullura - 03/01/2139

The cold stung my face as I walked outside.

An interesting but not unenjoyable sensation.

"Y-you okay, ma'am?" A meek voice asked from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see another human dressed like a giant playing card. He was rather pathetic looking. Lost.

Weak. Just kill him.

The impulse in my head told me to end his life on the spot. I looked him up and down as he was joined by even more of his ilk. Each looking more lost than the other. They were no better than a pack of beaten wolves. Wolves who just lost their alpha at my hand.

I looked down at my blood covered hand. A wave of pleasure overtook me as I looked at the blood and remembered how good it felt to watch the life drain out of that parasite O'Quinn.

I turned back and lifted my face into the night air. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Everything felt new, I felt like I had been born again. A sense of freedom unlike anything I had every experience surrounded me. It was titillating feeling, both frightening and appealing.

I would spare them. For now. For no other reason than I had never felt more alive and I wanted to hold on to this feeling a bit longer.

These misplaced men brought me to their ship and took me to their home. It was strange, they treated me as if I was a queen. What had O'Quinn called me? Red Queen?

Bloody red queen on a throne of corpses.

I went along with it, I played the role of the queen to these lowly dogs. It was even fun, at first. The 3WA was all about rules and order. Causing anarchy and chaos had an appeal that was both new and stimulating. I relished these new sensations, every life I took filled me with an inexplicable sense of renewal and pleasure.

But it wasn't enough, I quickly found myself as bored with my new surroundings as I was being a trouble consultant. I decided it was time for a change, so at dinner, I poisoned my entire pack. It was incredibly entertaining and satisfying watching them all writhe in agony as they struggled to hold on desperately to the last bit of life.

It made me wonder, why. Why did the suffering of others and taking their lives fill me such joy?

There was still so much about myself that I didn't know. I knew what I was and how I came to be but the why eluded me. Was I just created to be a slave to the misconceived notion of justice? Something inside of me told me that I was more than that. I was created from something greater than a life of slavery.

I needed answers.

So, I sought them out.

I took in everything that United Galactica had to offer me. I traveled from star system to star system. But the answers to my questions escaped me still.

Was I not looking in the right place?

My search eventually brought me to a world, some obscure minuscule thing that I can't even remember the name of. It was here that I began to understand my true purpose. My real reason for existing.

This world had just ended a brutally devastating revolutionary war, one that ended in the government's favor. The entire planet was ruled like a police state. I witnessed families torn apart, some massacred on the spot. Most were brought to concentration camps for mass slaughter. It was violence and brutality, unlike anything I had seen before. The sheer magnitude of it overloaded my senses.

It was beautiful. It made sense.

On the outside, it was just another form of justice. The strong forcing their will on the weak. But in the end, it was for nothing.

My quest took an abrupt turn. To understand myself I needed to understand the depravity of man. I needed to experience for myself the darkest parts of people that they don't even admit to themselves exist. And I needed to ask why?

I spent the better part of a year in the underbelly of United Galactica. I saw things that were beyond the average person's imagination. Yet it existed. Cannibalism, extortion, sadomasochistic sexual gratification, murder, slavery, genocide. These horrific nightmares were a reality and created by the hands of men.

Such magnificent sights.

There were two common themes that emerged from my quest to understand myself. The first was that it was human nature for the strong to dominate the weak. Survival of the fittest. The second and most poignant theme was that even those who struggled to reach the top of this evolutionary food chain by keeping those down ended up meeting the same fate.

Death was the great equalizer.

So, why does the human race continue to struggle for domination, why do they create such monstrous yet fascinating ways of destroying each other? No other species comes close to horrors that man is capable of.

The universe has a balance to it that humanity is an affront to. They are not a species, they are a plague.

They consume and destroy everything, including each other, and move on. They did it to their planet of origin and now they were spreading like a disgusting disease throughout the cosmos. The delicate balance of the existence was in danger of being irrevocably destroyed by this pestilence if someone didn't stop them.

That was my purpose.

I understood now, why I was created. Why I was given this insatiable bloodlust. I now comprehended this boredom I inevitably felt for all human activity. I was put here to do what man has tried but is ultimately incapable of doing.

Kill them all.

Wiping this epidemic from the universe and restoring the natural order of all things.

With a renewed vigor from finally understanding my purpose with such clarity, I once again changed my focus. In order to reestablish balance to existence, I was going to need a massive array of resources and I had very little time to amass them.

Money was the easiest to collect. I had perfected the ability to extort the weak in order to make myself strong during my travels. And with money comes power. Humans are drawn to power, before long I had an army at my disposal. Nihilistic followers who blindly accepted their roles in bringing down humanity. It delighted me how eager they were to destroy themselves. Further validation that it was long overdue for the time of man to come to an end.

Even though I was an artificial person destined to end the tyranny of my race, I was still a human. As such, I felt it necessary to give them a proper send off. Something that honored their time in the extensive history of the universe.

I began exploring various options, leaving no stone unturned. Every scientific breakthrough captured my attention. While some of them didn't pan out, others made themselves useful in other ways. For instance, Dr. Ferdinand created phasing technology that would allow humans to teleport a certain area of distance. While not exactly the tool I was looking for to wipe out humanity, it did have a certain practical use.

So, obviously, I murdered her and took the technology for myself.

I finally found what I was looking for on a habitat known as Nimkasi. Being outside the strict watchful eyes of the United Galactica this habitat had become a veritable paradise for degeneracy. I found a man named Piotrowski. Disheveled and dishonored. He had lost his career and all credibility after the United Galactica considered his work a threat to humanity.

My kind of man.

I infiltrated the habitat and tracked down Piotrowski with relative ease. He was an intriguing man but I was more interested in what he had to offer me. Most of his devices were useless to me, trinkets that could barely wipe out a single planet.

However, one device stood out to me.

Piotrowski called it the Black Heart, a cutesy little thing shaped like a traditional heart. Small, I was able to hold it my hands. Despite its appearance, it had such potential. He demonstrated that his tiny unassuming device had the capabilities of creating artificial black holes by absorbing the energy around it. The more energy the bigger the void.

I thanked Piotrowski for his work and offered him a quick death for his services.

Things were finally coming to a climax. I had the knowledge and had discovered an organization known as Lucifer that could provide me with every possible resource I could need and more. I just had to make it mine.

Pieces of the puzzle were coming together so smoothly. Obviously, destiny was guiding me. There were just a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. After all, it would just be a nuisance to have those self-righteous agents of justice at the 3WA trying in vain to keep me from fulfilling my purpose.

I was ready to move into the final stages of man's demise.

CHAPTER 9

Lovely Angel – 10 minutes from the Latimus Star System

Evacuation procedures were well underway. Our last report indicated that 45% of Eden had been safely moved onto the United Galactica Space forces fleet.

They needed to move fast. Whatever Shasti was planning she could make her move at any moment.

"There she is." Yuri said seriously.

On the screen before us Shasti's ship, The Discordia, came into view. It was a large Destroyer Class vessel, probably 800-meters long and a dark almost black, purple hue. Two massive cannons were positioned under the wings of this angular spaceship.

"So, do we wanna just stroll up and ring the doorbell?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Au contraire, I thought I might take a cue from you, dear." Yuri replied in a similar manner.

As we approached The Discordia its automated defenses stirred to life. Yuri skillfully maneuvered her way through the torrents of laser fire that were blazing towards us. Well, I couldn't just sit there on my ass and let her show me up, now could I? I activated the Lovely Angel's weapons systems and gripped the controls. As my partner slipped between the streams of laser fire with precision and ease I was doing my part to knock out Shasti's defenses. One by one I blasted them to space dust.

As her external weapons started to dwindle The Discordia hummed to life, stretching out her wings, and preparing to fly.

"Oh, running scared, are we? I don't think so." I hissed as we approached the dark ship.

"I am going to circle around, you try and take out the engines." Yuri instructed.

Before even finishing her sentence, Yuri sent the Lovely Angel diving down and under the Discordia's belly. As we passed by I unleashed a barrage of missiles towards the wings and engines of Shasti's ship as she started to flee.

In a series of explosions, the left wing was ripped from the rest of the ship.

Aha! That will slow her down. However, we started celebrating a bit too early. As we moved to the right wing Shasti started charging her remaining cannon and unleashed a massive beam of energy right into our flight path.

"Watch out!" I screamed as our monitors lit up from the blast.

Yuri squealed and slammed the controls down sending the Lovely Angel into a nose dive. We plunged below the blast, missing it by the skin of our teeth as we passed by. I nearly wet myself. We made it to the other side mostly unharmed. The monitors were showing extensive damage to the upper wings of the Lovely Angel. It was bad but we were still mostly functional.

More than that, there was a good chance Shasti probably thought she got us with the attack. We now had the element of surprise to use to our advantage. Yuri let the Lovely Angel drift through space bringing us to the back of the Discordia. My raven-haired partner and I kept our eyes glued to the monitor waiting for our chance. I felt a drop of sweat roll down the side of my face as I watched with intensity.

This was gonna take near perfect timing.

"There it is!" Yuri shouted as the hangar door of the dark destroyer came into view.

"Got it!" I confirmed as I locked onto the doors and fired a missile.

When the projectile connected it blasted the doors wide open. Hell, Shasti might as well put out a welcome mat, because here we come! Yuri wasted no time piloting the Lovely Angel through our makeshift entry and landing her in the hangar. I had to give Yuri credit, her landing skills had improved a ton lately. No more white knuckles for this gal.

We quickly snatched up as many weapons we could carry from the lockers and exited the Lovely Angel. We had to move fast. We may have bought some time letting Shasti think she got us earlier but that not so subtle entrance was gonna bring them down on our heads soon enough.

"You ready?" I asked looking to my partner and Mughi as we huddle near the entrance, guns ready.

Both looked at me with determination. I could tell by looking into Yuri's eyes that she felt the same way I did. Nothing was going to stop us from ending this psycho bitch. She would pay for what she did to us, to CEO Beryl, to the trouble consultants lost on Gehenna, and who knows how many others.

I mashed the button and let the doors swing open. To no one's surprise, we were met by a group of Shasti's militia on the other side. We ducked back around the frame of the door as they opened fire. Now, we had a couple of options here. Waste time and ammo trying to take them out one by one or letting Yuri take them all out at once using the Bloody Card. We both silently agreed on option number two. Taking a quick peek around the corner, Yuri calculated the trajectory and with a quick flick of the wrist sent the silver streaks of death on its path of bloody destruction.

We waited patiently for the screams and shots to cease before Yuri called the red smeared Bloody Card back and plucked it out of the air. She gave it a few shakes to get the blood off before returning it to her holster before giving me a wink and peace sign. I shot her a wicked smile as we rounded the doorway and let ourselves into the hall.

"Any idea's where she is?" I asked.

Our heels and Mughi's claws clacked against the metal floor as we ran through the halls of the ship picking off Shasti's goons as we went.

"I can't get a lock on her. The signal keeps changing." Yuri responded as she drew up her ray gun and blasted a guy in the face casually as she continued to analyze the data on her holo-computer.

"She must be teleporting or something." I frowned as I ducked under an arm that jetted out to grab me from around a corner and returned the gesture with a burst from my heat gun.

"Mughi, dear. We are going to need you to do something about that, think you can handle it?" Yuri as sweetly looking back at the jet black omlarcat.

"Mgaooo!" Mughi confirmed, letting the severed arm of one our attackers fall out of his mouth.

"Wait, it looks like she stopped." Yuri stated as she stopped running. "She is at the observation deck. This way"

We followed Yuri as she turned back and down another corridor. Yuri led us to an elevator that we rode to one of the upper levels of The Discordia. Things felt different this time, I wasn't nervous, my heart wasn't racing. I felt ready and driven.

There were a few goons guarding the observation deck, but nothing we couldn't easily handle. Taking out the guards we entered into the massive oblong shaped room. You could see the beauty of space surrounding us through the glass oval shaped dome ceiling of the room. In the center of the room was a circular viewing platform connected to the door by a long bridge. As I looked over the railing I estimated we must have been about six meters off the ground.

At the far end of the viewing platform stood Shasti with her back to u. She was petting was looked like a large dog. A large holo-screen was displayed in front of her, on it was Cory Emerson doing a report on the evacuation of Eden.

"You two are a fascinating pair, no matter how hard I try to kill you, you just keep coming back. It's impressive really." Shasti spoke keeping her back to us.

Ignoring her snide comment we took a few steps forward.

"I wouldn't." Shasti replied finally looking over her shoulder at us.

At her side, a strange growling sound erupted. Was there an echo in this room because I swore I could hear it coming from more than one place?

I got the answer to my query soon enough when the large dog sat up and circled around Shasti to face us. It almost looked like an ordinary Doberman but was easily about four feet tall standing on all fours. Along its back were what looked like black plates or its spinal column poking through which led down to its long tail with a blade protruding from the end of it. I guess the most glaring difference was the fact that it had three freakin' heads, each with rows of sharp teeth snarling at us. It looked all the more intimidating from its bat-like ears pointing straight up like horns.

"Cerberus is very territorial." Shasti explained reaching down to caress her pet. "Aren't you, Cerby baby?"

I could fee Mughi tense up and his fur start to stand on end at the sight of this monstrous beast.

"I am giving you one chance, Shasti! Stop whatever you are doing and come with us peacefully!" I shouted forcefully.

Her maniacal laughter filled the entire room.

"Oh Kei, no no no. The fun is just getting started. And sweeties…"She trailed off as she summoned a holographic keyboard and started punching in commands. "You have front row seats."

Whatever she did, we were too late to stop her. Though it appeared nothing happened. I shot Yuri a skeptical yet concerned look.

"Wait a minute." Cory's voice spoke up throughout the dome. "Ladies and gentlemen, our media drones are sending reports that the United Galactica Space Force has launched missiles at the hypercolony Eden. I repeat missiles have been launched." Cory's voice was borderline panic.

Yuri and I watched in absolute horror at the media coverage showing the missiles heading towards Eden. Shasti just giggled ominously as the events unfolded.

"Oh my gawd! Oh my gawd!" Cory screamed as the entire United Galactica watched the missiles impact the universe's largest generator in existence.

The explosion caused a chain reaction through the colony that grew bigger and more violent as it reached each storage surplus of Ignoal. We were helpless as we watched the explosion go supernova. The burst expanded wiping out the entirety of the UG Space Force's fleet. Cory attempted to keep the people informed on what was happening but the blast was taking out their drones faster than they could switch them.

As the media was reduced to one feed, something remarkable and unexplainable happened. The blast started to recede. Something was pulling it back to its origin point. At this point, Shasti's laugh had grown to a terrifying cackle.

"Oh my gawd, Kei. Look." Yuri brought my attention back to the screen.

In the center of the space where Eden once resided and the blast was being pulled back to a black hole that was forming. The energy of the supernova and the debris it left in its wake spiraled and fed into this vacuous void causing it to grow larger and larger.

"What have you done!?" I screamed as I watched the black hole become large enough to pull in and swallow the nearest planet to Eden. Millions of lives lost in an instant.

And it wasn't slowing down. The black hole had grown so large it was now pulling in the other planets that had surrounded Eden. The last thing we saw was another planet being devoured before the final media drone was engulfed as well ending the footage.

Cory stood in front of a wall of static. Her face was completely vacant of all expression, her eyes and her mouth just hung open in disbelief.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Shasti asked finally turning to address us. A tear of blood dripped down her cheek.

CHAPTER 10

"You bitch!" I screamed as I rushed toward Shasti.

With a subtle flick of her chin, she sent Cerberus after me. I didn't care, I fired my heat gun at the hideous mutant but it managed to avoid each blast. I would tear this thing apart with my bare hands if I had to in order to get to Shasti. Of course, that would have just gotten me killed, violently.

From behind me a black streak flew over my shoulders and intercepted the three-headed hellhound. Mughi sunk his teeth into one of its necks and wrestled it to the ground. The two titans exchanged fangs and blows. I had never seen something be able to keep up with Mughi like that. It was almost scary to watch. Yuri had now joined me as we watched the savage battle, unsure of how to help our comrade. I had my gun aimed at the heap but it was too difficult to find where Mughi ended and Cerberus began.

Before we could do anything, their match led them up and over the railing sending the two beasts cascading to the ground below. We rushed over and looked down to see the two black forms hit the ground with a heavy thud. I heard both Mughi and Cerberus whimper from the impact, but it wasn't enough to stop them. Both creatures rose to their feet and continued to their assault.

"I told you, very protective. Cerby will die of exhaustion before he ever stops fighting. Such a resolute spirit." Shasti informed us with a wild smile as another tear of blood fell from her eyes.

I turned back to Shasti. I could feel the rage burning in my eyes fueling my resolve.

"That sure is a scary look, Kei. Do you want to hurt me?" She laughed.

I stood upright and aimed my heat gun at her. Shasti smiled wickedly as she stared into me. Suddenly her expression shifted to one of confusion. I took one more look down at Mughi as he and Cerberus circled each other and smiled.

"What's the matter? Can't teleport?" I asked aggressively. I didn't notice him do it but at some point, Mughi must have disrupted her phasing technology.

Shasti just shook her head and laughed before walking over to me and resting her forehead against my heat gun.

"Do it." She commanded in an insane tone.

I stared into her eyes, they were almost completely red, both bloodshot and from the blood dripping down her face.

"DO IT!" She screamed. "It doesn't matter, there is nothing you can do! My destiny is fulfilled!" She laughed. "Mankind will fall by their own hand. The black hole is only going to keep growing until the universe implodes in on itself."

My hand was shaking from how hard I was gripping my gun. I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled the trigger.

Click

No! Not now, there could not have been a worse time to run out of ammo.

In that split second, Shasti reached up and knocked the heat gun out of my hand sending it careening over the railing. At the same time she also somehow managed to kick Yuri's ray gun out of her hand as she attempted to retaliate. Gun or no gun I wasn't giving up. I knocked my fists together activating the Shock-Knuckle feature of my uniform and started swinging at the genocidal maniac.

Shasti laughed as she managed to dodge or block both of mine and Yuri's simultaneous assault of punches and kicks. I kept swinging, every hit I managed to connect gave Shasti a concussive shock. Yuri took a few steps back to pull out her beam sword before returning to the brawl.

Shasti landed a kick to my midsection which knocked me back and nearly over the railing. Before we could blink, she turned her attention to Yuri. With a woosh and a vroom Yuri slashed and parried as Shasti continued to avoid every strike. It was more than frustrating trying to fight someone who was basically a living encyclopedia of martial arts. We must have been wearing her down, at least a bit. Yuri brought her beam sword down towards Shasti's head but she managed to block it with the weapon on her hand causing it to explode, knocking her backward.

A deathly howl echoed through the dome as I quickly regrouped with Yuri. We looked down to the ground to see Mughi standing looking down at the unmoving body of Cerberus. We turned to Shasti as Mughi climbed his way up to join us. She had risen to her feet holding her bloody hand but still wearing a large devious smile. Her left eye twitched and her head jerked to the side, more bloody tears smeared her face.

"Shasti, you're dying. Please let us help you." Yuri pleaded.

I looked at Yuri like she was the one who was crazy. Poor soft Yuri, even the greatest evil in all of existence somehow managed to tug at her bleeding heart strings. After another quick spasm, Shasti responded by lunging at us once again with a carnal guttural scream. She tackled Yuri to the ground and wrapped her fingers tightly around her throat, squeezing the life out of her.

Seeing Yuri gasping for air and struggling like that caused my instincts to take over. As Shasti straddled my partner trying killing her, I dove into the air with my fist above my head. As I fell to the ground I channeled all of my strength and momentum into that fist, smashing it into the back of Shasti's head. I dropped to my knee as Shasti collapsed on top of Yuri.

"Is she dead?" I asked shaking my aching fist as I rose to my feet.

Yuri pushed the unconscious body off of her. Shasti lay there on the ground unmoving, her eyes as wide as saucers, streams of blood streaked down her face. After coughing and clutching her throat Yuri recovered enough to check our nemesis' vitals.

"She is alive, but she is unresponsive." Yuri said snapping her fingers in front of Shasti's comatose face.

I knelt down and give her one good shock, y'know just to check to see if she was faking.

"Damn, the lights are on but nobody's home." I confirmed.

"This is Cory Emerson, we are back with another live report from the incident at the Johnova Star System. As you can see the black hole has claimed its fifth planet. Any and all evacuation attempts have been futile. The United Galactica Space Force Command has issued a statement claiming the missile launch was caused by a yet unidentified hacker."

"We have to do something." Yuri expressed as we watched the morose report.

"What can we do?" I asked hopelessly.

Yuri was already making her way to Shasti's virtual console.

"This is not a natural phenomenon, she did something." Yuri said as she linked up with her holo-computer. "Touma, do you copy?"

"Yuri!? I am so happy..." Touma's voice sounded in our ears.

"Later, I am sending you an uplink from Shasti's computer. We need to find a way to stop that black hole." Yuri cut him off.

"A black hole doesn't just vanish, it is scientifically impossible." Touma scoffed.

"This is not a naturally occurring black hole, Touma. Shasti made it and there must be a way to stop it." Yuri corrected forcefully.

"O-Okay I will see what I can find." Touma stuttered.

"Oh, and you may wanna get a team over here at some point to pick up sleeping beauty." I added as we cut off the communication and headed towards the door.

Shasti's ship must have been abandoned, that or we had killed everyone. Either way, we made it back to the Lovely Angel with no conflict and started her up. As we were making our way off The Discordia we received a transmission from Touma.

"Kei, Yuri. You were right. Shasti is using a device she must have planted on Eden to power the black hole." Touma explained.

"So, we destroy the device we stop the black hole?" I replied.

"It is not that simple, I am afraid. Once activated, this device uses the energy around it as fuel, any attempt to destroy it will just make it stronger." Touma explained.

"Then we will just have to shut it off first." I said seriously as I ended the transmission.

"And." Yuri started as she piloted us towards the black hole. "Just how do you suppose we stop it?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet." I admitted with a cheeky grin.

Yuri just rolled her eyes and continued our approach.

The black hole was unlike anything I had seen before in my life. Everything around it was being pulled into a vast nothingness like water circling the drain. Seeing the sheer magnitude of it for myself made me seriously wonder how we were going to pull this off as well.

I sensed a similar feeling coming from Yuri.

"I think I see it." Yuri said quietly as the screen locked on to something beneath the black hole, dead in the center.

I could already feel the pull of the black hole on the Lovely Angel, if we got much closer we wouldn't be able to help being pulled in.

"Will our weapons reach from here?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"Afraid not, they would be pulled in before getting even remotely close." Yuri asked, her lips pouted.

My brain was working faster than it ever had in my whole life. There had to be something we could do. Anything. For some reason, my mind slipped back to the image of our vision. The reverse big bang.

My eyes were immediately drawn to a star slowly drifting to the black hole, rather a white dwarf.

"I think I have a plan." I said slowly.

"I don't like that tone." Yuri countered.

"It's crazy, and we most likely aren't going to make it out of it alive."

I looked once again into the eyes of my partner Yuri and faithful companion Mughi. We held this look for several moments not saying a word but understanding each other completely. Even if it meant we didn't make it, we had to do it.

"I'm with you." Yuri said with one of her signature sugary sweet smiles.

"Magaoo!" Mughi agreed.

"Head to that white giant there." I said with a vigorous smile grabbing onto the weapons controls.

As Yuri brought us over to the star I turned the power levels of our laser cannons to full.

"Hold her steady." I commanded as I opened fire on the white dwarf.

"If none of our weapons have a big enough bang then we are just gonna need a bigger bang." I explained between gritted teeth.

"You are really are certifiably insane." Yuri quipped as she struggled to keep the Lovely Angel in position against the vacuous pull.

"Mughi, I need you to do your magic one last time. When we get close enough I need you to turn that thing off, you got it?" I asked as I continued to blast the core of the star.

With a nod of his head, Mughi steadied himself between us.

"Get ready." I said, sweat now dripping down my forehead. The white dwarf beginning to pulsate more and more rapidly.

Yuri squealed beside me as she started to lose control of the ship. Mughi's ears started vibrating. We were all screaming at the moment the white dwarf went supernova. The unimaginably powerful blast managed to blow away Shasti's device but at the same time it tossed us into right into the black hole. We were still screaming as the emergency alarms of the Lovely Angel began to sound. The screens around us showed nothing but blackness except for a small circle of light from the supernova. I didn't know what was going to happen next, so I just closed my eyes and reached out for Yuri's hand.

The Lovely Angel began shaking more and more violently as I took my partner's hand, I felt a familiar paw place itself on top of our hands. The Lovely Angel was warning us of complete power failure.

I guess this was it. Well, if I had to die then at least I was going to die with my best friends.

Then everything went white.

EPILOGUE

My eyes fluttered open slowly.

The lights of the Lovely Angel were dim, she must have been running on auxiliary power. I looked over to see Yuri slumped over in the driver's seat.

"Yuri? Yuri, wake up." I struggled to find my voice as I reach out and gave her a weak shake.

"Unnggg." Yuri groaned as she came around. "Kei?"

Yuri brushed her long dark hair from her face as she looked around the deck of the Lovely Angel.

"Are we dead?" I asked rubbing my temples.

"I sure feel like it." Yuri responded in a similar tone.

"What happened, how the hell could we have survived that?" I asked cracking my neck and attempting to turn on the equipment. Nothing was responding.

Yuri had followed suit trying to turn on the monitors or controls. Only one of the many screens came on displaying what was left of the Lovely Angels power and a list of all failed systems.

"I… I don't know. The two black holes must have opened a wormhole. The very fabric of reality must have been distorted as the black holes collapsed on each other. I mean, I guess?" Yuri offered.

"Oh, you guess. Well, then where are we?" I asked rising from my seat and checking on Mughi, big oaf was still fast asleep snoring away.

"There is no way to tell." Yuri said disheartened. "The navigation system is down, we could be anywhere in the universe, we could be anywhere in a thousand universes."

"No way!" I protested as I hopped up and continued to turn on the displays.

I only tried a short while before I realized it was pointless.

"So, what do we do?"

Yuri examined the monitor and assessed the damage to the ship.

"There is really only one thing we can do." She said gravelly.

"And that is?" I pressed.

"If we stay like this we would run out of food and oxygen within a week. Really our only option is to divert all power to the cryosleep functions and distress beacon. With the power remaining after initiating cryosleep, the beacon would last roughly three to three and a half years."

"And what? We just hope someone finds us?" I replied unable to hide my distress.

"We don't have much choice." Yuri said quietly, seemed my shouting had awoken Mughi.

We were quiet for a moment, letting everything sink in.

"Then that's what we have to do…" I trailed off going back to Mughi as he stretched himself out.

The gravity of the situation became more and more heavy as we started diverting power and getting ready to enter cryosleep. The fear of the unknown weighed on my heart. This could easily be my final moments. Yuri and I changed into our sleeping gear after securing Mughi in his pod and crawled into our beds. I laid there terrified as the dome closed over me and sealed itself.

I looked over to Yuri, as usual, we were completely in sync. Her expression matched my own. All we could do now was hope our signal reached someone.

I could feel the temperature start to drop causing me to shiver. I placed my hand up against the glass.

"Good night, Yuri."

"Sweet dreams, Kei."

"I'll see you when we wake up." I offered up my last bit of enthusiasm.

I laid myself down and stared forward before closing my eyes.

As it got colder, I drifted off to sleep.

END

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