GUESS WHO'S BACK? Going to school and working full time leaves you ZERO time to write ya'll, I'm so sorry. But I'm FINALLY done with school for the time being. (May go back later this year and get a higher degree, but taking time off sounds good too.) Anywho, here's something that I've been wanting to write for a really long time and I hope you enjoy reading it! Sorry for any errors!
Love was a horrendously mundane thing, Harlock mused as bullets whizzed past his head. He lived with it day in and day out, putting up with its simplicity, its frustrations, and its stupidity. However, there were times when it could renew itself and remind him just how he could not live without it. Particularly in times like these when he and Adalyn were in a raging firefight with the local sheriff and deputies that sought to arrest them.
"Those bastards are persistent!" she shouted, pressing her back against the wooden column she was firing behind so she could change the clip in her gun.
"I blame you for this," Harlock said to her as he shot through the wooden table the sheriff had kicked over to use as a shield. "You were the one who picked this place to eat, not me."
"How was I to know that this was the local law's watering hole?" Adalyn retorted as a bullet smacked against the pillar, sending splinters flying close to her face.
Harlock snarled at this and redoubled his efforts, expertly shooting one deputy in the collarbone and another in the face.
"I would think that a place that has good food and drinks will attract anyone, not just us pirates." Harlock smiled when he saw that she was unharmed. He still sometimes wondered how he got so lucky, finding someone willing to put up with the dangers that came with him.
"Oh, so from now on we should just hang around the places that strictly caters to people like us then?" Adalyn snapped a new clip in and rejoined him in returning fire. "That would be what? Three bars and one restaurant?"
"Well technically the Blue Blaze is both a restaurant and a bar, so that would be three bars and two restaurants," he joked.
Adalyn rolled her eyes but was unable to keep a grin from her face. Though their date had been ruined by the officers who walked in, took one look at them and started shooting, neither of them could say this was unusual. One of the things she had discovered as the notorious Captain Harlock's girlfriend was that things like these were commonplace and one quickly learned to take them in stride.
At least they were able to get through their meal this time.
"You had better left a good tip," she said as a few awry shots shattered the bottles displayed behind the bar where Harlock knelt.
The pirate sighed at the loss of good booze, and again looked for an escape route. The restaurant, with its concrete flooring, cold lighting, and sleek industrial décor, was gutted. Every surface had bullet holes, lights were shooting sparks, and just about all the furniture was overturned. The location where they huddled was not ideal, against the far brick wall with no windows or doors; they would have to go through their attackers to escape.
"I hate to ask this, but you got a grenade don't you?"
"Aw, you wanna end the fun now?" She reached into a pocket on her belt.
"I told Yattaran we'd be back before eleven," he said. "You know he's a punctual babysitter, if I'm one minute late he'll turn the ship over to Kei."
"Yeah, you should really think about finding a new one for your baby." Adalyn holstered her gun and hooked her finger around the pin. "Cover your ears, this one's loud."
Harlock did as he was told and hunkered down. Adalyn pulled the pin and threw the grenade, choosing to dive behind the bar with Harlock for better cover as soon as it left her hand.
The explosion caused the entire building to lurch and sent the rest of the bottles of alcohol crashing around them. Even with their hands clamped tightly over their ears the deafening boom left a pronounced ringing sound that they both knew from experience would not go away for several minutes.
"I really need to go through your collection of bombs and take those out," Harlock said as he peered around the bar to make sure that the sheriff and his deputies were down.
"What? Did you say something?" Adalyn sat up as she yelled.
"You're going to go deaf if you keep using those!" Harlock called loudly, and stood after seeing their attackers taken care of. "Now what did you do?" he asked at seeing her neck stained with blood.
Harlock shoved his cosmo dragoon back in the holster and went to examine it, ignoring her dismissals.
"I just fell on some glass," she said upon standing. "You don't need to make such a fuss over it."
"You do the same to me whenever I get hurt," Harlock chided as he checked to make sure there was no glass embedded in her skin. "Some dinner we had there," he chuckled.
"At least the food was good," Adalyn mused, remaining still as Harlock gently probed her wound. "And we almost got through our after dinner drinks, so I'd say this date was a success."
Harlock smiled and ceased his exam, satisfied that she appeared to have only scratched herself and if there was glass, it was too small for him to extract.
"So after two years we finally have a successful date? I wonder if we can have another one in two years' time," Harlock wondered aloud as he took her arm and looped it through his.
"I really don't understand how normal couples can do it though," Adalyn said as they walked through the demolished restaurant, sidestepping light fixtures, falling concrete, and the occasional debris from the tables and chairs. "How can they go out to dinner, perhaps a movie then go home all the time? Don't you think it would get rather boring without people trying to arrest or kill them?"
"I don't know," Harlock shrugged as he pushed the front door open for her, only to have it fall off its hinges and smash on the ground. "Although I'm sure they would wonder the same about us and how we managed to stay together for so long."
"Probably because we're a bit on the crazy side, devilishly good looking, and can laugh at things like this." She used her thumb to point at the ruined restaurant behind them. "It's no wonder so many people get divorced nowadays, if they became pirates they'd stay partnered forever."
Harlock laughed and let her walk out in front of him.
They held hands as they walked out of the little cobblestoned town and into the surrounding grassland. The Arcadia lay behind tall, rolling fields in a dried up lakebed some miles away. No one seemed to be milling about the ship when Harlock and Adalyn arrived, but the boarding ramp was down and fully illuminated.
"You need to go have Zero clean your neck," Harlock said as they trudged into the ship.
"It's fine," Adalyn replied, stretching her arms overhead and yawning. "Besides, he went out earlier and if he is back he's probably drunk and will only make it worse."
"Fine, but I don't want to hear you complain when I'm trying to sleep." Harlock instantly regretted making any mention of the two of them sharing a bed when he saw Yattaran hurry towards them.
His urgent stride and panicked expression put Harlock on edge. The only time he ever saw his first mate this concerned was when something had happened to one of their crewmates. His first thought was that Daiba had gotten into trouble again and tried to remember whose turn it was to serve as his minder. They would be the ones looking after him in sickbay if that was where he ended up.
"There you are!" Yattaran cried. "It certainly took you two long enough to get back! I tried calling you, but you didn't answer, but I've got something really important to tell you!"
"What happened?" Harlock gave a lengthy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could only hope Daiba was on the ship, he really did not want to go back out tonight.
"Oh gawd, don't tell us Daiba got drunk and wandered into a police station to see if he made it to the Fed's most wanted list again. The only way I'd be persuaded to go and get him is if I can finally shoot him for his stupidity," Adalyn griped, thinking along the same lines as Harlock. "You should just do what I tell you to do with him; he certainly wouldn't be any trouble then."
"I'm not going to tie him up to the ship like some dog." Tempting as that may be, Harlock added silently.
"As long as you left him a bottle of grape soda and plenty of turkey sandwiches he'd be fine," she responded, poking him in the arm.
"Daiba's fine," Yattaran interjected whilst waving his hands. "It's nothing like that, but earlier this evening there was a recorded message from a girl who claimed to be Shinunora's daughter, she said she was in trouble and needed your help."
Harlock's brow rose high. "Shinunora has a daughter?"
Yattaran nodded. "That's what she said. But it's really disturbing, and knowing Shinunora like we do, I think we should see if this girl's alright."
"Did you make any attempt to contact her?"
"We did right after we watched it, but it's a disposable reception code, there's no way we can return a message."
"I'll take a look at it," he said as he and Adalyn followed Yattaran down the corridor to the nearest computer terminal in a nearby supply room.
The room was cramped due to the amount of freestanding shelves, and the three of them crammed in front of the sole computer as Yattaran retrieved the message stored on the mainframe.
"Shinunora is the bad ex-girlfriend you told me about, right?" Adalyn asked, to which Harlock nodded.
"The worst ex-girlfriend anyone could have," Yattaran muttered as he pulled the file up.
Despite the glare Yattaran received from his captain, Harlock silently agreed with him. His history with Shinunora was downright catastrophic due in large part to his naivety and unwillingness to walk away from certain situations. He was also reluctant to see that there was something seriously wrong with her until it was too late.
The message began to play for the three; but unexpectedly, they could see nothing but blackness on the screen before them. Even more disturbing were the distant sounds of brutal screams, breaking glass, and flesh striking flesh.
"My name is Lena," a voice they strained to hear said. "I'm trying to contact Captain Harlock, I need help." She choked as if holding back sobs. "I live on Heavy Meldar in a place called Bordello Town, my mom is Shinunora."
"My god," Harlock breathed as the little girl kept talking while the shouting continued. A notorious sex tourist destination, Bordello Town was also one of the most lawless cities on the Gun Frontier.
"I'm really scared," her voice trembled. "My mom is getting beat up by one of the men who visits her, and I'm afraid he's going to do something really bad to her. Please help us, I—"
Lena screamed in terror when the small space she was in illuminated with a crack.
"What the hell are you doing?" A voice bellowed at the girl.
They could only see the lower half of her face and white walls behind her for a few seconds before the recorder was thrown to the side by her assailant or by her. The jumbled images and high-pitched screaming intensified for several seconds before everything suddenly went black and the sounds ceased.
"Get everyone back on the ship and prepare for takeoff immediately!" Harlock commanded Yattaran, who jumped at the vicious snarl in his captain's voice. "Now!" he shouted as his first mate remained rooted in place for longer than he liked.
"U-uh, yes captain!" Yattaran nodded and rushed from the room, leaving a fuming Harlock and a startled Adalyn behind him.
Harlock then turned to Adalyn, whose colorless, white face was in striking contrast with the darkened room around them. He knew that she was thinking the same thing as he: the girl was badly hurt and they were so far away and unable to help.
"We're at least eight days from Heavy Meldar," Adalyn breathed.
"We can get there in three," Harlock replied matter-of-factly.
Adalyn sighed and rubbed the side of her neck. Just thinking about the list of parts that they would need to fix the ship afterwards gave her a headache. Harlock had no idea how hard it was to find all the auxiliary units needed for their engines, she was sure of that.
She just hoped it their efforts wouldn't be in vain.
"Just don't get too fidgety when we're grounded for a couple of weeks," Adalyn said.
"You won't have to worry about me," Harlock said as he turned to leave the room. "Any problems we have after we help this girl we'll deal with, let's just focus on getting to Heavy Meldar right now."
Adalyn watched as Harlock left, recognizing the cold determination that came over him. He would keep himself occupied on the bridge until they arrived, and Adalyn knew it would be best to leave him alone. In the meantime, she turned back towards the computer and began to search for engine parts.