Last time it was determined that there wasn't enough fuel to get our heroes back to Jurai, or anywhere for that matter. Ryoko offered to head to an automated fuel depot. Flora, Helia, Mousse, Shampoo, Ryoga and Elise offered to go with her. To pass the time, Stella suggested that our heroes played a game of Truth or Dare; a game where we learned that Carmen was adopted, and Tenchi and Kodatchi realized their feelings for each other. This would have made a good chapter ending, yet it didn't end there. Ryoko and co. were long overdue with the fuel, causing more than a few of our heroes to fell the effects of cabin fever. Riven was in worse shape, due to the effects of Space Madness. Yet the day was saved when Ryoko arrived with the fuel. On with the show!

Chapter 36: No Need For Space Pirates

A few days ago…

"Well, there it is," said Ryoko as Ryo-Ohki left hyperspace. Flora, Helia, Shampoo, Mousse and Elise watched from the crystalline bridge of Ryo-Ohki as she approached a medium-sized space station. "It took us twelve hours to get here," said Elise as she made some calculations on her PDA, "My estimate is that we'll need at least 10,000 gallons of fuel for The Night Rider. Assuming that we'll need an hour to pump that much fuel, and with the added weight of said fuel, we can be back with the others in 14 hours."

"Then why are we just standing out here in space with our hands in our pockets?" asked Mousse, "Let's get it over with." "Why is Mousse so anxious?" asked Shampoo. "I don't know why," said Mousse, "But this place gives me the willies, like something bad is about to happen."

"I've got that feeling too," said Flora, "Like we're walking into a trap." "I agree," said Ryoga, "This place feels like a setup."

"Then let's just do what we have to do," said Helia, "And get back to the others. I've got a feeling that things aren't as alright back with them as we'd like it to be."

Ryo-Ohki had docked with the station; fuel cables were already connecting the two. Mousse sighed with relief as he heard the fuel rushing into the storage tanks onboard. "I wouldn't breath easy until we're done here," said Ryoko, "Now I've got the feeling that we're being watched."

Nearly an hour later as the fuel finished pumping Ryoko's suspicions was confirmed as one of the control crystals began to flash angry red. "Oh crap!" exclaimed Ryoko. "What?" asked Helia, "What's wrong?" "Oh damn it!" exclaimed Ryoko, "Not now! Not them!"

"Who's them?" asked Flora. She got her answer as a holographic tactical display showed that Ryo-Ohki and the station were surrounded by several small vessels with one really big one closing in, the display coloring the ships red for enemy. All the hostile ships bristled with high-powered weaponry.

"Friends of yours?" asked Elise. "Not really," answered Ryoko, "Not that I know them personally, only by reputation." "Want to fill us in on whatever's going on?" asked Ryoga.

"Space pirates," said Helia, "We're surrounded by space pirates." "They look like they're from the Hoodra clan," said Ryoko as he brought up a more detailed view of the pirate ships, "But I could be wrong. I haven't dealt with my fellow freebooters in a long time."

"So what we do?" asked Shampoo. "Well," said Ryoko, "We've got three options. One, we fight back and get blown to bits. Two, we run and still get blown to bits. Or three, we wait and hear what they have to say. They haven't attacked us or locked their weapons on us, so we wait."

The wait wasn't long. Before Flora or the others could blink they were transported aboard the huge warship. As she recovered from the effects of transport, Flora looked around to see that she and the others had been beamed into a large cell. "Now what?" asked Mousse. "Now," said Ryoko, "We wait."

This time the wait was much longer. Automated chutes delivered flood and water and the cell did have a decent bathroom, yet being stuck in a cell for three days was more than nerve racking.

Finally they were escorted to the bridge of the warship. "Why did they wait so long?" asked Flora. She looked at the view screen to see that they were still at the fuel depot, "Why didn't we just leave?" "My guess is that they were waiting for someone to arrive," said Elise, "Someone important enough to keep us waiting for."

"How right you are, young witch," said a female voice. Sitting in the captain's chair on a raised platform was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had dark yellow eyes, long wavy purple hair and a scar across her nose. "Hello, Ryoko," said the woman, "It's been so long."

"Just great," said Ryoko, "Of all the people the Hoodra clan had to send after my head, it had to be you, Chani."

"Oh I'm not here to kill you, Ryoko," said Chani, "Though considering what you did to the Hoodra clan 800 years ago, you do deserve to die. But that's just my opinion. My big brother Fedric is now leader of the clan, and he's more forgiving than the last leader was. All you have to do is give back the 2,855,749 credits you swindled from us, and you and your friends can leave in peace. If you don't, then you and your friends will leave in pieces."

"You stole almost three million credits from a pirate clan?" asked Ryoga, "Damn, you've got guts."

"That really doesn't seem like a lot of money," said Flora, "Compared to what Stella spends on clothing alone." "You're thinking about today's standards of currency," said Elise, "800 years ago three million went a lot longer than it does today."

"Well, Ryoko," said Chani, "What's it going to be?" "Look, Chani," said Ryoko, "I don't have the money with me right now, but I can get it for you once I help a bunch of kids get to Jurai. Just go back to Fedric and tell him…"

"Fedric and the clan elders are tired of waiting!" snapped Chani, "We spent 100 years looking for you, then another 700 waiting while you were stuck on that backwater planet called Earth. The last straw fell when we heard you quit being a pirate and became a bodyguard, for a princess, of all things. The Hoodra clan is tired of waiting! We want out money now! Besides, we're fed up with pirate scum who dump their booty at the first sign of a Galaxy Police patrol ship."

"Even I got boarded and searched sometimes," said Ryoko, "You think I had a choice?" "You can tell that to Fedric," said Chani, "He may only take Ryo-Ohki and keep her as a pet."

"Over my dead body!" snapped Ryoko. "That's the idea," said Chani, a nasty smile on her face, "I've been waiting for this for a long time." "Yes," said Ryoko, "I'll bet you have."

Before Flora or the others could blink, Ryoko had rushed at Chani, her energy sword ready for the kill. Chani had summoned an indigo energy saber and blocked Ryoko's strike. The two women exchanged blows and parries across the bridge, their faces radiating with hate and rage, neither one willing to give up.

"Shouldn't someone try and stop them?" asked Flora. "Be my guest and try," said Elise, "It's your head."

"Just let them have it out, Flora," said Helia, "They'll run out of steam soon enough." Yet Ryoko and Chani didn't tire, in fact they were just getting warmed up.

The fight continued for a further three hours. All that time Flora and the other's attention were on the two combatants. "This is nuts," said Mousse, "How much longer can they keep this up?" "Pirate women fight as long as need to," said Shampoo.

Another hour later the two seemed to stop, if only for a breather. "This is bull sh$t," panted Chani, "We're too evenly matched." "For once," said Ryoko, who was equally winded, "I agree with you. If we keep this up, we'll be at it for at least a month."

"We don't have a month!" said Flora, "Bloom and the others need that fuel and they needed it like three days ago!" "She's right," said Helia, "There's got to be another way to settle this without anyone being killed here."

"I may be able to settle this in a way that will satisfy both parties," said Elise, "My dad is a lawyer and I have power of attorney for Morgan and Carmen." "I didn't know that," said Flora.

"Chani," said Elise, "Ryoko owes your clan just under three million credits, am I right?" "Yes," said Chani.

"And Ryoko," said Elise, "You can pay the Hoodra clan back, but just not right now, am I correct?" "You are," said Ryoko, "Once we're back on Jurai I can transfer the money to the Hoodra clan through back channels."

"Not good enough," said Chani, "My brother wants either the money or your head." "You want my head?" asked Ryoko, her energy sword ready to continue the fight, "Come and get it!"

"There's no need to start that up again!" yelled Elise, "Now Chani, what if I said that I could guarantee that your clan would get the money as soon as we get to Jurai?" Chani thought for a second before answering, "I might just be able to accommodate such a guarantee. But I would need to clear it with the clan elders first."

"There's no time for that," said Elise as she conjured up a sheet of paper and a pen. She then wrote something on the paper and gave it to Chani to look at, "This is what I propose," she said. Chani read the paper before nodding, "Yes, this would be acceptable, assuming Ryoko would agree to sign such a document."

She handed the paper to Ryoko to read and sign. Flora managed to see what was written:

I, Ryoko, do hereby swear on my soul, to pay to the Hoodra clan the sum of 2,855,749 credits; that I will transfer said sum to the Hoodra clan via ATM within seven days of the signing of this document. Should I fail to complete said transfer of currency within seven days, my life would be forfeit.

"Okay," said Ryoko, "I'll sign it. And believe me, you'll get your damn money." With that she signed the paper. "We'd better get it," said Chani as she witnessed it, "Or else there'll be no place in the universe you can hide from us."

Without further delay Ryoko, Flora and the others were beamed back to Ryo-Ohki who was waiting patiently for them. After making sure that the fuel was still in the storage pods, Ryo-Ohki jumped into hyperspace back to The Night Rider...

"The rest is history," said Ryoko as she finished the story. "Well," said Carmen, "no sh$t." "You don't believe us," said Elise. "Oh we believe you," said Morgan, "It's just that you used your power of attorney on someone else that we find hard to believe."

"You better believe it," said Ryoko, "Now that we're back with the fuel I've got less than a week to get to Jurai and pay off the Hoodra clan, or else my head comes off." "And we wouldn't want that," said Bloom honestly.

"Well I've got good news for once," said Amanda, "We just finished refueling the tanks. We can be going as soon as Ryo-Ohki is back aboard." Just then Washu came in from the airlock, the small furry form of Ryo-Ohki asleep in her arms. "Nothing to worry about," said Washu, "She's just exhausted from being in her starship form for so long."

With the tanks full, The Night Rider jumped back into hyperspace. "At this speed," said Lucinda, "We'll reach Jurai in less than an hour." "Excellent!" exclaimed Stella, "We might just be ready for Sasami's wedding shower after all."

Meanwhile, Ryoko had noticed that Tenchi and Kodatchi were spending a lot of time together and going off to be alone a lot. "Did something happen while I was gone?" she asked Ranma.

"Oh, yeah," said Ranma, who was currently in his female form due to some spilled water, "Stella called for a game of Truth or Dare. One thing led to another and those two got together. Is that a bad thing?"

"Not really," said Ryoko in a tone that sounded like she was unsure of herself, "I do like him, but if Tenchi is happy, then I'm happy."

"You're taking this very well," said Bloom "I got the feeling that you really do like Tenchi."

"There was a time when I thought I loved him," said Ryoko, "But I eventually realized that it was just a heavy crush. I guess taking on the responsibility of being Sasami's bodyguard made me grow up more. Anyway, as I said; If Tenchi is happy, I'm happy."

"That sounds like a good way of seeing things," said Bloom. "But there's another problem," said Ryoko, "When we get back to Jurai, what are we gonna do about Ayeka? She's had a crush on Tenchi almost as heavy as mine, and she still has hope they'll end up together." "We'll cross that bridge when we get there," said Bloom.

"I got to ask you, Stella," said Akane, "I know that the game ended a while ago, but I need to know: Is it true that you had to repeat your freshmen year because you made a mess of the potions lab at your school?"

This caused Flora, Musa, Tecna and Layla to laugh loudly. "She didn't just make a mess of the potions lab," Said Musa, "She totally blew it up!" "I was just trying to make a new shade of pink," said Stella innocently.

"I remember that from my first day at Alfea," said Bloom, "Come to think of it, we probably wouldn't have met if you hadn't had to do your first year over, Stella. I wouldn't have discovered my powers; Sky and I would never had fallen in love, a lot of things would have turned out differently if you didn't destroy the potions lab that time."

"This is one of those times where destruction and chaos lead to better things," said Carmen, "It's all part of the grand scheme of things that we call Life, The Universe and Everything." "The answer of which," said Tecna, "Is 42." "Of course it is," said Morgan in a sarcastic tone.

The end of chapter 36. Next chapter Bloom and the girls celebrate Sasami's pre-wedding party. Meanwhile Icy and co show up to ruin things as usual. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!