Warning: One swear word in this chapter.

Shantae burst through the surface of the water, startling the pirate planning at her desk. Ink spilled over the parchment, and Risky felt her blood boil as the genie transformed back into her normal form. She had spent hours on that… twelve minutes were close enough to a few hours, right? Either way, ink was hard to clean off her desk, and that was twelve minutes wasted. 'Not like spending several actual hours daydreaming about Shantae was a waste. Oh, wait.' Risky rolled her eyes at her own mind. Why did that have to be true?

Shaking her head, she snatched her sword off the leg of the table and pointed it at the intruding girl, jabbing it menacingly at her.

"I told you I would kill you the next time you come here. Am I a joke to you?" the pirate snarled while taking a few steps towards the shorter girl, keeping her blade held up.

"We both know you won't do such a thing, Risky. Besides, you should be happy! Do you know how long it took me to convince Sky to help Rottytops bake a 'late Halloween cake,' just so I could come out here and talk to you?" Shantae replied with a smile, before jumping back in fright as Risky jabbed her cutlass at her.

"This is your last chance, you little runt. Get out of my sight, or I will kill you." 'No you won't.' 'Yes I will.'

The genie looked at her adversary in terror, before furrowing her brows in anger and stomping towards Risky. While the pirate was fighting her own mind, Shantae snatched the sword by the hilt and threw it in the water. This stunned Risky, who was about to unleash a torrent of anger at her rival, but was swiftly cut off with a slap to the face so hard she stumbled back a few steps. Risky opened and closed her jaw, making sure she could still use it, some new-found respect for Shantae. Turning to look at her, she tried to back up further from the furious girl, but found she was right up against her desk. Her dagger was right there, but she didn't reach for it.

'Take it, you fool! Why don't you kill her!? She's being too bold, kill her and you will rule over Scuttle Town.'

'I… I don't want to hurt her.'

'You coward.

Risky's conflicting thoughts were cut off by the genie's face appearing centimetres from hers. She gulped. The girl did not look happy.

"I stole your hat because I wanted to speak with you, Risky Boots. I bribed Sky to cook with Rotty because you took it back, denying me that talk. I do not appreciate you rifling through my personal items when it was literally on top of the bed, and I definitely do not appreciate you poking your stupid sword at me when I take the time out of my day to come and visit you," Shantae spat in anger. Risky could do nothing but look right into her ocean blue eyes, never hearing the genie speak so seriously or angrily before. 'She's adorable when she's angry.'

"Do you think that maybe, just maybe we could have a chat about our current relationship? Or is that too hard for the so-called Queen of the Seven Seas?"

Risky found her voice, realising that Shantae was expecting an answer.

"O-okay. Okay. Can you calm down, please?" the pirate managed to uncharacteristically squeak out. 'You're actually scared of her? Some pirate you are.'

"Give me a reason to, you butt."

Risky swallowed. She would have to word what she wanted to say very carefully if she didn't want to anger the genie any further. She took a glance at her, noticing how her hair reflecting her mood, appearing jagged and sharp. Risky took a deep breath.

"I truly do not know where I stand with myself when concerning you, br-"

"I have a name, woman."

"Um, Shantae." Risky smacked herself in her own mind. Not even a sentence in and she had already messed up.

She continued, "I hate you. I hate you so much I cannot explain why I let you live every damn time. At least I thought I hated you. I do, but not to the extent that I wished."

"You're doing a terrible job at th-"

"CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP AND LET ME SPEAK!?" Risky shouted, making Shantae jump. They glared at each other for a few moments, before Shantae rolled her eyes.

"Fine." Risky nodded in thanks, noticing that the genie too was also acting very unlike herself.

"Though I… severely dislike you, you've become so much of a big part of my life that I really couldn't think what I would do without you. Yes, I could rule over everything with an iron fist, with nothing standing in my way except for those stupid Barons. But I'd be unhappy. I'd have no reason to get up and make a fantastic plan, because everything would be a breeze.

"On the other hand, I like having you around, as much as of an annoyance you are. You're cheerful, optimistic, kind, and there for me, even though I want to kill you. Nobody…" Risky hesitated. "…has ever cared for me like you before." 'Liar.'

"It's why I wish I hated you more. So I could do away with your pathetic existence and claim the throne of both the seas and the land. Instead, I ended up wanting you more, especially after you helped me defeat my old master," Risky trailed off, recalling the memory of kissing Shantae before she left. The genie waited a few seconds, waiting to see if Risky would continue. After about a minute, she spoke up.

"Yet, whenever I turn up, you turn me away. Why?" the dancer asked in a firm but gentler tone, having calmed down a little bit. The pirate she faced was sitting on top of her desk, her bottom lip quivering.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"But-"

"Ru—Shantae, as much as I like you, this is a bit personal for my rival to know. You could you it against me."

"I would never do such a thing," Shantae reassured, taking a few steps towards Risky. She shrank back, climbing higher up the desk.

"I know you wouldn't. Its stupid kind of crap you do, like this, which makes me actually like you." Risky took a glance at Shantae, her crimson eyes meeting with the tranquil ocean blue of Shantae's. "Please, girl. I'm not ready for this."

She shifted her gaze, blankly staring past Shantae. The genie, calmer than before, closed the distance between them and embraced Risky in a crushing hug. Risky was only half-surprised, assuming the dancer would do something like this, but not expecting it at the same time. She returned the hug, surprising Shantae, who didn't expect it to be returned. They held each other for a few minutes, until the awkward position of Risky sitting on the desk got to Shantae, who had to let go.

"I, um, are you-"

"I won't attack you. Not until the new year." Risky hopped off the desk, standing close to the genie. The height difference was painfully obvious. Risky had to practically look down to keep eye contact. "If that's what you were going to ask," she added.

Shantae looked up at Risky's face, searching for any tell-tale signs in her features, or in those beautiful scarlet eyes. Nothing. She let out a silent sigh; what did she expect? Risky would be a master at hiding her feelings, weaknesses, or anything else that she thought could be used against her. There was no way the genie would be able to spot any sort of hint to her past.

She still felt guilty for nearly bringing the pirate to tears, awkwardly staring at the roof in silence. Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her as she was pulled into a hug just as crushing as her own. She returned it, not bothering to ask Risky why she was doing so, happy enough that it was happening in the first place.

Unknown to Shantae, Risky's walls were slowly crumbling. She had missed the loving contact of another person, going so long without it that she had nearly forgotten what it was like to have another warm body against her own, even if it was her nemesis. Over the genie's shoulder, Risky grinned wickedly. Abruptly, she let go of Shantae and thrust her into the water, laughing with glee as she did so. The tanned girl crawled out of the water, her hair over her eyes, shivering from the sudden cold.

"Are you serious?" she asked, brushing wet hair out of her face.

Risky only laughed, giving no explanation as she turned around to fix up her desk. Shantae smiled while her back was turned. It seemed Risky was a little bit happier, but it didn't mean Shantae wasn't going to get back at her. She rushed a short dance, instantly drying herself, before whipping the behind of the pirate with her purple locks.

Risky jumped into the air with a shriek, spinning around and glaring at the giggling genie. She couldn't help but feel a few butterflies in her stomach at the girl she refused to admit she loved. She couldn't stay here all day, as much as Risky secretly would've wanted her to – she had a reputation of solitude to live up to, after all.

"Alright, we're square now. Now get out," she commanded, pointing at the water Shantae had just emerged from.

"Wh-what? What did I do now?" The dancer responded in surprise, instantly ceasing her giggling. Risky looked quite serious about it too.

"Nothing. But I have the Tinkertub 4.0 arriving soon, and I'm going to have to add some modifications to it that you're not allowed to see. So leave, if you value your life… or your hair."

"You could just ask nicely. And wouldn't it be the Tinkertub 3.0, because the last boat was the P.O.O.P.T.O.O.T.—"

"Don't call it that!"

"Which means this can't be the Tinkertub 4.0, because you never really made a Tinkertub 3.0, so—"

"Okay, okay, shut up! 3.0, 4.0, whatever! You can't see what I'm going to use to defeat you next year, so scram!" Risky shouted, stamping her foot and pointing at the water again.

"Fiiiine. Just so you know, I'm not scared of you," Shantae teased, as she walked up to Risky. She had an idea of how to get what she came here for in the first place, as well as make it obvious that she would never be scared of the pirate.

"I'm aware."

"Just because you use the skull of the Pirate Master as clothes, doesn't mean you scare me," she continued. Risky stayed silent at this jab, trying to remember how Shantae figured that out. She didn't remember telling her. Maybe the Pirate Master did during one of his taunting monologues. She shuddered.

"Can we not talk about him? Ever?" she whispered, looking side to side as if the ghost would suddenly reform and take her soul.

"Oh, sorry," Shantae apologised. That was a little careless of her. "Anyway, I'm not leaving without…"

Risky blushed as she felt herself pulled into a kiss with the genie. Fighting her own instincts, she didn't kiss back, but didn't pull away either.

'Snap her neck!'

'Kiss her back!'

The dancer pulled away, seemingly satisfied, with a glimmer in her eyes and a beaming smile across her face. The pirate gave no hints to what she was thinking, keeping a straight face. The edge taken off of her happiness slightly, Shantae walked to the edge of the water, beginning to dance.

"Thanks for the… 'talk,' I guess," she said, waiting for a reply. Nothing. "I'm always there for you whenever you do want to tell me about your past." She finished her dance, disappearing in a puff of smoke and emerging as a mermaid. She met eyes with her rival, or friend, still not sure what their status was. Risky simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well… goodbye for now then, Risky Boots." Shantae's voice was slightly different because of the transformation, but anyone who knew her would recognise her immediately. "A-and, if I don't see you before then… Merry Christmas." Without a second thought, Shantae dived into the water, leaving the pirate alone again.

She watched the spot where the genie had dived in, the waves slowly becoming calm, before a shiny object was flung out of the water and clattered to a halt on the ground.

Her cutlass.

Suddenly overcome with anger, Risky slammed her fist into the wall next to her, only realising how much of a bad idea that was when pain rippled over her fist. Still angry, she stormed over to her bed and sat down, taking her Shantae plushie and squeezing it, as if she were choking the real Shantae. After a few seconds, she threw it down in defeat. Why, oh why, did she always clam up when the girl was leaving? Why could she not have kissed back like she desperately wanted to?

Why was she so scared of someone she knew she could trust?

Meanwhile, in Scuttle Town, Sky was having a mental breakdown. Baking a cake was already hard enough. Baking a Halloween themed cake was harder.

Baking a Halloween cake with a certain zombie 'helping' her was too much to handle. It's not even Halloween anymore! It's December! They could at least make an early Christmas themed cake!

But the zombie was persistent, and to her credit, wouldn't give up. Even then, Sky was going to ask Shantae for more payment. This was a nightmare.

"ROTTY! THE EGGS NEED TO BE BROKEN BEFORE YOU PUT THEM IN!"

"Oh. Whoops."

"'WHOOPS!?' THAT'S YOUR REACTION TO COMPLETELY MESSING UP THE CAKE!?"

"Sky, calm down."

"I AM CALM!"

"No, you're Sky."

Sky groaned in frustration and anger, throwing down the bowl she had in her hands.

"I'm done! Bake this stupid cake yourself! Bolo could do this better than an undead mess like you!" She began to storm out of the zombie's house, but Rottytops ran in front of her, barring the door.

"Out of my way, zombie."

"Are you seriously turning to insults now? Can you please calm down, it's just a cake. We can do something else!"

"Like what? Grave-robbing for more body parts? Medicine theft? Water poisoning? Get out of my way!"

Rotty had to think fast. She and Shantae had planned this day so the genie was able to go out and meet with Risky, while giving an excuse for Rotty to spend some time with Sky. She only wished that Shantae's rendevouz was going far better than this.

"Just. Calm. Down. Please, Sky. Go sit on the couch or whatever, but just chill. The last thing I want to do is clean up your remains after you push me too far." Sky stared at the zombie in disbelief.

"Is that a threat?"

"Sky. Stop."

"Fine."

The blonde stomped over to the living room of Rotty's excuse of a house, seating herself in a suspiciously new chair, standing out from all the second-hand furniture in the rest of the house. Whatever. She didn't care. It was a stupid chair anyway. A stupid, comfy chair.

She glared at nothing in particular until Rotty's face appeared in front of her.

"Are you ready to try again?"

"Are you ready to stop being a brainless idiot and actually listen to me for once?" Sky snapped back. She had spent half the day with the zombie girl and she was growing sick of her presence.

"To think that Shantae looks up to you as a role model really worries me. Maybe your frustration and intensity is why boys don't stay with you long."

"What would you know about boys, you undead annoyance? You'll never know what it's like to date anyone, because who knows how long you've been undead for, and nobody would date you even if you weren't a zombie! I swear, Shantae needs to pay me more to even begin to justify the amount of time I've wasted on you and your stupid cake," Sky spat, turning away from the zombie, missing the hurt displayed on Rotty's face. She knew that Shantae had paid Sky to leave her birds for a while, hoping the two could bond together during the bake. Biting her trembling lip, Rotty headed for the kitchen to make another attempt at the cake, trying not to cry.

An hour passed and the zombie came back to her birdkeeper friend, who had dozed off on the couch. Rotty felt her insides stir at the sight, wishing she could lie there with her. She knew she had little chance; their chemistry was… violent, to say the least. She gently shook whom she considered her friend awake, not wanting to make Sky mad again.

"What?" Sky asked sleepily. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes, meeting with the crimson of Rotty's.

"I need help. Please," was the response she was given. Sky looked at the body of her friend. There was egg on her arm, milk on her stomach, and batter all over her top, which was hanging down as she bent over, giving Sky the opportunity to view—

'Bad, Sky, bad!'

She sighed, "Fine." She stood up and grabbed Rottytops' clean arm, before gently wiping off batter from her face. "But, you follow my instructions this time. Okay?"

Rotty nodded in excitement, following Sky into the kitchen.

Another hour passed and a cake was finally in the oven, with the kitchen looking like it had exploded, imploded, then exploded again, and both girls quite tired. Rotty picked tidbits off of herself, offering Sky the shower while she cleaned up the kitchen.

"Wow, look at you, being so responsible. You don't strike me as the type to do dishes. Rather, throw them out the window and steal new ones," she taunted, yet accepting Rotty's offer.

"I prefer not to have piles of dished in my sink, thank you very much. Also, will you ever stop making jokes about me stealing just because I stole that medicine for you?" Rotty poked her tongue out, gathering up a few plates.

"No. It's fun," Sky replied, heading to Rotty's shower. Wait why did Rotty have a shower? It's not like the zombie needed to shower. Sky was pretty sure she didn't even shower anyway. Maybe she had it for guests. She stopped halfway through the door, looking back at Rotty. "Oh, um, sorry about before. You know how I get when I'm frustrated."

"It's… fine," Rotty said hesitantly, not bothering to turn around and face Sky. This sent alarms ringing within the bird trainer. The tone Rotty used was quite unlike her, and she usually accepted any apology because there was an apology in the first place. Not wanting to dwell on it too much, Sky decided to ask her if she was okay after the shower.

Neither of them could concentrate on their tasks.

The usually hyper zombie, though deflated, could not stop thinking about her crush, in her shower, naked and… probably thinking about how weird she was. Rottytops bit her lip, putting her undead brain to work. How could she patch up this situation to the point where she could have a chance with the warbird trainer?

Sky was thinking about the zombie too, letting the water run over her, but not actually washing. Her golden hair sat around her shoulders, flowing like a waterfall, but she made no movement to clean it or any of the ingredients on her body. She was stuck in thought about the flirty zombie, and though undead, the charm she had. It was slowly taking its effect on Sky, who was beginning to think she liked the zombie in a way she shouldn't.

'You like boys, Sky. Boys.'

'But she's cute, caring, and a good friend. What boy has done that for me? None.'

'She's a zombie. You know what people are called when they like dead corpses.'

'She's not dead.'

'She's annoying.'

'It's part of her charm.'

'It's not right.'

'But it doesn't feel wrong either.'

'She will kill you for your brains.'

'I trust her.'

Slamming on the door jerked Sky out of her argument with herself, looking around as if she forgot where she was for a second.

"Are you okay, Sky? You've been in there for twenty minutes," Rotty yelled through the door.

"I-I'm fine. My hair is being annoying again, sorry in advance for the water bill!"

"As long as you're not dead."

Sky quickly washed off any food stuck to her skin, before giving her hair a quick rinse and turning off the shower. She could have a proper bath later. Drying off, dressing, and wrapping her bandana back took a few more minutes, before she exited the bathroom to a clean kitchen.

Rottytops sat at her table, keeping an eye on the cake. She had a forlorn look her face, making Sky's heart bleed. Noticing the blonde, she quickly hid it with a smile.

"Nice shower?"

Sky ignored the question, sitting across from her friend.

"What's wrong, Rotty?"

"Wrong? What's wrong is the cake isn't done yet. That's what's wrong," Rotty answered.

"Rottytops. Don't pretend I didn't see that face. Tell me what's happening. Was it something I said earlier?" Sky looked at Rotty's crimson orbs, which refused to look back at her.

"Nothing, really."

"Rotty."

"You have a knack of really making me feel like shit, to put it bluntly," Rotty stated. She didn't care what words she used at this point. Her chance with Sky was ruined anyway. "I'm so happy to know that you wouldn't want to spend time with me even if you were paid, because I'm just that annoying to you. And for your information, from what I do remember when I was alive, I had multiple boys fighting for my attention. Seriously, what the hell, Sky."

The blonde put on a face of guilt. She hadn't meant to hurt Rotty. She was frustrated.

"I didn't mean it, Rotty. I'm sorry."

"I know you didn't. It's the only reason I haven't used your brains as one of the ingredients."

Sky's face turned to horror when Rottytops said that, and was more horrified to see that this time the zombie wasn't joking.

"You get frustrated and angry about the smallest things, Sky. Killing your birds, I understand, but messing up a cake a few times? Really?" Rotty sighed. "Do you even consider me a friend, or just an annoyance?"

Standing up as soon as she heard that, Sky made her way to the zombie, picked her up, and hugged her, a few tears running her cheeks.

"Of course you're my friend, Rottytops. I'm just having a few issues in my life right now and they've got me strung tight. But that's no excuses for my horrible behaviour towards you. Please forgive me." While it wasn't a lie, it wasn't the truth either. Sky only had one issue right now, but it was getting her quite tense. She couldn't let Rotty know though – the problem was whether Sky considered the zombie enough of a friend to add a certain prefix to the word 'friend.'

Rotty buried her head into Sky's shoulder and began to cry. The blonde realised she had struck a nerve in her little outburst. Remembering that Rotty already got a lot of trouble just for being undead, let alone previously working with the pirate Risky Boots, Sky felt even more guilty for adding herself to the list of people that gave the poor zombie unnecessary trouble. She made a promise to herself to not let the undead girl down anymore and to be as friendly with her as possible. She would have her outbursts, yes, she always did, but she would keep away from insulting the zombie too much.

Sky then, perhaps out of instinct when dealing with an emotional Shantae, kissed Rotty's forehead, not realising she had done so. Rottytops looked up hopefully, a cute smile plastered on her face. Sky noticed, wondering what had made her so happy.

"What?" she asked.

"You just kissed me."

"I did?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Sky's eyes widened in shock as Rotty quickly pressed her lips to her own. She let go of the zombie, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She felt sick. Not because Rotty was a zombie – she actually had quite soft lips – but because kissing another girl was such an immoral thing to her. She was Sky! The most moral and socially acceptable girl around! What would people think of her if they knew she had kissed a girl? An undead girl, to be exact.

"Sky?"

Sky swallowed. She'd just let the zombie down gently. She wasn't ready for this.

"I… Um…"

"You don't like girls? I should've known…" Rottytops assumed, her mood deflating again.

"I d-didn't say that." 'Did you just imply you like girls?'

"Oh?"

"I… I don't think I do. But…" 'You just did.'

But?" Rottytops prodded, trying not to get her hopes up.

"B-b-but I'm… Ugh," Sky shook her head, waking herself from the enjoyable sensation of another girls lips on hers. "I shouldn't. It's not right."

"Says who?"

"Says society." Rotty rolled her eyes when she heard this.

"Society also says that all zombies are evil and want to kill you, birds are too hard to train, and books aren't boring. Which one of those are true? None."

"Uh, the books one is true. Anyway, I-"

"Can you just tell me if you like me or not, Sky," the zombie pleaded. She needed to know. She could handle rejection, as long as they stayed friends.

"Yes? I mean, I've had a few impure thoughts about you, and you're a really nice girl and all that—"

"Impure? I prefer the term 'natural.'"

"But I can't date you. I'm sorry," Sky apologised, watching Rotty's face fall into a sad expression.

"Oh. Okay."

"Not because I don't like you, just… we fight so much. It wouldn't last long… and it's kind of taboo to me. Girl on girl. That's like Shantae dating Risky – it just wouldn't work."

Wisely, Rotty kept her mouth shut at this remark. Shantae had explicitly said that she should be the one that would break the news the Sky.

"Sky, is this more of a 'liking me' thing, or a moral thing," Rotty questioned. Sky drooped.

"Honestly, Rottytops… It's a 'figuring my life out' thing. Notice how I haven't dated anyone since the time Risky and Shantae allied?" Sky exhaled deeply, fighting between how she felt and her own beliefs.

"It's alright. I'm here for you, whether you like me or not. That's what friends are for right?" Rotty embraced Sky, who returned the gesture, feeling a little bit more comfortable in the zombie's arms.

The oven dinged, alerting the two to the fact that the cake was ready.

"Up for some late Halloween cake?"

"Call it what you will Rotty, but it's actually an early Christmas cake."

The girls talked and laughed over the cake, which had turned out pretty well. Soon, the sun had set and it was time for Sky to return home and feed her birds. Once she was alone, Rotty danced a little jig. She hadn't been rejected! She grabbed some celebratory ice-cream out of her freezer, making a mental note to visit her genie friend and see how her day had turned out. Hopefully, it was just as successful as hers.

I think it's pretty badass that Risky uses the skull of her previous master as part of her clothes.

Anyway, that's all done now. My longest chapter yet. I think I did okay.

I had different ideas for both scenarios, especially the Riskae one. I couldn't decide whether I should have Shantae extremely mad or have the two actually fight. I decided to go with a bit of a middle ground, but leaning towards mad Shantae.

A Christmas chapter is still planned, don't worry, but it may not be as long as the previous chapters, let alone this one, as I'm pretty busy at the moment.

Feel free to leave reviews, criticism, and let me know of any typos and errors!

Till next time,

- Tommycats.

P.S. The ending may seem a little bit rushed. Truth be told, I was writing the end of this chapter as the limited Shantae bundle was being released, and I missed out on it because of Australia's shoddy 3rd world internet. I lost literally all motivation after that. Sorry if it made a good chapter into a bad one. Edit: I got it in the second batch! :D

P.P.S. I wrote a Sky x Shantae fanfic as a request, check it out if you're interested in that pairing.