A/N: I hope you liked the last chapter, because as of today there will be no more... *continued below
I do not own To Love-Ru
Lacospo's Ship
Cargo Area
Dangling Lacospo's unconscious body over the edge of the pit, she could hear the Drasuke's snapping jaws of anticipation, waiting for her to drop him into her gaping maw. "Now, as I was saying, let's talk business," Lala announces, "Since I am currently holding your 'boss' over the jaws of a hungry predator, I don't quite think you'll get paid if he dies." As she talks, the Red Scar puts his hands up to placate her, causing Lala to focus on him as he took a half step forward.
"Now princess, while I don't mind talking with you about business, I think it would be safer for you to put him down," the red skinned cowboy mercenary states, "You see, I reckon even if you do let go, you need him to gain access to the ships controls, if he was smart and made sure he had people loyal to him flying this bucket of bolts." He puts his hands down and watches Lala's grip on Lacospo. "You see, us three, we're only loyal to him until he pays us, meaning we do need him alive to get paid," he states, "But, see, he also stated he would only pay us once he became King of the universe and all that." Lala feels her grip on his clothing slipping, and Red Scar takes notice of it. "The way I see it, you don't even want to give him a chance to become King, meaning he wouldn't hold up his end of the bargain since he couldn't pay us," he turns back to point at Silver Blade and Azenda, "Now the Tyrant here, she's worth more than the pittance Lacospo offered us once he became King of the universe, enough for the three of us to split and go our separate ways, far, far away from you and your empire, princess." Lala blinks, confused at what the an was asking of her, before she fully understood what he was telling her, and Azenda watched as a flicker of uncertainty flashed across the girls face.
"I'm sorry, really, thank you for the offer, but I'm going to have to ask for you all to let Azenda go," Lala states, "While Lacopso may have the loyalty of his crew, Azenda has equal right to direct this ship, and she's really doesn't seem to like Locaspo anymore than I do." She brings Lacospo closer to her, balancing his dangling feet over the railing to readjust her grip. ""I'll even make you all a deal, if you're up for it," Lala states, felling a little generous, "I won't hunt you guys down, I'll even compensate you for whatever it is Lacospo is paying you if you let her go now, since I'm fairly certain Azenda is plotting a way to kill you three as we speak." Red Scar and Point-Blank meet each others eyes, before Point-Blank nods, causing Red Scar to sigh in response and close his eyes.
"You know what princess, I think we'll have to pass," the Red Scar states, opening his eyes back up and staring at the Princess with a grim look, "See, since you don't want to become his queen, and you don't want to give us Azenda, I don't think any of us really have a choice in the matter." He begins to take the gun on his back off, as Lala holds Lacospo back over the open air of the cargo bay. "Now, that ain't gonna fly anymore darlin', not now that we know you don't have any other options available," Red Scar states, "See, we'd rather see Lacospo dead and have Azenda's head, then walk out of this deal, have you back out on us and turn us into G.P.D., so sweetie, we ain't going to let this slide." Raising his gun to aim it at Lala, the Red Scar goes to pull the trigger. In a flash of light and sound of steel clashing, the Red Scar blink as as his gun is cleaved in two, his barrel falling to the ground as the battery pack smokes and sizzles from the exposed remains.
"I'm afraid you boys made the wrong choice," Azenda states, deadly serious as she speaks from behind the two other assassins, "Too bad you didn't think your plan of attack out properly and let your close combat fighter remain within my reach." Red Scar and Point-Blank both look back at the Silver Blade, whose blank eyes and fierce stance, show that he is completely under Azenda's sway. Point-Blank goes to move his fist and force an explosion of energy through his hands, when he stops feeling the point of a sword at his rib cage. In moments Azenda has already retrieved her whip, circling around the mans legs, causing him to trip as Azenda makes the Silver Blade hit him in the back of his head, effectively rendering him unconscious. The Red Scar goes to turn and run from the fight, and makes a getaway of two feet, before Lala's fist meets his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling to the floor in his own momentum and sudden loss of balance. Lala stands up and cracks her knuckles, ready to brawl with the Silver Blade. "Please Relax Lala-hime, the Silver Blade is currently under my control, and he will do only what I tell him," Azenda states, crossing her arms before gesturing to both Red Scar and Point-Blank, "I believe I will have him strip those two of their weapons, then we can choose what to do with the three of them."
Azenda walks over to the unconscious Lacopso and picks him up by the scruff of his collar. "And you, dear husband, I shall deal with you personally," Azenda states, smiling wickedly at him, before stopping to focus back on Lala, "Uness you of course, require recompense for his actions while I was away?" Lala hesitantly at the tall woman, blinking bashfully as the assassin offers her the toad king, practically on a silver platter. At Lala's hesitance Azenda realizes the girl doesn't know how to respond, so she sighs and merely sets the small king back slumping onto the floor. "Fine, I see you don't really have it in your heart to hurt him, he is a jerk for threatening you though," Azenda states, rubbing her forehead and sighing, "Very well, I will have the Silver Blade lock Lacospo up for the time being, while you and I talk about what we, both, now wish to do." Azenda grabs Lala gently by the arm, and begins to lead her out into the rest of the ship. "Meanwhile, lets stop by my room first, before we get to talking," Azenda states, overlooking the slightly crumpled and dirty clothes Lala had worn after being dragged into the cargo bay, "I believe a change in wardrobe was requested, after all!"
"Tell me why you betrayed Lacospo like that, and why do it to save me?" Lala asks from the bathroom, where she is checking her new outfit in the large, full body mirror, "I know you didn't want those assassins to catch you, but you certainly didn't have to defend me in front of Lacospo." Azenda is sitting on her own bed, a massive circular thing that takes up half the room, besides the large closet full of clothes and shoes, and the open window looking out into the stars. "How could you stand Lacospo belittling and ignoring you, even though he called you his wife," Lala asks, "Especially since he was calling me his 'future bride'; why did he seem to dislike you so much?" Azenda watches as Lala exits the bathroom in something much more fitting of her status, while still informal. Lala wore a formal Devilukean dress Azenda had trade off a few of her weapons for to acquire, though the outfit suited her nicely.
The dress was sharp in design, the bodice a pale beige from the neck down, to just below her bust, the dress gaining a layer of flared, purple material that reached down just past her thighs. The remainder of the dress on the inside of the material, while unseen, was of the same color as the bodice and reached just past her thighs to hide everything else that was unnecessary to show. The choker that came wit the dress was quite unique, as it was a separate piece all together that had a unique function, and that was to add sleeves to the dress, covering the neckline of the actual dress to give the illusion it was all one piece. It was colored purple like the rest of the fabric that flared out, though it did not cover her shoulders, rather it ran from the choker down to her biceps in thin strips of cloth, before fully encompassing her hands in sleeves that reached all the way down to her wrists, before ending in bells of fabric that covered her hands, yet left her fingers exposed.
Lala admired the dress fully, lifting it up to see the layers, and accidentally exposing her new, purple panties with black lace trim, which causes her to quickly cover herself back up with a blush. Azenda laughs at the girls unusual modesty, but she takes it serious when Lala covers her face up in embarrassment. "Don't tell me he did something while I was gone!" Azenda states, growling as she tightens her nails into her palm, "He may be foolish, but to try something before he is even married to you, while he is still married to me; he knows better than to try something foolish like that..." Lala peeks out from between her fingers at the elder assassin, curious to her words.
"I don't understand, why would that be a problem?" she asks the assassin, "It fits exactly with my past encounters with Lacospo, as unpleasant as they were, he was always one to try and cross boundaries." Azenda nods, as Lala removes her hands and begins to relax. "He- he had walked in on my as I was getting out of the shower, even though I had locked the doors," Lala states sheepishly, and Azenda's eye begins to twitch, "He- he saw the clothes you gave me, he realized I wasn't really in love with him, somehow, and blew up on me before apologizing and stating it was all some kind of 'test' that proved he was right." Azenda clenches her hand a little bit, and absently brushes her fingers against the ring on her hand. "He calls me his 'future wife', but if he always planned on divorcing you, why marry you in the first place?" Lala asks, "Why even 'test' me if he knew I wasn't going to love him; I haven't been exactly subtle about it, yet he threatens he'll get me to love him." Azenda sighs and brings up the ring on her left hand, bring her hand up and facing it out for Lala to see it clearly. It had a black band with a slimy green gem set next to a poisonous purple gem, creating a look that gave the impression it was a fusion of both colors.
"This ring is very important to Lacospo, because it is the one stipulation his parents gave to him, following his failed attempts at courting you before," Azenda states, as Lala observes both gems, "This smart-ring is two-of-a-kind, it and its partner hold one half of the information to a bank account containing the sum total of Lacospo's inheritance, the literal worth of his family's entire fortune contained within two nanochips sealed in artificial smart-diamonds, set within two separate, evolving soul-bands." She closes her fist and the smart-diamonds shine in the light. "The smart-diamonds were artificially made to react to the soul-bands, changing color to reflect a persons inner nature, they also contain half of the key needed to access Lacospo's fortune," Azenda states, "The soul-bands are a unique quasi-spiritual technology created by cutting edge scientists, they represent a persons true love: they remain black if there is no love between either recipient, if one truly loves the other, but not in reverse, one half of the entwined bands become gold while the other remains black, and if both bands become gold, the wearers are as good as destined to become one." She smiles, admiring the onyx black ring and the two gems. "As you can see, there is no love between either myself, or Lacospo, as ours is a marriage of convenience, rather than one of love," Azenda states ruefully, looking up and staring Lala in the eyes, "To Lacospo, while I am his first wife, I am worth no more than a concubine to him, a way for him to access the money he believes is owed to him, and is using to fund this endeavor all for naught."
Lala's eyes widen as she looks at Azenda, baring her feelings openly to the Devilukean Princess, something she had never even considered before. "Why not just divorce him, then?" Lala asks, as she takes a seat on the bed next to the assassin, "It would be rather simple, wouldn't it, just to remove the ring and end the marriage?" Azenda laughs scornfully, as she nods and stands up to put her hand against the glass wall separating the vacuum and the ship.
"If only it was that simple, princess; I'm afraid the consequences are much more deadlier than that a simple annulment," Azenda states, staring out into the void of stars, "If I were to remove the band as it is, without even getting an annulment, the ring's smart-diamonds would log the attempt and self-destruct the only access codes Lacospo has available to him." Lala gasps at that, covering her mouth to stifle herself. "That isn't even the worst part, as it would not only destroy the code, but take the users very hand in the resulting micro-explosion," Azenda states, smiling ruefully back at the princess, "And don't even get me started on the ridiculous conditions that resulted from just becoming engaged..." Lala nods, as Azenda returns to her seat and falls backwards onto her master bed. "During the courting phase, the ring is inactive until placed on someone's hand, whereupon it activates a singular self-defensive protocol that prevents the wearer from getting 'cold feet'," Azenda states, as she moves her hand up to block the light from coming down on her face, "It had a distance limiter of five meters, meaning if you walked outside of the designated sphere of influence between both rings, you could potentially activate the self-destruct function if you didn't remedy the situation in twenty seconds or less." Lala's eyes were wide at that, while Azenda merely laughed at the memories.
"As strange as it sounds, why would his parents go to such great lengths to buy such a pricey, expensive, and potentially lethal symbol of marriage?" Lala asks, "It obviously wouldn't be good if you were married all that time and be unable to remove the ring,not without potential health risks developing from constantly being forced to wear it." Azenda laughs and nods, as she sits up straight and flexes her fingers.
"That's exactly why they chose soul-bands, since they only react when people are compatible," Azenda states, "The metal isn't fully matured until it finds two compatible hosts, allowing the rings to be freely used as long as a new recipient is available to partake of the burden, as even after becoming divorced the ring of the ex-partner would self destruct and render both rings inert." Azenda sighs, and Lala stares at the ring more closely, taking Azenda's hand gingerly in her own to thumb the jewel and band. "They didn't want their son to be some kind of womanizer, I guess, which in a way is quite noble of them," Azenda states, "Unfortunately their son is little more than a creep and a pervert, socially and emotionally inept from years of isolation on a planet that, in some parts, value women very little despite galactic social standards at large." Lala nods, but the gears in her head are already turning despite herself. "If either he or I truly loved each other, the metals in the bands would fully coalesce into their true form, deactivating the self-destruct protocol in the process, allowing either of us to freely remove the ring without loss of life and limb, or access to the data within both rings," Azenda states, "Since both rings would have fully matured, they would be genetically bio-locked to their user and their bond of true love, ensuring only the wearer they were bonded too could access the information stored within, without anymore hoops to jump through." Lala turned to Azenda and grasped both of her hands, a serious look falling across her face as she makes her decision.
"Azenda, what would happen if I was to get married to Lacospo, and it didn't turn golden like he wants?" Lala asks, "Even if we were legally married, would there be anyway to keep Lacospo from inheriting my family's empire?" Azenda blinks in astonishment at what Lala was suggesting, but she softly breaks her hands away from Lala to think. Stroking her chin as she wracks her brain, Azenda feels the spark of an idea forming.
"Perhaps... there might indeed be something that could be done, potentially," Azenda states, "Since love, or rather compatibility, is not usually considered in traditional marriages such as the one you find yourself in, there is till the legality of Lacospo's right of candidacy on his side of things." She snaps her fingers and smiles at Lala, as the Devilukeans brilliant deduction becomes clear to her. "Yes, I believe you could get Lacospo's family involved, since it is their stipulation that he marry someone who he not only truly loves, but who truly loves him in return, you could easily get them on your side, if you were dispute Lacospo as a marriage candidate," Azenda states, "Since the situation surrounding your prompt and unusual engagement would come into question, Lacospo's legitimacy to claim to be your candidate for marriage after he is found to have forced you to come here by threat, even hurting your preferred candidate Rito, you would be easily able to remove Lacospo and annul the marriage then and there, hypothetically speaking." Lala nods, concern flashing across her face as she realizes the potential hiccups.
"But Lacospo would need someone else to give the ring to, someone he could marry," Lala states, scratching her chin, "We couldn't hire someone, I don't think it would legally hold up, but perhaps you could...?" Azenda shakes her head in response to Lala's unasked question.
"Unfortunately divorce nullifies any claim to the rings a second time, remarrying Lacospo is out of the question," Azenda states, before tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Though we may have another course of action, if we were able to maneuver things into place in time..." She counts a few fingers off of her hand, before smiling at Lala. "It wouldn't be hard, not if I was to make contact with your mother before hand to arrange things out of Lacoso's watch," Azenda states, "Yes, I do believe we may have the beginnings of a plan... but you understand what this means Lala?" Lala gulps and nods, somberly smiling at Azenda.
Lacospo stirs awake in his bed, feeling a pounding in his head and gut. Slowly he crawls out from under the covers of his bed and he rises to his feet in the darkened room. Feeling woozy and unsteady, he sits on the edge of his bed and finds himself wearing a robe he doesn't remember putting on. Searching his memory for what happened to make him end up being in this position, he begins to slowly remember the transmission he had received from... Suddenly Lacospo shoots up, now fully awake and remembering Lala's attack in the cargo bay. Looking around for proper clothes to put on, Lacospo finds himself marching out the door of his room and towards the cargo bay. Adjusting his crown as he went, Lacospo found himself inside the empty cargo bay with the only the broken shuttle as evidence that a killer beast was once held below it, the beast nowhere in sight. Deciding to make his way to the bridge next, Lacospo intended to send his men out to find out just what was going on, and demand them to find Lala and Azenda and place them in proper cells.
"What is going on?" Lacospo demands as he walks into the bridge, "What is our current heading?" Before he even lets them speak, he whirls on a crewman he knows controls the security inside of his ship, including all its cameras. "Where is Azenda and Princess Lala?" Lacospo asks, "Where are my mercenaries?" As he begins to rant and rave, the doors to the bridge open, and Azenda walks onto the bridge, followed by Lala, and flanked by the three assassin's that had been hired by Lacospo.
"Ah, dear husband, you've finally awoken I see, you did receive a nasty shock to your system after all," Azenda states, as she smiles towards Lacospo, "You'll find out heading and course haven't changed, though there have been some recent... compromises that have been reached between the rest of your crew, myself, and Lala." She crosses her arms as the stout prince king approaches his traitorous wife to confront her, but she merely shushes him and pats him on the head. "I'm afraid that if you wish to cry and whine, that you should think twice, dear husband," Azenda states, smirking from her position, "I believe Princess Lala was coming to apologize to you, husband, though in my opinion it is you who should be apologizing for crossing the line." Lacospo is about to retort, but bites his tongue in response, merely turning to face Lala with a hardened glare.
"Thank you, Azenda, and while you are right in some aspects, as a... visiting dignitary, I believe it was improper of me to respond so... violently," Lala states, "Though I am sure in my situation, you would forgive me for my response to your... insinuations toward my former marriage candidate." The wording wasn't lost on Lacospo, who gained a confused expression at the phrasing. "As long as you are willing to work with three stipulations I have drafted up in a contract with Azenda's help, and with full understanding and the cooperation of your crew, I will allow you to attempt courting me," Lala says, smiling as she swallows, Lacospo biting down on his tongue to try and listen to her requests, "They are as follows: You will allow me free access of your ship and its crew, with no repercussions to my family or other potential marriage candidates." Lacospo clenches his fists at that, but swallows and nods for her to continue. "Secondly, upon our arrival to Deviluke, you will turn over the Drasuke you have acquired to the Deviluke Royal Zoo, for proper medical care for the mistreatment she received while under the care of the ones who took her from her home," Lala states, to which Lacospo nods, "And lastly, as the marriage is going to be held on Deviluke with the whole universe facing change as a result, I require that you treat me respectably for who I am, and that your parents as well as those who I choose, may attend the marriage ceremony no matter who they are." At that Lacospo nearly blows up from his impatience.
"There will be no such deal!" he yells angrily, "I understand your first point perfectly clear, no how much I despise it, I don't even mind turning over that hideous beast, but to treat you as my equal?" He stomps his foot in annoyance and turns away from Lala in a huff. "While you may be Princess of Deviluke, heir to a ruling class, by the laws of my planet I amnot required to grant you any equal standing to make decisions that are not yours to make!" Just as he is about to demand her leave his presence, he feels a sharp blade pick him up by the scruff of his shirt. He is about to flail about, when he notices the disgraced samurai glare at him and twist the blade a little bit more into his fabric, allowing him to feel the piercing tip uncomfortably close to his skin. Laughing it off a bit, with a little bit of sweat, the mercenary turns Lacospo around and stands a fair distance behind him, forcing him to look to Lala and the others. Lala puts her hands on he hips and puffs out her cheeks at the toad prince.
"It will be required that if there is any fault found before or after the marriage ceremony, as a result of your planet's own laws and stipulations your parents are holding up to you, that I am allowed to annul the marriage before your parents and my father," Lala states, a little bit of annoyance in her voice, "Also within those same laws until consummation between man and wife is conducted, I am allowed to be treated with respect by my mate, who in this case would be you." Lacospo begins to grumble, but nods in response. "Due to the nature of the bonding you are wishing to partake in, another set of stipulations must be met to fully annul our marriage, and I wished to inform you of them," Lala states, "If either of us wishes to annul our marriage, one of us must give up our ring to one chosen beforehand to accept it as intermediary concubine, or if a willing participant who either of us truly love is available, the other must forsake their ring and vows to enable the other to complete the marriage contract to their true love." Lacospo is about to snap, when Azenda steps up and flicks him on the forehead.
"Remember, dearest, it is you parent's wishes that you find someone you truly love, and will truly love you in return," Azenda states, "They would rather you give up your fortune and live a life of poverty, viewing the sacrifice as a wedding gift for the new King and Queen of Deviluke, than let a greedy son inherit a fortune, yet live a loveless life." Azenda smiles as Lacospo shuts his mouth, grinding his teeth together while he formulates a response.
"Very well, I accept your terms, Princess Lala, and upon our arrival at Deviluke I would hope you hold up on your end of the bargain," Lacospo states, spiting the words out much to the surprise of everyone in the room, "But, in return, you must actually be involved with me, despite my mistaken outburst earlier, I believe if you actually give me a chance, I could truly woo you to my side..." Azenda covers her hand with he mouth, trying to contain her laughter, but when she looks over to see Lala actually contemplating it, she holds in her breath.
"Very well then, we have a deal," Lala states, shaking Lacospo's hand, "I believe we have less than a week from Deviluke to get to know each other, so how about we start tomorrow with lunch, and maybe in the evening we have a chance to learn about each other properly, once all of this settles down?" Lacospo nods, much to the shock of everyone in the room, before Lala leaves with Azenda in toe.
Lacospo watches her leave for a few moments, before turning back to his men and staring them all down. "Well, what are you all gawking at?" he practically shouts, "Get back to work; I'll be in my room if you need to consult me." Walking into his room, which wasn't far at all, Lacospo gets on to his personal computer terminal and begins to make the necessary connections through a variety of contacts and satellites. When a familiar mop of silver lands on the open communications channel, Lacospo smiles at the man on the other end.
"Well, was it as I said?" the man asks, annoyance clearly in his voice, "Did you find out if Lala was truly involved in your one-sided marriage proposal?" Lacospo chuckles a bit at the man, who merely raises an eyebrow in return.
"She wasn't, not when I confronted her about it, but now taking it all in after the fact, I realized that was exactly what you wanted me to do, wasn't it?" the lack of response or recognition is all Lacospo needs to realize he was right, "Maybe she isn't in love with me now, sure, but she has accepted my proposal now, and despite some setbacks, I believe I can work this out in time for you and I both to get what we want." The man smiles from behind the screen, though Lacospo gets an uneasy feeling from it.
"Good, while I have what I currently need to get by, accessing the black archives for the information I need is paramount, Toad," the mysterious man states, "Without proper reinforcements and backup, you truly couldn't lead the Devilukean armies, you wouldn't be prepared to unite the remainder of the universe like I have planned..." He smiles, his silver eyes glinting in the lighting of his ship. "Soon you will have Lala, and the power you deserve, and I will have the means to bring about true peace and unity to the galaxy," the man states, "Under your banner of course... Lacospo-dono." Lacospo grins and nods, before the other man cuts off the feed from his end, and Lacospo's grin turns sour.
"Whatever you say, Zastin, whatever you say," Lacospo states, "I'm just glad you know exactly who to put your support behind." Lacospo leans back in his chair and looks through the nearest window and the stars beyond it. "As long as I get the kingdom and the girl, I have my fortune and a bright future ahead of me," he states, smiling, "I swear, princess, you will love me..."
*Continued from above: ...No more chances to enter the poll, that is, since I'm going to close it after today, 10/18.
To my Guest Reviewer, I thank you for reviewing, I'm glad someone still is reading my work since I thought everyone left!
Edit: I'm not ending the story, rather the Poll I set up is now finished, sorry for any confusion about my wording above!