''NOT AGAIN!'' Aisha screamed, throwing her arms up in frustration. She had lost in the slot machine for the hundredth time. ''PAY UP, YOU STUPID MACHINE!''
''Yelling at it won't help.'' someone said from the crowded casino. She whirled around to yell at the speaker, but he was already sighed angrily and put another coin in the machine.
The first two landed on 7 and 7. Aisha bit her lip as the third wheel spun.
It slowed down and stopped. The last wheel showed an ''X''.
''GRAHHH!'' Aisha screamed. She got up and stormed off to find an easier game.
With Xy...
Aisha didn't know it, but Xy was much closer than she thought. He was walking around the casino, mainly looking for coins that people had left lying around. He calculated that he had found 10 wong now. Enough to play a few of the games, a good way for him to make more money, since his Pokedollars had literally no value here.
He looked around at the different games, then stopped at one and smiled. A Reflex Tester, a game which had metal bars that flung from slots in the wall at high speeds to test the reflexes of the player.
He had done around the same thing since he was a kid, using logs, rope, and sturdy trees.
He put in a few coins and the game turned on. The scoreboard lit up. So far, the high score was only one dodge.
He took a piece of cloth from his pocket and covered his eyes. He always liked extra challenges when he did things.
The bell rang, and the game began.
With Aisha, a few minutes later...
The crowd suddenly seemed to back into one direction, pushing Aisha with it.
''What's going on?'' she asked angrily, trying to move against the crowd, but even her Ctarl-Ctarl strength wouldn't stop the mob of people.
''Someone at the Reflex Tester.'' somebody said. Aisha rolled her eyes, but gradually made her way to the game.
She managed to get into view of the machine, which had an empty circle, with people keeping away from the player.
''So?'' she asked, then noticed the scoreboard. ''The high score was only 1?'' she asked. ''What's his score?''
''14,528 and counting.'' the person who was playing said. He was dodging the metal beams so fast that Aisha couldn't see more than a blur.
After another hour, the person was still going strong. The machine was less lucky. It had begun to smoke and the beams were starting to grate on the sides.
After another few minutes, the game stopped, and the person stopped moving so quickly that he was probably going to pass out.
Surprisingly, though, he wasn't even shaky.
''Calculating score.'' the machine said. The scoreboard whirred, and the high score of 1 was pushed down to second place, as a number generator went onto first. The numbers flipped, until they finally slowed down and revealed his score. ''New High Score. High Score now 100,224,567,33qbrtgslrcntttkbdf.c...''
The computer began smoking again, and the scoreboard and front literally melted.
The person turned to the machine and took off the blindfold he had been wearing. He had been wearing a blindfold the entire time!?
''I must have worn it out.'' he said, collecting the coins he had earned from the machine. He had to dump them in two large buckets, plus filling his pockets.
He turned around and looked at the crowd. Aisha gasped. It was Xy.
''How did you-?'' she asked. Xy looked at her.
''I don't reveal my secrets so easily, Clanclan-Aldith.'' Xy said. His breathing was level and his voice was emotionless as he said the words. He had even known the honorific suffix given to Ctarl women. ''And I have no affiliation with you anymore, since you can't help me.''
A casino employee ran up and looked at the ruined machine, then at Xy. He was completely speechless as Xy went to cash in his coins.
Aisha followed him out of the casino and into an alleyway. She hid behind a dumpster or atop a streetlight when he looked back.
Eventually, they ended up in a docking chamber, which had spaceships that nobody owned for sale. Xy immediately went to a certain one and asked for the price. The salesman looked surprised, then said a number. Xy handed him 100 wong, and the salesman gave him the activator key to the ship.
''I don't know why you wanted this piece of crap, but good luck anyway. It's all yours now.'' the salesman said, then walked away.
Xy got into the ship and activated it. When it turned on, it vibrated with a heavy rattle that knocked dirt off of the front, revealing the name Nostradamus. It lifted off, trailing pieces as it went.
Aisha left the dock and went to find the others.
At the Outlaw Star...
Aisha stopped at the Outlaw Star's hatch, and the first thing she noticed was that the entire crew was already back. They seemed to be waiting for her.
''We have to leave now.'' Gene said. ''Our parking pay somehow dropped, and we can't stay anymore.''
Everybody got back into the ship, and Melfina and Gene activated it.
The engines turned on and the ship lifted off.
With Xy...
''I know this is a terrible choice. I just can't afford to be lenient with money right now. Don't worry. I have an idea. I've just got to find a good place to hide the ship, and I'll fix it up.'' Xy said.
His eyes and aura animus glowed green, and Xy sighed. ''I know it's risky, but it's the only option we've got right now. Without your powers and with nobody on the Outlaw Star to help us, I'm the only person who can get us home.''
His eyes glowed green again, but his aura animus glowed gold, in such a way that it almost seemed frustrated. Xy rolled his eyes.
''Would you stop that? I don't have any powers on my own. Before you showed up, I was just a normal person on a journey.'' he said, pressing a few buttons on the control panel (most of which broke apart or disintegrated at his touch). ''I found a good spot to land. There's a cave in an asteroid close by.''
He maneuvered the Nostradamus to the cave and landed it. He got out with a spacesuit and looked around, noticing the Outlaw Star leaving the spaceport. He smiled slightly, then looked at the mostly useless mess that was the Nostradamus. ''I think you have enough energy to restore this, right?'' he asked. His aura animus and eyes glowed green, and he smiled again. ''Good.''
He touched the surface of the Nostradamus, not noticing that the Outlaw Star had shot a camera pod to watch him.
The Nostradamus began to ripple, and the tan heap of broken metal began to reconnect, and the tan color painted over itself with black, with white dots dappled on it to look like stars. Inside, the control panels and computer restored themselves to their original states.
Xy didn't take much notice in the letter and number combination in front of the ship's name that showed its original name (XGP 56-A1 Beta), but the Outlaw Star's crew did, knowing what the numbers meant.
On the Outlaw Star...
''It's an older version of my system.'' Gilliam said. ''That isn't possible. I have no records of an XGP before me.''
''Well, there's one right here, and it was somehow overlooked.'' Gene said. ''I think we should keep a tab on this guy. He knows what he's doing. We should make sure he doesn't end up our enemy.''
''You worry too much.'' Suzuka said. She had repaired her wooden katana and was back to normal. ''He's an amateur. He's good at swordfighting, but that's all.''
Aisha looked at the camera thoughtfully. ''I'm not so sure.'' she said.
With the Nostradamus...
Xy stood back and smiled when his work was done. The ship was in perfect condition now. He reentered it, and got behind the computer, which now looked like it had just been built.
''Hello, sir. I am Gilliam 1.0.'' the computer said. Xy looked at its camera.
''Hello, Gilliam.'' he said. ''I'm Xy Ketchum, your new captain.'' he said.
''Hello, Xy. Would you like to rename the ship?'' Gilliam 1.0 asked, entering Xy's picture, name, height, and weight in its memory.
''Alright. It's new name is Sojourner.'' Xy said.
Outside, the name Nostradamus changed to Sojourner.
''Open manual for ship controls.'' Xy said. Gilliam obliged, opening windows with the files on the main screen. Xy read through them quickly, then had Gilliam close them. ''Alright, Gilliam. Horizontal launch protocol 3, please.''
''Ether engines at 60 percent power.'' Gilliam said. ''Newton Drive online. All systems green. Ether engines at 100 percent power. Launching.''
The ship lifted off, and Xy manually drove it carefully out of the cave and into open space.
On the Outlaw Star...
''Gilliam, attach a tracer to the Sojourner. Gene said. Gilliam shot out the tracer, which attached to the bottom of one of the Sojourner's wings. ''Jim, how far are we from the nearest planet?''
Jim typed information into his computer and looked up. ''Kryptoban 2 is approximately 3 million kilometers from here.'' he said. ''There's been recent Kei pirate attacks there. The latest was a week ago.''
''Well, we can handle some Kei pirate ships. Let's go.'' Gene said.
''Course set to Kryptoban 2.'' Melfina said.
14 hours later...
When the Outlaw Star entered the Kryptoban 2 space range, they saw the Sojourner enter not far from them. It passed a lone asteroid on the way to the planet.
When it did, things went wrong. Four Kei ships appeared from behind the asteroid, as if they had been waiting for the ship. They attacked immediately.
In the Sojourner...
''Warning. Four Kei ships have ambushed the ship.'' Gilliam 1.0 said.
Xy pressed a button, releasing the camera pods. ''Then let's see how good I am with these controls.'' he said. ''Open grappler arms and activate manual control.''
''Sir, there are four of them.'' Gilliam said, but it obeyed anyway.
Two mechanical arm sleeves came from the central control in front of Xy.
''I know that.'' Xy said, putting his arms in the sleeves. The grappler arms opened, one holding a sword and one empty-handed.
The first attack came from behind. Xy swung his sword arm and it connected with the Kei ship, causing it to explode.
He swiftly moved the ship around and latched his other arm onto another ship before it could swerve out of the way. The other two ships moved to either side, but Xy already had a plan in mind. He flung the ship he was holding in one hand at a ship, causing both to explode. The last ship was taken out by his sword.
''All ships have been destroyed.'' Gilliam said, with a note of visible surprise. ''You finished that quickly.''
''I've trained myself in adaptable strategy.'' Xy said.
On the Outlaw Star...
''He took out four Kei pirate ships in less than half a minute!'' Jim exclaimed.
''That's not possible.'' Gene said.
''Apparently it is.'' Suzuka said. Her previous hatred of Xy turned into a grudging respect.
''Transmission from the Sojourner.'' Jim suddenly said, straightening in his seat.
''Put it on screen.'' Gene said.
Xy's face appeared on the main screen. His expression was as blank and emotionless as always.
''I'm going straight to the point.'' he said. ''Why are you following me?''
Before Gene could answer, Xy's eyes and aura animus suddenly flashed green.
''I would like to get an explanation without your input.'' he said, though he didn't seem to be talking to Gene. He then turned back to face the crew. ''Well?'' he asked.
Gene shook his head to clear it and spoke. ''We weren't following you.'' he said. ''We were going to Kryptoban 2 as well.''
''Then how do you explain the tracer attached to the left wing of this ship?'' Xy asked. ''To a suspicious man, that would seem like you were following me.''
Xy's computer spoke up. ''The Outlaw Star is another XGP 56-A1 prototype. Perhaps Gene Starwind simply wished to keep a tab on me. It is only logical.''
''Gilliam, having the same technology is no reason for tracing me.'' Xy said.
''There are only two XGP 56-A1 ships left in existence. We are specially built from the pirate's brains and the space force's technology. It is a unique combination.'' Gilliam 2.0 said.
''If it's so unique, then how is it that the only other one was somehow the reason why I'm here in the first place? A whole universe, and it just happened to be the one who found the SDU?'' Xy asked. Both ships were silent. ''I thought so. Now, if you don't mind, Outlaw Star, I am deactivating your tracer and leaving. I have no affiliation with you, and have no wish to have one. And for the last time, I am not someone you want to remember. I'm just a person who wants to go home.''
With that, the transmission ended.
''He has some social issues.'' Aisha said, breaking the silence.
''Aisha, none of us know what it's like being trapped in the wrong universe. You might act the same way in that situation.'' Melfina said.
They watched as the Sojourner entered subether and disappeared.