Chapter 9: A mutual disagreement

Authors note: Thank you once again to Masume-Sama and Sharca for reviewing my last chapter! You guys rock! And as for those three minor errors that you identified Masume, I will be sorting them out ASAP. Anyway guys, here is chapter 9. Hope you all enjoy!

"ZETTAR!"

Zellah Zettar was stood, hanging over her defeated criminal foe, not moving an inch. Paralysis took over her body. She could not move. When the loud yell broke the already pensive atmosphere, she immediately released her grip, ever so slightly, on the pinned Shaelekean male. The police Chief cautiously turned her head, and what she saw was in fact what she had bargained for. There stood her new target. Big and bulging with rage. He stood there, his arms and legs held firm, like a pro wrestler would at the start of a wrestling match. His unnatural muscles were flexing in and out so much that you could see the bluish-pink blood flowing through his popping green veins. It was Zellious Glornack. The very same criminal scum that had not only tricked and escaped the justice of the Galactic Alliance, but also her own custody.

"Oh, you're in trouble now," a voice teased from below. Zellah's head swiftly turned in the direction of the voice and scowled down at the smirking Rocmour, who was trying his best to push against her force and pick himself up off of the sludgy surface.

"Shut up!" Was Zellah's only response, and after she said this, she used all of her remaining strength to push his head to the floor once again. However, this time, her foot did not merely shove him into the sludgy ground. Oh no! THIS TIME, it released itself as soon as it slammed the male's face into the floor. The force was that excessive, that it soon rendered the criminal unconscious. Zellah's face soon arose and locked itself onto the deadly raging alien who was roughly her size in height (not weight). Her facial features slowly adjusted themselves to a very low and direct scowl.

"At last, we meet again," Zellah found a stray hand fall on the side of her belt's holster and her eyes widened for a brief moment. No weapon? Oh, wait, she had briefly forgotten that the 'gracious' Captain Gantu had instructed her to leave her weapon on the small police shuttle, where their security crew were currently also situated. She had also, somehow, dropped the weapon she had deprived from Gantu whilst she had engaged in the conflict with Rocmour. So now, she was unarmed and only had her bodily strength to compliment her. And with Zellious Glornack standing before her, ready to fight, she would have a really serious challenge on her hands.

"Looking for this?" He questioned her almost mockingly. His tone a lot less hostile than before. Zellah's head shot up from her belt and surprise took her. There he was, standing before her, holding the yellow and red weapon. Gantu's blaster. He let it swing between his bulging fingers teasingly for a moment before he threw it at least 15 metres away. He did not throw it hard, just far enough to get it out of view. He could have thrown it into the bubbling lake of acid, but, much to Zellah's surprise and bewilderment, he chose not to. "No weapons!" He spoke again, his hostile tone returning once more with a pumped up mighty roar mixed in. "FACE ME, SHAELEK WENCH!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Chief Zettar clicked her fingers against each other rather eagerly and took to her own stance. She was preparing to take down Zellious Glornack himself, the old fashioned way. Hand-to-hand combat. Her speciality. "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, Gantu and Reuben were still rushing around the busy city in search of their missing crew member as well as the criminals she had darted off to pursue. They had headed in the direction Gantu had 'assumed' to be correct, though he himself was not entirely sure where he was going, nor where his new Chief of security had disappeared off to.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Reuben had seen it fit to enquire as he adjusted his position on his friend's shoulder. Gantu, the stubborn Shaelek that he was, refused to admit he did not.

"Why must you have so little faith in me, Reuben? He avoided Reuben's question by adding in his own. A good and successful tactic which (obviously would) put Reuben off guard and force him to change the subject.

"Oh, I don't know," he replied, his tone layered with both mischief and sarcasm. "Probably because all of your decisions today have gotten us nowhere," He then continued to speak, much to Gantu's annoyance, but for a change he wasn't insulting his best friend. Actually, he was complimenting someone else! The same someone of whom Gantu was growing to detest. "Zellah had the right idea. She obviously knows what she is doing!" Reuben then said something which would strike a nerve at the centre of Gantu's pride. "I just wish I had gone with her, instead of being stuck here in the middle of a rundown city, with you."

"Then maybe you should have!" Gantu bellowed rather dramatically as he stopped dead and pinched the tiny genetic mutation's shoulders tightly, dragging him rather harshly off of his own shoulder. "Since you clearly have a likeness for this new Chief."

Reuben tried to fight his tight grip, but Gantu was surprisingly fierce. He had seen a strange fire in his bright blue eyes which he had never noticed before in his life. Reuben's tight black eyes soon met with Gantu's fierce ones, and when he spoke, his tone sounded completely honest and truthful. "Well yeah, at least she isn't pretending to be something she is not!"

Gantu was left rather speechless at this. He usually was when Reuben said something which was actually true. Gantu did not wish to admit he was pretending to be better than Zellah, because he was too stubborn and hard-headed to do so. But deep down, he knew what his little friend was saying, was in fact true. At this point, he felt inferior to her. So much so, that he was doing everything in his power to make himself look bigger than he actually was. He had briefly seen Zellah Zettar's past professional record the night before, and it was, dare he say, absolutely flawless. She had perfect missions, skills, allies and professional traits and qualities which he himself did not posses. Who was he kidding! Reuben was right. His washed up career was all based on redeeming himself for his past failures. He still wondered what the Grand Councilwoman ever saw in him when she first accepted him into the Galactic Armada. He couldn't even take down a little Hawaiian Earth girl and her pet trog without getting beaten! And this made him feel even more miserable than before.

Just before Gantu could even think of a good response to retort back to his argumentative companion, something took away both of their attention spans and turned them onto something else more pressing. A loud cry suddenly pierced their surroundings. Gantu's head swiftly shot down as he and Reuben witnessed a peculiar looking alien rushing past them at an alarming pace. The alien almost gasped when he noticed Gantu standing there, and Gantu too let out a small surprised moan. That alien was the same one who Zellah was pursuing moments before... wasn't it? He hadn't gotten a good glimpse of either of the two criminals, since the events before the pursuit had happened so quickly, but he could tell what a Shaelek and a Olopian looked like when he saw them. And this very same seven eyed alien matched his photogenic memory of that previous convict perfectly.

"Sh-Shiiiiiiiii-!" The alien came to a crashing halt when he saw Gantu standing before him. All seven of his beady little eyes darted up at him through his life supporting helmet. And upon seeing Gantu, he almost looked like he had peed himself. "Not another one!"

Gantu immediately placed Reuben on his shoulder and towered over the smaller alien, half his height, menacingly. Both of his hands placed themselves firmly on his hips, just above his belt and his light blue eyes squinted quite a bit. The poor Olopian alien didn't know what to do. He had obviously managed to somehow escape Chief Zettar's custody, and had now found himself face to face with yet another Shaelekean law enforcer. This surely was not his day. The seven eyed alien began to back away slowly and tried his best to think of an escape route away from Gantu. However, Gantu was much taller than him, meaning that it was more difficult to see anything beyond the taller male standing before him. He desperately scoured behind him as he began walking backwards, not noticing Gantu finally stepping forward in pursuit.

"Look," Gantu began as his huge legs lunged forward one after the other. The Olopian alien's head suddenly shot back at Gantu and his head almost did a dance in the greenish liquid inside his life support suit. "We've all had a busy day, and my patience is wearing thin. Do as I say, and I won't beat the crap out of you."

"L-l-look," the Olopian alien stammered, still walking backwards "y-your girlfriend just took down my boss! I-I am innocent! I was f-forced to work for him!"

Gantu grumbled at the mere mention of the word 'girlfriend'. But he knew all too well who this guy meant. His apparent 'boss' was that other male Shaelek, and he had 'apparently' been taken down by Chief Zellah Zettar, aka his apparent 'girlfriend'. Gantu was beginning to see the pattern here. He continued to step forward, now picking up the pace and gaining on the poor criminal alien. The Olopian almost tripped over a rock, as he was not watching where he was going. Instead, his petrified eyes were fixed on Gantu, and Gantu alone. Suddenly, the poor seven eyed alien let out a little cry as Gantu grabbed his white and grey suit by the collar area and held him several feet off of the ground. The Captain scowled and moved his mouth to speak to the unfortunate criminal, who was now eye level with him.

"Where is Chief Zettar and your boss?" He questioned, his tone very low and impatient. On his shoulder, Reuben tugged Gantu's tusk in an attempt to try and persuade him to go easy on the criminal, but Gantu would not budge. He had finally figured it out. The best way to get information out of a criminal was by fear and torture. Was this something he was beginning to pick up from his new partner?

The seven eyed alien lifted a shaky arm and pointed it in the direction from where he had just come from. Gantu's eyes followed his arm and he grumbled as he saw nothing but an empty street before him. Before he could respond, yet another sound echoed in their surroundings. It sounded rather close. A few streets away as a matter of fact. Gantu's eyes swiftly shifted from the empty street, to the hazy dusty brownish sky then back to the criminal who was clutched tightly in his hands. The criminal stammered slightly as he spoke out once again.

"Y-You don't wanna go near her," he managed to say, his head then turning towards Reuben "she's crazy!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Gantu replied, a hint of confidence evident in his tone. He then proceeded to place the criminal back down on the floor, but kept one of his large hands bound to his suited wrists as he searched his belt for a wrist binder. "You're coming with us," he told him as he pulled the two gloved hands of the Olopian male before him in order to bind them together with the advanced alien handcuffs. "And if you try anything on... well, let's just say you won't shape up too well."

As soon as he had the convict in his own custody, Gantu rudely shoved him forward in front of him. The seven eyed alien gave him a small scowl before proceeding to lead the pair of Intergalactic law enforcers in the direction from where he had just came. The walk did not take too long. They had only made their way through three, grimy and vile, streets before the Olopian male suddenly halted as the sounds of physical exertion and pain became very clear. Gantu's brow arose and he shoved the poor criminal to the ground and bound him by his legs, preventing his escape. After he had done this, he turned the corner behind a large brown building and placed his hands on the stone outer structure. He and Reuben leant up against the structure and slowly took it upon themselves to peer over it. And when they did this, surprise and amazement took to their features almost instantly.

"FACE ME, SHAELEK WENCH!"

Gantu couldn't believe his eyes. There before him, was his new partner, Chief Zellah Zettar, in a war-like stance as she prepared to take down her adversary. He briefly took his time to take in his surroundings. Behind the commotion was a rather large lake, bubbling with green and yellow noxious acid fumes and bubbles. No wonder the stench became rather unbearable as he had gotten closer to the scene. His eyes then followed the floor, just above the level of the vast sea of toxic waste. There, lying on the ground, head practically a metre deep in the sludgy surface, was another male Shaelek. The very same one who Gantu had briefly seen take off, before his partner took it upon herself to pursue him. The poor sucker was pretty lifeless and broken down to a pulp. He certainly was unconscious from what he had gathered, just by looking at him. Gantu's eyes then shot up in the direction of his new partner, and alarm bells rang in the back of his mind. What in Blitznak was she doing?! She wasn't planning on taking on Zellious Glornack alone was she?! It appeared so. How the hell was this going to go down? Not even he could take him down! And he had a crew of many security Officers to back him up. Yet, look how that all turned out. She would be eating the floor like that poor Shaelekean scum soon enough. Zellious Glornack certainly was a tough guy. And Gantu figured that if he couldn't take him down, no one else could.

"I thought you'd never ask... let's go!"

She was smirking! She was actually smirking! Gantu's mind had never been so blown out of the atmosphere in his life. He knew his species liked to fight. He himself never took down a challenge unless he knew the odds were entirely against him (like now for instance), but it seemed that Chief Zettar was crossing the line. Was this all a game to her? Did she seriously think she could take on a guy almost three times her size in muscle mass and win? That guy in the interrogation was one thing. He was too warped in his sexual fantasies to pose a real threat to anyone. But with Zellious Glornack, that was not the case. Upon his original arrest on Yuluh, Gantu and his 20 security Officers were all made aware of how dangerous this criminal was. It took the combined power of 22 Grade 'C' plasma blasters to render him unconscious. So in this case, weapons were useless. They had only one blaster between them, and that blaster's location was unknown to him at this present moment, due to Zellah depriving it from his possession. Gantu mentally screamed at himself. Not for standing there like a simpleton and not doing a thing to help her, but rather for thinking he was able to trust her. Yet again, he had let his personal opinions get in the way of his professional judgement. He certainly needed to improve on that. But what Rozcor had warned him of was now coming back to haunt him. And Blitznak, was he paying for it now.

His thoughts were suddenly intervened when the steroid-pumped alien thug made his move. He let out what sounded like a deep roar before charging forward to tackle the female Shaelekean law enforcer. Her expression was low and deadly, and she avoided the tackle with ease. She soon returned his tackle and punched him several times in the stomach, forcing him to fly backwards slightly. He paused for a brief moment and cracked his neck from side to side tauntingly as he began to circle her, cautiously plotting his next move.

"You've got balls, for even showing your face here, Zettar!" He growled harshly, cracking his knuckles as he flexed them repeatedly "but it will be your undoing!"

"Pffffft, don't make me laugh, Glornack. Your partners are all but gone or taken down, and you're all out of options but to surrender to me!" Zellah taunted, not even trying to restrain her laughter. She too now began to circle him slyly. Meanwhile Gantu couldn't help but just stand there and watch the whole thing before him. 'Is she begging for a death wish?' He mentally questioned himself. 'Because that is what she is gonna get if she doesn't back down right now!'

"I'll burn in the fiery blasts of the Belthesur Quasar before I surrender to a Shaelekean wench!" He spat, his tone very defiant to her confident response. She merely shrugged and a small smirk reappeared briefly on her features.

"I figured as much," she then clenched a fist together tightly "suit yourself."

She suddenly, without warning, lunged forward and punched and kicked her foe with as much force as she could physically muster. Glornack took it as if it were in his nature. Something unfortunate for Zellah. Gantu of course, was not surprised at this in the slightest. He had encountered this guy twice before, and he could take a beating like a strong metallic, and laser-proof, space ship could. He didn't know whether to feel sorry for the poor female or inwardly cheer that he had in fact turned out to be right. He couldn't deny that he felt rather smug about all of this. It would certainly teach her to defy his commands the way she did. Perhaps this would be a wakeup call. Don't mess with the Captain of the Galactic Alliance, or else you suffer the consequences!

Reuben had noticed Gantu's smug reaction to this whole affair, and he was somewhat disgusted with it. Gantu merely stood there while his new partner was trying to take on a guy three times her strength singlehandedly. Reuben shook his head and a small frown appeared on his yellow features. He took it upon himself to tug Gantu's tusk again, this time actually gaining his attention.

"Aren't you gonna do something?" He asked his taller companion rather expectantly. Gantu merely smirked and shook his head as he crossed his arms and turned back to survey the scene before him.

"No Reuben," he merely noted, chuckling ever so slightly. "It's time our new Chief of security learned the error of her ways. She thinks she can take him on by herself. I say, let her do it!"

And she would do just that. The punching and kicking would only be the beginning of what was yet to come. Though Glornack's reaction time was surprisingly quick. With another extension of her fist, Zellah suddenly felt Glornack grasp onto it tightly. Her purple eyes suddenly widened in alarm as she tried to pull away from his tight grip. He grinned mischievously as he held his green scaly hand tightly against her smooth grey fist. He took in his victorious apparel for several moments before completing his next course of action. Suddenly he made his move in the form of elbowing her in the face with his free arm, before punching her directly in the face twice with the exact same fist that belonged to his free arm. The first punch was aimed in between her eyes, and she felt it, but nothing drastic happened. With the next punch however, it was a completely different story. His force was that excessive with the second punch, that Zellah was literally force-shoved onto the floor. Her uniform was now covered in grime and sludge from the surface she had just made contact with. It took her several moments to regain her posture and shoot up at an excessive rate. She too now cracked her neck from side to side and a small but angry groan escaped her lips. Her teeth clenched together as she prepared herself to try and take him down yet again, this time, she had a lot more motivation to do so. For when you angered this particular female Shaelek, you would inevitably pay the consequences in full.

"You hit like a girl," she mocked him, her tone riddled with sarcasm and a hint of pain. Obviously it hurt. Actually, his punches hurt a lot! But she was not willing to admit that, especially in front of her foe. Nor would she like to admit it in front of Gantu, but since she was not aware of his current presence, that particular thought had never crossed her mind.

She now charged, side first, into her aggressor, slamming her body up against his with a huge amount of force. He stammered back slightly, obviously taking the shock of the force in small doses. Zellah then punched her way through Glornack's ripped brown shirt and continuously hit him, this time leaving marks with the power of her fist. He now struggled to gain his strength to fight back. Unlike before, Zellah had merely taunted him with small punches which he could barely feel, but now she was hitting him so hard, he could actually feel the numbness of pain as her fist slammed into his puffy and scaly skin. Zellious Glornack shook his head momentarily as she stopped punching him for a mere split second. Unfortunately for him, he now felt pain all over his chest and abdomen area. It was excruciating! He was surprised how hard that female could actually pack a punch. But he had encountered her before, so he knew this all too well. He keeled over in pain and a low whine escaped his lips as a single hand caressed his stomach lining through his torn shirt. Though, while he did this, he did not see her next move. Glornack did not notice the swinging foot raising in the air to make contact with his face, but he sure as hell felt it! Zellah used her large foot to literally drop kick him to the ground with a single foot slam. Now that was something which hurt him a lot more than being punched in the stomach. His face collided with the ground, just as his friend Rocmour had moments ago. He had actually noticed a slight blur, representing an unconscious Shaelek lying only a few metres next to him. Glornack grumbled and caressed his face with a single hand. But Zellah was not finished with him yet. Oh no. She was just getting started.

"Giving up yet?" Zellah towered over his body and grabbed the back of his head before force-slamming it into the ground once again. Today seemed like a 'shove people's heads into the ground' kind of day for her, since she was doing it rather a lot.

Glornack did not respond in words. He took moments to regain his vision after having his face covered in filthy grime and sludge. He grunted as he wiped his face down with his hand and two of his 4 eyes gazed up, rather venomously, in Zellah's direction. She smirked at him in dominance. Determination practically glowing in her features. Did she actually think herself superior to him? If so, he would have to change that. Rather than replying to her in words, he did what he did best. Displaying his message through physical force. Zellah was about to get a taste of her own medicine through the element of surprise. Before she could react, Glornack tightly clenched his hand into a fist and whacked his arm right into Zellah's leg. The force was that strong and excessive that Zellah actually lost her balance and fell backwards onto the floor. Glornack took this opportunity to get up and perform a counter attack on her. However, Zellah had a quick reaction time too. She swiftly got up not long after being forced to the ground and this time, she held her arms out and began to tackle the brutish alien by pushing against him.

"You should have stayed on Shaelekar!" He growled, starting to feel her force push him backwards. He tried with all of his might to meet her strength and exceed it, but for some reason, he could not match it. But, he would refuse defeat. Especially to the likes of her.

"Now, where's the fun in that?" She smirked, then ramming her face into his own to put him off his guard. Yet again, he stammered backwards, now clenching his nose as it began to bleed. Zellah's attentions soon fell upon the area behind her assailant. He was inching closer and closer to the acid pit on the edge of the port. A small determined glow then began to emerge in her vibrant purple eyes and a smug smirk appeared on her features. She now had a plan, and it would prove to be an advantage for her.

"BITCH, I WILL KILL YOU!" He snapped his arms now flailing forward full in rage as the bluish-pink liquid, representing his blood, spewed out of his nose at an alarming rate. Zellah's reaction time, yet again, proved to be her strong point. She grabbed his bulky muscular arm before it could collide with her face. And with this, she merely used her free hand to wave a finger scolding, yet mockingly, in front of his eyes.

"Tut, tut, tut," she smirked, shaking her head slightly "I think it's time to teach you some manners."

Swiftly using the same free arm, she clenched her three fingers into a single fist and punched him in the face before proceeding to use the same arm to elbow him in the eyes. When she did this, she immediately let go of his other arm and watched as he lost his balance and fell to his apparent 'demise' in the pool of toxic waste. He yelled as he fell in, a huge splash soon followed. As the bubbling acid began to settle, he struggled to keep his head on the surface. Everyone present was now watching as he was drowning to his 'death' in a pool of corrosive acid which was probably burning him alive.

Gantu was now, literally, at a loss for words. As was Reuben. Had they both just witnessed her kill a guy in cold blood?! There was no way in hell anyone could survive falling into a pool of corrosive and toxic acid! She was officially off the top of her head! Gantu couldn't even begin to comprehend what had just happened. He knew she was capable of hurting people, A LOT. Heck, Rozcor told him that she had even put a guy into a coma. But never before had he even contemplated the idea of her committing cold blooded murder! How the fuck was he going to explain this to the Galactic Council?! "Oh, sorry about this, but Chief Zellah Zettar, you know, the female you insisted I have as a partner, just killed Zellious Glornack in cold blood. Hope you don't mind..." Yeah... it would not go down well at all. Actually, no, it would go down worse than anything in this history of his whole career! To even be associated with someone like this female Shaelek brought a sickening feeling to Gantu's stomach. How dare she even consider herself a decent alien life form! She was no better than the criminals they were trying to take down!

Gantu's mental rage was certainly short lived, when he decided to take swift and immediate action and ask his new partner what the hell she thought she was doing. Zellah seemed surprisingly cool about all of it. She merely brushed her hands together and smirked as she watched the bubbles in the acid become less and less frequent. Gantu literally went to storm out from behind the wall structure and give her a piece of his mind. At least, that was what would have happened if not for a sudden turn of events.

Gantu stopped and peered down unexpectedly as he accidentally kicked something with his foot. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed his blaster lying discarded on the floor next to him. He immediately bent down to pick it up before Zellah could get her dirty fingers on it once again. As he knelt down to retrieve his blaster, Gantu paused and looked up in the direction of the lake of acid. He heard what sounded to be like... bubbles? His eyes squinted slightly as he focussed his peripheral vision on the particular area where Zellious Glornack had fallen in, not moments before. He was not just hearing things! There was in fact bubbles coming out of the acid. Ever quickening in rate and volume. Gantu slowly arose and then focussed his eyes on Zellah, she was expectantly awaiting for something to happen. A sudden strange thought then appeared in the space Captain's mind. What if she knew that the corrosive acid would not kill Glornack, rather just slow him down? Sure, the laws of science would usually defy any such question, since practically most creatures in the cosmos were vulnerable to strong acids and noxious chemicals. However, Glornack had been taking steroids which had mutated his body into some freak of nature, which had also strengthened his scaly skin. So, what if Zellah knew that he could survive such a harsh environment? Gantu did not have to wait long to have his answer. He stepped back slightly as the bubbles began to rapidly increase before a figure then emerged from the pool of toxic waste.

"GARRRRRRRRRRRRH!" A mighty roar echoed throughout the area. Gantu's eyes widened in horror as he saw Zellious Glornack emerge, rather unscathed, from the acid as he let out a humungous roar of rage and hatred. Zellah stepped back almost instantly and prepared herself once again to fight him. However, in no ways possible could she prepare herself for what was about to happen. Zellious Glornack had somehow survived something very few creatures could, but this did not mean he couldn't feel the acid begin to corrode with his hard plated skin. As soon as he found himself standing, unharmed, in the pool of green bubbling acid, his eyes immediately locked onto Zellah. He stormed out of the toxic waste pit quicker than he had entered it, and he instantly went straight for Zellah. She tried her best to take the impact of the force. However, he was now stronger than ever and took her down with ease. Now crouched on top of her, trying his best to punch her to death, Zellious Glornack's deathly scowl now turned to a deadly and twisted smirk. Zellah pushed against him, the occasional struggling groan escaping her lips. Her eyes widened as she almost had close encounters with the stray droplets of acid which fell from the face of her adversary to the ground next to her. Chief Zettar's face briefly turned to the side as she noticed a single droplet of acid run off the side of a single armoured scaly skin plate and fall to the ground, inches away from her curved right tusk. It literally burnt itself into the surface it touched. Zellah couldn't help but mentally scream at this. That piece of ground could have been her! And to be burnt to death by acid was not a way she planned on going.

For the first time throughout this entire fight, Chief Zellah Zettar now had no plan of action. She was left to her own defences but could not move at all! Instead, she was at the hands of a psychotic thug who she had just majorly pissed off by pushing him into a lake of corrosive and deadly acid. She knew it wouldn't hurt him, but she could never imagine that it would actually make him stronger!

Meanwhile, Gantu noticed her struggles. She looked, dare he say, rather helpless as she tried, but failed, to push the large brute off of her. He continuously punched her face and shoved the back of her head into the sludgy surface as she grunted and made sounds of a struggle. This was the point where Gantu knew he would be needed. Chief Zellah Zettar had played her part in this, and now she was useless. Only a miracle would save her from being beaten to death, and it looked like Gantu was that miracle.

The Galactic space Captain soon found himself gazing at his weapon he had just been reunited with. Making sure that it was not tampered with in any way by his new partner and that it still had enough plasma left in it to shoot. Gantu's head then turned back to where Zellah and Glornack were situated. He placed his arms in front of him and clutched his weapon with both hands as he prepared to fire. He knew shooting at Zellious Glornack would prove to be pointless. Especially since his weapon was nowhere near as powerful as the ones the criminals possessed. However, if he could catch the brute off guard for a moment, then perhaps he and Zellah would stand a good chance at taking him down for good!

A single plasma blast shot out of Gantu's blaster and collided with the back of Zellious Glornack's neck. He immediately stopped what he was doing and his head slowly turned around to face the person who had dared interrupt his takedown. His four eyes then formed into a deathly glare and his tensions on Zellah seized ever-so-slightly. "YOU!" He bellowed in the direction of Gantu. Obviously instantly recognizing him from their recent encounter. Gantu stood there, still pointing his blaster at the deadly convict not moving a muscle. He too was scowling, but he wasn't just scowling because of Glornack. Oh no. He had many things to scowl about now, thanks to his new partner.

Zellah took the opportunity Gantu had given her and swiftly released herself from Glornack's tight grip. The brutish criminal now had a slower reaction time, which proved in vain for him. Now, he found his head being grasped onto by the female Shaelekean law enforcer and soon found himself being shoved, face first (yet again) into the ground. This time however, he found himself in the exact same situation as Rocmour did. He was knocked out! She slammed his face that hard that the blood from his nose squirted out and flew in the air briefly, like a water fountain, before it splattered on the ground in a small puddle. The poor brute was now lying right next to his partner in crime, both unconscious and spragged out lifelessly on the messy (and disturbed) surface. Zellah finally took her chance to pick herself fully off of the ground. She let out a huge sigh and shook her head as she inhaled a big breath of air and let her arms casually fall to their sides. She surveyed the area briefly. They had indeed made quite a mess of the ground amidst their struggle, but then again, who would care? They were on Meltrok for goodness sake! A planet where no one gave a damn about anything! Zellah then scowled once again as she looked down at Glornack and kicked the lifeless thug with quite a bit of force. He deserved that! She would remain scowling at him for several more moments before she would decide to then grab her communicator and finally make contact with her new crew. This mission was now officially over, and it was time for the arresting part of the job. Boy, oh boy, did she have a busy day just taking them guys down.

"Chief Zettar to security," she spoke professionally as she held the communicator close to her mouth "come in security."

Gantu meanwhile stood there, his mouth agape as he listened for the response from the security crew on the other end of the line. He was standing a couple of metres away from his new Chief of security. His mind was still trying to fathom out what had just happened. He didn't know how to think, feel, or react to it. Never before had he experienced a mission like this! And this was his first mission with her! What was going to happen next? Were they going to be taking on a group of 50 aliens with advanced high tech, not to mention radioactive, weapons? 50 to 2. A great number of odds! Not...

"This is the security crew on board the Red Star Battle Cruiser, receiving you loud and clear Chief Zettar. Over," the voice came through the receiving end rather clearly. Zellah smiled and gazed down at the two beaten convicts she had just successfully taken down, rather boldly.

"Convicts captured and taken down, contact the main ship and have an external transportation shuttle brought down here. We have a Shaelek and a Jurtheron down here, and our shuttle will not hold them both."

"Will do, Chief Zettar," the voice responded finally before pausing a moment. Zellah waited several seconds before the voice came through again. "An additional shuttle has been requested and will be with you momentarily. I am sending your coordinates now. We will meet you at your current location in five minutes."

"Right. Over and out," she finally replied before turning off her communicator to put it back in her pocket. Zellah surveyed her work once more, not even noticing a certain figure step forward to confront her.

"What, the hell, was that?!"

Her eyes shot up and instantly found themselves halting in the direction of her superior Officer. She took it upon herself to briefly study Gantu's facial features before responding to his, rather rough sounding, question. He looked mad. Actually, mad was one of the many words she could use to describe him. Gantu literally stormed up to her rather arrogantly, demanding her to answer his question. She inwardly scoffed at this. Who the fuck did he think he was? The Grand Council leader of the Galactic Empire?! Pfffft, he could hardly keep his own job in check! Yet, he acted like he was the toughest guy in the whole Galaxy. Darn it. She was right all along! He did in fact have an ego the size of the Whirlpool Galaxy! Zellah turned to face him and simply placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly. She decided to play a little game with him, obviously wanting to toy with her new commanding Officer.

"You're welcome," she simply stated. Gantu's face suddenly dropped in both surprise and rage. Obviously her toying was working like a charm.

"You disobeyed my orders!" Gantu bellowed rather loudly, now looking Zellah right in the eyes. Their faces were inches apart. He looked very pissed off, while she took a more calm and collective approach to the whole situation. Meanwhile, on the ground below, Reuben stood in between the pair, his head shot straight up with his eyes locked in the direction of their faces. He knew that this was about to turn ugly, very quickly. Yet he noticed how Zellah acted around Gantu. She was one of the few who did not cower in fear at his temperamental side. Reuben also did not fear him, since he knew that Gantu was not capable of harming his best friend. Zellah however, was pushing his buttons to the limit. She was pushing buttons that Reuben didn't even know existed! Never before had Reuben seen Gantu this angry at another crew member, until now. This was their first mission and already he knew that Gantu and Zellah would be a great partnership (obviously in a sarcastic sense). He hoped that they would be able to cooperate enough to catch the bad guys together, providing that they wouldn't be at each other's throats of course. Just like they were at this present moment in time.

"It was a necessary manoeuvre, to assure the success of our mission," Zellah explained, her tone remaining calm and professional throughout. She crossed her arms and stared blankly at Gantu as he began to flail his arms about frantically.

"YOU almost cost us our mission!" Gantu scoured the area quickly and pointed down at the two convicts who she had just knocked out. "If it wasn't for you acting like a gung-ho vigilante, we could have arrested them without resorting to violence. But no, you had to run off and take things into your own hands!" He then glared directly into her purple eyes. She too was now starting to get rather frustrated with his ranting. "Just what in Blitznak were you thinking?!"

"I don't have to justify my actions to you!" She responded, her tone rather defiant. She turned her head away and a frustrated frown slowly made its way onto her features. Gantu stepped back slightly and now also crossed his arms. He grumbled and shook his head rapidly in fury.

"I am your commanding Officer!" He fumed, his arms now falling to his sides and his hands clenching tightly into fists. Reuben now began to become more on alert. He decided it was best that he stepped back from the pair of arguing Shaeleks. For if they were to start brawling, he would be inevitably caught in the crossfire.

"Wrong!" She now clenched her fists tightly. Before she continued, she turned back to him and looked him dead in the eyes. Her scowling becoming a lot more deadly. "I may be in your service, but I don't technically work for you! I work for the Shaelekar police force! I am Chief of security, and of a higher stature than most of the other Officers in both your Galactic Alliance, and half of the other planetary police forces in my quadrant. You, Captain Gantu, do not pose any authority over me! The only reason I am here is because it is official policy for a Chief of security to work in another Interplanetary police force for a temporary time before advancing to the rank of Chief Commander or Commander. And as it so happens, I came under the misfortune of working for the Galactic Federation!"

"That gives you no right to-!"

"It gives me every right!" She roared practically cutting him off in mid sentence. He had found her melting point. Her calm and collective nature was now long gone out of the window. Not only had she pushed him to the limits, but he too was now returning the favour.

Reuben jumped back, almost in horror, as Zellah and Gantu stood metres away shouting their heads off. He peered around to see if the rest of the security crew were nearby, he hoped to Blitznak they were! He did not like the way these two were arguing. He could have described them as an old 'married couple' but that really wouldn't fit the description at all. Not for the likes of the Shaelekean population! Unless this was how folk argued on that planet. And at this point in time, it wouldn't surprise him at all if they did. His hopeful eyes dropped when he noticed that he, Zellah, Gantu and the unconscious criminals were the only ones at the scene. Reuben debated on whether or not he should try and intervene in this battle between the two Shaelekeans. He pointed his arm up and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He tried again... still nothing. For the third and final attempt he made at this, he finally spoke. His voice very weak and petty when compared to their bellowing.

"Ummm, guys?" He questioned. Both ignored him and continued to go about their ranting as if he did not exist. Reuben's hand drooped down and he merely shut his mouth quicker than he had opened it. He saw it pointless to try and pursue the matter further. Instead, he would let them war it out. At least it would be entertaining, right?

"I mean, let's face it!" Zellah continued, her tone now rather amused with a couple of chuckles arising in her throat from time to time. "It's because of your incompetence, that I am now a part of your crew!" Gantu's mouth widened and his eyes squinted even more. "Because of your incompetence." She sounded just like Hämsterviel when she said that. "If you hadn't let Zellious Glornack escape from your custody in the first place, we wouldn't even be standing here! I would not have had to be dragged away from my job and brought down to your level," she now pointed her finger directly into Gantu's muscular chest. She prodded him several times as she emphasized her points to him. "You, Captain Gantu, are the one who's at fault here. Not I! I am doing my job the way I was trained to do it. I don't waste time, I do what is necessary, and I do it to a high level of expectancy. Meanwhile, you just stand aside and waste time and don't do your job with any credibility what-so-ever! Yet you wonder why you were ridiculed when you were retired from the Galactic Alliance? Please... This whole partnership is a farce! The Grand Council saw you too incompetent to do your job, so they brought someone in to keep you in check. And that would be me. So, to conclude on all of this. We were partnered up because you needed me. Not the other way around!"

Gantu held his breath for a moment. He almost lost his nerve when she spoke to him like that. How dare she! HOW DARE SHE! Was this what she really thought about him?! All of that talk on Shaelekar with her being pleasant, all just an act? It appeared so. He had to literally bite his tongue to make sure that he did not do anything rash or something he would later regret. If he were talking to a male Shaelek, he would probably be sucker-punched to the floor right now and shown some authority. But Gantu knew he was speaking to a female, therefore he had to respect her. Oh, he knew she could take it. Heck, she was more than willing to fight anyone who came into contact with her, as he had found out through the course of the day. But male Shaeleks NEVER touched a female with any physical violence. Unless they were the scumbags who tried to abuse or provoke them that is. But Gantu certainly did not put himself down to their level with that kind of riff-raff. They were all criminals who were usually locked up for doing it. There were laws on Shaelekar which made it illegal for the females to be touched or hurt by any male. Therefore, Gantu would have to hold back with the violence. But he could not help himself when it came to thinking about it. Never before had anyone of any species or gender spoken to him as she just did! Not even Hämsterviel! Though, he came the closest to matching her on that front. She had insulted him in every possible way. Not only did she think herself superior to him in authority, but she also thought him too incompetent to be Captain of the Galactic Alliance! All of his inward fears of not being good enough were now returning to him once more. She had struck more than one nerve within him. And he now felt even more threatened and intimidated by her.

"NOW SEE HERE!" Gantu now poked his finger forward, trying to retort back to her accusations. But unfortunately, her words had struck his inner core. Therefore he was in no position to fight back as much as she was willing to.

"NO! YOU SEE HERE!" She bellowed back, cutting his line of speech off again. Zellah then stormed away from him and marched her way over to the unconscious Zellious Glornack. She stopped and bent down to drag the criminal off of the floor and bring him closer to Gantu. Surprisingly, when considering how much he weighed, she could drag him with ease. She grasped onto the criminal's collar and dragged him over in the direction of her commanding Officer. Gantu watched her do this and then suddenly felt a huge amount of pain in his abdomen area. "HERE!" She literally shoved the body of Glornack into Gantu as she let him go and forced him into the Captain rudely. "Since you want to do things your way, take him! Do whatever you want with him! He, and the other bums are all yours, 'Captain'." She then did a very rude and fake salute before she roughly shoved past Gantu and headed in the opposite direction. "I am out of here! I'll let you handle the arrests yourself. Since you think yourself capable of it. I'll be back at the ship!"

They watched her leave. Vibrations rattled through the surface as the fuming female stormed her way through the sludgy area to turn the corner and disappear from their sights. From below, Reuben's eyes were practically popping out of his skull. 'Wow!' He thought 'Just... wow!' Shock was an understatement to describe his current state of mind. Never before in his life had he watched someone verbally take down Gantu and strip away his self-confidence until he was left with nothing. Not even he could do that! Not that he wanted to of course. Reuben had limits with how far he pushed Gantu. He knew that if he went over the edge, Gantu would probably do something reckless. However, this did not stop Zellah. She spoke more than just her mind. She had such an attitude with regarding Gantu. What he had overheard between her and that Major Jaarl on the police port was only a tiny proportion of how she 'truly' felt about him. He mentally cringed at the very thought of how these two would work together in the near future. She was right! This partnership was a mistake. He knew that Gantu and Zellah would not get on at all. They were Shaeleks for goodness sake! The most stubborn and hard-headed species in the whole Galaxy! Neither of them would apologise for this. And through that, their appearances together would be forced and awkward. Yet all through this, Reuben could not bring himself to hate her like Gantu currently did. Yes, he knew that she had crossed the line with some of the stuff she said, but she was only speaking her mind. Gantu had pushed her to that. And for some strange, and rather unexplainable, reason... Reuben liked her for it.

Reuben's mouth opened wider than it did when he ate a whole stack of sandwiches. He did not say a word, but Gantu, as he usually did, immediately jumped on the overreacting bandwagon. He swiftly shot his head down to his smaller companion and his raging face glared a Supernova at his poor Galley Officer.

"DON'T YOU SAY A DAMN WORD!"

Reuben jumped back in terror and shrugged his shoulders profusely "I-I didn't say anything!" In response to this, Gantu merely pushed Zellious Glornack to the floor and began storming off himself. Reuben took off his hat and wiped his forehead as he let out a small gasp of breath. Gantu stormed off just like Zellah did, but instead of turning left like his Chief of security, he turned right. Reuben was now left rather confused as to what he should do, but he didn't ponder on this for long. Moments after Gantu had departed from the area hastily, several security crew members ran into the scene, uniform and headgear on and guns blazing. Then ran up to Reuben hastily before halting and surveying the area before them.

"Where is Chief Zettar and Captain Gantu?" One of them enquired as he and another guard behind him pressed the buttons to get rid of the visor on their helmets in order to show their faces. Reuben merely shook his head and placed his hat back on as he too began to walk away. He patted the questioning security Officer's leg casually as he let out a big sigh and decided it best to leave the scene and head back to the ship. Not necessarily to join Zellah, but to get away from the area and the stench of the toxic waste.

"You really don't wanna know," he commented as he left the scene slowly. The security Officers looked at each other in confusion but did not bother to make any further comments. Instead, they decided it best to get on with their arrests. The many lizard-like security crew began to bound Zellious Glornack and Rocmour and prepare them for transportation. None of them aware of the argument which had just taken place between their two superior Officers.

Authors note: Oooooooh snap! Don't get on her bad side, or you will end up like both Glornack and Gantu combined! Well guys, that's it! Their first argument. It can only get better from here right? For Reuben's sake, let's hope so! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am really happy with how Gantu and Zellah's argument turned out. I've been wording it in my head for weeks and finally it turned out just as I had hoped! Please feel free to tell me your thoughts about this chapter in a review. Feedback is always appreciated. Thank you guys for taking the time to read this, and I will update very soon!