A/N: This story takes place 2 months after the series ends. Hope you enjoy!

        It was a typical day at Starwind and Hawking. Everyone was utterly broke, not to mention bored. Gene was in the main room reading the comics at the table with his feet propped up on it. Jim was running around to make random repairs to random appliances, Melfina was in the kitchen reading through a new cook book, Aisha was in the main room with Gene and had her eyes glued to the television set, and Suzuka was nowhere to be found.

"I'm bored," said the Ctarl

"Then go out and find a job to do," shouted the irritated outlaw.

Aisha cracked a smile, "I should say the same about you, Gene."

Gene sneered in reply, "Shut up, Aisha!"

       The day promised to be quite uneventful. No jobs, no money, no fun. After that final battle with Hazanko, the ship needed lots of repairs and the amount of money they currently had just wouldn't cut it. Jim walked into the main room to see that Gene and Aisha were at it again. Jim sighed and shook his head at the fact that he was the most mature person in the room. Ignoring the argument, he walked by to pick up a tool from the table where Gene sat.

      Gene grabbed Jim's hand and peeked away from his comics, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, Jim. What are you up to?"

Jim's eyes narrowed in annoyance, "Working. Ever heard of it?"

     Gene sighed, "C'mon, Jim. We've been through this before. When the right job comes along, we'll be back in business. Right now, all we get is chump change calls."

     Jim shouted while frantically waving his arms around, "Chump change jobs add up, Gene! You mean to tell me that you've been turning down jobs all this time?!"

Gene sighed, "Calm down, Jim! It's not like we're starving derelicts here."

Jim shook his head, "If this keeps up, we'll be HOMELESS!"

Aisha suddenly shouted, "STOP YELLING, ALREADY! I'm watching the soaps..."

Gene turned around to the Ctarl, "I thought I told you to shut up?!

Aisha sneered at his remark and rolled up her sleeves, "You wanna take this outside?!"

Gene nodded, "Gladly!"

Gene and Aisha both walked to the door. Gene opened up the door and looked to Aisha. "You, first. Animal."

Aisha growled, "Who are you calling an animal?! Just wait until we get outside, I'm gonna pound you into a bloody pulp, Gene!"

Gene smirked, "We'll see. After you...."

Aisha marched outside and looked back at Gene, "C'mon out and fight!"

    Gene grinned, "Nah. Changed my mind." Gene slammed the door in her face and locked it. Aisha's eyes widened, then she growled with clenched fists. She started to scream in frustration and frantically bang on the door, "WILM-, GENE STARWIND!"

   The red haired outlaw sighed as he walked back to the main room to see his partner looking at him as of he were the strangest looking specimen on this side of Heifong.

"What?"

Jim sighed, "Was all that really necessary, Gene?"

Gene grinned, "Well, it killed 10 minutes."

Jim slapped his forehead and groaned.
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     Meanwhile, Melfina was in the kitchen, baking a cake. She never tried it before and decided it was worth a shot. Reading over the directions carefully, she mixed the batter in a large bowl. She picked it up to carry it over to the oven, but suddenly a strange feeling of weakness washed over her body, causing her to fall to her knees and drop the ceramic bowl shattering it to pieces. The shards of what used to be a bowl were all over the floor, along with a puddle of batter. Melfina was on her knees from the fall she had, in shock. She could here a voice in her head. It was the voice of a broken spirit. Someone in need.

"Melfina...come back. I need you....please come back to me....."

     Melfina felt as if she were paralyzed for a minute. Just as she tried to pick herself up, Jim and Gene came running into the kitchen.

They both exclaimed in unison, "Are you okay?!"

Melfina cracked a fake smile, "Yes, I'm fine. I just lost my balance for a minute. Clumsy me."

   Jim and Gene both looked at Melfina strangely, then looked to one another. The both knew that she was hiding something, but no one said anything about the doubt they had.

"Don't scare me like that, Mel. I thought you might have been seriously hurt," said Gene.

"Yeah," added Jim, "We were really worried about you."

Melfina shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I'd better clean up this mess here."

    Melfina stood up and went to get the mop from the broom closet. As she went off, Jim and Gene looked at each other and had a nonverbal agreement that something was wrong with Melfina. Figuring out what was wrong wasn't going to be easy at all.
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     Suzuka was hanging out at an outlaw bar, searching for info about any jobs. Outlaws and bounty hunters usually talked about their business openly there, so this was a practical method to finding a job to do. As she began to eavesdrop from her usual table, she heard a voice call her.

"Never thought I'd ever bump into you again, Suzu."

      Suzuka narrowed her eyes and slowly turned around to get a good look at the poor fool who dared to call her by that name. Upon seeing his face, she gasped, then narrowed her eyes once more as she reached for her bokken. The man she faced stood at 6'1 and was a slender looking guy. He had short black hair and dressed in normal earth clothes. Blue jeans, black T-shirt and black boots. He also had black fingerless gloves and a black headband.

He chuckled as he shook his head, "Don't worry, Suzu. I'm not after you anymore. In fact, I quit being a pirate a long time ago."

     Suzuka maintained her defensive stance. She glared at him for a second, "Do not call me by that name, Shadowstrike." That was the only thing she said before coldly walking away from him. The guy shrugged and took a seat at the bar. He smirked as he looked back to watch Suzuka walk away from behind, but Twilight Suzuka was already completely gone from sight. He shrugged again and overheard two guys talking.

"You got that call, too?"

"Yeah, I guess they want all the bounty hunters they can get for that job. I know some other guys that got the same call."

"Yeah, since they're offering a million wong each, who's dumb enough to pass that up?"

Shadowstrike rubbed his chin as he eavesdropped on that conversation. He continued to listen for info on the location.
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      Meanwhile, at Starwind and Hawking, Jim let Aisha back inside and was convincing her to not start her "Beat the Crap Out of Gene Starwind" campaign. As this was going on, Gene decided to stay by Melfina's side to figure out the reason for her strange behavior. Melfina was fast asleep in Gene's bed after successfully baking that cake. He sat in a folding chair next to his bed, watching her closely. He didn't want to admit it, but he cared for her a lot more than he let on. He just really didn't want o say anything until he felt the time was right. Like Jim, he was worried about her. He also wondered why she was so secretive about whatever was going on.

     Gene noticed that Melfina was groaning uncomfortably as she slept. This was closely followed by slight tossing and turning. Gene moved in closer to comfort her. By this time, Melfina cried out as if in pain. Gene quickly shook her, "Mel! Mel, wake up!" Melfina sat up with a gasp and  tears in her eyes. She was sweating profusely as she breathed heavily. She then turned to her side to see Gene who was obviously trying to wake her. She was actually surprised that he was there at that moment.

"Gene...? I...I..."

"Just had a bad dream," Gene finished. Gene played back what he said in his head, then his logical thinking came into play. "Wait a minute, Mel. I thought you couldn't dream."

     Melfina looked down and away from Gene as a tear ran down he cheek, "I thought I couldn't either. But, from what just happened, I don't like dreaming. Is it always this bad when you dream?"

Gene shook his head, "Nah, you just had a bad experience. But, you can tell me all about your dream. I wanna hear."

Melfina nodded, still a bit shaken up, "Okay. It started like this...."

*Flashback*

     Melfina opened up her eyes to see that she was in a large room, decorated with red carpet. There were paintings all over the walls and a statue of someone she didn't recognize, on the far side of the room. She then noticed that her hands were tied up above her head and that she was completely nude. Then, she noticed that and audience of people were staring at her with smiles of amusement on their faces. She looked all around and saw that these people were wearing strange, revealing, and naughty leather clothes.

     Melfina was completely frightened. She didn't know what to expect. Suddenly, she felt a hand cup one of her breasts and fondle it. Melfina sobbed, "Please, don't..." But, the person obviously didn't care about Melfina's request. Before she knew it, both of her breasts were being fondled gently from behind by a faceless stranger.

"You belong to us now, maiden. Since you don't wish to cooperate, then we'll take away you dignity and virginity as well..."

Melfina shrieked, "Stop it! Leave me alone!"

The voice continued, "Stop? You may say that, but...."

     Melfina felt one of the hands leave her breast and slid down her side, to her outer thigh. She gasped softly at this new feeling. He body was trembling from cold, embarrassment and fright. She started to sweat as she felt the hand move to her inner thigh and move higher and higher until...

  "Well, well. It looks like I hit the jackpot." The stranger's tongue lapped around Melfina's neck as a tear came from her eye. Melfina didn't like this one bit. She wondered why this was happening. Suddenly, she felt two fingers penetrate her sex forcefully, causing her to scream out in agony.
 

*End Flashback*

     Gene's eyes were almost as big as plates. He wondered if she was sick or something. But, he thought it would be better to think that it was just a silly dream. "Don't worry, Mel. It was just a dream...." Gene didn't believe that at all. It was just strange that Melfina could never dream and all of the sudden, she dreams about being trapped in an S&M scene from Cool Devices. It just didn't add up at all.

Just then, Jim came into the room. He was extremely excited about something. "Hey, Gene! You'll never believe this!"

Gene turned around to his partner, "What is it, Jim?"

    Jim grinned, "We just got a job offer for one million wong! All we have to do is secure a section of a mansion. I got the coordinates and checked everything out before accepting and everything seemed on the level."

Gene smirked, "See? I told ya that big job would eventually come."

Jim groaned, "Yeah, it only took 10 months."

Gene shrugged, "That just goes the show that you can't rush a good thing."

Jim sweat dropped.
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There was a knock at the front door of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Aisha's ears wiggled as they picked up the sound and she immediately got up to answer it. She opened the door and who else, but Twilight Suzuka stood there at the door.

"Hiya, Suzu! What's up?"

Suzuka gave the Ctarl Ctarl a death glare that would scare fleas off of fur, but of course, Aisha never did pay attention to those glares, so why start now? Suzuka walked by Aisha and calmly sat down.

"I just came by to tell you all about a job that I've heard about all over town today. It had something to do with a mansion."

Aisha raised an eyebrow, "Well, how much does this job pay exactly?"

Suzuka replied nonchalantly, "One million wong."

Aisha chuckled, "Oh, one million wong, okay......ONE MILLION WONG?!"

    Suzuka sighed, "I wouldn't get too excited. This job seems very fishy. It seems like every bounty hunter and outlaw in town has been made this exact same offer today. My senses tell me that something isn't right about this." Just as she finished her sentence, Gene, Jim and Melfina entered the room. They apparently overheard Suzuka.

   Gene said in response, "Whether it's a trap or not, I'm willing to check it out. If there's a chance of getting big bucks out of all this, then we should go for it."

Suzuka cracked a slight smile, "Reckless as usual, I see."

Gene shrugged, "Well, if you don't wanna come, no one's forcing ya."

Suzuka replied, "I never said I wasn't coming along. But, you're still the most reckless person I know, Gene Starwind."

   Jim, Aisha and Melfina all nodded in agreement at once. Gene gave everyone his "Why I oughta..!" glare. He then sat down in a chair, folding his arms and resting his feet on the table, "Yeah, whatever."

  Just then, Melfina heard the voice again.

  "Help me, Melfina. Come back...." Mel's eyes went wide as she fell back into a chair and held her temples. She looked as if she had a splitting headache, but she wasn't. She thought she was going crazy. A voice in her head kept calling her and she couldn't understand for the life of her what it meant. In he midst of all the confusion, she couldn't think of anything else to do but sit there and try to act normal. But, by this time, everyone in the room gave her looks of concern, almost in unison they all asked if she was okay.

Melfina forced herself to lie again, "I'm..fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all..."
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Meanwhile, Shadowstrike hit yet another bar and sat down next to an older guy with short, black hair, gray slacks and a black tank top.

Shadowstrike smirked, "Hey, Leilong. How's life treatin' ya?"

The man looked over at Shadowstrike and raised an eyebrow at first. Realizing who it was, he smirked back, "I was wonderin' when you were gonna come by Sha-"

"No need to address me that way, man. Just call me Trent."

Leilong nodded and grinned, "Right. Sorry about that. So, what have you been up to?"

Trent sighed, "Well, besides taking up random legit jobs, not much. But, I was wonderin' if you got a job offer for a million wong anytime today. Bounty hunters all over have been gettin' that offer."

Leilong nodded, "Yeah, I got that call on the vid link. You should stay away from that job if you know what's good for ya."

Trent smirked, "Why is that? Can't handle the competition?"

    Leilong gave Trent a serious look, "Don't be so arrogant. I saw one of the guys offering the job and it's one of the pirates that YOU used to work for. I doubt they've forgotten what you did, even though it's been 2 years."

    Trent stopped smiling. He looked worried for a second, then he immediately ordered a drink. Trent shook his feeling of dread and cracked a fake smile, "I'm not worried about them. I should at least try and see what their up to, at least."

    Leilong took a sip of his vodka and shook his head, "Bad idea. I may not have worked for 'em before, but I know that those powers of theirs can blow away any normal person. And don't give me that crap about not being just any normal person."

   Trent sighed, "I know that, but it's something that I feel I gotta do, ya know? We've been pals for a while and you know me well enough to know that I never ignore a gut feeling. Even if it means fightin' my old bosses, I gotta see what's goin' on."

   Leilong put his drink down and scoffed, "Not like I could ever talk you outta doin' somethin' stupid. But, if you're gonna go and screw up, I might as well not let you screw up alone. I'm coming along. In fact, we can go to my ship right now."

Trent smiled, "Okay, let's go."

   As the two walked out, the bartender saw that Trent never touched his drink. Instead of throwing a fit, he picked it up and gulped it down in mere seconds. Unfortunately, Trent ordered the strongest drink in the place, so the bartender was the most drunk person in the pub. He stumbled all over the place, crashing into everything around him. Eventually, a bar fight broke out. Chairs, bottles and fists were flying all over the place.

   As Leilong and Trent walked down the street, they heard a thud from a distance. They turned around to see the pub in complete chaos. They looked at each other, then shrugged and continued on their merry way.
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Meanwhile, our heroes were already aboard the Outlaw Star, ready to take off on yet another adventure.

"All systems green," said Melfina.

"Outlaw Star, ready for launch," announced Gilliam.

Gene smirked, "All right, let's get this show on the road! Outlaw Star, launch!"

   The engines started up as the rocket boosters flared up. The Outlaw Star slowly lifted from the ground while detaching itself from the spaceport restraints. As it lifted off higher into the atmosphere, it broke into a high speed and the crew of the Outlaw Star were off onto their next adventure. Only time would tell what would be waiting for them up ahead, but they would be ready for anything.

To be continued.