“You are completely surrounded. Drop your weapons and walk out slowly with your hands in the air." The booming voice of a Galaxy Police officer and sirens echoed throughout the large, empty Dark Legacy building on Yakumi. "Damn, they never quit, do they?" Ryoko exclaimed while holding back a large door, locking them inside a vault. A girl with short blue hair and brown eyes stood beside her, stuffing a bag with the remaining bills. "Have a little patience, will you Ryoko?" she yelled back. "I just need to get the last of it, and then we'll get the hell out of here." With the last of it put away, Makaiya tied up the bag and shouted, "Ok! Let's go!!" With that, Ryoko blasted down the door, taking out a few cops who had been waiting behind it. "Oops, sorry about that!" she yelled back as the two darted down the hall. They reached the main exit, but skidded to a stop at the sight of all the officers that stood in front, and the sky, which was completely filled with the Galaxy Police force fleet, blocking their path.

“Ah... wh-what now?!” Ryoko yelled over to her partner. They seemed to be in a pretty hopeless situation. “..Ryoko!!” Makaiya shouted back at last. “Get Ryo-Ohki - we have to get out of here!!” “Right,” she agreed, then took off. Makaiya went off in the opposite direction to lead the cops off and buy some time. “Damn...” Ryoko growled as she sprinted to the other side of the building. She stopped, then called up into the sky, “Ryo-Ohki!!” The ship quickly emerged as it lowered into the atmosphere. As soon as her ship came as close as she wanted, Ryoko set off to find her friend. “Makaiya!!” she shouted while dodging shots the GP officers were taking at her. “Dammit... where the hell are you?!” She turned a corner and heard screaming. A large group of GP Bioroid Force robots were ganging up on the teen-aged pirate, bringing her down. “Hang on!!” Ryoko shouted, and began running to her friend’s aid. “Stay where you are!!” Police officers stood between them, stopping Ryoko from helping her. There was just too many of them. They arrested the struggling Makaiya, and began to pull her up into one of the GP ships while the remaining cops started for Ryoko. “Run!” Makaiya helplessly shouted to her friend. “Get away while you still can!!” Ryo-Ohki came, hovering above her master, leaving Ryoko with no choice but to escape. She did not like the idea of leaving her friend to the Galaxy Police. She grit her teeth, and was beamed up into her ship, which howled as it flew away, leaving the police and Makaiya behind.

Ryoko was sitting up straight on her cot. Yet again, she was woken with a start. This time, it was from a bad memory rather than a bad dream. She yawned, then began examining her surroundings. The cot she was sitting on was more like a bench, and was rotting away from either termites or age. It was pulled up against a cold, mildew covered wall, enclosed in a small cell. Ryoko figured she must be underground because the walls were covered in mold from the moisture that perspired on them. A dim light hung overhead, casting faint and fuzzy shadows. In one corner was a shallow depression in the floor with a small hole in the middle of it. She had a pretty good idea what that was for. All that stood between her and the outside of this cell were thick, metal bars. Ryoko’s arms were bound, but not with rope. A metal, blinking device was clasped to her wrists, locking them together. Ryoko has seen enough to know that the device she was bound to was nothing less than a bomb. Just an extra safety precaution taken when dealing with prisoners.

She looked down at the bomb she was tied to, and decided she’d be better off leaving it alone for now. “Hey!” Ryoko called out into the empty halls. “Can I have some water?” She waited, but got no response. She didn’t really expect to get one.
Ryoko sighed and lay back on the bench, staring up at the ceiling as if it was the open sky. “Oh Trunks… I’d bet anything that if you knew where I was right now, you’d come to my rescue in an instant.” She smiled; that thought was comforting. Ryoko could easily escape from her prison, but decided to play along and wait it out. The woman she saw was definitely her best friend from long ago and she wondered what Makaiya had to do with all of this. She closed her eyes and sighed again. “I wonder what they’re all doing at home right now?”
…………………………………………………
Sparks flew as Minagi worked a blowtorch, welding parts from her bike frame together. She wore a face guard to protect her head and shield her eyes. She woke up just after Ryoko and Nagi had left, and has been working ever since. The frame was just about done. “She’s working really hard,” Tenchi said as he and Washu watched from the doorway. “She’s just like her parents,” Washu exclaimed, smiling. “Come back here, Ryoko!” an angry Ayeka yelled. “Oh no…” Tenchi moaned. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was coming. A giggling Ryoko ran up to him and leapt up into his arms. “Oh, Tenchi… Ayeka’s being mean to me again!” she said while wrapping her arms around his neck. “Ryoko, will you stop, please?” “You know that she’s lying!” Ayeka shouted back, glaring at the demon who was sticking out her tongue back at her. “Why.. you… I can’t stand it!!” Ayeka started at Ryoko, pushing down Tenchi who was in the middle of one of their fights once again. Washu watched the two growl and cuss as their fight continued down the hall. A semi-conscious Tenchi was being dragged with them. Washu sighed and hung her head with disgust in their behavior.

“Washu?” She looked up, and saw Trunks standing to her side. “May I have a word with you?” “Oh, sure!” she answered, delighted with his politeness. “What can I do for you?” “Well, I know Ryoko’s gone to Rotan with Nagi. Do you have any idea what’s going on there?” “Concerned?” “Oh, well, not really. I mean, I was just wondering,” he answered as they walked into the living room. “To be honest, I’m not really sure.” “Huh? You mean you have no idea?” “All I know is what Nagi had told us. I haven’t been in touch with Ryoko since the two left.” Washu sighed as they sat down on the couch. “So… can you at least tell me a bit more about Rotan, then?” Washu smiled. “Ryoko has a lot of history there. She used to go to Rotan all the time as a teenager. She was crazy as a child; I guess that’s only natural though, considering her Saiyan blood. She told us the story of your friend Goku – how he first landed on earth and was wild as a child. Ryoko was just like that; I had no control over her. When she grew, she acquired a stronger sense of obedience. Amazingly, as a preteen, she was almost completely opposite to her violent childish nature. She trained and studied hard, becoming completely fascinated by piloting and engineering. But when she became a teenager and had completely developed her powers, her rebellious wild nature resurfaced. She didn’t listen to me, and Kagato was just another bad influence. The only one that still had some say over her actions was Yakage. Despite his discipline, she became reckless and went off to become a space pirate..” Just as Washu said this, Trunks gasped and turned to Washu saying, “A space pirate?! Ryoko said she was forced to become a space pirate under Kagato’s influence! Are you telling me she made that decision on her own?” Washu looked back at him, confused. “Ryoko was forced to become a pirate, but had been one already before Kagato took control over her. Did she not tell you that?” “…No. I had no idea. But she… I thought… she chose to steal from and kill innocent people on her own?! I.. I can’t believe it…” “Now don’t go jumping to conclusions,” Washu added. “Don’t let this affect your relationship in any way. There’s a difference between Ryoko as a pirate when she was a teen, and Ryoko as a pirate under Kagato’s control. When he brainwashed her, he made her basically a killing machine, programmed to follow orders, and that’s all. Not to care, not to feel remorse or grief of any kind. But when she acted on her own, she acted on her own true nature. I’m not saying that pirating is right or ok, but she’s a full-blooded Saiyan, and the Saiyans were pirates, after all. All this extra energy and emotion flowed through her, forcing her to have such a strong desire to fight and get involved in any other reckless behavior. She never killed unnecessarily. That’s the main difference. She felt; she had a conscious. She wasn’t just some rampaging criminal (although I can’t be too sure of that!). Do you understand now, Trunks?”

“I… I think so. I wonder why Ryoko never told me all of this in the first place?” Washu sighed. “Maybe she’s just ashamed of it. She doesn’t really like to talk about her childhood much, but then again, neither do you, right?” Trunks gave a small smile. “Yeah. Sometimes things are too painful to relive over and over again.” “Or maybe she was just afraid to tell you,” Washu added as she gazed off into space. “I mean, considering the reaction you gave me and all. She doesn’t want you to think any less of her. She’s sensitive. Ryoko knows how strongly you feel against people who hurt others for no apparent reason. She probably just figured that if she told you, you’d get angry with her.” Trunks sat still for a moment and thought about that, then smiled. “I think that even if you told me she was an android, I’d still have a really hard time giving her up.” Washu looked at him and smiled. “You should tell her that when she gets back.”

“So what’s so important with Rotan?” “Ryoko first met Makaiya on Rotan.” “Makaiya?! Who’s that?” “Makaiya was another space pirate. Her father was a Juraian soldier, and her mother was an outlaw. Her parents died when she was young, and she had to learn how to live off the streets, all alone. Stealing wasn’t a criminal act to her then, it was a necessity for life. She couldn’t get a job until old enough, and even by then she had such a criminal record that she’d most likely never get a job. She became a professional space pirate, but not as physically involved as Ryoko had. Her crimes were more of the technical, undercover type. Hacking into computer systems in major companies, government structures, and banks – she’s a technician. Ryoko, well, let’s just say that wasn’t her area of expertise. She’d much rather do the physical work – blow the locks off, smash anyone who got in her way, and make a real mess of things. Not a very clean-cut way of doing things, but it suited her just fine. Back to Makaiya though - Because of her Juraian blood, she could live a lot longer than humans can. The two first met on Rotan while trying to rob the same place. At the time Ryoko was a little over 3,000 years old; Makaiya was obviously a lot younger, about 1,700 years old, but both were physically and mentally about the same age, 16. They fought with each other at first, but quickly became partners, and then best friends. They were actually a pretty good team; Makaiya was mostly the brains of the operation, and Ryoko was the brawn. Sure, Makaiya could fight, but she possessed no special abilities like Ryoko has. She was relatively mortal, with her age as an exception.” Trunks stared down at the ground, contemplating what his mother-in-law had just told him. “She didn’t tell you about any of that, did she?” Washu asked him, already knowing the answer. He shook his head ‘no’. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Well, now you two’ll have a lot to talk about, that’s for sure. Oh! Hold on, I think I have a photo…” Trunks looked up as Washu held up her hand and a picture materialized into it out of nowhere. “Here,” she said, sitting down. “Check it out.”

Two teenage girls stood back-to-back, grinning at what had to be the camera. One was obviously recognizable as a younger Ryoko; she had the same ice-green hair, except it was a lot longer. A smug grin covered her face, and she wore a jacket with large spikes sticking out of the belted shoulders, a small, thin, almost skin-tight shirt underneath that stopped above her stomach, showing a belly button ring, and a belt holding up pants that were ripped well beyond repair. Ryoko was barefoot, for reasons unknown, and didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Next to her stood the teenage Makaiya who wasn’t smiling quite as openly as Ryoko had, but had an equally threatening look about her. Her hair was blue and short; it looked like it had been longer, but was hacked off to shoulder length by the quick slice of a sword, leaving it choppy and uneven. She was wearing a black and red jersey from some kind of sports team, short jean shorts that looked like they were once pants, but had been cut as unprofessionally as her hair, and worn skate shoes. At her hip hung a very large gun. They stood in front of a bar, and a wanted poster displaying their faces could be seen in the background.

“Wow,” Trunks mumbled, gaping at the old photograph. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?” Washu added, agreeing with his surprise. Once he stopped staring at the photo and gathered his senses, he asked, “What happened to Makaiya?” “Two years after that picture was taken, Ryoko and Makaiya tried to rob the Dark Legacy building on Yakumi. Unfortunately, it was too big of a job. Before they could get away, the Galaxy Police had them completely surrounded. Makaiya ended up getting arrested in an effort to lead the cops away from Ryoko so she could get Ryo-Ohki for their escape. Ryoko was able to get off into space, but was chased for quite some time. By the time she lost the Galaxy Police and made it back home, she was hysterical. She was raving on and on about Makaiya’s capture, beating herself up over the guilt. I’ve never seen her act like that before and felt bad for her. She was planning on storming the Galaxy Police HQ to rescue her friend, but I ordered her to rest up first. How would’ve either of us known that the next day Kagato would turn on us, and imprison me, then brainwash Ryoko? As for Makaiya, I’m assuming she was given a trial, then was sentenced for at least a couple hundred years, maybe life. Neither Ryoko nor myself know what had happened to her.” “Has Ryoko ever tried to find her?” “Well, Ryoko didn’t even know she had existed until she got her memory back, and that was 17 years ago. While Ryoko was alone in space for the 5 years before she met you, she tried looking for Makaiya, but nothing ever came up. She assumed Makaiya was dead.” “That’s awful,” Trunks said. “And Makaiya was waiting for Ryoko to come and save her, wasn’t she?” “I believe so.” Trunks sighed, and layed back against the couch, looking at the photo once more. The two looked so happy, like they didn’t have any cares in the world. “Ryoko…” he mumbled to himself as he looked down at her teenage self in the picture.
………………………………………………………………………………….
Ryoko hung by her feet from the ceiling. She managed to get them to balance on a pipe that hung overhead, and was keeping active with sit-ups. A bead of sweat rolled down her chin, then off the tip of her nose, plopping on the ground next to a plate of food a guard brought an hour ago. Her arms were still bound at the wrist to a blinking bomb, but she managed to work around that handicap, and was trying to extend her arms long enough to reach for a ball-shaped piece of food that tasted like old, chewy bologna, coated in molasses. When you’re a criminal, you can’t be picky with food. Although she’s used to much better, Ryoko still chose to eat what was offered to her because you never know if it’ll be offered again. “Ungh…” she grunted while trying to extend her fingers another inch to reach her food. She swung her hand, but accidentally hit the plate a little too hard, causing the last of the ball-shaped appetizers to roll off the plate. It slowly headed for the hole in the ground. “Aack! No.. please don’t…” It paused for a second, giving Ryoko a chance for a sigh of relief, but then dropped down. “Dammit!! Stupid thing!” she yelled in anger, catching the attention of the monitoring guard who didn’t move, but looked her way. But his head quickly turned as he looked down the hall to the sound of approaching footsteps. “..Huh..?” Ryoko said, now noticing the sound too. The guard quickly saluted two people when they reached him, then they continued toward Ryoko’s cell. She was still hanging upside down with her arms folded and the blood rushing to her head, but watched with interest as they slowly approached her bars, then stopped before her. Accompanied by another guard, Makaiya stared loathingly at Ryoko, who returned her glare with a smile.

“….You may leave now,” she said back to the guard without taking her eyes off the hanging pirate. “..M-miss Green, a-are you sure that is wise..?” “Are you questioning me?” “N-n-no ma’am…” “Just go,” she repeated harshly. The guard bowed, and quickly took his leave. Both were silent as the guard’s footsteps pattered down the dark hall, slowly becoming harder to hear as he turned a corner and headed out of sight.

“What are you doing?” Makaiya asked at last. “Exercising,” Ryoko stated back plainly as if it was obvious. She then quickly bent up to reach the bar her feet hung from, grabbed it with her hands, then dropped down to her feet and walked up to the cell bars. Makaiya grinned. “What?!” Ryoko exclaimed. Makaiya begun to laugh, but it quickly turned to shouting. “After all these years… it’s nice to see for once that YOU’RE the one behind bars, you back-stabbing traitor!” “..What?!” Ryoko said in utter shock and confusion. “..How have you been enjoying your freedom, huh?” “..W-what are you talking about?!” “You know very well what I’m talking about!! How the hell could you do that to me? Leave me to the Galaxy Police!? Some friend you are!!! You greedy, shameless…” “Shove it Makaiya.” She stopped dead, and Ryoko continued. “You have no fricking idea what happened! Stow your screaming and insults until you understand!!” She was stunned for a second, but went back to the offense. “Understand?!! The hell are you talking about?! I understand perfectly! You know what happened to me? I was sentenced to four hundred years. And what did you do? Nothing! You were supposed to bail me out!!” “That’s not my fault!! Do you know what happened to me?! I was imprisoned for seven hundred years. And do you know why I didn’t come back for you? Because by the time I got home, I was messed up. But all I could think about was going back and saving you. The next day, everything was completely screwed up. Kagato turned on Washu and me; he imprisoned her and brainwashed me. By the time he was done with me, all my memories were gone. I didn’t even know you existed…” Ryoko wasn’t yelling now; her voice held a sense of sorrow and pity.

Makaiya, who had been glaring at Ryoko, was now looking carefully at her old friend. “..Kagato did that? But I thought..” “Yeah, he worked for my mom. But he wanted the power I held. He didn’t care about anything else…” Ryoko leaned against the bars and hung her head. “I was going to get you… I swear. ..I just can’t believe you’re still alive! I thought you were dead..” Makaiya had cooled down a lot, but still tried to show some presence of anger, even though she hadn’t felt any toward her friend any longer. She had been holding a grudge toward Ryoko for so long, that she forgot how much she missed her. “Dead, huh?” she said arrogantly to cover her feelings. Ryoko saw through it though, and changed the subject. “So, what’s with the ‘Miss Green’? I know your name – Makaiya Skizor. And what are you doing with this company anyway?” “What, I’m not allowed to change my name? You changed yours.” “What do you mean? My name’s the same.” “No, I don’t mean your first name, your last name – Briefs? I thought your last name was Hakubi. What’s up with that anyway? Did you change your name to help hide yourself?” Ryoko looked at her curiously. “How did you know I changed my name?” “I ran a search on you. I had a hard time getting any current information on you because of your name change. But when I finally found it, it also said you were living on some planet called Earth.” Ryoko smiled, then sighed. “Yeah. And to answer your question, that is my name.” “What? That can’t… but, your name is..was..” “Hakubi, right. That’s my maiden name. I’m married.”

Makaiya’s eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of their sockets. Her mouth hung open, and she started stammering in a similar fashion to how Nagi had reacted. “Y-you c-can’t…. n-no way.. you – you’re married?!” “I hate how everyone always reacts to that,” Ryoko mumbled. “Yeah, I’m married. There’s more though. Maybe you should sit down,” she added, while examining Makaiya who looked like she could have a heart attack. “Come to think of it, that’s what I should’ve said to Trunks when I first told him I was pregnant,” Ryoko said to herself under her breath. “Anyway,” in a louder tone, “I have two kids.” Instead of flipping out even more, Makaiya’s reaction seemed to be more of happiness than shock. “Really?!! Seriously?!” “Mm hmm,” Ryoko answered, nodding her head. “Oh, please! Tell me about your family!!” she said with excitement. It was now impossible for her to show any kind of anger toward Ryoko, who returned her friend’s joy with a smile. “Sure. But maybe I should start from the beginning,” she said while going back to sit on her cot.

“You said you were imprisoned for 700 years?” “Yeah. When Kagato had control over me, he sent me to Jurai to get Tsunami, the most powerful ship in the universe. Yosho beat me though, and I was imprisoned. The statute of limitations sentenced me to 700 years for all the crimes I committed, and in an odd coincidence, I was awoken just as my term had ended. I ended up living on a parallel earth with Yosho’s grandson, Tenchi, the crown prince of Jurai. I eventually fell in love with him, and competed over him with the other borders, Ayeka, and Sasami…” “You were living with the Jurai princesses?!” …yep, and Mihoshi and Kiyone of the Galaxy Police…” “Are you insane?! Galaxy Police officers as roommates?!” “..Friends, actually, and then eventually, my mother Washu came to stay and bother me as well when she was saved from Kagato’s ship.”

“Wow. And so this Tenchi guy… is he your husband?” “No, he died.” “What?” “Yeah. Every single one of them – dead. Even my mom. They were all killed from this stupid android. I got revenge, but it wasn’t the same. Then I tried looking for you, but nothing. Your name disappeared.” “Yeah, my fake name now is Lara Green.” “Lara Green, huh?” Ryoko said, laughing. “Hmph. I know it’s stupid. Don’t rub it in.” “Ok, ok, well, my search for other Saiyans led me to the Earth in this galaxy – parallel to the other – where I found them, and the man who saved my life, my husband Trunks.” “Ah, I see. So he’s a Saiyan then? That works out pretty good. How’d he end up saving your life?” “Well, they had an android problem as well. One named Cell was getting the best of them, so I stepped in to fight. Got a bit carried away though… ended up with this,” she said, showing her stomach. A large, stitched scar was woven across it, starting at her upper left, then making its way down diagonally toward her lower right, sinking out of sight into her pants. “Geez… you’ve never been very careful, have you?” Makaiya said.

Ryoko smiled again. “Even with a hole in my middle, I still fought Cell, then finished him off before what was left of my energy ran out. Trunks and his human friend Krillin saved my life by grabbing me and taking me home to get stitched up and healed. Staying at Capsule Corp led to a developing close relationship with Trunks, as friends at first anyway, but I hadn’t realized I’d actually fallen in love with him. It’s funny too – he felt the same way. That changed though when we spent a whole year together in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. Pretty sure I don’t need to go into detail here…” Makaiya grinned. “I then decided when visiting with his mom, that I wanted to go back in time, and give Tenchi and the others a second chance. It wouldn’t change my world, which was ok – I liked my new life; I had someone I loved who loved me back, a job, a home – so it created another dimension, where there were two different versions of how my life could’ve ended up.” Still standing right outside Ryoko’s bars, Makaiya added, “Back in time? It must’ve been weird seeing everyone again, including yourself.” “Yep, it was weird… nice though. I beat the android easily, but then unexpectedly, met my daughter Minagi for the first time.” “Wait, what?! How can you meet your own daughter for the first time?” “You remember how I said I was created?” “..Yeah, mostly.” “Well, kinda like that. You remember Yakage – he stole some of my DNA, mixed it with his own, and created Minagi. She looks just like me, except maybe a tad bit younger, and she has two marks across her cheeks.”

“Oh.. I see. So you have a daughter then? What about Yakage?” “He’s dead too. Made me promise to watch over and teach Minagi. Even though I never raised her or anything, I still love her so much and feel connected to her.” “What’s she like? How old is she?” “Well she’s a half Saiyan, half Juraian, and she’s…. wait..” Ryoko began scratching her head from thought. “You know… I don’t really know how old Minagi is.” “Some mother you are.” “Hey! Well, I know she’s at least over a thousand years old… has to be.. but if she grows at the same rate I do, she has to be younger than I am. Anyway, she’s brilliant, powerful, well behaved, good-hearted, and isn’t afraid of anything. Oh, and because of her kind nature, she has a hard time listening to me when I tell her to leave me alone and worry about herself.” “Sounds like a good contrast to you,” Makaiya stated, smirking. Ryoko sighed, still smiling. “I bet you two would get along well. Hey Makaiya?” “Yeah?” “…How would you like to be Minagi’s godmother?” “What? Seriously?!” “Yeah, I’m serious. I would like you to be her godmother. She just has a godfather right now, Tenchi. And Trunks is her stepfather, but I’d really like you to be her godmother. I mean, you probably won’t have to do anything, but it would be nice… almost like an older sister to her… what do you say?”

Makaiya smiled, and closed her eyes while shaking her head back and forth, laughing to herself. “Heh, all right,” she said, opening her eyes again and looking over at the sincere Ryoko. “..Sounds like fun. I’m getting sick of this place anyway!” “Really?” “Yeah. It’ll be a nice change from bossing people around all day. So does that mean if you kick the bucket I’m responsible for her?” “Well… not really. I can just be wished back. I’ve been dead twice already. But, if there’s some reason why we’re all killed except you and her, and we can’t be wished back, the kid’s all yours. Fat chance though, and like I said before, she can take care of herself. Probably more responsible than you are.” Makaiya shrugged, and added smiling, “…I can’t wait to get out of here.” “Hey… uh, Makaiya?” Ryoko asked as she stuck her arms out between the bars. “Yeah?” “Can you take this stupid thing off?” “Huh? Oh! You mean the bomb? Sure! I can do better than that!”

She pulled a keycard from her pocket and slid it through the slot on the keypad outside the cell, and typed a few keys. The bars slowly jolted, and lowered down into the floor, just as Ryoko pried her wrists from between them. “Here…” Makaiya said as she walked into the cell. Using the same card, she swiped it through a slot on the bound wrist-bomb. Its clasps clicked open, and the disengaged threat dropped from Ryoko’s arms. Happy with the new freedom, she sat back on the cot and massaged her marked wrists. “Thanks.” “No prob! So c’mon, finish your story!” “Oh.. right. Um.. oh yeah… so after Yakage died, I was going to go home, but then unexpectedly this girl named Yugi who had this whole plan of separating us – long story – woke up. Everyone thought she had changed and was good, but she wasn’t. I ended up fighting her to the death. I miscalculated her strength, and had to sacrifice myself to take her out.” “Ahh… death number uno.” “Right. So I was eventually wished back to life and returned home with Minagi. About a year after then, I had my son Ryan.” “You have a son?! What’s he like?” “Well, he’s about 8 years old, has red hair – like Washu’s, he’s a genius of course, and is pretty strong, especially for his age.” “Oh, is that all…” Makaiya said with a sarcastic tone. “Hey. You just wait ‘till you meet him.”

“Does that mean I can come with you and meet your family?” “Well, yeah.. of course. You can even stay if you’d like! As long as Bulma lets you, that is. I don’t know how she’ll respond to having an ex-convict hanging around the house. Bad enough as it is with me there. But hey! I’ll fight for ya! Tell her your Minagi’s godmother… she’ll give in if she hears that,” Ryoko explained while laughing, but stopped when she saw Makaiya was hanging her head. “What’s wrong?” “..Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay with you...” “What?! Why not? I was just kidding, you know! ‘Course Bulma’ll let you stay..” “No, that’s not it. I’m not an ex-con.” “What?” “What I mean is, I’m still a convict. When I was arrested and held in Galaxy police HQ, I had 400 years to serve. I only stayed for 300.” Ryoko’s eyebrows bent inward. “You escaped?!” “Of course! You thought I’d stick around?!” “Well, no. I’m just impressed! Got outta the HQ… that’s something.” “Yeah, but the police have been on my tail ever since. You’re lucky. They gave up on you long ago.’ “Yeah, but I did my time.” “I see that now. For once, they don’t care about you anymore.” “Now that’s funny,” Ryoko added. “But… all the more reason for you to come with me. Look, don’t worry about me or my family. We have a way of… taking care of things. Anyway, the GP don’t come around our planet. We got our own stupid police to worry about. So… explain something to me. How did you become the exec of the company that sent you to jail?!”

“Heh.. it wasn’t easy. You wouldn’t believe how many systems I had to hack and subordinates I had to dispose of. First, I cleared my file, and overwritten it with a new name and info. Then I started from the bottom, and eventually worked my way all the way up to the top. Some positions were even handed to me – when the old, fat, bald men running this place began dying off, I outlived em and took their positions.” “Ok, I get it now. But why Dark Legacy?” “Why not?” Makaiya answered with a shrug. “Wealthiest company out there. I have so much credit now, I don’t know what to do with it all.” “I guess your dream came true then. You always wanted to be filthy rich.” “…No,” Makaiya sighed. “I thought that’s what I wanted, but I found out it really isn’t. Remember when we went to the biggest casino on Rotan and blew all of our money?” “Oh yeah!” Ryoko exclaimed. “And then we robbed the place anyway because we were all pissed at the stupid slot machines that took all our coins!” “Yeah. That was so much fun. I guess that’s what I was missing.” “What?” “The fun of it. You always had so much fun when we went on raids and robbed banks. You didn’t care about the money; you just wanted to have fun and let out all that extra energy of yours. I took it all so seriously… like money was the only thing that mattered. I was mistaken.” “Hey Makaiya,” Ryoko sighed as she put her arm around her friend. “Don’t dwell on all your past baggage so much. That’s done, so don’t worry about it! Ok?” “Yeah… ok.” Ryoko stood up, then walked out of the open cell. “Hey Makaiya?” “..Yeah?” “…What’d you do with Nagi?”

Next: Chapter 11 – “Death From Shaky Fingers”

Chapter 11

Jaz - November, 2003
http://saiyananimeplanet.cjb.net
Naluchik11@Hotmail.com
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