“Ryoko!!! I swear it… I’m going to kill you!! You hear me?! You’re dead!!” The yells of an angry bounty hunter echoed throughout the halls. “You sure she’s your friend?” Makaiya asked Ryoko as they headed toward her cell. “Yeah… don’t worry about her. She tends to over-exaggerate a lot.” She smiled at Nagi’s anger and stuck her hands in her pockets. “You sure have changed. Befriending a bounty hunter… I would’a thought you were outta your mind if things were just like this years ago. …Remember when we used to ridicule Nagi? She was so consistent too! Never would leave us alone…” “Well, we had the greatest price tag on our heads… and she’s the best there is. Too bad she wasn’t a pirate though… might’a saved us a lotta grief.” “Yeah. …There it is,” Makaiya said as the two turned a corner and Nagi’s cell came into view.
“Hey! How’s it going, Nagi?” Ryoko said happily as she leaned up against the bars. Nagi looked a hungry tiger ready to bite her arms off. “It’s about time,” she growled. “Aww, couldn’t get out yourself?” Ryoko taunted. “Just shut up and let me…” She stopped, noticing the pirate’s company. “Hi Nagi. Long time no see.” Makaiya said pleasantly. “..You…. It’s you!! Wh-what are you…? What..?” “Calm down, Nagi.” Ryoko said, losing the pleasantry in her tone. “I assume you remember Makaiya then?” “..Yeah… She had us shot… didn’t she?” Nagi said, eyeing Ryoko, then Makaiya,, then continued while switching between the two. “..What’s going on?” “I think you’ll be more trusting…” Makaiya added, “…If I let you out first.” With this, she swiped the same keycard, making the large metal bars sink down into the floor. Nagi hesitated once the bars were lowered, but cautiously left her small cell. “And here, I believe this is yours…” Makaiya then pulled Nagi’s scepter from her coat where it was hidden, and handed it over to her. As soon as it was within reach, she snapped it away from young Juraian and held it out in defense. “Whoa, Nagi… hold on. Nobody’s gonna get hurt,” Ryoko assured her, forcing her to back off as soon as the tip of her weapon was an inch away from Makaiya’s nose.
Makaiya held her hands up to show she meant no harm, and Nagi harnessed her weapon. “What’s going on?” she demanded. Ryoko sighed as a sign of ‘I’ll take this’, and began explaining. “Makaiya’s the executive of Dark legacy Enterprises. At first, I think she wanted to kill me, or something of that sort, but now it’s ok. We worked things out. It was all… a misunderstanding. Anyway, we’re just gonna go home now, ok?”
Nagi continued to survey Makaiya. “I think you’re forgetting why we came here in the first place, Ryoko.” “Huh? Oh yeah! Heh, she’s right… Makaiya, we need your help with something.” “What’s up?” “Well, we were wondering – and by we, I mean Nagi, and all the other residents of Rotan, Koji especially – since you’re the exec of this company, why are you having the colony taken over?” “You think that was my idea?! I may be the executive, but that doesn’t mean I do everything. Actually, I just sit in my big office and do nothing, except listen to all the blabbing of the other workers and give permissions and things like that. Best job I’ve ever had.” Makaiya said with a laugh. “Well then before we go, you have to call it off. It’s no good. The people living here will lose their homes and businesses.” “What got into you? You were never into doing anything for anyone else.” “You don’t think I’m getting paid for this?” Ryoko exclaimed. “I do have a lot of pretty good memories here though, some of the only ones. I admit, it’d kinda kill me a little to see this place sold out.” “Yeah..” Makaiya sighed. “There is a lot of history here.” “Yep. First robbery, first hangover, first place I told a guy off…”
The two stared up into space, reminiscing. Nagi, who was much too impatient to take anymore of this, caught their attention. “Hey!! So are we going, or what?!”
“Oh! Right…” Ryoko said, snapping back to reality. “Let’s head to my office,” Makaiya suggested. “You two can safely hang out there while I talk to the guys who head the project and tell them to call it off. As soon as that’s done, I’ll meet back with you, get my stuff together, and we’ll get out of here.”
……………………………………
“Anything?” a crackled voice asked over a speaker.
“We were given a lead,” a deeper voice answered. “To Rotan.”
“Rotan? Why would she be stupid enough to return there?”
“I don’t know.”
“How accurate are your sources?”
“Very, sir.”
“Very well, officer Roain. You can lead.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And take officer Torkal with you.”
“Torkal? He’s a rookie, sir. Are you sure he can handle this big of an assignment?”
“I am aware of that, Roain. Take him with you. He needs the experience.”
“Yes sir.”
At the end of the officer’s last message, the general of the Galaxy Police shut off his com-link, then sat back in his chair. “We’ve finally found you, Makaiya Skizor.”
………………………………………
“And she acts like she’s had it so bad,” Ryoko remarked while lying back in Makaiya’s big, leather chair. She rested her feet up on the large desk, which was covered in expensive-looking objects, except a cheap, touristy snow globe of the Rotan Helix Colony, which she was shaking. Nagi refrained from sitting, or smiling for that matter, and watched Ryoko’s profound interest in the globe as she turned it and peered deep into it, as if expecting something to happen. “I mean, just check out her office. I think she’s like, a bazillionare.” Makaiya was in a meeting, and told the two to stay put until it was over. Nagi seemed to be refraining from speaking as well, and stood quietly, allowing Ryoko to do all the talking. Ryoko now had two objects, and was juggling them. “I’m really so bored.” Nagi then saw a miniature glass sculpture of the very building they were now in, picked it up and examined it for a second, then threw it over at Ryoko, adding it to her juggling items. She almost lost it and dropped them all with Nagi’s addition, but regained control and continued, smiling. As soon as she had, the door swung open quickly, and in shock, she lost control and dropped everything to the floor.
Noticing the surprised looks on their faces, Makaiya apologized as she walked in. “N-no problem,” Ryoko muttered while ushering the broken shards of glass under the desk with her foot. “How’d it go?” Nagi asked, speaking up at last. Makaiya smiled. “I had to use a little force, but they’ve agreed to issue the full-scale of the project elsewhere. Rotan’s in the clear.” “Good!” Ryoko exclaimed as she leapt up to her feet. “Let’s get the hell outta here then!” “Sounds good to me,” Makaiya agreed. She grabbed some clothes, a couple of possessions, and a lot of money, and stuffed it all into a bag as they got ready to leave. Just as she was finishing, the whole building shook for a second, and after a short pause, the alarms began going off. “What was that?” Ryoko yelled over the racket. Instead of guessing, Makaiya hurried to her com-link to call an on-duty guard for info. “What’s going on?” she nearly shouted into the speaker. Interference made him hard to hear. “--- The buil---- --- attacked. Gal--- Police….------“ “What?!” Makaiya shouted.
With a tense look on her face, Ryoko said, “I think he said the building was attacked by the Galaxy Police.” Makaiya, who had turned to face Ryoko, stared blankly while what the pirate had said began to sink in. The Galaxy Police are here. They’re after me! She turned again, turned off the com-link, and said, “Let’s go. Now. We have to get out of here.” Ryoko glanced over at Nagi who nodded her head in agreement.
The three sprinted down the halls while the loud alarm continued to sound in the background. “I guess this means we can’t take the tour,” Ryoko said. “What does it look like we’re doing now?” Makaiya shouted back. Ryoko laughed, but Nagi felt that this was hardly the time for jokes. “So where are we going to anyway?” “The roof,” Makaiya answered. “Hopefully we can reach my ship that’s docked up there and fly away before I get caught and thrown in jail again.” Rather than waste time with the elevators, the three ran up flights of stairs. “I [pant] got my [pant] exercise for today!!” Ryoko yelled as she followed Makaiya; Nagi followed right behind her. They quickly reached the top of the fire escape, which led back out into the main hall. Nagi slammed the door behind her, but it was suddenly blown off moments later. The three turned as a reaction to the explosion, and dozens of GP Bioroid robots were emerging from the newly opened doorway. “Damn, they’re behind us!!” Ryoko shouted as they continued heading toward the roof. “It’s just a few more floors up… we’re almost there,” Makaiya reassured them.
They ran, ignoring the robots that had a hard time keeping up. “There’s another stair well just around the…” And as they turned, they froze. “..corner.” Makaiya finished her own incomplete sentence and stared. A huge police force group stood right in their intended path, blasters raised and aimed. Nagi turned her head back to where they had come from, but it was no good. The Bioroid guard robots had finally caught up, and blocked the rear. They had nowhere to go. Three of the officers slowly began to walk toward them; one was obviously nervous and was shaking, holding his gun unsteadily as he pointed it at Makaiya. The first officer apprehended Nagi, forcing her to drop her weapon and put her hands behind her back. Another did the same to Ryoko, and was surprised to see she was unarmed. Nonetheless, he ordered her to put her hands up, and she obeyed.
Makaiya was a little more stubborn though. “J-just p-put your hands up now, a-and I w-won’t shoot you,” the shaky rookie officer said. He had her turn so his gun faced the back of her head. All the other cops had their weapons locked on her, but when he told her to put her hands up just as Nagi and Ryoko had, she didn’t move. “Makaiya,” Ryoko said calmly over to her, “..Just give in. It’s alright. It’ll be ok.” Makaiya turned her head slightly toward her friend, making a few of the officers jump, and sighed. She didn’t put her hands up. The rookie officer behind her was getting even more worried. His gun shook so violently, it looked like he was about to drop it.
Finally, her arm began to move, but was heading instead for the inside of her coat. The officer jerked, then quickly cocked his gun. “..Makaiya!!” Ryoko shouted, and in that instant, a gunshot sounded, just as Makaiya had reached the handle of her gun. With a look of fear and astonishment, the young officer took a slow step back, and dropped his gun to his feet. Smoke rose from the barrel. Makaiya, who was still standing and staring with blank eyes, slowly fell to the ground. She was shot in the back of the head. Shocked at what had just happened, the other officers took their aim off the fallen girl. Ryoko stared, wide-eyed, at her friend’s lifeless body. A silence fell upon the room, and nobody dared move. Nagi was careful to keep her gaze off Ryoko. Tears began building up in Ryoko’s eyes, and they streamed down her face. Her shock and sadness were quickly turning into hatred; she clenched her fists and bared her teeth.
In a sudden, swift movement, Ryoko easily broke her cuffs, then turned to face the cop who was restraining her. Much too fast for him to even start to react, she punched him into the wall. He hit it so hard, it knocked him out cold. Once again, the life of someone who was close to her was taken, and Ryoko could do anything but control herself. The Galaxy Police killed her friend, and they were going to pay. The other officers, which had been lined up before them, had taken aim, and began their assault upon the crazed pirate. The beams they fired made no difference to her, and infuriated, Ryoko continued her massacre. One by one, she blew away each of the police officers and Bioroid robots. Nagi had no intention to get involved, and watched Ryoko’s slaughter in alarm. “She’s gone completely out of her mind…” Nagi mumbled to herself.
The rookie officer that had shot Makaiya unintentionally, stood in the middle of everything. Too angry to think straight, Ryoko set upon him at last, and grabbed him by the neck, choking and slamming him up against the nearby wall. He was completely helpless, and could only gasp for air. “Aaaaaahhh!!!” Ryoko hollered as she let go of his neck and was struck in the back by a tazer. Too weak to run away, the man fell to the floor. Ryoko fell back and writhed from the electrocution. Backup officers were flooding the building, and quickly began surrounding the grounded Saiyan. Her pain from her anger was draining, and the sadness from the loss of her friend came slowly pouring back. The grief hit her much harder than the tazer had, and she stayed down crying while Galactic officers pulled her to her feet and restrained her once more, tying her arms back with a straightjacket and handcuffs. Hundreds of officers escorted her off the premises, and onto a GP ship to be confined.
Next: Chapter 12 – “Second Chances and Opportunity”
Jaz - December, 2003
http://saiyananimeplanet.cjb.net
Naluchik11@Hotmail.com
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