Chapter 37 – Serenade Soiree

Becca got up, a glowing red glow from the jewel still emanating from her forehead. She felt a strange and yet strangely familiar sensation in her entire body, some kind of energy in her head. Her hands gripped at it for a moment, pulling and tearing at the perimeter, but it stuck firmly in place, embedded deep into her flesh. One witnessing her situation might've expected her to say 'Get off me!' or 'What the hell happened?!' in a fit, but Jack and Eda who brought her into the cottage had seen one of that.

 

In fact after three days, they hadn't heard Becca speak a single word.

 

Eda had taken care of her, the girls wounds and feeding needs, but outside of that her personality had become calm and numb. The girl appeared able to follow directives, such as raising her hand when asked, solving puzzles and sitting patiently to eat, orphaned children tugging at her knees. But outside that the girl acted like some kind of robot from Jack's perspective, saying nothing, not moving at all or making any actions other than in response to directions. Her mind appeared completely silent, even if one looked in her eyes she would not meet their gaze, not even once. When Jack came over and spoke to her, she wouldn't respond. Nod, shake her head sure, but no words. The Obsidian gem tested her by giving her a piece of napkin paper to write her feelings, but she only wrote 'Ok.' She asked her to draw what she felt, and proceeded to draw a red jewel.

 

4 mages from nearby in town, friends of Eda's visited. Rozu, Garla, Jax and Fiamma examined her, but couldn't find anything wrong with Becca, and they knew little on Set anatomy. They gave her a golden tiara with the ability to project messages in a holographic fashion, but rarely were words made, usually only symbols. After a week Jack gave up, hoisted Sandra's pod to her chambers and keeping to her promise to Goliath- escorted her back to the Boltholes where they'd came, Eda and the kids waving as they left. The gem was left there in place and they could only hope whatever had happened to her would resolve itself in due time.

 

The Akura's Jewel had found a new host. But who had Becca become?

 

In the creeping tunnels of the Boltholes, Jack had to take care of any exchanges with operators. When she grew tired, she'd fuse with Becca's cybernetic arm- which was quite often and leave her to wander the long dark hours. All through the pain, and all through the endless labyrinth of the connected warpstations, traveling through tunnels and sewers and small towns and empty storage rooms, they found a strange solace in each other's company.

 

The place they came to was a deserted, rusting trainstation with weeds and vines choking the windows of the station, the wheels of the train rusted to the point they merged with the track. "They said there's a few working railway transports in the Boltholes, but this one.." She felt the air whistle. "Seems abandoned." As Jack lit a fire in a metal tincan inside the train, filled with burned documents and spongy moss she'd found. She bashed one of the rats that'd come thru and roasted it over the fire, handing to Jack. "Small but tasty, eat up sugah." She said.

Becca nodded and ate. She laid on Sandra's pod like a stool, the Xistress still curled up and dormant inside of it.

 

She looked at Jack with curiosity as she chewed. Jack looked up to see the tiara

transmitting a message. "Sugah? Is that my name?" The words said. Jack's eyes widened. "You're Becca. You are her and you will always be her but.." She sighed. "Right now you're not really yourself." She crawled over beside the girl and craddled into her body, the girl giving no resistance or objection. For some reason that made Jack feel uneasy, all this less intimate than even when they'd used fusion.

 

"The Akura's jewel is there, right? In you," Jack said softly. "Sugah. Sugah look at me." She said. "I'm going to ask you to give me a sign. Can you just smile once at me? Just smile." The girl looked at her blankly. "Come on.. sugarcake." She gave a sad smile. The girl took a breath, pinching Becca's cheek. "Maybe tomorrow. We need to find someone who knows about that jewel.." The girl clutched her forehead, shivering and shaking her head as if waking from a bad dream.

 

"You ok?!" Jack asked. "Yes. I'm fine," Becca's tiara replied, the silent words fluttering soft and calm above her. Her eyes were a light and warm golden color, something both familiar yet wholly different from the Becca Jack had first fought years ago, their glow staying vivid ever since her manipulation by Astrid, and now this. The two laid down on some cardboard and went to sleep.

 

Two weeks passed, Jack obtaining directions from one of the Station operators towards a location a ways west, but the trip wasn't easy, being one of many warpstations that wasn't mapped and had no records. Many had died before Jack managed to reach this one, atleast judging by the skeletons they encountered along the walls. Hallsways and tunnels stretched stretched for miles, ending in a bright light shaped like a door. Jack, merged with Becca's arm at the moment couldn't help but feel apprehensive as the girl stepped out.

 

 

Inside was the most amazing sight she'd ever seen. Beyond the tunnel of the Bolthole, she never had thought such a place could be- a vast metropolitan world under a large domed ceiling miles high atop a great green garden. Visible was a vast mechanized waterfall, pouring into a river that supplied a bustling city of black and red skyscrapers inside a massive star station. The towers sprawled halfway to the ceiling, high rises while bustling streets were filled with merchants and stands of every single kind. Unlike the Boltholes that were a vast network of halls and rooms, this dome was a unified fortress for the criminal underworld. The girl in the distant stared, then looked at her hand speaking to her. "Sugah," Jack said. "Do you know where this is? We're in Black Nova. The stronghold of Caldera."

Jack wasn't sure if she understood. The girl looked at the buildings and then pointed to one, her tiara generating the image of a bottle, Sandra's pod hoisted along her back as she carried the Xistress through her cryogenic slumber. Jack grew irate. "IS ALL YOU CAN THINK OF IS DRINKING?! You're on an important mission here, and I promised I'd keep you safe."

The girl looked at her blankly.

"Oh, fine. Just this once, we need to find someone who knows about that Jewel."

The girl climbed a long, dark and winding spiral along an alleyway as they ascended with each step, eventually pushing through a door on a platform ledge next to a neon sign shaped like some sort of rooster with heart and star shapes around her, reading HEARTS AND STARDUST COCKTAIL BAR. Inside was a bustling and loud bar with a 3-sided counter forming a square- bartender space, two small catwalks with strip-poles on each opposite side protruding out for guests. Tucked away in the back were a huge array of shelves full of different types of bottles of every shape, size and color imaginable. A 32" screen was shown above the shelves.

On the 32" had a man with a purple mohawk, a white undershirt, a yellow vest and black pants as he yelled at a massive crowd of men and women wearing white robes and black headbands waving red and black banners, clips of two young Set woman praying, then fighting viciously in a ring. Several patrons cheered. Seeing it as a way to get their attention, Jack whispered instructions so that Becca hopped on the counter, rolled the large pod underneath her booth beneath suspicion and ran to the backwall, took Jack's crowbar and smashed it against the screen to everyone's dismay.

"Yeah yeah illegal betting sports sure are great huh? Who knows anything about Akura Jewels? Whatever that screen costs, I'll pay you 10x that if you tell us anything." Becca's talking arm shouted, the girl raising it up like a megaphone so everyone could hear. The patrons, mostly younger and middle-aged woman of various flocks began to growl, squeak and squawk.

"That's none of your concern." The bartender, a chubby chinchilla woman with an apron and yellow gloves said said in a deep, gruff voice. She scanned them a second time with a sphere-shaped device at the register. "You're not authorized to be here." Behind her were two woman who looked like Golden Retrievers in braids and rubbery black-green and black-red jumpsuits, they appeared like twins and seemed to be refilling drinks.

The tender pointed to her arm- a small chip near her elbow, all Black Nova guests, customers, employees and residents had them for security purposes. The bartender leaned towards a electric-bolt shotgun right by the Black Nova security-panic button. "Okay okay, we'll be right back." Jack said, Becca slowly heading outside and hopping into the alleyway. The two weren't aware they were being watched. Jack waited until a passer came thru before reaching out and grabbing them, Becca bashing their lights out with the crowbar. Jack morphed into a blade-like edge along the girl's arm and they cut the others arm off, then went back in.

 

The bar was silent. The tender took the arm with the chip inside, looking at Jack with a grumpy scowl. When the light on her little spherical device turned green, she tossed the arm backwards. "Shrewd."

"Okay. We now have full authorization to go whereever we damn want." Jack replied. "Now can you get us some intel, and my girl here a drink." The arm said. "Yeah yeah sure, whatever you want.." The tender sighed.

 

The two took a seat at a corner table while the bartender's assistant, a small grey Chihuahua who had a black-teal bandanna covering her head took a drink order. The young girl was a shy type but not afraid to approach, and they noticed how she watched them intently and seemed a little frightened. The other patrons, numerous woman who were dalmatian woman, hamsters, Ospreys and even a kangroo fixing her lipstick among them seemed a little nervous. Jack asked the Chihuahua what'd happened to them.

"They're regulars and are just fine. Don't worry about them, mister hand." She told Jack. "What're they usually like?"

The girl watched Becca, who was raising her hand like a sock puppet so Jack could speak. "They're strong, but quiet when outsiders arrive." The girl looked down.

"Strong and quiet? Do you think they're nice?"

The girl shrugged. "Uh.. sometimes." She said, glancing at the bartender and her twins, then looking back at Jack and Becca.

"Is there something in this city that's bad they should be a afraid of? It's Black Nova isn't

it?"

"Yes, we're all technically criminals and outlaws here. And well you see the world outside

is a big wide place but in here everyone looks out for one another, no one's afraid to ask for help and we never let those who can't help themselves fend for themselves." The Chihuahua said. "We're like a big happy family, we always help one another and protect one another when we can. Really your arm stunt wasn't that bad, it showed you were just like us. The only thing we worry is if SPARTA or Xi's spies and agents."

"They do snoop around here, like rats.. No offense Nancy." The bartender said. "None taken." Nancy, an extremely chubby rat with a cheongsam dress said."

The bartender's assistant gave Jack a 37 oz. Bottle of some kind of lime cocktail. "You'll have to excuse us for our suspicion- it's policy for us to check the chip IDs of any person drinking with us." Jack began to giggle, then poured the drink into Becca's mouth handed it back. "I can't say I sympathize, because I really don't care. Don't suppose I'm going to find anyone that knows much about Set here."

As if her words were cursed, the door opened up. A grey and black series of cats, both Set, came in with a raccoon gentlemen, arriving on counter two seats from Becca. The girl looked on.

One of the Set, the shorter of the two tipped his hat and spoke to the chinchilla bartender. "Mrs. Lora, my usual." "Mr. Riggs! What a surprise!" Mrs. Lora replied, bringing him a glass of whiskey.

Jack looked at the Set cat. "Mr. Riggs?" Riggs looked at Jack and Becca. "You girls looking for a job? Because a new brothel just opened up across the streets." The raccoon said.

Jack instantly hated this man.

 

"We're not interested in getting a job. I'm looking for a guy who knows about Set magic." Jack replied. The two Sets in front of Riggs didn't even look back at her. "Or, knows about these Red jewels. Know anyone like that?"

They gave a slight 'hmm' and 'mmh' before taking out three orbs, and a small pastel- scaled fish. "As we explained Riggs, you find the fish, we pay your debts. You fail and you're paying for our dinner tonight." The taller Set said, the hoodie atop his head concealing his forehead. The Set in front of Riggs explained. "Yes, yes I see." Riggs said.

"Pay attention and follow carefully." The tall Set popped open one of the orbs into split halves, plopped the fish in and then with a spin, of each, began to levitate and rotate the orbs around himself. Becca watched them fly around his arms and neck, head and waist like comets streaking over one's form. They spun so fast that they became merged blurs and intermingled for minute, then slowed down again slowly distinguishing as 3 separate spheres.

Riggs took the orbs and looked them over. "This one," he pointed to the orb by the Set's left hand.

The Set slowly pried it open, revealing nothing inside.

"Ohoho, just not your lucky day! Sorry champ." He said. The Racoon looked at the orb with a squint, then noticed his arm watch and wallet was missing and growled. He grabbed the 2nd orb and forcefully propped it open. "W-wait a sec buddy-" He then opened the last orb. The fish was absent in all 3.

"You're dead pussy."

The tall Set, who'd watched this all with amusement reached into his hoodie's pockets, stretched them out and revealed nothing underneath. "Lady luck's just not in your favor."

"Fuck luck." The Raccoon grabbed his neck.

Suddenly the lower Set hopped on Rigg's shoulders. "Monsieur, we assure you we don't

make money this way." The tall Set said. "We make money with girls, the brothels. My friend here's an expert in martial arts, not gambling. Why don't you just give us a check, or some of that cocaine? 5 grams, and you're all.. Set." The two burst into laughter. The younger Set laughed so hard, he started to cough out, spitting a fish, a wallet and expensive watch with a coughing fit.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" The Racoon reached for his blaster, the two Set going for their knives and a crossbow. "HEY!" The bartender said. "You're going to give me some kind of heart attack here! And stop all this mess with my bar. This is all going to end in a riot!"

 

The Racoon started firing shots off, hitting bottles on the walls and scorching a rat lady's evening dress. "Eep!" She hid under the chair. As the Racoon began chasing the Two set around the bar, numerous ladies of different species and breeds giggled and taunted the boys, even throwing coins and rice as if they celebrating a wedding. Everyone stopped when a loud shotgun went off onto the ceiling.

 

In the corner of the room was a sizable bird of some kind who practically reached the top of the room, her two beaked feet marching through with a silent fury. To Jack and Becca, she appeared to be a giant rooster of some kind wearing a leather belt, hanker-chief and suspenders. "The strong will take. The weak will break." The woman told the bar.

Her shotguns blasted off a volley of ammo into the ceiling, tearing the glass tiles of the ceiling apart, and the Racoon scurried away on all fours, ducking down under the tables. The two Set went for their blades, preparing for a fight.

"You wanna settle things? Go into the death-cage. If you're not willing to stake your life, just get the hell out of my bar." The tall bar women said.

The Racoon picked up his belongings, tucking the wallet away and tightening his watch, then slowly made his way out.

Becca and Jack's eyes grew wide. Jack put her hands up, "Squeakers beakers, that was

fun."

"Don't worry, you're safe here." The bartender said, the bar-lady nodding. "Sit down,

enjoy a drink, and we'll tell you about what we know about that jewel thingy."

The large feathered woman hopped over inbetween the bar stands and settled comfortably near her usual patrons.

"Mother hen! Things always get rowdy when you're not around." A poodle woman said. "Then you show up, and things become a RIOT!" A woman with a tall yellow neck, some

sort of giraffe species replied.

Becca looked at Jack, her eyes appearing completely blank and devoid of emotion. She didn't smile at her like the Chihuahua, nor spoke words. She was a quiet and calm girl like that.

"This woman's name is Vala Featherine, or Mother Hen as we all know her, she owns this bar and the property." The bartender said. "It's a good safespace for those sneaks and thieves looking go fill their thirst."

"She's a mother hen, to all of us" the otter chick behind the counter said, and with a giggle the other chick started bouncing the feathers on her head, winking at Vala. Most of the female patrons in the bar appeared quite chubby and opulent, many carrying boas and flapper dresses, fans and most Jack noticed had gun holsters, knives and hidden weapons.

"Now what did you want to ask us about?" Nancy asked, her wide rounded smile worthy of a cheek champion.

Jack looked around at the bar and took a deep breath. "Look, I'm the watchdog of this girl with a red gem on her forehead. We're looking for more answers about it and its powers."

Jack said. The room went silent.

"Those two cats names are Pipo and Jayne, Jayne's the one who's real name is Jay but he's going to transition into a female soon once they get a good pay. Pip's real name is.. uh, Pip. They're really good at gambling. Bounty hunting, mercenary work. Also as you've noticed, stealing." The bartender replied. "Watch your belongings around them girls." She whispered.

The other two chicks nodded in agreement.

 

Jack slowly approached the two set men, the Raccoon still shaking. "What were you guys trying to do?"

"Excusez moi, what beautiful manner of angel are you?" Pipo asked. Jack squinted as the smaller Set's thick french accent. "Mug the 'coon, get what we could and take the money." Pipo answered.

"That seemed pretty stupid, to mug someone in a place like this." Jack said. The cat scoffed at Jack.

"Merci for your concern. Yet, not every bartender is willing to protect us like this lady." The other Set, Jayne spoke up. "We were just jokin' around is all."

"We are professionals, we don't gamble like children!" Pipo snapped. Jack noticed the numerous gadgets strapped around his 2' body and waistbelt, a small handgun, knife, pepper spray, crossbow, a small crossbow launcher and a small gun strapped on to his arm.

 

"We're just here for our own enjoyment." Jayne responded.

"You're pretty serious then. I wonder, do you two know anything about Akura's magic?" "You mean, Set magic?" The two replied. Pipo cleared his throat. "Yeah, well let's see, the

Set are a race born in other realms, we can use magic, a sort of mysticism, as well as-"

"Not that." Jack interrupted. She walked back, dragged Becca towards them as if dragging a carcass and then pointed to the red gem on her forehead. "This. What the hell is this?"

Pipo reached out with his hand, taking a spyglass and looking at the gem closely.

Jack placed Becca's hand into his, and the Set's gloved hands reached out for it. Jack and the Chihuahua rubbing a mug watched the Set's body go tensed and wavy, his eyes closing and mouth widening. A small crackle of static and feedback like the opening of an amplifier broke through the air.

"I know what that is.. it's one of the 9 sacred jewels of the Set. Only Set in Caldera know it's location, we're told its called the Akura's Sacred Eye. Legend says if a Set woman wears it, she'll become very strong, like a goddess." The two replied, closing the spyglass. He cleared his throat. "Regular jewels are merely memory trinkets, passed through one's lineage.

The taller Set, Jayne pulled his hood up revealing a smaller similar jewel, with a dull maroon shade.

 

Jayne laughed. "It's like this, but mine's not as.. beautiful or potent. The memories of our ancestors and mothers are kept inside there, and their mothers before them." They looked at Becca, eyeing the vacant girl who simply stared out. "You're not a Set, are you?" They asked. "Your a human."

"Uh.. well.." Jack scratched her head. "Her current body- she is, a halfling. A Set mother and another one from, some crawlie type in Orchid. That's why she doesn't look quite as, catty."

Pipo shrugged. "I can't explain to you what it means to us or what happens when one accepts a jewel when you do that. It's a spiritual bond between us and this world. Usually it's

only done between family or, how you say, Tu es l'amour de ma vie."

Jack didn't quite understand the phrase. Pipo leaned into Jayne and made kissy faces, stroking his cheek. "We're lovers." He cuddled against Jayne as if they were someone's leg. "But even then, mon amour has not offered me his jewel yet. It's a huge personal commitment between Set. The closet to it is, those rings Xi'ans like to exchange between partners, but its not even half as deep really."

"Is there anyway to get it off? My friend stopped being herself once it latched onto her." Jack leaned on the counter distraught.

"Not that we can offer, only a Set Priestess can annul such a bond. But you must know that she's in danger if she keeps that on her head. The Xi'ans will try to take her if they know it."

"Honestly they'll try to take her anyway."

"Not that we're any different-" Jayne cut Jack off, waving a knife in his hands like a wannabe gangster.

"The Xi'ans are worse than us. Every Set in Caldera and Black Nova knows this. They aren't just thugs and mercs, they're traitors and spies to the Set. If it's not the Xi'ans then it's the SPARTA soldiers who'll come after her. All of the realms watch out for one another. Only the Xi'ans are outright enemies."

The Chihuahua watched them get upset as Pipo spoke.

"Oh will you cut it out. We're all criminals here. Set, Xi, who cares about that among thieves." She poured a customer a mug of rum and threw some limes in. "Xi'ans are just as dangerous to felons from Xi as they are your sort. Nationalities don't mean anything here." She told them. Lora the chinchilla spoke up. "Course, we know you have your reasons.. What with the Xistress.."

 

Jayne gave her an angry glare, like daggers through the eyes. "Mistress of the bar, with all do respect. Don't you dare bring up the Xistress to me, madam tender." Lora gulped and began shaking in fright. Jack and Becca could sense something was really weird going on, and Jack felt she'd poked the wrong horn so to speak.

 

"Sorry it's just that we.. have our reasons. Those bastards have murdered half of the Set's in Caldera." Jayne said, still giving the chinchilla a hostile look. "The Xistress murdered my mom, and Pipo's aswell and all of the ones on her pirate ship died too. We wouldn't have survived if not for Mother Hen taking us in." Pipo replied, the other Set speaking quietly and still scowling. The whole bar grew silent.

 

Jayne's voice turned to a low hiss, his teeth showing. "The Xistress is an outright murderous bastard." He started to stand up and head for the street alleys for a smoke. "One day.. revanche for pour ma mère." Pipo looked at the group of chubby drunk woman with a thump of his tail and joined Jayne.

 

Soon the bartender pushed a cold beer-filled mug in Jack's direction. "Don't worry about those two They're just a bit dramatic, we'll always be there to take care of them."

"Thanks. And how come all these ladies are here, and this place is a criminal hotspot?" Jack asked, raising her glass. The bartender nodded. "Mother Hen takes care of all her 'chicks' as she likes to call us. She watches her girls and makes sure they're always protected." She smiled and nodded, and the chubby bartender and her assistants giggled and blew kisses at her. "Plus she's got the best cocktails and drinks in the world." She laughed, pointing out a pink flamingo with a top hat.

"Mother Hen doesn't mind anyone who's willing to work hard to earn a good drink in a safe place, and she'll even make you feel at home. It's not a bar just for thieves, it's a bar for anyone who wants a good time and to feel safe. She was good friends with their mothers, a set of Set Caldera pirates named Captain Joko and her lieutenant, Mizuki who were like.. pirate- goddesses to many here. They protected this bar and Caldera, and Mother Hen respected them. They died during a raid on a smuggling operation the Xistress oversaw personally, but it was never the same without them. Pipo's mother was a great fighter and tactician, Jayne's was the Captain herself. We're always going to miss them."

"I can understand how your patrons and you feel." Jack replied.

Jack raised her glass. "So all this is like..a rebel's haven, but the good kind?" She asked. The group of chubby bartenders laughed and pointed a thumbs up at her. "Nightlife's not for thugs, it's for the ones who've worked hard and earned a good cocktail."

They clinked their drinks.

"We're not so different, we're all just felons after all." "We're just doing our jobs."

"The Xi authorities are just a pain in the ass. If I see them, I'll probably get pissed, maybe a little drunk then go kick some of their ass." The large feathered bar owner said as she recharged her shotgun, two smaller poodle chicks nodding.

"Sounds like a great plan. Mother Hen, I'm going to owe you one." Jack said, holding out her hand for a high five. The lady reached out, holding out her wing and feathers. She then gently pulled Jack's arm to give her a shake, accidentally pulling the gem forward. She tripped and knocked over the barstool Becca was on, sending their seat, two girls and their large pod rolling out. Everyone took notice.

"Whoah!" She said, grabbing them both to pull them up. She looked down at the sphere, its frosted surface like a fogged window. "Oh, I don't think that was a good idea-" Jack tried to say.

"What is, this-?" Mother Hen started to wipe her feathers across the glass, slowly moving the fogged surface as if it were an ice-covered window.

The bar owner pulled back her hand, startled at what was on the glass. "That's.." She said, her beak trembling as comprehension dawned on her.

Becca stood there, staring forward. Everyone in the bar stopped, some gawking, some holding back a gasp. "She's the Xistress." Jack replied. Jack watched her stare forward, her eyes appearing like something from another dimension, or a different plane of existence. Mother Hen's mouth was open, as if a void had opened up. Everyone else in the bar watched her jaw drop in awe. The bird's feathers started to droop, her skin getting paler, her eyes closing and she started to go limp. Jack could see the light leaving her face. Everyone else in the bar stared in stunned terror. Mother Hen's large body was already starting to puff up and become inflated, her winged arms as a covering her face. The lady's body slumped to the floor, her head rolling off to the side, her eyes staring up at the ceiling like she had to rethink her entire existence. The chubby patrons and the three chubby working chicks behind bar counter stared in wide-eyed horror.

Becca slowly blinked and then started to speak. She spoke to the room with the softest, most dead-level voice of all of them, letting slip a single word.

 

"Oops."

The room went silent.

 

Once she recovered, Mother Hen went to the backroom to smoke her sweet-stinking

pipe, and in a few minutes it slowly melted away from visibility in a vaporous haze. The rest of the bar all looked back at Becca who appeared just as vacant as before. Soon the two Set boys returned into the Bar. Everyone in the bar's jaws were still agape, the patrons slowly went back to drinking, the ones who'd been playing cards, and the cocktail mixing chicks behind the bar as if nothing had happened, whistling awkwardly.

As Becca sat on the Xistress's pod, Jack leaned against the wall, hoping something else would come up, some sort of plan.

 

If they knew the Xistress was here, they'd have killed her by now and maybe herself too. She sat against the wall, holding her head down as if she had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders, and pondered at the two Set. As the Two noticed the bar goers looking awkwardly and the air being everybit suspicious, Becca struggled to balance atop the sphere. Before they could look her way Jack put her gameface on and jumped towards the two. "MY HEROES. That raccoon earlier was actually a dangerous trafficker! He kidnapped me and my dear sister, we were looking to get revenge on him for ages before you pulled one over him!"

 

"Mr. Riggs? He was a pansy mademoiselle, you're saying that one had touched your virgin cleft?"

"Y-yes!" She replied, standing in front of Becca to block visibility. "I couldn't believe it either."

"Did he touch you in the worst of ways? The fiend! To have raped such a beautiful gem as yourself."

Jack felt she'd taken it too far. "Uhh, what I meant was.." Becca felt her bum starting to wobble, she was losing balance again and beginning to roll in the backdrop at Sandra's sphere. Jack grabbed both their cheeks.

 

"I've fallen in love with you both!"

The two Set lovers looked at one another, then at the gem girl. "You're, ahh.. in what?"

The Gem manifested her crowbar and shifted it into an umbrella, dangling it above both to block their vision of Becca performing a whole circus act in the bar, trying to obscure their visions. "My dashing kitties, it's true! Your elegant charms, the scent of your hair, it all enamored my fragile mind. I would love to spend my entire life with the both of you, as one couple."

They stared at her in horror. "What's gotten into you, my virgin angel?" Pipo asked.

"We just saw you talking with the other patrons, what were you doing just earlier?" Jayne

asked.

"That? O-oh, uh we were coming up with a poem! I told them I was planning to propose,

and they were helping me write it!"

The two looked at her, Pipo looking like he was going to cry. "Oh it's true, we're all about that romance here!" Mother Hen returned, sitting on the bar. "Love stories are the most important thing in life. The most important thing about any of us being here at all."

Pipo and Jayne looked at each other, then at Jack. They both raised their eyebrows. Becca continued to roll around the room, Jack standing in front of both the cat's faces. "Ahem, my sonnet-"

"Dear, we're really truly flattered. But me and my monsieur are truly a pair, for one another's hearts only. ou truly are so nice and dear, and you look beautiful, but we're.. already taken." Pipo replied, putting his paws in his lap.

"Ahhh. That's such a shame! It's true my dears, for I'd have spent my entire life with the

both of you!"

"But we're gay for each other, not for you, my lovely." Jayne finished, holding his hand up and shaking it. The patrons looked on at her, everyone slowly sidestepping their chubby, stubby bodies, boas and fans to block Becca and hide them from the two. The two noticed the commotion as Becca finally crashed into a shelf and fell over. "Enough of this, my sweet one." Pipo leapt over her and looked at the crowd. "What's going on back there?"

 

Mother Hen, noticing the orb rolling away from the patrons leapt through the air, rolled over and landed completely atop it, her large size covering the entire sphere with her derriere. Her buttcheeks felt freezing cold against the sphere. "Don't look! I'm laying an egg!" She shouted. Everyone stared at her as she sat there, trying to get a grip. Everyone except for the 2 Set, who were extremely confused.

"What's all this?" Jayne asked.

"Je suis stupéfait." Pipo said, crawling on the floor towards Mother Hen. Having no more of the charade, he began to push under Mother Hen, his surrogate mother's fluffy feathered booty and sneak underneath her volume until he felt something round and hard. An egg? He thought. The two pushed and pulled underneath the giant bird chick, who was sitting and fidgeting, her eyes open wide, her feet trembling and the air feeling like it was about to give way. The entire Bar began to get a sinking feeling. Slowly Pipo crawled back out, the Set freeing himself from underneath Mother Hen shocked. "She really has laid a little one! My goodness, I haven't seen anything like that in ages. I truly thought Mother Hen was committed to being a bar spinster!"

Jayne scratched his furry cheek. "An egg hm? Never would have guessed she'd knock herself up."

Becca's eyes, finally back to their vacant look, watched all of this in a distant wonder, her arms at her sides as she watched the spectacle. Jack leaned against the wall and watched the whole thing.

 

"I'm very happy for her." Jayne replied.

"Aww, bless your heart." Mother Hen replied, the feeling of gravity changing in the bar.

Her eyes were starting to glaze over from the immense cold. "I just knew it was time. Being a mother was-"

Suddenly the bar heard a loud crack. After an awkward pause, cold fluid began to puddle beneath Mother Hen, frosty steam leaving her backside. The whole bar, feeling the air growing icy and dark and hearing the rumbling in the floorboards, were beginning to look to one another like it was end of the world. Mother Hen slowly shifted back onto her butt, her eyes starting to melt and disappear, her legs wobbling to the side.

"Madame Hen.. you're leaking." Pipo told her.

The two boys watched her with concern. "I'm freezing cold!" She wobbled and swayed. "Did it hatch!?" He asked.

"It's just me laying an egg!" Mother Hen replied, starting to quake and wobble, until she couldn't take the cold-steam and finally leapt off, icicles forming on her butt. The two Set looked with deep concern and were drawn to the 'egg' she'd laid, noticing the cracked glass.

"Ahh-" Jack said, grabbing Becca arms. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

 

As the two boys looked down at the sphere, Pipo looked at Jayne. His eyes widening as if the coldness of the pod itself started to sink into him. They looked down at it, both feeling a sudden chill.

"Madame, I don't know how to say this- but your egg.. it's-" Pipo stammered. "It.. broke.."

The two looked down at the pod, suddenly noticing how the light began to emanate from it once more, the crystalline glow appearing again, and it was a cold feeling of despair when they looked into it. A coldness like the feeling of being lost, alone, with no family or friends, without a home, job, a life or hope. A coldness like a cold-hearted abyss, the chill of a dark heartless place like Black Nova. A coldness so deep and dark it felt like it was never meant to be seen. It felt like there was nothing but a hopeless future like a black tunnel. An abyss, a darkness, a void. "Mother Hen.."

 

Pipo reached for his crossbow. "You laid the Xistress."

The room fell silent and the entire bar fell as one, feeling the coldness of that icy sphere deep in their bones.

"Augh.." Jack said, shaking Becca and running towards the door.

"Wait." Pipo said towards Jack, shooting an arrow at the door that stabbed inches from her face into the metallic surface. "What is going on here? How did you get the Xistress to manifest?" He asked, his arms twitching.

 

Seeing their ruse was up, Jack gave up on sneaking out and walked back towards the bar. "I did nothing wrong. She tried to attack us, and a friend of ours so we put her in that prison. If she gets in our way, we may as well consider her the opposition."

Jayce pulled out their phone. "Xistress is still touring the Diacritus Star system right

now."

"No, that's the real Xistress." Jack said, crossing her arms as if she were a little girl. "We

don't know what's going on but whoever Galanet is displaying, is not really her."

 

Pipo and Jayne's faces were aching, their eyes starting to quake as they looked into the pod and stared. They'd never seen anything like it before, not even in their wildest dreams or drunkest nights.

"Sacré bleu. I-I.. can't believe it.." Pipo said, taking a few steps towards it and looking down at the pod. "You've brought her right to us! RIGHT TO US! AeeeeeeeEEEEEE!!" He took out his knife and leapt atop the sphere, attempting to stab the top repeatedly. The other patrons tried to pull him off, watching freezing fluid geyser out from the cracks he created as his legs kicked and squirmed.

 

They finally grabbed him, pulling him off the sphere, grabbing him and pulling him into a backroom, his screams and shrieks heard throughout the bar.

 

Jayne took out a miniature R90-P electron-pistol and aimed it at the sphere. "Sorry guys." His deep voice said, laced with regret. "But she killed my mom Jack heard the sound of the shotgun booming as her pistol cracked out of his hands. Mother Hen's body quaked as the booming sounded off, echoing loudly across the bar, shotgun in her hand. "Jay-Jay, I practically raised you so please think. It's not worth getting mama hen's bar shut down for your-"

Suddenly Pipo leapt atop her head, his claws clinging to her neck's fur tuft.

 

Jayne took out razorwire and tried to whip the sphere, Jack taking her umbrella to defend. The entire bar exploded into screams, cries and shouts, the girls ducking and crawling for cover. Jayne and Pipo began fighting to overpower the giant hen and kill the Xistress, then

the two boys began to fight, clawing and punching one another.

Everyone in the bar was in shock, the chubby bar girls covering their eyes, Jayne and Pipo fighting over the ball, screaming over the noise and trying to overpower one another. Then Jack inbetween both who they kicked and clawed it, until finally Becca climbed up a wall, dropped from the ceiling and tackled both. Her device forced a red stopsign projected over her head.

 

 

"Waaahh!" Jayne cried, trying to claw his way into the pod. Jack bonked him on the head with her Umbrella. "No, bad." She sighed. "Think for a second you idiot. None of us need that kind of heat on our heads or to let her out."

"My little angel." Pipo said, looking at Jayne. "That woman is-" The two ran to Mother

Hen.

"Dear little kitties, we're only here because we're outlaws from the galaxy she built."

Mother Hen said, pulling the two off her, her feathers glowing an amber, her body warm and fluffy. "You guys have got to stop fighting!"

 

Everyone finally calmed down, the emotions dissipating like static electricity through the air cracking through all the tension. The sphere was nearly a third drained, and part of Sandra's forehead had begun to dry free from the drained fluid. "Ugh, we cracked it too much! We need to refill the fluids inside."

Mother Hen nodded. "Lora, get me the Sip-nozzle." She said, before being handed a large hose from the counter connected to their brewery kegs underground. Swiftly, the matron of the HEARTS AND STARDUST COCKTAIL BAR started to rapidly refill the lost hydro-statis cryogentic fluid with stale alcohol which cooled to -190 within the pod. The patrons helped her hold it down, the two boys and Becca helping her hold the sphere in place.

"I mean, you can't just- put the Xistress in there with liquor. What will happen?" Jack

asked.

"She can pay her tab when we're done with her." Mother Hen told her. "The hydro-

carbons within the cryopod are ethanol and water, alcohol is mostly the same composition. It should be fine." She said. She had her bartender workers get her a blowtorch and a few stretchy plastic plates, and Mother Hen started welding the cracks shut by melting the plates over the surface to stop the leaks.

 

The two boys looked at the pod, and noticed the coldness begin to die down in the room. "Oui, je suis desolée." Pipo remarked, putting his paw to his chest, as the chill began to

fade away from the room.

"So then.. she's still in there.." Jack said. "The Xistress, she's trapped in that pod." "Yeah.." Jayne replied, trying to grab the sphere. "And the Xistress is going to stay in

here."

Mother Hen shook her head. "But we've got bigger fish to fry, my dear boys. The Caldera

authorities will make a huge ruckus if she's discovered. We've got the Xistress herself in here! What are we gonna do?" She asked.

 

"Don't get mad but we're gonna keep her prisoner. There are other things to deal with." Jack told them, her arms still folded. "But, we cannot keep lugging her around. It's really not advantageous for the two of us. SO... can we trust you to leave her here? In your care Mother Hen?"

The bar owner looked the two boys over, her brow furrowing as she tried to take it in. "So, you mean to say.. I'm just supposed to keep her prisoner here in the back until you figure out what to do next?"

Jack nodded. "We'll come back, but.. we're in a bit of a bind now."

The two boys looked at her. "You know we're gonna owe you a LOT of free drinks." Pipo said, the room's temperature finally beginning to shift towards normalcy. "Don't think this means we've forgiven her or anything. In my opinion, giving her a long rest is way too good for her. I'd love to stick an knife in her ass."

"I'd stick an arrow in her right now. If she could get that damned ball out of her I'd.. I'd.. " Jayne said, shaking and trembling like the cold had entered his heart. Mother Hen comforted him.

 

 

"This is an enormous responsibility to keep up though.. she's.. you're.. trusting us.. with the most evil creature in existence." Pipo said, hand still trembling on his crossbow, the short catboy seeing Sandra's face inside the chilled glass like sleeping beauty ready to be awakened by a romantic kiss.

"And we're trusting you to not let her escape." Jack added.

The two shook their heads, their faces full of deep concern, their eyes looking like they were looking at the devil herself. "But, don't we have any other choice? If she gets out and the Caldera authorities find her here.." Jayne asked.

 

"I've got no choice, my boys. I've only got one bar and one life to live." Mother Hen replied, her face serious. "And I've spent my entire life living my life as an outlaw, and I'm not spending it by running from my responsibilities. I won't surrender her to the law. I won't sell her out to the mob. Trust me Mother Hen to keep her principles." She pointed to the sphere. "If it's up to me, I'm gonna keep that woman right here until you're ready to face her and take her back out into the world."

 

Jack smiled. "Good." She noticed Becca was licking a dish on the counter like a cat. "And you two!" She turned to Pipo and Jayne. "Forget the bartab. You need to research

or find a way to get that red jewel off her head! Are you able to do that? If you do, maybe we can

talk about unfreezing the big honcho and letting you two and confront her. Cause you know.. I'm keeping her here to give you all some breathing room to figure out the rest! We cannot go anywhere with her mind like this right now."

 

The two looked at each other and nodded. "I suppose we can. The Akura's Sacred Eye... it's not something we can just rip off of her head." Jayne said.

"You better not, Pips.." Jack replied.

"If there's a way to get that thing off her head, we'll find it." Pipo replied. "By the way, were you genuine about, your love confession mi'lady? Would you perhaps be open to say, a three way?"

"Ugh, get away from me I'm going to be barfing up my guts soon if this keeps up." The gem said.

"Boys." Mother Hen said. "Behave. Jack, I have friends in a few hotels nearby, I'll set you

both up with a room while they research the jewel."

"That's perfect." Jack said, relieved they'd have a place to stay.

As the rollicking night at the bar continued, the two Set boys left to go to another of Mother Hen's locations to rest up and figure out how to take the jewel off of her head.

The two cats slowly made their way into the dark night of the town, their friends' screams of joy and the roaring celebration behind them. Finally alone, just the two of them, their hearts sinking to their stomachs, the two boys walked on in complete silence, the cold air settling in around them. The lights of Black Nova's citylights looked like a million golden ambient moons in the eyes of both Set, the dark shadow of the Xistress' cryoprison in their thoughts like a crystal too perfect to pass up. They climbed atop an obsidian skyscraper, carrying themselves gracefully and skillfully before leaning into one another's arms. They snuggled tightly and purred, kissing lips and claws as they held one another in the cold brisk night.

 

Mother Hen turned and looked at the sphere, her eyes going wide as she took a deep breath. "Well.. we've got the Xistress locked up tight here. We're gonna keep that as our little secret, yeah? Two of the rounded poodle patrons started to take out stickers and markers and decorate the sphere, the entire group of rogues taking to her like a little baby egg. Their newest guest, as cherished as any other. As the patrons celebrated with drinks, dancing and song, the pudgy regulars grabbed Jack and Becca and had them swinging atop the counter in wild dances of excitement.

The roosters and chinchillas and dalmatians and kolas can-caned Atop the bar table and spilt champagne about, spinning Becca in

a big circle until she was dizzy. Mother Hen smiled, her girls were back with their old selves, ready to party and live their lives without care.

They drank tequila and rum and fireballs and coldballs and liquor while recounting the wild criminality of each patron’s past, reveling in the shared tales of their old lives on the run, their eyes lighting up as if someone else brought the same glow to their world as they do to theirs. Although her mind was far and from where she once was, Becca felt a true sense of camaraderie and hadn’t enjoyed herself this much since her old days in NeoCity. Among the howls and the hisses, the flirts and drunks she arm wrestled, slurped down bottles, made love freely and couldn’t give a single care for tomorrow’s end. For the days of her old life, as Becca the mercenary, Becca the Wand, Becca the lost were long behind her, the perilous future Absent from the bar gala was far ahead of her. She was home, and for now, with the bar a home away from home, she’d be quite content.

 

She ignored the emergency broadcast that played on the TV, an sheeny-suited anchor woman alerting the entire galaxy that the Highfleet had been deployed and on high-alert from incursions within Xi’s own space, and a crisis unlike any since the warring periods of the Ximperium was about to begin.