Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
To many, being cooped up inside a spaceship for that long would've driven them to madness. But Bella wasn't just anyone. She had prepared for this kind of isolation. Instead of boredom, she embraced productivity.
Her focus? The study of simulated man-made suns, a rare branch of science that held massive potential. Diving into the technical materials filled her days. When she wasn't poring over pages of research, she was either perfecting new combat techniques or poking fun at the tiny spirit, Sally, who liked to float around like an energetic wisp.
And when she truly wanted to push herself, she'd spar mentally with Loki.
Though not as physically powerful as his brother Thor, Loki's magical knowledge was vast, like that of a seasoned sorcerer. His natural inclination leaned toward manipulation and illusion rather than brute strength, and his spell repertoire ran deep. Bella often pestered him to teach her useful spells, and while he resisted at times, she managed to learn more than she let on.
One spell in particular—memory reading—stood out. Loki had once used it to unearth fragments of Valkyrie's past, a tragic history tied to the fall of her sisters at Hela's hands. It hadn't gone well for him—she'd decked him hard—but the spell's potential was undeniable.
Bella didn't mind the limited results. Knowledge was knowledge, and every trick counted.
That evening, the spaceship drifted through the vast quiet of space, humming along at high speed. In the dining chamber, warm golden lights shimmered above, casting a soft glow over the table where Bella and Loki were eating. For all the technology packed into the ship, their meal was simple—delicious but familiar.
Their tastes, oddly enough, aligned well.
The spaceship came with an advanced storage unit that preserved food perfectly, locking in flavors and textures. Every bite tasted fresh, and the two were clearly enjoying themselves.
Meanwhile, little Sally floated nearby, her wide eyes locked onto the food with longing.
She couldn't eat—yet.
Bella noticed her drooling and smiled gently.
"Don't worry, Sally," she said with affection. "I promise, one day, you'll be like a normal girl again. You'll be able to eat all this."
"Really, Sister Bella?" Sally asked, her voice filled with hope and wonder.
"Absolutely." Bella nodded with certainty.
In truth, Bella had already traced down the people responsible for Sally's condition. She knew where they were. She knew what they had done. The only reason she hadn't acted yet was because she was waiting for the right moment—when their twisted experiment concluded.
And when that time came, she would destroy them all.
A flicker of icy resolve flashed through Bella's eyes.
Loki noticed it from across the table and silently nodded to himself. He wasn't the sentimental type, but even he felt a twinge of sympathy for the poor fools who had earned Bella's wrath.
Sally, blissfully unaware of Bella's inner storm, continued to float happily around the ship, dreaming of a normal life—one where she could enjoy tasty food, cuddle cats, and sleep in her big sister's arms.
Just then, the soft lighting of the spaceship abruptly turned red.
An alarm screamed to life, pulsing through the ship in harsh bursts.
Bella's demeanor shifted instantly. She snatched Sally and sealed her safely back into the gemstone necklace.
Loki rushed to the control room.
The main screen flickered to life, and what it displayed sent a chill through the cabin.
A fleet of warships was approaching fast.
There was a stark difference between ordinary spaceships and warships. While the former were equipped for travel with basic defenses, the latter were built for battle—heavily armed with devastating weapons, some even capable of leveling planets.
Their own ship, though agile and well-equipped, was small and built for stealth. It couldn't take on an entire armada.
Loki moved to initiate a wormhole jump—a desperate escape tactic—but the system flashed a red warning:
"Surrounding space locked. Wormhole travel impossible."
Trying to jump now would shred them into particles. Space around them was frozen in chaos.
"The visitor is clearly hostile," Loki muttered, almost amused. But despite his dry humor, there was tension in his posture.
Bella joined him at the cockpit. Through the thick reinforced window, she saw the enemy ships closing in. While there were no planet-crushing super-dreadnoughts, a swarm of medium-class warships was bad enough.
Their hulls were dented, scraped, and patched—battle-worn like junkyard killers.
The answer became clear in Bella's mind: space pirates.
She'd studied galactic threats with Loki, and space pirates were high on that list. Lawless raiders, they preyed on merchant vessels, looted cargo, and sold survivors into slavery. Unlike the romanticized pirates of Earth's oceans, these were merciless monsters in steel coffins.
If you fell into their hands, your fate was worse than death.
The pirates latched onto Loki's ship with an electromagnetic tether, forcing it to dock. Soon after, the two of them were dragged aboard the lead vessel by a group of heavily armed raiders.
The stench hit them instantly.
Inside the pirate ship, the air was foul—a mix of blood, sweat, grease, burnt wiring, and cheap alcohol.
Bella wrinkled her nose. Loki rolled his eyes.
They were led into a large chamber lined with scrap metal and flickering lights. Pirates surrounded them, humanoid in shape but wearing ragged armor and salvaged gear.
Then the crowd parted.
A massive alien stepped forward—over two meters tall, muscles bulging like boulders. His presence sucked the noise out of the room.
Then he saw Bella.
And everything changed.
The pirates' eyes widened. Their mouths hung open. They weren't prepared for this.
They were raiders. Fighters. Monsters in human form.
But none of them had ever seen a woman like Bella.
Her form-fitting black jacket and athletic gear hugged her curves, but it was her face—elegant, fierce, magnetic—that stunned them. She didn't look soft. She looked like a wild flame wrapped in steel.
And they wanted her.
"She's mine," the pirate boss growled without hesitation.
The crew erupted into protest.
"What?! Boss, that's not fair!"
"Yeah! Why do you get first pick?"
"You always do this!"
The room exploded in chaos. Pirates shouted, weapons were unslung, arguments grew heated.
Loki took a breath, preparing to step forward and de-escalate the situation by pulling rank or declaring his heritage.
Then he looked at Bella's face.
Cold. Silent. Focused.
He froze and stepped back.
"...Never mind," he muttered. "Let's see how this plays out."
Bella's eyes gleamed with fury, her lips twitching in a slow, dangerous smile.
They didn't know who they had just tried to claim.
They were about to learn.
The hard way.
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