Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Initially, the excitement of their triumph was intoxicating.

Dancing to the end of the galaxy with her friends and all the hostages they’d rescued… The sheer relief of being alive and safe and free…

But as the energy of the crowd eventually began to die down into a contented sense of peace and they gradually started to disperse and return home, Ulala realised that their victory wasn’t quite as resounding as it had initially felt.

“Fuse, the station… Where are we going to go now?” Biting her lip nervously, she looked over at her boss.

The lean, dark-haired man looked no worse for wear despite his near-death experience when the Space Channel 5 space station had exploded. Nonetheless, he seemed to have no instructions or answers for Ulala for once, merely frowning as he pondered their predicament.

“I can likely pull some strings to requisition the construction of a replacement space station for us, but it’ll take some time.” Space Michael, their immortal Station Chief, commented as he walked over to join their small group.

“The rest of our people should be alright,” Fuse noted. “We probably won’t be broadcasting for a while, so they can take a leave of absence while we rebuild; go visit their families on Earth, or take a vacation or something.”

“That still leaves the four of us though,” Noize piped up. “The Astrobeat is large enough to fit us, but it’s not meant for long-term stay.”

And that was another miracle too; that both Fuse and their ship had somehow survived the explosion. Nonetheless, Noize was right. The four of them were the only ones who had lived in the station full–time.

Fuse, being the Director of the Reporting Division, needed to be on call at all hours in case emergency situations popped up. Given that he was an absolute workaholic, he didn’t seem to mind it either.

Noize, as his assistant and their resident teen genius, stayed on board as well; from what Ulala remembered, his only family was a distant aunt on Earth, who was quite happy to not have to bear the responsibility of housing, feeding and raising him.

Space Michael? Well. Ulala wasn’t sure if he even needed to sleep at all. In any case, any place he’d once had on Earth was long gone, after centuries out in space. He was practically part of the station itself by now.

That just left Ulala herself. Ever since Space Channel 5 had rescued her from the spaceship accident that had orphaned her at the age of 12, she’d essentially become a ward of the station, growing up there and eventually becoming a full–fledged reporter once she came of age.

And now, her home was lost to her once again. Ulala usually wasn’t much of a crier, but for the second time today, she found herself trying to hold back her tears. Sure, they would eventually have a new space station to replace their destroyed one, but it wouldn’t be the same thing. The familiar hallways that she walked through every day… the room that had become her safe place for the past 10 years… All of that was irrevocably gone now.

“Ulala, are you alright?” A new voice spoke up at that moment, interrupting her gloomy thoughts. Startled, she looked up to see Jaguar studying her with something close to concern.

Ulala still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the enigmatic underground reporter.

On one hand, he acted aloof and standoffish most of the time. On the other hand, he had saved her life earlier this year during the Morolian incident. And despite the fact that he’d initially presented himself as a rival to her, he’d stood by her side during said incident, and once again today.

Well, after they’d freed him from Purge’s control, but still.

Looking at her rival turned ally more closely, Ulala thought she saw a flicker of some undefined emotion flash across his face. For once, his cool, confident poise was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he looked almost… troubled.

Before she could say anything, Fuse spoke up. “Jaguar! Good to see you again,” he greeted the other man.

This time, Ulala recognised the flicker of discomfort in Jaguar’s expression before he schooled his expression into something more neutral.

It occurred to Ulala that Fuse was still out of the loop on everything that had happened until the final confrontation with Purge. In other words, he was the only one amongst them who remained unaware that Jaguar had been Shadow, the ground leader of the Rhythm Rogues that they had been facing off with throughout this incident.

“Fuse,” Jaguar greeted him in return. “It’s good to see that you’re safe. I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I might have a solution to your dilemma, if you’re amenable to it.”

“Oh? What would that be?” Fuse asked curiously.

“Well, the Bad Tuning is an actual ship that’s meant to be lived in and not just for transport,” Jaguar explained. “If you’d like, you guys could stay onboard until your station is rebuilt.”

The Space Channel 5 crew exchanged surprised looks.

“Are you sure?” Ulala asked. “Won’t it be crowded for you and the rest of your crew?”

“My crew?” Jaguar looked confused.

“The other Space Pirate reporters, I mean,” Ulala clarified.

“Ah.” Now, the older reporter looked faintly embarrassed. “It’s just me at the moment, actually.”

“What? What happened to the Space Pirates who were with you during the Morolian incident?” Ulala questioned.

“They decided this life wasn’t for them and left to seek other prospects,” Jaguar explained. “You probably won’t be surprised to learn that being an independent underground reporter doesn’t exactly earn a lot of money. The Space Pirate Broadcasting Station tends to have a pretty high turnover rate as a result. For the past few months between the Morolian incident and my… kidnapping… it’s been just me.”

Once again, Ulala couldn’t help studying her fellow reporter. His tone had been matter of fact throughout his explanation, as though he was reporting any other piece of news. But there had also been a hint of what might have been regret in his eyes.

Ulala found herself wondering how long Jaguar had been alone throughout his life. Whether he ever felt lonely, being by himself most of the time. Perhaps his offer was not just out of kindness, but also partly out of a desire for companionship for a while.

“Well, I’m in if everyone else is,” Fuse declared. “What do the rest of you think?”

“Sounds good to me,” Space Michael agreed. “Noize, Ulala?”

“Anything to not have to go back to Auntie’s house,” Noize replied with a shudder.

“Yes… Thank you, Jaguar,” Ulala said with a nod and a smile.

Jaguar held her gaze for a moment longer, as though he wanted to say something else. Then he turned away, all business again.

“Well, the first order of business is retrieving the Bad Tuning from where I parked it. I just hope it hasn’t been towed, since it’s been months since I was… gone,” he commented with a slight wince.

“Speaking of which, where have you been, Jaguar?” Fuse asked curiously. “Your station went dark months ago, and there was no word on your whereabouts. You said something about being kidnapped?”

Jaguar flinched almost involuntarily.

“I…”

“It’s a long story, Fuse,” Ulala interrupted. “We can talk about that later.”

Jaguar shot her a look of surprise, mingled with gratitude, and she thought she heard him murmur something that sounded like “Thanks, Ulala”.

“Fair enough,” Fuse agreed. “Let’s be on our way then; it’s been a long few days.”

It didn’t take the Astrobeat too long to reach the spaceport where Jaguar had left the Bad Tuning all those months ago. To the relief of everyone, but especially Jaguar, the distinctive black–and–white spaceship was still there.

As soon as the Astrobeat touched down on the spaceport’s landing pad, Jaguar was out the door, making a beeline for his ship. Ulala and the others followed as soon as the Astrobeat had been parked safely, only to find Jaguar cursing under his breath as he pulled what looked like several pieces of paper off the front of his ship, one after another.

“What’s wrong?” Ulala asked.

“Parking tickets,” Jaguar explained with a wince. “Turns out you can’t park your ship at a spaceport and leave it there for several months without heavy fines. At least they didn’t tow it, but…”

Glancing at the tickets in his hands, he winced again. “I have no idea how I’m going to scrape together the funds to pay these off. And the ship won’t be going anywhere until I can do so…”

“Sounds like you need a hand,” a now–familiar voice interjected.

Turning, the group saw Pine, the space police chief that they’d first clashed with and then worked alongside earlier that day. She was still dressed in her cowboy outfit, but the slight smirk she wore was far friendlier than it had been at their initial meeting.

“Pine? What are you doing here?” Ulala looked at the other woman in surprise.

“We stopped here to refuel before returning to the Eastern Venus sector,” Pine explained. “Plenty of paperwork to deal with now that this whole mess is over, so we won’t be back this way for a while.”

“That’s a pity; we made a pretty good team today, didn’t we?” Ulala commented with a laugh.

Pine huffed out a laugh of her own. “I suppose we did,” she admitted. “I still can’t say I’m pleased that you disobeyed my orders earlier, but I must admit you were a valuable ally.”

Then, she straightened up, turning to look at Jaguar.

“In any case, I couldn’t help overhearing your predicament. While ordinarily I’d say that parking fines are there to punish traffic offenders, I think the circumstances involved warrant an exception in this case. Especially in light of what we’ve accomplished together today.

“I’ll talk to local enforcement here at the spaceport and see if I can get them waived for you,” she concluded, taking the stack of tickets from Jaguar. “Hang tight.”

Jaguar let out a sigh of relief. “That would be a huge help Pine, thank you.”

“Just don’t make a habit of it, got that?” Pine tossed a final smirk in his direction before walking away.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Pine to work her magic. In almost no time at all, she was back, handing Jaguar a stack of now–voided parking tickets with her customary smirk.

“There we go,” she said triumphantly.

“Pine… Thank you again, really.” Jaguar gave her a small, grateful smile. “I don’t know how I can repay you for this.”

“You can thank me by not breaking any other laws while my back is turned,” she replied with a grin. “Well, it’s time I was off. Maybe we’ll get to work together again the next time I’m back in this sector of space.”

With a final wave goodbye, Pine turned and left.

“Wait, Fuse… Where are we going to park the Astrobeat for the next few months?” Noize suddenly asked. “We definitely can’t leave it here.”

“Not to worry,” Fuse assured him. “I called in a favour with Channel 42 and got permission to store our ship on their station until we rebuild.”

Ulala groaned internally. Channel 42 meant she would probably have to see Pudding again.

Unlike her confused feelings towards Jaguar, Ulala could quite safely say that she had a love–hate relationship with the younger reporter. While she was a good ally when they teamed up during crises, more often than not, Pudding seemed to spend the rest of her time trying to upstage Ulala whenever they ran into each other.

Still, Ulala had to admit that Pudding had been a bit less antagonistic than usual this time around. She’d been surprisingly mature while they were infiltrating Purge’s base, and they certainly wouldn’t have been able to face off against and eventually free Jaguar without her presence.

Ulala still held out hope that over time, and with enough friendly overtures on her part, she would be able to befriend Pudding properly in lieu of their current status as frenemies. But right now, she was exhausted, and all she wanted to do was take a hot shower and then sleep for a hundred years.

Biting back a sigh, Ulala boarded the Astrobeat again, hoping that this would be a short trip.

Chapter Text

Jaguar had decided to stay behind to run a check on the Bad Tuning's systems and make sure nothing was malfunctioning after several months of disuse.

Promising he would catch up with the Space Channel 5 crew once he was finished, he bade them farewell for the time being as they flew off in the direction of Channel 42's space station.

Privately, Ulala suspected that he also wanted to spend some time alone with his ship first.

It was understandable, considering his months–long ordeal had only just ended. Jaguar probably wanted to reassure himself that he was truly free of Purge's control and able to return home at last.

Thinking back to Jaguar's obvious disorientation immediately after their Battle of the Bands faceoff, and again during Purge's twisted game of "Which one of them doesn't belong?", she found herself wondering how much the other reporter actually remembered about his time as Shadow.

As the Channel 42 station's landing pad came into view, Ulala filed that thought away for later.

Moments later, she, Noize and Space Michael had disembarked, while Fuse left to park the Astrobeat where they were being allowed to store it for the time being.

"What are you doing here?" An all–too–familiar voice called out from behind them.

Trying her best not to let her annoyance bleed through, Ulala turned to greet Pudding.

"Hello to you too, Pudding," she said with a slightly strained smile. "Don't worry, we're not staying for long."

"I know! That wasn't my question," Pudding retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "Although…"

Surprisingly, her expression seemed to soften ever so slightly as she looked at Ulala.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, after Purge… well, you know."

Ulala barely managed to stop herself from flinching.

Aside from the period where she'd thought that she'd just watched Fuse die, that was the other part of today that she most definitely didn't want to think about.

(So many energy blasts heading straight for her… Intense, all–consuming pain overwhelming her… Falling endlessly into the darkness beyond…)

She knew Pudding (probably) meant well, but she definitely, definitely did not want to think about how she'd almost died today.

Fortunately, Noize interrupted at that moment.

"We're waiting for Fuse to park the Astrobeat," he explained. "It's gonna be a while before we get our station rebuilt, so Jaguar offered to let us stay with him for the time being."

Pudding's expression was now one of incredulity.

"You're staying with Jaguar?! Good luck with that," she said with a disdainful laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ulala asked, feeling offended on Jaguar's behalf.

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about," Pudding insisted. "I mean, Jaguar's a total dreamboat, but he's also the type of guy who doesn't play well with others."

Look who's talking, Ulala thought to herself.

"He's always so cocky and aloof; it's not hard to see why he usually works alone," Pudding continued.

"I can't imagine what it'll be like living with him for months on end. You guys will probably drive each other nuts by the end of it."

Ulala opened her mouth to say something in Jaguar's defense, but before she could do so, someone called Pudding's name from somewhere in the distance.

"Looks like that's my cue," Pudding commented with a toss of her head. "I'd say see you around, but it sounds like that won't be the case for a while."

"Hopefully the next time we meet, it's under less dire circumstances," Ulala replied. "It was nice seeing you again, Pudding."

With a distinctly unladylike snort, Pudding turned on her heel and flounced off.

"She's certainly something, isn't she?" Space Michael commented with an amused smile.

Ulala let out a weary groan.

"I just wish she'd stop treating me like a threat to her position or whatever it is she thinks I am. It would be nice to be friendly rivals with her, instead of just plain rivals."

"Well, she's still young," Space Michael replied. "Given time, she'll probably grow out of it… mostly."

Before Ulala could reply, Fuse rejoined them.

"All done," he reported. "I also retrieved the spare clothes we kept onboard the Astrobeat for longer excursions; it's not much, but at least we'll have clean clothes to wear while we're living on the Bad Tuning."

With that, he handed Ulala and Noize a duffel bag each, keeping a third bag slung over his right shoulder.

"I'm afraid I don't have any clothes for you though, Space Michael," he added apologetically.

"Please don't worry about me, Fuse," Space Michael replied. "I'll be fine."

With nothing else to do for the time being, the four of them waited in silence for Jaguar's arrival, each lost in their own thoughts.

After what felt like an eternity (but was probably an hour or so at most), the Bad Tuning finally came into view.

Moments later, the ship landed, and Jaguar emerged.

"Sorry for the delay," he apologised. "I took the liberty of restocking some fresh supplies while I was still at the spaceport, since all I had left on board was space rations."

With a flourish, he beckoned to them.

"Welcome aboard the Bad Tuning."

Once they were in the air and out of Channel 42's airspace, Jaguar put the ship on autopilot and gave them a quick tour of the Bad Tuning.

Aside from the functional parts of the ship like the cockpit and the engine room, there was a small kitchen and pantry, which was freshly restocked as Jaguar had mentioned.

The common area of the ship beside the kitchen area served as both a dining area and a place where they could sit and relax or socialise.

There was also a small dance studio, which Jaguar said they were free to use for practice sessions.

Then, of course, there were the dorms.

Jaguar had his own room, of course. And while the Bad Tuning had limited dorm space, there were a total of four dorms with two beds in each room; just enough space for everyone to have their own room.

However, before anyone could say anything, Noize declared that he would be rooming with Fuse, at least for the time being.

Fuse seemed somewhat surprised but didn't protest.

Considering the events of today, Ulala guessed that Noize was still somewhat on edge from witnessing Fuse's supposed death, and wasn't quite ready to leave his side.

While Fuse had always been a mentor to Ulala herself, he was more of a father figure to Noize, especially with how closely they worked together.

Despite Fuse's hotheaded and often workaholic nature, he cared deeply about his subordinates, even more than he cared about their channel's ratings.

While he wouldn't hesitate to scold Ulala and Noize if they messed up, he'd also proven time and time again that he would stick his neck out for them when dealing with their superiors; especially back when Chief Blank was in charge…

And he'd been willing to sacrifice himself to save Ulala's life today.

Without further ado, the five of them bade goodnight into each other and vanished into their respective rooms.

Ulala sighed as she looked around the room she would be staying in for the next few months. It was cosy enough, to be sure, but it wasn't her room.

She missed her room onboard Space Channel 5's station, with the little touches that she'd added to decorate it over the years.

Her personal belongings had been there too, she realised. At least none of the truly important things were irreplaceable.

At most, her holo–photos were gone, but she still had the original files backed up. Once the new station was built, she could get replacement holo–frames and display them again.

Nonetheless, it wouldn't be the same place where she'd spent half her life.

Sighing again, Ulala decided to stop dwelling on it and shelve her thoughts for today.

After a quick but satisfying hot shower, she crawled into bed and closed her eyes, ready to finally end one of the longest days of her life.

Chapter Text

"Ulala, I needed your dance power, you see. Now we have all the power we need!"

Trapped in Dance Dimension X without her allies backing her up, Ulala stares up in horror at the giant robot that Purge is now piloting.

"Right! Left!"

Energy blasts shoot out towards her.

"Right! Left!" She barely manages to dodge them in time.

She did this. President Peace's voice, combined with the power generated by the audience, and finally her own Dance Energy… That had been the last bit of power that Purge needed to complete his plan.

"Left! Right!"

More energy blasts.

"Left! Right!" Another close shave.

Every step she'd taken had only made him stronger.

"Up! Up! Left! Right! Left! Right! Chu!"

The blasts are getting faster.

"Up! Up! Left! Right! Left! Right! Chu!" She doesn't know how much longer she can keep this up.

She's terrified now. It's all she can do to keep dancing and not give in to the tears threatening to spill over.

"Up! Up! Right! Left! Right! Left! Chu!"

"Up! Up! Right! Left! Right! Left! Chu!"

The energy blasts keep getting faster and faster, and she can feel herself tiring rapidly.

Jaguar… Space Michael… Noize… Pudding… Pine… Someone, please, help me!

"Down!"

A lone energy blast. Is he toying with her?

"Down!"

And then, so many energy blasts forming all at once, heading straight for her.

She opens her mouth to scream as they close in on her…

Ulala bolted upright, a sharp gasp dying on her lips.

Heart hammering in her chest, she frantically looked around, trying to get her bearings.

She was in a darkened dorm room onboard the Bad Tuning. There was no sign of Purge anywhere. No Dance Dimension X keeping her trapped.

Just her and her ragged breathing as she sat upright in bed, sheets tangled around her legs.

Just a dream… Just a bad dream…

As she freed herself from the twisted sheets with shaking hands (she must have been thrashing about in her sleep), Ulala wondered what time it was.

It was still dark outside, but that didn't exactly mean much out in space.

Glancing at the clock hanging on the opposite wall, she was surprised to find that it was already 11 am IST (Intergalactic Space Time); far later than she was used to waking up.

Scrambling out of bed, Ulala made a beeline for the bathroom and hurriedly washed up.

As she emerged from her room, she heard voices coming from further down the hallway.

Rounding the corner, she found Fuse, Noize and Space Michael sitting at the table in the common area.

Fuse had a cup of coffee and a plate of toast, while Noize was drinking a glass of orange juice and enjoying a breakfast of waffles.

Space Michael was deep in conversation with the other two, but he wasn't eating anything himself.

Now that she thought about it, Ulala wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him eat either. And unlike the other two, he was still dressed in the same clothes as always, looking no worse for wear.

Hearing her approach, Noize glanced up.

"Morning, Ulala!" He greeted her cheerfully. "Looks like you slept in late too."

"Did you sleep alright, Ulala?" Space Michael asked.

There was something about the way he was looking at her, as though he could tell she'd had a rough night's sleep.

"I'm fine," she quickly deflected, giving him a small smile. "Just a bit tired still."

She didn't think she'd fooled him, but he was kind enough to not press the issue, simply giving her a small smile in return.

"You'll feel better after you've eaten something, I'm sure," Fuse suggested. "Have a look in the pantry."

Ulala was more than a bit surprised to see a few boxes of her favourite brand of chocolate cereal in the pantry.

Either one of her colleagues had told Jaguar about her taste in cereal (unlikely), or he had much more of a sweet tooth than his suave appearance would suggest.

Pouring herself a bowl of cereal and just enough milk, she returned to the common area and took a seat beside her friends.

"Where's Jaguar?" She asked.

"Haven't seen him yet this morning," Fuse replied. "Maybe he's still asleep; he's had a rough few months, after all. Who'd have thought that he was Shadow all along?"

It seemed that Noize and/or Space Michael had already filled Fuse in on everything he'd missed.

As if on cue, Ulala heard a door opening somewhere in the distance.

Moments later, the man himself appeared, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Jaguar's hair was slightly dishevelled, as though he'd just woken up. And instead of his usual Space Pirate uniform, he was wearing a turquoise turtleneck shirt and a pair of grey pants.

This was the first time Ulala had seen him looking anything other than immaculately groomed. If she was being honest with herself, he looked almost… adorable.

Without a word to any of them, he headed for the kitchen. Moments later, they could hear the faint sound of a coffee maker running.

Soon after, Jaguar reemerged with a steaming cup of coffee, taking a seat at the table with them.

Closing his eyes, he took a generous swallow from his mug, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Morning," he finally said, looking around the table. "Sorry, I apparently slept through my alarm."

"Don't worry about it," Fuse assured him. "You probably needed the rest."

"Not going to eat something?" Noize asked.

Jaguar shook his head.

"I don't seem to have much of an appetite at the moment."

Truth be told, Jaguar still didn't look that well rested. There were slight dark circles under his eyes, and he looked almost… haunted, in a way.

Almost involuntarily, Ulala found herself wondering if perhaps she wasn't the only one who hadn't slept well last night.

Even so, Jaguar probably didn't want to talk about it, much like Ulala herself, so she refrained from probing further.

The rest of breakfast was a quiet affair as they ate in companionable silence.

Finally, when everyone was just about done eating, Jaguar spoke up again.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you guys about, actually. Have you thought about what you're going to do for the next few months?"

The Space Channel 5 crew exchanged looks.

"Not yet," Fuse admitted. "We were a bit too exhausted yesterday to discuss it."

"We still have our broadcasting equipment in case any emergency news comes up," Space Michael noted.

"We'll have to jury rig it the way we did yesterday after our antenna was stolen though. And as for the rest of our programs… that's not going to be happening for quite a while."

Although the other stations had retrieved their respective stolen antennas from Purge's Ballistic Groove Gun after the megalomaniac's defeat, Space Channel 5's antenna was useless without a functioning space station.

Jaguar nodded. "That's what I thought. And, well…"

He took a deep breath.

"I have a favour to ask of you guys, if you're willing."

"What is it?" Ulala asked.

"I mentioned yesterday that being an underground reporter doesn't exactly pay the bills, right?" Jaguar began.

"Well… To fund my operations, I do some salvaging on the side in between undercover investigations and reports."

"What do you mean 'salvaging'?" Noize questioned.

"There's plenty of debris out in space, whether from abandoned space stations or derelict ships," Jaguar explained.

"The Bad Tuning can travel out into deep space, where I explore wrecks and see if there's anything worth scavenging from them."

"Is that… legal?" Ulala asked apprehensively. "I don't really want to run afoul of the Space Police again anytime soon…"

"The only 'illegal' activity I engage in is my underground reporting, and that's only illegal in the bureaucratic sense because I'm operating without a license," Jaguar replied.

"Space wrecks are officially classified as abandoned, so I'm not trespassing or stealing from anyone when I do this.

"I don't take anything that I obviously shouldn't, like war medals and whatnot from old battle cruisers. And if I find something that looks dangerous, I call in a tip to the Space Police and let them handle it," he concluded.

"To give an example: There was this old space station I explored once: the site of Japan's first space hotel back in 2029. (1)

"It's been scrubbed from official history, but legend has it that there were unethical experiments being conducted there in secret by the research team onboard. Nobody's sure what really happened, but the hotel was ultimately destroyed on its official opening day, with no survivors."

"Oh, I remember this from school!" Ulala exclaimed. "That was the incident that led up to the Neo–Shogun Wars, right? The Prime Minister of Japan was also killed onboard that space hotel."

"Yes, that's the one," Jaguar said with a nod. "Anyway, I went looking around to see if I could find anything useable there… and ended up stumbling upon the remains of a room full of glowing orbs.

"No idea what they were, but they seemed like bad news, and I didn't want to take my chances, so I left as fast as I could and called in a tip about it.

"Last I heard, they sent a Special Investigations squad to check it out, and ultimately set a bunch of charges to destroy the remnants of the station completely."

"So… What is it you want our help with?" Fuse asked.

"Doing this alone can be a bit tricky sometimes," Jaguar explained. "If you guys don't mind giving me a hand, I could use the help."

"Does this mean we're gonna find treasure? Jewels, gold, that sort of stuff?" Noize looked excited.

"Better not get your hopes up," Jaguar said with a small laugh. "It's unlikely we'll find valuables of that sort anywhere.

"Most of the time, it's stuff like useable parts, or scrap metal and other materials. Things that can be sold or traded for supplies.

"On a few rare occasions, I've found a couple of historical documents," he added. "Those I bring to the appropriate museums, and they pay me a small finder's fee."

"How dangerous is this?" Ulala asked. "If we're exploring places like that old space hotel…"

"Those are rare occurrences," Jaguar assured her. "More often than not, the wrecks I search merely fell victim to the passage of time.

"I don't need all of you to come with me; in fact, it's probably safest if we have at least one person standing by onboard the Bad Tuning. But if one or two of you could join me, we could cover more ground and watch each other's backs."

"I thought you said it was safe," Fuse commented.

"I said that places with dangerous pasts like that space hotel are rare," Jaguar countered. "But there are always other things to consider, most commonly structural damage to the wrecks. It doesn't hurt to be careful."

"And… You've been doing this on your own this whole time?" Ulala's eyes widened.

"Sometimes, when I have crew members, we conduct expeditions together. But yes, it's been mostly just me, over the years," Jaguar replied.

Ulala thought about Jaguar crawling through wrecks on his own without any backup.

She imagined a ceiling suddenly caving in, trapping him amongst the debris, made worse by the crushing realisation that nobody would come looking for him.

And then, she remembered Jaguar's passing mention of being kidnapped by Purge.

Was this how it had happened? Had he been investigating Purge by himself, with his subsequent disappearance going unnoticed until it was too late?

After all, Fuse had said that there had been no word on his whereabouts. Jaguar could easily vanish without a trace, and nobody would ever know what had happened to him.

Although she and Jaguar still didn't know each other that well yet, the thought of him in trouble with nobody to help him made her heart clench.

"I'll do it," Ulala declared, before anyone else could say anything. "In its own way, this is just another undercover investigation, after all."

"Ulala…" Jaguar looked as though he wanted to say something else, but he simply gave her a nod. "Thank you."

Space Michael was the next to agree, in his usual calm, unbothered way.

Noize, despite Jaguar's earlier clarification, still found the prospect of treasure hunting in space exciting, and he'd been eagerly onboard with the idea too.

Fuse was a bit more hesitant, possibly because he'd had his fill of near–death experiences recently, but he eventually agreed as well.

It took a bit more discussion for them to hammer out a plan of action, but they eventually decided that Fuse and Noize would serve as backup from onboard the Bad Tuning.

Meanwhile, Jaguar, Ulala and Space Michael would explore the wrecks for salvage. Jaguar promised to show them the ropes at the start and ease them into it.

Noize had protested, wanting to join in, but Fuse had insisted that he was still too young to be doing something that could be potentially dangerous like this.

Jaguar explained that once they'd gone far out enough into deep space, the ship's scanners and radar system would alert them to any large objects or bodies nearby that could indicate possible salvage targets.

After that, it was simply a matter of analysing them and determining which one would be the most likely to have an acceptable balance of possible salvage and safety.

For today, Jaguar wanted to do his final checks on the Bad Tuning's engines and controls, to make sure that everything was in order. It wouldn't do to have something go wrong once they were out in deep space, after all.

Tomorrow, they would be where they needed to be thanks to the ship's FTL drive, and then their first expedition would be underway.

Until then, the rest of them were at liberty to relax and occupy themselves however they'd like.

And with that, the Space Channel 5 crew officially became temporary salvagers aboard the Bad Tuning.

Chapter Text

Day 1 aboard the Bad Tuning

After Jaguar's briefing, Ulala and her colleagues broke off to discuss plans for Space Channel 5 during this period.

At the same time, Jaguar excused himself to the ship's cockpit to check on its navigational instruments.

Ulala briefly wondered how he managed with just him and the autopilot to navigate.

Wouldn't somebody need to manually keep an eye on things in case something unexpected crossed the ship's path, like a meteorite or space debris? But at the same time, surely Jaguar couldn't be manning the cockpit 24/7…

In any case, the Space Channel 5 crew decided to put out a quick but official broadcast explaining that their channel was temporarily on a break until their station was rebuilt, but that they would still be covering any major incidents that happened in the meantime.

For the sake of Jaguar's privacy, Ulala chose not to mention where they currently were, making sure that she used a neutral background for the broadcast.

It might have been a bit worrying ratings–wise to have their channel not operating for several months, but Space Michael seemed confident that they would bounce back.

Both the most recent incident with the Rhythm Rogues as well as the Morolian incident earlier this year had thrust Space Channel 5 into the spotlight, after all.

People would be waiting for their return, he assured them, and once the channel was officially back, they would eagerly tune in to their programs once more.

Space Michael had already reached out to his contacts and begun the process of getting a replacement space station built for them. However, the best estimate was that it would take at least 3 months. (1)

There wasn't much more to discuss after that, and so they each went off to do their own things.

Noize was excitedly rambling about tinkering with some gadget or other that he'd been working on, and so Fuse went with him to supervise and make sure he didn't accidentally blow up the Bad Tuning.

Meanwhile, Space Michael had vanished somewhere by himself. It wasn't too surprising; back when the space station had been around, he had always been off in his own world, except when he was needed.

Even after becoming the new head of Space Channel 5, that hadn't changed in the slightest.

That just left Ulala.

For the first time in quite a while, she was at a loss for what to do.

Usually, she'd be going over notes for her next report, or planning an upcoming undercover investigation with the help of Fuse and Noize.

She supposed she could practice her dancing, but after the events of the last few days, even she had to admit that she wanted a small break from dancing for a while.

Nonetheless, she decided to check out the Bad Tuning's dance studio, which she hadn't seen yet. Even if she wasn't in the mood to dance at the moment, it would be nice to see what the place was like.

Like the rest of the Bad Tuning, the dance studio was small but cosy.

It had a mirrored wall, as well as speakers and other sound equipment to provide music for practice sessions.

Ulala wondered whether Jaguar ever spent his afternoons here practicing his dance moves. What sort of music did he listen to?

Remembering their Battle of the Bands faceoff while he was brainwashed, she wondered whether he practiced the piano as well.

However, there was no sign of a keyboard anywhere in the studio. Perhaps his piano–playing abilities had come from the creation of Shadow and not from Jaguar himself.

Ulala briefly contemplated retrieving her own instruments from Noize and plugging them into the studio's sound systems to practice.

But then she remembered that Noize wanted to do a tune–up on them first, and he probably wasn't done with that yet if he was still tinkering with whatever new invention he was cooking up.

Sighing, she looked at herself in the wall of mirrors.

Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to practice a few simple steps.

Almost absentmindedly, her arms and legs began to move as she fell into a well–rehearsed rhythm.

As she began to dance, she felt herself loosening up, her movements becoming faster and more enthusiastic with each step.

It felt as though it had been ages since she'd last danced for the sheer joy of it and not just as part of her reporting, whether to rescue people or to battle threats.

Her mic and blaster were also with Noize for tune–ups, but her hands twitched instinctively as she danced, aiming and firing a phantom blaster at her reflection in the mirror.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar burst of nasal laughter.

"What…?" Ulala stumbled to a stop.

"You've got some moves, don't ya, sweets?"

That voice… It can't be!

To her horror, her reflection continued to dance, faster and faster…

Until it morphed into a face from her deepest nightmares.

"Purge?! But how?" She cried out, taking a step back.

The megalomaniac looked exactly as he had during their solo dance battle, right before he'd activated Dance Dimension X.

His lilac hair was sticking up in a spike, and he wore a sleeveless shirt and pants combo that were covered in reflective magenta mirrors which shimmered as he danced.

"Dance for me, baby," he crooned in his high–pitched voice. "You love to dance, don't you? Why not keep dancing forever?"

Slowly, Ulala felt her arms and legs beginning to move against her will.

"No…" She gasped, trying to regain control over her limbs.

"That's it." Purge let out a giggle. "Why don't we turn up the beat a bit?"

Faster and faster, she began to dance to a beat that she couldn't hear.

Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead as she desperately tried to keep up with the pace and not trip over her own feet.

She tried to scream, but she could barely draw enough breath to keep herself upright and dancing.

"Fuse… Jaguar… Space Michael… Noize… Help me, please…!" She gasped.

"Are you ready to go home, my dear?" Purge cackled again.

With a snap of his fingers, the dance studio transformed into the swirling vortex from her nightmares: Dance Dimension X.

"No! Let me out!" She screamed with a sudden burst of desperation.

Purge's insane laughter was his only response, growing louder and louder as huge blasts of ominous blue energy homed in on Ulala from all directions…

Throwing her hands up in front of her face, she screamed.

"Ulala!" There was a frantic voice from somewhere behind her as firm hands gripped her shoulders and shook her.

Her eyes snapped open, and suddenly she was back in the dance studio.

The mirror showed her normal reflection once again, eyes wide in terror and chest heaving as she gasped for breath. And behind her…

"Jaguar?" Ulala hated how shaky her voice sounded as she turned to face him.

"Are you awake now?" He asked, sounding far more worried than Ulala had ever heard him.

"Awake? What… what happened?" She pressed a hand to her chest, willing her heart to stop beating so fast.

"I came looking for you to ask if you wanted to join us for dinner," Jaguar explained. "At first, I thought you were in your room, but then I heard screaming coming from in here.

"You were standing in front of the mirror when I burst in here… Staring at your reflection, and looking terrified out of your mind. Suddenly, you screamed and lunged backwards like something was coming for you…"

"And that's when you woke me up?" Ulala asked.

Jaguar nodded, still looking concerned.

"What happened? What were you doing?"

"I… I came in here to have a look around," she said. "I decided to practice a few dance moves, and then… I don't know, I thought I was awake, but I must have fallen asleep at some point."

"Sounds like you were sleepwalking," Jaguar suggested. "Is this a common thing for you?"

Ulala shook her head.

"Not that I know of. Was I really just standing still? In my dream, I couldn't stop dancing…"

"No, you weren't moving at all," Jaguar told her. "I've never seen you that still before; it was unnerving. But not as much as when you screamed a moment later."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Ulala murmured, eyes downcast.

"Don't worry about it," Jaguar assured her. "I was more scared for you than of you. Whatever you were seeing, it must have been a horrific nightmare."

"I guess so, yeah." Had it really been a mere nightmare? It had felt so terrifyingly real.

Reflexively, Ulala glanced around the studio, half–expecting to see Purge lurking somewhere in the corner.

But there was nobody else except Jaguar and his warm touch, grounding her in reality and reminding her that she was awake and safe.

"Do you feel up to eating something?" He asked, peering closely at her face.

The thought of food made her stomach churn, so she shook her head.

"No, I think… I think I'll take a shower and turn in," she said instead. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Just after 7 pm," Jaguar replied. "Are you sure you're alright, Ulala?"

With a shuddering breath, Ulala forced herself to banish any lingering thoughts about Purge and Dance Dimension X.

"I'm fine, really," she told him, forcing a smile. "Thank you for waking me."

Jaguar clearly didn't believe her but refrained from probing further nonetheless.

"Alright, get some sleep," he told her instead. "You look like you need the rest. Goodnight, Ulala."

Chapter Text

Night 1 aboard the Bad Tuning

Ulala sighed as she stared up at the ceiling.

After the… incident… in the dance studio earlier, she wasn't exactly in the mood to close her eyes and go to sleep.

It wasn't at all like her mind to betray her like this. After all, she'd been in danger before, but she'd always bounced back afterwards.

Even the Morolian incident hadn't provoked such a reaction from her afterwards, even though Blank's Giant Evila mech had sent her flying off into the vacuum of space for a few terrifying moments.

But then again, Jaguar had caught her in time during that incident.

This time, she'd come far closer to death.

In fact, for all she knew, she could very well have been dead for those few minutes before the spirits of her friends and their encouragement had brought her back to life.

If it hadn't been for them, she might not be here now… and the rest of the universe would have been doomed too.

Suppressing a shudder at the thought, she pulled her sheets more tightly around her. Somehow, she just couldn't seem to get warm tonight.

Last night's nightmare had been bad enough. But a waking nightmare like the one she'd been caught in before Jaguar found her? That was unprecedented.

And what if it happened again? What if she ended up sleepwalking through the ship again tonight and waking everybody else? Then they'd all find out… Assuming they didn't already know.

Ulala found herself hoping that Jaguar had made something up instead of telling the others about her earlier episode. The last thing she wanted was to worry them.

Twisting to look at the clock, she sighed upon seeing that it was already past 1 am.

If she continued to be plagued with nightmares and bouts of insomnia, she was going to end up incredibly sleep–deprived sooner or later.

And yet, her brain just wouldn't let her relax enough to fall asleep.

Suddenly, her ears pricked up as she caught the faint sound of music coming from somewhere outside. Was one of the others still awake at this hour?

Curiously, she slipped out of bed, pushing her room door open.

The music was louder now, mingled with… her own voice?

If this were the Space Channel 5 space station, she would have assumed that someone was messing with the Evila robots that had been repurposed as security bots again (and oh boy, had Fuse been furious when he’d caught them).

But those had been destroyed along with the rest of the station, and Ulala was quite sure that Jaguar had nothing of the sort aboard the Bad Tuning.

For a brief moment, Ulala wondered if she was sleepwalking right now.

As though in a trance, she began to follow the sound of her own voice…

Only to stop short when she heard Jaguar's voice.

Except… It wasn't quite the same as Jaguar's voice. There was a slightly distorted quality to it, almost like…

Shadow? (1)

She hadn't realised up till now, but in hindsight, Shadow and Jaguar had been remarkably similar. Not just in terms of their voices, but also Shadow's poses and dance moves as well.

That does it, this has to be a dream.

Nonetheless, she continued forward, only to be greeted by a sight that she hadn't expected.

Jaguar was sitting on a sofa in the common area, holo–tablet in hand. The lights were on low, leaving the holo–tablet as the main thing illuminating the room.

On the screen, one of her recent reports on the Rhythm Rogues incident was playing; specifically, the part with Purge's game of "Which one of them doesn't belong?".

"Jaguar?" She called out softly.

Jaguar jumped, fumbling with the holo–tablet and nearly dropping it.

"Ulala? What are you doing awake?" He looked oddly guilty, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Sorry, I didn't think I was being that loud."

"You weren't," Ulala assured him. "I was having trouble sleeping, and then I heard my own voice… I thought I was having another waking dream at first."

She was sure now that she was awake though. There was an awareness to her mind that hadn't been present during her episode in the dance studio.

"What are you doing up?" She asked.

For a moment, Jaguar looked uncomfortable, as though he wanted to deflect the question. Then, he sighed.

"Same as you; I couldn't sleep either," he admitted. "And since I'm mostly out of the loop about… what happened… I figured I'd have a look at your reports and try to fill in the gaps in my memory."

"If you don't mind me asking… How much do you remember about your time as Shadow?" Ulala asked.

"Honestly? Not much," Jaguar replied, a frown creasing his forehead. "The last thing I remember clearly was going off to investigate Purge's hideout. After that, it's just fragments.

"But enough about me. Are you alright, Ulala?" He asked, changing the subject.

Ulala opened her mouth to say that she was fine, but the words caught in her throat. In the dim lighting of the common area, Jaguar's expression was far too knowing.

Of course he'd know that she wasn't alright; after all, he was the one who had witnessed her sleepwalking nightmare earlier.

"I'm afraid to close my eyes," she admitted instead. "I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, I'll have another nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jaguar asked. His voice sounded gentle, almost coaxing, in a way that she'd never have imagined given his normally aloof demeanour.

She hesitated, looking at him.

There was no hint of scorn or judgement in his expression; all she saw was a mix of sympathy and concern.

Sighing, she took a seat beside him on the sofa.

"Last night, I had a nightmare about Purge," she began. "I was trapped in Dance Dimension X again, all alone with Purge and his giant robot.

"I kept trying to dodge his attacks, but ultimately, he fired a massive barrage of energy blasts at me; far too many to avoid. And just before they were about to hit me, I woke up."

Jaguar let out a low hum of understanding.

"And then, earlier today in the dance studio… I still don't really know what happened," Ulala admitted. "I went in there to look around, and I decided to just practice a bit while I was there.

"I was having fun at first, dancing just for the sake of dancing. But then, I heard Purge laughing, and… the next thing I knew, my reflection had transformed into him.

"He said he would make me dance for him forever, and before I knew it, I couldn't stop dancing, faster and faster, until the entire studio transformed into Dance Dimension X too. Those awful blasts of energy started homing in on me again…

"And that's when you woke me, right before they hit," Ulala concluded. "I don't even remember falling asleep in the first place; I thought I was awake the whole time."

"It was just a bad dream, Ulala," Jaguar assured her. "A terrifying one, to be sure, but a dream nonetheless."

"What if it wasn't?" Ulala asked. "It felt so real… It was like being in a waking nightmare. What if Purge did something to me while I was…"

She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

"Unconscious?" Mercifully, Jaguar refrained from saying what she'd been trying her best not to think about.

"I don't think he did. You've been through a traumatic experience; it's understandable that you'd be having nightmares about it. But sometimes, dreams are just dreams."

Looking at Jaguar's earnest brown eyes, Ulala summoned up her courage to ask the one question she hadn't dared to voice up till now.

"What did it look like from your perspective when he… when I…"

Jaguar exhaled slowly.

"Both of you vanished all of a sudden for several minutes, alongside Purge's giant robot. And then, out of nowhere, you reappeared on the platform where you and Purge had been.

"You were lying face down, and there were… Scorch marks on your arms and clothes. You were so still…

"I guess I was wrong earlier today… I have seen you that still before.

"Anyway… Everyone in the stadium was reacting in shock. We were all shouting your name, calling for you, trying to wake you…

"Nothing happened for several minutes. Then suddenly, all of us were elsewhere as well, and you were alive and well.

"You know the rest," Jaguar concluded.

"I… I heard all of your voices, while I was unconscious," Ulala told him. "You were all calling out to me… Then, I saw all of you standing beside me, encouraging me to get up and start dancing. You guys were dancing beside me…

"And then, I opened my eyes, and all of you were beside me for real.

"Maybe it was just in my mind; my mental representations of all of you cheering me on. But I know for sure that all your encouragement was what woke me."

"I'm glad you're alright," Jaguar told her. "You did well to hold out by yourself for so long."

"I was terrified," Ulala admitted. "Alone, and without anyone to back me up… That's one of my worst fears, honestly.

"It scares me still. Purge is out there somewhere… What if we run into him while we're on an expedition? What if he… What if he tries something again? I… I can't go through that again."

"Hey, look at me," Jaguar placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Purge is trapped inside that giant logo of his.

"Even if we run into him, he's helpless. Without his machines and robots, there's nothing he can do.

"And this time, you won't be dealing with him alone. You've got all of us. It's unlikely we'll encounter him, but if we do, we'll call in Pine to haul him off to jail, and that will be the end of that.

"Same goes for Blank, if we ever find where he ended up."

Ulala took a deep breath. She had to admit that Jaguar's calm analysis had soothed her fears somewhat.

All the same, she still felt a bit too on edge to sleep just yet.

Jaguar seemed to sense this as well.

"Wait here a moment," he said, patting her on the shoulder.

Ulala watched curiously as he headed for the kitchen. For a few minutes, she could hear faint sounds coming from in there.

Then, Jaguar reappeared, carrying two steaming mugs of…

"Hot cocoa?" Ulala was surprised, to say the least. "I didn't know you kept that onboard."

Was it just her imagination, or was Jaguar blushing slightly as he handed her one of the mugs?

"Be careful, it's hot," he warned her, taking a sip from his own mug.

Looking at Jaguar's contented expression, Ulala remembered the chocolate cereal she'd eaten for breakfast.

"You have a major sweet tooth, don't you?" She realised.

Jaguar nearly choked on his drink.

"Wh–What are you talking about?"

"Those boxes of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs (2) were yours, weren't they? And you like drinking cocoa too…"

Laughing a bit, Ulala took a sip of her own drink.

"I always thought you looked so cool and suave, but you can be surprisingly adorable at times," she added teasingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jaguar asked defensively.

"Like this morning," Ulala elaborated. "You look cute when you've just woken up, all sleepy and with your hair still mussed."

This time, she definitely wasn't imagining the telltale flush to Jaguar's cheeks.

She wasn't sure if it was the drink or the light conversation, but Ulala had to admit that she was feeling a lot more relaxed now.

As they drank in companionable silence, Ulala found herself looking at Jaguar.

Perhaps it was the late hour, but there was something almost intimate about seeing him like this, without the cocky facade he wore all the time.

Despite the rough start to her night, she found herself feeling glad that she'd gotten a glimpse of this rare side of her often–mysterious ally.

…No, not just her ally.

After tonight, she felt like she'd gotten to know Jaguar a bit better. Perhaps even enough to call him…

A friend.

All too soon, Ulala had finished her drink.

With a regretful sigh, she placed her mug on the small coffee table.

"Thank you, Jaguar." She gave him a small smile. "This helped a lot. Not just the cocoa, but you being here… thank you."

Jaguar gave her a small smile in return.

"Any time," he assured her. "Try to get some sleep, alright? Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

"You as well," Ulala told him as she stood up.

Jaguar went oddly still.

"I'll go to bed after I clean up," he replied after a long moment. "Goodnight, Ulala."

Despite being somewhat curious about Jaguar's reaction, Ulala decided against prying further.

Giving him a nod, she returned to her room.

With her mind and heart settled, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep this time.