"Alright, guys, do the Bakhassa Formation!"

Arubah gave out orders on the deck on his own, since it was quite difficult to penetrate through the Bakhassa Universe. They were taking the route of the Central Universal Intersection where it was quite easy to get lost into nothingness if they were not well-prepared.

The alien crew began taking down the sails and even the Cyber Sammy flags. After it was done, the masts buzzed in a robotic tone and sank into the depth of the ship. Seeing such complete electronic remodelling of the vessel, Violet inquired much in astonishment:

"What are you guys doing?"

"Normal spaceships, with blue fire sails, cannot navigate in Bakhassa," Arubah explained, "Bakhassa is the largest universe of the seven, with everything a million times bigger than in the other universes. The whole planetary system is alive, or so the Bakhals state. It is quite hard to navigate through, so we, the Shark Tooth Pirates, have designed a special transformation for only the Captain Lords' ships just for that universe. We call it the Bakhassa Formation, and it follows the Bakhals' design".

"Wow! So, how does it look like?" Ellie was amazed by this novelty she had never heard of before.

"You'll see soon enough. For the time being, we should leave the deck and descend into the special 'Bakhassa Chamber' on the third floor. All the other rooms are going to be locked up while we are moving through the Universal Intersection. When we are in Bakhassa, the rooms will reopen for our use".

Arubah guided the Hawthorne family and his crewmates down to the third floor, into a special metallic chamber that was spacious enough to fit the whole crew. It was full of metal seats with tight chains to hold the passengers. Before these seats, on walls, crystal-devices were attached, which, upon the activation, would permit them to look through the walls and see the space where they navigated. In the center of this chamber stood a single-seat much resembling a motorplane – a special flying motorbike. It was firmly attached to the floor as if not a standalone device but rather a part of the ship, which it indeed was.

The crewmates took the seats near the walls. Arubah instructed the Hawthorne family to sit in the front side of the chamber, on chairs beside his one, so that they would be closer to him and safer. The chair-chains automatically tied them and fastened. The motorplane-resembling seat was taken by none other than Baxus, who activated his stone gear and placed his boulder arms right into the two holes of the device that permitted him to connect with the whole vessel and control it per his will.

"Arubah, activate the system!"

Upon Baxus' command, who seemed to have taken over, Arubah soundlessly obeyed as if their roles had been switched and he had turned into Baxus' first-mate. He activated the crimson crystals that presented near each of the seats. In an instant, the said crystals emitted strange light and the whole ship became transparent as if they were attached to the chairs on the floor and floated through space on a magic carpet and not a giant vessel.

"Huh? The walls have gone?" Ellie looked around, much astounded.

"No, our perception is affected by the crystals," Arubah explained, "We are still inside the ship and the chamber, and neither its walls are actually transparent. The crystals instead have the connection to the outer surface of the ship. Hence, they permit us to see the whole space as if we're looking out of some giant window. It is easier to navigate when you can actually see where you're going".

"Wow, this is amazing!"

"I know, right," Dohta was no less impressed, "The Galaxy Navy doesn't have such high-level technology".

"That is the very reason they shall never enter Bakhassa!" Baxus smirked, "Only we, Bakhals, know how to travel through our universe. There is no one who can survive there if not us".

"Well, actually there was one non-Bakhal who survived".

"You mean yourself?" Violet laughed, "You're so haughty, Arubah!"

"No," Dohta cut in, "he means Yuuh Arruroe".

"That's right, Dohta! It was my grandfather – the one and only legend".

"Wow, your grandfather has actually travelled to Bakhassa?" Violet grew stupefied. "I didn't know..."

"My father had travelled there many times after he and Chief Garberbax became friends," Maluma beamed, "Father was always a welcome guest in the Bakhal society".

"Well, he was indeed a legend, but he was not the only one to survive in Bakhassa. Humans too are known to have adapted there quite well, as they do adapt everywhere they set foot on," Baxus winked at his maternal family, "My mother Julie was a woman like no other".

Marie's lips formed in a teary smile once she heard her sister was such a legendary person as to have penetrated through the universe that was inaccessible even to the powerful forces such as the Reptiloids and the Radenoids.

"Alright, now brace yourselves, we're barging through!"

At this ferocious command of Baxus, they all gazed forward through the infinite space and noticed a giant black hole.

"What the hell?" Violet almost sprang from her seat. The fastened chains saved her from actually falling off. "We're going through a black hole?!"

"It seems you've never actually seen spaceships moving through different universes," Gunther chuckled, calming the hearts of his three beloved women, "Some black holes are actually portals that connect different universes. Usually, it's just the neighbouring ones like Raden and Fube, but this hole is so enormous I guess it should be the gate to the Universal Intersection".

"I've been through different universes but I've never actually seen us getting through the gates. Amazing..."

"Okay, countdown! Three, two, one... Here we go!"

Baxus whooped and gave the spaceship a power boost through his seat. Their speed increased ten-fold, but the turbulence did not affect the passengers. The spaceship rushed right through the blackness. It moved on as if in a blackened maze, its engines roaring and buzzing loudly like a rocket. For Ellie, it felt like an amusing roller-coaster, while Violet and Marie screamed in fright. Gunther sat rather calmly like an experienced professional. If one hadn't known the situation, they'd surely believe he too was a part of the audacious pirate crew.

Baxus guided the spaceship through his motorplane-seat with passion, truly enjoying the ride. Everyone could well notice he was quite excited to return into his universe, whose rules and laws were familiar and heart-warming to him. There, he was the boss, while Arubah was just a guest. Violet watched Arubah's proud expression turn into a modest dork's one in an instant as the spaceship penetrated through the Universal Intersection, while Baxus' blood-red eyes flashed with a sense of kingship. Indeed, now, they were no more the guests of Arubah but the ones of Baxus, on whom their lives would depend soon enough.

So that is why Sinbad had Baxus in his crew – he had travelled in Bakhassa before I met them. Without Baxus, there's no way he could've made it there...

This conclusion of Violet was quite true. It became apparent once the blackness vanished to give place to ardent, explosive light that the Bakhassa Universe emitted. The giant space they appeared in was full of massive stars and planetary matters they had never seen before. If one was to compare their size to the Antares star of the Milky Way, it would be proper to envision this latter as the tiniest corn in comparison with the sun which, in turn, would serve as a depiction of the stars of Bakhassa. Naturally, these gigantic masses that were full of fire and lava had the gravitation force beyond one's imagination. Here, Baxus' knowledge of a native dweller served the most – he knew the invisible paths between the gravitational fields where he could guide the ship in order not to let it break in pieces or smash into some giant star and burn to bits. He used his explosive powers to give his whole energy to the spaceship. He adroitly avoided the giant stellar masses and particles, following the invisible safe routes. He permitted the spaceship to perform various maneuvers to avoid unnecessary dangers: rolled the ship over, added or reduced the speed every second, drifted around, and so on. He was truly a professional navigator.

"Woohoo!"

Ellie yelled in joy as if she were indeed riding an amusing speedy roller-coaster through infinite space full of gigantic stars. Marie and Violet screamed in horror as before, while Gunther eyed the surroundings in quite some daze:

"Such a massive universe... I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Indeed, one will feel like some dust in this giant world, after beholding this miracle-land," Roderigo chuckled. "When I first travelled here, I was as jaw-dropped as you".

"It's not just that... You can hear these masses are beating!" Gunther eyed the environment around him. Indeed, every star and planet they passed by, emitted strange kind of a drum-sound as if they actually had beating hearts. "You'd certainly think if nature is alive, then it is the most apparent in this exact universe".

"That is true, Uncle. In the other universes, stones and stellar masses are still and quiet. They might emit light, they might glow, but they're still inanimate. Bakhassa is different. That is why we, Bakhals, love our homeland so much and wish to neither invade the other universes nor let others penetrate through ours. We believe the other species have killed their universes due to their vile codes of conduct. We do not wish the same to happen to ours, because we cherish our beloved home, unlike them. Bakhassa is like a living organism where every star, every particle, every small cell, has a heart and a soul. It is a universe where everything coexists in harmony, and destructions too, serve to create younger matters. We, Bakhals, call our universe 'Bakhassa' – the 'heartbeat', because everything here breathes, feels, and connects. Unlike the others, this universe is alive, and we follow the rhythm of its heartbeat".

The Shark Tooth approached the biggest star they had yet seen – a gigantic ball of fire blazing amidst other smaller particles. Nine hundred planets moved around it, all of them caught inside its powerful gravitational field. If men were to believe once more that stars could be gods as in ancient heathen times, then this star would be the perfect example of the godly might. Surprisingly for the Hawthorne family, the starlight did not hurt their eyes at all, unlike how the sun affected the human eyesight in general.

"Hmm? Why can I watch this giant star as if nothing?"

"The same crystals that help us see the outer space reduce the light reflection, so our eyesight won't be affected," Arubah explained to Ellie, "Crimson crystals are the strongest and can be created for every kind of a purpose. Since I am a professional due to my mother's teachings, there's nothing I cannot defeat with my powers, including the starlights".

"Wow..."

"Aru, don't go on bragging like your dad! It is unbecoming of a Herminoid!"

"I am a human too, mom".

"Damn right, he's a human too like his amazing father!"

Maluma palmed her face with annoyance, while the friends laughed much in amusement at Roderigo's proud remark. Baxus accelerated the speed of the spaceship so that this latter darted towards the giant star.

"Ah!" Violet screamed, "Bax, can't you slow down?"

"Nah, we're already at our destination. That star you see is the biggest of all the Seven Universes – Bakhasolax, our sun. Those planets you see move around it are the Bakhal lands. Those ones in the middle are the homes of the Bakhal Mahonn – the Nature Bakhals. They're the most wide-spread and tend to travel to other universes too. The 900th planet in the row, the last one, is Bugenjoten – the home of the Bakhal Jotunn, or the Ice Bakhals. It is the planet of my stepmother – Ice Queen Elexiba Jotunkhaxen. It gets the least solar power hence is icy-cold all years".

"You said Jotunn? Aren't Jotunns the ice giants from ancient Norse mythology back on Earth?"

"Yeah, mom often used to retell me those tales. It is true: the Bakhal Jotunn were the first ones to travel into another universe – the Raden one. Humans met them there, on Earth. My stepmother Elexiba is the oldest of all the Bakhal Jotunn. She said she was called 'Laufey' by humans".

"You mean Laufey from the mythology? That's amazing! So, are we going to meet her, Bax?"

"No, we won't be stopping at Bugenjoten. However, we'll meet her son on Planet Bewbew – my elder brother, the chief of all the Bakhals. Bewbew is the nearest planet to the Bakhasolax".

"The nearest one? How are we going to get there?" Gunther grew much perturbed, "Every star in this universe had a gravitational field of crazy power. Bakhasolax as the biggest star will definitely smash us into itself if we get any near it!"

"Don't forget, Uncle, I am your navigator here. Hold yourselves! We're going to land on Bewbew at a speed faster than ever before!"

Violet and Marie wanted to object but it was late – Baxus had already emitted strange squealing sounds through a special crystal that amplified the voice outside the ship. This squealing signal was directed towards a certain massive planetary matter floating nearby. Once heard the sound, this giant asteroid shook and cracked in two places, stretching out a long boulder extension as if an elephant trunk. It gave out a squealing answer through this very organ.

"What is that thing?"

Violet couldn't help but tremble at such a gigantic boulder awakening right before their eyes. The pirates and Baxus remained calm as if it was not the first time they were seeing such a creature.

"We Bakhals call those creatures the Solaxibarix. 'Barix' is used as a term to define every animalistic creature that is massive and boulder-like. My mom, who learned Bakhal through my dad and in turn taught him Aenglish, defined these creatures as 'planetary elephants', due to those long trunk-like organs of theirs. It is a funny term to define the Solaxibarix. I love it!"

"Haha, a planetary elephant!" Ellie clapped much in amusement, "Cool!"

"But why did you wake it up?"

"It's our only safe route to Bewbew. It shall inhale and shoot us through its trunk. I've told it to direct us to Bewbew".

"That creature can understand commands?"

"It is a living being with quite an intellectual mind, Violet. I know the Solaxibarix language, so I can communicate easily. I've told you before, haven't I? – In Bakhassa, everything is alive. We all listen to the heartbeat of our universe. We all can understand each other here".

Baxus directed the spaceship right inside the massive trunk of the boulder 'elephant', and then turned it around, getting ready for the launch. Ellie giggled happily, while her mother and sister trembled on their chairs. Now, Gunther too had grown much frightened, but he was being reassured by Roderigo's words and laughter.

Baxus hit the explosive boost. This time, the planetary elephant too blew through its nostrils, shooting the Shark Tooth out of its trunk straight towards Planet Bewbew just as requested.

The pirates soon entered the orbit of the Bewbew. The planet was full of smoke and gas. Explosions and volcanoes had indeed covered its entire surface. The Shark Tooth descended in one of the 'Pirate Docks' designed specifically in the safest areas for the Galaxy Pirate guests to hide their ships from the explosive environment. Once it docked near stony shores inside the lava, the crimson crystals deactivated and the vessel lost its transparency. The cabins reopened for the pirates' use as Arubah had promised. The crew accessed their rooms and changed into fur-and-leather clothes as if some tribal savages. Baxus urged the Hawthorne family to put on such clothes too. It was the Bakhals' custom to receive foreign-dwellers only in these specially-designed robes that would protect them from fire since they were made of the fur of the Bankalix – furry creatures residing on Bewbew and many other Bakhassa planets, able to withstand the heat and the cold alike. Since early ages when Yuuh Arruroe used to travel in this universe, Chief Garberbax Meelias had gifted him a pair of such clothes after they sealed their brotherly bond, and it grew into a tradition.

Baxus' clothes were much kingly – a scarlet cloak adorned with white Bankalix fur, and leather trousers. He walked barefoot since, as a Bakhal, he was unaffected by the heat of the planet. He instead changed his human skin into stone gear on both of his feet and acquired natural 'stone boots', or so Ellie began to define them. He also wore a lot of gem-and-bone ornaments like earrings, necklaces, bracelets, etc. all of them made of Bankalix bones or casual Bewbew stones.

After they all got dressed, they had to wait for a single entity – their very captain, who had begun to linger in his cabin because, as Roderigo claimed, had again forgotten where he had placed the Bakhassa attire.

Finally, after long hours of waiting, Arubah exited his room. He was bare-chested like Baxus. He had even left his beloved alligator-skin coat back in his cabin (apparently to not let it get burnt in the hot atmosphere of Bewbew). His scars were openly exposed, most likely on purpose in order to brag among the savage Bakhals of how strong he was (the Bakhals valued the number of one's scars greatly since it was a mark of one's dignity and power). His black leather shorts ended with white Bankalix fur while his feet were covered with black fur boots. Much like Baxus, he too had adorned himself with necklaces and rings all of which were golden and embedded with scarlet gemstones, most likely crafted by himself. The most astounding, however, and even horrifying to Violet, was how he had left his slouch hat in his cabin, substituting it with a skull headgear – apparently the skull of the same Bankalix since it had two strangely-shaped horns, and was adorned with long white fur coming out of its very bones and covering the young man's whole back. It was the proof of his godly might, for only the ones who had killed a Bankalix had the right to carry their skulls. The Bakhals valued it as heroism since even some quite powerful entities were often unable to kill those sneaky and resistant creatures.

The friends descended on the ground. The Bakhals – stone giants covered in lava and fire – met Baxus with open hands, meaning they smacked each other for long and then rebuilt their broken bodies. After such warm, or, better to say, explosive introductions, they were conducted into a large hall full of lava, magma, and boulders. Some of these boulders moved – it was apparently the Bakhal population – and bowed to Baxus, their Lord Prince. Surprisingly for the Hawthorne family, even though the pirates had explained this place to be the throne hall, there was actually no throne. Instead, at the end of the chamber, there was a large boulder sunk into the wall, motionless. It was quite a peculiar stone, though – unlike the others, it was covered with patterns of ice, notwithstanding the hot environment around.

"Hmm? Where's the throne, Cousin Bax?"

"We need no thrones. We are thrones!"

While Ellie couldn't quite understand what Baxus was talking about, the icy lava boulder inside the wall moved and caused the chamber to shake. It formed into an icy-stone giant. The two hollows that served as his eyes lit up with red flames – he had awoken.

"Hey, Jobakh, brother!"

Baxus walked up to him and opened his arms ready to embrace him, just to receive an icy fist in the chest and be shot back to the opposite wall. While the Hawthorne family shuddered in fright, the at-one-glance hostile giant laughed much loudly in Bakhal tongue:

"Baxus, you damn piece of pebble! Welcome home!"