OUTLAW TANGO
Spike checked his watch. 4:23. Damn.
"Jet's gonna pay if he's wasting my time here."
Spike was in the middle of a crowded shopping mall on Saturn. Jet had
gotten a big tip on a certain bounty to be found here. Something about a
guy without a name or something.
"Grrr, I've been here for more than thirty minutes. This tip just wasn't
worth the wait."
And what kind of description did Spike have to go by? A guy with a tattoo
of a fox on his back. Great. How was Spike supposed to get a fix on this
guy when he had to see the guy's back?
Spike swore and decided to give this one up. There was no way he was
going to pull this off. Not that it was too difficult or anything, but
Spike just wasn't in the mood for pulling guy's shirts off. He walked past
rows and rows of people, getting harassed to buy this or that every time he
walked by a market stand. Bastard merchants. Finally Spike made it out of
the mall and proceeded to the parking garage where he left Swordfish.
On his way to his plane, Spike suddenly became aware of two men in
white shirts and blue jeans running his way.
"Shit, shit SHIT!" one yelled.
"Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!" the other one yelled in return.
Spike then became aware of the guy chasing them.
"You bastard sons of bitches! Get you're asses over here!"
The man in pursuit was a tall blonde man wearing a black button down shirt,
tan cargos, black biker boots and a pair of expensive looking metal wire
sunglasses with orange lenses.
The two men rushed past Spike. He was going to ignore the whole thing
altogether, when the pursuer pulled out a silver handgun. Spike reflexively
drew his black handgun and pointed at the blonde. The blonde paid no
attention to Spike, he seemed to be fixed on catching the two runners.
Spike fired and knocked the gun out of the blonde's hand. Suddenly Spike
was the only thing on the blonde's attention as he turned mid stride in
amazing speed and rushed Spike.
Spike raised his handgun again, but this time his hand was met with
the impact of the blonde's foot. Spike lost his gun and fell back in a
defensive stance. The blonde stepped back into a familiar stance as well.
The on-guard stance. So this guy knew jeet kune do too. Spike launched his
fist towards the blonde, but the blonde dodged right and threw his right
knee into Spike's stomach. Spike flipped off the blonde's knee in anger.
Suddenly a grenade explosion sent both combatants seeking cover. They both
peeked out behind coloums to see the two runners standing on a plane.
"You stupid white bastard! You no catch us amigo, el Zorro es el
gone!"
The other runner jumped in and fired the engine. Zorro ripped his shirt off
and to reveal a grenade belt strapped to his chest. He pulled another one
and sent it in the direction of Spike and the blonde. However, the grenade
never hit the ground. The blonde jumped out and kicked the grenade back to
it's thrower.
"Oh SHIT MAN!" Zorro yelled as he jumped into the plane. The grenade
went off, damaging the plane's left wing, but it took off. Zorro turned
around and flipped Spike and the blonde off. But as he turned around, Spike
got a good look at his back.
"A tattoo of a.fox?"
"Shit!" The blonde yelled as he frantically searched for a ride. Spike
jumped out and ran to the Swordfish, turning it on he started to pull out
to follow them.
"Hey! We've still got a score to settle!" The blonde yelled.
Spike paid him no heed. He shot out of the parking garage and flew off to
follow the two. Spike couldn't see them anywhere. There was no sign of
their ship. He was flying over one of Saturn's many forests, when he became
aware that his right wing was a little heavier than his left. He suddenly
heard a loud thump and looked out the right side of his cockpit. It was the
blonde! His shades were gone, to reveal two smiling blue eyes staring back
at him. The blonde reached in his pocket then slammed his hand down on the
cockpit window.
Spike saw in the blonde's hand a small explosive device. The blonde
smiled and threw himself off the plane.
"WAIT, NOOOOO.!" Spike yelled, but it was too late. The explosion rocked
the ship and Swordfish plummeted down toward the ground. Spike braced
himself for the landing he might not come out of.
**********
2 hours later.
Faye paced the cockpit of the Bebop relentlessly. Jet was busy piloting the
ship toward the forest that the radar said that Swordfish had gone down
near. Swordfish had gone off the radar two hours ago, but the radar showed
this as the last place it had been. Spike wasn't picking up his hand radio
either.
"That bastard better not have gotten himself killed." Faye said.
"There's almost no chance of that. Spike has come out of worse." Jet
responded.
Faye scoffed and continued pacing. Ed was somewhere in the ship. Probably
asleep with Ein.
"Well, we sure aren't gonna find him on this ship." Jet finally said.
"What are you proposing?" Faye asked.
"I'm going to park the ship, and we're going to go look for Spike."
Faye grumbled in return, not feeling like going on a hunt for that stupid
fuzzy-headed bastard. But she was in debt to him, so she figured this was
how she would pay it off.
**********
1 hour later.
"Yay! Yay! Spike Spike hunt!" Ed cheered as she danced off the Bebop onto
the shore with Ein in tow.
"Just remember Ed," Jet said climbing out of the ship. "We can't get
separated out here."
Faye climbed out with her hands in her pockets.
"Let's just get this waste of my time over with, Jet."
The four proceeded onto the shore of the lake they had parked in. Suddenly,
Ein started to bark furiously at something in the brush.
"What is it Ein? A scccary bear or wolf?"
Jet drew his handgun, and pushed Ed aside.
"Let's just be sure."
Faye pretended not to be interested.
Jet jumped through the brush, pointing at whatever was there. Suddenly he
looked down and pointed his gun in the same direction.
"What the hell?" he said.
Faye tried to see what he was looking at through the brush.
"Did you find Spike?"
Jet kneeled down and picked up someone on his shoulder. He walked out of
the brush with a very wet blonde man on his shoulder.
"Nope nope. That's not Spike Spike." Ed said.
"Who the hell?" Faye added.
Jet walked over to a rock and set the man down. He checked his pulse.
"He's unconscious. But at least he's alive."
Faye walked over to him and looked down.
"Wow. Talk about sleeping beauty."
"He must have fallen in the lake, but I don't know why he's unconscious."
Jet said.
"What should we do with him?"
"We'll take him back to the ship."
*********
1 hour, 20 minutes later.
Faye stared at the unconscious man lying on the couch. Jet and Ed had left
to go search for Spike, and she was given the responsibility to look after
their injured guest. Jet had given his left arm a splint, wrapped a bandage
across his forehead and bandaged a small wound on his chest. Faye found
herself continuing to stare at the blonde's bare chest. Jet had unbuttoned
his shirt to put the bandage on him. He lied there, his chest slowly rising
and falling in controlled breaths. At least he was alive, and nice to look
at too.
Faye rested her chin in her hands. She had already searched him. The
only valuables he had were lying on the table. A pair of expensive
sunglasses, a small katana, about seven inches in length that was in a
black scabbard, a chain that connected from his belt loop to his wallet in
his back pocket. The wallet contained one card with only two-thousand
credits on it. All of these articles lay on the table spread out before
Faye. She looked back at his face. A fair complexion, almost like hers. No
sign of facial defects anywhere. His medium length blonde hair spread out
on the couch like a peacock's feathers.
She sighed.
"Perhaps he'll want something to drink soon."
She stood and walked over to the fridge. She opened it to find only two
bottles worth looking at.
"Whiskey and soda."
"Mix them both please."
Faye jumped up and spun around. Behind her stood the blonde.
".How long have you been awake?"
"About.ten minutes now."
Faye frowned.
"So.you heard."
"Mm-Hm. I've been called a lot of things in my life. But sleeping beauty is
a first."
Faye blushed a little and turned back around into the fridge.
"So you want both?"
"Yes, please."
Faye picked up both bottles and walked over to the table with them. She set
them down, then sat on the couch. The blonde sat down on the couch across
from her. She poured the whiskey into a glass cup, then filled the rest
with coke. The blonde took the cup gratefully and downed it. He set the
glass down with a sigh of pleasure.
"Ahhhhh, good stuff."
Faye smiled, but then she realized she knew nothing about this handsome
stranger.
"So, who are you?" She asked.
"I should ask you the same. I awake to find myself in a ship with a pretty
girl staring me down. You would think I'd be a little scared."
"Point taken. So, who are you?"
The blonde smiled a devilish smile.
"My name is not important."
"Not important?"
"Exactly."
"Surely you have a name?"
"I'm.not sure. But you can call me.Outlaw."
"Outlaw? What, is that a nickname?"
"You could say that. I'm just an old fashioned cowboy."
"Really. Well, you're not the only one."
Outlaw raised an eyebrow. Faye smiled.
"That's right. You looking at another bounty hunter yourself."
"Well, I feel much better now, miss."
"Faye. Faye Valentine."
"A lovely name. It suits you."
Faye was starting to like this guy.
"So what say we get to know each other a little better?" Outlaw said.
Faye felt like she could trust this guy, so she opened up to him.
**********
Meanwhile.
Jet and Ed trudged through the forest with Ein following behind. They found
Spike and a very torn up Swordfish. Spike was unconscious inside of his
plane.
"Damn," Jet said. "I'm going to have to come back with hammerhead and pick
up Swordfish.
"Spike Spike!" Ed yelled.
"Yeah, we found him."
Jet slung Spike over his shoulder and carried him back to the Bebop,
wondering how his life got so complicated so fast, what happened to Spike
and Swordfish, and who the blonde fellow was. Jet sighed and figured things
would just sort themselves out. Faye however, was having a better time than
she had for a long time.
Spike checked his watch. 4:23. Damn.
"Jet's gonna pay if he's wasting my time here."
Spike was in the middle of a crowded shopping mall on Saturn. Jet had
gotten a big tip on a certain bounty to be found here. Something about a
guy without a name or something.
"Grrr, I've been here for more than thirty minutes. This tip just wasn't
worth the wait."
And what kind of description did Spike have to go by? A guy with a tattoo
of a fox on his back. Great. How was Spike supposed to get a fix on this
guy when he had to see the guy's back?
Spike swore and decided to give this one up. There was no way he was
going to pull this off. Not that it was too difficult or anything, but
Spike just wasn't in the mood for pulling guy's shirts off. He walked past
rows and rows of people, getting harassed to buy this or that every time he
walked by a market stand. Bastard merchants. Finally Spike made it out of
the mall and proceeded to the parking garage where he left Swordfish.
On his way to his plane, Spike suddenly became aware of two men in
white shirts and blue jeans running his way.
"Shit, shit SHIT!" one yelled.
"Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!" the other one yelled in return.
Spike then became aware of the guy chasing them.
"You bastard sons of bitches! Get you're asses over here!"
The man in pursuit was a tall blonde man wearing a black button down shirt,
tan cargos, black biker boots and a pair of expensive looking metal wire
sunglasses with orange lenses.
The two men rushed past Spike. He was going to ignore the whole thing
altogether, when the pursuer pulled out a silver handgun. Spike reflexively
drew his black handgun and pointed at the blonde. The blonde paid no
attention to Spike, he seemed to be fixed on catching the two runners.
Spike fired and knocked the gun out of the blonde's hand. Suddenly Spike
was the only thing on the blonde's attention as he turned mid stride in
amazing speed and rushed Spike.
Spike raised his handgun again, but this time his hand was met with
the impact of the blonde's foot. Spike lost his gun and fell back in a
defensive stance. The blonde stepped back into a familiar stance as well.
The on-guard stance. So this guy knew jeet kune do too. Spike launched his
fist towards the blonde, but the blonde dodged right and threw his right
knee into Spike's stomach. Spike flipped off the blonde's knee in anger.
Suddenly a grenade explosion sent both combatants seeking cover. They both
peeked out behind coloums to see the two runners standing on a plane.
"You stupid white bastard! You no catch us amigo, el Zorro es el
gone!"
The other runner jumped in and fired the engine. Zorro ripped his shirt off
and to reveal a grenade belt strapped to his chest. He pulled another one
and sent it in the direction of Spike and the blonde. However, the grenade
never hit the ground. The blonde jumped out and kicked the grenade back to
it's thrower.
"Oh SHIT MAN!" Zorro yelled as he jumped into the plane. The grenade
went off, damaging the plane's left wing, but it took off. Zorro turned
around and flipped Spike and the blonde off. But as he turned around, Spike
got a good look at his back.
"A tattoo of a.fox?"
"Shit!" The blonde yelled as he frantically searched for a ride. Spike
jumped out and ran to the Swordfish, turning it on he started to pull out
to follow them.
"Hey! We've still got a score to settle!" The blonde yelled.
Spike paid him no heed. He shot out of the parking garage and flew off to
follow the two. Spike couldn't see them anywhere. There was no sign of
their ship. He was flying over one of Saturn's many forests, when he became
aware that his right wing was a little heavier than his left. He suddenly
heard a loud thump and looked out the right side of his cockpit. It was the
blonde! His shades were gone, to reveal two smiling blue eyes staring back
at him. The blonde reached in his pocket then slammed his hand down on the
cockpit window.
Spike saw in the blonde's hand a small explosive device. The blonde
smiled and threw himself off the plane.
"WAIT, NOOOOO.!" Spike yelled, but it was too late. The explosion rocked
the ship and Swordfish plummeted down toward the ground. Spike braced
himself for the landing he might not come out of.
**********
2 hours later.
Faye paced the cockpit of the Bebop relentlessly. Jet was busy piloting the
ship toward the forest that the radar said that Swordfish had gone down
near. Swordfish had gone off the radar two hours ago, but the radar showed
this as the last place it had been. Spike wasn't picking up his hand radio
either.
"That bastard better not have gotten himself killed." Faye said.
"There's almost no chance of that. Spike has come out of worse." Jet
responded.
Faye scoffed and continued pacing. Ed was somewhere in the ship. Probably
asleep with Ein.
"Well, we sure aren't gonna find him on this ship." Jet finally said.
"What are you proposing?" Faye asked.
"I'm going to park the ship, and we're going to go look for Spike."
Faye grumbled in return, not feeling like going on a hunt for that stupid
fuzzy-headed bastard. But she was in debt to him, so she figured this was
how she would pay it off.
**********
1 hour later.
"Yay! Yay! Spike Spike hunt!" Ed cheered as she danced off the Bebop onto
the shore with Ein in tow.
"Just remember Ed," Jet said climbing out of the ship. "We can't get
separated out here."
Faye climbed out with her hands in her pockets.
"Let's just get this waste of my time over with, Jet."
The four proceeded onto the shore of the lake they had parked in. Suddenly,
Ein started to bark furiously at something in the brush.
"What is it Ein? A scccary bear or wolf?"
Jet drew his handgun, and pushed Ed aside.
"Let's just be sure."
Faye pretended not to be interested.
Jet jumped through the brush, pointing at whatever was there. Suddenly he
looked down and pointed his gun in the same direction.
"What the hell?" he said.
Faye tried to see what he was looking at through the brush.
"Did you find Spike?"
Jet kneeled down and picked up someone on his shoulder. He walked out of
the brush with a very wet blonde man on his shoulder.
"Nope nope. That's not Spike Spike." Ed said.
"Who the hell?" Faye added.
Jet walked over to a rock and set the man down. He checked his pulse.
"He's unconscious. But at least he's alive."
Faye walked over to him and looked down.
"Wow. Talk about sleeping beauty."
"He must have fallen in the lake, but I don't know why he's unconscious."
Jet said.
"What should we do with him?"
"We'll take him back to the ship."
*********
1 hour, 20 minutes later.
Faye stared at the unconscious man lying on the couch. Jet and Ed had left
to go search for Spike, and she was given the responsibility to look after
their injured guest. Jet had given his left arm a splint, wrapped a bandage
across his forehead and bandaged a small wound on his chest. Faye found
herself continuing to stare at the blonde's bare chest. Jet had unbuttoned
his shirt to put the bandage on him. He lied there, his chest slowly rising
and falling in controlled breaths. At least he was alive, and nice to look
at too.
Faye rested her chin in her hands. She had already searched him. The
only valuables he had were lying on the table. A pair of expensive
sunglasses, a small katana, about seven inches in length that was in a
black scabbard, a chain that connected from his belt loop to his wallet in
his back pocket. The wallet contained one card with only two-thousand
credits on it. All of these articles lay on the table spread out before
Faye. She looked back at his face. A fair complexion, almost like hers. No
sign of facial defects anywhere. His medium length blonde hair spread out
on the couch like a peacock's feathers.
She sighed.
"Perhaps he'll want something to drink soon."
She stood and walked over to the fridge. She opened it to find only two
bottles worth looking at.
"Whiskey and soda."
"Mix them both please."
Faye jumped up and spun around. Behind her stood the blonde.
".How long have you been awake?"
"About.ten minutes now."
Faye frowned.
"So.you heard."
"Mm-Hm. I've been called a lot of things in my life. But sleeping beauty is
a first."
Faye blushed a little and turned back around into the fridge.
"So you want both?"
"Yes, please."
Faye picked up both bottles and walked over to the table with them. She set
them down, then sat on the couch. The blonde sat down on the couch across
from her. She poured the whiskey into a glass cup, then filled the rest
with coke. The blonde took the cup gratefully and downed it. He set the
glass down with a sigh of pleasure.
"Ahhhhh, good stuff."
Faye smiled, but then she realized she knew nothing about this handsome
stranger.
"So, who are you?" She asked.
"I should ask you the same. I awake to find myself in a ship with a pretty
girl staring me down. You would think I'd be a little scared."
"Point taken. So, who are you?"
The blonde smiled a devilish smile.
"My name is not important."
"Not important?"
"Exactly."
"Surely you have a name?"
"I'm.not sure. But you can call me.Outlaw."
"Outlaw? What, is that a nickname?"
"You could say that. I'm just an old fashioned cowboy."
"Really. Well, you're not the only one."
Outlaw raised an eyebrow. Faye smiled.
"That's right. You looking at another bounty hunter yourself."
"Well, I feel much better now, miss."
"Faye. Faye Valentine."
"A lovely name. It suits you."
Faye was starting to like this guy.
"So what say we get to know each other a little better?" Outlaw said.
Faye felt like she could trust this guy, so she opened up to him.
**********
Meanwhile.
Jet and Ed trudged through the forest with Ein following behind. They found
Spike and a very torn up Swordfish. Spike was unconscious inside of his
plane.
"Damn," Jet said. "I'm going to have to come back with hammerhead and pick
up Swordfish.
"Spike Spike!" Ed yelled.
"Yeah, we found him."
Jet slung Spike over his shoulder and carried him back to the Bebop,
wondering how his life got so complicated so fast, what happened to Spike
and Swordfish, and who the blonde fellow was. Jet sighed and figured things
would just sort themselves out. Faye however, was having a better time than
she had for a long time.