Spike looked out the window as he listened to Jet talk.

"And we've been friends since before I had the BeBop. She'll be in town tonight and I'm going to meet her. So don't blow the ship up."

"What, Jet? Are you afraid we won't be here when you get back?" Faye smiled seductively.

"No, I just want order. And that means you, too, Ed." Jet looked over his shoulder at the girl who was rampaging around the Internet.

"Okedoky artichokey!" Ed grinned from behind her goggles.

"I'm off. Ryo's probably already there waiting for me. Spike, why don't you get a head start on that Lopez guy? Worth thirty thousand Woolongs."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get right on it." Spike sighed, not taking his eyes off the window as he stretched.

Jet left, and Faye got more and more restless.

"I gotta get out of here. Wanna come, Spike? We can go down to the casinos…"

"Nah, I got the next bounty for food on the table. Unless you have some money you're not telling us about?" Spike looked at her with one eye.

She put up her hands and smiled with her eyes closed. "Nope! Heh-heh…" she replied uncertainly.

Spike shooed her off. "Fine then. Go. I'll see you later." Spike then got up and walked towards the ship bay.

Faye watched him go and shrugged. "Men. Never get interested in them, Ed. Ed?" She looked over the couch.

Ed sat, totally engrossed in her online game. Chess, it seemed.

"Feeling bad since the guy beat you?"

Ed nodded. "Faye-Faye's right. Ed wants to win again!" Ed then made her final move; checkmate.

"Well, I'll see you later, Ed. I'm going gambling." Faye waved and left.

***

Jet came back after awhile and greeted Ed.

"How's it going, Ed? Ryo's out and about again. She's after another bounty tonight. Said she'd catch up with me later."

Ed never fazed from her game. "SHHH! Ed is about to win!" Checkmate again. She was on a role.

Jet shrugged and went to trim his bonsai trees.

***

Spike sat in a club, smoking a cigarette and sipping a beer. In front of him, in the oriental/retro bar, sat Diego Lopez. He looked laid-back, even comfortable. But how could any guy be comfortable after mass murdering an entire colony and having a thirty thou bounty on his head?

Music started up, and on a nearby platform a female figure rose, dressed in the traditional Japanese kimono and headdress. The music was slow and romantic at first, and then became robust and enchanting as the girl spun around and danced with fans and bells.

But Spike noticed at all the while that the girl, no matter what direction she faced, always had one eye on Lopez. Funny…

Then, the music paused and came back on full blow rock. The girl, stopping, lifted her kimono and flung it off to reveal that underneath, she was wearing a tight, white sports top and baggy black cargo pants. She took up her fans and flung them out into the audience comprised of mostly men. Spike saw in a flash that the edges of the fans were silvery, sharpened blades! The men in the way ducked, and she began her real moves.

She pulled from god-know-where another pair of fans and proceeded to catapult them towards Lopez and his large group of bodyguards. Chaos reigned, and she drew out a pair of leather whips.

Ensnaring groups of men at once, she brought them together with crashes and cracks. They slammed into walls and tables as people scurried and scramble for the exits. Spike included.

Spike made his way to the doors and watched as Lopez got out and sprinted down the hallway. The girl, leaping over and on men, got out and started running down the hallway. Spike, already halfway to Lopez, stopped and leaned up against a wall.

He and she locked eyes for just a second as she passed him. His mouth hung open in disbelief as she played a small smirk. Time seemed to slow down. The moment was infinite.

Then, the clock started moving again. She sped up, and finally disappeared around a corner in the hallway. Spike followed fast, then faster.

He rounded a corner to see Lopez stretched out lifeless at the end of the hall. The figure was faint in the dim light, but he could tell it was Diego. Spike made for him.

Suddenly, when he was just ten feet from the bounty, a throwing-star whipped out and implanted itself in the wooden wall not three inches from Spike's nose. He stopped, then looked in the star's direction.

In a small alcove near the roof, the girl perched. She grinned, and he understood that the smile meant: "Back off. That's my bounty head."

Spike could only watch in pure amazement as she picked the unconscious man up, lifted him onto her shoulders, and blew a hole in the roof with a gun.

"See ya, space cowboy." She grinned, and then leapt up and out. When Spike dashed over and looked through the orifice, he could see nothing but the starry night sky.

***

The crew was gathered in the meeting room of the BeBop.

"Well Spike, what did ya get for us?" Jet started.

"Nothing. Someone else beat me to him." Spike was looking out of the window again and shrugged.

"Nothing!? What are we going to eat now? I suppose we cook Ein?" Faye said, upstarting.

Jet sighed. "No, we do not eat Ein. Besides, we've gotten through hard times before. We'll do it again. Anyway, I've got good news. You know how I said I was meeting my friend Ryo? Well, I invited her to stay here, on the BeBop!" he proclaimed happily.

"WHAT?! We have hardly enough food as it is, Jet! And now you go bringing MORE mouths to feed on here? Come ON!" Faye was hysterical.

"Now don't worry. We'll be fine. She's one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy."

"That's probably not saying much." Spike sighed,

"That IS saying much, Spike. Number two on the List." Jet retorted.

"What list?"

Ed piped in. "THE list, Spike! The official galaxy Hunter's List. Top people in every system, right?" She looked at Jet.

He laughed. "That's right, Ed."

Spike leaned over and looked at Ed's screen. There it was, with the name Ryo River Hondura right near the top, second only to some guy named Roundup Ralph.

"It's really not that big a deal to me, but it's saying something about my reputation." A voice behind them all startled them.

They all turned around and beheld the new member. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Big smile. Peace sign fingers displayed on one hand, other hand resting on her hip. White sports top. Baggy black pants.

Spike did a double take and stared. "That's HER! The one who got Lopez!" He pointed for Jet and Faye to see.

She was equally surprised, but didn't show it so physically. "Well, like they say, first-come, first-serve!" she laughed.

No doubt about it, this was one butterfly they wouldn't be able to pin.