"Cowboy Bebop Forgotten Session: King of Hearts"
Written by: Adrian Santiago
Studio: Dejection Films
------
High above the shadowy streets, closer to the setting sun than
the moon, a man wrapped in darkness sat. He enjoys this time
of the day the most... this was the time he could sit, back
against the light and stare over his silhouette drawn over the
cathedral courtyard. It is this position that defines this
broken shell of a man the clearest. All that was once good,
all that brought him warmth, all that he used to rise out of
bed for is now behind him, and all that's left is to wait for
the calm and cold of night.
In his mind, he played out a great drama of his past. Using
his wits and that which lies beyond the grasp of sanity, he
formulated questions and discussed them internally. It is
only here that his riddles are solved. It is only here, out
of salvation's mercy, where he can bring peace to himself
so that he may sleep.
And so begins his fight.
"Life is like a candle... useless on it's own, it needs that
special someone to spark a flame and bring purpose to it's
being. Once, long ago, I met a woman who brought purpose to
my own life. It was for her that my flame burned... and in
her hands I felt my life becoming richer and more meaningful.
It is beyond my understanding why she pines away for a ghost,
for a man that died on the inside a long time ago. I do not
understand why she would destroy me, the one whom she gave
life to, for that which she can never possess in this world.
She used to love me, but her heart belongs to that zombie,
the one I once called my friend.
Spike Spiegel... a man so out of tune with the real world
he isn't sure if he himself is alive or dead. If I so wanted,
I could end his life within an hour, but then he wouldn't be
made to suffer like he does. It is my will that keeps Spike
alive, for I am the only one that can kill him.
For now, my will is to have him spend every waking moment
praying and fantasizing of that fated reunion. It is my will
that fills his dreams with false hope of having his candle
lit once more. It is my will that he feel the same pain I do
until I grow tired of it and want nothing more from life."
The man's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the roof
hatch opening behind him. A man dressed in a suit came up
from the cramped ladder shaft and drew close by.
"Sir," the man said, "we just got word that the Bebop has
entered the port on the south side of town. What are your
orders?"
A moment passes.
"Sir? Uh, Vicious?" the man in the suit continued.
Upon hearing his name called, Vicious stood and faced the
man... his cold eyes found his heart.
Heartbeat.
After a brief moment, he spoke. "And I looked, and behold
a pale horse. And his name that sat upon him was Death,
and Hell followed with him."
Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Sir?"
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Vicious moved closer to the man, eyes now fixated in the
distance.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Never use my name again." Vicious turned his back to the
man. "Peasants should never speak of their kings by name,
just as kings should never speak of their Gods by name."
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
The man tensed. He didn't know what Vicious would do next.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat.
Vicious turned towards the man again, hand on his sword, and
approached him steadily.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Panic overcame the man. "Sir! I apologize! I didn't mean
any disrespect, it's just that you didn't seem like-"
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Vicious moved past the man, and spoke to him as he passed by.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Move the body to the concert house. Mao Yen Rai was a fan
of the Opera... if they're here for him, they will come to
find him there."
Heartbeat.
The man let out a breath of relief. "Sir! It will be done,
sir!".
Vicious entered the cathedral. There, members of the Red
Dragon syndicate all formed a line and readied themselves
to receive orders. Vicious stopped short of the formation
and looked upward towards the stained glass display high
above the pews.
The last remaining light of day caused the figure of that
woman to glow. She was a beautiful, golden haired saint
who looked over all who came into the cathedral. Her eyes
brought calm to the stormy hearts of sinners, and her warm
face cast forgiveness on all who looked to her.
Vicious lowered his eyes from the window. The voices in
his head returned.
"I remember that gray afternoon... when I had gone to ask
Julia if she would accept my love forever. It was meant to
be the fated day that I would have my heart filled with the
happiness I've only read about in stories. At first I had
thought she had gone out on her own, only to find that she
had gone to be with my nemesis.
The red string of fate seems to have us three bound together.
Spike and Julia together, and me alone forced to look on
tied by my wrists. My heart, like my mind, is a slave to
the possibilities of what those two may have done. Is it
too much to ask for her love, or is it too much to ask
that I had never come to know them?"
The thugs, still in formation, began to cast questioning
looks at each other.
One of them whispered, "What is he doing?"
Vicious turned his attention towards the group of men still
standing at his side.
One man broke formation and declared, "Sir! Your men have
fortified the cathedral as you requested sir. We now have
armed guards posted on the first and second floors, and our
rogue scout is in position across the street to alert us
if anything comes towards our location."
Vicious looked towards the great, wooden doors that were
beneath the stained glass.
"Very good. Keep an eye on things around here. Don't let
a single thing slip through a hole in the wall. I'm going
to the concert hall myself... there's an old friend there
I'm dying to see again."
And with that, he began his solemn march towards the doors.
Vicious let his face sink into thought, as he often did
when he was thinking of a plan.
"Spike, you come to me, or I come to you. Either way we
both kill ourselves for what reason? Because of a woman?
Not because you stole something of value to me, and certainly
not because I have something you want: We both die for the
love of a woman."
Vicious threw the doors apart. The haze of the pollution
glowed high above the skyscrapers, and a bright blanket of
orange cuddled the blackened cathedral.
"Spike, the man I once knew as my brother I now speak of as
cancer: One that I can not cut out, one that consumes me
from within. Everyday I allow him in my mind I can feel my
lifeline being strangled."
Vicious kicked up dust every step he made. Small clouds
would surround his boots, and slowly fade in the wind. He
had his face fixed on the hover carrier parked a few feet
away in the courtyard.
"It used to be we would stand back-to-back, and we would use
our guns to defend one another. Then Julia came along, and
by us turning towards her we also turned our guns upon each
other. If she had never found her way into our fate...
...wait... this is an avenue I've never seen before. It's
possible that in order to set everything back to the way it
was, all that I must do is kill-"
A voice rang out from inside the carrier.
"Sir! Please get on board quickly, we don't have much time
before the opera opens to the public!"
Vicious boarded the hover carrier and soon, they were off
towards downtown.
The city streets were full of life. Old men exhibit their
thick, white beards and speak of the days lost. The children
that listen laugh at the silly actions of their elders when
they were younger. One day in the future, these children
will be the ones telling the stories, and the days and games
they play today will be all but lost to them as well.
"Life goes on."
Mothers scurry around busy street markets, looking for the
apples that are just a day fresher than the rest. Children
pluck colorful pieces of candy from the shelves, as if the
greens, purples, and reds would make the sugar taste any
sweeter. Reckless youth break glass bottles in an alley,
and run away in fright the moment the old bum begins to
stir from his sleep.
"Everybody's dead or dying anyway."
A boy frantically looks for a movie theater to take his
first date to, but can't seem to find a show that is soon
to start. A dog finds a piece of meat that fell from
somebody's sandwich. A car slams into a storefront, but
luckily, everybody's okay.
"It's all just a long goodbye until then."
The hovercraft lands in a parking garage, operated by the
Red Dragon Syndicate. This was one of many muscle jobs
that worked to give the Syndicate a steady flow of cash
on a day to day basis. A job no better suited to a common
thug, Vicious is above this level of petty crime.
Two of the crew members sitting beside Vicious wrap the
body of Mao Yen Rai in a thick, black cloth. One grabs up
the body by the upper torso, and the other by the legs.
They both hurry into the opera house ahead of Vicious and
the rest.
Vicious walks, unescorted, towards the opera house along
the sky bridge between it and the parking garage. The
hot, dusk air was filled with the voices of the performers
tuning up. As he drew closer to the concert hall, he had
begun to recognize what they were singing.
"Ballad of Fallen Angels", Vicious thought to himself. "I
remember hearing this for the first time out of Julia's
record player.
Julia? Oh yes, Julia. The Julia that keeps me up at
night. The Julia that stabs my eyes when I'm awake.
The Julia that should have never come to be in my life.
The Julia that stole the only friend I ever trusted in,
and gave me a love I was stupid to believe in.
If I'm meant to travel the galaxy until I kill Spike,
then so be it. If Spike is meant the same fate for me,
then so be it. What happens to Julia then? Would she
grieve our two corpses now that we no longer walk? Why
is it that she refuses to see us dead as we are?
Her tears are all men like me and Spike have to live
for. Once those have been shed, then surely we will
die ourselves. She knows this, and yet she tortures
us by keeping us alive. It is her will that causes us
this pain... this suffering."
Vicious stopped on the bridge and looked down at the
street in front of the opera house.
"The red string of fate is a noose tied around our necks.
If only I could kill Julia, then she would be unable to
force her cruelty upon us. With nothing to live for,
Spike will finally come to me.
Weary of life, longing for death, we will meet. And
then? Peace. Sweet, merciful peace."
Another hover carrier went rushing by Vicious and landed
in the street in front of the concert hall. A woman
emerged, handed her keys to the valet and entered through
the front of the building.
Vicious turned from the scene in the street.
"Spike, you coward. You sent another woman to me..."
-------
See you, Space Cowboy...
Written by: Adrian Santiago
Studio: Dejection Films
------
High above the shadowy streets, closer to the setting sun than
the moon, a man wrapped in darkness sat. He enjoys this time
of the day the most... this was the time he could sit, back
against the light and stare over his silhouette drawn over the
cathedral courtyard. It is this position that defines this
broken shell of a man the clearest. All that was once good,
all that brought him warmth, all that he used to rise out of
bed for is now behind him, and all that's left is to wait for
the calm and cold of night.
In his mind, he played out a great drama of his past. Using
his wits and that which lies beyond the grasp of sanity, he
formulated questions and discussed them internally. It is
only here that his riddles are solved. It is only here, out
of salvation's mercy, where he can bring peace to himself
so that he may sleep.
And so begins his fight.
"Life is like a candle... useless on it's own, it needs that
special someone to spark a flame and bring purpose to it's
being. Once, long ago, I met a woman who brought purpose to
my own life. It was for her that my flame burned... and in
her hands I felt my life becoming richer and more meaningful.
It is beyond my understanding why she pines away for a ghost,
for a man that died on the inside a long time ago. I do not
understand why she would destroy me, the one whom she gave
life to, for that which she can never possess in this world.
She used to love me, but her heart belongs to that zombie,
the one I once called my friend.
Spike Spiegel... a man so out of tune with the real world
he isn't sure if he himself is alive or dead. If I so wanted,
I could end his life within an hour, but then he wouldn't be
made to suffer like he does. It is my will that keeps Spike
alive, for I am the only one that can kill him.
For now, my will is to have him spend every waking moment
praying and fantasizing of that fated reunion. It is my will
that fills his dreams with false hope of having his candle
lit once more. It is my will that he feel the same pain I do
until I grow tired of it and want nothing more from life."
The man's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the roof
hatch opening behind him. A man dressed in a suit came up
from the cramped ladder shaft and drew close by.
"Sir," the man said, "we just got word that the Bebop has
entered the port on the south side of town. What are your
orders?"
A moment passes.
"Sir? Uh, Vicious?" the man in the suit continued.
Upon hearing his name called, Vicious stood and faced the
man... his cold eyes found his heart.
Heartbeat.
After a brief moment, he spoke. "And I looked, and behold
a pale horse. And his name that sat upon him was Death,
and Hell followed with him."
Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Sir?"
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Vicious moved closer to the man, eyes now fixated in the
distance.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Never use my name again." Vicious turned his back to the
man. "Peasants should never speak of their kings by name,
just as kings should never speak of their Gods by name."
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
The man tensed. He didn't know what Vicious would do next.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat.
Vicious turned towards the man again, hand on his sword, and
approached him steadily.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Panic overcame the man. "Sir! I apologize! I didn't mean
any disrespect, it's just that you didn't seem like-"
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Vicious moved past the man, and spoke to him as he passed by.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat.
"Move the body to the concert house. Mao Yen Rai was a fan
of the Opera... if they're here for him, they will come to
find him there."
Heartbeat.
The man let out a breath of relief. "Sir! It will be done,
sir!".
Vicious entered the cathedral. There, members of the Red
Dragon syndicate all formed a line and readied themselves
to receive orders. Vicious stopped short of the formation
and looked upward towards the stained glass display high
above the pews.
The last remaining light of day caused the figure of that
woman to glow. She was a beautiful, golden haired saint
who looked over all who came into the cathedral. Her eyes
brought calm to the stormy hearts of sinners, and her warm
face cast forgiveness on all who looked to her.
Vicious lowered his eyes from the window. The voices in
his head returned.
"I remember that gray afternoon... when I had gone to ask
Julia if she would accept my love forever. It was meant to
be the fated day that I would have my heart filled with the
happiness I've only read about in stories. At first I had
thought she had gone out on her own, only to find that she
had gone to be with my nemesis.
The red string of fate seems to have us three bound together.
Spike and Julia together, and me alone forced to look on
tied by my wrists. My heart, like my mind, is a slave to
the possibilities of what those two may have done. Is it
too much to ask for her love, or is it too much to ask
that I had never come to know them?"
The thugs, still in formation, began to cast questioning
looks at each other.
One of them whispered, "What is he doing?"
Vicious turned his attention towards the group of men still
standing at his side.
One man broke formation and declared, "Sir! Your men have
fortified the cathedral as you requested sir. We now have
armed guards posted on the first and second floors, and our
rogue scout is in position across the street to alert us
if anything comes towards our location."
Vicious looked towards the great, wooden doors that were
beneath the stained glass.
"Very good. Keep an eye on things around here. Don't let
a single thing slip through a hole in the wall. I'm going
to the concert hall myself... there's an old friend there
I'm dying to see again."
And with that, he began his solemn march towards the doors.
Vicious let his face sink into thought, as he often did
when he was thinking of a plan.
"Spike, you come to me, or I come to you. Either way we
both kill ourselves for what reason? Because of a woman?
Not because you stole something of value to me, and certainly
not because I have something you want: We both die for the
love of a woman."
Vicious threw the doors apart. The haze of the pollution
glowed high above the skyscrapers, and a bright blanket of
orange cuddled the blackened cathedral.
"Spike, the man I once knew as my brother I now speak of as
cancer: One that I can not cut out, one that consumes me
from within. Everyday I allow him in my mind I can feel my
lifeline being strangled."
Vicious kicked up dust every step he made. Small clouds
would surround his boots, and slowly fade in the wind. He
had his face fixed on the hover carrier parked a few feet
away in the courtyard.
"It used to be we would stand back-to-back, and we would use
our guns to defend one another. Then Julia came along, and
by us turning towards her we also turned our guns upon each
other. If she had never found her way into our fate...
...wait... this is an avenue I've never seen before. It's
possible that in order to set everything back to the way it
was, all that I must do is kill-"
A voice rang out from inside the carrier.
"Sir! Please get on board quickly, we don't have much time
before the opera opens to the public!"
Vicious boarded the hover carrier and soon, they were off
towards downtown.
The city streets were full of life. Old men exhibit their
thick, white beards and speak of the days lost. The children
that listen laugh at the silly actions of their elders when
they were younger. One day in the future, these children
will be the ones telling the stories, and the days and games
they play today will be all but lost to them as well.
"Life goes on."
Mothers scurry around busy street markets, looking for the
apples that are just a day fresher than the rest. Children
pluck colorful pieces of candy from the shelves, as if the
greens, purples, and reds would make the sugar taste any
sweeter. Reckless youth break glass bottles in an alley,
and run away in fright the moment the old bum begins to
stir from his sleep.
"Everybody's dead or dying anyway."
A boy frantically looks for a movie theater to take his
first date to, but can't seem to find a show that is soon
to start. A dog finds a piece of meat that fell from
somebody's sandwich. A car slams into a storefront, but
luckily, everybody's okay.
"It's all just a long goodbye until then."
The hovercraft lands in a parking garage, operated by the
Red Dragon Syndicate. This was one of many muscle jobs
that worked to give the Syndicate a steady flow of cash
on a day to day basis. A job no better suited to a common
thug, Vicious is above this level of petty crime.
Two of the crew members sitting beside Vicious wrap the
body of Mao Yen Rai in a thick, black cloth. One grabs up
the body by the upper torso, and the other by the legs.
They both hurry into the opera house ahead of Vicious and
the rest.
Vicious walks, unescorted, towards the opera house along
the sky bridge between it and the parking garage. The
hot, dusk air was filled with the voices of the performers
tuning up. As he drew closer to the concert hall, he had
begun to recognize what they were singing.
"Ballad of Fallen Angels", Vicious thought to himself. "I
remember hearing this for the first time out of Julia's
record player.
Julia? Oh yes, Julia. The Julia that keeps me up at
night. The Julia that stabs my eyes when I'm awake.
The Julia that should have never come to be in my life.
The Julia that stole the only friend I ever trusted in,
and gave me a love I was stupid to believe in.
If I'm meant to travel the galaxy until I kill Spike,
then so be it. If Spike is meant the same fate for me,
then so be it. What happens to Julia then? Would she
grieve our two corpses now that we no longer walk? Why
is it that she refuses to see us dead as we are?
Her tears are all men like me and Spike have to live
for. Once those have been shed, then surely we will
die ourselves. She knows this, and yet she tortures
us by keeping us alive. It is her will that causes us
this pain... this suffering."
Vicious stopped on the bridge and looked down at the
street in front of the opera house.
"The red string of fate is a noose tied around our necks.
If only I could kill Julia, then she would be unable to
force her cruelty upon us. With nothing to live for,
Spike will finally come to me.
Weary of life, longing for death, we will meet. And
then? Peace. Sweet, merciful peace."
Another hover carrier went rushing by Vicious and landed
in the street in front of the concert hall. A woman
emerged, handed her keys to the valet and entered through
the front of the building.
Vicious turned from the scene in the street.
"Spike, you coward. You sent another woman to me..."
-------
See you, Space Cowboy...