Fly Me To the Moon
Chapter I:
Break Through the Door, Part I
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"Dammit Spike! Of all the dumb things-"
"Look, Jet! This wasn't my fault; if you had only-"
"Well, why is it always my fault?!"
"Ay yai ay yai!"
"SHUT UP ED!"
"But Ed found it! Mr. Man is on Mars, just like Bebop!"
Sitting back with her trademark grin, Ed giggled as Ein licked her nose and barked loudly.
"What?! He's on Mars…Jet, we'll continue this argument later!" Turning and running from the room as fast as he could, Spike entered the Bebop's hangar where his precious ship, the Swordfish, was waiting. Taking off moments later, he waited for the coordinates he knew would come from Ed. This had been their only bounty so far this week and if they didn't catch him, they ran the risk of not being able to eat for days.
"Section 24 in the city-city!" Ed's voice crackled over the system and Spike nodded to himself, gunning the Swordfish's engines and speeding off in the direction of Section 24.
With a rather loud groan, Jet flopped down on the couch and watched as Ed fed Spike coordinates and other information he might need to catch their only food source. They had eaten nothing but instant ramen for the past two weeks, and the little crew was ready for a change.
"Sukiyaki, sukiyaki! Ay yai yai!"
"That's right, Ed," Jet said. "If you keep up the good work, you'll get to eat sukiyaki every night for a month!"
"Sukiyaki!" Ed squealed, her long fingers flying over the keys. The pale light from the monitor glinted off of her green goggles, making her look like an oversized insect. Jet couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
It was a stroke of pure luck that they had come upon the little earth girl; her hacking skills had proven to be invaluable to the Bebop's crew and had often times saved them from certain starvation. Along with the addition of the data dog Ein, they made a pretty good team, albeit an unconventional one. Most of the time, anyway.
There were situations, such as the one from a few minutes ago, where arguments broke out and sometimes even fist fights, but things always righted themselves in the end and life went on.
"I've got him in sight, Jet! I'm going in!"
"Good job, Spike! Catch him and we're eating out tonight!" It seemed as if the two men had already forgotten their previous disagreement.
"There he is! I'm closing in now, He's-"
But with a crackle of static, Ed's screen went blank and the sound of Spike's voice was cut off. "Ed! What the hell just happened?"
"Spike-Spike!" Ed cried, tapping away loudly. Ein barked and growled at the screen, as if sensing that something was wrong.
"What is it, Ein? Did something happen to Spike?" Ed asked, as if the dog could answer back.
But with one last growl, Ein turned around and settled down lazily on the floor.
"Forget the dog, Ed! Try and get our contact with Spike back! Or no sukiyaki!"
"Sukiyaki for Ed!" the young girl sang out, staring determinedly at her screen. "Sukiyaki!"
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With a moan Spike threw a hand over his eyes to shield them from the bright sunlight painting spots on the insides of his eyelids. Damn, that sun was annoying.
The sun…
Eyes now flying open, Spike tried to sit up and immediately winced and decided that wasn't a good idea. Giving his eyes a moment to adjust, he glanced around him and was surprised to see that he was lying on the ground near a totaled Swordfish.
"Aw, man…" he mumbled "And I had just gotten her fixed too."
Waiting another few minutes for his head to clear, the green haired man managed to pull himself into a sitting position and took a better look around him. Nearby, another small ship lay, looking just as bad as the Swordfish. His mind starting to revive a little, Spike remembered flying around the corner of a building and seeing the shape of another ship right before his vision went black. But there was no sign of the bounty head.
"Damn!" he shouted, smashing a fist down onto the hard ground next to him. Running hands agitatedly through his already mussed hair, he proceeded to stand up on shaky feet and try to assess the damage a little better. Limping over to his beloved ship, he ran his hands over the ruined body and sighed. Repairs would have to wait until they got another bounty…whenever that would be.
A shrill yell brought him whirling back around, hand flying automatically to the gun he carried with him all the time. That's right…there was another person in the ship that had run into him…
Pulling out the handgun, he crept silently forward, keeping a wary eye out for the other person and trying to ignore the lance of pain that shot through his body with every movement.
An annoyed growl reached his ears now and he paused for a moment, only feet away from the other ship. Loud curses and a few blistering oaths reached his ears, and he grinned to himself when he recognized the voice to be that of a woman's. Whoever said that women were quiet, meek, and well mannered had obviously never met the women of Sol.
Peering around the wreckage of the small craft, he quickly spotted the busty form of a young woman, still throwing a fit at the sight of her ship. She was pretty, as women went, with short dark hair and a body that other men would die for. But Spike knew the instant that he saw her, that she was trouble.
Putting his gun away, but still keeping his guard up, Spike stepped out from behind the craft and made his presence known. "Who the hell are you?!" the woman asked, her temper flaring even worse at the sight of him. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?!"
"I'm the guy you ran into!" Spike shouted back, his own temper kindling at her tone and words. "My ship's totaled because of you, and I just had the damn thing fixed!"
"And as if my ship isn't?! I'm broke! I can't afford repairs!"
"Well then maybe you should watch where you're going!" Spike glared at the woman as she crossed her arms and glared right back.
But before an all out war could start, Spike heard the sound of another ship above them. Both people turned their faces upwards and shielded their eyes against the blinding sun, trying to see who it was.
Spike was the first to cry out. "Jet!"
A few minutes later, Jet stepped out of the Hammerhead and stalked over to the other man. "Spike! What the hell happened?!"
"She-" the younger bounty hunter jabbed an accusing finger at the dark haired woman, "ran into me! She wrecked the Swordfish and made me lose the bounty! Therefore we can't eat or make repairs!"
"Look, pal, maybe you should learn to drive!"
Exasperated, Jet turned towards the woman. "And just who are you?" he asked scornfully.
"Common courtesy requires that you give your names first!" she shot back, clamping her mouth shut.
"Argh! Jet, just forget it! Women are impossible!"
"I'm Jet Black, and this lunkhead is Spike Spiegel. Now, I'll ask again: Who are you?"
"I'm Faye Valentine," she replied haughtily, uncrossing her arms and examining her nails. "And I'll have you know, your friend here just cost me my meal ticket."
"I could say the same for you," Spike muttered, shooting her murderous looks.
"Wait, your meal ticket?" Jet asked. "Are you…are you a bounty hunter?" His voice was incredulous.
Spike snorted at this question.
"Actually, yes I am. And I was on the tail of a decent sized bounty until I found myself on the ground with a ruined ship!"
"He was our bounty!" Spike shouted. "And because you made me lose him, I can't eat lobster tonight!"
"Well I can't eat either, and I certainly can't make any repairs to my ship!"
"Same here! I-"
"All right, enough!" Jet shouted, breaking up the spat. "Obviously, neither of you were looking where you were going, and there's nothing we can do about it now, so why don't we just end this?"
"Nothing we can do about it?" Faye asked, tapping her foot. "Well, until I get my share of money for my ship and my lost meal, you've just earned yourself a new bounty hunting partner."
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Well, this is my first attempt at a Cowboy Bebop fic and I'm not sure I liked how it turned out. But I guess I should let you guys be the judge of that.
Reviews and comments would be much appreciated!
-SanoGirl
P.S. I know nothing really happed in this chapter, but I decided to cut it off because it's 1:30 in the morning. I promise, the plot will start unfolding next chapter!