If There's a God in Heaven
A fan fiction one shot by Why-is-buggie-takeN.
Background & Synopsis: I figured I'd try writing a one shot considering I can never commit to full fledged story. This is just an idea I had kicking in my head after watching the last of Cowboy Bebop yesterday. Quite personally I loved it but there is one scene I would have liked to see and it's a little out of the ordinary. It's downright impossible but it's a cool idea. Spike sets out to his favorite bar for one last drink before the encounter with Vicious and the Red Dragon Syndicate. However, he meets quite a strange person at the bar; a particular demon hunter. Takes place around episode 25. As far as Dante is concerned, it's post-DMC4 Dante.
Spike walked into the dumpy bar and sat at his usual seat at the counter. The colors seemed darker and the lights seemed dimmer. The bartender saw to him and Spike ordered a pitcher of beer and a glass. That would do, he thought to himself. Spike sat there, fiddled with his hands for a moment, and then realized he needed a smoke. He reached into his pocket and dug out his pack of cigarettes and picked one out. He held it in his hands for a moment before lighting it, taping it on the edge of the ash try as if he was ashing it.
All the bounty hunter was really trying to do was to get a grip on himself, collect himself before his final encounter with his arch nemesis Vicious. He was nervous; not due to fear of failure or death but for some reason very apprehensive. Jet, Faye… should he really leave them behind? He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it, inhaling deeply and then slowly blowing the smoke out. Even cigarettes didn't taste as good, the nicotine didn't feel as good as it traveled through his bloodstream. He had to do it, Vicious had to be stopped. I have to kill him, I'm destined to do it, Spike thought.
His pitcher of beer arrived as well as his glass. Spike poured himself a cup and gulped down a big swig, followed by a hit of his cigarette, then another drink. Beer and cigarettes still tasted pretty damn good, he thought with a light smile. He continued smoking his cigarette down to the butt and then smudged it on in the ashtray. The bell rattled for a moment… ding-dong, ding-dong… followed by a door shutting. Spike wasn't expecting someone else to come in as this bar usually wasn't a very hot spot among people other than bounty hunters. However, it seemed everyone except Spike had frozen and looked at the man (or perhaps woman) who entered.
Spike then heard whispers among the few people in the bar close to him… I hear he's a demon, travels all around the world in search of humans to kill! - No, that ain't true I tell ya what, he's a good man, ya hear? They tell a great story of him, Dante the demon slayer! - No, that ain't true neither, ya moron! He's a demon himself but I hear he kills demons for bounty!
Spike raised his eyebrows slightly. He was interested now. Surprisingly enough, the man took a seat next to him at the counter. He obviously was not at all a local and in fact it looked like he came from a different time period entirely, maybe even a different universe. He was tall, about Spike's height maybe even an inch or two taller. He was lean but appeared built and muscular. Spike could already tell he wasn't someone you should mess with. He had long messy white hair wearing a red overcoat and black pants. Holstered at each sides of his waist were two pistols and strapped or perhaps floating on his back was a giant sword about as big as the man himself. Even if the man was intimidating, he was quite a sight.
The man had a fairly deep voice; he ordered a tall glass of whiskey with three cubes. The bartender served him right away looking almost afraid of him.
"So, a fellow hunter, right?" Spike mumbled almost to himself.
"Name's Dante… I'm not from around here," he responded.
"You don't say." Spike lit up another cigarette and let the smoke flow from his mouth up into the ceiling fan of the bar.
There was a small silence as Spike took a deep drag off his cigarette.
With the smoke still in his lungs, he asked: "You're not human, are you?"
"You're quite curious, aren't you?" Dante said as he took a drink of his whiskey.
"Not really, just asking questions to pass the time."
"Hmph… sounds fun enough. What's your name, kid?"
Kid? Spike wasn't a kid… the man didn't look too much older than him but then Spike realized he wasn't human, so it's possible that… well whatever, Spike thought.
"Spike… Spike Spiegel."
"Not a bad name, not at all… if you must know, I'm a half demon bounty hunter that hunts demons for cash. Sort of like what you do… right bounty hunter?"
Spike smirked as he took a drink of his beer. "A half demon who hunts his own kind? Isn't that going against some sort of code?" Spike chuckled lightly.
"What can I say, it runs in my family. Father did it and now I too do it. Not a bad way to pick up cash, make ends meet."
"What's a demon hunter doing in a place like this? Are there actually demons around here?"
Dante smirked after downing the rest of his drink. "I could ask you a similar question; what's a bounty hunter doing out here? Biggest fries out here appear to be low life thieves and thugs. Although I did walk into some weirdo on my way here, reminded me of someone I knew… white hair, sword at his waist, and a despicably cold face."
Spike winced… Vicious. "Are you serious? You saw him? Where was he?" Spike was practically yelling as he turned to Dante.
"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down bro. Just cause I saw him don't mean I know where he is now or where he was even headed. Besides, what business do you have with that dickhead anyhow?"
"That dickhead's name is Vicious. He's my enemy, he's the leader of the Red Dragon Syndicate and he must be stopped." Spike said tensely and before he knew it he was lighting up another cigarette and pouring another glass of beer.
Dante tapped his finger on the table for a moment… "Get down!" He yelled as Spike dived behind the counter with Dante as the sound of bullets shredded through the air. Spike pulled a gun out and Dante as well pulled his dual pistols (Ebony and Ivory) out.
Dante fired sporadically but very accurately. It's like he could sense where everyone was and in a moment snap his gun's sights right between their eyes and fire a bullet. Spike took out a few but Dante was absolutely destroying them.
Soon, the bullets stopped and all was calm again. The bar was destroyed and everyone except them had died.
Spike looked up at the counter to find that his cigarette was still in the ashtray, burning away, smoking itself. He finished it without a word to Dante as they both just stood there. Spike leaned over the counter and reached into his pocket to get his pack of cigarettes out. He only had one left. He handed the pack with his lighter inside to Dante.
Dante looked confused. "I don't really smoke, so you'll have to-"
"Just take them. If you're not too busy, look up at the sky tonight. I promise you, this will mean something to you." Dante took the pack and pocketed it.
Spike was beginning to walk away but not before Dante said (with a smirk): "It was nice meeting you, Spike Spiegel. You're a damn good shot… those syndicate bastards don't stand a chance. Best of luck."
Spike stopped in his tracks and smiled. "Yeah… you're right about that. Thanks, good luck to you too, although something tells me you won't need it." He continued walking away until he was out of earshot. Dante stood still but eventually walked the opposite way and whispered to himself…
"You'd be surprised…"
- Later that night… -
Dante arrived at his hotel and sat down at his desk, bored again. He dug through his pockets when he remembered something… Spike. The syndicate… That Vicious guy… the night sky. Dante stood up and walked outside, the mild air feeling good on his face. He sat down and held the pack of cigarettes in his hands.
Suddenly, a bright shooting star collapsed through the sky and faded out. Dante let out a deep sigh and hung his head for a moment. He leaned against the wall of the hotel as he stood on the balcony, looking up for a moment into the sky. The night seemed to have lost its glow and an eerie pitch black took over the sky followed by a deafening silence.
He pulled the last cigarette out and stuck it between his lips, striking the lighter and inhaling the smoke.
"Well well, here's to you, Spike Spiegel..." Dante took a hit and exhaled very slowly, in almost sad yet understanding manner.
"Farewell, Space Cowboy…"
YOU'RE GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT…
- The End. –
Epilogue – This is just a bonus add on that serves no real purpose to the one shot, read it if you want.
As Dante finished the cigarette, he realized something needed to be done. Inside the pack of cigarettes was a photo. A photo of a bald man with a metal arm, a woman with green eyes and violet hair, and Spike himself. He asked around, trying to find them. Eventually, he was pointed in the right direction and used his instincts to pin point the location.
He knocked on the hatch of the Bebop with a heavy heart.
"Could it… could it be? Is that Spike?" Faye rushed to the door in just her robe as she had just gotten out of the shower and opened it.
She grimaced as tears threatened to pour out. "Who are you?" She was trying hard to hold back the tears that were begging to run down her face.
Dante said nothing but handed the empty pack of cigarettes, the lighter, and the photo to her. Faye began crying and Dante couldn't say a word. Jet heard all the commotion and rushed to the hatch to see what was happening. Despite the man being at the door, he didn't capture Jet's attention. As soon as Jet arrived to the entry room Faye handed him Spike's belongings. Jet looked at it with a depressed expression and shook his head.
"Why… why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you help him?" Faye cried harder and harder, wanting to kill the man. However, she knew she could not. She could tell by looking at him he could kill Jet and Faye in an instant if he wanted, however he would have been just as capable to help Spike.
"I didn't know Spike that well. But what I did learn about him was this… this is something that has been haunting him, this is something that was his business that he had to attend to. I promise you, he is at peace. He accomplished what he wanted to…" Dante trailed off.
Faye whimpered as the tears streaked down her face.
Jet intervened and looked Dante right in the eyes. What looked back were cold yet feeling eyes of deep steel blue. "Thanks… I appreciate this, I really do." Silence passed a moment and Dante began to turn away before Jet stopped him.
"Didn't catch your name… what is it?"
Dante stopped, his back turned to Jet.
"Name's Dante… maybe someday I'll see you guys again," he said as he continued walking away.
BETTER LIVE UP TO YOUR WORDS, DANTE...
Final thoughts: I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors or spelling erorrs I may have made. Hopefully I'll have time to look over them eventually but right now I just want to get this out there. Thanks for reading, please review.