Session: 28 I Bet My Life
Editor: Ucha Nekome
thoughts = italics / yelling = bold (unless it's a single word)
- 2 Years Ago On Mars Somewhere-
"So that's it then you agree to the terms of the contract?" Said a tall pale-blond man sitting in a large velvet chair. He stared intently at the woman standing in front of his desk in dark gloomy office he called his own. Holding a pen out to her, he could see a look of sheer determination on her face as she took it. This impressed the man given his overwhelming presence was enough to make grown men cry.
"Yes I do." Said the woman as she wrote her name in bold letters, then turned the paper over and handed it back to him. A strange, eerie grin spread so wide nearly all his teeth were visible. Pink gums stood out against the blaring white, disturbingly straight ivories.
"~I will from this day forth be your employer. It will be nice working with you Ms. Faye Valentine.~" As creepy as his voice was, the woman named Faye refused to show any sign of fear to her new "Boss" and proceeded to smile back.
"Nice to be doing business with you. Oh! And by the way, I feel I should let you know that I'm the betting kind of lady." she said in a sensual voice filled with charisma.
"Is that so?" Said her new boss said in an oily voice that sent chills down Faye's spine. "And just how much are you willing to wager?"
- Present Day On The Bebop-
Jet was sitting on the couch watching tv when he changed it to the brand new episode of Big Shot to see if any bounty heads loose in their area. The show had changed quite a bit since it's return to television.
"What's is up there amigos! Do you know what time is it?" Said a young hispanic teen with dark brown hair and large ice green eyes in a old style cowboy outfit.
"Nopers Milo! What time is it?" Asked a teenage girl with strawberry blond hair tied in pigtails and honey brown eyes in a colorful revealing cowgirl getup.
"Well Ariel, it's time for the bounty of the week!" The announcer Milo said cheerfully as both of them moved out of the way to reveal a photo. However; the image was blurred so that the only think you could tell by looking at it was that it was a white man. Alongside the image was the name King Pin, and a bounty of 400,000 Woolongs.
"The last chance to catch this baddy is drawing near! Five years back this man fled the Europa crime syndicate as the remaining members were taken in by police. He is presumed to have taken 30 billion woolongs with him and if he still has the money a small portion will be given the lucky cowboy's who catch him." Annonser Ariel cheered enthusiastically.
Jet turned off the tv at the sound of approaching footsteps as he saw his partner walking into the room.
"So got any work for me to do?" Spike said in a lazy tone as Jet glanced at the suit he was wearing. The jacket grey and blue with a yellow undershirt it had a very symmetrical design but the suit spike was wearing also had weird stripes on it which made Jet snicker.
"Nice suit "TIGER"." Spike gave him an irritated look as he lit up a cigarette.
"Hey it's the only suit I had that did not fall off my ass or wasn't moth ridden." After Spike was done talking Jet sighed.
"I've told you over and over...I have no idea how moths got into your room. By the way, It's been almost a month, why haven't you cut your hair yet?" Asked Jet.
Spike inhaled some smoke then he breathed out and answered. "Cause I don't trust myself with scissors. I might end up cutting my ear off in the process."
Jet shrugged and said. "Alright then, whatever you say. Anyways, to answer your question from before, yes." Spike walked over to the monitor where Jet showed him King Pin's info and explained to him the details. "This guy should be a good one to start off with. As you've only just gotten your strength back...Apparently this guy was last seen on mars in the city of Hellas in the back alley part of town where the famous betting boxing ring takes place."
Spike smirked then chuckled. "Betting boxing?"
Jet put on his sunglasses then lit up his own cigarette. "It's just as ridiculous as it's sounds. A bunch of guys gather together betting on women boxers." Both of them laugh for a bit. When they stopped Spike said. "It wouldn't hurt to check the place for info. I mean we can't exactly find the guy if we don't even know what he looks like."
Jet glanced at the blurred image then breathed out a puff of smoke then said. "Alright then I'll go set coordinates for Hellas. You better be ready when we get there."
Spike then replied in a snide tone. "Yes Mom."
-The Martian City of Hellas Colosseum Ali-
The orange glint from the setting sun was barely visible through the ceiling windows of a large arena. A large crowed of people excitedly clamored as the fight on the stage raged on. Two woman were in the middle of a boxing match. One, a small petite girl who was really fast on her feet and even quicker with her fists. She got in a few quick jabs at the second woman who was holding up her guard very well. Then quite suddenly she turned the tables by uppercutting the small girl knocking her out. After an hour of fighting with her opponent finally defeated the other boxer raises her hand waving at the crowd that cheered her name. "Sleeping Beast! Sleeping Beast!"
The boxer was frustrated at this and shouted. "It's Sleeping Beauty!"
But one of the audience members called out. "Not with those muscles you aren't." Man who said that was sitting in the front row. He gave her a rude smirk, that's when the boxer snapped and grabbed the metal folding chair sitting in the corner of the arena, and chucked it straight at the man's face. He was knocked out cold, which made some audience members scared, others booed her.
A sharp jeering noise sounded as the speakers that hung above the stage turned on, from which a voice demanded. "Miss. Valentine, please refrain from attacking the audience! I repeat, please refrain from attacking the audience! Thank you!" 'click' Once the voice was done, Faye began walking off the stage. As soon as she reached the door she glanced back helplessly at the girl she just fought against...
She was being forced to her feet by a couple of large brutish men twice Faye's size. Armed to the teeth these men had the word "security" written on the backs of their uniforms, but Faye knew that was all for show... The woman woke in a daze, but as soon as she realized what was happening she began to panic and struggle as the men tied her against the arena's ropes. The girl screamed as they opened fire. Faye turned away in pity and disgust as she opened the door and entered the staff room.
She wandered around leaving the staff room behind and entering the hall where she started to talk to herself. "Just one more day Faye. Just one more, and you'll be out this hell hole."
She stopped at the door with the words sleeping beauty etched onto it. It was splattered with graffiti and words like bitch, whore, monster and of course beast carved from what looked like a nail file. Ignoring the writing, she opened the door and entered her room. The room was small and stifling, a claustrophobic nightmare. Dust and mold lined the walls clinging to everything. Centipedes and spiderwebs lined the corners of the room. She was allotted one table with 4 mismatched chairs, a tiny refrigerator, and a beat-up vanity with a broken mirror. The only other door lead to the bedroom which was packed with a rock hard bed, a sink and a shower with only one setting, cold...Faye sat down in a red chair that was right between a blue and a black one. She grabbed the box of cigarettes that were sitting on the table next to a lighter and an ash jar. Two photos lay under the jar, one of Faye with her old crew mates, the other Faye with two women both very similar in appearance. Their pale beige skin, dark silver gray hair, and dark green eyes where exactly the same. The only difference between the two was that one was extremely buff with scars all over her. She was wearing a light green blouse, thick dark gray sweat pants, and black sandals. The other was a young pretty thing sporting a long beautiful ponytail. She wore a skin-tight light green jumpsuit with a wide neck collar.
Faye lit her cigarette and gazed at both pictures. With a sad smile she murmured to herself. "I wonder if things would've changed if I had managed to stop you when I had the chance...Spike." Faye held the photo of her and the crew. Both Spike and Jet were forced into the shot by the hacker Edward, even the dog Ein managed to get in the shot. Faye had taken the picture solely for kicks at the time but now it was the only thing she had left of them. Ed and Ein had gone off somewhere with her dad. Jet was probably catching bounties by himself and Spike was just like how she was before 8 years ago...just sleeping his life away.
Faye's face twisted into an expression of sorrow filled rage as she slammed her fist on the table and yelled. "WHY DID YOU DO IT YOU DUMB ASS?!" She threw the picture on the ground, causing the the glass frame to crack where Spike's face was. Faye put out her cigarette and lay her head on her arms and close her eyes in silence. She stayed there alone without even noticing how long she'd been there. Before she knew it an hour ticked by.
Suddenly a knock on her room door brought the woman back to reality. Faye lifted up her head and called to the door. "Who's there?" Then a gruff woman's voice answered.
"It's Lanna, are you okay Faye? It's been an hour since anyone's seen you and if you don't report to Him soon you will be in a lot of trouble."
Realizing it was her mentor Lanna "the Iron Knuckle", she opened the door. She had forgotten momentarily that she had been sulking not too long ago. Her eyes would get all puffy and irritated from the stress of holding back tears, making here eyes and face red. Because of her laps in memory the large buff woman beheld Faye's depression in full force. She quickly turned to hide her face, but to no avail.
"Sorry about that I'll go see the Boss right away don't want him getting suspicious before it's time now do we?..." Before Faye could leave Lanna stopped her by grabbing her arm then said.
"It's about Spike isn't it?" Faye just stood there in silence biting her lip. She wanted to confide in Lanna...She wanted to tell her everything she had held in for so long. But her voice seemed to have escaped her.
Lanna gently squeezed her friend's shoulders.
When she spoke her husky voice was heavy with concern. "Listen Faye you can't keep all these emotions bottled up inside if you do it will only get worse you either let it out or let it go."
Faye, finally able to speak, shook her head and smiled a rather strained smile. "I understand what your trying to say, but I'm going to be ok, really. Right now, all I care about is putting an end to Pin. Now let's go, we got a lot of work to do after this."
Lanna sighed then, following her into the hall, she said. "Alright then, I'll trust you on this."
- Colosseum Ali Head Office -
The two women stood outside the office doors. They were a fine pair of double doors, large and intimidating, made of mahogany and trimmed in gold. Through them a man's screams could be heard, but as soon as they banged the golden knocker, it was silenced.
They heard a different man's voice tell them. "Come in."
As suspected their Boss King Pin had smashed a young teens head in with a metal bat. His body lay on the ground, blood was splattered everywhere. What was left of his head was a bloody mass. Sad as it was, by now Faye had become so jaded to this man's actions that the sight of the dead boy's bloody remains was no surprise at all. But that didn't stop her stomach for feeling a twinge of nausea when Pin looked first to Lanna then, inevitably, to Faye. Then that same eerie smile crept onto his face, the one that she first saw the day she met him. That smile...He only ever made it towards her, and her alone. He never made that face towards any of the other girls...This gave her a feeling of unease.
Pin laid aside the bloody bat and wiped his hands clean with a free handkerchief. Never taking his eyes off of Fey while doing so. He spoke to her in a cheery voice as if it were just another ordinarily lovely day. "~Hello my precious little fairy! It's been far too long! How have you've been? Since the new season of death ring has started I know you gotten so use to regular boxing. I was a bit worried you wouldn't survive to this point.~"
Faye worked up her most convincing smile yet, then replied. "HA! You really think that a little change in plans would be enough to trip me up? Please I've dealt with far worse."
Pin then looked over at Lanna then his face twisted in disgust then asked. "Tell me have you found the back stabbing slut that placed that bounty on me and revealed my information to the public yet?!" Lanna bowed her head to Pin then replied. "Not yet but I have security questioning all 240 girls in the group we should find the traitor by tomorrow."
Pin said in a flat tone. "I see...That's right it's both your final day here isn't it...Oh, I just a had a great idea for both of your final matches tonight! But first, I got great news for you Faye!" Pin face twisted back to that grin again as the smell of the corpse began to fill the room with the unique smell of blood.
Faye itched her nose to ward it off as, she nervously asked. "What is it?"
Pin then pointed to the muted TV in the corner of the room. On it was a news story about a man who broke out of Mars central hospital five weeks ago. When it revealed who the man was the, it turned out to be the same one who had got her into this mess to begin with, Spike Spiegel.
Faye's face was unreadable at first, when she began to speak it came out in a high pitched whisper. "He's a-awake? He's really awake? He gonna be okay now...I can finally see him again. Now I can talk to him, now that I...I...I." Then Faye grabbed one of the small coffee tables next to Pin's desk then throw It out of the two story window in the corner of the room screaming. "I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"
Faye began marching towards the door when Pin asked. "~Where are you going fairy, and so soon?~" Faye quickly said as she was passing by Lanna on her way out the door. "Don't worry I'll come back to finish what I started, and that's a promise!"
-City of Hellus Rocky's Tavern-
Jet and Spike walked into the tavern and sat down in one of the booths. They were on the left side of the room across from the bar. A waiter came and gave them their menus then asked. "What'll it be gents?"
"Beer." Said Spike.
When the waiter turn to Jet and he said. "Root beer, I prefer to drink late when the moon is high."
The waiter nodded, then left. Jet turned to Spike and said. "Okay you know the deal right? You can come on the job again, but only if your careful. Got it Spike?"
Spike leaned back and blew on the poof of hair hanging in his face. "You've only reminded me about a hundred times, Jet. Besides I can't get the hang of things again just by sparing with you all day. Although, you have gotten stronger since we last had seen each other. That, and I slept five years away...There's alot I missed. Heck, last I checked, Big Shot was cancelled, and now it's got a new season with new hosts?"
Jet sighs then said. "Alright I got ya, so after we eat here, we're going to the Colosseum Ali. It may sound grand, but I hear it's pretty run down looking on the inside. At least from what I've heard anyway."
Spike nodded. Their drinks came and the two ordered their meals. While they waited, Jet got up and walked to the men's bathroom, as Spike sat there alone. For the first time since he woke up 4 weeks ago, he felt the unease of his existence...While his nightmares hadn't quite stopped he HAD hoped this empty feeling would at least go away. It was during this existential crisis that a woman walked up to the bar and asked to use the phone. The bartender turned to go grab it, as Spike tried to get a good look at the woman, though it proved to be difficult considering she was all the way across the room from where he was sitting. So out of a mix of boredom and curiosity he called out to her. "Hey ma'am who are are you trying to call this late?"
That's when the woman replied aggressively. "Someone who's going to be pretty pissed I haven't called in long time, but right now im too mad myself to-."
Immediately at the exact same time the both realized who the other was was talking to. Spike got up and walked over towards the woman who turned around to look at him. It was Faye...Suddenly, out of nowhere she lunged at Spike who had just barely moved in time to dodge a powerful punch that was strong enough to make a large hole in the wall right next to his head. Spike looked up to see her face, only to end up looking straight into her rage filled green eyes that told him she was going to end him. All he could think of one thing to say to that. "DAMN."
RELEASE THE SLEEPING BEAST...