The Big Day
New Tokyo GLOBEX CORP Garage & Bar
They had decided to watch the competition get underway from the underground garage in New Tokyo where the cars launched from. It would be the last chance they had to see Ed before everything commenced. Doohan and Miles were there as well, going over Ed's car - a refit cherry red Lambergris Hurricane - to make sure it was all set for the first leg of the trip.
Street racing kicked things off, with various decrepit towers slated for random demolition to add chaos to the course. Drones and satellite footage fed images of the race back to the crews in the garage or to the audience in the stands over in Greater China where the second neck of the race was to take place, or to the audience gathered on sea vessels to watch the speedboat portion, or to the view screens of folks on the satellites and ships in space.
The participants would tear up the New Tokyo streets and then speed across the floating bridge to Greater China for a cross country race in off-road vehicles ending at a landing strip. From there, they'd launch into aircraft for the Air Race and then parachute from their aircraft to race speed boats floating in the ocean which would take them to the abandoned oil rig that the zip craft had all been parked on. The zip craft that they'd take into space for the final portion of the five part race. On road, Off road, Air, Water, Space.
Doohan and Miles would be leaving for the airstrip as soon as Ed took off from the garage when the race began. They'd meet up with her there briefly as it was up to them to have the plane ready to take off and to refill her water to keep her hydrated. Ed would be on her own to get the off road vehicle going, to reach and start up the speed boat, and to launch the zip craft. She'd wanted to utilize her remote control to have everything set ahead of time but that violated the rules of the competition.
Spike wandered around the vehicle kicking absently at the tires as he went. He gave it a critical inspection but wasn't actually too worried. Doohan and Miles were far too skilled at their profession to let Ed participate in a vehicle that wasn't up for the challenge. Spike felt his own excitement begin to build as he breathed in the gasoline, oil, and other automotive smells. There was practically a charge in the air. He knew he was grinning like a fool but he couldn't help it - he was feeling downright giddy about this.
"At least tell me this thing has good brakes!" Faye cried, looking aghast at the sleek vehicle. Even parked it looked like it was moving at a good speed. Fuck, what a thing of beauty!
"Of course there's brakes," Doohan assured her. He was shaking his head at her with incredulity.
"Yeah," Ed said, tapping her fingers along the steering wheel with excitement and adding in an aside to Spike who was currently standing outside the driver's window. "How else could you drift without brakes?"
He hid another, more mischievous grin, by putting a cigarette in his mouth and turning to Jet for a light. Much like Faye, the older man was very nearly fretting and could use a distraction from what was about to transpire. Ed, at insane speeds, piloting wildly souped up vehicles, and putting her life on the line in the name of...well... living life. Spike honestly couldn't be more proud. He was nervous for her too but he was also pretty confident in her capabilities. Besides, he'd been tearing up monoracer courses at her age, so he couldn't really say shit.
Ed was literally bouncing in her seat. Meanwhile Ein was whining anxiously at Spike's feet. Ed had wanted to bring Ein along - something which made the dog act decidedly twitchy - but Doohan had talked her out of that after insisting even those few pounds could make a crucial difference. Spike wasn't sure what Ed's plan for parachuting with the pooch had been - maybe just to hold him in her arms? Regardless, Ein tended to be much happier with all four paws on the ground. At the moment, he was snuffling around the car intently. Spike couldn't be certain but he suspected the dog, too, was trying to give the vehicle one final check before letting Ed take off.
"Want some advice, kiddo?" Spike asked. Ed didn't seem worried to him, but he remembered the flutter of nerves from his own racing days. He had been so jittery before his first race… the only thing that had helped him focus was another racer trash talking him. He'd gotten so distracted and so pissed off at the other guy that it was easy to win once he made it his goal to destroy the cocky asshole - and all the other racers while he was at it.
This particular competition didn't have the racers starting off side-by-side on a track, however. Each participant was currently holed up in their own section of the underground garage waiting to be unleashed on the track - or, well, city street for this initial portion of the race.
Ed was using the steering wheel as a drum at this point but turned her head to Spike with interest. "Ooooh. Spike-person has some secrets to reveal? Cheat codes, perhaps?"
He shook his head at her. "Nah. And, this is life advice more than just race advice. You can apply it in countless fast-paced situations." He fixed her with a hard stare. "You ready?" She stopped drumming on the wheel and folded her hands in her lap, regarding him seriously. Spike gave her a nod and went on. "Don't stop. If you get hurt just let the adrenaline carry you through. There's always time later to acknowledge the pain and treat your wounds but you have to keep moving if you're in a fight or chase or a race. Just push through the pain and keep going."
"That's your best advice?" Ed asked incredulously.
Spike shrugged. "Carrying on has gotten me this far anyway."
Ed looked at Jet and Faye and they both shrugged. Spike's advice was solid for their lifestyle and could be applied to competitions too. He could tell they didn't have much of an argument against his simple logic.
"Well, Faye-Faye, any wise words before Edward takes off?" The hacker asked Faye.
"Life is chaos, success is arbitrary, and confidence is everything." Faye replied breezily.
"What kind of shit advice is that?" Jet asked with a scoff. Spike snickered, already knowing the answer.
Ed giggled. "Something she heard in a show last night!"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jet said to the sky. Or, well, the ceiling of the garage. He stepped over to the door of the vehicle to lean in towards Edward, whose hands were now excitedly gripping the steering wheel. "You just gotta stay calm and stay focused. You have all the skills and talent you need. You've got this, Ed. Have fun and stay alive."
Spike let his own head drop back. "That's *your* best advice?"
Doohan came shuffling over to the group. He flapped his hands at the adults. "Stop overloading her with advice! In fact, everyone shut up and get away! Ed, you ready to start? You better be!"
Jet reached in to ruffle her hair before moving away from the vehicle. Spike pointed at Ed with finger guns as he walked backwards from the vehicle. They both watched as Faye, in a surprising show of consideration, scooped Ein up and waved with one of his paws at the young hacker. Ed grinned with all her teeth bared and put her goggles over her eyes.
It was time to jam!
xxx
"Holy fuck! They added fruit stands to this part of the course?" Spike blurted.
Sure enough, there were dozens of unmanned fruit carts littering the streets of New Tokyo. Just another thing to avoid in addition to the portions of buildings raining down from the demolition going on. This was just as exciting as Spike had hoped it would be. There were twists no one had been warned about and it was adding wonderful levels of danger.
They were still in the garage, but upstairs now, in the bar watching the first leg of the event unfold on enormous view screens staggered on every flat space available. The section of the structure they were in now was several levels above the individual stations where the vehicles had all been parked. The back wall of the building was lined with a bar and plenty of stools, while view screens covered every wall surface of the room. They could see every car out there and there were hundreds. Each vehicle was synced to a dozen or so drones as well as a satellite - they could keep a close watch on anyone they wanted, but naturally their eyes stayed focused solely on the screens that showed Ed's progress.
She'd managed to veer around every fruit stand that had cropped up in her path so far and was barely even dusty from the collapse of nearby buildings. It was impossible to tell if she was ahead of her rivals or not, but the fact that she hadn't crashed into anyone or anything was a good sign. Out of his peripheral vision Spike saw another vehicle smash solidly into a fruit stand. Kiwis and apples and watermelons exploded into the air everywhere but the vehicle managed to keep on its path.
The ground trembled beneath them slightly.
Faye's hand grasped his sleeve from where she leaned against the bar on his right. His eyes slid to hers briefly and she discreetly plucked her hand from his arm to instead grasp the shot glass the bartender pushed in front of her. Spike used his own shot glass to hide a smile at Faye's anxiety. They'd been feeling reverberations from the demolition going on all around them and each time it seemed as if Faye had forgotten the previous tremor because she kept reacting with subtle alarm.
Jet, on Spike's left, had kept up a continuous order of shots for the three of them. Spike wasn't about to complain since he wasn't in charge of footing the bill, and because it seemed like his two companions weren't going to make it through this pentathlon without significant intoxication. He decided to pace his own intake and left the next shot glass sitting full on the bartop while he watched as Ed executed a ridiculous maneuver, shooting her vehicle nearly onto its side as she banked it down an alley too narrow for the vehicle to fit except tilted onto two wheels as it currently was.
Faye's eyes were comically wide. Jet's mouth was hanging open. Spike shook his head at both of them. Ed hadn't needed to do that - her path on the course was actually quite clear. Of course, neither of his comrades seemed to know this… and probably would be aghast if they did, but it was obvious to Spike that Ed was already bored with the established course and was making up shortcuts to keep her own interest piqued.
Even Spike, to the best of his own shoddy recollection, had never bothered to jump the track during his races. Sure, sometimes you'd end up off course for a bit due to scraping paint with a competitor or something, but it wasn't typically something a driver set out to do intentionally.
Fortunately, Spike had poured over the rules with Ed so he knew as well as she did exactly what was allowed and what was forbidden. Abandoning the established course to sneak along new routes was actually encouraged, but most drivers never bothered with that because you could easily crash or else accidentally end up heading in the wrong direction and it was hard to make up time when that happened.
Spike slid off his stool and wrapped his right arm around Faye's waist, letting his hand settle on her hip. She was so focused on the view screens that she made no reaction to his touch. He reached out with his left hand to pick up the shot glass he'd ignored earlier. A wave with that occupied hand kept the bartender from putting a fresh shot there even as the man put new ones before Jet and Faye.
Finally the racers were starting to become aware of one another. Ed was one of the first half dozen to set her eyes and soon thereafter her wheels onto the broad expanse of the floating bridge that connected New Tokyo to the mainland of Greater China. This was where things might get interesting for a moment. Challengers could attempt to force one another off the edge of this kilometers-long stretch of pavement. It would take all of Ed's attention to avoid being shunted into the water by an opponent. They watched as she maintained her neck-and-neck pace against a couple other cars. It seemed like at least three were as dedicated as she was to simply moving forward rather than attempting to oust anyone else off the track.
The majority of the vehicles rapidly approaching the forerunners had much less sportsmanlike consideration for their opponents and began side swiping or all out smashing into other cars as soon as one was in reach. It became a sort of demolition derby as cars tried to avoid being spun out or knocked into the water. Once Ed reached the end of the bridge, she'd have a mad dash along the narrow streets of the seaside city there to escape the confines of humanity and reach the field where all the off road vehicles waited for the next leg of the competition.
Faye was leaning hard into the bar, standing on her tiptoes as though to get closer to the action.
Jet, eyes dead set on one of Ed's view screens, was slamming a beer.
Spike felt a moment of relief that his older companion had made the switch from liquor. He sure didn't want to try hauling two wasted partners back to the ship after this. Although, Faye had also apparently forgotten about the booze in front of her because her most recent shot glass was still brimming with liquid.
Speaking of, Spike took the shot he'd been holding and set it upside down on the counter. The bartender gave an absent nod in his direction from where he stood further down washing out pint glasses.
Doohan and Miles had left the garage shortly after the race had begun. They were probably already awaiting her eventual arrival at the airstrip. The Bebop crew was not about to hop over there and distract Ed from her mission. No, their plan was to remain at the garage bar for at least the next few sections of the competition. If they hustled when she was parachuting from the aircraft they'd be able to get back to the Bebop to watch from the comfort of home as she hopped aboard the speed boat and subsequently the zip craft, but truthfully Spike didn't think that was going to happen.
The bartender made his way back over to Spike. "Sir?"
"You got any food here? Chips or snacks?" Spike asked. "Oh, and I need...uh… a rocks glass of water too."
In short order there was an assortment of salty items set out in front of him on the bar top. Spike nodded his thanks to the other man and selected a few things out of the lineup, leaving most on the counter in front of Jet. Spike bent down and set the short tumbler of water onto the ground by the stool Faye wasn't using, melded as she was with the bar. Ein eagerly lapped up the water while eyeing up the dish of pretzels Spike was setting down nearby with interest.
Satisfied that he'd done what he could for Ein, Spike turned back to the screens and sidled up to Faye again. This time he walked his fingers slowly along Faye's back as he moved to wrap his arm around her side, once more settling his hand on her right hip. She didn't look his way but he saw the smile tugging at her lips.
"You're gonna bruise yourself trying to merge with the bar," He mentioned.
Faye blinked and eased back against his arm just a touch. She made a little sound and touched her ribs where she'd been leaning. "Fuck I hadn't even noticed," She still hadn't looked away from the view screens. "What the fuck is she doing?!"
Spike glanced up to see Ed had arrived at the off road vehicles and had selected the Maxwell Vagrant. It was a smart choice as it would let her take jumps, had a roll cage that could protect her if she flipped, and wasn't likely to get stuck in any unexpected ditches. Faye was aghast because Ed was currently using it as a hood ornament as she'd managed to skid up onto the front of another off road vehicle - a ramp buggy - and she was using the slope of the other vehicle's hood to launch herself before and beyond the other racers nearby. Making a jump where there wasn't one. Man, the balls of this kid.
Everything was promptly lost in a storm of dust as the vehicles began hitting the dry packed earth and tearing along up the hillside into the vast wilderness beyond. Thankfully, they were soon able to see Ed again as she and a few other vehicles snuck into the front of the pack and managed to escape the obscuring clouds of dust trailing in their wake. It was about this time that the meteor shower had been expected but so far Spike hadn't seen anything to indicate a storm of falling moon rocks.
Spike looked briefly towards the other view screens and saw with satisfaction that quite a few players had been knocked out in the sheer mayhem of being unable to see shit. Ed likely had her years of experience in Earth's dust storms to thank for her ability to calmly brazen through that.
He watched, impressed, as she continued to thrash the vehicle in the name of sport. Down valleys they plunged, up steep slopes, crashing through brush and bramble, lurching through muddy patches, and occasionally dodging the sudden appearance of equally startled wildlife. It was wild. It was fast. It was hilarious. Spike found himself torn between watching Ed's smooth handling of whatever came her way and watching the mishaps of the other drivers.
It felt like only moments later, but was at least half an hour, when the first riders tore from the foliage and onto the airstrip. There was a brief lull in the action as this happened. Most of the riders in the front were still predominately concerned with their own shit and not interested in fucking anyone else over by smashing into them or any of the aircraft that were being prepped by the various pit crew each driver had. These dedicated drivers, if they moved swiftly enough, could find safety in the air and out of the reach of their more destructive opponents.
Apparently none were quite quick enough, not even Ed. All too soon, the violent competitors swarmed into view and mayhem resumed. Some tried to ram into the planes to keep their opponents grounded. Some tried to collide with other off road vehicles, whether or not they were still occupied by the driver. Some simply tried to race up to the very foot of their own aircraft to try and shave valuable seconds off their time.
It was at this point that someone started throwing smoke bombs and noise makers onto the tarmac. All was lost in a smoky haze and the sharp sounds of the party snaps going off on impact with the pavement.
Faye was still belly to the bar. Jet was standing incredibly straight and still on the other side of Spike. Ein could be heard munching on the pretzels Spike had offered him. Spike himself waved the bartender over again for another drink at last.
All at once the sounds coming over the speakers changed. At least one participant had managed to get into their aircraft - or an aircraft at any rate - and was preparing to blindly take off. The propellers aided a bit in clearing the air thankfully. It was impossible to see who was leaving or anything else happening there, but voices could be heard shouting and more engines could be heard firing up.
Spike nodded his thanks to the bartender and sipped on his new drink - a whiskey sour.
"There!" Jet's voice boomed. He pointed needlessly to the view screens dedicated to Ed's progress. Sure enough, her aircraft was nosing into the sky and away from the chaos down below. This was technically supposed to be one of the easier segments of the competition since obstacles in the air were few and far between, especially since the meteor shower was still a no-show. However, the rules of the competition strongly encouraged use of firepower against opponents in order to add excitement for the viewers and particularly for all the wealthy gamblers betting on the pentathlon.
There was a lot of money being thrown around today. Spike had seen all sorts of folks parading through the garage earlier before things got started. All the betting had been taken care of before the starting gun went off and the crowd had hastily dwindled as most of the viewers had left for their yachts or luxury craft. He hadn't seen that ritzy of a crowd since some of his heydays as a Red Dragon enforcer. He'd always felt incredibly out of place then even serving as Mao's bodyguard and therefore just an ignorable piece of furniture or wallpaper to any of those rich bloods.
He'd made a bet himself earlier - on Ed of course. Not that she'd take first, no, Spike spread his money out a bit safer by betting only that she'd finish alive. He had absolute faith in her excelling, of course, but a smart man wouldn't make such a specific bet if he had the option of something else. Only a fool put all their money on such an exact outcome.
Spike was positive that Faye and Jet had both put money on Ed as well, but he wasn't sure exactly how they'd hedged their bets. Regardless, as long as Ed kept on as she was going they were all bound to make a tidy little profit from this. Well, Ed herself had to secure at least third if she were to win any sort of trophy or prestige, and as a participant she wasn't eligible to bet on herself… though her age alone would have prevented her from doing so anyway. In fact she was one of the youngest competitors out there today, and certainly the youngest to still be in. At least forty competitors had been knocked out by this point, some perhaps even critically injured.
"Fuck, ain't she something," Spike breathed out as Ed evaded some machine gun fire from a rival approaching from behind.
"They're allowed to shoot each other?!" Faye wailed.
Jet shook his head. "See, you'd know this already if you read the rules."
She didn't bother to look away to glare at him but the look could be heard in her tone. "If *you'd* bothered to read all the rules *before* she signed up, *I* bet we wouldn't even be here now."
Spike saw Jet's expression and easily read the truth there. He hoped neither of them remembered how he'd been the one who had originally volunteered to thoroughly peruse the rule book with Ed, calling on his own past experience with racing to sell the point. He had full knowledge of all the hazards - and made sure Ed completely understood the risks involved - and they just hadn't bothered mentioning that little tidbit to their other teammates beforehand. Spike knew how much this meant to her and he hadn't been about to have Jet or Faye spoil that for her out of misguided concern. Which of course meant the full weight of responsibility fell on his shoulders if anything were to happen to her. Which was uncomfortable as fuck so he finished his drink and signaled for another.
Now was no time for doubts or regrets, not that it would matter anyway.
Ed would be fine.
Naturally it was as he thought this that she pulled into a tight spiral to avoid one plane's gunfire, then took a serious dive to thwart another, then pulled up at an insane angle to avoid yet a third. This was truly getting intense. He hadn't realized when he had also stepped fully up to the bar but now it felt as if the solid wood surface in front of him was the only thing keeping him standing upright.
Ein whined at their feet but none of them could look away.
Soaring high once again, Ed showed off for a moment with a loop-de-loop and then some upside down nonsense before committing again to her mission. The planes in her immediate vicinity were opening fire again. There were a few just ahead, in her own field of vision assuredly, but Ed made no move to fire on anyone else. Spike felt another surge of pride at her refusal to try and sabotage any of her opponents. This was the way a true victor worked.
There came the unmistakable sound of bullets catching metal and they all watched in horror as one of Ed's engines caught fire.
Suddenly, the bottom of her plane dropped away entirely. Next to Spike, Faye made a choking sound. On his other side, Jet was now pressed against the bar as well. Ein woofed at them happily and Spike frowned down at the dog but then saw he was watching one of the side wall view screens of Ed and had noticed what they had not…
It wasn't just the bottom of the aircraft that had dropped away… it had been Ed herself, though she'd allowed herself to freefall quite a ways before opting to employ the wingsuit. She was now drifting steadily through the air towards the speed boats moored at buoys spaced out from one another to try and keep them from rocking into each other as the vessels awaited their captains.
"Fuck I think she meant to get hit," Faye muttered. She grabbed the shot glass long forgotten and threw it back, wiping at her mouth afterwards with a shudder. She held the empty shot glass aloft and tilted it back and forth. The bartender moved swiftly to prepare her another. Spike was momentarily glad the man had seen fit to attach himself so readily to their group, but a glance around the garage showed that not too many other folks had chosen to view from here. No surprise really, the majority of racers came from money and those sponsors wouldn't be here to watch. Which made him curious about the other people who lingered here. Some wore mechanics garb and others were decently dressed, though none seemed very well off financially.
He wondered how many others had scrimped and saved to invest in all the fees and costs that came from participating in an event like this. They'd come off light thanks to Doohan's involvement. The old man had access to all sorts of parts and machinery that most folks didn't, except by means of throwing money at things, and it had helped substantially in offsetting the cost of all Ed's vehicles. Some, like the assorted off road vehicles, the planes, and the speed boats, had been provided by GLOBEX CORP and had been included as part of the participation fee. The race car and the zip craft had to be supplied by the participants though. Assuming Ed could make it that far and keep her vessel in one piece, she'd even come out of this with her own ship.
They all watched as she pulled herself out of the water using the ladder that extended into the depths from the speed boat that rocked on the waves nearest her. In no time she'd shucked off the wet jumpsuit she'd been wearing to reveal her usual bike shorts and tank top underneath. Spike knew she was barefoot now as well - something she'd been adamant about though he'd managed to talk her into wearing footwear for the other portions of the race. Pedals just didn't react as well to bare skin as they did to the weight of a shoe pressing down - or at least that's how Spike felt about it. She wouldn't need shoes to operate the speed boat or the zip craft, and anyway it would have taken precious time to put anything on her feet and she needed to use every spare second she had to keep her lead.
Ed was the third to untie her vessel and zoom off across the turbulent waves. It was a windy day and the ocean was very choppy as far out as they all were. None of the boats were making much forward progress but at least none of them were attacking each other either. The ocean itself was proving to be a formidable opponent that apparently none had counted on. Eventually though someone would start firing off the forward cannons or the harpoons and things might start to get messy out on the high seas.
Sensing a reprieve from the action for a moment, Spike stepped away from the bar. His core was faintly sore from leaning on it so heavily and he shook his head at himself. "Back in a jiff,"
Neither Faye nor Jet acknowledged him, but Ein followed at his heels as soon as he walked from the bar. The lanky bounty hunter glanced down at the corgi.
"Gotta use the bathroom too, hey boy? Well, fuck it let's make it quick eh?" Veering off from his goal of the bathrooms inside, Spike led the way instead to the nearest exit under the assumption that it would open up into an alleyway that could provide facilities for both man and dog. Sure enough, they stepped out into the cool breeze of the October Earth afternoon. Before making any other moves, Spike sparked up a spliff for himself - a very well rolled spliff he had liberated from Faye's pocket without her notice earlier. He had several stashed on his own person, but they were all kinked or crooked in some manner and her rollies just tended to burn so much smoother.
Breathing in the intoxicating air and taking care of his business, Spike stared up at the blue sky. He automatically noted the position of the sun in the sky and realized it was later than he'd expected. It made sense though, the races themselves were each arduously long and there were five altogether. Ed would be exhausted at the end of this and probably sleep for days.
Ein was behind him now, pawing at the door to get back into the garage. Spike debated putting out the spliff but then decided there were few enough people inside that he likely wouldn't be accosted for smoking indoors. Anyway he could always put it out if asked.
They made their way back in and towards the bar. The bartender glanced up and tilted his head towards the end of the bartop. Curious, Spike wandered to the other man to see what was up.
Glancing around, the bartender leaned over the counter towards Spike. "Yo, hook me up with one of those and I'll let your dog watch this shit from here," He patted the counter.
Spike grinned around the spliff between his lips and patted his pockets until he found one to offer the bartender. It was one of the better ones Spike had managed so he felt good about that. They each nodded and Spike moseyed down towards his companions.
Faye sniffed at the air once he drew near, though she kept her focus firmly fixed on the view screens in front of her across the bar. Spike saw that Ed had reached the defunct oil rig and was dashing along the metal grating to reach the spot Doohan and Miles had stationed her zip craft.
Spike took a deep draw on the spliff, not an easy feat with the tobacco threatening to make him cough, and passed it off to Jet wordlessly. He hooked his right arm around Faye again and brought his face next to hers, momentarily distracting her from the view screens. Giving her a crooked grin, he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers to shotgun her the hit he'd just taken.
He released her to cough briefly and grab up a martini he hadn't realized she ordered. Spike stooped down to pick up Ein and deposited the data dog on the bar top on the other side of Faye. After a moment of thought, he grabbed the rocks glass and the pretzel dish from the ground and put those on the bar top as well. The temptation to allow Faye to blindly grab pretzels out of the dish was strong, but he intercepted her automatically questing hand with his right hand and stretched with his left to reach off to her other side to grab the bowl of mixed nuts that was in front of Jet to put in her hand instead.
She was confused by this and looked away from the screens long enough to see what he was giving her, grabbed the bowl with glee, and stationed it directly in front of herself. Spike nonchalantly scooted the pretzel dish further down the bar and away from immediate access. It'd be her own fault now if she accidentally scooped up some dog-saliva soggy pretzels.
Fuck, he was starting to get hungry now too and these snacks weren't cutting it.
"Oh!" Faye's startled gasp drew his attention from the foodstuffs back to the view screens.
Ed had found and was launching her zip craft. Spike stood up straight behind Faye. All three of them were eager to see what she had chosen for the body of the ship, the paint job, the weapons mounts, and more. She'd been incredibly hush-hush about this over the months and Doohan had refused to share anything he knew. This was it - her big reveal.
The color combination instantly blinded Spike to any other observations for a moment. It was several colors swirled together yet remaining distinct from each other around every inch of the vessel. Yellow, red, blue, teal. Later, Ed would reveal the actual color names to the crew: lift-off lemon, rocket red, blast-off blue, terrestrial teal. She'd specifically chosen vibrant colors that made the eye want to flinch when seen together and she'd intentionally gone with the astro-bright color chart when picking out the shades.
Jet was the first to recover from the visual stab of colors. "I don't see any weapons!"
"Huh?" Faye responded, rubbing her eyes with her fists to try and clear her vision.
"You're right. No plasma cannon, no machine gun turrets, no missile launchers or auto cannons. She's got no way to attack!" Even Spike was feeling appalled.
"Of course not! She's not supposed to be out there gunning folks down!" A familiar voice boomed out. They all turned to see Doohan striding into the garage, Miles at his heels. "Been trying to raise you lot on your comms, shoulda known you'd never left the damn garage. Barkeep, gimme a beer! Miles, you're on your own - I can't afford to buy for us both unless this gal takes home a medal."
"You can put a draft for him on my tab," Jet told the bartender as the man came back to pour.
All eyes were back on the screen by the time Doohan and Miles reached them.
"All right, old man. She's got no weapons, no grappling hooks I can see, no tow chain either. You purposefully keeping her lean for the speed for the race? I can't imagine Ed wanting a zip craft that only flies." Spike mused.
Ed's vessel was streaking towards the atmosphere. It practically glowed in the light of the sun. Painful as it was to look at, Spike peered closer at the view screens trying to gauge what all the zip craft had going on.
He found himself completely dumbfounded by what he saw when he finally took in the unique design of her zip craft. "What the fuck am I looking at?"
Irritatingly, he could hear the smugness in Doohan's voice when the old man answered. "The future of the sport, kid."
The pod where Ed sat was smaller than his or Faye's - it was a one person craft and there was no other way around it. She'd never be able to use it to bring a bounty in, but they didn't often use his or Faye's zip craft for that either. Only Jet had any extra room in his pod so normally they just landed the Bebop itself to deliver criminals to justice. It wouldn't be the worst thing that Ed couldn't stuff anyone else in there, although it would probably accommodate a certain Welsh corgi fine.
The pod sat between two decently sized thruster engines but it wasn't firmly attached to the engines like a ship normally would be. Instead, it was attached as though the engines themselves were wings on either side and hinged to the pod by a rotating ball-and-joint connection allowing the pod itself to spin in any direction between them. The engines themselves were almost equally adjustable, though did not feature the entire 360 degree rotation the pod had. This was interesting. This would enable Ed to launch the craft from a vertical position, much like Faye was able to do with her Redtail or via her remote for the device. The Swordfish II and Hammerhead were both unable to launch in that manner.
More than that, she'd be able to immediately adjust her direction and velocity in incredibly accurate ways since the engines themselves were adaptive. Granted, that meant she had that much more to be aware of in the cockpit. She'd have to be extremely on top of her shit to not just flounder out in space with engines firing in opposite directions or something similarly useless. It was a bold move, putting so much control on your own shoulders instead of relying on some things to always be the same about your ship. Personally, Spike was a fan of the solid frame that his Swordfish II had. It boasted some incredible speed and had fantastic handling which let him dart around and change directions with ease with his own reverse thrusters. Ed was clearly just showing off her skills at this point.
"Okay, so that's… a lot of work to control," Faye murmured.
"Damn! Just look at her out there!" Jet sounded astounded and rightfully so. Ed was flipping around back and forth, zigging and zagging, easily avoiding the various weapons' fire from her opponent's craft. The zip craft were all entering into the debris field of moon rocks that surrounded Earth and things were fixing to get real hairy now.
Spike frowned at one screen. "What just happened? Did she shoot something out?"
Doohan clapped a hand on his shoulder and laughed heartily. "Should look familiar to you folks!"
The various zip craft near Ed's position came to lurching stops. Her own craft sped away unimpaired. Nearing the opponents in the forefront of the race, Ed launched into a barrel roll and then began pinging back and forth in avoidance of the asteroids between her ship and the few vessels ahead of her. Their attempts to fire back to keep her at bay kept impacting on the asteroids Ed skillfully situated between herself and the enemy. In hardly any time at all she was back up with the leaders of the pack and then Spike had a chance to see her employ her weapon once again.
"Those fucking hacking cables!" He shouted, slapping his hands on the bar top in recognition.
Doohan was chortling at his side. "Yeah, they sure do pack a punch for any of those new MONO racers, that's for sure! Nobody's using tech as old as your baby!" The old mechanic couldn't have sounded more proud. "That gal - she was paying attention when we were all screwing around that day! Knew exactly what she wanted this craft built for and managed to hotwire it so a remote can function still! Gotta tell ya, Spike, this kid's the real deal. She's got the brains and she's got the guts. You keep a good eye on this one, I don't wanna see any harm come to her!"
"And yet you let her do this!" Faye exclaimed, gesturing at the screens. Ed had immobilized all of her nearby competition and had begun… dragging them along in her wake? She hadn't retracted the cables from her most recent assault at any rate.
"What is she doing? She's losing speed hauling all that extra weight." Jet noticed.
"Is there anyone else even close to her vicinity?" Miles asked, speaking up for the first time since he'd returned with Doohan. He was sitting on Ein's other side, with the data dog between him and Faye, who he seemed overwhelmed by having near. Spike wouldn't be surprised to see the younger man with a nosebleed from the way Faye had begun to bounce on her toes, slapping her own hand on the bar top now. Spike had seen this behavior from her before at the ponies and the dog tracks and the horse races. For some reason, folks tended to act like they were the ones in the competition towards the end. He'd watched people smacking their companions with leaflets like they were whipping horses towards the finish. It had always amused him and this normally would too, but he was more focused on Ed's odd finale than Faye's goofy antics.
Ein was yipping but no one tried to shut him up. Jet was gripping the bar top in front of him and the wood under his metal hand was groaning. Doohan was practically a beacon behind Spike with how much he was glowing with satisfaction over the events of the day. Spike couldn't take his own eyes off the screens as everything came down to this.
There *were* quite a few racers catching up quickly to Ed's spot and if she didn't release the other vehicles she was towing there was no doubt she'd be overtaken and lose the race after all. But Ed clearly had other plans. The view screen showing her vessel became impossible to look at as colorful flashes shot out from the zip craft. Lasers! But… only laser light? A distraction, but one that kept a few opponents from noticing their proximity to asteroids, resulting in less competition as they crashed into the rocks.
"That's what she wanted - to dazzle, to distract, to detain. She's no destroyer." Doohan said quietly.
At what must have been the last possible second before the trailing vessels caught up, Ed released the hacking cables and clearly gave control back to all the ships she'd demobilized. The ones that had previously been following her due to the cables continued on at first from that momentum before their own engines kicked back in. Rather suddenly, everything was neck and neck between just about all the remaining contenders.
Klaxons began to sound in the garage and they all flinched, looking around anxiously to see what sort of attack they might be under. But then Spike noticed the bartender was popping a bottle of champagne and the sound of cheering rose up from all the speakers. The view screens began to display images of people celebrating in various locations from wherever they'd been watching from. It was all over - Ed had made it to the end!
"I need a drink." Faye muttered. The bartender obligingly sent a champagne flute in her direction. She made a face at the bubbly beverage. "This'll do for now but I'm gonna need something stronger." Her hand was trembling faintly as she reached for the tall glass.
Spike wasn't far from trembling himself. They'd been on tenterhooks all day watching Ed compete and drinking steadily while consuming no real sustenance to speak of. They were lucky they hadn't all collapsed in a stupor. He pressed up behind Faye, who had finally leaned back from the bar only to discover it was keeping her upright at this point. He wrapped his arms around her so he could fill both hands with mixed nuts from the half empty bowl still sitting before her. Taking his arms back, he moved to stand next to her again, between her and Jet and facing Doohan so he could lean his back against the bar and throw the mixed nuts into his mouth.
"Shucks howdy! How'd y'all like that?" A new and yet still familiar voice called out brightly. On the screens were Punch and Judy from Big Shot. It seemed, since they'd been replaced on the revival of the bounty show, that they'd found new fame as announcers for GLOBEX CORP events. Their outfits were a far cry from the Western theme they'd sported previously. Punch was now wearing a race car driver outfit, complete with innumerable patches promoting all sorts of sponsors, and Judy was dressed like a show girl at a boxing match in bright blue short shorts and a pale pink tube top.
"Golly! What an astounding finish by that wildcard entry!" Judy was gushing, hearts in her eyes.
Images began flickering over the screen, blocking the announcers from view. Player bios, showing their picture, their stats, and a blurb about each individual. Ed's picture was simple - just herself in her normal clothes with a huge smile, the goggles hanging freely around her neck, and naturally Ein was struggling in her lap. Spike was surprised she didn't have her computer balanced on her head in the picture.
It was after Ed's picture was displayed that the majority of screens dissolved into a short video feed of fireworks going off all around outside. One satellite feed was showing a wide angle exterior shot of the space station where the vessels that finished the race were all docking now. It was a private GLOBEX CORP space station that had been built years ago for exactly this type of purpose as most of the other space stations in existence weren't keen on having adrenaline junkies hot rodding it straight at them with the potential for destruction relatively high.
"She win?" Jet asked no one in particular.
"GLOBEX CORP cuts the feed and sets off the klaxon to be able to hide the finish until tonight." The bartender told him helpfully. "You'll probably find out during the dinner if you attend."
Next to him, Faye had gulped down the champagne and was hissing about the bubbles in her nose from it. Champagne had never been a drink meant to be chugged and Faye knew better so Spike was amused at her discomfort.
"You bet on Ed?" Miles was asking Jet. As the pit crew, he and Doohan were - much like Ed herself - forbidden from placing any bets.
Jet laughed. "Of course I bet on Ed! And she dominated! Odds were against her due to her age, gender, and how recently she got into this."
"Yeah, we all bet on Ed. There was no way she wasn't gonna be in the top tier." Spike said confidently. He'd suspected Ed's skills all along and had indeed had the utmost faith in her, but it was always nice when a bet landed.
"Damn straight!" Faye enthused. She fumbled at grabbing the new martini the bartender had made for her but managed to find the delicate glass stem on her second attempt. "That girl is gonna make me rich!"
"What's the plan now, old man?" Spike asked. "Are we allowed to watch the awards ceremony from that space station or are they just gonna stream shit live so no one can fuck shit up?"
Doohan winked at him. "Yeah, like in your day hey?" He shook his head at the memories Spike had conjured with his words. "They'll be putting the racers through a health check now. They've gotten real ridiculous with shit. Used to be a race ended and that's it! Give out the spoils to the victor and fuck off til next time. Now they're all about treating any injuries received and making sure people can decompress before the feast and yadda yadda yadda. Bunch of bull if you ask me."
Spike looked over to Miles instead. The guy looked like he needed a distraction from Faye's existence. "You know what's next?" He asked the kid.
Eager as ever to talk to Spike about anything, Miles began chattering away. "Oh yeah! So in an hour or so they'll be ready to let the competitors mix with friends and family again, up on the space station itself. Then everyone gets to have a plated meal and after that's finished is when the awards ceremony takes place and the final ranks are announced. Of course, Ed should already know what place she got - the racers are obviously aware of how the game ended even if the viewers are left to wonder for now!"
Jet was sipping on a champagne flute as well. The bartender had done a good job clearing away all their empty glasses so it was hard to determine exactly how much they'd all had to drink since the morning. Spike belatedly realized the bartender had poured enough champagne for each of them and had even put a splash into a rocks glass for Ein. The dog took a tentative lick while Spike watched and gave his whole furry body a vigorous shake. Clearly not to his taste.
Spike reached behind himself to grab a couple flutes and handed one to Doohan. "Cheers, old man. Thanks for all this."
Taking the champagne, Doohan waved off the thanks. "Life's about living, boy. Buy the ticket, take the ride. If you're not skidding sideways into the coffin at the end of this, broke and broken, have you even lived?"
"To the reckless few," Spike told him.
"To the reckless few," Doohan echoed.
Toasting each other, they carelessly - and with immediate regret - slammed their drinks.
xxx
On board the Space Station
Later that day…
"There was supposed to be a meteor shower - wonder what happened there?"
"No one controls those!"
"Wow, imagine if that had happened! Which part do you think was supposed to get hit?"
Voices carried on conversations on the few tables near the round table the Bebop crew, Doohan, and Miles found themselves seated at. Ein unfortunately had not been permitted to board the space station with the others, but they'd anticipated that being the case and had left the data dog with a full bowl of food, one of water, and the TV screen set to the channel that would be showing the live broadcast of the ceremony to the entire galaxy.
Jet looked to his left.
Faye had both elbows planted firmly on the thick fabric covering the tabletop. Her face was buried in her hands. She looked only mildly paler than usual, though she couldn't keep from hiccupping now and again.
Next to her, Spike was leaning back on his chair, two of the legs off the ground. Ed, sitting across from him, mimicked his pose but also had both her hands aloft in the air as she balanced on the two chair legs.
Miles sat between them, turning in one direction and then the next as he tried to carry on a conversation with both simultaneously. Doohan sat to Ed's left and on Jet's right, which he was grateful for. The old man was usually pretty stoic which was something Jet prided himself on as well. Doohan wasn't one to talk when it was unnecessary. He also had a wealth of knowledge of mechanics, far beyond Jet's own amateur capabilities or Spike's half hearted attempts at repair. Which meant it was always worth listening with Doohan did decide to speak. It was always nice to be able to talk shop with someone who knew what they were talking about. They'd been nursing whiskeys in peaceful quiet since arriving to greet Ed - who had remained determinedly silent about the results of the race.
If the serving staff didn't start putting food out on the table soon, Jet wasn't sure if Faye was gonna make it. She'd drank harder during the competition than Jet had seen her in recent memory. No, she hadn't drank that excessively since Spike was so touch and go during his brief stint at the nursing home. She'd been more worried about Ed than Jet had expected. Ever since coming back to the Bebop before Spike went on his suicide crusade, Faye had been… evolving. Maturing was probably the better word but Jet felt like she'd slap him for even thinking such an old sounding word about her. No, she had been growing less and less self-involved and was much more willing to admit she cared about the others - particularly Ed.
Jet wasn't often grateful for Faye's presence on the ship, though she could certainly pull her weight when she wanted to. But he was incredibly glad for Ed's sake that Faye had returned to the Bebop. Ed wasn't especially girly but it had to help having someone else of the same gender around to ask questions and to be reassured about whatever girls had to go through. He had no desire to know any more than he already did about girl stuff, that's for sure.
"I'll be back," Faye announced abruptly, pushing away from the table and barely wobbling as she made her way towards the entryway they'd come through earlier. Jet knew that's where the bathrooms were located and assumed that was Faye's goal.
A flurry of motion along the far wall caught Jet's eye and he was happy to see servers pushing out carts laden with covered plates. Finally! Since GLOBEX CORP was putting this all on, Jet knew the grub was bound to be far beyond anything the Bebop crew was familiar with. There were pieces of silverware on the table that he doubted any of them knew how to use. He saw the look Ed gave Spike when the salads were put down in front of them and cleared his throat with a hard look at their plates. Normally Ed was gung-ho about any and all foods, but sometimes - especially in social situations like these - she turned to one of them for how to proceed. Spike had been about to upend his salad plate over Faye's while she was gone, but he grudgingly began eating instead and Ed copied along. If she wanted to forgo silverware and use her fingers, well, Jet wasn't gonna stop her. He knew she'd washed her hands before dinner so what would it hurt to let her pick up the salad fixings with her bare fingers? At least she was eating the vegetables!
Faye slid back into her chair when the soup course arrived - it was artichoke with black truffles - and she dug into that, her hot buttered roll, and the simple salad with relish. Her color was looking much better now too. Hopefully that meant she was going to be in a good mood. He'd been nervous that her clearly hung over state earlier was going to result in a scene at this dinner. Curiously enough, he thought she might be using all the proper silverware as she dined, though he'd never be able to tell himself. Faye tended to be full of surprises, though.
Like the fragrant aroma that wafted around on her return. Jet knew by the widening of Spike's eyes and the glance Spike threw at Faye that he was correct in his assumption.
"Faye! Were you just… in the bathroom?!" Jet hissed at her in a whisper.
She sent him a glare. "I brought nothing here, I was perfectly behaved." She straightened up and pushed her empty dishes away. "Believe me, Jet, the last thing I expected was to walk straight into a haze when I reached the bathrooms, but oh if that wasn't just the thing I needed to feel better. You can blame those folks over there," Faye tilted her chin towards a group of middle aged women wearing risque cocktail dresses. "Their husbands are rich shits and those women are bored to tears by their wealth. I think you don't have much to worry about if you were concerned that we're gonna be the ones making a scene tonight."
"Whoop!" They both turned to stare as the feet of Ed's chair left the floor and she flipped over backwards, somehow landing on her feet as the chair toppled to the ground.
Jet turned back to Faye, a vein popping near his temple. "Ahem. You were saying, Faye?"
With a stony expression, she grabbed the martini glass in front of her and turned resolutely towards Spike and Miles, giving her back to Jet.
"Ain't she a peach," Doohan cackled. "Boy's gonna have his hands full with that one."
Jet laughed through a closed teeth grin. "Yeah, but he's a shitshow himself so all in all they probably deserve each other."
Doohan raised his whiskey glass and they clinked their drinks together as the serving staff cleared the various plates and bowls to make room for the main course of dinner. There was Venusian Duck, Ganymede Rock Lobster, T-bone and ribeye and porterhouse steaks from TJ, and something called Dal Raisina for any vegetarians on board. Jet was pleased to see that his entire table had opted for the hearty meat options, with the exception of Miles who was looking awestruck at his plate of what looked like lentils and tomato puree. Jet supposed it must be an Earth delicacy of some sort much like the dessert was rumored to be.
GLOBEX CORP typically tried to go all out for the dinners and offered the best there was to be found across the galaxy and of course all sorts of native cuisine for whatever planet the events might be taking place near. The menu was one of the biggest selling points that Doohan had discovered to sway the crew when he'd mentioned the sheer cost of getting Ed into this competition. But what was money anyway when compared to the absolute bliss that had been on Ed's face all night? All of those rich folks out there looked posh but also stressed as shit - there were lines on their faces, trepidation in their eyes. Sure, those people could dine like this anytime and pay the way for dozens of competitors, but none of those folks seemed capable of genuine happiness and that was a shame.
A glance around his own table proved that their frequent lack of funds had no bearing on their overall state of contentment with life in general. Doohan looked the happiest Jet had ever seen him as he tore into his porterhouse steak with gusto. Faye was nibbling at her duck but kept sneaking slivers of Spike's steak as he cut into his ribeye. Ed had copied Jet's choice and was currently tearing into her T-bone steak like some kind of animal. He couldn't find it in himself to be upset about her lack of table manners, especially considering the rest of the crew were just as bad really. Nearly all of them had their elbows planted firmly on the table, for example, and silverware issues aside Jet knew for a fact that elbows on tables was against fine dining rules.
But the rest of the room wasn't much better in all honesty. He noticed quite a few overly intoxicated folks being escorted quietly from the room and a young couple nearly came to blows over by the stage. The day had been long and it seemed as if everyone had been indulging in various vices to the point that no one was very clear-headed and tempers were rather short. The food was helping, but it might be too little too late by the time all was said and done. The energy of the room was becoming antagonistic and no doubt that would get worse once the awards ceremony got underway and people discovered how well or poorly their racers had done.
Everyone else was still too preoccupied with their meals, but Jet was trying to savor his, so he eyed the room for all the exits and tried to set up a plan in case of emergency. It was smart, but it was also ultimately useless because plans only tended to last until the moment they were put into motion. It should be easy for them to slip out the doors - their table was on the right side of the stage, towards the back of the room and along the side wall that had the double doorway entrance everyone had walked through to arrive in this expansive room. There were only two tables between theirs and the doors - and therefore freedom. It would only be a short run down the hallway to get to the elevators which would take them to the hangar of the station where all the zip craft were docked.
"This is edible?" Spike's query brought Jet's attention back to his shipmates and he realized he was the last one still enjoying dinner because the servers were now bringing the desserts around to all the tables.
"I don't even know how to get started on this," Faye admitted as she took the little spoon from the glass bowl that was couched inside the sundae.
"Oooh, the Golden Opulence Sundae!" Ed enthused. She cleared her throat and then laid into a spiel she'd clearly memorized from the internet. "The Golden Opulence Sundae is made using three scoops of rich Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23k edible golf lead. The chocolate syrup is melted from some of the most expensive chocolates remaining in the world and covered with super duper rare Chuao chocolate made from the cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on what's left of the coast of Old Venezula. Then it is adored with exotic candied fruits from Pari, gold covered almonds, chocolate truffles, and marzipan cherries. The dish with the spoon, Faye-Faye, is Grand Passion Caviar which is sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange, and Armagnac. Finally it is topped with a gilded sugar flower and sprinkled with flakes of more edible gold and the whole shebang comes in a Baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet. Worth quite a few woolongs on its own," She added with a wink at her comrades.
"Hmm.. so we should try to keep these and hawk 'em later, hey?" Faye shared a fiendish grin with Spike and Ed, but blushed when she saw the looks that Miles, Doohan, and Jet himself gave her.
"Attention, one and all!" A new voice boomed over the speakers in the room. Lights dimmed and a spotlight landed on the stage to showcase a handful of people standing there. Jet recognized Punch and Judy. They were looking resplendent now, with Punch in an immaculate three piece suit and Judy in a sparkling floor length evening gown. A very tall, very handsome man stood between them wearing a bright red speedo and nothing else. Off to either side were a pair of tall, slender women dressed in gold, and then next to each of them was a woman in silver, and lastly a woman on each side in bronze. Behind all the people was a multiple level platform, presumably for the top placing contestants to stand on for pictures.
It had been the man in the speedo who addressed the crowd initially. He held a golden microphone and moved to step boldly in front of everyone else assembled on the stage.
"I am Nik Baumgartner, the president of GLOBEX CORP! Thank you all and welcome! I must say I am thrilled by the performances we saw here today! We were denied the splendor of a meteor shower, despite all assurances that one would take place in this quadrant of the planet today, but thanks to the clever hijinks of one of the newcomers to the sport we were treated to quite a sensational finish! Here to announce our winners are the indomitable duo - Punch and Judy!"
Applause broke out around the room and the GLOBEX CORP owner retreated to the shadows of the back corner of the stage as Punch and Judy took the center and owned the spotlight.
"Howdy, y'all! What a wild ride we had here today, eh?" Punch greeted.
"Golly, it was almost too much for me at the end there! Can you imagine dodging asteroids like they were, Punch? Not my cup of tea!"
"Shucks no, Judy! These daredevils are something else! But of the group of hundreds there are only a handful who are truly fearless and were able to push the envelope all the way to the mailbox!"
Judy's hand covered her microphone as she whispered in a voice everyone overheard. "Is that the saying, Punch?"
"Anywho!" Punch laughed nervously. "Let's start with the honorable mentions! These are contestants who have raced before and gave it their all here again but failed to achieve greatness! Here's to them for trying, anyway!" Punch gestured into the air in front of him and a holographic projection came to life in the center of the room so all the audience members could see the list of names and faces as they were displayed.
"Before we go on, we must solemnly bow our heads now for the contestants whose lives were tragically lost during this competition." Judy announced a few minutes later. She bowed her head to her chest and gestured towards the center room projection which became a scene of several awful looking accidents from that day. Jet wondered if it was in poor taste to show how those folks died during the race, but after giving it more thought realized it was probably the best way to honor them. After all, they'd given everything to participate and knew their chances… it made morbid sense that they'd want their loved ones to be able to see the blaze of glory they'd died in.
Thankfully, that portion was incredibly short as only a few people lost their lives in the race. The next portion was relatively brief as well and featured images of the folks who'd been hurt and unable to finish - all their pictures were from a hospital bed, presumably somewhere here on the station, and had the contestants giving thumbs up… except for one man whose arms were in casts, but his drugged up smile told the audience he was feeling okay.
"Bless their hearts!" Judy blew some kisses out to the projection.
"Time for what you've all been waiting for!" Punch exclaimed.
"Hold your horses there, pard!" Judy broke in. "We've got one more special announcement before the top three finishers are revealed!"
"We do?" Punch asked.
"We sure do!" Judy replied. "As everyone knows, the winners will receive a cash prize and will be able to keep the zip craft and car they used during the race. But GLOBEX CORP is super duper excited to announce a BONUS PRIZE of SPONSORSHIP to the top winner! Yes, folks, you heard right! That means first place will get to participate in any and all GLOBEX CORP competitions as a member of the prestigious GLOBEX CORP TEAM!"
Again there was a smattering of applause, but Jet could tell people were getting antsy. The bar had stopped serving drinks, the food was long gone and the desserts fully consumed as well by now. Everyone was anxious to discover if they had made money or lost money. The scene was about to get downright ugly.
Jet caught Spike's eye and shifted his glance to the doors. He watched his lanky partner take a slow perusal of the room at large and then meet his eyes to nod once. Spike's right hand reached over to settle on Faye's left knee and Jet watched as she took calmly took note of the exits and layout of everything. It was sure nice having people he could communicate with through looks alone or a subtle touch. Doohan had tensed up on his other side but Miles seemed oblivious to everything, his young eyes were fixed on the stage and on Judy's ample assets. Well, couldn't blame the kid for being distracted there - she wore that evening gown about as elegantly as Faye, which was to say it intentionally provoked certain thoughts despite covering quite a bit of skin.
"And now, for the third place finisher, only a fraction of a second behind the second place runner up… Alain Rossy!" Punch announced. More applause for this - one table started to celebrate in earnest, no doubt the table where Alain was seated.
Alain rose and gave a bow to the crowd and then made his way towards the stage to take his place on the platform. The bronze-dressed women greeted him as he reached the stage. One kissed his cheek and handed him an envelope and the other shook his hand and then draped a medal around his neck.
"Taking a respectable second place in this pentathlon is returning competitor Philippe Campbell! A much better run this year than the last time he competed when he was featured in the injuries portion! Congrats, Philippe! Maybe next time it'll be the gold!" Judy cried.
Another table erupted into festivities, but the tables nearest them were not taking kindly to the glee. A scuffle broke out before Philippe could leave his seat and head to the stage. No one seemed perturbed by the scene. It actually helped Jet relax - apparently everyone had the same idea tonight. If it wasn't their circus, it wasn't their problem. Maybe they'd be able to get out of this without getting caught up in a brawl.
Jet couldn't make out exactly what was happening on the other side of the room, but by the time the security staff showed up to separate the combatants, Philippe was able to scurry past and to the stage. His suit jacket was torn at the sleeve and he was sporting a bloody lip, but otherwise he seemed unhurt. The women in silver moved to meet him and adorn him with the medal and kisses.
"Well, I reckon we've reached the big moment, Judy!" Punch stated. His companion on the stage started squealing and twisting back and forth in excitement, which made everyone's eyes snap to her in appreciation.
"Coming in first place is quite an accomplishment! And this year we're elated to announce that the champion is none other than rising star Françoise Appledelhi Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th! She's the youngest contestant to finish this year and she stole the gold with no shots fired and no aggressive actions taken! Wowee! What an honorable hero!" Judy had hearts in her eyes.
"Holy fuck, Ed! You won?!" Jet was staggered. He looked around at the table. Ed was not surprised in the least, but she'd known the outcome of the race for hours now. In fact, she looked devious as hell now as she took in their reactions. Doohan was fit to burst with pride, his grin looked almost painful he was smiling so hard. Miles was over the moon as well, lit up and cheering with his hands raised into fists in the air. Faye looked smug as shit and Spike delightfully impressed.
"Wow - she used her full name for this." Faye murmured.
There was an uproar taking place all around them once the final winner had been announced. Everyone else realized that there was no chance for their racer now - and there were a lot of VERY unhappy people making their opinions loudly known.
Spike threw a balled up cloth napkin at Ed when she went to rise. "Hold up, cowgirl," He said when she flashed him a confused and cranky look. He glanced around at the room. "Let's let this die down before you get taken out by some asshole that just lost their life savings."
Whether she understood the risk to her life or not, Ed was happy enough to sit back down and dance in her seat. "Number one! Number one!" She chanted quietly.
"Congratulations, Ed! I knew you could do it," Faye told the young hacker. "You've just made me a rich woman!"
"Faye-Faye bet on Ed?" Ed asked.
"We all bet on Ed," Jet told her proudly.
"You did good, kid," Doohan told her. "Knew you could be the best! 'Course, now you've got some choices to make. They're gonna get their claws in you if they can, girl. You best think hard about how to handle what's next."
She looked troubled for a moment but then her face cleared. "Safe to approach the stage, sir?" She inquired of Jet.
The furor in the room had died down. Quite a few chairs were vacant now, whether the occupants had been kicked out for fighting or voluntarily left in distress the outcome was the same. It seemed like she'd be left alone to ascend the stage and claim the spoils of her victory.
"Go for it, Ed. If anyone tries to stop you, we'll stop them." He told her confidently.
She gave him a huge grin and dashed up to the stage with more energy than Jet would have expected after such a long day of physical and mental exertion. Ed being Ed, she kissed the cheeks of the women in gold before they could kiss her, and she was given a jewel-encrusted tiara in addition to the envelope and medal that the other winners received.
"Ed has something to say!" They could hear her even without a microphone.
Punch and Judy exchanged looks and then both shrugged. Judy stepped over to Ed with her microphone. "I think that's plumb fantastic! There's interviews with the victors later, but why not? You go, girl!"
"Ed doesn't wanna be a GLOBEX girl!" She exclaimed into the microphone. "Thanks but no thanks!" Her piece said, Ed gave Judy a kiss on the mouth, gave Punch's upper arm a punch of acknowledgement as she waltzed past, and made her way back to the dumbfounded but delighted group back at her table.
Jet could see Doohan trying to look grumpy but failing miserably. Miles was also trying to hide his emotions but failing even harder. The young man had tears streaking from the corners of his eyes. Jet wondered if Ed realized the true significance of her words up there.
She'd just thrown an incredible sponsorship deal back in the faces of GLOBEX CORP.
Keeping Doohan and Miles as her pit crew not only guaranteed them work for as long as she chose to keep racing, it also ensured that they would attain fame right alongside her, rather than the prestige going to GLOBEX CORP. Additionally, it meant they'd be able to make money as her pit crew, since cash prizes tended to be dispersed among the entire group rather than just the driver or pilot. It was a win-win for her team, rather than a chance for the huge corporate company to steal another promising young talent. The more he thought about it, the more he realized she was probably entirely aware of the impact of her words.
"Good job, Ed." He told her when she got back to their table.
Edward smiled at him and turned to Doohan and Miles. "No need to think hard when it comes to making the right decision." She said simply. Turning back to the others, she went on. "Edward wants to go celebrate with Ein. Can we go do interviews and blow this joint?"
"You betcha, kid."
xxx
Take it to the limit, Space Cowgirl!