The cheery voice only made Jet's heart drop a little farther. "Hey,
it's the guy with the semi-automatic finger!" He lit Jet's cigarette and
waited for his reply after a long drag.
"Heh heh. How are you, Mr. Snowfall?"
"Well, I've seen better days, but it's like Charlie said: You've got to give a little before you can get anything back. I think Charlie said that. Anyway, how have you been?"
Jet decided to brush off the Charlie Parker coincidence, as he'd quoted it to Spike less than 6 months ago, the first time they met Faye. "Dealing with the past, same as you I suppose."
Jet ashed the front end of his smoke into the ashtray and took another big drag while he listened to the poor guy talk about his family.
"Well, in case you didn't see whose grave I was in front of, it was my mother's. They say that the things you place in front of a person's grave sometimes get stolen by some really scummy people, but we still like to give her back some of her favorite things."
"We?" Jet continued to smoke.
"Yeah, me and my brother Billy. I just like to have a drink and loosen my nerves a little, which is why I'm in here."
Jet looked at the floor for a moment before meeting his acquaintance's eyes again. He extended his hand. "My name's Jet. Jet Black."
Nicholas took his hand and shook it firmly. "Nick Spade. Good to meet you."
"Likewise."
"So what brings you here, Jet Black?"
Jet smiled an embarrassed, effortless smile and opened his mouth to speak.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the day went pretty terribly. Jet told Nick who he was and that he had to take him in. Nick ran, as they usually do, and Jet followed in his smaller ship that had been parked in the BeBop. After he'd gotten him in and tied his hands (loosely enough not to hurt, but tight enough to hold), they started back to the police station. It wasn't far, and he knew he'd be back before Faye noticed he was gone.
"So why did you kill the Red Dragon member?"
Nick's family owned the bar they were in. They got in debt with Mao Yenrai and, unbeknownst to Mao, threats started and things got too far out of hand before the Spades could pay Mao back his money.
"We must've owed 70 or 80 million. As a final bill, Vicious went to my mother's house and gutted her like a fish."
Jet's frown got a little deeper.
"Mao was furious when he learned this. As an apology for Vicious' acts, Mao cleaned our slate and visited me and my brother each to tell us in person. This was enough for Billy to forgive, but I couldn't get the image out of my mind, Vicious killing my mother. Eventually I saw red, talked one of the Red Dragons into meeting me regarding some 'information' and I shot him. First I asked him where his bloody arm got hit and he spilled his guts. Little did I know that Vicious had died just hours before, and the guy I met was coming back from the scene. As soon as I learned this asshole was on Vicious' new army of Red Dragons, I pumped his guts full of lead."
Jet smirked, knowing that one of the pricks shooting at Spike had got his too. Then Jet said, as nonchalantly as he could, "Did the guy say anything about the guy who killed Vicious?"
"Yeah," Nick replied. "He said the guy was hard as hell to kill. Like a ghost."
Jet knew the rest of the story but tried to keep it blocked out.
He dropped Nick off with ISSP and reassured him he'd be safer there than he would walking his own streets after killing a gang member. He deposited his reward and re-boarded the ship. With nowhere in particular to go, he walked to the small side room near the kitchen and sat on the stool.
He tried to focus on his bonsai tree, concave cutters in hand. He instead was stuck in the past. Walking up the steps of the crime scene. Staring unblinking at a body, face-down on the stairs, bloody and lifeless. Jet had sat next to him, facing down the stairwell and looking straight ahead at the horizon. He turned the body over with a prosthetic hand, to prevent himself from feeling cold skin, and refused to look at the face. Instead, he shut the eyes and called the paramedics. He watched over his friend like a newborn baby, making sure he was handled with the care he deserved.
Jet clipped a small, dead branch from his tree. Next, he watered it carefully and set the glass jar of water to one side. Finally, he unwrapped the tape from the large branch of the bonsai to find that it had started to heal.
See You Space Cowboy...
Ending â€" "The Real Folk Blues" played over the normal credits.
Ok everybody, R & R!!!
"Heh heh. How are you, Mr. Snowfall?"
"Well, I've seen better days, but it's like Charlie said: You've got to give a little before you can get anything back. I think Charlie said that. Anyway, how have you been?"
Jet decided to brush off the Charlie Parker coincidence, as he'd quoted it to Spike less than 6 months ago, the first time they met Faye. "Dealing with the past, same as you I suppose."
Jet ashed the front end of his smoke into the ashtray and took another big drag while he listened to the poor guy talk about his family.
"Well, in case you didn't see whose grave I was in front of, it was my mother's. They say that the things you place in front of a person's grave sometimes get stolen by some really scummy people, but we still like to give her back some of her favorite things."
"We?" Jet continued to smoke.
"Yeah, me and my brother Billy. I just like to have a drink and loosen my nerves a little, which is why I'm in here."
Jet looked at the floor for a moment before meeting his acquaintance's eyes again. He extended his hand. "My name's Jet. Jet Black."
Nicholas took his hand and shook it firmly. "Nick Spade. Good to meet you."
"Likewise."
"So what brings you here, Jet Black?"
Jet smiled an embarrassed, effortless smile and opened his mouth to speak.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the day went pretty terribly. Jet told Nick who he was and that he had to take him in. Nick ran, as they usually do, and Jet followed in his smaller ship that had been parked in the BeBop. After he'd gotten him in and tied his hands (loosely enough not to hurt, but tight enough to hold), they started back to the police station. It wasn't far, and he knew he'd be back before Faye noticed he was gone.
"So why did you kill the Red Dragon member?"
Nick's family owned the bar they were in. They got in debt with Mao Yenrai and, unbeknownst to Mao, threats started and things got too far out of hand before the Spades could pay Mao back his money.
"We must've owed 70 or 80 million. As a final bill, Vicious went to my mother's house and gutted her like a fish."
Jet's frown got a little deeper.
"Mao was furious when he learned this. As an apology for Vicious' acts, Mao cleaned our slate and visited me and my brother each to tell us in person. This was enough for Billy to forgive, but I couldn't get the image out of my mind, Vicious killing my mother. Eventually I saw red, talked one of the Red Dragons into meeting me regarding some 'information' and I shot him. First I asked him where his bloody arm got hit and he spilled his guts. Little did I know that Vicious had died just hours before, and the guy I met was coming back from the scene. As soon as I learned this asshole was on Vicious' new army of Red Dragons, I pumped his guts full of lead."
Jet smirked, knowing that one of the pricks shooting at Spike had got his too. Then Jet said, as nonchalantly as he could, "Did the guy say anything about the guy who killed Vicious?"
"Yeah," Nick replied. "He said the guy was hard as hell to kill. Like a ghost."
Jet knew the rest of the story but tried to keep it blocked out.
He dropped Nick off with ISSP and reassured him he'd be safer there than he would walking his own streets after killing a gang member. He deposited his reward and re-boarded the ship. With nowhere in particular to go, he walked to the small side room near the kitchen and sat on the stool.
He tried to focus on his bonsai tree, concave cutters in hand. He instead was stuck in the past. Walking up the steps of the crime scene. Staring unblinking at a body, face-down on the stairs, bloody and lifeless. Jet had sat next to him, facing down the stairwell and looking straight ahead at the horizon. He turned the body over with a prosthetic hand, to prevent himself from feeling cold skin, and refused to look at the face. Instead, he shut the eyes and called the paramedics. He watched over his friend like a newborn baby, making sure he was handled with the care he deserved.
Jet clipped a small, dead branch from his tree. Next, he watered it carefully and set the glass jar of water to one side. Finally, he unwrapped the tape from the large branch of the bonsai to find that it had started to heal.
See You Space Cowboy...
Ending â€" "The Real Folk Blues" played over the normal credits.
Ok everybody, R & R!!!