COWBOY BEBOP---Revenge Requiem pt. 2
Jet came onto the bridge, still feeling troubled. He was sure Al had wanted to die. But somehow
he felt guilty. Maybe it was because he had let himself be drawn into the mess in the first place.
"If only I hadn't answered that call..." Jet said regretfully. Ein barked, as he and Edward joined
Jet on the bridge. "Where'd ya go Jet?" Ed asked, looking up at him. Jet watched Ein waddle off to
his food dish, then gazed down at Edward. "I went to meet someone, Ed." He said slowly. He didn't
really feel like talking about it, but there was no other way to make Ed shut up."Kay..." Ed
suddenly said, walking off to her room.
Jet blinked, slightly puzzled. If even Edward could see he was down, he must really look bad...Jet
gazed around the bridge, noticing the abscence of Spike and Faye. He slowly made his way back to
his quarters, running water from the sink. Jet splashed the cold water on his face, watching the
drops trickle down his face in the mirror. Jet gazed at his reflection, and realized he did truly
look old. Almost as if he's aged 10 years or so in the last 12 hours. A knock came from Jet's door,
cutting off his thoughts. "Yeah, come in..." He called, a little reluctant to have visitors. "Have
you seen Spike around anywhere? His ship's not.." Faye stopped in the doorway, her voice fell
silent as she stared at Jet. She was sure he hadn't looked quite that old earlier. Maybe it was
just stress? "Where were you guys?" Jet asked her, wiping his face dry. Faye looked away slightly,
and Jet saw the shy smile as it formed on her face. " I ummm..had to patch him up again, his
shoulder was.." "Nevermind, forget I asked." Jet stated, not wanting to hear about the things she
and Spike did when they were alone. "But no, I haven't seen him around since I got back.." Jet
continued. He had a sneaking suspicion that the day's activities weren't over yet. "Damnit all!"
Faye exclaimed, storming back out of the room. Jet followed after her, taking a fresh bottle of
asprin with him. If his instincts were right, he'd need them.
Spike lit a ciggarette, tilting his head upwards as he gazed at the dark clouds. The rain always
made him thoughtful, even moody sometimes. Spike almost missed his trechcoat, as he looked down at
his blue suit.
The wet patches made it seem a deeper shade of blue than it really was, he noticed. The rain
brought memories rushing back to him, as he turned back to the tombstone. A smirk spread across his
face, as he realized the irony of his life. It seemed he always ended up breaking his own rules. He
had once told Faye that the past didn't matter, yet he could never seem to escape his own. And even
though he didn't believe in pointless mourning, here he was. Spike crouched before the headstone,
placing Andy's hat on top of it.
"See you, space cowboy." He said softly, chosing a rock to weight the hat down with. He stood back
up, closing his eyes as he tried to clear the pictures from his head. The last time he'd found
himself in a graveyard, Julia had stood before him. Spike had felt so many things then, his
emotions had surged at the sight of her. But that was all in the past, and all the brooding in the
world wouldn't bring her back.
He hadn't meant to leave Faye on the ship, but this was something he had to do by himself. Besides,
Jet was certainly back by now, and Spike had turned the Swordfish's beacon on before he left.
They'd come and find him, worried and most likely angry, especially Faye. "I'm always surrounded by
death..." He mused, watching the raindrops as they streaked down the cowboy hat. "Yet I'm never
claimed by it, because of them."
Spike looked up as he heard a ship in the distance. He found himself wishing that Faye
was with him, to hold him and remind him that he still had a place among the living. He felt
stupid, needing to be assured of something like that. He didn't like weaknesses, especially his
own. As Spike turned away from Andy's grave, he heard the roar of thrusters. He saw the Redtail
land outside the gates, as he started walking towards his own ship. Faye ran towards him, not
looking as angry as he'd expected. Spike saw the Hammerhead land as well, a bit further away. As
Faye caught up with him, he saw Jet exit the cockpit, but instad of coming towards them, he only
stood ouside the gates and lit a ciggarette. Spike turned around, as a hand touched his
shoulder.
"Spike!" Faye shouted, scowling as he faced her. Spike knew what she would ask, and looked back at
Andy's grave. Faye followed his gaze, her scowl fading as she saw the hat.
"I know he wasn't a friend, exactly..." Spike explained, drawing Faye to him as she eyed him
curiously.
"But you miss him anyway?" Faye offered, hugging Spike as he faced the ground. "I don't really MISS
him.." Spike corrected, remembering Andy's brainless demeanor. "But I think he died before he was
finished here, that's all." Faye looked at him sympathetically, understanding. One of things she'd
always loved most about Spike, was his odd sense of morality. Even though he didn't believe in
justice, he always acted out against things he considered wrong. Spike looked at Faye's eyes, and
felt as if she was reading him, exploring the things he tried to keep hidden. They understood each
other so well, it was as if they were linked by some unseen force. Faye saw that Spike was staring
at her, and looked into his eyes. A muffled cough broke the
moment, and Spike looked over at Jet, grinning at the old dog. He was dressed in his tan suit,
complete with a matching fedora. Jet looked back at him, the expression on his face wasn't quite a
smirk, but rather the thin smile of a hunter, ready to give chase. Spike looked back at Faye, who
looked away sharply. Spike knew she wasn't mad, but she hated having the close moments between them
cut short. He touched her face gently, holding her closer as he kissed her. In that instant all
his memories were gone, and he could only think of Faye. She touched his cheek, then let him go, as
Jet walked towards them. Spike turned to face Jet, smirking at him. He knew his partner was
thinking the same thing he was, that this wasn't finished yet. " Listen Spike, The people that
killed Andy are called the Eagle's Claw sydicate. A bunch of anti-governemt psychos with a nice
clean cover. The hunting hawks were just one part of it." Spike remembered the group, vauguely.
They had been one of the smaller rivals of the Red dragons, and now that they were gone the greedy
little bastards were taking full advantage of it.
Jet spoke before Spike could say anything to him. "Spike, two good people have been murdered by the
Eagle Claw syndicate, I've found out where they're based..." Spike lowered his head, his eyes full
of determination. He looked at Andy's grave, then back to Jet again. "And if we don't stop them,
they'll just keep doing whatever the hell they want, right?" Spike said, taking his gun from inside
his suit. Faye stared at the two men, and stepped beside Spike "You guys can count me in." She
offered, as if they hadn't already been expecting her to help. She looked at Jet, regarding his
unusually fancy clothing. "But there'd better be a big bounty on them." Jet frowned at her, as
Spike smirked, lighting another cigg. He knew she would go anyway,
if only to get more chances to show him up. "Three million wulongs, that's the price on their head
of operations." Jet informed her.
Faye grinned, a glint in her eye. "Of course, we'll most likely have to go through the rest of them
to capture him alive." Spike reminded her, still smirking. Faye smirked back at him, checking her
gun. "As long as he doesn't try to kill me first, otherwise it's self-defense." Faye countered,
giving Spike's leg a playful slap.
Spike nodded in agreement, not worried in the least. The Eagle Claws were small fries, as far as
syndicates went. That's not what Spike was concerned about. What he really wanted, was to know why
they had killed Andy, why they had set him up like this. Jet's friend had ratted them out, that
explained him. But what had Andy done? He hoped he would get some answers, but things like this
never left much room for interrogation.
Edward adhered herself to the Bebop's viewport, staring out at the planet below. "Where did
everybody go?" She wondered aloud. "Ed always gets left out.." She pouted, sitting down on the
floor. Ein was napping on the floor beside her, apparentely unbothered by the recent developments.
Bored out of her mind, Edward climbed into Jet's chair, activating the computer. A few seconds
later she was inside his system, looking around for anything of interest. "Bounties, bounties,
everywhere..." She sang, going through Jet's files. Ed remembered hearing about Jet's friend, and
that weird rich cowboy. She had been surprised to see Spike sneak into her room, taking the cowboy
hat from the clutter inside. Was it Andy's? Did Spike give it back to him? Edward decided that
really didn't matter, and kept browsing. Ein woke up, and slowly padded over to Edward. He looked
up at her, expecting attention, but Ed's attention was focused on the file she'd found.
"Eagle Claw..." She mummered, exploring the file. There were lots of pictures of Andy, and a funny-
looking policeman with a big nose. Was it Jet's friend? Edward tensed as she read more, realizing
why everyone had left so suddenly. The Eagle Claw people were bad, very bad. They liked to hurt
people, and kill them sometimes too. Among these people were Andy, and the policeman that Jet knew.
Edward was horrified at the pictures of him. He was bleeding from a lot of places, and his legs and
arms were bent all funny.
"Edward doens't like the bad Eagle Claws!!!" She announced, standing straight up in her chair. Ein
barked in agreement, running circles around the chair. "They hurt kids and grown ups, and maybe
dogs too!!"
Edward continued, growling at the computer screen. She ran out of the room, Ein following close
behind.
Ed didn't know what she was feeling, but she knew that she didn't like it. She was mad, afraid and
sad all at the same time. She felt horrible about all those people, as if she wanted to go to each
of their houses, giving flowers and other happy things to their families. 'Ed won't let them
hurt people anymore!!" She exclaimed, dashing through the doorway of the bridge. Ein barked at her,
barely keeping up. Edward jumped into the command chair, looking frantically at the console. "This
doesn't look anything like Tomato!" She whined, pushing buttons at random. Ein jumped into her
lap, whining and barking as the ship lurched forward, then backward, and then forward again. All of
a sudden, the lights went out, leaving Edward and Ein in blackness. "Oh NOOO!!" She cried, slumping
in the chair. 'What do we do, Ein?" She asked the dog in her lap, who reacted as if he had been
waiting for the question. He barked twice and stood on his hind legs, as Ed held him steady. He
began pushing buttons with his snout, one after another. The lights came back on, and then the ship
began to move, heading for a nearby warpgate. Ed blinked at the console's screen, as it displayed
their heading. They were going to Venus, where the Eagle Claws were supposed to be. "You want to
help Ed stop them?" Edward asked the dog, staring in amazment as Ein pushed more buttons, opening a
comm channel to Jet's ship. Ein sunk his head, whining as there came no reply. "Well, as long as we
get the bounty for them, Spikey and Faye-Faye won't be mad, right?" She assured Ein, who only
barked again before jumping down from the chair. Ed took over, carefully pushing the same buttons
as Ein had, trying to reach one of the ships.
Jet frowned as his comm. light flashed again, trying his best to ignore it. "It's better to leave
them out of this..." He grumbled, trying to make himself believe it. This was going to be messy,
and he didn't want Ein or
a kid like Ed getting anywhere near the gritty, ugly side of life that he and Spike and Faye were
crossing over to. The ship-to-ship radio crackled, as Jet heard Faye's voice. "I think Ed's trying
to reach us, Jet. I've got three calls from the Bebop already!" She complained, looking to Jet for
a solution. "I know." Jet growled back at her, having no solution to give her. "Just ignore them,
it's best to keep them out of it." He heard Faye
mutter a reluctant compliance, as Spike joined the conversation. 'He's right Faye, we shouldn't
bring them into this, and you know it." Jet regarded the conversation with a grim look. "Faye, if
Ed found out what we were doing , she'd only beg us to let her come too." Jet tried to explain,
feeling more and more guilty by the minute. He reached a hand up to his fedora, tipping the brim
down, so that it all but hid his remorseful eyes.
"Bob..." He said quietly, thinking of his old friend. "This is for you, old buddy." The three
ships skimmed over Venus' surface, nearing their destination. "There it is..." Spike pointed out,
his voice was serious, and unusually dark as the slim, high rising building loomed before them,
not quite as close to the city as Jet had feared. It would be fairly easy not to injure any inocent
bystanders. "Everyone remember the plan?" Jet asked, going over it in his head. "You go in the
front door, I take the rooftop, right?" Spike recited, there was an edge in his voice now, as if
he was looking forward to trashing more bad guys. "Right." Jet stated, feeling a little anxious
himself. "And I'm the distraction until you guys get the head secured, then I blow the whole place
from out here?" Faye recited, sounding considerably more thrilled about blowing something up than
being the distraction." That's it." Jet confirmed, hoping it really would go that smoothly.
Spike walked with Jet, away from the park they'd landed in. He frowned slightly, glancing at the
backpack containing all his grenades and extra ammo. He remembered now exactly why he'd gotten a
trenchcoat to begin with....Jet gazed over at Spike for a second, seeing the anger in his eyes.
They'd both lost a friend to this scum, both had died needlessly, poitnlessly. It just wasn't
something either of them could abide by, he guessed. Jet knew he was here for Bob, but it felt more
like a comeback performance to him. The black dog hunts, one last time, he thought. Spike saw the
grin form on Jet's face, it was eager and bloodthirsty, almost as if it thrived on carnage. If that
was the case, Spike thought, it'll be well-fed today.
Spike gave Jet a slight wave, and ducked into the building right before their target. Jet knew that
Spike would get to that building's roof, and then proceed to jump to the roof of the Eagle Claw
building. He found himself facing the front door of that very building, pausing for a second before
it all went down.
He had his pistol, an old, converted 12-gauge, his .357 magnum from his I.S.S.P days, and
four proximity mines. He had plans for all of them, intent on saving the magnum for last.
Everything was set, the only thing left was to just do it. Jet took a deep breath, felt the
shotgun's grip in his hand, and uttered a final remark before entering.. "Little pig, little pig,
let me in."
Faye saw Spike on the rooftop as he prepared to jump, watching as he dashed torwards the edge.
She wasn't worried, at all. She knew Spike would make it. But she wanted to see it, just in case he
did anything stupid she could pick on him about later. Spike leapt into the air, landing softly
on the roof of the Eagle Claw's
headquarters. "Damn Mr. Perfect..." She muttered, smiling all the while. Her role was about to
start, she realized, moving around in the cockpit to see Jet enter the ground floor. She wasn't
about to idly sit by, and wait while they had all the fun though. Faye set the remote pilot on her
ship, and programmed three passwords. One was the missle attack that would be the distraction,
the second was for the autopilot to bring the ship to her and the last was for the missiles that
would destroy the building.
She set ship down on the roof, making sure Spike had already gone in. The last thing she needed was
one of his lectures. As Faye reached the fire escape, and opened the door, she saw the missile
shoot from her ship's arsenal. "It's showtime." Faye stated as she snuck in.
Ein looked up from the command chair, as the bridge door opened. Edward came in, screeching with
effort as she dragged a box in behind her, containing all the electronic equipment she owned. Ein
barked, jumping from the chair and trotting to the viewport. Venus loomed in the distance, as the
Bebop began a slow descent to the surface. Ed took a moment to stare at the planet, before she went
to work. She took out the laptops first, laying them out in a row in front of her. She set up
Tomato behind them, and turned all the computers on.
Ein ran over to her, barking a question as he looked at all the hardware. "Edward is preparing for
battle!!" She announced, as she began typing away, slaving all of her laptops to Tomato. Once they
were all set up, she started calibrating her remote control. If her plan worked, she'd be able to
control up to eight ships at once. Ed looked up at the viewport, and saw that they were getting
close to the city. "Ed has to hurry!!! Ohhh, come on!!" She cried, working faster. The remore
beeped twice, then three more times. The green light flashed, siganling that everything was
operational and ready. She held the remote control tightly, feeling more nervous than she ever had
before. " "Let slip the dogs of war!!" She yelled, feeling about as excited as she ever had too.
Ein howled in agreement, as the city drew closer.
Jet crouched on the stairway, wondering briefly how many floors Spike had gone through. The plan
had been for the two of them to make a sandwich, trapping all the stragglers inbetween them. Jet
took a quick inventory, he had two shotgun shells left, the 24 shells that were for his magnum, and
although he had plenty of bullets, his handgun had taken a shot, breaking the trigger off. Since
going back down to retreive a gun from one the corpses was suicide, Jet had to use his magnum
earlier than expected. One of the Eagles came running up the stairs, screaming as he fired his gun.
Jet rolled down the stairs towards him, giving him a round from the 12-gauge at point-blank range.
The man tumbled back to the floor, landing on top of another who was about to try the same thing.
Jet gave him the last shotgun blast, tearing the pinned man's gun arm from his body. Jet took one
of the mines from his hip pack, setting it carefully on the stairs below him before
continuing up. It was just his magnum now, his trusted weapon from the old days. He heard
explosions maybe three floors higher, and realized Spike was making really good progress.
As the hallway was consumed by flames and debris, Spike dove around the corner. His bag had three
grenades left, so he pocketed two, and set the third on top of the empty bag. He frowned as he
reached up to his head, plucking a single hair from it. He tied one end carefully to the grenade
pin, and tied the other end to the duffel bag's strap. The trap set, Spike bolted down the stairs,
avoiding a hail of bullets.
The two men started to follow, when one of them saw Spike's bag. He picked it up, looking it over
as his partner turned back to him. He gave him a confused look, as his partner froze with fear. He
looked back at the bag, and dropped it, also frozen with fear, as the grenade rolled to his shoe,
stopping there before it exploded.
Jet fired the magnum twice, running past the two men as they fell to the floor. He set the last
of his mines on one of them, and rushed up the next staircase. Once he reached the next floor, he
saw that the hard part was done. Spike had been here, judging by the bodies on the floor and the
charred sections of the walls, floor and ceiling. Jet turned, hugging the wall as he heard a gun's
hammer being cocked. Spike popped out from around the corner, and met him with grin. Jet chuckled,
lowering the magnum. "Nice work kid." Jet complimented, surveying the damage. Spike nodded back,
fluffing his hair. It had only been one strand, but still.... "Now we just have to find the head.."
Spike said, the rest of his sentence lost to shock, as the elevator bell sounded. Faye walked out,
dragging an unconcious, important looking man behind her. "Already done." She stated, as Jet gawked
at the battered man. His nose was broken, and his navy blue suit was stained with blood.
"Please tell me he's alive, Faye..." Spike said, smirking at her. "Of course!" Faye countered,
letting the man drop. "He'll just wish he wasn't, once he wakes up." Spike laughed, giving Faye a
warm smile. He wasn't going to complain, the plan had worked in any case. "Let's go
up...." Jet warned, as Spike started down the stairs. "It's not safe down there..." Spike gave him
a strange look, understanding how busy Jet had really been down there. "I agree, let's go up, and
fast!" Spike shouted, spotting the Bebop through one of the shattered windows. It was on a
collision course with the building. Jet couldn't say anything, as he stared through the window. He
picked up the sydicate head, tossing him over his shoulder as they all ran back towards the roof.
Faye rasied her arm, speaking into her braclet. "Showtime." She said clearly, hoping the ship was
smart enough to wait at the entrance, instead of crashing down the stairs. Fortunately it was, and
Jet threw the head into the cockpit as Faye climbed in. She overrode the autopilot, as Jet and
Spike grabbed onto the hull.
Faye gunned her ship down to the other two, dropping the boys off. As Spike and Jet got ready to
leave, police cruisers showed up, a lot of police cruisers. Spike groaned, watching as they
chased after Faye.
"We're going to need a new escape plan!!" Faye's voice cried over the radio. The Redtail flew
towards the Bebop, followed by several cruisers. The Swordfish pursued also, while Jet flew his
ship straight towards the other cruisers, trying to buy them time. Faye saw that the Bebop wasn't
stopping, and pulled up sharply as it
passed under her ship. One of the cruisers wasn't so lucky, and spiraled out of control. "Careful
Faye, try not to hurt them!" Spike's voice lectured over the radio. "How can you possibly say that
now?" Faye shouted back, but refrained from shooting. The Bebop crashed through the wrecked Eagle
Claw building, plowing it into rubble. The hangar door opened, as the police cruisers stopped
pursuing Faye and Spike, and started flying circles around each other instead. The three ships
quickly docked, as Ein guided the Bebop back into space. Jet reached the bridge first, and saw to
his horror that Ed was in the command seat. "EDWARD!!!"
He bellowed, storming in. "What, what?" She asked, looking worried as she got out of the chair.
"Edward came to help!! Don't be angry at Ed!!" She cried, begging at Jet's feet. Spike and Faye
came on to the bridge, amused by the scene. Jet eyed them, noting they seemed completely fine
with the situation. And the ship hadn't been damaged that badly, not to mention the fact that Ed
had saved their butts...He looked back down at Edward, who was still awaiting her judgement.
"G..Good job, Edward..." He said reluctantly. "You really helped us out." Edward stood straight up,
grinning madly as usual. "Thank you, sir! Just doing my duty sir!"
She exclaimed, giving him a goofy salute before running off to celebreate with Ein. Spike and Faye
came up behind Jet, giving him matching weirdo looks. "What's wrong guys?" He asked, slightly
annoyed, but smiling all the same.
"Nothing, sir. Nothing at all." Spike mocked, giving him a slightly less-goofy salute before
walking off with Faye close behind. She gave a salute as well, grinning as she followed Spike out
the door. Jet shoook his head, feeling utter relief in spite of all that had happened. He had done
his part for Bob, as a friend and as a cop. "Now the only problem, is the bills we're going to get
for this mess..." Jet grumbled, looking out the viewport, catching a glimpse of Venus before they
entered the warpgate. He sure hoped that bounty hadn't been lowered. Spike walked beside Faye,
whistling and smirking. "What're you so happy about?" Faye asked, more curious than annoyed. Spike
looked at her, smiling as he met her eyes. "You know, you really are beautiful."
He answered, trying not to laugh as she blushed. He'd tell her, sometime, Spike mused. That he'd
gotten the answer he'd wanted. One of the Eagle thugs had tried to beat him hand to hand. He'd
stayed concious just long enough for Spike to question him, and the results had put Andy in a new
light for him. Andy had apparentely declared a one-man-war on the Eagle Claw, and died fighting
it. Somehow, it seemed to Spike that it was a much better way to go. And his only regret, as
Faye tried to tickle him and make him tell her the truth, was that he couldn't see Andy one last
time, and tell him he was sorry.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY............................
Spike: Man, I haven't had a good challenge in forever. Are there only small fries left in this galaxy?
Faye: You sure talk big...
Jet: You should be careful when you say things like that.
Spike: And why is that?
Faye: The next guy might be too tough for you, Spike.
Spike: What do you mean?
Jet: Forget it Faye, he's hopeless.
Spike: You've gotta tell me now!
Faye: Next time, Spike meets his match.
Spike: All right!! I can't wait!
Jet came onto the bridge, still feeling troubled. He was sure Al had wanted to die. But somehow
he felt guilty. Maybe it was because he had let himself be drawn into the mess in the first place.
"If only I hadn't answered that call..." Jet said regretfully. Ein barked, as he and Edward joined
Jet on the bridge. "Where'd ya go Jet?" Ed asked, looking up at him. Jet watched Ein waddle off to
his food dish, then gazed down at Edward. "I went to meet someone, Ed." He said slowly. He didn't
really feel like talking about it, but there was no other way to make Ed shut up."Kay..." Ed
suddenly said, walking off to her room.
Jet blinked, slightly puzzled. If even Edward could see he was down, he must really look bad...Jet
gazed around the bridge, noticing the abscence of Spike and Faye. He slowly made his way back to
his quarters, running water from the sink. Jet splashed the cold water on his face, watching the
drops trickle down his face in the mirror. Jet gazed at his reflection, and realized he did truly
look old. Almost as if he's aged 10 years or so in the last 12 hours. A knock came from Jet's door,
cutting off his thoughts. "Yeah, come in..." He called, a little reluctant to have visitors. "Have
you seen Spike around anywhere? His ship's not.." Faye stopped in the doorway, her voice fell
silent as she stared at Jet. She was sure he hadn't looked quite that old earlier. Maybe it was
just stress? "Where were you guys?" Jet asked her, wiping his face dry. Faye looked away slightly,
and Jet saw the shy smile as it formed on her face. " I ummm..had to patch him up again, his
shoulder was.." "Nevermind, forget I asked." Jet stated, not wanting to hear about the things she
and Spike did when they were alone. "But no, I haven't seen him around since I got back.." Jet
continued. He had a sneaking suspicion that the day's activities weren't over yet. "Damnit all!"
Faye exclaimed, storming back out of the room. Jet followed after her, taking a fresh bottle of
asprin with him. If his instincts were right, he'd need them.
Spike lit a ciggarette, tilting his head upwards as he gazed at the dark clouds. The rain always
made him thoughtful, even moody sometimes. Spike almost missed his trechcoat, as he looked down at
his blue suit.
The wet patches made it seem a deeper shade of blue than it really was, he noticed. The rain
brought memories rushing back to him, as he turned back to the tombstone. A smirk spread across his
face, as he realized the irony of his life. It seemed he always ended up breaking his own rules. He
had once told Faye that the past didn't matter, yet he could never seem to escape his own. And even
though he didn't believe in pointless mourning, here he was. Spike crouched before the headstone,
placing Andy's hat on top of it.
"See you, space cowboy." He said softly, chosing a rock to weight the hat down with. He stood back
up, closing his eyes as he tried to clear the pictures from his head. The last time he'd found
himself in a graveyard, Julia had stood before him. Spike had felt so many things then, his
emotions had surged at the sight of her. But that was all in the past, and all the brooding in the
world wouldn't bring her back.
He hadn't meant to leave Faye on the ship, but this was something he had to do by himself. Besides,
Jet was certainly back by now, and Spike had turned the Swordfish's beacon on before he left.
They'd come and find him, worried and most likely angry, especially Faye. "I'm always surrounded by
death..." He mused, watching the raindrops as they streaked down the cowboy hat. "Yet I'm never
claimed by it, because of them."
Spike looked up as he heard a ship in the distance. He found himself wishing that Faye
was with him, to hold him and remind him that he still had a place among the living. He felt
stupid, needing to be assured of something like that. He didn't like weaknesses, especially his
own. As Spike turned away from Andy's grave, he heard the roar of thrusters. He saw the Redtail
land outside the gates, as he started walking towards his own ship. Faye ran towards him, not
looking as angry as he'd expected. Spike saw the Hammerhead land as well, a bit further away. As
Faye caught up with him, he saw Jet exit the cockpit, but instad of coming towards them, he only
stood ouside the gates and lit a ciggarette. Spike turned around, as a hand touched his
shoulder.
"Spike!" Faye shouted, scowling as he faced her. Spike knew what she would ask, and looked back at
Andy's grave. Faye followed his gaze, her scowl fading as she saw the hat.
"I know he wasn't a friend, exactly..." Spike explained, drawing Faye to him as she eyed him
curiously.
"But you miss him anyway?" Faye offered, hugging Spike as he faced the ground. "I don't really MISS
him.." Spike corrected, remembering Andy's brainless demeanor. "But I think he died before he was
finished here, that's all." Faye looked at him sympathetically, understanding. One of things she'd
always loved most about Spike, was his odd sense of morality. Even though he didn't believe in
justice, he always acted out against things he considered wrong. Spike looked at Faye's eyes, and
felt as if she was reading him, exploring the things he tried to keep hidden. They understood each
other so well, it was as if they were linked by some unseen force. Faye saw that Spike was staring
at her, and looked into his eyes. A muffled cough broke the
moment, and Spike looked over at Jet, grinning at the old dog. He was dressed in his tan suit,
complete with a matching fedora. Jet looked back at him, the expression on his face wasn't quite a
smirk, but rather the thin smile of a hunter, ready to give chase. Spike looked back at Faye, who
looked away sharply. Spike knew she wasn't mad, but she hated having the close moments between them
cut short. He touched her face gently, holding her closer as he kissed her. In that instant all
his memories were gone, and he could only think of Faye. She touched his cheek, then let him go, as
Jet walked towards them. Spike turned to face Jet, smirking at him. He knew his partner was
thinking the same thing he was, that this wasn't finished yet. " Listen Spike, The people that
killed Andy are called the Eagle's Claw sydicate. A bunch of anti-governemt psychos with a nice
clean cover. The hunting hawks were just one part of it." Spike remembered the group, vauguely.
They had been one of the smaller rivals of the Red dragons, and now that they were gone the greedy
little bastards were taking full advantage of it.
Jet spoke before Spike could say anything to him. "Spike, two good people have been murdered by the
Eagle Claw syndicate, I've found out where they're based..." Spike lowered his head, his eyes full
of determination. He looked at Andy's grave, then back to Jet again. "And if we don't stop them,
they'll just keep doing whatever the hell they want, right?" Spike said, taking his gun from inside
his suit. Faye stared at the two men, and stepped beside Spike "You guys can count me in." She
offered, as if they hadn't already been expecting her to help. She looked at Jet, regarding his
unusually fancy clothing. "But there'd better be a big bounty on them." Jet frowned at her, as
Spike smirked, lighting another cigg. He knew she would go anyway,
if only to get more chances to show him up. "Three million wulongs, that's the price on their head
of operations." Jet informed her.
Faye grinned, a glint in her eye. "Of course, we'll most likely have to go through the rest of them
to capture him alive." Spike reminded her, still smirking. Faye smirked back at him, checking her
gun. "As long as he doesn't try to kill me first, otherwise it's self-defense." Faye countered,
giving Spike's leg a playful slap.
Spike nodded in agreement, not worried in the least. The Eagle Claws were small fries, as far as
syndicates went. That's not what Spike was concerned about. What he really wanted, was to know why
they had killed Andy, why they had set him up like this. Jet's friend had ratted them out, that
explained him. But what had Andy done? He hoped he would get some answers, but things like this
never left much room for interrogation.
Edward adhered herself to the Bebop's viewport, staring out at the planet below. "Where did
everybody go?" She wondered aloud. "Ed always gets left out.." She pouted, sitting down on the
floor. Ein was napping on the floor beside her, apparentely unbothered by the recent developments.
Bored out of her mind, Edward climbed into Jet's chair, activating the computer. A few seconds
later she was inside his system, looking around for anything of interest. "Bounties, bounties,
everywhere..." She sang, going through Jet's files. Ed remembered hearing about Jet's friend, and
that weird rich cowboy. She had been surprised to see Spike sneak into her room, taking the cowboy
hat from the clutter inside. Was it Andy's? Did Spike give it back to him? Edward decided that
really didn't matter, and kept browsing. Ein woke up, and slowly padded over to Edward. He looked
up at her, expecting attention, but Ed's attention was focused on the file she'd found.
"Eagle Claw..." She mummered, exploring the file. There were lots of pictures of Andy, and a funny-
looking policeman with a big nose. Was it Jet's friend? Edward tensed as she read more, realizing
why everyone had left so suddenly. The Eagle Claw people were bad, very bad. They liked to hurt
people, and kill them sometimes too. Among these people were Andy, and the policeman that Jet knew.
Edward was horrified at the pictures of him. He was bleeding from a lot of places, and his legs and
arms were bent all funny.
"Edward doens't like the bad Eagle Claws!!!" She announced, standing straight up in her chair. Ein
barked in agreement, running circles around the chair. "They hurt kids and grown ups, and maybe
dogs too!!"
Edward continued, growling at the computer screen. She ran out of the room, Ein following close
behind.
Ed didn't know what she was feeling, but she knew that she didn't like it. She was mad, afraid and
sad all at the same time. She felt horrible about all those people, as if she wanted to go to each
of their houses, giving flowers and other happy things to their families. 'Ed won't let them
hurt people anymore!!" She exclaimed, dashing through the doorway of the bridge. Ein barked at her,
barely keeping up. Edward jumped into the command chair, looking frantically at the console. "This
doesn't look anything like Tomato!" She whined, pushing buttons at random. Ein jumped into her
lap, whining and barking as the ship lurched forward, then backward, and then forward again. All of
a sudden, the lights went out, leaving Edward and Ein in blackness. "Oh NOOO!!" She cried, slumping
in the chair. 'What do we do, Ein?" She asked the dog in her lap, who reacted as if he had been
waiting for the question. He barked twice and stood on his hind legs, as Ed held him steady. He
began pushing buttons with his snout, one after another. The lights came back on, and then the ship
began to move, heading for a nearby warpgate. Ed blinked at the console's screen, as it displayed
their heading. They were going to Venus, where the Eagle Claws were supposed to be. "You want to
help Ed stop them?" Edward asked the dog, staring in amazment as Ein pushed more buttons, opening a
comm channel to Jet's ship. Ein sunk his head, whining as there came no reply. "Well, as long as we
get the bounty for them, Spikey and Faye-Faye won't be mad, right?" She assured Ein, who only
barked again before jumping down from the chair. Ed took over, carefully pushing the same buttons
as Ein had, trying to reach one of the ships.
Jet frowned as his comm. light flashed again, trying his best to ignore it. "It's better to leave
them out of this..." He grumbled, trying to make himself believe it. This was going to be messy,
and he didn't want Ein or
a kid like Ed getting anywhere near the gritty, ugly side of life that he and Spike and Faye were
crossing over to. The ship-to-ship radio crackled, as Jet heard Faye's voice. "I think Ed's trying
to reach us, Jet. I've got three calls from the Bebop already!" She complained, looking to Jet for
a solution. "I know." Jet growled back at her, having no solution to give her. "Just ignore them,
it's best to keep them out of it." He heard Faye
mutter a reluctant compliance, as Spike joined the conversation. 'He's right Faye, we shouldn't
bring them into this, and you know it." Jet regarded the conversation with a grim look. "Faye, if
Ed found out what we were doing , she'd only beg us to let her come too." Jet tried to explain,
feeling more and more guilty by the minute. He reached a hand up to his fedora, tipping the brim
down, so that it all but hid his remorseful eyes.
"Bob..." He said quietly, thinking of his old friend. "This is for you, old buddy." The three
ships skimmed over Venus' surface, nearing their destination. "There it is..." Spike pointed out,
his voice was serious, and unusually dark as the slim, high rising building loomed before them,
not quite as close to the city as Jet had feared. It would be fairly easy not to injure any inocent
bystanders. "Everyone remember the plan?" Jet asked, going over it in his head. "You go in the
front door, I take the rooftop, right?" Spike recited, there was an edge in his voice now, as if
he was looking forward to trashing more bad guys. "Right." Jet stated, feeling a little anxious
himself. "And I'm the distraction until you guys get the head secured, then I blow the whole place
from out here?" Faye recited, sounding considerably more thrilled about blowing something up than
being the distraction." That's it." Jet confirmed, hoping it really would go that smoothly.
Spike walked with Jet, away from the park they'd landed in. He frowned slightly, glancing at the
backpack containing all his grenades and extra ammo. He remembered now exactly why he'd gotten a
trenchcoat to begin with....Jet gazed over at Spike for a second, seeing the anger in his eyes.
They'd both lost a friend to this scum, both had died needlessly, poitnlessly. It just wasn't
something either of them could abide by, he guessed. Jet knew he was here for Bob, but it felt more
like a comeback performance to him. The black dog hunts, one last time, he thought. Spike saw the
grin form on Jet's face, it was eager and bloodthirsty, almost as if it thrived on carnage. If that
was the case, Spike thought, it'll be well-fed today.
Spike gave Jet a slight wave, and ducked into the building right before their target. Jet knew that
Spike would get to that building's roof, and then proceed to jump to the roof of the Eagle Claw
building. He found himself facing the front door of that very building, pausing for a second before
it all went down.
He had his pistol, an old, converted 12-gauge, his .357 magnum from his I.S.S.P days, and
four proximity mines. He had plans for all of them, intent on saving the magnum for last.
Everything was set, the only thing left was to just do it. Jet took a deep breath, felt the
shotgun's grip in his hand, and uttered a final remark before entering.. "Little pig, little pig,
let me in."
Faye saw Spike on the rooftop as he prepared to jump, watching as he dashed torwards the edge.
She wasn't worried, at all. She knew Spike would make it. But she wanted to see it, just in case he
did anything stupid she could pick on him about later. Spike leapt into the air, landing softly
on the roof of the Eagle Claw's
headquarters. "Damn Mr. Perfect..." She muttered, smiling all the while. Her role was about to
start, she realized, moving around in the cockpit to see Jet enter the ground floor. She wasn't
about to idly sit by, and wait while they had all the fun though. Faye set the remote pilot on her
ship, and programmed three passwords. One was the missle attack that would be the distraction,
the second was for the autopilot to bring the ship to her and the last was for the missiles that
would destroy the building.
She set ship down on the roof, making sure Spike had already gone in. The last thing she needed was
one of his lectures. As Faye reached the fire escape, and opened the door, she saw the missile
shoot from her ship's arsenal. "It's showtime." Faye stated as she snuck in.
Ein looked up from the command chair, as the bridge door opened. Edward came in, screeching with
effort as she dragged a box in behind her, containing all the electronic equipment she owned. Ein
barked, jumping from the chair and trotting to the viewport. Venus loomed in the distance, as the
Bebop began a slow descent to the surface. Ed took a moment to stare at the planet, before she went
to work. She took out the laptops first, laying them out in a row in front of her. She set up
Tomato behind them, and turned all the computers on.
Ein ran over to her, barking a question as he looked at all the hardware. "Edward is preparing for
battle!!" She announced, as she began typing away, slaving all of her laptops to Tomato. Once they
were all set up, she started calibrating her remote control. If her plan worked, she'd be able to
control up to eight ships at once. Ed looked up at the viewport, and saw that they were getting
close to the city. "Ed has to hurry!!! Ohhh, come on!!" She cried, working faster. The remore
beeped twice, then three more times. The green light flashed, siganling that everything was
operational and ready. She held the remote control tightly, feeling more nervous than she ever had
before. " "Let slip the dogs of war!!" She yelled, feeling about as excited as she ever had too.
Ein howled in agreement, as the city drew closer.
Jet crouched on the stairway, wondering briefly how many floors Spike had gone through. The plan
had been for the two of them to make a sandwich, trapping all the stragglers inbetween them. Jet
took a quick inventory, he had two shotgun shells left, the 24 shells that were for his magnum, and
although he had plenty of bullets, his handgun had taken a shot, breaking the trigger off. Since
going back down to retreive a gun from one the corpses was suicide, Jet had to use his magnum
earlier than expected. One of the Eagles came running up the stairs, screaming as he fired his gun.
Jet rolled down the stairs towards him, giving him a round from the 12-gauge at point-blank range.
The man tumbled back to the floor, landing on top of another who was about to try the same thing.
Jet gave him the last shotgun blast, tearing the pinned man's gun arm from his body. Jet took one
of the mines from his hip pack, setting it carefully on the stairs below him before
continuing up. It was just his magnum now, his trusted weapon from the old days. He heard
explosions maybe three floors higher, and realized Spike was making really good progress.
As the hallway was consumed by flames and debris, Spike dove around the corner. His bag had three
grenades left, so he pocketed two, and set the third on top of the empty bag. He frowned as he
reached up to his head, plucking a single hair from it. He tied one end carefully to the grenade
pin, and tied the other end to the duffel bag's strap. The trap set, Spike bolted down the stairs,
avoiding a hail of bullets.
The two men started to follow, when one of them saw Spike's bag. He picked it up, looking it over
as his partner turned back to him. He gave him a confused look, as his partner froze with fear. He
looked back at the bag, and dropped it, also frozen with fear, as the grenade rolled to his shoe,
stopping there before it exploded.
Jet fired the magnum twice, running past the two men as they fell to the floor. He set the last
of his mines on one of them, and rushed up the next staircase. Once he reached the next floor, he
saw that the hard part was done. Spike had been here, judging by the bodies on the floor and the
charred sections of the walls, floor and ceiling. Jet turned, hugging the wall as he heard a gun's
hammer being cocked. Spike popped out from around the corner, and met him with grin. Jet chuckled,
lowering the magnum. "Nice work kid." Jet complimented, surveying the damage. Spike nodded back,
fluffing his hair. It had only been one strand, but still.... "Now we just have to find the head.."
Spike said, the rest of his sentence lost to shock, as the elevator bell sounded. Faye walked out,
dragging an unconcious, important looking man behind her. "Already done." She stated, as Jet gawked
at the battered man. His nose was broken, and his navy blue suit was stained with blood.
"Please tell me he's alive, Faye..." Spike said, smirking at her. "Of course!" Faye countered,
letting the man drop. "He'll just wish he wasn't, once he wakes up." Spike laughed, giving Faye a
warm smile. He wasn't going to complain, the plan had worked in any case. "Let's go
up...." Jet warned, as Spike started down the stairs. "It's not safe down there..." Spike gave him
a strange look, understanding how busy Jet had really been down there. "I agree, let's go up, and
fast!" Spike shouted, spotting the Bebop through one of the shattered windows. It was on a
collision course with the building. Jet couldn't say anything, as he stared through the window. He
picked up the sydicate head, tossing him over his shoulder as they all ran back towards the roof.
Faye rasied her arm, speaking into her braclet. "Showtime." She said clearly, hoping the ship was
smart enough to wait at the entrance, instead of crashing down the stairs. Fortunately it was, and
Jet threw the head into the cockpit as Faye climbed in. She overrode the autopilot, as Jet and
Spike grabbed onto the hull.
Faye gunned her ship down to the other two, dropping the boys off. As Spike and Jet got ready to
leave, police cruisers showed up, a lot of police cruisers. Spike groaned, watching as they
chased after Faye.
"We're going to need a new escape plan!!" Faye's voice cried over the radio. The Redtail flew
towards the Bebop, followed by several cruisers. The Swordfish pursued also, while Jet flew his
ship straight towards the other cruisers, trying to buy them time. Faye saw that the Bebop wasn't
stopping, and pulled up sharply as it
passed under her ship. One of the cruisers wasn't so lucky, and spiraled out of control. "Careful
Faye, try not to hurt them!" Spike's voice lectured over the radio. "How can you possibly say that
now?" Faye shouted back, but refrained from shooting. The Bebop crashed through the wrecked Eagle
Claw building, plowing it into rubble. The hangar door opened, as the police cruisers stopped
pursuing Faye and Spike, and started flying circles around each other instead. The three ships
quickly docked, as Ein guided the Bebop back into space. Jet reached the bridge first, and saw to
his horror that Ed was in the command seat. "EDWARD!!!"
He bellowed, storming in. "What, what?" She asked, looking worried as she got out of the chair.
"Edward came to help!! Don't be angry at Ed!!" She cried, begging at Jet's feet. Spike and Faye
came on to the bridge, amused by the scene. Jet eyed them, noting they seemed completely fine
with the situation. And the ship hadn't been damaged that badly, not to mention the fact that Ed
had saved their butts...He looked back down at Edward, who was still awaiting her judgement.
"G..Good job, Edward..." He said reluctantly. "You really helped us out." Edward stood straight up,
grinning madly as usual. "Thank you, sir! Just doing my duty sir!"
She exclaimed, giving him a goofy salute before running off to celebreate with Ein. Spike and Faye
came up behind Jet, giving him matching weirdo looks. "What's wrong guys?" He asked, slightly
annoyed, but smiling all the same.
"Nothing, sir. Nothing at all." Spike mocked, giving him a slightly less-goofy salute before
walking off with Faye close behind. She gave a salute as well, grinning as she followed Spike out
the door. Jet shoook his head, feeling utter relief in spite of all that had happened. He had done
his part for Bob, as a friend and as a cop. "Now the only problem, is the bills we're going to get
for this mess..." Jet grumbled, looking out the viewport, catching a glimpse of Venus before they
entered the warpgate. He sure hoped that bounty hadn't been lowered. Spike walked beside Faye,
whistling and smirking. "What're you so happy about?" Faye asked, more curious than annoyed. Spike
looked at her, smiling as he met her eyes. "You know, you really are beautiful."
He answered, trying not to laugh as she blushed. He'd tell her, sometime, Spike mused. That he'd
gotten the answer he'd wanted. One of the Eagle thugs had tried to beat him hand to hand. He'd
stayed concious just long enough for Spike to question him, and the results had put Andy in a new
light for him. Andy had apparentely declared a one-man-war on the Eagle Claw, and died fighting
it. Somehow, it seemed to Spike that it was a much better way to go. And his only regret, as
Faye tried to tickle him and make him tell her the truth, was that he couldn't see Andy one last
time, and tell him he was sorry.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOY............................
Spike: Man, I haven't had a good challenge in forever. Are there only small fries left in this galaxy?
Faye: You sure talk big...
Jet: You should be careful when you say things like that.
Spike: And why is that?
Faye: The next guy might be too tough for you, Spike.
Spike: What do you mean?
Jet: Forget it Faye, he's hopeless.
Spike: You've gotta tell me now!
Faye: Next time, Spike meets his match.
Spike: All right!! I can't wait!