Cowboy Bebop: The Twin Dragon Sessions
Session Two: Awaken the Tiger-striped Cat
* * *
Bebop.
A computer announces in a monotone voice that they were entering the Earth's atmosphere.
* * *
Hospital.
It has been six hours since Spike, Shin and the other Red Dragons were brought in for treatment. Spike, Shin and three others were still unconscious and under observation. All others were released; but not before giving some information to the new bosses. At least that was how they acted towards the twins. Even though they seemed younger, and in fact biologically they were. The lackeys as Sachi called them, didn't no squat about syndicate hierarchy. All they did was obey, which made it easier for them of course.
Sachi walked through the hallways, pacing and contemplating their next move. Shino was playing around with some new electronics Rinji showed him. Rinji was watching over his brother, Shin. Sachi looked at the bunch of papers in her hand; they were profiles of the Bebop's crew-or ex-crew depending upon how you look it. She picked up Faye Valentines, which was unusually blank in certain areas. She began to read her profile....
"Name: Faye Valentine
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Height: 168cm
Birthday: Unknown
Birthplace: Unknown
Blood Type: B
Occupation: Bounty Hunter
Ship: Redtail
Weapon: Austrian Glock 30
Alias: Poker Alice
History: Unknown
Past Offenses: Larceny, Fraud, Reckless Flying, Escaping Custody, Outstanding Debts....."
She got bored of the list and skipped to her debts, and almost dropped the pile of papers.
"300 BILLION WOOLONGS!" she screeched. The people around her stared at her like she was a crazy woman. Her face flushed, she walked away.
* * *
Back on the Bebop the women in question prepared herself for landing. Jet was else where; he didn't care what they did at that moment. It was good to get away from Mars for a little R & R even though he was a nervous wreck. He would never show that fact, ever.
* * *
Outside the hospital, Shino sat on a bench, playing with a communicator. He sat in an area of the garden where he was well hid, not wanting attention of any sorts. The only noise around him was the occasional car or space ship going by or the wind rustling in the trees. He heard foot steps and jumped into a tree out of view. Two men in dark blue suits and olive green shirts sat down on the bench where Shino was previously sitting. He hid his presence well and the two men in the suits didn't even glance upwards. They felt comfortable enough to talk, but not comfortable enough to talk in the normal Japanese. They spoke in Chinese which luckily for Shino he understood perfectly.
"The snakes must eat the dragons before the cat awakens." The one man said in a gruff voice. He then picked up a brief case and opened it. Shino noticed there were blue snakes everywhere, on the briefcase, papers, he even noticed a blue snake tattooed on the one guys hand.
"The cat had comrades." The other man stated while looking at some photos. Shino leaned forward to get a better look and almost lost his footing. It was enough though, to rustle some leaves. The one man quickly closed the briefcase while the other pulled out his gun and aimed for the tree. The briefcase man jumped into the tree. Nothing. The man, perplexed, jumped back down and walked away with the other.
- - -
Shino knew when to high tail it; he was out of there before they could blink. He jumped onto the ledge of the second floor and walked along it. He looked like one of those suicidal idiots that threaten to jump off the ledge if their demands weren't met. He was use to 'roof hopping', he lived in Nerima, what do you expect? (a/n: Nerima is from Ranma 1/2, like I said, Sachi and Shino are from the Ranma-verse. I just haven't gotten it done yet.) He counted the rooms and opened the window that lead to Shin's room.
When the window opened Rinji practically jumped twelve feet in the air. Shino merely laughed and said how he should be on guard. He walked over and sat on the chair that was in the corner of the room.
"How's your brother?" He asked looking over at Shin who was out like a light.
"The doctors said he was lucky, he was walking a fine line. Same with Spike too." Rinji responded.
"I suppose so. Have you seen my sister?" As if on command she walked into the room, files still in hand.
"You ring?" She walked over and sat next to her brother and tossed the files onto the table.
He ignored her comment and turned towards Rinji. "What do you know about guys in blue suits with olive green shirts?"
"Blue suits? Oh! The Blue Snake Syndicate, sir. They are one of The Red Dragons biggest rivals. Why do you ask?"
"I was in the park outside," he stands up and looks out the window, "and these two guys walk in there. All suited up and junk, they sit down on the bench, so I decide to ease drop."
"Typical." Sachi laughs while Rinji's face pales.
Shino continues, "Well they were speaking in Chinese, but still talkin' weird. All encrypted like, 'ya know? The briefcase guy is like 'The snakes must eat the dragons before the cat awakens' and crap. Then I noticed there were blue snakes every where, the one guy even had it tattooed on his hand. Do you think they are after The Red Dragons?"
"Possibly sir, hold on while I call someone." Rinji ran out of the room. Sachi took the opportunity to talk to her brother.
"You talked to Ms. Valentine right?" She said looking at her brother whose back was still turned.
He snapped out of his semi-trance and sat back down; he picked up Faye's file.
"You noticed too, huh? She could be a descendent you know, she would have to be like eighty."
"Seventy-seven"
He rolled his eyes. "Same difference, plus they have different last names."
"You could always change names," she retorted.
"Yea, but still, how could she look like she's twenty and be seventy-seven?"
"Well, we're almost seventeen but in this year we're about eighty-five."
Shino sighed knowing he couldn't win. He looked through the files and grabbed Spikes. "He leads an interesting life."
"How so?" She leaned over to look at the file.
"Name: Spike Spiegel
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Height: 185 cm
Birthday: June 26 - 2044 A.D.
Birthplace: Mars
Blood type: 0
Occupation: Bounty Hunter
Ship: Swordfish II
Weapon: Jericho 941...."
Shino read off Spikes statistics while his sister listened.
"So wait, he's a bounty hunter too?" she asked.
"They all are. Except this one." He holds up a picture of Edward. "There isn't any history or information on her....at least I think it's a her."
"Ha-ha. Oh Rin you're back!" He walked in practically unnoticed until she looked up. "What did you find?"
"They are trying to take over, ma'am, soon. Unless we do something, or Spike wakes up, they are going to succeed." He said while making himself comfortable next to them.
Everyone sat in silence for a few moments until Shino decided to break it. "We'll kill them." He stated it like was nothing, though his voice did carry a note of seriousness in it. Sachi just got up and walked out of the room.
* * *
Bebop.
It finally landed god knows where on earth. Earth looks the same everywhere-a pile of rubble. Except in this area, the vegetation managed to stay alive and it was surrounded by a beautiful ocean. Jet remained in the same place he has been sitting, on the couch watching TV. 'To bad they canceled Big Shot,' Jet thought. He was extremely bored since he didn't have anyone to talk to. Ed and Ein are gone; Spike is supposedly 'alive' in a hospital on mars. Faye wouldn't tell him. She left on foot mumbling something about home. Jet decided it was high time to get off his lazy ass, and hobbled outside.
"JETTTTTTT!!! JETTT-PERSONNNN!!!"
'Wow, I must be going insane now I hear voices,' Jet thought. A few barks were heard in the background. An orange blur hit Jet knocking him off his feet.
"ED?!" Jet was confused. They left her on the other side of earth, how did she get here? "Ed, how did you get here?" Jet looked down to see Ein, "and Ein too."
"Ed track Bebop-Bebop on tomato, Father-person near here so Ed decides to leave! Father-person borrrrrrrrrrrrrring!" Ed sung and danced around Jet who was still on his butt. "Ed is happy! Ed saw Faye-Faye but where is Spike-person??"
"Spike is gone, where did you see Faye?" Jet tried to get on his feet, it took him a few tries but he made it up.
"Faye-Faye is home!!"
"Home?"
"Yes! Home!!" Ed ran off into the Bebop before Jet could ask anything else.
- - -
In the remains of a home sat Faye who was staring towards the sea holding what looked like a teddy bear.
"He's alive, the bastard is alive.....the bastard I love...love...go figure I'd love that lunkhead...." She sighed and fought back tears but was starting to lose the battle. "He left...he left me, alone. They all screw me over. Every goddamn bastard. They all think they have the right too....when I see Spike I'm going to make sure he can't leave me again....again." She couldn't hold back any longer, the tears brimmed over like waterfalls. She wept into her teddy bear she found under some rubble untouched by the world.
* * *
(Memory plays in the background)
Blackness. Spike mumbled a few choice words as he stood up. The blue suit he wore was ripped and bloodied up. A flash of gold flickers in front of him right before a streak of silver swished in front of him. Then all of the sudden light, he recognized the place. The place where it all began, the day he figured out he was going to propose to Julia. It also was the day it all was shattered. He looked over and saw himself, a younger version wearing a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. His younger version was trudging through the rain, with roses in hand, towards Julia's apartment. Spike was wondering what the hell was going on when the world around him suddenly changed. He was now inside Julia's apartment complex with someone humming in the background. He knew it was his Julia; she was grabbing her mail when she bumped into him. Spike followed himself down the hall, and then realized what was going on. It was a memory, the memory he most despised. Everything paused.
'I wished I could have changed it, to never have met Julia or Vicious. You can't change memories though, you can only forget, or seek revenge on the ones who caused you grief. 'Tis better to loved and lost, then never to have loved at all. Right? Screw the people who say that, love causes pain. People also say pain is healthy. Well screw them too. If it weren't for them, I could have loved...loved someone that truly loves me. Not someone who screwed me over. Once with false love, twice for loving that bastard Vicious, and three times for dying on me when I thought we had a chance. Three times you're out. Thanks a fucking lot Julia.'
The memory started again like a bad rerun. Spike followed himself down the hall only to see his counterpart and Julia stop. The humming stops.
'Here's the kicker'
A scream.
'Told ya'
Vicious stood atop the stairwell glaring at the 'lovely' pair.
The world blurred again.
This time he was on an empty bridge. The lights lined the bridge giving it a queasy glow. He walked along the bridge and saw a figure standing in the middle.
'Vicious'
Undaunted he pulled out a gun.
'Ack! What am I doing?!'
This time he wasn't merely an observer but an active participant-an unwilling participant. His mind was screaming to stop but his body didn't listen. The battle raged, a sequence of kicks, punches, and blocks was nearing an end. Spikes injuries were minor but had a slash across his arm. Vicious had a bullet in his leg but went for the last ditch attempt. Using his katana as a makeshift pole vault he left into the air just enough to prepare himself for the next attack.
'Shit'
Vicious slashed with the remaining energy he had and caught Spike in the face with his blade. Spike was flung backwards with the attack, over the bridges side. The last thing he could make out was a blurry figure of Vicious smirking. He blacked out until he hit the water.
'Great, reliving some of the worse events of my life. This is the damn part where I lose my eye. This is JUST FUCKING GREAT! I swear some god is laughing at me now. Laugh it up ya old geezer! Am I dead? Cause if I am I'm going to find you damnit and you'll regret messing with Spike Spiegel!'
Spike laughed at the idea of thrashing a god not realizing he was bleeding like mad and underwater. Interesting concept indeed. He felt a tug on his sleeve.
It blurs again.
He is now on the yellow couch in the Bebop. Someone is humming but he can't see who it is.
'Faye'
He turns over and sees face. She's grinning.
'Typical Faye'
Still humming. The world blurs.
* * *
Sachi sat eyes closed and listened to her CD player, humming to her favorite song. She was in another hospital room. She had left her brother to check on the other syndicate members to see if they were awake, none were. Her last stop was Spike; he was still out like the rest. She was finally enjoying silence.
"Tone-deaf"
She jumped out of her seat clutching her chest screaming a few profanities in many different languages. She felt like her heart jumped out of her chest and slammed itself back in again, like it was attached to a giant rubber band. Looking up, she noticed Spike--smirking.
"Think this is funny pretty boy? You almost gave me a heart attack!" She wanted to toss her chair at the idiot but refrained from doing so. "You're lucky you just woke up ya know or you woulda been in for a load a trouble."
He looked at the girl, he had no idea who she was or why she was here but felt like torturing her. The girl gave off the facade that she owned the world and he wanted to rip the world from her grip and toss it around her. Just like Faye. He just hoped this girl wasn't as trigger happy like Faye though. He didn't need that kind of grief at that particular moment.
"A pretty boy am I?" She rolled her eyes and sat back down shutting off her CD player. She sat in silence staring at Spike, just to piss him off. It was working too; he was squirming in his bed like no tomorrow.
"God, you're annoying Spiegel."
"Tsk, Tsk. That's not nice to say to some one who just woke up from a prolonged sleep." The smirk was still planted on his face. "Who are you any ways?"
"Well, Mr. Spiegel new leader of The Red Dragons, I made sure you lived. You should be grateful." She grinned at his confused eyes. "Plus you owe me a new trench coat; you ruined it with all your blood."
"I...owe...you?" He looked like he was going to bust a gasket laughing. "I OWE YOU?! BWAHAHAHA! YOU LITTLE GIRL!?"
"ACK! WHAT THE HELL?! I AIN'T A 'LIL GIRL I'M TECHNICALLY OLDER THAN YOU!!" she howled just as her brother walked in.
"Older than I?"
"Ah, you're awake. Shin has just awoken also; he's asking for you Mr. Spiegel." Shino said professionally, very unlike him.
Sachi ignored Spikes previous question and turned to face her twin who now sat in the seat next to her.
"Why are you acting like that Shin?" she asked in English, not wanting Spike to understand their conversation. As planned Spike had a confused look on his face.
He responded in English. "Acting like what dear sister?"
"Don't bullshit me."
"I would never!" His words dripped with sarcasm.
"Ugh!" She smacked her forehead with her palm. "You're annoying just like Spiegel!"
"HEY?! I heard my name in a not so pleasant tone!" Spike said.
She reverted back to Japanese. "So?"
An argument progressed between the two while Shino covered his ears and whimpered in a corner. He knew what happened when his sister was mad. She would get very, eh, physical. This was usually directed towards him or who ever made her mad. She wouldn't hit Spike though; she had more sense than that. Beating a person who's just been unconscious most of the day is not a good thing.
*-*-*
AWAKE AND KICKING COWBOY...
*-*-*
!!!