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~ People once believed, That when someone dies, A Crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, Something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it, And the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, Just sometimes, The Crow can bring the soul back and set everything right. ~ Crow: Stairway to Heaven
I have no idea how long I've been here. Time passes slowly, if it passes at all. My body has long since gone numb to the blackness around it. I don't know where I am or have any idea what the timetables are. I think I've been here for a long time.
I think I'm in hell. That's the only word I can think of that suits this place. Well, except maybe Faye, but that's a name so it doesn't count.
Hell will have to do. I'm in some kind of void and I can't move. It's totally black around me. And quiet. It's so quiet. There's no noise or sound. I was fine with that. I liked silence. I was able to concentrate in silence.
But that what was I didn't want to do.
Thinking meant remembering all that was my life. Sure not all of it was bad, but majority rules. The Red Dragons....Vicious....Julia.....
All of them had a hand in what had happened to me. Spike Spiegel. I keep saying that so I don't forget my own name. Not that I'm placing the blame everywhere else. I know no one can make you do anything. You can only to choose to do what they say and face consequences if you decide against it. My decisions in life were just that, MY decisions. A gun was never put to my head.
Wait, yeah it was.
But that's beside the point.
I could have still said no, but then I'd be here a lot sooner.
I can remember some other things too. I remembered working with Jet and running after bounties. I used to like that. I think. He'd complain more than a woman. But he was a great guy. Then o'course, I deduce that any man able to put up with me is a great guy.
And then there was that god-forsaken dog. I guarantee he liked the taste of me. He bit me every other day and stole my food when I wasn't looking. He had torn my sheets from the bed while I was still in it during the heater breakdown. I swear he had it in for me all along.
Then there was Faye. She was pretty until she talked. She could go on and on about me and Jet and misplacing one thing or another. Then there was all the food she ate. And bugging me to fix something or another. Did it say Mr. Fix-it somewhere on me that I didn't know about?
Then there was Ed. Oh, sorry. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrisky IV. Ed was, well, Ed. But that was all she needed to be. How could you not like her? She always had a smile on her face and she would try to put one on yours too. She was Radical Edward. The best hacker ever to touch a keyboard.
Although, the most damage she ever did were those annoying happy smiley faces. I remember once she did that to my ship when I was going after a bounty in a dogfight. Ed took control of my ship and steered me out of the way of oncoming missiles that were going to blow me outta the sky.
I don't remember if I thanked her or not. I think I was angry the bounty got away and I snapped at her when she asked if I was okay. I shouldn't have done that. She saved my life and I was acting like an ingrate. I wonder how she's doing now.
*Heartbeat*
Oh for the love of-! It's happening again!! That shimatta noise!! It makes me absolutely crazy! I yell, scream, and shout, anything! But that noise is always louder! I can't stand it! The incessant beating echoing through the darkness is driving me outta my natural mind!
*More heartbeats*
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it! Stop it!! Stop it!!!
" STOP IT!!!!"
My voice. I heard my voice. I haven't heard that except in my mind. And that heartbeat. It isn't my own. Someone else is here.
" Who's there?" I ask.
" Spike Spiegel.." Answers me.
" I said who's there?!" I say again.
Now I feel movement around me. My senses are alive again. I can smell and touch and hear. My eyes are still closed so I don't know if I can see yet. But my body is on the ground and I can hear birds and smell flowers. What is this place and how did I get here?
" Open your eyes and stand up Spike." The voice says again.
I open my eyes. Then close them again and stand up. Bright lights are all around me. The sun? That would mean I'm alive.
" Not quite." The voice answers.
" Who are you? And where am I?" I ask with my arm in front of my face.
" I am Kodiak. I am the guide in between worlds. You are in between the living and the dead Spiegel-san." He says.
My eyes are finally better and I can see. Kodiak is a man about the height of Jet and the age of Faye. Caucasian and blond-haired, blue-eyed case. He's wearing some kind of white toga looking robe.
" I am in between worlds? You must be in between drunk and sober." I say.
" You have been given a mission Spiegel-san. A friend of yours is in danger of being killed and it is not her time." He says.
" 'Friend' obvious excludes Faye. Julia is already dead..Ed!!" I cry out.
" That's right. Only your Ed is now a grown woman. She's 22. And she will die without your help." He says.
" That's good to know but why are you telling me?! In case it has slipped your mind, I'M ALREADY DEAD!!!" I shout.
" No need to shout Spiegel-san. That's going to be taken care of. The reason you are being told is because the people who killed you are trying to kill her." He says.
" The Syndicate? Why would they be trying to kill Ed?" I ask.
" Don't know. That's what you have to find out and prevent." He says.
" And how is that going to happen with me here?" I ask.
Kodiak points. That's when I notice where we are. We're at the edge of a forest and there's a bridge leading over to another side with a bright light. He's pointing at the bridge.
" What about it?" I ask.
" Jump off it." He says.
" Excuse me?!" I say in shock.
" What? It obviously won't kill you." He says.
" I don't believe this. I don't believe you and I don't plan on jumping off that bridge! Have a nice day!" I say turning around to go into the forest.
But it's gone. A hole leading to the black void is there.
" If you don't take this job, you will go back to your prison and you will have her death on your conscious. Do you really want that?" He asks.
I stop. Edward dying. Edward in a place like this. Someone putting a bullet through her. I shake my head.
" Not gonna happen. She's a smart girl. Faye or Jet can help her." I say.
" Faye is on Venus happily married with three kids and in her 40s. Jet is a fisherman on Mars. Edward is a bounty hunter now. Her name is Elise "Edward" Bebop. She and Ein work together on a small ship." He says.
" Elise? Well, it's better than Edward I suppose. And Faye married? That's a surprise. She shouldn't breed, but that's a little late. And Jet a fisherman is no surprise. But, if 'Elise' is a bounty hunter, can't she take care of herself?" I ask.
" Come over here and look at the water down there." He says.
Shrugging I go over there and look over the side. It's some kind of portal or something. I can see Ed, oh, 'Elise', running down a back alley. She's been shot in the arm and she's still being shot at. She certainly looks different.
The people running after her have Red Dragon tattoos on their bodies. They really mean business too. They're just barely missing Ed and she can't keep this up for much longer.
" What's going to happen to her?" I ask.
Kodiak shrugs.
" That's up to you. You can either save her-"
The portal changes to show myself fighting against the Syndicate shooters.
" Or-"
Kodiak makes his hand into a gun and points it to the portal.
" -Bang."
The Elise in the portal is shot in the back and she falls to the ground in a crumpled, lifeless, heap.
That image is burned into my mind. Elise shot and left to die in the gutter like an animal. The shooters are laughing and kicking at her body just to add insult to injury.
" This hasn't happened yet right?" I ask not looking away from the portal.
" Right." He says.
" And I can stop it from happening?" I ask.
" Right again." He says.
" And all I have to do is jump?" I ask.
" For the love Pete! Yes!!" He says.
" That's all I need to know." I say.
Without another thought, I jump over the bridge. So as the song goes:
Back to life, back to reality.
~ People once believed, That when someone dies, A Crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, Something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it, And the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, Just sometimes, The Crow can bring the soul back and set everything right. ~ Crow: Stairway to Heaven
I have no idea how long I've been here. Time passes slowly, if it passes at all. My body has long since gone numb to the blackness around it. I don't know where I am or have any idea what the timetables are. I think I've been here for a long time.
I think I'm in hell. That's the only word I can think of that suits this place. Well, except maybe Faye, but that's a name so it doesn't count.
Hell will have to do. I'm in some kind of void and I can't move. It's totally black around me. And quiet. It's so quiet. There's no noise or sound. I was fine with that. I liked silence. I was able to concentrate in silence.
But that what was I didn't want to do.
Thinking meant remembering all that was my life. Sure not all of it was bad, but majority rules. The Red Dragons....Vicious....Julia.....
All of them had a hand in what had happened to me. Spike Spiegel. I keep saying that so I don't forget my own name. Not that I'm placing the blame everywhere else. I know no one can make you do anything. You can only to choose to do what they say and face consequences if you decide against it. My decisions in life were just that, MY decisions. A gun was never put to my head.
Wait, yeah it was.
But that's beside the point.
I could have still said no, but then I'd be here a lot sooner.
I can remember some other things too. I remembered working with Jet and running after bounties. I used to like that. I think. He'd complain more than a woman. But he was a great guy. Then o'course, I deduce that any man able to put up with me is a great guy.
And then there was that god-forsaken dog. I guarantee he liked the taste of me. He bit me every other day and stole my food when I wasn't looking. He had torn my sheets from the bed while I was still in it during the heater breakdown. I swear he had it in for me all along.
Then there was Faye. She was pretty until she talked. She could go on and on about me and Jet and misplacing one thing or another. Then there was all the food she ate. And bugging me to fix something or another. Did it say Mr. Fix-it somewhere on me that I didn't know about?
Then there was Ed. Oh, sorry. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrisky IV. Ed was, well, Ed. But that was all she needed to be. How could you not like her? She always had a smile on her face and she would try to put one on yours too. She was Radical Edward. The best hacker ever to touch a keyboard.
Although, the most damage she ever did were those annoying happy smiley faces. I remember once she did that to my ship when I was going after a bounty in a dogfight. Ed took control of my ship and steered me out of the way of oncoming missiles that were going to blow me outta the sky.
I don't remember if I thanked her or not. I think I was angry the bounty got away and I snapped at her when she asked if I was okay. I shouldn't have done that. She saved my life and I was acting like an ingrate. I wonder how she's doing now.
*Heartbeat*
Oh for the love of-! It's happening again!! That shimatta noise!! It makes me absolutely crazy! I yell, scream, and shout, anything! But that noise is always louder! I can't stand it! The incessant beating echoing through the darkness is driving me outta my natural mind!
*More heartbeats*
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it! Stop it!! Stop it!!!
" STOP IT!!!!"
My voice. I heard my voice. I haven't heard that except in my mind. And that heartbeat. It isn't my own. Someone else is here.
" Who's there?" I ask.
" Spike Spiegel.." Answers me.
" I said who's there?!" I say again.
Now I feel movement around me. My senses are alive again. I can smell and touch and hear. My eyes are still closed so I don't know if I can see yet. But my body is on the ground and I can hear birds and smell flowers. What is this place and how did I get here?
" Open your eyes and stand up Spike." The voice says again.
I open my eyes. Then close them again and stand up. Bright lights are all around me. The sun? That would mean I'm alive.
" Not quite." The voice answers.
" Who are you? And where am I?" I ask with my arm in front of my face.
" I am Kodiak. I am the guide in between worlds. You are in between the living and the dead Spiegel-san." He says.
My eyes are finally better and I can see. Kodiak is a man about the height of Jet and the age of Faye. Caucasian and blond-haired, blue-eyed case. He's wearing some kind of white toga looking robe.
" I am in between worlds? You must be in between drunk and sober." I say.
" You have been given a mission Spiegel-san. A friend of yours is in danger of being killed and it is not her time." He says.
" 'Friend' obvious excludes Faye. Julia is already dead..Ed!!" I cry out.
" That's right. Only your Ed is now a grown woman. She's 22. And she will die without your help." He says.
" That's good to know but why are you telling me?! In case it has slipped your mind, I'M ALREADY DEAD!!!" I shout.
" No need to shout Spiegel-san. That's going to be taken care of. The reason you are being told is because the people who killed you are trying to kill her." He says.
" The Syndicate? Why would they be trying to kill Ed?" I ask.
" Don't know. That's what you have to find out and prevent." He says.
" And how is that going to happen with me here?" I ask.
Kodiak points. That's when I notice where we are. We're at the edge of a forest and there's a bridge leading over to another side with a bright light. He's pointing at the bridge.
" What about it?" I ask.
" Jump off it." He says.
" Excuse me?!" I say in shock.
" What? It obviously won't kill you." He says.
" I don't believe this. I don't believe you and I don't plan on jumping off that bridge! Have a nice day!" I say turning around to go into the forest.
But it's gone. A hole leading to the black void is there.
" If you don't take this job, you will go back to your prison and you will have her death on your conscious. Do you really want that?" He asks.
I stop. Edward dying. Edward in a place like this. Someone putting a bullet through her. I shake my head.
" Not gonna happen. She's a smart girl. Faye or Jet can help her." I say.
" Faye is on Venus happily married with three kids and in her 40s. Jet is a fisherman on Mars. Edward is a bounty hunter now. Her name is Elise "Edward" Bebop. She and Ein work together on a small ship." He says.
" Elise? Well, it's better than Edward I suppose. And Faye married? That's a surprise. She shouldn't breed, but that's a little late. And Jet a fisherman is no surprise. But, if 'Elise' is a bounty hunter, can't she take care of herself?" I ask.
" Come over here and look at the water down there." He says.
Shrugging I go over there and look over the side. It's some kind of portal or something. I can see Ed, oh, 'Elise', running down a back alley. She's been shot in the arm and she's still being shot at. She certainly looks different.
The people running after her have Red Dragon tattoos on their bodies. They really mean business too. They're just barely missing Ed and she can't keep this up for much longer.
" What's going to happen to her?" I ask.
Kodiak shrugs.
" That's up to you. You can either save her-"
The portal changes to show myself fighting against the Syndicate shooters.
" Or-"
Kodiak makes his hand into a gun and points it to the portal.
" -Bang."
The Elise in the portal is shot in the back and she falls to the ground in a crumpled, lifeless, heap.
That image is burned into my mind. Elise shot and left to die in the gutter like an animal. The shooters are laughing and kicking at her body just to add insult to injury.
" This hasn't happened yet right?" I ask not looking away from the portal.
" Right." He says.
" And I can stop it from happening?" I ask.
" Right again." He says.
" And all I have to do is jump?" I ask.
" For the love Pete! Yes!!" He says.
" That's all I need to know." I say.
Without another thought, I jump over the bridge. So as the song goes:
Back to life, back to reality.