I do not own or claim to own any of the characters from the show cowboy bebop.

Song credits for The Wind Cries Mary go to Jimi Hendrix (although I think that it might have been a Bob Dylan remake).

I'm going on the premise that Vicious wasn't always the villain that we see today. In my opinion he had to have been a little more humanly to be friends with Spike. So this is my take on how it could have been. There will be some spoilers for RFB and some unsavory views about Julia. Just incase you're a big Julia fan and (or) you haven't seen the end of the series yet. Also I'm trying to challenge myself into only using Jimi Hendrix songs for this fic. Well, at least one's that he's recorded. He did do quite a few remakes in his time. But you get my point. This fic starts right after the first like 10 minutes of RFB 1.

After all the jacks are in the boxes

And all the clowns have gone to bed

You can see happiness staggering on down the street

Footsteps are dressed in red

And the wind whispers Mary

'Well this sucks' it seemed that even though things were going according to schedule, he hadn't really thought about how uncomfortable he would be until the next stage of his plan was set into motion. He let out a puff of hot breathe to blow his hair out of his face. 'It won't be too much longer' his mind kept telling him, 'soon everything will fall into place'. This had been his only activity for the last day and a half. Think about how much this situation sucked, then tell himself that it was all part of the plan. The sacrifice that he had to make in order to get his prize. The last small price he had to pay before his most greatest success. Yes, it was indeed a small price to pay for becoming the leader of the syndicate. But at this moment in time his mind was in dire need of more stimulating thoughts. He needed to keep his mind sharp and clear. When the moment came he would need to think straight and at this rate he was going to go insane. ' Just a small miscalculation on my part' the white haired man mentally quipped. It had been a day and a half since he had been brought to this chamber. This chamber was meant to break men, to make them go insane out of fear of what was to come of them when the elder's had made the final decision. The decision of how to end that man's life. Well that was one decision that the elder's weren't going to be making. No, he was going to be making all of the decisions from now on. He was stronger than this chamber. He was stronger than anyone. Even stronger than Spike.

'Spike' that made the wait worth it in itself. He would have his revenge on Spike, his former best friend. It was quite ironic to Vicious that the one man that he had at one time trusted with his life, would be the one man that he couldn't wait to kill. It hadn't always been that way. At first he blamed the whole situation on Spike, but as time went by the buck was passed around a few times. It eventually landed back onto Spike, but now it had morphed into something else. More of a pride issue than anything else. Not wanting to be the laughing stock of the syndicate. He always had been somewhat of an outcast in his mafia career. As time when on he became more and more feared, but still he knew that he wasn't respected. He never had been respected. No one ever looked to him for advice or inspiration. They always had had Spike for that. He would always hate Spike for that as well. Even after "dying" Spike would always be a fucking legend. Even after being caught bedding a fellow brother's woman he was still put up on a pedestal. Half of Spike's early triumphs were by accident. Meanwhile Vicious could have taken over three planets with only a box of q-tips and some dental floss and still be out shined by his former comrade. Even when Spike had started the trouble, Mao always looked the other way. He never really gave Vicious a that much of a hard time either, probably because of his friendship with Spike. Although to this day he knew that Mao never really trusted him or his motives.

A broom is drearily sweeping

Up the broken pieces of yesterday's life

Somewhere a queen is weeping

Somewhere a king has no wife

And the wind cries Mary

At first his former mentor was just being cautious, something that was always done to new recruits. But after the shit had hit the fan some years later and the friendship had been broken, Mao had every right to be suspicious. He just never had concrete evidence against Vicious. With out proof the elders would never act. Besides, he got the job done and as everyone in the syndicate knew, you get used for what you can do even if you use unsavory methods. The elders thought that they were the ones who were taking advantage of Vicious. Little would they suspect that it was the other way around. A evil grin appeared on the white haired man's face. 'Won't they be in for a surprise' the smile grew wider. It was a quite sardonic smirk indeed. One that he had learned from Spike the boy wonder himself. He had learned a lot from Spike. Never had the thought crossed his mind in his youth that he would go on to become a gangster. It was a chance meeting in an alley that brought him to the lifestyle he currently had. Just a freak occurrence, a case of being in the right place at the right time. Later on he would sometimes come to forget that supposed stroke of luck. For that was the beginning of who he was today. That's when he met the man that he would admire, idolize and eventually hate.

Contrary to popular belief, Vicious hadn't always been this way. At one time he had been a young man with a real name. A man with no thirst for blood what so ever. Just a comic book reading, cartoon watching orphan with no real ambitions in life. The only thing that hadn't changed since that fateful day were his eye color and his lack of emotion. Scratch that, his lack of emotion was temporarily changed during the time period that he and Spike were friends. But the end of the relationship brought his feelings back to their current state. He had trusted and then he had been betrayed. The betrayal went so deep that it thrust him back into the anti-emotional shell that he had worked so hard to escape from. Spike and Julia had tempted him out and once his guard was let down they forcefully had pushed him back in. But he would definitely win this round. He would show everyone how much they had under estimated him. Just another day and everything would be done.

The traffic lights turn blue tomorrow

And shine the emptiness down on my bed

The tiny island sags down stream

Cause the life that it lived is dead

And the wind screams Mary

He was just buying time, using the elders for what they were worth. Let them do the dirty work. Vicious knew that a 'failed' coup attempt would result in the demise of all who had once served in the old regime. Mostly retired members who had earned their freedom as long as they kept their mouths shut. Another one of Mao's inventive ideas at making the syndicate less old fashioned. The jackass had actually attempted a peace treaty with a rival syndicate. What the fuck was that all about? Shit, why didn't we all just quit our day jobs and go and work at Burger King?! The syndicate and the elders were getting too soft. Let them kill off all of the old farts that one time ran the show. It saved him the effort. Besides, anyone who had served under Mao loyally would never pledge their allegiance to him. So let the elders pick off the weak and leave his men to serve him later. The only one who could stand up to his men on the inside was Spike. He wanted to be the one to kill Spike. So this fit perfectly into his plan, 'Did they actually think that after all of this time that I would pull a lame ass attempt like the one they just saw?'. They had definitely under estimated him. This was just a way to get the worthless peon's in the syndicate out of the way. Anyone who survived would remain under his command. There was another reason for the mock attempt, let them think that they had won and let their guard down. Then when the time was right, the real attempt would be made. That and even through all of the hate, he couldn't bring himself to kill Julia. He still loved her with all of his being. That's why he gave her that ultimatum, kill Spike or be killed. It wasn't to be ironic or anything. He just lost the nerve every time he saw her face. Vicious knew that her top priority in life was self preservation. No, she wouldn't kill Spike. Not because she was madly in love with him. But because she knew that the wrath of Mao and the elders was much more threatening than Viscous. He knew that she didn't trust him. She knew that he would make sure that everyone knew that she had killed the golden child. So he played on that , used it to his advantage. This way he wouldn't have to kill her and this way she wouldn't run away with Spike. Leaving Spike to his own misery. Misery like Vicious felt. There was also the case of Annie, he couldn't bring himself to kill her either. She had raised him along side Spike. Like a foster nephew. She hadn't done anything wrong, but unfortunately she had to go.

A lot of blood had been shed by his hands. But he didn't want to have theirs on his hands as well. What little emotion he still possessed kept him from committing the act himself. Never in a million years did he ever think that he would be here, having this mental conversation with himself. Chained to the wall in this medieval prison. What the fuck was up with this rack thing anyway? Like this was the crucible or something. This was going to be one of the first things to go. Vicious believed in dying with honor. Every man should have the dignity to die with honor. You know like the Vikings. Even Spike would be allowed to die with honor. A quick slice of his katana was all that would be needed to accomplish an honorable death. Completely removing the need for this King Aurthur-esk torture device. A new more focused method of breaking someone down would be implemented. With Viscous at the helm so to speak. That is what made it all worth the wait. Once he was in control, he would feel complete. No more would the infamous name of Spike Spiegel be mentioned in the syndicate. Only the name of Vicious. No more past, only future. Although the past was still so hard to forget sometimes. He had been fighting the urges to take a mental trip down memory lane. The fear that it might make him too soft to complete his mission. He had a plan dammit! A plan he was going to keep. But as his lack of food and water clouded his better judgment, Vicious let himself fall under the magic spell of the flashback.

Will the wind ever remember

The names it has blown in the past

With its crutch, its old age and its wisdom

It whispers no, this will be the last

And the wind cries Mary