Don't own anything! No shows, no song lyrics, NADA!
Well people, here's a new chapter. I have to say that this is one of my favorite chapters of the whole fic. There's some OOC in Spike, and hints of Spike/Faye, so you guys should like it.
And before you read, there are some references to Cowboy Bebop, so if you don't watch the show, you might not get some of the jokes (just trying to lighten up the dark theme in this chapter. You guys probably won't even catch them) in the chapter. I'll explain everything at the end.
Enjoy!
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The Real Folk Blues
I only want to know what true sadness is
Sitting in muddy water
Isn't such a bad life
If it ends after the first time
~*~
Session 19
I don't feel a thing, and I stop remembering. Days are just like moments turned to hours. Mama used to say, if you want you'll find a way. Bet mother never danced through fire showers.
Vicious glared down at Gohan and Videl. Poor Trunks was gone. Oh well, Vicious didn't really need him anymore. He had gained all the energy he needed, and Trunks wasn't going to last much longer anyway. He had to lure Gohan into his plan. He needed a way to steal Gohan's energy, but how was the question. Did Vicious even have a plan? Oh yes, Vicious had a plan. A very good plan indeed…
Gohan stared up at Vicious, the hatred burning in his eyes. As he looked at him, Gohan noticed two things. One, Spike was missing, and two…
Gohan gasped. Faye…he had Faye…
Vicious had one arm hooked around Faye's waist. He smirked at Gohan while he pulled her closer to his body. Laughing softly, he pulled his sword from its sheath, and positioned the blade so that it softly touched Faye's pale skin. One swipe, and she would cease to exist.
Faye gritted her teeth. Who the hell did Vicious think he was dealing with? Faye was no amateur when it came to fighting. People feared her punches. No one treated her with this much disrespect. Faye prepared to give Vicious a swift kick in the legs to knock him off balance.
"Don't try to attack so fast, Faye." Vicious whispered in her ear. Faye's eyes went wide while Vicious continued to talk, "If you try to make a single move to escape, everyone dies. Now you wouldn't want them all dead, would you?" Vicious gave Faye a crooked smile.
Faye gritted her teeth, and held her ground. Where in the hell was Spike? He couldn't be dead. He wouldn't die this easily.
"She's so pretty, isn't she Gohan?"
Gohan looked back up at Vicious, and said nothing. His blood boiled. Something had to be done.
"Wouldn't it be a shame if I killed Faye right now? Then no one could have her pretty little head. Not you, not anyone. We all know Faye's deadly beauty can be the end of any man. It would only be time until she caught you Gohan."
"Don't listen to him! I never wanted to—" Faye stopped short as Vicious pressed the blade harder on her skin.
"I know." Gohan said softly. He then spoke up so Vicious could hear him, "There could never be anything between Faye and me besides a strong friendship. Her heart belongs to someone far more important than me. You should probably deal with him right now."
Vicious smirked, "I already dealt with Spike, if that is what you're implying."
"What are you talking about Vicious? I'm right here."
Vicious turned his head, "Oh, you're alive. What a shame."
Spike laughed, taking his gun out, "It's funny Vicious. We went from comrades to enemies. I've always wondered how that happened. You can let Faye go now, your fight is with me."
Vicious smiled, and prepared to slice Faye's neck. Faye gasped, her bottom lip shaking.
"And I thought you were fearless. Goodbye, Faye Valentine." Vicious whispered in Faye's ear.
"I thought I told you to let her go!" Spike yelled, shooting his gun at Vicious. Vicious sliced part of Faye's neck as the bullet punctured his arm. Immediately, he let go of Faye and dropped his sword. He clutched his arm, letting the pain seep in. He paused for a few moments, and then picked up his sword again.
Gohan gritted his teeth. Quickly, he turned to Videl, "Stay here," he said in a rough voice. Without waiting for a reply, he took off towards Vicious.
In one swift move, Gohan pinned Vicious by the neck against the wall. As a warning, Gohan kept a tight grip onto Vicious's neck, allowing him just enough air to breathe.
Gohan glared at Spike, "What are you waiting for? Make sure she's okay!"
Spike nodded, quickly making his way over to where Faye fell. He kneeled down, lifting her up into a sitting position. Faye leaned against the wall, and gave Spike a small smile
"Hello, Goujo."*
Spike smirked, "Hey, Romany."
"Took you long enough."
"Sorry, I had some stuff to take care of. Are you okay?"
Faye covered her mouth and coughed. She looked at her hand, and noticed that it was speckled with red dots. She shrugged it off like it was nothing, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No you're not, I can see it in your eyes."
Faye scoffed, "Like you know anything—hey! That hurts!" Faye cringed as Spike touched the wound running across her neck.
"Looks serious. He might have hit a vein. It's bleeding pretty badly."
"No, I'm fine!" Faye said confidently. She moved to stand up. Before she knew it, she found herself back on the ground. Faye gritted her teeth. She had never been injured this much in her life.
Suddenly, the pain started to seep into Faye's head. She felt fainter by the second as blood dripped out of her cut, running down her chest and stomach. The room started to spin as she tried to focus. Soon, her vision blurred, and she felt as if she lost everything in sight. Panic overtook her, as she could no longer see Spike.
"What's going on?" She blurted out, her arms and legs moving involuntarily.
"Faye?" Spike raised an eyebrow, "Faye, what's going on?"
"I feel so sick…" Her eyes rolled to the back of her forehead, and she started to fade away…
"Faye? Faye! Talk to me!" Spike shook Faye roughly, trying to get her to make some sort of sign that she was alive. If she could just open her eyes, he would know that she was okay. He just wanted a sign, any sign…
Her body lay limp her his arms, her skin now stained red with blood. "Faye come back!" He paused, "I've been killed by a woman before. Don't let me die again."** He said quietly. Spike looked over to Gohan, who was having the time of his life punching Vicious up against the wall.
"Gohan, take care of Vicious for me!" Spike screamed to him. Damn it, and I really wanted to kill him, but I have more important things to take care of. Spike thought to himself.
Gohan glanced over to Spike, "How is she?"
"I don't know if she's dead or not. I have to get her help. I'm leaving."
"Fine, I can take it from here. Make Videl leave with you. I don't want her here any longer."
Spike nodded to Gohan, and picked up Faye. Spike looked down at her as he walked towards Videl. Faye's head fell over to the side, leaning against his chest. Her arms dangled lifeless besides her body like a simple rag doll. Spike suddenly felt protective over her, something that he never felt before. He held onto her tightly, swearing that no matter what, he would not let her go.
People never realize what they have until they lose it.
And If Spike lost Faye, then his whole world would crash down on him. She made life interesting for him. Sure, she got annoying, stole all the money sometimes, and lost everything to gambling, but still. There was something about her that he loved.
He walked briskly past Videl, "Come on, we're going." He said.
"I'm not going anywhere." Videl crossed her arms.
Spike turned quickly and looked at her, "Come on, he wants you gone. If you ever want to see Gohan again, you have to leave. With you here, he won't be able to fight at his fullest. You know that deep down. Now come on, we're leaving." Without waiting for a response, he turned and left the room.
Videl paused, not knowing what to do. She had promised to Gohan that she would leave, but her heart told her to stay. If something happened to Gohan, then she would never be able to forgive herself for leaving him. She didn't want to risk losing him again.
"Videl get out of here!" Gohan turned his head so he was looking back at Videl, "I'm not going to ask you again."
Videl faintly nodded, and ran out in the direction Spike went.
Gohan looked at Vicious again. He let go of his neck, and let Vicious slid to the ground. Vicious coughed, now being able fill his battered lungs with oxygen again. He smirked softly as he grasped the hilt of his sword.
"Ready to give up yet? I don't want to hurt you." Gohan looked down at Vicious, waiting for an answer.
Vicious laughed softly, "No, never to you." He swung his sword up, the point pressing softly on Gohan's shoulder. Gohan whipped out a gun, and aimed it at Vicious. This is quite a familiar sight to the Cowboy Bebop fans out there…
"Don't do something stupid Vicious." Gohan said through clenched teeth. He just wanted to leave instead of dealing with this maniac.
Vicious laughed, driving the sword into Gohan's shoulder. Gohan screamed, his gun flying out of his hand. The piercing pain shot both through his arm and neck, making it hard for him to move. He breathed heavily, trying not to let the pain control him.
Vicious smiled even more, and jumped up. He firmly grabbed Gohan's good shoulder, and threw him over the ledge of the platform they were on. Gohan crashed through the safety rail. His head jerked as he hit the ground, adding to the list of injuries. He screamed as his head slammed against the hard floor. Vicious jumped down, preparing to charge…
The final battle had finally begun.
~*~
Spike and Videl ran side by side as they tried to find an exit. All their attempts had led to dead ends. Every wrong turn led to more confusion, and the time taken trying to retrace the steps led closer to Faye's death. Their frantic steps echoed through the corridors, the sound never truly fading.
A beeping sound came from Spike's pocket. Pausing for a moment, he carelessly took out the object.
It was a walkie-talkie. He pressed a button and started to talk into it.
"What is it?" Spike yelled into the walkie-talkie.
"Spike, you have to get out of there." Jet's voice emerged from the speaker.
"What's going on?"
"The place is rigged with bombs. Everyone will die if you don't get out of there."
"Shit, I'm on my way." He threw the walkie-talkie back into his pocket, and started to run again, "Videl try to keep up. We have to get out of here before the bombs go off!"
Videl ran after Spike, trying to keep up with his strides, "What about Gohan?" She said in between breaths, "We can't let him die!"
"He'll be fine! Don't worry about him. We just need to get out of here!" Spike stopped suddenly as he came to another dead end, "Shit! I don't have my gun with me to shoot anything. Damn it! Why me?" Spike lowered his head in defeat, something very uncharacteristic about him. Goodbye universe, he thought.
Then he heard glass breaking.
Videl drove her foot through a window. Smiling to herself, she stepped back to admire her work. Gohan would be proud of her for having the strength to break that window. She crossed her arms.
Spike looked at Videl in amazement. Where the heck did that window come from? Snapping back to reality, he made his move to jump out the window. Luckily, they were on the first floor. Videl quickly followed in pursuit.
Spike ran a few meters before stopping. Kneeling on the ground, he laid Faye on the ground before him.
Videl walked up and placed a hand on Spike's shoulder, "How is she?" She asked in a soft whisper.
"Barely here," Spike answered, "For once, it's my fault. If I hadn't come, she wouldn't have followed."
"Never blame it on yourself." Videl moved away form Spike and looked up at the star-speckled sky, "I've done it too many times."
Spike picked Faye up into his arms, "Funny, I finally get that song…"
Videl turned towards Spike, "What song?"
"The real folk blues. I only want to know what true sadness is. Sitting in muddy water isn't such a bad life, if it ends after the first time." Spike sang softly. He half expected Faye to wake up at any moment and say that he sings off key, just like he did to her. ***
"True sadness…" Videl trailed off, consumed in her own thoughts. Gohan…
An explosion caught both Videl's and Spike's attention. Beautiful fire showers emerged from the building, the embers lighting up the sky like fireworks would. Fire poured from the building's windows, the flames trying to reach towards the sky. Waves of rain began to fall; yet the fire grew bigger.
Soon, the whole place would fall, and anyone left inside would die.
Videl gasped. If Gohan didn't get out, he would die. She fell to the ground, not making a sound. She was in too much shock.
I only want to know what true sadness is….
Losing Gohan was true sadness. Videl had felt nothing but sadness for the last ten years. It could not become worst, it would not become worst.
Videl stood back up, a few tears falling from her eyes. She slowly walked through the rain, away from the building. She would lose her sanity if she watched the building burn.
Gohan and Vicious were still fighting in there…
Which one would win?
That, my dear reader, I do not even know.
Walk in the rain. In the rain. In the rain. I walk in the rain. In the rain. Why do I feel so alone? For some reason, I think of home.
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*When Faye calls Spike a Goujo and Spike calls Faye a Romany: Spike and Faye meet in the 3rd episode of Cowboy Bebop. When Spike and Jet have her locked to a toilet (yes, a toilet. She had a bounty on her head) she calls Spike a Goujo, which is a "lunkhead who doesn't know which way is up". She also claims that she is a Romany, and that her family has been "wandering the universe for ions in search for true love." Towards the end of the episode, she escapes the Bebop in Redtail, her ship, and says to Spike, "Hey, Goujo." Spike responds, "Hello, Romany."
** In Asteroid Blues, the 1st episode of Cowboy Bebop, Spike tells a fortuneteller that a woman has killed him before. He happens to be referring to his old girlfriend Julia, who he mysteriously lost. He's also referring to her in this chapter.
***In the end of the 5th episode of Cowboy Bebop (Ballad of Fallen Angels, the first episode Vicious is seen in, and the inspiration for much of this fic) Spike gets thrown out a window. Faye watches over him after, and he wakes up to her singing. He tells her that she sings off key. It's a finny scene after a dramatic episode. ^_^
I hope everyone got what was happening between Gohan and Vicious. When they had their sword and gun pointing at each other, it was suppose to recreate he scene between Vicious and Spike in Ballad of Fallen Angels. (I hope that just made sense)
I'm starting to think that I should have called this fic The Real Folk Blues…
I put out this little one-shot called "Somewhere I Belong". It only has 2 reviews, so if you would check it out for me, I would really appreciate it!
Okay, so now that we have that settled, please review! The more reviews, the faster I'll try to update! ^_^
Until next time…
See you later, Space Cowboy…
