A/N~ I had writers block there for awhile. I had no idea where to go with this story. But you know what? I'm fine now, all cured and everything.
Disclaimer: The song How's it Going to be belongs to Third Eye Blind. I nadda own nothing, mon.
Chapter Seven: Cats on Mars
///...3,2,1, Let's Jam...///
He pulls the trigger and jumps to the side, moving with the grace of a feline as he dodges bullets gliding through the air inches above his head. He grins insanely and can't seem to stop.
Because inside somewhere, he realizes, that he doesn't really care.
That for some reason, he wants to die.
And for some reason, maybe the same reason, he can't.
///...I'm only pretty sure that I can't take anymore
Before you take a swing
I wonder what are we fighting for
When I say out loud
I want to get out of this
I wonder is there anything
I'm going to miss...///
The bullets fly from his gun, each meeting their target. He wonders what happened to his partner. It seems that she's fallen. It surprises him that he doesn't remember when.
He was usually one to know things like that.
Chaos shrugs, reaches into the pocket of his black duster with one hand, and reloads his gun.
Across from him they stand there, eyeing him with dread, with fear.
He's already been shot twice, and he's still alive, still fighting.
And it scared the hell out of them.
...You understand now, Dragon? Don't you?
"Get out of my head," he mutters and flings himself back into the battle. Kicking his insanely flexible legs in the enemy Syndicate's faces, barring his teeth in a feral grin, while somewhere in his soul, something is counting down...
Counting down to what...?
He isn't one to care about emotions, so he pays the counting no heed. It doesn't matter.
Nothing matters.
He finds himself face to face with the last of the Syndicate members. The young man holds a gun out with both shaking hands, eyes wide and senseless.
Chaos raises both his guns, hands preparing to do what's always been second nature.
Spike.
The voice stops him. One of his guns clatters to the floor, echoing dimly in the back of his mind like the beat of a drum...or church bells.
The young man with wide eyes, turns on his heel, and flees, living Chaos in the room of blood.
Spike.
It isn't the same voice as the one always telling him he can't die...The one that calls him Dragon...This one is different...Almost loving...Almost...
Life is a dream.
No. Life is purgatory. Life is...life is...life is...
"Death." He mutters, and lets the other gun drop from his hand as he falls to his knees on the floor, "death."
Come to me...
He wonders what it means, and at the same time, wishes for this new voice to go away. It doesn't belong...doesn't...belong...
Memory flys backwards, to the girl in the red car staring at him as if he were a god, the same look on her face as the bullet pierces her heart.
And that's where it ends.
And now he was here, in this room of blood, with fallen Tigers bleeding in circles around him.
It doesn't belong...doesn't...belong...
Come to me...
Chaos gets to his feet slowly, reaches into his jacket pocket for something, and stops, realizing the hand is doing that by itself and that he doesn't know what he's looking for. He bends and grabs both guns off the floor smoothly.
"You know," he mutters, "I think it's time to blow this place."
Time skips forward to the point where the grenade leaves his hand and the Tiger headquarters explodes outwards, shards of metal and glass flying through the air that moments before, was as silent as the grave.
///...I wonder how it's going to be
When you don't know me
How's it going to be
When you're sure I'm not there
How's it going to be
When there's no one there to talk to
Between you and me
Cause I don't care...///
*
She couldn't sleep. Night after night of dreams that sent her shivering into the 'living room' of the Bebop; sent her to the coach where she'd curl up and try to think of other things.
But not of him.
Because she realized now, that she was dreaming of a life she'd never lived.
His life.
And she didn't want to see it, didn't want to feel it every time she closed her eyes.
Because he was gone.
And yet, now, she was so close to him. Closer than anyone else had ever been.
Except maybe Vicious.
She knew now that they were like brothers.
"You ready?"
"Yeah. I got your back."
"Ever kill anyone before?"
"...Yeah..."
"Where'd you come from, anyway, Vish?"
"Orphanage somewhere. It's not important."
"Why'd you name yourself Spike?"
"'Cause I felt like it. Why'd you name yourself Vicious?"
"'Cause I felt like it."
At first, she didn't think they were real, these dreams. And looking back, she realized that they'd started the night he left, she just hadn't always remembered them.
But now they were floating back to her across the foggy depths of sleep, forgotten dreams that would come upon her so suddenly...
"Come back to me..." Faye mumbles against the cushion of the couch as if she were trying to smother herself into oblivion.
And then the dust filled house came back to her and the wedding ring...The childhood he'd lost.
///...How's it going to be
How's it going to be
Where we used to laugh
There's a shouting match
Sharp as a thumbnail scratch
A silence I can't ignore
Like the hammock by the
Doorway we spent time in swings empty
Don't see lightning like last fall...///
*
Come back to me.
His slightly different eyes opened slowly. Pain flared in his arm but he ignored it. Didn't matter anyway, did it?
Sitting up slowly, he realized he must have fallen out the window when he blew the building up. What a rush.
He fluffs his hair with one hand, and then pops his shoulders and neck. What now? What was left?
He sees a shiny car out of the corner of his eye, and thinks, I'd really like to drive that.
*
"Reyn?" A hesitant voice says from behind the door.
"Come in," Reyn replies, exasperated and feeling the beginings of a headache. He rubs his temples with the tips of his fingers, dropping the papers he'd been staring holes into.
"Sir..." Says one of the many secretaries that always seem to be drinking coffee instead of bringing it to him.
"Spit it out," he hisses, the headache flaring to life.
"...Lord Chaos hasn't returned yet..."
Well, gee, kiss my ass and go to heaven.
"Dammit," he screams, and tosses all the papers on his desk at the secretary, who screams a very girly scream and runs out the door, throwing her arms above her head.
*
"I'm worried about her, Faye I mean," Jet mumbles to Ed, who is humming slightly as she types at her computer.
"She never seems to sleep anymore. Always awake before me, always going to bed after we've all gone to our rooms. She seems..."
"Lost, turtle moss, flying in the sea!" Declares Ed as if it were the answer to everything.
"Yeah. All the secrets of the universe are in that head of yours." Jet says in reply and ruffles her already messy hair with his one real hand.
///...When it was always about to hit me
I wonder how's it going to be
When it goes down
How's it going to be
When you're not around
How's it going to be
When you found out there was nothing
Between you and me
Cause I don't care...///
*
"Hey, mister! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Chaos grins back at the short bald man frantically waving his arms in circles as he jumps up and down, and up and down..."Sayonara!" He yells over the purr of the engine, and pushes down the gas pedal.
The bright red-pink roofless car zooms off the side of the street, almost ramming into multiple vehicles as it heads in the wrong direction. Chaos lazily lifts his foot of the gas, letting the car glide as he uses his foot to kick the radio a few times.
Frowning, because the damn thing hadn't turned on, he returns his foot to the gas and uses his hand to smash the radio furiously, not caring that he was damaging it beyond repair.
"Didn't wanna listen to music anyway," he drawls and returns his attention to the road, still heading in the wrong direction.
Cars swerve off the road, drivers jumping out and slamming doors, yelling profanities after him as he cruises along at 80 miles an hour.
"Fun for all the masses," he mutters chuckling.
///...How's it going to be
And how's it going to be
When you don't know me anymore
And how's it going to be
Want to get myself back in again
The soft dive of oblivion
I want to taste the salt of your skin...///
*
"Here's some money, alright Faye?" Jet had said, looking directly into his eyes. "I want you to get some bread, milk, and any kind of meat you want. If there's any money left, you can get yourself something, alright?"
Faye stepped out of the Redtail, fishing in her pocket for the woulongs Jet had handed her. "Gee, thanks," she tells the sky, "like I can do much with this!"
She spots a jewelry store across the street and thinks, you know, I haven't had anything shiny in awhile. Her foot lifts off the pavement, and she almost, almost steps out onto the road.
No. You musn't, Fairy.
She stumbles backwards, just in time to avoid being hit by a zooming red-pink vehicle that seems to be defying all the laws of speed.
Staring open mouthed after it for a moment, she clamps her jaw shut before starting to shout at the top of her lungs about the stupidity of some people.
"Damn lunkhead!"
It's a game, Fairy. Are you going to play?
The woulongs fall out of her fingers, she spins on her heel and runs back to her ship, jumping into the sit, and turning the Red Tail on in record time. "I'm not letting you get away this time, even if I have to shoot you."
///...The soft dive of oblivion
How's it going to be
When you don't know me anymore
How's it going to be
How's it going to be
How's it going to be...///
She doesn't question why she thinks that driver was him, because deep down, she wants to believe he's still alive...
...Still causing destruction and pain.
///...Racing down the roadway...///
A/N ~ Hmmm...This is not where I expected this chapter to go...Ah well...
Responses:
Youkai-Onna: Thanks for the song suggestions! Very awesome of ya. I think this song worked very well with this chapter, I think. You got a CB poster? Awwww I'm jealous! I have the two Shooting Star mangas and I'm working on getting the other series...but I don't got lotsa money, ya? Sick you say? Well I hope you get better soon, or are better now. Heh. Anyway, thanks for the song help and such! Hope you liked this chapter!
HappyDudeBeyond: ^_^ Thank you!!! I like your name, btw.
Koyasha1: Well here's another chappie. Not as good as the last one, at least I think so, but hopefully you got something good out of it.
Shinyfairylights: Hmmmm...You should talk to my muse, 'cause it really isn't up to me when Spike and Faye finally meet, it's up to him..or her...I have multiple muses...^_^
Cowgirl13: *raises glass of water too* Yay! Cheers to Spike! Bwaha!
Hecate: Funny, funny stuff. Maybe you'll just happen to find a guy whose name is Spike, and then you won't have to nickname him that! Or maybe you can just slyly get everyone to start calling him Spike and then there you go! ^_^
Kendra Luehr: You're very much welcome, and thank you!
Review please! If you do, Spike will give you a hug!!!