Ok, before you all gang up on me and beat me for not updating in over a month, please let me explain! Between breaking computers, family problems, and a SEVERE case of writer's block (which is still hanging on) this is all I have. I had every intention of finishing this off in one long chapter, but it seems to take me forever to write anything, so I'm going to do it in shorter chapters, unless my brain magically starts functioning properly again and I write a wonderful long ending. So here is part one to the grand finale. Thanks to all who have stuck with me. Any suggestions any of you have for the ending will be greatly appreciated since I have no ideas in my empty head at the moment.
Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop is some other lucky person's property, darn!
Chapter 16:
He Walks in Shadows
Two oblong moons hung in the black sky like white glowing potatoes. Phobos, the nearer and larger of the two, was making its second orbital pass of the day, with Diemos lagging behind. Even though it was a relatively small satellite, the rock was only few thousand miles away from the planet surface, making it seem astronomically huge compared to its slower, smaller counterpart. The cathedral's dark spire pierced the heavenly body, moonlight leaking onto the tiled roof and casting eerie shadows on the cement below.
Spike stared at the ominous building looming before him, knowing it held his fate. Nothing would be the same once he walked through those huge wooden doors. He would slay Vicious and live, or die at his enemy's hand. Every day since he had awakened in bed with Julia to find his friend's dagger plunged into the headboard between them, he had known it would lead to this fight. The one that would end everything. He had accepted that. Having Faye thrown in as the bargaining chip was the uncertain variable that had his nerves on edge. Vicious could kill her right in front of him the moment he went inside. For all he knew, he was on his way to save her corpse.
Spike shook his head, trying to dispel the image of her dead body lying at Vicious' feet, and lit a cigarette with shaky hands. Vicious was a murdering rapist bastard, but even he had to have some speck of honor left. If not, then at least he would want to kill her in front of him, make him watch the blood flow from her body. He smirked a little at the grotesque thought. He knew his rival as well as he knew himself. Vicious would want to watch the effects of that blow personally. If he was going to kill her, he would have done it and shipped her body parts in nicely wrapped boxes to the Bebop with a card like it was Christmas.
The old clock tower announced the hour with ten low bongs from the giant bells. Spike dropped the remains of his half-smoked cigarette and crushed it with his boot heel as he walked, hands in the pockets of his grey trenchcoat, towards the double doors. The click of his feet against the pavement echoed menacingly against the stone walls in the church courtyard.
He laid a hand on the weathered oak and pushed. The old door creaked open on iron hinges red with rust. It was completely dark inside except for where the moonlight shined through the stained glass windows, bathing the floor with waves of pale color. He grinned a little at the largest window up on the dais. It was still broken from his last encounter with Vicious. Tiny shards of glass glittered on the floor like confetti at a New Year's Eve party.
The hair rose on the back of his neck like a cat's. Someone was watching him. He could feel it.
"Are you going to lurk in the shadows like the bogeyman all night, Vicious?" he taunted from the center aisle, turning in a circle.
"Is that what I have become to you, Spike? A monster that haunts the dark corners of your dream world?" Vicious replied stepping into the dim light twenty feet down the walkway.
"I'm all done dreaming."
"So you have awakened to reality at last. Perhaps you haven't completely lost your taste for blood after all."
"Only if the blood is yours," Spike remarked.
"Such lies, Spike. I saw what you did to my men. You didn't just kill them, you slaughtered them like animals. And you liked it," Vicious sneered, his pale lips pulling into a tight smile.
"True, but they all died because of your orders. You never did like having anyone around that didn't follow you like you were the Messiah," Spike retorted acidly as he looked over his old friend. Was I ever really a heartless butcher like him, he asked himself, hoping the answer was no.
"Isn't that the duty of a Red Dragon? To carry out the orders of his superiors? To be loyal to the brotherhood unto death? Or did you forget all that when you started fucking Julia?" Vicious asked, each phrase spelling out every act of Spike's betrayal, not only to him but to the entire syndicate.
"What burns you more, Vicious? The fact that the syndicate or your girlfriend preferred me over you? Are you afraid you'll always be second best as long as I'm alive?"
"I fear nothing," he snarled, his gloved hand twitching on the hilt of his katana. The blade hissed out of its sheath, but he made no move toward the dark haired man before him.
He motioned with his hand and two men half-dragged Faye out of a nearby pew. Vicious jerked her arm, and she tripped and fell up against him. She flinched as if his touch burned her and tried to put as much space as possible between their skins. He slid the blade under her jaw, caressing the flesh with cold metal. She grimaced and turned her head away.
"How does it feel, Spike, to know that I've had your woman the way you had mine?" he drawled slowly, pushing each word in like a dagger as he fondled Faye's breast with his free hand.
Spike pulled his gun and aimed it at Vicious' head. His jaw was shaking with barely contained fury. He knew he was being goaded. He took a deep breath.
"No, Vicious, not like yours. I didn't have to rape Julia. She came to me out of love. Julia's heart belonged to me. Faye will never belong to you that way. Never," Spike countered, his voice dripping with hate.
"I'm not interested in her heart, just your pain," Vicious replied, his façade of indifference hiding the wicked smile glinting in his pale eyes The katana blade bit into her neck, drawing a thin line of blood. Faye hissed her breath in sharply as her delicate skin parted against metal.
"Only a coward resorts to torturing women to get under a man's skin," growled Spike as he cocked his gun.
He was sweating now, hot and cold at the same time. His fingers itched to pull the trigger and slowly destroy the white demon before him piece by piece starting with his toes. He could feel the raw fury that had plagued him for weeks growing, threatening to descend on him like a rabid wolf. He wanted Vicious blood, wanted to feel it against his skin, taste it in his mouth, know that he and all the evil he promoted was dead.
He looked at Faye stained with dirt and her own blood, saw the new wound oozing bright down her neck. She was trying to be brave, scowl plastered on her face, but her good eye was wide and fearful.
"You and your little whore here seem to like that word too much, Spike. Not the wisest thing to call the man holding a blade to her throat."
Vicious frowned and pulled the blade across her neck slowly before letting it fall to his side. He pushed Faye from him into the custody of his henchmen. Footsteps rang hollow on the stone floor as he approached Spike.
Spike stood his ground instead of rushing forward to meet him.
"I should just blow your ugly head off right now."
"Go ahead, but if I die then so does she," he smirked as he nodded toward the captive woman. The barrel of a gun was pressed to her temple by a man who clearly had no compunctions over shooting an unarmed woman.
Spike glared at Vicious, every muscle tensed like a hunting cat's. Never moving his gaze from Vicious, he shifted his aim and pulled the trigger. A bullet ripped into the goon's forehead, fresh blood spattering Faye as he slumped to the floor. He pointed his weapon back at Vicious.
"No more games," he said as he fired another shot….
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All right, here is where you get to help me get some ideas for this sad excuse of a chapter. If I get inspired by some of your suggestions, I promise to give you credit. THANKS!