Recap: After the Red Tail gets shot down, Rock confronts his father's killer. Just as he slips out of the conscious realm, gunshots break the moonlit calm.
Chapter Five: Bebop
The sharp pain of falling to the ground brought Rock's eyes open again, but he was far from alert. He pulled himself to his feet, looking about dazedly. The only thing he saw was Jet, his handgun with its smoking barrel raised in Rock's direction. Jet had seen 'her' when he pulled the trigger; but as soon as he had fired she vanished, letting Rock fall. Jet saw a quick shadow from behind a tree, but his gun didn't respond. Repeated pulls of the trigger and nothing happened. "Rock! Get out of there!" Jet called as he ran to Rock's aid. Rock swiveled on his left foot and saw her closing on him quickly, her dagger clutched tightly in her right hand. Even though Rock's body was completely exhausted, even though every muscle in his body burned, even though the only thing he wanted was to lay down and rest; he charged directly at her, and as soon as his attacker thrust her dagger at him, it was Rock's turn to vanish out of thin air. As soon as he reappeared behind her, his crushed right hand suddenly began to cover itself in violet flame. All he said was "Repuuken!" as he flung his arm at her, a small wave of energy sliding along the ground and into her leg, exploding in a small purple charge. She let out a low grunt at the impact and ran off into the forest, deciding it for the best to come back for him some other time when her knew technique was perfected . Jet had stopped running and stood completely still as soon as he saw Rock disappear, and Rock grinned weakly at Jet, giving him a thumbs-up. And with that, his knees gave and he fell over limply. Hitting the ground wouldn't wake him up this time. Jet walked to Rock and thought to himself as he picked him up "He's got the moves... he's Geese's boy, all right."
Hours passed aboard the Bebop, the large ship that housed all the craft of it's crew. Rock lay sleeping quietly and peacefully on a bed, a young girl with short red hair, a loose white tank top, and dark spandex shorts staring at him with unwarranted attentiveness. In the small living area, Spike and Faye were arguing with Jet over what to do with Rock. "Jet," Spike argued "We don't have the money to keep this kid on board.. the last thing we need on this ship is another mouth to feed! Why not just give him a few woolong and drop him off on Earth?" "Yeah," Faye added, "We oughta just drop him off, he's not worth anything to us." Jet's expression grew fierce at this as he stood up "Listen to you two! This isn't some lowlife we're talkin' about, it's a little kid! For all we know, he's lost the last of his family and he's got nothing left. You want to just turn your back on him? Huh!? Do ya!?" Jet took a moment to relax before continuing "Look... he's just a kid. We turn him away and we're signing his death warrant. He's got nowhere to go. No family at all.. no one."
Some time later, the three of them, now accompanied by a sleeping Ein, all sat pondering quietly with cigarettes between their middle and forefingers. They had spent an hour and half of another one discussing Rock and now they all reflected quietly on what to do. Rock had yet to see it, for he was still unconscious, but the Bebop was now in space. That endless sea of stars, laying calmly against its dark backdrop was always one of Rock's favorite things to look at. Being in space was one of the things he had always wanted to do. He lay sleeping as Jet, Spike, Faye, and Ein still sat in the living area. The silence lingered in the air with the cigarette smoke for several more minutes before Jet spoke again "Guys.. we CAN'T leave him on Earth. He's got no family and no money." Spike's and Faye's reasoning for wanting Rock off the Bebop was mostly money-related, and they knew there was nothing that could be said to change Jet's mind when he felt strongly about something. Faye and Spike sighed in unison before agreeing with an unenthusiastic 'alright'. "Besides," Jet added, "This kid's dad is Geese Howard, top bounty hunter. He's dead now, and the girl that did it got the rap pinned on Rock." "So.." Spike finished Jet's sentence for him, "... he'll have a bounty on him." Jet nodded "And we got to keep him safe until we clear this whole mess up." The three nodded together, it was decided. Rock was going to stay with them on the Bebop.
12 hours had gone by since the Bebop had taken off with Rock aboard, but he still showed no signs of awakening. Jet and Faye stood at the doorway, looking at him with concern. "Do you think he's dead?" Faye asked, not for much more reason other than to break the uneasy silence of waiting for the boy to awaken. "Of course not, Faye. Stop being so danged obnoxious." Faye let out a 'pfft' at Jet before boredly meandering away, leaving Jet at the doorway alone to look at Rock. A few minutes went by, then a half hour, then an hour, and Rock still lay unmoving on the bed. Jet let out a low sigh and went to join Spike in a game of canasta.
Outside the Bebop, a very small single-man ship was attached to the large transport via a small harpoon. Inside the craft, a pair of red eyes looked sternly on the large craft. Needless to say, several long strands of red hair obscured the owner's vision, but she remained unmoving. "Soon enough," she spoke quietly to herself, "I'll have him out of my way."
Chapter Five: Bebop
The sharp pain of falling to the ground brought Rock's eyes open again, but he was far from alert. He pulled himself to his feet, looking about dazedly. The only thing he saw was Jet, his handgun with its smoking barrel raised in Rock's direction. Jet had seen 'her' when he pulled the trigger; but as soon as he had fired she vanished, letting Rock fall. Jet saw a quick shadow from behind a tree, but his gun didn't respond. Repeated pulls of the trigger and nothing happened. "Rock! Get out of there!" Jet called as he ran to Rock's aid. Rock swiveled on his left foot and saw her closing on him quickly, her dagger clutched tightly in her right hand. Even though Rock's body was completely exhausted, even though every muscle in his body burned, even though the only thing he wanted was to lay down and rest; he charged directly at her, and as soon as his attacker thrust her dagger at him, it was Rock's turn to vanish out of thin air. As soon as he reappeared behind her, his crushed right hand suddenly began to cover itself in violet flame. All he said was "Repuuken!" as he flung his arm at her, a small wave of energy sliding along the ground and into her leg, exploding in a small purple charge. She let out a low grunt at the impact and ran off into the forest, deciding it for the best to come back for him some other time when her knew technique was perfected . Jet had stopped running and stood completely still as soon as he saw Rock disappear, and Rock grinned weakly at Jet, giving him a thumbs-up. And with that, his knees gave and he fell over limply. Hitting the ground wouldn't wake him up this time. Jet walked to Rock and thought to himself as he picked him up "He's got the moves... he's Geese's boy, all right."
Hours passed aboard the Bebop, the large ship that housed all the craft of it's crew. Rock lay sleeping quietly and peacefully on a bed, a young girl with short red hair, a loose white tank top, and dark spandex shorts staring at him with unwarranted attentiveness. In the small living area, Spike and Faye were arguing with Jet over what to do with Rock. "Jet," Spike argued "We don't have the money to keep this kid on board.. the last thing we need on this ship is another mouth to feed! Why not just give him a few woolong and drop him off on Earth?" "Yeah," Faye added, "We oughta just drop him off, he's not worth anything to us." Jet's expression grew fierce at this as he stood up "Listen to you two! This isn't some lowlife we're talkin' about, it's a little kid! For all we know, he's lost the last of his family and he's got nothing left. You want to just turn your back on him? Huh!? Do ya!?" Jet took a moment to relax before continuing "Look... he's just a kid. We turn him away and we're signing his death warrant. He's got nowhere to go. No family at all.. no one."
Some time later, the three of them, now accompanied by a sleeping Ein, all sat pondering quietly with cigarettes between their middle and forefingers. They had spent an hour and half of another one discussing Rock and now they all reflected quietly on what to do. Rock had yet to see it, for he was still unconscious, but the Bebop was now in space. That endless sea of stars, laying calmly against its dark backdrop was always one of Rock's favorite things to look at. Being in space was one of the things he had always wanted to do. He lay sleeping as Jet, Spike, Faye, and Ein still sat in the living area. The silence lingered in the air with the cigarette smoke for several more minutes before Jet spoke again "Guys.. we CAN'T leave him on Earth. He's got no family and no money." Spike's and Faye's reasoning for wanting Rock off the Bebop was mostly money-related, and they knew there was nothing that could be said to change Jet's mind when he felt strongly about something. Faye and Spike sighed in unison before agreeing with an unenthusiastic 'alright'. "Besides," Jet added, "This kid's dad is Geese Howard, top bounty hunter. He's dead now, and the girl that did it got the rap pinned on Rock." "So.." Spike finished Jet's sentence for him, "... he'll have a bounty on him." Jet nodded "And we got to keep him safe until we clear this whole mess up." The three nodded together, it was decided. Rock was going to stay with them on the Bebop.
12 hours had gone by since the Bebop had taken off with Rock aboard, but he still showed no signs of awakening. Jet and Faye stood at the doorway, looking at him with concern. "Do you think he's dead?" Faye asked, not for much more reason other than to break the uneasy silence of waiting for the boy to awaken. "Of course not, Faye. Stop being so danged obnoxious." Faye let out a 'pfft' at Jet before boredly meandering away, leaving Jet at the doorway alone to look at Rock. A few minutes went by, then a half hour, then an hour, and Rock still lay unmoving on the bed. Jet let out a low sigh and went to join Spike in a game of canasta.
Outside the Bebop, a very small single-man ship was attached to the large transport via a small harpoon. Inside the craft, a pair of red eyes looked sternly on the large craft. Needless to say, several long strands of red hair obscured the owner's vision, but she remained unmoving. "Soon enough," she spoke quietly to herself, "I'll have him out of my way."