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 Six: Return To Keroponas
Spike and Faye now slept in their respective beds. Ein snoozed on the couch, having woken up briefly a few hours before. Everything was perfectly still aboard the Bebop. Jet and the spandex-shorts clad girl sat looking at Rock; Jet had taken a seat on an armchair, and the girl stared at Rock intently. Her concentration hadn't wavered in the slightest over the past fourteen hours. Jet's mouth and hands were free of any matter of cigarette, deeming it best if the unconscious Rock didn't inhale the smoke. "Ed," Jet finally said after a few moments, "what are you doing just staring at that boy? Don't you have anything better to do?" The girl, Ed, stayed where she was at the foot of the bed, still staring at Rock with her wide and bright orange eyes in a position that could only be described as being prepared to pounce. Jet walked over to Ed and picked her up, but she was amazingly stiff and still, and sat like a statue as Jet carried her out of the room, dropping her in the hall before reentering the room and closing the door. Once the door was secure, he went to the side of the bed and sat by Rock. Time seemed to take forever for Jet, minutes dragged on and on and one hour felt like six as he waited, looking at Rock.
More time passed, and Rock's right hand clenched into a loose fist. "Rock?" Jet questioned, "You awake?" Rock's eyes slowly opened, revealing that his eye color had changed once again. Now his eyes were a dark slate gray. His head slowly turned to meet Jet's eyes, a low groan escaping him "Guess so.." he murmured, his entire body feeling like it had been hit by a train that stopped and went in reverse to run him over again. "Rock," Jet began, "I'm going to tell you flat-out... you have a bounty on you now. You're an outlaw." Rock was clearly very surprised by this, sitting up, the blanket falling to his waist, his bare upper body exposed. "But.. why? I didn't do anything wrong.." "I know you didn't, Rock.. but the girl that killed your dad's got the blame pinned on you." And with that, Jet pulled out his own handheld computer. He accessed the bounty hunters' website and pulled up the 'Recent Additions' page. And there he was.
Name: Rock Howard
Birthdate: Sep. 12, 2086
Age: 12 years, 3 months, 1 day
Gender: Male
Natural hair color: Blond
Natural eye color: Red/brown
Height: 5'3"
Charges: First-degree murder of class S-3 bounty hunter
Escape of level-4 security detainment facility
Boarding civilian transport with fraudulent passport/ticket
Theft of legal documents
Reward: US $945,320.50 or equivalent foreign currency
"But.." Rock pleaded aloud, almost to himself "I didn't kill my father... and I didn't steal Blues' ticket.." Rock stopped his train of thought in an instant. "Wait a minute..." All of a sudden his mind raced. When Blues stepped out of the bar to meet him, why did she offer him a ticket to Earth as the solution? He hadn't stopped to think of it at the time but now it seemed like something was off; it didn't sit right with him now. Did Blues know something that Rock didn't? Or, even worse, was she working with the girl that killed Geese? If Jet was saying anything to Rock, he was completely ignoring it, concentrating on the connection between Blues and the killer. He didn't really know who she was, but she seemed to be friendly with his father. Was she pretending the whole time? Did she want him dead? He thought for several long minutes before finally deciding that he had to talk to Blues again. "Jet!" Rock called out, not noticing that Jet was right in front of him "Where are we headed!?" "Nowhere in particular right now," Jet replied. "We HAVE to go back to Keroponas... there's someone there I have to talk to." "Well.." Jet pondered, "It's not like we have anywhere else to go. Sure. I'll talk Spike and Faye into it and we'll get you where you need to be." So Jet stood and headed out the door, leaving Rock to himself. As he headed down the hall he grinned and said to himself, "Just like his dad."
As Rock was waiting in the room he had been placed in, he checked his watch boredly.
9:47 PM Earth time North American Eastern Standard Time
Saturday, December 13th, 2098
After he knew the time and date, he laid down on the bed and looked out his window at all the stars. 'They really are beautiful...' he thought to himself as the transport once again headed to Keroponas.
Upon their arrival, the Bebop touched down just outside the same nameless town where Geese had been murdered. Rock clambered down the steps enthusiastically, not minding the usual strong desert heat. He found the gravel roads, slate sidewalks, and musty heat all too familiar as he dashed down the city blocks, anxious to find Blues once again. He quickly found the swinging saloon-style doors and slowed to a walk, casually stepping in. A quick glance at the corner stage and he saw nothing. Seeing this, Rock stepped over to the girl behind the counter and sat up on the stool. "Excuse me? Miss?" The young 17-year-old turned from reading the bottles boredly to meet the eyes of the young boy that drew her attention. "Yes?" she spoke in a gentle voice, "May I help you?" Rock once again grew nervous and agitated, feeling hot and sweaty despite his unusually strong tolerance for heat "Yeah... um.. I was wondering if your performer Blues was anywhere around here?" "Blues.." the girl spoke softly to herself, her long strands of dark navy blue falling over her green eyes. "I think she moved out." "Really?" Rock asked, "Where to?" "If I remember correctly..." the girl responded "I think I remember her mentioning moving to Ganymeade.." "What's a Ganymeade?" "One of Jupiter's moons," the girl replied, "You know, where they have that great sea food! Their Rock Lobster is to die for." At that moment, Jet, Spike, and Faye all moseyed their way into the bar.
As soon as the three had entered the bar, every sitting man in the bar was instantly on their feet. Within an instant, every last one of them had their personal handgun of choice drawn and aimed at either Spike, Jet, or Faye. The sound of safeties clicking off could be heard all around, until every gun in the bar was ready to fire. Spike, Faye, and Jet (accompanied by Rock, of course) all dove behind the bar counter at the sight of this, closely pursued by horizontal lead rain. The young bartender girl joined them as well, after the mandatory shrill squeak of a yell. Without a word, Jet and Spike both drew handguns of their own, Faye herself presenting an impressive submachine gun - or rather, the parts of it at least- from under her blouse, and quickly snapped together the four pieces. She obviously felt very proud of her custom-removable firepower in the midst of only handguns. She put a cigarette to her lips and had it lit with the speed of a regular smoker, pulling her shades over her eyes and looking over at her companions that shared her hiding place with an I'm-about-to-kick-all-their-asses little smirk on her face. And with that, she stood to face the shooting attackers with an intimidating battlecry, her compact machine gun spitting out 700 rounds of 9mm sized death every minute.
Unknown to any of the Bebop's crew, the small craft that had been attached to the Bebop via cable was now securely fastened on the topside of the massive craft, near the rear. Only someone climbing the ship to do maintenance would see it, or, less likely, a nearby passing aircraft. Within the small attached ship, a young assassin girl was starting to get fed up of being either in space or in a situation where Rock wasn't alone. She wanted to kill him quickly, but there always seemed to be someone with him. "No matter," she spoke aloud, "... the right time will come soon. And then... no one will save him from me."
Chapter Six: Return To Keroponas
Spike and Faye now slept in their respective beds. Ein snoozed on the couch, having woken up briefly a few hours before. Everything was perfectly still aboard the Bebop. Jet and the spandex-shorts clad girl sat looking at Rock; Jet had taken a seat on an armchair, and the girl stared at Rock intently. Her concentration hadn't wavered in the slightest over the past fourteen hours. Jet's mouth and hands were free of any matter of cigarette, deeming it best if the unconscious Rock didn't inhale the smoke. "Ed," Jet finally said after a few moments, "what are you doing just staring at that boy? Don't you have anything better to do?" The girl, Ed, stayed where she was at the foot of the bed, still staring at Rock with her wide and bright orange eyes in a position that could only be described as being prepared to pounce. Jet walked over to Ed and picked her up, but she was amazingly stiff and still, and sat like a statue as Jet carried her out of the room, dropping her in the hall before reentering the room and closing the door. Once the door was secure, he went to the side of the bed and sat by Rock. Time seemed to take forever for Jet, minutes dragged on and on and one hour felt like six as he waited, looking at Rock.
More time passed, and Rock's right hand clenched into a loose fist. "Rock?" Jet questioned, "You awake?" Rock's eyes slowly opened, revealing that his eye color had changed once again. Now his eyes were a dark slate gray. His head slowly turned to meet Jet's eyes, a low groan escaping him "Guess so.." he murmured, his entire body feeling like it had been hit by a train that stopped and went in reverse to run him over again. "Rock," Jet began, "I'm going to tell you flat-out... you have a bounty on you now. You're an outlaw." Rock was clearly very surprised by this, sitting up, the blanket falling to his waist, his bare upper body exposed. "But.. why? I didn't do anything wrong.." "I know you didn't, Rock.. but the girl that killed your dad's got the blame pinned on you." And with that, Jet pulled out his own handheld computer. He accessed the bounty hunters' website and pulled up the 'Recent Additions' page. And there he was.
Name: Rock Howard
Birthdate: Sep. 12, 2086
Age: 12 years, 3 months, 1 day
Gender: Male
Natural hair color: Blond
Natural eye color: Red/brown
Height: 5'3"
Charges: First-degree murder of class S-3 bounty hunter
Escape of level-4 security detainment facility
Boarding civilian transport with fraudulent passport/ticket
Theft of legal documents
Reward: US $945,320.50 or equivalent foreign currency
"But.." Rock pleaded aloud, almost to himself "I didn't kill my father... and I didn't steal Blues' ticket.." Rock stopped his train of thought in an instant. "Wait a minute..." All of a sudden his mind raced. When Blues stepped out of the bar to meet him, why did she offer him a ticket to Earth as the solution? He hadn't stopped to think of it at the time but now it seemed like something was off; it didn't sit right with him now. Did Blues know something that Rock didn't? Or, even worse, was she working with the girl that killed Geese? If Jet was saying anything to Rock, he was completely ignoring it, concentrating on the connection between Blues and the killer. He didn't really know who she was, but she seemed to be friendly with his father. Was she pretending the whole time? Did she want him dead? He thought for several long minutes before finally deciding that he had to talk to Blues again. "Jet!" Rock called out, not noticing that Jet was right in front of him "Where are we headed!?" "Nowhere in particular right now," Jet replied. "We HAVE to go back to Keroponas... there's someone there I have to talk to." "Well.." Jet pondered, "It's not like we have anywhere else to go. Sure. I'll talk Spike and Faye into it and we'll get you where you need to be." So Jet stood and headed out the door, leaving Rock to himself. As he headed down the hall he grinned and said to himself, "Just like his dad."
As Rock was waiting in the room he had been placed in, he checked his watch boredly.
9:47 PM Earth time North American Eastern Standard Time
Saturday, December 13th, 2098
After he knew the time and date, he laid down on the bed and looked out his window at all the stars. 'They really are beautiful...' he thought to himself as the transport once again headed to Keroponas.
Upon their arrival, the Bebop touched down just outside the same nameless town where Geese had been murdered. Rock clambered down the steps enthusiastically, not minding the usual strong desert heat. He found the gravel roads, slate sidewalks, and musty heat all too familiar as he dashed down the city blocks, anxious to find Blues once again. He quickly found the swinging saloon-style doors and slowed to a walk, casually stepping in. A quick glance at the corner stage and he saw nothing. Seeing this, Rock stepped over to the girl behind the counter and sat up on the stool. "Excuse me? Miss?" The young 17-year-old turned from reading the bottles boredly to meet the eyes of the young boy that drew her attention. "Yes?" she spoke in a gentle voice, "May I help you?" Rock once again grew nervous and agitated, feeling hot and sweaty despite his unusually strong tolerance for heat "Yeah... um.. I was wondering if your performer Blues was anywhere around here?" "Blues.." the girl spoke softly to herself, her long strands of dark navy blue falling over her green eyes. "I think she moved out." "Really?" Rock asked, "Where to?" "If I remember correctly..." the girl responded "I think I remember her mentioning moving to Ganymeade.." "What's a Ganymeade?" "One of Jupiter's moons," the girl replied, "You know, where they have that great sea food! Their Rock Lobster is to die for." At that moment, Jet, Spike, and Faye all moseyed their way into the bar.
As soon as the three had entered the bar, every sitting man in the bar was instantly on their feet. Within an instant, every last one of them had their personal handgun of choice drawn and aimed at either Spike, Jet, or Faye. The sound of safeties clicking off could be heard all around, until every gun in the bar was ready to fire. Spike, Faye, and Jet (accompanied by Rock, of course) all dove behind the bar counter at the sight of this, closely pursued by horizontal lead rain. The young bartender girl joined them as well, after the mandatory shrill squeak of a yell. Without a word, Jet and Spike both drew handguns of their own, Faye herself presenting an impressive submachine gun - or rather, the parts of it at least- from under her blouse, and quickly snapped together the four pieces. She obviously felt very proud of her custom-removable firepower in the midst of only handguns. She put a cigarette to her lips and had it lit with the speed of a regular smoker, pulling her shades over her eyes and looking over at her companions that shared her hiding place with an I'm-about-to-kick-all-their-asses little smirk on her face. And with that, she stood to face the shooting attackers with an intimidating battlecry, her compact machine gun spitting out 700 rounds of 9mm sized death every minute.
Unknown to any of the Bebop's crew, the small craft that had been attached to the Bebop via cable was now securely fastened on the topside of the massive craft, near the rear. Only someone climbing the ship to do maintenance would see it, or, less likely, a nearby passing aircraft. Within the small attached ship, a young assassin girl was starting to get fed up of being either in space or in a situation where Rock wasn't alone. She wanted to kill him quickly, but there always seemed to be someone with him. "No matter," she spoke aloud, "... the right time will come soon. And then... no one will save him from me."