Recap: Rock's search for Blues leads him and the Bebop crew back to Keroponas. Blues is gone, but a large group of gun-wielding outlaws isn't and they're ready to greet Rock and co. to the business end of their revolvers.
Chapter Seven: Western Style
"Geez, Faye!" Spike yelled over the gunfire that swamped their hiding place, "Seven hundred rounds a minute and not a single hit!" "I'd like to see you do better, numbskull!" Faye shot back at him, working on getting her machine gun reloaded. Spike grinned and held up his handgun. "You got it." He motioned to Jet with his head and Jet nodded. They both stood, turned to face their targets, and fired away, each bullet scoring a clean body hit. The bar's wooden floor quickly filled with blood spatters and sprawled bodies, some still writhing and groaning with pain as Jet and Spike's expert marksmanship continued to rain down their bullets. Faye frowned at the sounds of screams and groans, not so much because they bothered her, but because she knew she was being showed-up by Jet and Spike. She looked to her left, the bartender girl covering her head with fear sat trembling next to Faye, looking genuinely frightened. Faye then looked to her right and saw Rock, a sad look on his face as he zipped and unzipped the left cuff of his red jacket. "Hey kid.." Faye questioned, "... Aren't you afraid?" Rock looked up at Faye, his eyes now back to their original ruby red color as he gazed at her. Faye returned his gaze with her own green eyes, showing a faint hint of concern beneath her guise of bad-assedness. "The worst that could happen is for me to see my dad again.." Faye felt lucky all of a sudden to still have her shades over her eyes. If she hadn't, Rock would have seen her eyes well with tears at the sincerity of his sorrow. She felt luckier when she heard the click of her clip in place, and promptly drew her eyes away from Rock and stood up, spitting out more bullets at the attackers. Rock watched as Faye, Jet, and Spike all returned to hiding under the bar; shuffling to the far end away from Rock and the bartender girl.
All of a sudden the entire bar fell silent.. there wasn't a sound to be heard, save for a few shuffling bodies. Rock decided that this whole affair was taking too damned long, so decided to sneak a peek over the edge of the bar counter. As soon as he did, the four men that hadn't been disabled by Jet's and Spike's shooting all flung themselves at Rock, knocking him to the ground and proceeding to kick and punch at his fallen body as he struggled to stand. Jet and the others quickly noted this, and immediately began to close on Rock's assailants. They had barely taken a step when they heard from Rock, "Raising A..." Rock's hands, both of them, suddenly became coated in a mysterious dark purple flame, the embers coating each palm and all the fingers. The sudden pain Rock felt all over his upper body and face was too much to bear, and his reaction to such punishment was the only attack at his disposal that was inherited. "STOOOORM!" Both of Rock's hands slammed into the bar's wooden floor, and as soon as he did, something breathtaking happened.
From his hands, a large spiraling tunnel of violet flames sprung upwards, spiraling flares of intense heat consuming all four of Rock's attackers. A few quick death yells, desperate flailings of arms, and eyes-burnt-to-small-black-dots later, all four of them were dead; suspended above Rock by the amazing tower of violet flame he summoned. A few moments later, Rock raised his hands from the floor, cutting off the attack. The burnt bodies and the mangled flesh that clung loosely to them were sent hurdling through the gaping 8-foot diameter hole that now adorned the bar's roof. A few moments after THAT, a few thudding bodies could be heard slamming into the roof above, making a few rather unnerving splatter and cracking sounds with their impacts. Faye, Jet, and Spike were all frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at Rock who now lay on his back, gasping for breath. After a few more moments of standing-there-staring-at-who-knows-what-the-hell-just-happened, Rock pulled himself to his feet, hobbling a bit from the pain in his sides, but managing to stay on his feet. A few blinks later, Rock took the moment to explain "That's my father's attack... I can't use it on my own.. it's kinda like instinct, you know?" Obviously, NONE of them knew, for they had never seen anything like that, but they nodded anyway.
Jet was the first to snap out of his daze, and the first thing he did was to reach his hand down and pull the bartender girl to her feet "Spike," Jet spoke in a fairly angry sounding tone of voice. "Why don't you take Rock back to the Bebop? I think me and Faye have a few.." he cocked his handgun ".. questions for this little girl here." Spike nodded, his bushy dark green hair swaying slightly "Sure thing. Come on, Rock." And with that, the two left Faye and Jet to their 'business'.
Spike and Rock both took slow, lazy steps as they shuffled their was towards the Bebop. "Why'd we have to come down so far?" Spike mumbled to himself, wiping some of the sweat from his forehead. The air was dry and extremely hot, and this made Spike even more uncomfortable in his casual blue suit. Rock found the heat unpleasant himself, but, as usual, he refused to take off his red jacket. A few steps later, they could both hear the loud whirring of a spaceship, and before long, they were both watching a large cruiser land right in front of them. With the sound of a pneumatic door opening; out came a fairly tall unfamiliar man with stringy red hair, at his side a younger boy with a blue denim jacket, red shirt, and large khakis. Rock recognized the boy immediately, "Jim!" he called, he and Spike now both stopped and standing a fair distance from the ship. "Don't 'Jim' me," was his reply, "I already know all about what you did. Let me introduce you to my friend here. Gene Starwind, Class-AA bounty hunter." With that, he motioned to his tall companion, glaring at Rock with his stern eyes. Both he and Jim held pistols in hand, and the angered expression in their eyes clearly denoted what they intended to do. Spike tossed Rock a handgun, which he promptly picked up and aimed at Jim, Spike taking aim at Gene. "Jim!" Rock pleaded. "Don't make me shoot you!" Gene and Jim both raised their handguns at their respective targets, the silence of the four standing figures broken only by an occasional strong wind. They all stood without saying a word, their reasons for not blasting away at each other known only to them. Had there been any spectators in the area, they would have immediately sensed the strong tension in the air. The silence was finally broken when Gene Starwind fired the first shot. His voice was laced with arrogance as he hit Spike directly in the left shoulder, dropping Spike to one knee "Get down, moron"; and Rock responded to this by turning his handgun to Gene and scoring a hit right over the heart. He was dead before his body collapsed into the sand in front of him. "Gene!" Jim cried, unloading his pistol on Rock. Seeing Gene die right in front of him was too much to bear, and his sudden rush of sadness increased his inability to maintain the recoil under control, so he missed all shots except one that just barely grazed the side of his stomach. While Jim had been frantically firing away, Rock had lined up a perfect headshot which he took now, squeezing the trigger with the sight aimed right between Jim's eyes. The hail of gunshots stopped immediately, and he fell to the sand with his partner. Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking were both dead. Rock walked to Spike, who looked at him with wide green eyes. 'How can he just kill two people like that without it affecting him?' Spike thought to himself as Rock helped him to his feet. And with that, the two walked the rest of the way to the Bebop without another word.
Chapter Seven: Western Style
"Geez, Faye!" Spike yelled over the gunfire that swamped their hiding place, "Seven hundred rounds a minute and not a single hit!" "I'd like to see you do better, numbskull!" Faye shot back at him, working on getting her machine gun reloaded. Spike grinned and held up his handgun. "You got it." He motioned to Jet with his head and Jet nodded. They both stood, turned to face their targets, and fired away, each bullet scoring a clean body hit. The bar's wooden floor quickly filled with blood spatters and sprawled bodies, some still writhing and groaning with pain as Jet and Spike's expert marksmanship continued to rain down their bullets. Faye frowned at the sounds of screams and groans, not so much because they bothered her, but because she knew she was being showed-up by Jet and Spike. She looked to her left, the bartender girl covering her head with fear sat trembling next to Faye, looking genuinely frightened. Faye then looked to her right and saw Rock, a sad look on his face as he zipped and unzipped the left cuff of his red jacket. "Hey kid.." Faye questioned, "... Aren't you afraid?" Rock looked up at Faye, his eyes now back to their original ruby red color as he gazed at her. Faye returned his gaze with her own green eyes, showing a faint hint of concern beneath her guise of bad-assedness. "The worst that could happen is for me to see my dad again.." Faye felt lucky all of a sudden to still have her shades over her eyes. If she hadn't, Rock would have seen her eyes well with tears at the sincerity of his sorrow. She felt luckier when she heard the click of her clip in place, and promptly drew her eyes away from Rock and stood up, spitting out more bullets at the attackers. Rock watched as Faye, Jet, and Spike all returned to hiding under the bar; shuffling to the far end away from Rock and the bartender girl.
All of a sudden the entire bar fell silent.. there wasn't a sound to be heard, save for a few shuffling bodies. Rock decided that this whole affair was taking too damned long, so decided to sneak a peek over the edge of the bar counter. As soon as he did, the four men that hadn't been disabled by Jet's and Spike's shooting all flung themselves at Rock, knocking him to the ground and proceeding to kick and punch at his fallen body as he struggled to stand. Jet and the others quickly noted this, and immediately began to close on Rock's assailants. They had barely taken a step when they heard from Rock, "Raising A..." Rock's hands, both of them, suddenly became coated in a mysterious dark purple flame, the embers coating each palm and all the fingers. The sudden pain Rock felt all over his upper body and face was too much to bear, and his reaction to such punishment was the only attack at his disposal that was inherited. "STOOOORM!" Both of Rock's hands slammed into the bar's wooden floor, and as soon as he did, something breathtaking happened.
From his hands, a large spiraling tunnel of violet flames sprung upwards, spiraling flares of intense heat consuming all four of Rock's attackers. A few quick death yells, desperate flailings of arms, and eyes-burnt-to-small-black-dots later, all four of them were dead; suspended above Rock by the amazing tower of violet flame he summoned. A few moments later, Rock raised his hands from the floor, cutting off the attack. The burnt bodies and the mangled flesh that clung loosely to them were sent hurdling through the gaping 8-foot diameter hole that now adorned the bar's roof. A few moments after THAT, a few thudding bodies could be heard slamming into the roof above, making a few rather unnerving splatter and cracking sounds with their impacts. Faye, Jet, and Spike were all frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at Rock who now lay on his back, gasping for breath. After a few more moments of standing-there-staring-at-who-knows-what-the-hell-just-happened, Rock pulled himself to his feet, hobbling a bit from the pain in his sides, but managing to stay on his feet. A few blinks later, Rock took the moment to explain "That's my father's attack... I can't use it on my own.. it's kinda like instinct, you know?" Obviously, NONE of them knew, for they had never seen anything like that, but they nodded anyway.
Jet was the first to snap out of his daze, and the first thing he did was to reach his hand down and pull the bartender girl to her feet "Spike," Jet spoke in a fairly angry sounding tone of voice. "Why don't you take Rock back to the Bebop? I think me and Faye have a few.." he cocked his handgun ".. questions for this little girl here." Spike nodded, his bushy dark green hair swaying slightly "Sure thing. Come on, Rock." And with that, the two left Faye and Jet to their 'business'.
Spike and Rock both took slow, lazy steps as they shuffled their was towards the Bebop. "Why'd we have to come down so far?" Spike mumbled to himself, wiping some of the sweat from his forehead. The air was dry and extremely hot, and this made Spike even more uncomfortable in his casual blue suit. Rock found the heat unpleasant himself, but, as usual, he refused to take off his red jacket. A few steps later, they could both hear the loud whirring of a spaceship, and before long, they were both watching a large cruiser land right in front of them. With the sound of a pneumatic door opening; out came a fairly tall unfamiliar man with stringy red hair, at his side a younger boy with a blue denim jacket, red shirt, and large khakis. Rock recognized the boy immediately, "Jim!" he called, he and Spike now both stopped and standing a fair distance from the ship. "Don't 'Jim' me," was his reply, "I already know all about what you did. Let me introduce you to my friend here. Gene Starwind, Class-AA bounty hunter." With that, he motioned to his tall companion, glaring at Rock with his stern eyes. Both he and Jim held pistols in hand, and the angered expression in their eyes clearly denoted what they intended to do. Spike tossed Rock a handgun, which he promptly picked up and aimed at Jim, Spike taking aim at Gene. "Jim!" Rock pleaded. "Don't make me shoot you!" Gene and Jim both raised their handguns at their respective targets, the silence of the four standing figures broken only by an occasional strong wind. They all stood without saying a word, their reasons for not blasting away at each other known only to them. Had there been any spectators in the area, they would have immediately sensed the strong tension in the air. The silence was finally broken when Gene Starwind fired the first shot. His voice was laced with arrogance as he hit Spike directly in the left shoulder, dropping Spike to one knee "Get down, moron"; and Rock responded to this by turning his handgun to Gene and scoring a hit right over the heart. He was dead before his body collapsed into the sand in front of him. "Gene!" Jim cried, unloading his pistol on Rock. Seeing Gene die right in front of him was too much to bear, and his sudden rush of sadness increased his inability to maintain the recoil under control, so he missed all shots except one that just barely grazed the side of his stomach. While Jim had been frantically firing away, Rock had lined up a perfect headshot which he took now, squeezing the trigger with the sight aimed right between Jim's eyes. The hail of gunshots stopped immediately, and he fell to the sand with his partner. Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking were both dead. Rock walked to Spike, who looked at him with wide green eyes. 'How can he just kill two people like that without it affecting him?' Spike thought to himself as Rock helped him to his feet. And with that, the two walked the rest of the way to the Bebop without another word.