Cowboy Bebop
Boys are Back 9
Spike adjusted the restraining jacket one more time. He examined Hakkou's face. His skin was a rather unhealthy looking color. He had dark blotches under his eyes. Living off soup and milkshakes for almost a week probably did that. That, and all the tranquilizers they had been slipping him to keep him docile. It was a massive dose that now kept him asleep.
He slammed the door shut. Hakkou was neatly tucked into a compartment in the back of Swordfish, which was intended for any sort of luggage or cargo, but also made a nice, neat place to keep bounty heads he had caught. He was hoping there would be no trouble on the way.
"Spike." Faye said as she watched him, "I'm asking you one final time, don't do this."
"Faye" Spike said, "I have to do this, whether I like it or not. Don't worry, I'm being careful for the first time in my life." He pulled his jacket and his pant leg up a bit to reveal his pistol tucked into his pants, and a knife tied around his ankle. He turned to climb into the cockpit of Swordfish, and heard the click of a gun cocking behind him. "Faye." he said with a sigh, "Let's not do this again."
"I won't let you. Not this time."
He hopped down, and came up right in front of her. He looked straight into her eyes. Faye hesitated, seeing the matched color of his hazel brown eyes.
"Both my eyes are real now, Faye. And they both only see the present now. But maybe once I'm done with this, they can look to the future." He held Faye by her shoulders for a moment, his hands warm against her skin. She felt her mind go blank, blinded with indecision, and her gun fell from her hands.
She stood like a statue, watching as he climbed into Swordfish, and took off.
"I must admit Mr. Spiegel, I did not think you would be able to overtake him." Cornelius said as he watched some of his lab assistants pull a still unconscious Hakkou from the storage compartment of The Swordfish. Spike stood nearby, puffing nonchalantly on a cigarette, not even watching. Cornelius frowned when he saw Hakkou's sickly looking complexion. "I trust he is not badly damaged."
"He's fine."
"I hope so. We need him in tact if we are to find out what went wrong."
"What do you mean?" Spike looked up, cocking an eyebrow. Cornelius began to walk from the docking bay of the lab, and Spike followed him, one hand in his pocket, the other hanging free. Every Syndicate security officer they passed took note of that. Cornelius did not notice at all. He was too busy talking.
"Well, something must have been fouled up, otherwise he would not have revolted like that. So all we have to do is dissect him, examine his tissues, and find out what oversight we made that caused him to."
"To have a mind of his own." Spike interrupted, the distaste clear in his voice.
"I was going to say 'that caused him to step out of line', but have, it your own way." Cornelius gave another one of those smirks, and Spike felt the desire to wipe those stupid expressions off this wretched man's face growing.
"Hey, where are you going?" Jet hollered at Faye as he watched her climbing into The Redtail.
"Jet, we watched him walk off to get killed once. I'm not going to stand here and do nothing this time."
"Its his choice Faye. We have to respect it."
"He's a lunkhead, he doesn't know how to make good choices!" Faye shouted as she closed the hatch.
"Hmm.good point." Jet muttered to himself as he scratched his chin. He stood silent as The Redtail roared out of the hangar. He stood for a moment, and then cursed to himself as he scrambled to climb into The Hammerhead.
At the same moment, two of The Syndicate's security officers were making the first preparations for Hakkou to be dissected. They placed his still form onto a metal table, and slowly peeled the duct tape away from his feet.
"This guy don't look so tough to me." one of them said as they pulled the last pieces from his ankles. "I think the boss is just exaggerating."
"I dunno" his comrade replied, "For him to break outta here, then kill all those people, that takes someone real tough.or really crazy." They removed the restraining vest that Spike had placed onto Hakkou, and then prepared to start strapping him down to the dissection table.
"Say, after this is over, you want to go get something to drink?"
"Nah, I want to stay and watch this. I kind of like watching them cut the weird ones up."
"Then you will love this." Hakkou said, his eyes suddenly snapping open. The two security men only had enough time to scream, once.
"Now then, Mr. Spiegel, for you're reward." Cornelius said they entered the lab. Sitting against the far wall of the room was a large glass tube, and inside it was the lifeless Julia. She floated in the red goo, like a figure frozen in ice. For a moment, Spike felt his heart tug, knowing what he was about to do.
"Shove it."
"I beg you're pardon?" The answer came in the form of Spike's pistol pushing into Cornelius' back. Cornelius raised both his hands into the air, and felt drops of sweat suddenly forming under his collar. "This won't do you any good, Mr. Spiegel."
"Shut up. I'm not that stupid. You never intended to give me what I wanted. You were just going to cut me up and then make me all over again, till you got what you wanted, weren't you?" Cornelius was silent for a moment, before he grinned to himself as he replied.
"Well, The Syndicate did pay us to deliver you to them as a full fledged leader of their organization. It would not do to have you running around wanting to catch bounty heads all the time, would it?" Spike responded by shoving his pistol hard against Cornelius' spine. The grin vanished as he realized that perhaps this hotheaded bounty hunter was serious. "Mr. Spiegel, surely you can't blame me for what The Syndicate wanted us to do."
"Yes, if you are going to blame anyone, blame me" a cold, metallic voice hissed out of nowhere. The blade of a sword swung down and cut Spike's gun clean in two. Spike jumped back, taken totally by surprise as Cornelius ran and threw himself behind Julia's tube.
Spike quickly turned to see who this new attacker was. And when he saw, his jaw fell hard enough to hit the floor. His blood turned to water, and the entire world dropped away as his full attention focused on the figure standing before him.
"Vi-Vicious!"
Boys are Back 9
Spike adjusted the restraining jacket one more time. He examined Hakkou's face. His skin was a rather unhealthy looking color. He had dark blotches under his eyes. Living off soup and milkshakes for almost a week probably did that. That, and all the tranquilizers they had been slipping him to keep him docile. It was a massive dose that now kept him asleep.
He slammed the door shut. Hakkou was neatly tucked into a compartment in the back of Swordfish, which was intended for any sort of luggage or cargo, but also made a nice, neat place to keep bounty heads he had caught. He was hoping there would be no trouble on the way.
"Spike." Faye said as she watched him, "I'm asking you one final time, don't do this."
"Faye" Spike said, "I have to do this, whether I like it or not. Don't worry, I'm being careful for the first time in my life." He pulled his jacket and his pant leg up a bit to reveal his pistol tucked into his pants, and a knife tied around his ankle. He turned to climb into the cockpit of Swordfish, and heard the click of a gun cocking behind him. "Faye." he said with a sigh, "Let's not do this again."
"I won't let you. Not this time."
He hopped down, and came up right in front of her. He looked straight into her eyes. Faye hesitated, seeing the matched color of his hazel brown eyes.
"Both my eyes are real now, Faye. And they both only see the present now. But maybe once I'm done with this, they can look to the future." He held Faye by her shoulders for a moment, his hands warm against her skin. She felt her mind go blank, blinded with indecision, and her gun fell from her hands.
She stood like a statue, watching as he climbed into Swordfish, and took off.
"I must admit Mr. Spiegel, I did not think you would be able to overtake him." Cornelius said as he watched some of his lab assistants pull a still unconscious Hakkou from the storage compartment of The Swordfish. Spike stood nearby, puffing nonchalantly on a cigarette, not even watching. Cornelius frowned when he saw Hakkou's sickly looking complexion. "I trust he is not badly damaged."
"He's fine."
"I hope so. We need him in tact if we are to find out what went wrong."
"What do you mean?" Spike looked up, cocking an eyebrow. Cornelius began to walk from the docking bay of the lab, and Spike followed him, one hand in his pocket, the other hanging free. Every Syndicate security officer they passed took note of that. Cornelius did not notice at all. He was too busy talking.
"Well, something must have been fouled up, otherwise he would not have revolted like that. So all we have to do is dissect him, examine his tissues, and find out what oversight we made that caused him to."
"To have a mind of his own." Spike interrupted, the distaste clear in his voice.
"I was going to say 'that caused him to step out of line', but have, it your own way." Cornelius gave another one of those smirks, and Spike felt the desire to wipe those stupid expressions off this wretched man's face growing.
"Hey, where are you going?" Jet hollered at Faye as he watched her climbing into The Redtail.
"Jet, we watched him walk off to get killed once. I'm not going to stand here and do nothing this time."
"Its his choice Faye. We have to respect it."
"He's a lunkhead, he doesn't know how to make good choices!" Faye shouted as she closed the hatch.
"Hmm.good point." Jet muttered to himself as he scratched his chin. He stood silent as The Redtail roared out of the hangar. He stood for a moment, and then cursed to himself as he scrambled to climb into The Hammerhead.
At the same moment, two of The Syndicate's security officers were making the first preparations for Hakkou to be dissected. They placed his still form onto a metal table, and slowly peeled the duct tape away from his feet.
"This guy don't look so tough to me." one of them said as they pulled the last pieces from his ankles. "I think the boss is just exaggerating."
"I dunno" his comrade replied, "For him to break outta here, then kill all those people, that takes someone real tough.or really crazy." They removed the restraining vest that Spike had placed onto Hakkou, and then prepared to start strapping him down to the dissection table.
"Say, after this is over, you want to go get something to drink?"
"Nah, I want to stay and watch this. I kind of like watching them cut the weird ones up."
"Then you will love this." Hakkou said, his eyes suddenly snapping open. The two security men only had enough time to scream, once.
"Now then, Mr. Spiegel, for you're reward." Cornelius said they entered the lab. Sitting against the far wall of the room was a large glass tube, and inside it was the lifeless Julia. She floated in the red goo, like a figure frozen in ice. For a moment, Spike felt his heart tug, knowing what he was about to do.
"Shove it."
"I beg you're pardon?" The answer came in the form of Spike's pistol pushing into Cornelius' back. Cornelius raised both his hands into the air, and felt drops of sweat suddenly forming under his collar. "This won't do you any good, Mr. Spiegel."
"Shut up. I'm not that stupid. You never intended to give me what I wanted. You were just going to cut me up and then make me all over again, till you got what you wanted, weren't you?" Cornelius was silent for a moment, before he grinned to himself as he replied.
"Well, The Syndicate did pay us to deliver you to them as a full fledged leader of their organization. It would not do to have you running around wanting to catch bounty heads all the time, would it?" Spike responded by shoving his pistol hard against Cornelius' spine. The grin vanished as he realized that perhaps this hotheaded bounty hunter was serious. "Mr. Spiegel, surely you can't blame me for what The Syndicate wanted us to do."
"Yes, if you are going to blame anyone, blame me" a cold, metallic voice hissed out of nowhere. The blade of a sword swung down and cut Spike's gun clean in two. Spike jumped back, taken totally by surprise as Cornelius ran and threw himself behind Julia's tube.
Spike quickly turned to see who this new attacker was. And when he saw, his jaw fell hard enough to hit the floor. His blood turned to water, and the entire world dropped away as his full attention focused on the figure standing before him.
"Vi-Vicious!"