Chapter 2
Reasons
~!@#$%^&*()_+-=`
"Hey Jet," Spike called into the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"
"The usual, bell pepper and beef," Jet Black answered. "But you aren't getting any if you didn't get that bounty head."
"Relax, I did. She entertaining Edward right now."
"She's what?" jet looked up from the stove to make sure he had heard correctly.
"I didn't tie her up. She's not going to run away," Spike said as if it were so common to let well-known murderers wander their ship.
"Spike, you've been different since you fought Vicious, but this is getting ridiculous," Jet said.
"I know that, but so is she."
"What? What are you talking about?" Jet asked, confused.
"Angel, she different and ridiculous and she doesn't seem to make sense," Spike was sounding even more off the wall than Edward.
"Who's Angel? And what the hell are you babbling about?"
But before Spike had a chance to answer, they were interrupted by the subject of their conversation. "Hey, um Spike, do you mind if I get something out of my ship?" she asked.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"Oh it's nothing really, just something that helps calm me down, keep my hands busy," she explained. "It's nothing lethal." They gave her a look like she was nuts. "That was a joke."
"Right, yeah," Spike said in that uh-huh-sure tone. "Hey why don't I go with you, just to be safe." That made her frown a bit, but she understood.
*Down in the Shipping Dock *
"Where is that thing?" Angel asked no one in particular. Search, dig, search, dig. "Got it." She appeared holding a small, white ball.
"Doku Zume!" a voice from inside the small ship yelled, causing her to almost fall over. "Where are you?" the voice demanded. Of course, it was the vid-screen.
"Shouka, I was just thinking about you," she said. ~Unfortunately~ she finished in her head.
"Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be back here by now."
"Well, I'm not gonna be back there for quite a while," she said. "Guess what, I got captured by bounty hunters who are going to turn me into the police and I'm going to be in a nice safe jail cell where you cant touch me."
"I'll get you off," he said, but strangely enough, it sounded more like a threat.
"You can't if I plead guilty," she said, equally threateningly.
"If you plead guilty, you know what happens. How did you manage to let yourself get caught?" he seemed to just throw anything into what he was saying.
"They killed my shields and I was out of ammo," she said plainly. "What was I supposed to do?"
"You could have killed him," Shouka said as if he was speaking to a very slow child, whom he was getting very impatient with.
"Not from that distance, I couldn't," she answered in the same tone. "I guess you'll just have to find someone else to kill for you."
"Oh no, not to worry. You'll be back in my services soon enough, you can be sure," with that, he cut the line.
"Chikuso! Damn you, bastard!" she yelled at the blank screen.
"That's the guy you don't want to talk about, I take it?" Spike said from the floor.
"Yes."
"And you still don't want to talk about him?"
"Correct. Though possibly later, if I'm feeling particularly hateful towards him," she said with a small smirk. "Oh wait, I'm feeling that way all the time, especially at the moment."
"So you do want to talk about him then?" Spike thought that this was one very confusing and complicated person.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just not right here." So they went back upstairs.
And so, the quest for knowledge about this very bizarre bounty head began...
"Why is this Shouka guy so desperate to keep you on his payroll?" Faye asked her a little while later.
"Well, you know how all the targets have been found, right?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, Ed said that according to the police reports, it looks as if their hearts had been ripped apart from the inside," Spike answered for her. "But there was no knife or bullet wound."
"It's because of what I can do," Angel explained, tossing the white ball back and forth between her hands. Suddenly, the ball stopped in midair between her hands. "See?"
"Whoa! So why don't you just kill him if you hate him so much? It looks like it would be really easy for you," Jet commented.
"If it were that easy, I would have done it 6 months ago, when it all started. But I can't. Do you remember when I said I was doing this to protect my family? Shouka said that if I didn't follow orders, he would kill them. I haven't even spoken to them for the past 6 months." The ball started moving very quickly in its course between her hands.
"Ed has data," the redhead interrupted. "Data on Angel's family."
"What?!" her attention was completely diverted. She practically flew to the computer. She read quickly, her expression changing from happy to horrified to angry in half a second. "No... I'll kill him... He lied to me this entire time..."
"What is it?" Spike asked, coming to see for himself. "Entire Family Massacred By Doku Zume... this is dated six months ago."
"He had them killed, then blamed it on me," she was shaking with rage. "He held me prisoner under the falsehood that they were alive." Her body showed how pissed off she was, but her voice was calm. "Can I use the phone?"
"Y-yeah, sure. Go right ahead." No one was going to piss her off more.
When she had him on the phone, not one of them wanted to go anywhere within 10 feet of her. "What now? Did you change your mind and want me to come bail you out of jail?" Shouka sneered when she got him on the line.
"No, the bounty hunters haven't turned me in yet," she said sweetly. "But I did get to see a Mars newspaper from 6 months ago. Do you know what it told me?"
"Now Doku, I did it for your own good," he said, not wavering.
"You did it for my own good?!" she yelled. "What was for my own good? Me killing people so you didn't have to deal with them anymore, or having my entire family killed? The people that you were using to keep me from killing you!"
"All of it," he said, still calm. "Your talents were being wasted. Your family was making you soft, too innocent for the world."
"Too innocent! I was a nineteen-year-old girl from Mars with telekinesis, how much more NOT INNOCENT could I get? Without the killing?" she demanded.
"You're angry, that's natural in this kind of situation. But what will you get from killing me? Closure, a sense of justice? You need me, little girl," he said.
"No, I don't need you. And I've decided I won't kill you. Instead, I'm going to turn you over to the authorities."
"What will that accomplish? You'll go down for murder, and I'll get off scot-free," he said, now showing his true colors. "Come back to me, and I'll forget this whole thing ever happened."
"What would you hold over my head this time? Jail, death, I'd prefer those over you."
"Oh, I'm hurt, really," he didn't sound it. "No, a fate much worse, and much more painful than either of those."
"Nothing could be worse than working for you," she spat. "You're just trying to scare me."
"Am I?" don't you just hate it when they sound so sure of themselves?
"Yes, you are," unfortunately, she didn't sound as sure.
Reasons
~!@#$%^&*()_+-=`
"Hey Jet," Spike called into the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"
"The usual, bell pepper and beef," Jet Black answered. "But you aren't getting any if you didn't get that bounty head."
"Relax, I did. She entertaining Edward right now."
"She's what?" jet looked up from the stove to make sure he had heard correctly.
"I didn't tie her up. She's not going to run away," Spike said as if it were so common to let well-known murderers wander their ship.
"Spike, you've been different since you fought Vicious, but this is getting ridiculous," Jet said.
"I know that, but so is she."
"What? What are you talking about?" Jet asked, confused.
"Angel, she different and ridiculous and she doesn't seem to make sense," Spike was sounding even more off the wall than Edward.
"Who's Angel? And what the hell are you babbling about?"
But before Spike had a chance to answer, they were interrupted by the subject of their conversation. "Hey, um Spike, do you mind if I get something out of my ship?" she asked.
"What do you need?" he asked.
"Oh it's nothing really, just something that helps calm me down, keep my hands busy," she explained. "It's nothing lethal." They gave her a look like she was nuts. "That was a joke."
"Right, yeah," Spike said in that uh-huh-sure tone. "Hey why don't I go with you, just to be safe." That made her frown a bit, but she understood.
*Down in the Shipping Dock *
"Where is that thing?" Angel asked no one in particular. Search, dig, search, dig. "Got it." She appeared holding a small, white ball.
"Doku Zume!" a voice from inside the small ship yelled, causing her to almost fall over. "Where are you?" the voice demanded. Of course, it was the vid-screen.
"Shouka, I was just thinking about you," she said. ~Unfortunately~ she finished in her head.
"Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be back here by now."
"Well, I'm not gonna be back there for quite a while," she said. "Guess what, I got captured by bounty hunters who are going to turn me into the police and I'm going to be in a nice safe jail cell where you cant touch me."
"I'll get you off," he said, but strangely enough, it sounded more like a threat.
"You can't if I plead guilty," she said, equally threateningly.
"If you plead guilty, you know what happens. How did you manage to let yourself get caught?" he seemed to just throw anything into what he was saying.
"They killed my shields and I was out of ammo," she said plainly. "What was I supposed to do?"
"You could have killed him," Shouka said as if he was speaking to a very slow child, whom he was getting very impatient with.
"Not from that distance, I couldn't," she answered in the same tone. "I guess you'll just have to find someone else to kill for you."
"Oh no, not to worry. You'll be back in my services soon enough, you can be sure," with that, he cut the line.
"Chikuso! Damn you, bastard!" she yelled at the blank screen.
"That's the guy you don't want to talk about, I take it?" Spike said from the floor.
"Yes."
"And you still don't want to talk about him?"
"Correct. Though possibly later, if I'm feeling particularly hateful towards him," she said with a small smirk. "Oh wait, I'm feeling that way all the time, especially at the moment."
"So you do want to talk about him then?" Spike thought that this was one very confusing and complicated person.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just not right here." So they went back upstairs.
And so, the quest for knowledge about this very bizarre bounty head began...
"Why is this Shouka guy so desperate to keep you on his payroll?" Faye asked her a little while later.
"Well, you know how all the targets have been found, right?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, Ed said that according to the police reports, it looks as if their hearts had been ripped apart from the inside," Spike answered for her. "But there was no knife or bullet wound."
"It's because of what I can do," Angel explained, tossing the white ball back and forth between her hands. Suddenly, the ball stopped in midair between her hands. "See?"
"Whoa! So why don't you just kill him if you hate him so much? It looks like it would be really easy for you," Jet commented.
"If it were that easy, I would have done it 6 months ago, when it all started. But I can't. Do you remember when I said I was doing this to protect my family? Shouka said that if I didn't follow orders, he would kill them. I haven't even spoken to them for the past 6 months." The ball started moving very quickly in its course between her hands.
"Ed has data," the redhead interrupted. "Data on Angel's family."
"What?!" her attention was completely diverted. She practically flew to the computer. She read quickly, her expression changing from happy to horrified to angry in half a second. "No... I'll kill him... He lied to me this entire time..."
"What is it?" Spike asked, coming to see for himself. "Entire Family Massacred By Doku Zume... this is dated six months ago."
"He had them killed, then blamed it on me," she was shaking with rage. "He held me prisoner under the falsehood that they were alive." Her body showed how pissed off she was, but her voice was calm. "Can I use the phone?"
"Y-yeah, sure. Go right ahead." No one was going to piss her off more.
When she had him on the phone, not one of them wanted to go anywhere within 10 feet of her. "What now? Did you change your mind and want me to come bail you out of jail?" Shouka sneered when she got him on the line.
"No, the bounty hunters haven't turned me in yet," she said sweetly. "But I did get to see a Mars newspaper from 6 months ago. Do you know what it told me?"
"Now Doku, I did it for your own good," he said, not wavering.
"You did it for my own good?!" she yelled. "What was for my own good? Me killing people so you didn't have to deal with them anymore, or having my entire family killed? The people that you were using to keep me from killing you!"
"All of it," he said, still calm. "Your talents were being wasted. Your family was making you soft, too innocent for the world."
"Too innocent! I was a nineteen-year-old girl from Mars with telekinesis, how much more NOT INNOCENT could I get? Without the killing?" she demanded.
"You're angry, that's natural in this kind of situation. But what will you get from killing me? Closure, a sense of justice? You need me, little girl," he said.
"No, I don't need you. And I've decided I won't kill you. Instead, I'm going to turn you over to the authorities."
"What will that accomplish? You'll go down for murder, and I'll get off scot-free," he said, now showing his true colors. "Come back to me, and I'll forget this whole thing ever happened."
"What would you hold over my head this time? Jail, death, I'd prefer those over you."
"Oh, I'm hurt, really," he didn't sound it. "No, a fate much worse, and much more painful than either of those."
"Nothing could be worse than working for you," she spat. "You're just trying to scare me."
"Am I?" don't you just hate it when they sound so sure of themselves?
"Yes, you are," unfortunately, she didn't sound as sure.