A lil somethin' somethin' for those who will have nothing to do on Halloween except making little kids cry and wet their pants while trying to get free candy. Oh wait, that's what I'M going to do!!
Lost My Head There For A Second - A Cowboy Bebop Halloween story
Faye stared at the small piece of plastic she held between her fingers. Straws. Of all things they could have used to figure out who was taking Ed out trick - or- treating, and it had to be straws. It also didn't help the fact that Spike had been the one to cut them and just happened to zero her out after she bombed her latest mission. She sighed in frustration, unable to comprehend the idea of taking the little preteen monster out of her cage, also known as The Bebop. Before her, sat two bounty hunters in complete and utter glee.
"I demand a recount!" She stuck out the short straw for her two comrades to see. They shook their heads and smirked. Spike was the first to answer.
"You can't get out of this one, Faye. You won the honor of taking our Edward out for a night of fun." Faye bit her lip and slammed her fists against the table, sending the child's costume and accessories into the air.
"But it was a fixed game!" Jet slowly leaned against the back of the couch and folded his arms over his chest.
"Well with that kind of attitude..." Faye slammed a hand over her mouth from screaming out loud. How could this be happening to her? And of all nights?!
"How aobut best three out of four?" Both men shook their heads and motioned towards the petite redhead gleaming in the corner.
"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give this Edward something good to eat!!"
"Come on Ed! It's almost midnight! People are starting to go to sleep!", Faye boomed down the dimly lit street. It was a peaceful neighborhood, but something about the barren trees, the crisp wind, and the creepy fog that had settled upon the earth without Faye's noticing didn't sit well with the vixen. She tapped her black boot in an unidentified manner. How the hell had Ed persuaded her to put on this ridiculous costume? It was a classic: A skimpy red dress, complete with orange and yellow trimmings, red fishnets, and to top it off - velvet devil horns. She shivered slightly, regretting the refusal of Spike's gentlemanly act of giving her his jacket before she walked out. But no, she tipped her nose to the air and left through the door without a second glance. Oh, how she wished she hadn't done so.
Of course, the story Spike and Jet had told didn't help the spine tingling feeling she kept getting. She had shrugged it off, saying that it was an old wive's tale that never happened, for the sake of the amber eyed child running down the streets in a sugar craze. It had gone along the lines of something like an armless guy who wore a squash on his head. Or was he headless? Anyway, he rode a horse every Halloween night in search of whatever body part he was missing. The story intrigued Ed but was quickly forgotten as soon as she was surrounded by ghouls and witches and angels. And the hacker fit right along with them for she was dressed as a cat. Note that Faye had never seen such a hyper cat, but she looked the part nonetheless.
"Edward!! Come on! It's late!" Faye felt like an old mother calling to her child. She watched a flash of red buzz past her and into the woods behind the bounty huntress. Great. Just peachy. Just what Faye had in mind: going in to the woods on Halloween night. Ed was setting her up for the perfect horror movie.
"Faye -Faaaaaye!" The eerie howl of Edward was enough to send a man over the edge. But luckily for Faye, she was born with ovaries instead of a pecker.
"Edward! Let's GO!!!" She paused in a clearing and breathed in deeply. The pine of the forest and the smell of fresh dew was relaxing. But there were still noises. The hoot of an owl, the cracking of sticks by an unknown predator, and the deep howl of a faraway wolf. Or werewolf. Faye giggled at her immature thought. Yeah right. Like there were such things.
"Faye- Faaaaaaaaaye!" Faye jumped at the high pitched laugh following the childish screech.
"ED!! This isn't funny!" She stomped her foot to prove her point.
"Faye - Faaa - eep!" Faye quirked an eyebrow at the small yelp her date for the night gave. Perhaps she stepped in a hole or in some animal poo. Whatever the cause, it had shut up. A chilly breeze swept over Faye's bare shoulders and she rubbed tenderly at the pale skin to warm herself up.
"Ed?" She glanced behind every tree and thought she heard the faint sound of whispering. That kid was so weird. Faye stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of horse's hooves. She peered over her shoulder towards the thundering sound and found nothing. Her emerald orbs were lifted to the full moon high above her head and she watched the dark clouds form over it. How odd. The sky was crystal clear a few moments ago. She glimpsed down the path she had walked down when Ed had sped past her. Just beyond the opening, Faye thought she saw a dark mass running towards her. She squinted in hopes of making out the speeding figure, and eyes widened as she realized what was steamrolling towards her.
On a horse colored with the deepest shade of black Faye had ever seen, was a man cloaked in the same raven threads. A cape flowed behind him in evil glory and Faye swore that Hell itself was underneath the duo. But as Faye cimbled his body with her eyes she spotted the one thing missing from his masculine form - his head!! He was about two feet away from her when he drew out a long blade and took a heavy swipe at the huntress. She barely had time to drop to her knees and roll away from the massive steed for the safety of her own head. She looked up at the phantom rider again as he turned for another attack. It was then that Faye noticed the bright jack-o-lantern, fueled by the fires of Hades. He took yet another swipe at Faye's head and she, in return, rolled out of the way.
She finally spotted the wide golden eyes staring at her from behind a tree and Faye dashed towards the child with open palms. In a quick gesture, she pulled the hacker to her body and began to run for both of their lives. Behind her, Faye could hear the THUMP THUMP of hooves pounding upon the earth and the insane lashes of the phantom rider's sword. Faye's heart was like a mad storm rushing inside in her body. Her lungs ached from the swift leaps and sprints and her muscles were beginning to throb from the sudden rush of exercise. She could see the opening of the forest and she forced herself to keep running. Behind her, her ears picked up the sound of the headless horseman raising his blade for the final blow; the slash that would end Faye's life. In her last desperate moment, Faye closed her eyes and squeezed Ed's hand as she jumped through the entrance.
"Faye - Faye?" Faye pushed her eyes open, although they were foggy with unshed tears. In front of her was a terrified, but quite alive, Edward. She smiled at the preteen who clung to the trashbag full of candy. It was amazing enough that they had survived, but the fact that Ed still had her beloved candy was phenomenal. Slowly, Edward began to pale in fron of Faye and she turned her body around to see the headless rider and his horse pacing at the entrance. Realization hit Faye like a hammer and she curled her hand around Ed's.
"I don't think he can come out of the forest. Come on, let's get home." She pulled Ed to her feet, took one last look at the...thing, and made a mental note to pack her Glock next year.
The living room of the Bebop was empty as Faye and Ed tiptoed through the door. All the lights were off, except for dim yellow light being emitted from Spike's room. She carefully placed the now snoring Ed on the couch and made her way down the hall to inquire about Spike's evening. She could only bet that it wasn't as interesting as her's. She silently slipped into the door and whispered her comrade's name. There was a low muffled noise coming from the other side of his bed. Faye stepped over to the edge, expecting some kind of cheap, flea market, trick to pop out at her. Instead, to her horror, Faye found herself staring into the blank eyes of a decapitated Spike Spiegel. Blood surrounded her compatriot and she dropped to her knees in the warm liquid, a shrill scream escaping her lungs and echoing through the ship. It couldn't be. It jsut couldn't...
"Faye! FAYE!" A light hand was gently shaking Faye from her slumber. She awoke with a start and almost slammed into Spike's worried face. This couldn't be right. She had come home to a corpse, not the living, breathing, man in front of her. How could..?
"You're supposed to be dead!" Spike grinned and shook his head.
"Still mad at me, huh? What did you and Ed do out there? It really wore you out. You came in, dropped Ed on the couch and collapsed on my bed." Faye pondered if the events had actually occured. One could only wonder...
A/N: Two more will follow but I need you all to choose - funny Halloween Hellsing story, or scary Halloween Hellsing story; funny Halloween Inuyasha story, or scary Halloween Inuyasha story?