Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop is not mine.


Chapter Four: Lucky Strike

The voice communicator beeped impatiently with an incoming message, but there was no one on the Bebop to answer it.

Ugh, at the most inconvenient time. They're useless! Faye thought to herself as she incessantly called Edward's communicator. She was about to give up after ten minutes, when her screen was suddenly filled with an eye.

"EIN!" On the receiving end, Ein retreated, clearly surprised at the response he received. He'd only pressed the green button to make the noise stop. Ein trotted back to the communicator and stared at an angry Faye.

"Ein, be a good dog and go get Ed." Ein barked an agreement, and not long after, an overexcited Edward catapulted over the railing, sprung off a chair, and landed nearly on top of the communicator.

"Hiiiii, Faye-Faye! What does Faye-Faye want?"

"Send me any information you can get on the location of the Dragon Head Syndicate, along with other information about the bounty head. And anyone who's connected to him," Faye requested. Ed put on her goggles, initiating a search and loading up the pages. Within a few minutes, Ed had as much information on the bounty as the ISSP did.

"Ed's sending the bad man's information to Faye-Faye! Bring home some yum-yums for Ed!"

"Yeah, right," Faye replied before disconnecting the communicatorr link. She turned on her autopilot and set a steady course for Mars, where the Syndicate headquarters was located. Bringing up the results on her main screen, she carefully examined the information again:

ID: D321986WM
Name: Fjodor Vladisen
Age: 35
Height: 6 feet 3 inches
Weight: 330 lbs.
DOMI: Mars
Record: Murderer
Status: Still at large
Reward: W 40,000,000
Location of known headquarters: Rampage, Mars, NW
Other: Fjodor Vladisen, codenamed Doom, is known as the top assassin for the Dragon Head Syndicate. He has evaded capture several times to date, and the number of lives he has taken amounts to four thousand. He must be captured, dead or alive, in order to receive the reward.

An exhaustive list of Doom's victims was located beneath the general information. His connections were listed along with a public list of people the man was after. Spike's name was fifth on the list.

Hmm, no wonder why that lunkhead didn't want me to go after this guy! He's being chased by a fat man! Faye couldn't help giggling at the thought, but she wasn't going to let her guard down. She typed in the coordinates for the headquarters and set her ship to autopilot as she drew up a plan.

Well, I'm gonna get this one. And maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll give some food to those saps back on the Bebop.


"Doom, I have the ship in my sight. Would you like for me to destroy it?"

"No." A heavy-set man reclined in a large, black, leather chair, elbows resting on the armrests and hands steepled under his chin. He glanced at the communicator screen, which transferred the image of a masked man, one of his henchmen on his daily rounds of Mars. The corners of Doom's mouth turned up slightly, and a glint in his eye appeared. "You know what I like to do to 'guests.' That was an ignorant question to ask." His reply clearly frightened the henchman, as his eyes went wide at the latter comment. Doom leaned forward in his seat to give the henchman a screen full of his face. "Come back to base to receive your punishment. You should be careful not to be so ignorant again."

"Yes, Doom," the henchman replied pitifully. Doom turned the communicator screen off, chuckling to himself. Ah, why do I surround myself with fools? Brushing away the incident, he turned his concentration to the next problem. Using a personal satellite, he scanned the skies for a ship with coordinates to his headquarters, finding it quite fast. He concluded that the ship belonged to a bounty hunter; those foolish enough to hunt him down rarely escaped his wrath. Only a scarce few managed to flee with their lives, but they were placed on a list of people that he would eventually take care of. The recent increase of bounty hunters seeking Doom had enraged him, and now this next bounty hunter would receive his fist directly. He created a plan and laughed at the torture and pain that he would inflict.

Ah, my new toy. I can't wait to try it out.


"Autopilot malfunction. Reverting to manual controls." The message suddenly flashed across Faye's main visual screen, catching her attention. She bolted upright and swore at her ship, sliding her hands and feet into the controls.

"Damn ship. Why can't Jet ever fix this thing right?" Looking through the glass, she noticed that she was getting closer to Rampage. The city was enveloped by swirling storm clouds, reflecting sickening colors upon the buildings. The buildings themselves seemed obsolete; one would think that a city so recently constructed would be updated. The streets were empty, except for the few homeless people who hid themselves in alleyways. Rampage was a desolate place to be – a perfect place for the headquarters of a Syndicate.

Faye slowed her descent, searching for a place to land that was close enough to her destination. At last, she spotted an open area where a building used to exist, and brought the Redtail to a smooth landing. The headquarters were two blocks down the road. Grabbing her Glock 30, she exited the ship quietly and walked quickly, darting from building to building to keep from being seen. All of a sudden, she ran headfirst into a man's chest. She slowly looked up and saw a silhouette of a face.

"Why, hello, little lady. What are you doing out in Rampage all alone?" The man looked down at Faye and grinned. He donned a black suit that was covered by a gray trench coat, leather gloves, and a black Fedora. His white teeth were even brighter, contrasting his appearance. "Well?"

"I'm going to a bar. You got a problem with that?" Faye retorted, hoping the man would get off her case. She retreated several steps back and evaluated the man. Pulling her leather gloves on, she flashed him a sweet smile.

"The nearest bar is about ten blocks away. It's called 'The Lady's Death.' Do you need some help getting there?" he responded. He took a step towards her.

"No. I know my way around just fine." She was hoping her arrogance would annoy the man, but he kept inching towards her. Taking several more steps back, she fell into a natural fighting stance. "And I really don't have time for this." With those words, she whipped out the Glock and fired three shots at the man.

To her surprise, he dodged the shots and charged at her. Faye narrowly avoided the attack, and countered with a kick to his back. He turned quickly, grabbing at her leg, but she succeeded in landing a shot to his face. The man stumbled backwards, wiping spit and blood from his mouth. He faced her again, using a combination of brute force and speed to attack. Faye backpedaled and aimed her gun at his left leg, putting a bullet through his thigh. She shot through his right leg and shoulder as well. The man fell in pain, grasping his injuries in a futile attempt to stop the flowing blood. As he looked up, he saw a gun pointed at his face with a livid Faye holding it.

"Why the hell are you after me?" she inquired calmly, with severe undertones of anger. The man was silent. "Answer me or else I'm gonna put you out of your misery!" Seconds passed and there was still no answer. His closed his eyes, hoping to avoid another bullet hole in his body. Faye slightly lowered her gun.

"You're not worth it." She brought the butt of the gun down on the man's head as hard as she could, knocking him unconscious.

"Neither are you, Ms. Valentine. But Doom will have a good time with you." She never heard the footsteps behind her, never realized that the man she just knocked out wasn't alone. But she didn't even have to time to turn around. In an instant, all she saw was black.