Lady Akitsu - Hey there, and welcome to my next chapter to this story. I know the last thing was not much, and kinda blah, really, but I assure you that there are indeed quite a few twists and turns on the way. For those who love fluff, it's in here. Action buffs, I got your back. All of you who are into the drama and soap opera scene should stay tuned. It's all in here. All I ask is for your patience. Thank you.
Oh, and to those of you who commented on the last chapter: THANK YOU! You all made my day, and I'm very pleased to know what you think of my humble attempts at fanfic writing.
OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I do not in any way, shape, or form own or claim to own the musical group Daft Punk, their music, ideas, or their album Discovery, nor do I own or claim to own the characters Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black, Ed, Ein, or any other attributes to the anime/manga Cowboy Bebop.
Enjoy the Show!
Chapter Two: Bolt From The Blue
As the crew of the Bebop sipped their champagne (or in Spike's case, gulped it down liberally), they slowly began to relax. The angry tension that was there before began to dissipate, as if all of their troubles were lifting away with the glimmering and fragile bubbles.
Faye glanced over in Spike's direction and saw a smile slowly growing on his lips. She smiled in return and looked back to her glass, thankful that she could've found such an elusive treat from her days before she was cryogenically frozen and cursed with all that horrendous debt.
Spike was grateful too, although for a different reason. He'd wondered what the stuff, the real stuff, would've tasted like. He'd only tried the artificial type a few times before, at Syndicate parties and such where the idea was to kiss as much ass as possible. Spike hated those parties, so as a result he usually arrived for the shortest time possible and then escaped from the place in the direction of the nearest bar.
Jet, in a way, meditated over his glass. Knowing that he would never get another opportunity like this and being the gourmand that he was, he savored every last drop, including the color with its tints of gold and amber, the scent, and the taste. To him, it was definitely not the same thing as the synthetic variety, in a very good way.
Suddenly, Faye got an idea.
"Hey, do we still have that karaoke machine around, or is it lost in the abyss?"
Spike shrugged.
"I dunno. It's probably in the back of the ship somewhere."
"That would be the abyss I was talking about, Spike."
He glared at her again for what must have been the fifth or sixth time that day.
"Ha, ha, freakin' ha, Faye."
She only smiled sweetly at him in response. Spike scowled and looked into his glass and what was left of his champagne.
Damn her... even in her smile…
"Ed can find karaoke, Faye-Faye!"
The group jumped in surprise. Faye looked down by the couch and saw Ed grinning widely at her, computer at hand and goggles in their usual place.
"How… How long have you been there, Ed?"
"Only long enough."
Faye could feel the small bead of sweat forming on her temple. She sighed and wiped it away, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did so.
"Alright then, Ed. What do you know about this karaoke thing?"
"Muchly, muchly!" she said, nodding somberly. "See?"
Ed typed away for a few seconds, apparently hacking into yet another system, then punched the Enter key. A window popped up, and Ed typed in a password. She then grinned at Faye and pointed at the screen. Faye looked where Ed was pointing and blinked. Some how, some way, Ed had gotten into a karaoke machine's system and adapted it to the computer, turning the computer into a surrogate karaoke machine, ready to use at a moment's notice.
Faye laughed and smiled.
"You never fail to surprise me, Ed."
After everything was set up, Faye grinned and took up the microphone. She looked to Ed and nodded. Ed squealed gleefully and nodded back, pushing another button.
"How 'bout we start off with something for the mood, hm? Hit it, Ed!"
Ed typed into the computer and turned on all the speakers. Suddenly, a happy and upbeat techno song came on, and Faye started to sing as she moved with the music.
One more time! We're gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, all right, don't stop the dancing
One more time! We're gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, all right, don't stop the dancing
One more time, we're gonna celebrate
Oh yeah...
One more time!
One more time, we're gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, all right, don't stop the dancing
One more time, we're gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, don't stop the dancing
One more time
Mmm...
You know I'm just feelin'
Celebration, tonight
Celebrate
Don't wait too late
Mmm... no...
We don't stop
You can't stop
We gonna celebrate
One more time
Celebration
You know we're gonna do it right
Tonight, hey!
Just feelin'
Music's got me feeling the need
Yeah...
Come on, all right
We gonna celebrate
One more time
Celebrate and dance so free
Music's got me feeling so free
Celebrate and dance so free
One more time
Music's got me feeling so free
We gonna celebrate, yeah
Celebrate and dance so free
One more time
Music's got me feeling so free
We gonna celebrate, yeah
Celebrate and dance so free
One more time
Music's got me feeling so free
We gonna celebrate, yeah
Celebrate and dance so free
One more time…
As Spike watched Faye's slim body sway and move to the music's beat, he saw her as he never had before… she was happy; truly happy. There was no ulterior motive, no sadistic pleasure. There was only music and Faye's soul, the tough and jaded layers to which peeled away to reveal a pure, carefree, almost childlike glow, lighting up her every feature.
Faye smiled and gently closed her eyes, letting the music guide her movements. She knew that Spike and Jet were watching her every move, but she just didn't care anymore. There was simply nothing more important than the melody that she could feel in her very heart, setting her inhibitions free. It felt to her as if the world was at peace and all was well… until a harsh, jarring alarm started to sound from the computer that was hosting the karaoke program, shattering her formerly blissful and untroubled mood. Faye stopped singing and cringed, holding her hands to her ears.
"Oww… What the hell is that thing?" she whined.
Ed frowned and began typing. After a few minutes, the alarm dimmed and faded away to nothing. Ed's characteristic grin flashed onto her face and she laughed, clapping her feet together in delight.
"Ah HA! Ed solved noisy problem," proclaimed Ed as she pointed proudly at the screen's display.
Spike and Jet looked at each other and blinked, then looked over to Faye, who shrugged. Spike leaned back in his seat to see, while Faye and Jet stood over by Ed to watch over her shoulder.
Windows began to pop up on the screen, showing what the alarm was about: a set of new bounties was out, and although they were basically chump change by themselves (a mere 50,000 Woolongs each), they were worth a whopping 9,000,000.00 Woolongs as a collective set.
Spike and Faye grinned. It was time to get to work.
"Alright, then. Ed, bring up some info on these losers." Faye smiled with a devious gleam in her eyes. "That'll make it that much easier to catch 'em."
Ed nodded vigorously, donned her goggles, and started typing.
Armed with adequate information and their respective weapons, Spike and Faye started for the docking bay door, but suddenly…
"Hold it right there, you two."
The two bounty hunters froze in their tracks, then turned to stare at Jet with a puzzled look on their faces.
"Er… something wrong, Jet?"
Jet sighed and just shook his head.
"I'd hate to do this, but it's necessary."
Faye blinked. She glanced over to Spike for some insight, but he was staring warily at Jet.
"Jet… what are you getting at?"
"Sorry about this, buddy, but Faye's gonna have to ride with you."
"WHAT?"
"No way in hell am I riding with that maniac!"
Jet cringed at the sudden chorus of rapid-fire protests assaulted his ears, and waved one cybernetic hand to calm them down and get their attention.
"It has to be done, alright? Faye, have you seen your ship? It's completely totaled from the last bounty, and there's a hell of a lot of work that needs be done besides the damage you just recently did to it!"
"But, Jet…!"
"No buts, Faye. Just ride with him this one time. It's not like it's gonna kill ya."
Faye gave a low growl and crossed her arms, glaring steadily at Spike.
"Yeah, right." She scoffed under her breath. That's probably exactly what it'll do.
Spike stared daggers right back at her.
"I heard that…"
Faye's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Yeah, so what, hm?"
"Damn it, shut up, both of you! Spike, take Faye with you. Faye, no whining. I get enough of that from Ed and Ein, got it?"
"Fine, fine. Whatever, Jet."
Spike said nothing, but only started back on his way to the docking bay, his hands in his pockets and his once swift pace slowed. Faye, seeing that Spike was on the move again, ran after him into the docking bay, creating a chorus of metallic clanking with each step.
"Don't do anything stupid, ya hear me!" Jet called after them. He sighed exasperatedly and moved his hand up to his temples, massaging them gently before running his fingers up over his skull and down to the base of his neck.
"These kids… What am I gonna do with those two?"
Jet just smiled amusedly to himself and wandered over to the hangar controls to open it for Spike and Faye.
"Kids'll be kids, I guess."
Okay, not as much as I wanted to write, but I kinda ran out of juice, so I decided to end the chapter here. If you actually got this far and read the whole thing, please do me a favor and review. Tell me what you think, be it praise or constructive critique. I just have a small request: NO FLAMING. It just makes you sound bad, and it doesn't really do anything for anyone.
THANK YOU FOR READING!