Look out Johnny Fry, the Bebop is coming for you! Here comes part two! Read on!

-Randall Flagg2

(1)

Serenity stood outside, overlooking the gigantic tent. So this was the thing called a circus. Intriguing. Well she had her reasons for being here.

And it would certainly teach those no good so called "bounty hunters" a thing or two about leaving her behind! Just because she was only eleven, didn't mean she wasn't capable of fighting! She was a demon for God's sake! Demons were far superior to mere humans! By golly, she was going to show them what she was capable of.

"Morons. I'll show them all." Serenity whispered. "All I need now is a way to get in."

As if on cue, she saw an entrance at the back. Time to show the world what she was made of. Serenity ran towards the opening, but stopped midway. This was the back entrance, no doubt the entrance for the performers and she was not permitted there. Only one thing to do.

Serenity curled her hand into a fist and struck herself three times on the head as hard as she could. In a puff of smoke, she vanished. Hovering in place of where she once stood, was a small lightning cloud, not much bigger then a soccer ball.

"Now I'm ready." she said to nobody in particular. She flew into the entrance, prepared for anything.

(2)

As Serenity prepared to enter the tent, Faye and Ed were standing in line with their tickets. Faye could not believe she was being subjugated to babysitting the teenage terror known as Edward Wonghaupepleauteruvsky IV. But on the other hand, Spike and Jet had offered her twice her share of the bounty if she did. As before, she could not resist that.

Ed tugged on Faye's shoulder. "Ed wants a cotton candy!" she whined, pointing to the snack bar nearby.

Faye rolled her eyes. "Be quiet Ed. Can't you just enjoy the show?"

Ed pouted. "Ed wants a cotton candy! And a hotdog! And a popcorn!" she said more firmly, pouting a bit.

Faye glared at the red headed teenager. "Stop it Ed! I'm only doing this because I want more of that bounty, I'm not here for your pleasure."

Ed made her eyes watery and she started sniffling, but Faye was not phased by this the way Spike was. So Ed decided she would have to resort to a different method.

CHOMP!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Faye kicked her leg furiously trying to shake Ed off, but the girl's jaws had a death grip on her leg. Faye finally kicked so hard that she fell on the ground. Ed fell with her, but did not let go of her leg. Faye continued to kick her leg up and down and from side to side, but Ed would still not let go. This was starting to hurt very much.

"Let go of me Ed you stupid shit! For God's sake let go!"

"Nuh uh!" Ed grunted. She continued chewing on Faye's leg. Blood began to seep out between Ed's sharp teeth. All the while Faye was kicking and screaming, trying to throw her off.

"Alright, alright, I'll get you something to eat for Christ sake!" Faye yelled. Just as she finished speaking, Ed let go of her leg. The child hacker supreme grinned playfully at her.

"Thankies Faye Faye!" Ed giggled. Faye glared daggers at the girl. Ed had succeeded in breaking her skin. Her leg wasn't bleeding too badly, but a few drops were coming down anyway. Sometimes she really wondered why the kept Ed with them.

With a sigh, Faye led Ed to the snack bar. This was going to be a long day. The moment they got there, Ed began pointing to the menu and speaking rapidly.

"Ed wants a cotton candy, and a hotdog, and popcorn, and a soda, and a candied apple, and a bag of potato chips, and French fries, and-"

"Ed I am not buying all that for you! You had better be reasonable or!"

CHOMP!

(3)

As Faye Valentine was busy trying to fend off the ever loveable Edward, Spike, Jet, and Haruko had entered the big top and were taking their seats. Jet had brought gasmasks and binoculars just in case something happened. And of course, Haruko had brought her guitar.

"I can't believe the guy at the entrance wouldn't let me bring this." Haruko remarked.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he wouldn't let you bring it until you 'persuaded' him. How long is it gonna take him to recover from that concussion you gave him?"

Haruko smiled wickedly. "I'm sure he'll be okay. I didn't hit him that hard." she said mischievously.

"Both of you shut up. I'm taking a look around." Jet said gruffly as he looked around the interior of the tent through his binoculars. So far, nothing suspicious. He was sure however, that Fry would turn up anytime now.

"So," Haruko began, stretching her legs, "what do we do once this Fry guy appears?"

"I explained this earlier. We catch him and turn him in to the authorities for money. It's how we make a living."

Haruko's smile became a grin. "That's right up my alley! You just leave it all to me!"

"And I also said I won't be needing your help! I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, as is Jet! You should just watch from a distance and see how the pros do it."

Haruko frowned. "Spoil sport." she grumbled.

"Let's just watch the show and keep an eye out for Jonathan Fry. I'm in the mood for moolah."

(4)

Down in the dressing room, Jonathan Fry looked over himself in the mirror. He was a medium height man, lean, muscular, the way most acrobats were. His short white hair made him all the more handsome. It was almost time for his acrobatic performance, which would also be the end of the audience. Belted around his waist, was a belt with small vials attached to it. What was inside of them one might ask? Nothing but enough nerve gas to kill the entire audience. All part of the show, as he liked to say. And once they were all dead, he would disappear until he found another job somewhere else. So far, he had been lucky. This time would be even better then last time.

"It can't go wrong." Fry said to himself. "Nobody will be left after this. Rest assured my latest performance will be a 'gas'." He chuckled at his own joke. A gas. God he cracked himself up sometimes. Well, it was show time! He grabbed a gasmask and headed out to put on his performance.

(4)

Serenity had heard the whole thing. So this guy was going to kill the audience was he? Not if she had anything to say about it. Furthermore, her new friends were out there in said audience. She couldn't afford to lose them to maniac performer. She had to put a stop to this.

Serenity went towards the mirror and rammed herself three times against it. In a puff of smoke, she turned back to normal. Ah it was good to be back in demon form again.

It was then that she saw a small vial of something on the ground. She picked it up to examine it, but just as she did, she dropped it. The vial burst open. White, transparent gas began to fill the room. Serenity took one whiff of it and doubled over. She tried to cover her nose, but her arm muscles felt as if they had been turned to jelly. So had her legs. Her nostrils were burning from the terrible scent. Serenity tried to scream but all that came out was a gagging noise. She was also beginning to have trouble breathing. It eventually got to the point where she couldn't breathe at all.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. She could breathe and control her body again. Serenity shakily got to her feet. She knew that the only reason she had survived that stuff, whatever it was, had been because she was a demon, and thus had a stronger resistance to things that would otherwise kill a human. If this Jonathan Fry was going to unleash this gas, if it was that, on the audience, she had a feeling that they would not do so well against it as she had.

"I've got to stop this anyway I can. I can't let all those people die. But what can I do?" she thought anxiously. Then it came to her. She knew what do to in an instant. Quickly, she hit herself three times on the head and turned back into a lightning cloud. She floated out the door after Fry.

(5)

"There he is!" Jet whispered. "Atop that platform with the trapeze!" Jet handed out the gasmasks to his comrades. Spike and Jet put theirs on, but Haruko refused hers.

"Are you crazy! This guy uses nerve gas for God's sake!"

Haruko waved her hand dismissively. "Puh-leeze, I won't be needing it. Trust me."

Spike shrugged. "It's your funeral." he replied.

The spotlight flashed onto Fry. It was then that they noticed Fry was holding a gasmask in his hand. So it was time.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Fry began, "it is my pleasure to announce that this is the last performance you will ever see! Allow me to demonstrate!" Fry took a vial of nerve gas from his belt and cast it onto one side of the audience. The vial shattered and a white steam like substance began to fill that side of the tent. Almost immediately the portion of the audience began to scream and gag and fall over in their seats. All the while, Fry was laughing.

"Now I'm going to-"

Before he could finish, a shock went up his body. He whirled around to face a small black lightning cloud. But how could that be! Clouds did not come down to earth, and they most certainly were not that small! That or he was going crazy.

"I'm not gonna let you hurt all these innocent people!" the cloud said. Before Fry even knew what was happening, he was blasted with lightning again.

"Isn't that Serenity's voice!" Spike asked. "How the heck did she become a cloud!"

"I dunno, but if it is her, I wonder what she's doing up there." Jet replied. Wait a minute what was he saying!How could he be so calm when Serenity had somehow transformed into a cloud! How many more crazy things was he going to witness on this planet!

"I just hope that if it is Serenity, that she can stop Fry." Jet thought.

(6)

Serenity was indeed doing her best to stop him.She was shooting lightning bolt after lighting bolt at him, but no matter how many times she shocked him, he didn't seem to be taking any damage.Either way, she had no intention of letting him kill anymore people. She was going to do her best no matter what.

But Fry had had enough of this. He curled his hand into a fist and bashed Serenity on the head (or where her head should have been) three time. In a puff of smoke, Serenity turned back to normal. Realizing she had to attack, Serenity drew her fist back and punched as hard as she could. It connected with Fry's stomach and he fell off the platform. It would have been a fatal fall had there not been a net below him to break his fall. Quickly he got to his feet, and began to run for the tent exit.

And he would have made it, had Haruko not been standing in front of him.

(7)

"And just where do you think your going?" Haruko smirked.

Fry glared. "Get out of my way woman. I don't have time for you!" he snarled at her.

"You got three seconds to just give up. Three."

"I said move it!"

"Two."

Fry raised his fists up. "Last chance!"

"One."

Fry reared back to strike. "Fine then I'll just-"

BAM! Haruko's guitar whistled through the air and collided with Fry's face. He went flying across the interior of the tent. Before he even reached the other side, Haruko jumped across the room and swung again. BAM! Fry went flying into the air. Haruko crouched, then made a mighty leap into the air. She made a vertical swing with her guitar and sent her target flying into the ground, so hard he left an imprint in the ground.

Haruko landed on the ground nimbly and panted. "Phew! That was easy!"

(8)

Spike and Jet were staring at Haruko with wide eyes. This just couldn't be. Surely this pink haired woman had not jumped all the way across the room and in front of Fry before he got to the other side after she hit him. Even more, she could not have leapt that high into the air.

Haruko sauntered over to the two of them and smiled a cheesy smile. "So, you still think I'm not good at this?"

Jet stared at Haruko for a few moments, and then he fainted. Spike shook his head to clear his thoughts and spoke (or tried to at least).

"I… uh… um… you… uh…" was all he could manage.

Haruko patted him on the head. "Yup! I thought so!"

"Hey!" called a voice from the tent entrance. "Don't tell me I missed all the excitement!" Spike turned around to face an angry Faye and a grinning Ed. There were multiple bite marks all over Faye's legs.

"Dare I ask how you got those?" Spike asked inquisitively, pointing at her legs.

The shrew glared darkly at him. "I don't wanna talk about it." she growled.

Ed rubbed her stomach and pouted at Faye. "Ed still hungry!" she whined.

"Shut up Ed." Faye sighed. "Just shut up."

(Ending theme is The Real Folk Blues.)

To be continued…

Anyone got any ideas? I could really use some right about now. You don't want another long wait for the next chapter do you? Sorry if I sound impatient like this, but I'm open to suggestions anytime. If you got any, post a review and let me know!

-Randall Flagg2