Sorry Sir, There's No Smoking Here
Disclaimer- I do not own Cowboy Bebop or Ed, Faye,Jet, Spike and Ein. I wish I did, but I am reduced to typing a meager fanfic. That is all.
Claimers- Ha ha! Korey, Tamochi, and Shang are mine!
"Uhhhh."
A soft moan escaped the boy's lips as he slowly regained consciousness. His head felt heavy and swollen, he reached his hand up to touch the side of his face that hurt the most, and he found he could not. Trying to move it resulted in a small tinkling metal on metal sound, and as Korey arduously opened his watering eyes, he saw a thin glint of metal.
Those bastards handcuffed me to the freaking table!
He found that his eyes wouldn't allow much light in, and was partially thankful that he was being kept in a dark room. Further examination concluded that he had been laid on a leather couch in one of the empty offices of Tamochi's building, there were tons of them anyway. The blinds were pulled shut, and through the cracks in them, the boy could see an orange glint of light.
It must be afternoon. So I've either been asleep for just a night, or maybe it's been longer than that.
He looked around as best as he could, which didn't get him far considering both hands were subdued. In front of the couch he was on was a heavy metal coffee table, the three-dimensional designs in the side left plenty of holes and squares and such in it. And whoever had tied him up had used that to their advantage, having laced the cuff chain through one of the holes and attaching the cuffs to each of the young man's wrists. But strangely, this wasn't what worried him the most.
Tamochi is going to kill me as soon as he's done with me, and I'm just digging my grave deeper by pissing him off.
Screw it, I haven't been running this long to get stopped by that monster, I'm getting out of this hell hole.
Indeed, he wasn't caught unprepared by his current state, it was just another puzzle to him, and he knew how to solve it. The frames on his glasses were splintered for protective purposes, and it wasn't obvious to anyone but him because of how well the pieces fit together. He simply carefully slid the intricately carved one of the bunch out, (having to bend his arms and pull his sore head forward to do so) and worked with it in his teeth until the cuff popped open with a snap of metal.
He sat up on the couch and rubbed his wrists, then tried to stand. Though a little wobbly, he was able to move, and Chenli slowly made his way to the office door. With utmost care and as quietly as possible, he delicately turned the knob.
Damn! It's locked!
He reached for his handy lock pick, and began to diffuse the door's lock. That's how Shang found him when he barged in to check on his hostage. The door opened inward and knocked Korey to the floor. The brute of a man stepped in and looked down at the frail boy in glasses.
"So, my little pet, just where do you think you're going?"
Edward probably would have gone on with the singing and dancing if the rest of the crew had been so inclined as to let her.
They weren't.
"Ed! You gotta calm down!" Spike instructed.
"Yeah," Faye put in, having landed the Redtail behind Spike's Swordfish and walked up behind the two as she curiously watched Edward do a quadruple summersault.
"I've said this before, I know," (Spike rolled his eyes) "But Earthlings are the weirdest people in the solar system. You can't act normal here, Ed, you have to act right."
"No", said Spike, "We want her to act normal and blend in here."
"I mean, we don't want her to act normal for herself."
"Huh?"
"Ed's normal is different from other people's normal."
"Oh," said Spike, finally understanding. "Ok, so Ed, stop this," he grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her into a standing position. "And just, stay off the ground, walk upright."
"And no squealing," Faye added.
"-or rolling."
"-or singing."
"-or making up words."
"-or getting electrocuted in any way, in fact, don't touch anything at all." Spike concluded lighting a cigarette.
"-and don't talk to anyone either."
"-and if you see who we're looking for, come and get me or Spike, don't you try to get him yourself, understand?"
Edward looked up at her comrades and sighed.
"Aiya, this won't be as fun as Ed thought it would."
"That's something else," Faye jumped, pointing at the girl, "Stop talking of yourself like 'Ed did this' or 'Ed did that', it's really strange, it confused us when we first met you, and it will confuse other people here too.
Because Edward is Edward.
Spike remembered that part with a grin. He remembered how surprised they were to find the great Radical Edward was not a six foot tall, basketball playing, cross-dressing alien superhuman, but was in fact, and thirteen year old girl. Yet he had to give the kid props for getting the rumors to that extent to begin with. And she certainly lived up to the skills part of the reputation, if nothing else.
"But if Ed is not supposed to talk to people here, how is Ed going to confuse them?"
Faye's eyes narrowed at this, "Don't get smart with me you little punk! I'm doing this for you, after all."
"Oh yes Faye," Spike snorted, "You're just so noble."
"Don't you start!" she snapped back.
"Come on," said Spike without faltering, "Let's get this over with."
The trio walked around the ships and got on the elevator placed at the back wall of the hanger. Spike pushed the button marked LOBBY and tried not to laugh at Ed's attempt to "contain the regular Edward". Her eyes were wide in wonder and she kept twitching her shoulders instead or talking or jumping for joy. It was really rather pathetic, especially when her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she started to drool a bit.
The cylinder-like elevator booth traveled down it's glass tube and to it's destination. Spike raised an eye at the hustle and bustle inside the station-like building. Through the gaps in people swarming throughout the establishment, he could see the exit to the street. He tapped Edward on the shoulder and when she looked up at him he pointed to it, Edward nodded and started walking when the elevator opened.
They were half-way to their destination when a station hand stopped them. He was a very polite and stern looking man dressed in the company's uniform. He had short brown hair, was vaguely tall and had stopped in front of the trio to block their way to the door.
"Excuse me sir, but there is no smoking in this building, Public health codes, I'm sure you understand."
"Oh," said Spike, a bit confused. "No problem, I was just leaving anyway." Spike went around the man and continued toward the door, but the hand ran ahead and blocked his move toward freedom once again.
"Sir, please extinguish you cigarette before leaving the building, if anyone were to see you, we could face serious problems."
"But…" Spike stood there dumbfounded.
"O for the love of God!" Faye exclaimed and ripped the cigarette out of Spike's mouth, she then threw it to the ground and smashed it into the floor with her foot. Grabbing Spike's arm she dragged him around the hand once again and briskly walked to the door with Edward running and her heels and Spike angry at the waste of a perfectly good cigarette.
"You better stick with what your wife wants, sir." the station hand shouted," She just might keep you out of trouble."
Spike ripped around at this comment and roared, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"Come on, Honey," said Faye through gritted teeth, "We don't have time for this."
"Aiya indeed says Edward." Ed sighed.
"What did I tell you about that?" Faye asked her, while still dragging Spike along.
"Not to do it."
"Remember it then."
Finally making it to the street outside the cursed hanger's station, the three stopped to gather their wits. The question of where to start their search was at the top of two of their minds. The third was eying the people walking by, as the stared at her absence of shoes and socks.
Guess which one the third was.
"Ed, where do hackers like to hang out?" Spike asked, blissfully getting another cigarette out of his front pocket and lighting it.
"Edward liked Earth, but too many rocks fell and too many things blew up. I don't know about Ganymede hackers, Edward is an Earth hacker."
"Ok… so we could start with Tamochi, he's supposed to be the guardian of the little troublemaker, isn't he?"
Spike pulled out his communicator that all the Bebop members had, and started to tell Ed to look up the location they needed, but then remembered she was standing right beside him and put it back in his jacket.
"Ed, look up Tamochi's place of residence."
"Ed can't unless she finds a connection."
Spike rolled his eyes, "then find one."
Seeing a telephone booth, Ed ran to it and ripped off the box's lid that contained all the wires. She disconnected two and twisted them into a plug for Tomato, then sat in the middle of the sidewalk and began typing like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Spike and Faye just watched with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah hah! Two blocks from here is Bad Man's apartment, but he also has a loft downtown.
Bad Man is doing well."
"What do you mean?"
"Ed brought up Bad man's bank account, he has over 200 million wulong inside. He is veeeey rich."
"Great," smirked Faye, "You two go to one location and look for the kid, and I'll take the other."
Spike glared at her, "Fine. We'll take the closest one, You can walk, Faye."
"With a body like this, are you kidding me?" she asked curtly and after taking a brief look at the computer to get the address, stepped off the street curb and walked briskly in the opposite direction.
"I'll call you if I find anything out!" she crooned.
"It's all fine and good to call, but that doesn't mean I'll answer." Spike grumbled back.
"Come on, Ed."
Edward picked up Tomato and after carefully taking the make-shift plug out of it, she wrapped the rope around it and flipped it unto her back, where she tied it cross-like around her shoulders. Spike stood there patiently until she was situated.
"So where is this place at, Ed?"
"Apacochi street."
"And that is where?"
"Just follow Ed."
Spike shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hands in his pockets, portraying a very relaxed walk as he followed Edward to God only knew where.
Ok, so that's all for a while, I wanted to go into more than I did but it would be better for me to divide it into two chapters. I'm going on vacation so don't expect any new updates for a week or two.
MalletWielderofDoom- Thank you for putting it down for a while, though if Korey getting hurt makes you angry, you might not want to read the next chapter… heh heh.
Crazyhanyoued- Nay, you are not the only reveiwer, I have three other regulars and dedicated Ed fan's as well.
Faye-Valentine-cbbebop- though I appreciate the thought, I have a different idea involving Ed and Korey's encounter, but thank you anyway.
Kelli- Thanks for the constructive critism, I know that no one talks a lot, but they all have no problem in complaining or yelling at each other. And if I don't make them say certain things, the story won't go along as smoothly.
Sanima- Who among us does not adore the noble Spike? I cannot name one. But he is quirking funny and of course he and Faye will take care of Ed.
Thanks everyone!
Disclaimer- I do not own Cowboy Bebop or Ed, Faye,Jet, Spike and Ein. I wish I did, but I am reduced to typing a meager fanfic. That is all.
Claimers- Ha ha! Korey, Tamochi, and Shang are mine!
"Uhhhh."
A soft moan escaped the boy's lips as he slowly regained consciousness. His head felt heavy and swollen, he reached his hand up to touch the side of his face that hurt the most, and he found he could not. Trying to move it resulted in a small tinkling metal on metal sound, and as Korey arduously opened his watering eyes, he saw a thin glint of metal.
Those bastards handcuffed me to the freaking table!
He found that his eyes wouldn't allow much light in, and was partially thankful that he was being kept in a dark room. Further examination concluded that he had been laid on a leather couch in one of the empty offices of Tamochi's building, there were tons of them anyway. The blinds were pulled shut, and through the cracks in them, the boy could see an orange glint of light.
It must be afternoon. So I've either been asleep for just a night, or maybe it's been longer than that.
He looked around as best as he could, which didn't get him far considering both hands were subdued. In front of the couch he was on was a heavy metal coffee table, the three-dimensional designs in the side left plenty of holes and squares and such in it. And whoever had tied him up had used that to their advantage, having laced the cuff chain through one of the holes and attaching the cuffs to each of the young man's wrists. But strangely, this wasn't what worried him the most.
Tamochi is going to kill me as soon as he's done with me, and I'm just digging my grave deeper by pissing him off.
Screw it, I haven't been running this long to get stopped by that monster, I'm getting out of this hell hole.
Indeed, he wasn't caught unprepared by his current state, it was just another puzzle to him, and he knew how to solve it. The frames on his glasses were splintered for protective purposes, and it wasn't obvious to anyone but him because of how well the pieces fit together. He simply carefully slid the intricately carved one of the bunch out, (having to bend his arms and pull his sore head forward to do so) and worked with it in his teeth until the cuff popped open with a snap of metal.
He sat up on the couch and rubbed his wrists, then tried to stand. Though a little wobbly, he was able to move, and Chenli slowly made his way to the office door. With utmost care and as quietly as possible, he delicately turned the knob.
Damn! It's locked!
He reached for his handy lock pick, and began to diffuse the door's lock. That's how Shang found him when he barged in to check on his hostage. The door opened inward and knocked Korey to the floor. The brute of a man stepped in and looked down at the frail boy in glasses.
"So, my little pet, just where do you think you're going?"
Edward probably would have gone on with the singing and dancing if the rest of the crew had been so inclined as to let her.
They weren't.
"Ed! You gotta calm down!" Spike instructed.
"Yeah," Faye put in, having landed the Redtail behind Spike's Swordfish and walked up behind the two as she curiously watched Edward do a quadruple summersault.
"I've said this before, I know," (Spike rolled his eyes) "But Earthlings are the weirdest people in the solar system. You can't act normal here, Ed, you have to act right."
"No", said Spike, "We want her to act normal and blend in here."
"I mean, we don't want her to act normal for herself."
"Huh?"
"Ed's normal is different from other people's normal."
"Oh," said Spike, finally understanding. "Ok, so Ed, stop this," he grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her into a standing position. "And just, stay off the ground, walk upright."
"And no squealing," Faye added.
"-or rolling."
"-or singing."
"-or making up words."
"-or getting electrocuted in any way, in fact, don't touch anything at all." Spike concluded lighting a cigarette.
"-and don't talk to anyone either."
"-and if you see who we're looking for, come and get me or Spike, don't you try to get him yourself, understand?"
Edward looked up at her comrades and sighed.
"Aiya, this won't be as fun as Ed thought it would."
"That's something else," Faye jumped, pointing at the girl, "Stop talking of yourself like 'Ed did this' or 'Ed did that', it's really strange, it confused us when we first met you, and it will confuse other people here too.
Because Edward is Edward.
Spike remembered that part with a grin. He remembered how surprised they were to find the great Radical Edward was not a six foot tall, basketball playing, cross-dressing alien superhuman, but was in fact, and thirteen year old girl. Yet he had to give the kid props for getting the rumors to that extent to begin with. And she certainly lived up to the skills part of the reputation, if nothing else.
"But if Ed is not supposed to talk to people here, how is Ed going to confuse them?"
Faye's eyes narrowed at this, "Don't get smart with me you little punk! I'm doing this for you, after all."
"Oh yes Faye," Spike snorted, "You're just so noble."
"Don't you start!" she snapped back.
"Come on," said Spike without faltering, "Let's get this over with."
The trio walked around the ships and got on the elevator placed at the back wall of the hanger. Spike pushed the button marked LOBBY and tried not to laugh at Ed's attempt to "contain the regular Edward". Her eyes were wide in wonder and she kept twitching her shoulders instead or talking or jumping for joy. It was really rather pathetic, especially when her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she started to drool a bit.
The cylinder-like elevator booth traveled down it's glass tube and to it's destination. Spike raised an eye at the hustle and bustle inside the station-like building. Through the gaps in people swarming throughout the establishment, he could see the exit to the street. He tapped Edward on the shoulder and when she looked up at him he pointed to it, Edward nodded and started walking when the elevator opened.
They were half-way to their destination when a station hand stopped them. He was a very polite and stern looking man dressed in the company's uniform. He had short brown hair, was vaguely tall and had stopped in front of the trio to block their way to the door.
"Excuse me sir, but there is no smoking in this building, Public health codes, I'm sure you understand."
"Oh," said Spike, a bit confused. "No problem, I was just leaving anyway." Spike went around the man and continued toward the door, but the hand ran ahead and blocked his move toward freedom once again.
"Sir, please extinguish you cigarette before leaving the building, if anyone were to see you, we could face serious problems."
"But…" Spike stood there dumbfounded.
"O for the love of God!" Faye exclaimed and ripped the cigarette out of Spike's mouth, she then threw it to the ground and smashed it into the floor with her foot. Grabbing Spike's arm she dragged him around the hand once again and briskly walked to the door with Edward running and her heels and Spike angry at the waste of a perfectly good cigarette.
"You better stick with what your wife wants, sir." the station hand shouted," She just might keep you out of trouble."
Spike ripped around at this comment and roared, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
"Come on, Honey," said Faye through gritted teeth, "We don't have time for this."
"Aiya indeed says Edward." Ed sighed.
"What did I tell you about that?" Faye asked her, while still dragging Spike along.
"Not to do it."
"Remember it then."
Finally making it to the street outside the cursed hanger's station, the three stopped to gather their wits. The question of where to start their search was at the top of two of their minds. The third was eying the people walking by, as the stared at her absence of shoes and socks.
Guess which one the third was.
"Ed, where do hackers like to hang out?" Spike asked, blissfully getting another cigarette out of his front pocket and lighting it.
"Edward liked Earth, but too many rocks fell and too many things blew up. I don't know about Ganymede hackers, Edward is an Earth hacker."
"Ok… so we could start with Tamochi, he's supposed to be the guardian of the little troublemaker, isn't he?"
Spike pulled out his communicator that all the Bebop members had, and started to tell Ed to look up the location they needed, but then remembered she was standing right beside him and put it back in his jacket.
"Ed, look up Tamochi's place of residence."
"Ed can't unless she finds a connection."
Spike rolled his eyes, "then find one."
Seeing a telephone booth, Ed ran to it and ripped off the box's lid that contained all the wires. She disconnected two and twisted them into a plug for Tomato, then sat in the middle of the sidewalk and began typing like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Spike and Faye just watched with a raised eyebrow.
"Ah hah! Two blocks from here is Bad Man's apartment, but he also has a loft downtown.
Bad Man is doing well."
"What do you mean?"
"Ed brought up Bad man's bank account, he has over 200 million wulong inside. He is veeeey rich."
"Great," smirked Faye, "You two go to one location and look for the kid, and I'll take the other."
Spike glared at her, "Fine. We'll take the closest one, You can walk, Faye."
"With a body like this, are you kidding me?" she asked curtly and after taking a brief look at the computer to get the address, stepped off the street curb and walked briskly in the opposite direction.
"I'll call you if I find anything out!" she crooned.
"It's all fine and good to call, but that doesn't mean I'll answer." Spike grumbled back.
"Come on, Ed."
Edward picked up Tomato and after carefully taking the make-shift plug out of it, she wrapped the rope around it and flipped it unto her back, where she tied it cross-like around her shoulders. Spike stood there patiently until she was situated.
"So where is this place at, Ed?"
"Apacochi street."
"And that is where?"
"Just follow Ed."
Spike shrugged his shoulders and stuck his hands in his pockets, portraying a very relaxed walk as he followed Edward to God only knew where.
Ok, so that's all for a while, I wanted to go into more than I did but it would be better for me to divide it into two chapters. I'm going on vacation so don't expect any new updates for a week or two.
MalletWielderofDoom- Thank you for putting it down for a while, though if Korey getting hurt makes you angry, you might not want to read the next chapter… heh heh.
Crazyhanyoued- Nay, you are not the only reveiwer, I have three other regulars and dedicated Ed fan's as well.
Faye-Valentine-cbbebop- though I appreciate the thought, I have a different idea involving Ed and Korey's encounter, but thank you anyway.
Kelli- Thanks for the constructive critism, I know that no one talks a lot, but they all have no problem in complaining or yelling at each other. And if I don't make them say certain things, the story won't go along as smoothly.
Sanima- Who among us does not adore the noble Spike? I cannot name one. But he is quirking funny and of course he and Faye will take care of Ed.
Thanks everyone!