OMG! I swear, if people dont LOVE this chapter, I am a complete an utter failture. () This is one of my favorite chapters and I think some of you probably know whats gonna happen. This chapter is so awesome that I just had to name it after one of my favorite Oingo Boingo songs...lol. Anyway...I could hardly sit on my chair when I wrote this...I was cracking up! oo; but that's just me...ENJOY!
Chapter 8:
Only a Lad
"I'm walking down the street! Down the street I'm walking! Street street tastes like nasty feet! Nasty! Nasty!" sang Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV while she marched down the busy Martian streets with her computer balanced on her head and her dog Ein at her heels. Ever couple of steps, she'd make a liquid dance move or start moonwalking. She was the strangest girl you'd ever seen; her bright orange hair and black shorts made her look like a little boy. She was on her way to Emp's house on request of Spike, but she wasn't allowed to tell Jet where she was going. "115! 115! 115 is nice and clean! Not 116 or 114 because 115 is in between!"
A right turn here, a left turn there, and finally she came to where she wanted to be. She put her face close up to the apartment building's sign and placed her finger under the words as she read. "We…st Side…Apartments. West Side Apartments!"
She turned to her dog Ein and smiled. Ein barked in agreement with her. Now, all they had to do was find apartment number 115. "We foooound it Ein!"
She dashed to the front door and ran up all the steps with Ein racing closely behind her. After a few minutes and many, many stairs, Ed and Ein were panting from all their racing; they didn't know that Emp's apartment was at the very top.
"115…115…it's not…to be…seen." She panted and Ein's ears went back as he whined. She continued up a few more flights of stairs and when they came to the top, she stopped and stared disappointedly at the wall in front of them. "…It's not here, Ein."
They stood, discouraged when she looked to her right and jumped for joy. There it was! Apartment number 115! She leapt at the door and sang, "Wow! Ein! We made it! We made it!"
Loudly, Ed knocked at the door, singing more of her songs. "We are here! We are here! Open! Oooooopen! It's time for tea so open for meeeee!"
Spike opened the door only to have Ed in his face. "Ed and Ein made it, Mr. Spike Spike! We maaaaaaaade it!"
"Wha…ED! Be quiet! I thought I told you not to tell the whole world! Now get in here!" Spike growled in surprise and frustration. He yanked Ed and Ein into Emp's apartment and quickly locked the door behind them. "Yikes…this may have been more trouble than it was worth."
"Trouble, trouble! Toil and double!" Ed sang some more.
"It's 'Double, double, toil and trouble'! Now be quiet!" Spike growled again, but looked up when he heard laughing. However, it wasn't Ed's annoying child laugh; it was Emp cracking up at how he was reacting to Ed. Then, he scratched his head and sighed, "Oh yeah…Ed this is Emp. Emp, this is Ed: our hacker."
"Hello, Ed." Emp laughed.
"Howdy, Emp Emp." Bubbled Ed, bouncing over to Emp.
"Who's your friend?" asked Emp, pointing to Ein and he barked. Ed picked him up and shoved him to Emp.
"Oooooooh! This is Ein! He's a data dog-puppy-doggy!" Ein didn't squirm; all he did was smile a doggy smile at Emp.
"Ed! Cut it out! Emp doesn't want a dirty dog!" Spike sneered and he ran over to snatch Ein away, but Ed held Ein away from Spike.
"Ein isn't dirty! Ed gave him a bath this morning!" she giggled and Ein barked again.
"Alright…now can we get down to business?"
"Yes! Yes!" she announced and began to set up her homemade computer in the middle of the floor. She slid on a pair of goggles that were hooked up to her computer. Then she asked, "What is Ed looking for for?"
"I need you to hack into Big Shot's database and tell me who posted the bounty on Emp Nemio."
"Right right! Sacred sacred information!" she sang and she began to type. The way she typed was the oddest thing: her fingers were all over the place and her arms moved up and down in a wavelike motion. She swung her head back and forth and Emp let out a chuckle when she stood on her hands and typed with her feet. As if she weren't strange enough, she now resembled a monkey.
"Did you find anything, Ed?" asked Spike, not as angry as before. He had given into the thought that Emp was greatly amused by her and he felt that a good laugh was just what Emp needed.
"Mark, lark, Clark, spark, park!"
"What does that mean?"
"Um…the man man who posted Emp Emp's bounty waaaas…Mark Sabatino!" said Ed, pointing to a small picture of Mark. He had short black hair and small beady eyes, which seemed to burn fear into your heart. Quietly, all stared at the picture for a while, until Spike asked Ed, "Who is this 'Mark Sabatino', Ed?"
"Let Ed check…" she said. Spike looked at Emp to see if she recognized him, but she shook her head and shrugged. Ed continued, "It says here that he's a CEO of Sirocon Space Ship Parts Distribution."
"So he's just a suit? What would he want with framing Emp for some random murder?" pondered Spike. Emp sat there, staring at the picture of Sabatino. Memories of when she was an ISSP officer flashed back into her head. It couldn't be the same guy, could it?
"He's also the head of the Bacala Syndicate." Emp said, shakily. Spike looked back at her and asked, "Didn't you say that you didn't know who he was?"
"I….I didn't remember what happened until now." She whimpered.
"What happened?"
Emp took a deep breath and continued, "A few months before I had left the ISSP on account of my injury, my superior sent my partner and I to go undercover and check out this smuggling op led by the Bacalas. In fact, this was the same undercover job where I got shot and had to go on pension. Well, anyway, my partner and I split up, but I just happened to stumble across Sabatino making a deal with one of the executives at the ISSP. So, I ran to find my partner and told him. We made a run for it, but some of the syndicate members were on our tail and that's where we got shot."
"We?" asked Spike, confused. He had heard her mention that she had gotten shot, but not her partner.
"Yes. They shot my partner in the back and me in the shoulder. I got out of the building, but my superior insisted that I stay off the job for a couple years while the wound healed." Emp sighed, and moved her right shoulder around in circles, wincing as slight pain shot through her shoulder and up her neck.
"What happened to your partner?"
"He…um…" she looked down at the ground.
"I understand." Spike said and waited for Emp to continue. She sat in silence for a moment, trying to remember the chain of events that happened after that.
"I didn't hear about the murder of the ISSP executive, though. I'm not quite sure about that, but I can tell you that the reason I'm being framed is because I'm the only living witness of the scandal that would send him to jail and end his syndicate." Emp continued to stare at the ground. Spike looked at Ed, who was just playing around on her computer; she hadn't been listening at all, but it didn't matter anyway.
"Ed. Can you do more research on the recent ISSP murder?" he asked her. She turned around and gave him a gagging face.
"BLEAAAH! Ed doesn't like research!" she exclaimed. Spike rolled his eyes and decided not to plead with her. They'd be better off if he got Jet to do the research; Jet was a former ISSP officer anyway so he knew who to ask the questions to. The real question was, however, how to get Jet to help out a bounty head.
"Never mind then, Ed. You can go back to the Bebop now." He said, but Ed had fallen asleep. He let out a big sigh, stood up, and walked over to the door. Emp followed him and asked, "Where are you going, Spike?"
"I'll go and talk to Jet and see if he can get more information on what you said about the smuggling op involving the ISSP. He might be able to get us information, that is, if he agrees to."
"Is Jet one of your colleagues?"
"Yes; one of mine, but not one of yours. Remember that." He said and walked out of her apartment, closing the door behind him. Suddenly, he opened the door again, looked at Emp and said, "Emp, I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."
"I'll be here." She smiled, but after she heard Spike's footsteps fading down the staircase, she continued, "…I hope."
Emp! You pessimist! eE; Okay...I'm sorry people..the next chapter's not anymore interesting than a board on a fence, BUT it's important to move things along. I mean..it took me so long to get through it b/c it was so boring. That's probably why I made it only only 969 words...ee; So..I'll see you guys next monday! Btw, monday's are my unofficial posting date now. :P Wewt...later!