And I'm back. Sorry for the delay, I'm busy with school plus I'm writing several other series at the same time. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up a lot faster than it took to get this one up.
-Kouji Tamino
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Cowboy Bebop: The Second Session
A few days after that horribly screwed up attempt at catching Sosilla, Dex sat quietly on a familiar looking sofa. "Why me? Why did I have to end up wandering aimlessly with a misfit pair of bounty hunters?" He sighed as a certain 'free spirited' woman stared at him with a grin on her face. "Oh, it's you. Y'know, I had a perfect record of catching bounty heads before I met you… I think running into you was a curse for screwing around with so many beautiful woman's hearts…"
"You're a playboy?" Ed asked, glaring at him. She had shed her boots and socks in favor of going around in bare feet once again. "Jet-person told me to stay away from people like you…"
"That's good advice…" Dex said, grinning. "Trust me Edward, I'm bad news…"
"Jet says you're actually a big ol' softy!" she replied cheerfully, giggling.
"Shut up!" he snapped, sitting up. "It's your damn fault I lost the bounty! You ruined my spotless record!"
"Aww, is Dex-person still mad at Edward for getting carried away last time?" the woman whined, pouting.
Her pathetic expression almost got to him, but he held his ground. "I sure am!" He turned around so he wouldn't have to face her. "Now stay the hell away from me."
"Hey, leave Edward alone." Jet said in her defense. "Believe it or not, her… unorthodox methods can bring in some big bounties." Turning to the girl, he smiled. "C'mon Ed, let's leave Mr. Emo to lie in his own angst…"
"I am not being Emo, you old man!" Dex screamed, standing up in his seat. He sighed as he realized that both of them had left the room. He growled, kicking Ed's Tomato in anger. He raised an eyebrow as a bounty head showed up on the screen. "Hello, what's this?" He read the description in interest. The man in question was a bit slim in girth, middle aged, with thin blonde hair and a lazy look in his ice blue eyes. Wearing a navy blue suit, his hair was short and in a neatly trimmed bowl cut. Resting on his face were a pair of round glasses. "Hmm, let's see… 'Zed Powers…' Ew, what a weird name… Think I'll just call him Zed. 'Former Prime Minister of Ganymede. Wanted for kidnapping an ambassador from Titan. Reward of $95 million woolongs. Last seen on Calisto.' So, the psycho bitch and the old geezer were holding out on me, huh?" Grinning evilly, he began to sneak his way towards the hangar. "Well I'll fix them… I'll go out and catch that bounty by myself and ditch them!"
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Session 2: Bad Dog, No Biscuit.
"WHAT?" Jet screamed in disbelief. "He up and left? And he left with my Hammerhead?"
Ed nodded, seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. On the contrary, she knew just what was going on. She just had her own way of dealing with it. "Yep, yep! Dex-person done flew the coop! Probably to catch the big bounty on my Tomato!" she replied, picking up her laptop and looking at the screen.
"…I'm gonna kill the bastard." Jet said calmly. "Unappreciative little-- Wait, how big is this bounty?" Jet asked, leaning in to see for himself. His eyes widened. "Damn. Ed, I need you to go down to Calisto, get this bounty, beat the shit out of that asshole Dex, and bring him back here for me, okay?"
"But Edward's ship is still broken…" Ed whined, slumping sadly.
"Yours was in the best condition, though." Jet explained, smirking. "It's weapons are still offline, but it should be flyable… Just don't crash it too much, okay?"
"Yay!" she cheered, hopping on the man's back and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Jet-person!"
"That's nice, Ed but…" Jet sputtered out, gasping for air. "You're choking me!"
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Radical Edward sped across the inky depths of space, her superior speed putting her right behind Dex and the Hammerhead. She knew not to alert him of her presence, so she slowed down just enough to tail him. "I've got you now…" She was dressed in a light blue long coat, snow boots and earmuffs. Jet had warned her about the cold and dangerous people lurking there. She had prepared herself accordingly. "You're a bad, bad boy, Dex…"
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As Dex arrived on Calisto, he shivered. He was in his plain old normal clothes. "Damn, should have checked to see if there was any winter clothing…" In his excitement, he had completely forgotten about the cold weather. Rubbing his arms furiously for warmth, he growled. "Well, I won't accomplish much by just standing here… I'd better see if I can get any info on Zed…" He looked around starting to walk around town as he searched for a place where he could get people to talk.
"Why, hello there!" a brunette drag queen shouted, waving and wearing feminine winter wear. "Looking for a good time, cutie?"
"Not with you…" the man shuddered, starting to walk faster. After a while, he happened upon a store. He walked in, seeing if he could find some cheap winter clothes, when a certain red head began to tail him from behind…
"Ed found you…" Edward whispered, giggling to herself.
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As Dex looked around for a good clothes deal, he suddenly got the feeling of someone peeking at him from a hiding place. He had a pretty good hunch about who it was, too… "Ed, I know you're stalking me." he said in a deadpan voice, turning to her. She was hiding in a clothes rack. "How long have you been following me, anyway?"
"Since the beginning!" She replied, jumping out pouncing on him. "Edward caught you! Now give up!"
Dex chuckled to himself softly for a moment. It soon grew into a full out laugh. He smirked evilly at her. "No way. You already screwed up my last bounty hunt, and this one is WAY too big for me to let you fudged it up again!" He struggled to get up, but was quite surprised to find that he couldn't budge her at all. "God damn, Ed… Just how much do you weigh?" This question led to him getting a punch in the nose. "OW! What the hell?"
"Never ask a lady about her weight…" Ed replied, a proud expression on her face. "Faye-Faye told me that!"
"…Who is this 'Faye-Faye' you keep talking about?" Dex asked, unable to go anywhere anyway. He might as well learn more about this whole weird situation.
Ed suddenly got a wistful look on her face. "Faye-Faye… was my idol. She told me everything I know… How to not let men take advantage of me, how to use my body to get what I want without degrading myself, how to use a gun, how to be a good cowgirl…" She sighed, looking away. "I miss her so much…" she said softly, temporarily losing her usual speech patterns.
"May I ask…" Dex gulped, getting a lump in his throat. "…what happened to her?"
The woman's expression became more pained. "About 5 years ago, she and Jet-person had a fight about Spike-person. A few days later, she up and left. We never saw her again."
"Who's this Spike?" Dex asked, quite interested now. And while he would never admit it out loud, this new side of Edward was… quite cute.
"Ed would rather not talk about it…" she replied softly. Just thinking about that night was tearing her up inside. To talk about what had actually happened to Spike… The less she spoke of it, the better.
Dex nodded, understanding her reply. "That's okay… You don't have to talk about it of you don't want to." He stared at her for a moment. "Now, um… Could you please get off of me?"
"…Promise you won't run away?" Edward asked, giving him a pleading look. To tell the truth, this position was getting pretty uncomfortable for her as well. But still, she couldn't have this guy running around and going off with the bounty.
"…I promise." Dex said under his breath, tired of being on the floor. He sighed in relief as she stood up. "Thanks…" He suddenly got a devious look in his eyes, grinning. "Seeya!" he shouted, running out of the store quickly. To his luck, there was a sudden crowd of people that he disappeared in.
By the time Ed had made it outside, he had disappeared into the crowd of people. "Damn…" After making her way out of the crowd, Ed closed her eyes, taking out her hidden gun and holding it up. "Don't make Edward do this, Dex…"
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Meanwhile, in an old shack in an unknown location, Zed was sitting in a chair. Dressed in a light blue dress shirt, navy blue slacks, a red tie, and black shoes. His now unkempt hair was now down to his shoulders, and he was sporting a goatee. Sweat stains were apparent under his arms, and his glasses were bent. Lazily swinging his gun around, he stared at his kidnapping victim through his bloodshot eyes, bags under them. "…God damn it, this is so boring…"
"Wh-what are you going to do to me?" the frightened ambassador, Fredrick Rhodes, asked. He was a portly man, dressed in a brown suit, matching shoes, and balding with gray hair. He was tied up to another chair, sweating profusely. He found that he couldn't keep his body from shaking. He had come to Ganymede hoping to make negotiations to keep a war from breaking out, but here he was in the middle of a kidnapping! What was going to happen to him? Would he make it out of this alive or not? Questions like this and more were spinning around in his head. He swallowed, gaining a bit more courage to ask his kidnapper another question. "…And why are you doing this?"
Zed's left eyebrow twitched. He glared at the older man, annoyed at his cowardice. "…Do you know who I am?" he asked his own question, chuckling as he got a reaction from spinning the gun on his finger. "Don't worry, the safety is on… I'm not stupid. Anyway, I'll tell you who I am. I used to be the Prime Minister of Ganymede. Under my term, I brought that entire planet out of an economic slump. And how do they repay me? They kick me out of power. Sure, the methods I used to get the people back on their feet were a bit 'unethical' in some peoples eyes, but it was a very desperate situation! Ungrateful bastards." Punching the wall, he grit his teeth angrily before smiling at Rhodes. "As for what I plan to do to you… I'll kill you, and send the video back to Titan. The death of an ambassador for peace will spark a war and the planet of Ganymede will go to Hell once again!"
Fredrick's eyes widened in horror. "Y-you're insane! You'll be killed once they find you!" This man couldn't be serious about going through with this crazy plan, could he? This was really bad.
"Maybe I will get killed, maybe I won't…" Zed said in a soft, yet menacing voice. "As long as Ganymede is dragged down with me, I couldn't really give a damn…" He stood up from his chair, putting the gun in it's holster, and walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Frederick asked his captor. He shivered as the cold air rushed in.
"I'm going to go relax…" he replied, turning to face him. "This might be my last day alive, remember?"
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As Zed walked into the bar, he took a seat on a free stool. "Bartender, get me a Bloody Mary." Glancing over, he raised an eyebrow in interest as a gorgeous looking tanned woman with red hair winked at him. "Well hello there. You like older men?"
"Oh yes…" Ed said in a sultry voice. She had decided to temporarily forget about Dex and find Zed before he did. "Males my own age are sooo immature." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I want a real man, not a little boy…"
Zed's excitement rose. "Well I'm here, aren't I?" He moved his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive manner. "How about I buy you a couple drinks and then I teach you what it means to be a real woman? What's your name, by the way?"
"Oh would you really?" she said in reply to his offer, seductively licking her lips. "My name is Françoise…"
"Mm, that's a nice name…" Zed replied in compliment. "So, um… What do you like to drink?"
'Françoise' smiled, crossing her legs. "Eh, I'll just take a margarita. Make it watermelon."
"Will do, Françoise…" Zed said with a perverted grin. He was going to have some fun tonight…
2 hours and 17 drinks later, Zed was drunk off his ass. Edward, on the other hand, had a high tolerance for alcohol. She was a tad tipsy, but nothing that would affect her much. A drunken blush could be seen on her cheeks. "So… Are you ready for me?"
Zed stared at her, his vision blurred. "I sure am… Think you cun hadthle a real man?"
Ed chuckled, crossing her arms. "Well, think you can keep up with me?" she bluffed. She was actually still a virgin. She couldn't let her 'victims' know that though, now could she? Leading him into a backroom, she set him down in a chair and began taking off her coat and earmuffs. She sat on his lap, facing him. Putting her arms around him, she began to grind slowly against him. Showing no resistance, she allowed him to kiss her, slipping his tongue into her mouth. She suppressed the urge to shudder, but she soon calmed down after thinking about the big reward. Her eyes widened as he slipped a hand up her shirt. However, she used this as an advantage. While he was busy playing with her, she wrapped her arms around and a slipped on a small device. Drunk off his ass and preoccupied with 'Françoise', he didn't even notice.
After a few minutes, he had passed out. Leaving him there, she gathered up her things and left, getting ready for 'Phase 2' of her plan.
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As she sat outside the store she was at earlier, she watched the screen on her tracking device that she had slipped on Zed. She was waiting until he stopped for an extended period of time. When that happened, she would mark the location and wait until he left. She would then hurry over, free the ambassador, and then wait. She would then take Zed by surprise and capture him. After all that was over, she would then find Dex, punch him in the face, and bring both him and the Hammerhead back to the Bebop. She sighed to herself. "And after that, I'm going to brush my teeth and take a bath... I feel so dirty!"
Or at least, that's how it was supposed to go. When Edward arrived and untied Frederick, she found to her great annoyance that Dex had tailed her. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I followed you." Dex explained, taking out his own gun with a grin on his face as he walked into the shack. "Nice idea with the tracking device, by the way…" His expression becoming serious, he pointed his gun at Edward. "Now Ed, I'm going to have to ask you to drop your gun, step away from the ambassador, and leave."
The woman gasped, her eyes widening. Slowly taking her gun out of it's holster and putting it on the ground, she walked away as she stared at him with teary eyes. "W-why are you doing this, Dex-person?"
"Ed, I already told you... I'm not a very good person." Dex replied softly, staring at her sadly. "Being a cowboy isn't all fun and games, you know. There can be some pretty nasty things out there in the world. Not everyone is your friend."
"Damn you…" Ed said angrily, tears running down her face. "You're terrible…"
"Just what the hell is GOING ON HERE?" Zed screamed as he walked in, pulling out his gun. "So, you're a bounty hunter, Françoise? Should have known. I'll have to kill you first."
Ed stared in horror as he pointed the gun toward her. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. She whimpered as she heard the sound of a gun going off, but was quite surprised to find out that she hadn't been shot. She opened her eyes and screamed in shock. "Oh my god, Dex!" She quickly caught him before he fell to the ground. She gasped as her hands were suddenly stained with blood. "But… why?"
Dex opened one eye, smiling. "Well, when you looked at me like that a couple minutes ago, I couldn't just let you die…"
"Well, this is just perfect…" Zed said with a smirk. "I can kill the ambassador, a random dude, and a cute girl at the same time! Then Titan will really be pissed!" He pointed his gun at the ambassador and quickly gave him a new hole in his forehead. "2 down, one to g--" He gave Ed an odd look as she glared angrily at him. He gasped as her eyes suddenly began to look like an angry cat.
Without giving him time to react, she pounced on him, biting and scratching and punching him furiously. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT? YOU BASTARD! HE WAS JUST AN INNOCENT OLD MAN!"
"Agh! Crazy bitch!" Taken aback by her reaction, he finally recovered, taking a couple wild shots at her. Most of them missed, but he managed to graze her left side and shoot her in her right arm. He kicked her away and aimed his gun at her, laughing maniacally. "You know, I liked you! Too bad I'll have to blow your brains out!"
Edward let out a blood curdling scream, taking out the hidden gun in her boot and blowing several fresh new holes into Zed's torso. She shuddered in horror as his bloody fell into a heap onto the floor, blood flowing freely from his body. "Oh my god… I just killed someone…" She cried out, hugging her sides. "Why did things have to turn out this way?" Slowly standing up, she looked at the three… no, two dead bodies on the ground. Wait a second. She gasped as Dex hugged her from behind. "…Dex-person is alive?"
"Yeah, although I don't deserve it…" he admitted. He hugged her closer to him. "I'm so sorry, Ed… This is all my fault."
Her eyes narrowed, not knowing what to say. After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke up. "Yeah…" she said bitterly, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "It is…"
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A few hours later, they were back on the Bebop. Both and Dex were getting bandaged up. "I'm really sorry about all this, Jet… I've caused you and Edward nothing but trouble."
"Actually…" Jet smirked, shaking his head. "It's been too quiet around here lately ever since Faye left and Spike di--" he quickly stopped himself, not wanting to upset Ed anymore than she already was. "And while Ed was traumatized by today's events, I think it was a good growing experience for her… Wouldn't you say so, Edward?"
"Yeah, whatever…" Ed replied, standing up from the couch. "Thanks for bandaging me up. I'm going to my room." Slowly trudging to her room, she plopped onto the bed and stared at the wall. "Damn it all…"
Life Goes On, Cowgirl…
