And that ends the first 'back story 2-parter'. Now it's back to the 'bounty of the day' format. The next one won't be until the end of the series (around chapter 12 or so), but there may be one or more chapters dealing with either Dex, Ed, or Jet's past along the way. And expect another appearance of Faye sometime in the future. So with that said, let's jam.
---Kouji Tamino
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Cowboy Bebop: The Second Session
Edward walked home from another failed bounty hunt, a look of utter defeat glued on her face. She drug her feet lazily, not wanting to pay up on the bet she made with Dex. He had claimed she would not only be unable to catch the bounty head, but also never find them in the first place. He was correct on both counts. And just to add some salt on the wound, it began to rain, as if the planet was spitting on her. She groaned, wishing she had brought an umbrella, or at least a jacket. "How the hell did Faye-Faye deal with this on days like this?" She sighed as she once again reminded herself of that horrible day running into a covered alley to wait and see if the rain would let up. The rain came so suddenly, and it had been such a nice day before. As she waited, shivering, her ears perked up at the sound of weak mewing. Slowly turning around, she squealed as she saw an abandoned black and white kitten in a cardboard box. "How cute!" Quickly walking over, she cuddled it against her cheek. "What kind of evil person could leave such an adorable little guy like you here!" Taking a good look at the feline, she smiled. "Edward is gonna take you home to Bebop-Bebop, yes she is! The others are gonna love you!"
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Session 7: Cats on Mars
Dex was suddenly jarred from his sleep, much to his chagrin, by a cheerfully squealing Edward. He had been having a nice dream, too… Sitting up, he figured that if Edward was going to wake him up like that, he was entitled to know what had her so… much more hyper than usual. "What happened, Edward? Did you finally manage to hack into the ISSP's main computer?" he asked, sarcastically. He recoiled as she suddenly shoved a kitten in his face. His stared at the kitten with a deadpan expression as it cutely pawed the air in front of his face. "…What the hell is this?" he asked, completely serious.
"It appears to be a kitten." Jet replied sarcastically, leaning down to pet it. "And it's really cute, Edward… What are you gonna name it?"
"Wait, what?" Dex raised an eyebrow, staring at the others. He began to note that Edward looked very similar to the kitten at the moment. "Who said that the cat was staying here?" To Dex, the situation was becoming very unsavory. "I don't like cats. Edward, I'm sorry but he can't stay."
As Edward began blubbering pathetically, Jet patted her on the head. "Don't worry, Ed…" He glared at the younger man, still addressing her. "He has no authority to make such a demand. The kitten can stay."
"But but but…" Dex sputtered, his expression becoming more downcast.
"Aw, another animal hater I suppose?" Jet asked, crossing his arms with a smirk. "Another thing you have in common with a guy I used to know."
"Correction…" Dex replied, standing up and waving his index fingers. "I like dogs." Smiling, he put his hands at his sides. "Dogs are awesome."
"We used to have a dog…" Edward replied, hanging upside down over the couch while holding the little cat. "We was quite possibly more intelligent than all of us." She frowned, losing her grip and landing straight on her head. The two men winced. Settling down, she sighed. "But he died about 3 years ago…" Quickly reverting to her usual manner, she grinned. "I'm going to call him Grand Kaiser Joseph William McDougal Kizel XV." She giggled as Dex's jaw dropped in reaction to the rather long name. "But let's just call him Gran for short!"
A sudden realization fell over the young man. "Hey, wait…" Dex began, scratching his head. "If he's your first cat, how he be the 15th?" Ed's little world was becoming increasingly more confusing by the moment. Perhaps if he could escape the ship in time, he could leave before his brain exploded from the insanity. He raised an eyebrow as the kitten was thrust into his face once again. "What now?"
"Gran wants a kiss." Edward replied, smiling. This was going to be so much fun. "Come on, please?"
"No way." He said, shaking his head. "You couldn't pay me to kiss that wretched feline." He scrunched up his nose at the wet animal smell. "Besides, didn't you find it in the streets? It's probably dirty and who knows what germs it's carrying."
Edward pouted. "You're mean! A simple yes or no would have sufficed!" Sniffing the kitten, she winced. "I do suppose he could use a bath, though… Stinky Gran! Dirty Gran!" Still holding the young cat, she traveled to the bathroom, not bothering to close the door. Jet quickly shut it, glaring at a disappointed Dex.
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A few minutes later, a naked Ed was bathing Gran, humming happily. After scrubbing the kitten thoroughly, she dunked it in the water briefly to quickly rinse it off. It began to scratch the air frantically, it's tiny claws scratching her face. "Ahh! Ow! Gran! Bad boy! Stop scratching Edward! Ed is just trying to get you clean!"
In the living room Dex, who was trying to go back to sleep, was soon once again disturbed, this time by frantic screaming and yowling. Sitting up in shock, listening in on the chaos that was currently taking place in the bathroom, he chuckled to himself, lying back down as he calmed. "I don't know who to feel more sorry for… Her or the cat…"
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Ed, fully clothed and now wearing two new band-aids on her face, walked into her room, plopping Gran on her bed. "You're a bad kitty!" She frowned, waving a finger. "Why did you scratch Edward? That really hurts Edward's feelings…"
"You talking to that dumb cat again?" Dex muttered, standing in the doorway. "Please don't tell me that you seriously plan on keeping that cat… It's bound to have an owner out there that misses it."
"Of course I'm keeping Gran! He was abandoned!" Ed pouted, lying on her bed on her side and cuddling up next to the kitten. "What do you have against cats anyway, you big jerk?"
"They're lazy, useless animals with bad attitudes…" Dex replied, a scowl on his face as he put a hand on his side.
"Kinda reminds Ed of someone she knows…" she said slyly, giving Dex look that said 'yeah, I'm talking to you'.
"H-hey… Don't say a word…" Dex glared, gritting his teeth. "And plus, cats look at you funny like they think they're better than you! I hate that!"
"If you're done ranting, it's time to head out." Jet replied, seemingly appearing behind Dex. "Our man is simply named Razor. Know one knows what he looks like, but he's a now infamous hacker. Remember when all the gates around Mars shut down for a few seconds a few months ago? That was him."
"Ooh, a challenge!" Edward's eyes widened slightly in excitement, having not pitted her skills against another hacker in quite some time. She gave Jet a curious look as she tossed Dex a communication device.
"Ed will contact us on those from the Bebop." Jet explained. "While she tries to locate and out-hack Razor, we'll try and find some leads. If we split up, we can contact each other on those things as well. Sorry Ed, looks like you're back to being cooped up on the ship."
"S'okay!" shouted cheerfully, stretching and wiggling like a noodle as she sat in front of her Tomato on her bed. "Edward is still excited! This is like the old days on Bebop-Bebop! To your battle stations!"
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"…So you have no idea where Razor might be?" Dez asked, sighing in exasperation. "Not even where he usually hangs out?" He had been searching for the past 2 hours and hadn't made any progress. It was becoming quite frustrating. At this rate, the entire trip would be a waste.
The man in a green suit shook his head. "Sorry. Nobody, or at least no one I know, has ever seen that guy." He shook his head again in disbelief. "It's like he's a damn phantom!"
"THIS IS JUST-- Grr…" Furuously whipping out his communicator, he screamed into it. "Jet! I haven't found shit! What about you?"
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Jet, who was in another area all together, raised an eyebrow. He smirked, resisting the urge to laugh at the rookie's impatience and short temper. "Nothing here. I keep getting all these rumors and fake descriptions… Reminds me of the last time I tracked a mysterious hacker…"
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"Oh yeah?" Dex asked, interested. "What happened then?" Maybe this wasn't hopeless, that is, if Jet actually caught them last time…
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Jet chuckled. "Why don't you try asking Edward?" he replied, giving him a hint.
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Dex smirked. "Ah, I see… So, Ed's a pretty good hacker?"
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"Perhaps one of the best." Jet replied, scratching his nose. "I really hope this isn't another one of those types of situations again, though… Otherwise, we'll be screwed." Their reserves were on low again and needless to say, Jet was just plain sick of eating cheap instant noodles. He would murder someone before he went through that again.
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Back on the Bebop, Edward was fending off an attack from this 'Razor'. Evidentially, every well known cowboy's computer was somehow being hacked into. Of course, Edward was not about to give in so easily. Rapidly switching passwords with a program she recently acquired, she attempted to break through Razor's defenses. The key word was 'attempting'. Whoever this 'Razor' person was, they sure had some damn good defenses! Edward took note of this, wondering what program they used. As she typed and hacked away, she suddenly felt a burning sensation in her goggles. Pulling them away from her face, she screamed in pain as they exploded. Small metal and glass fragments cut up her face a little. "Agh!" Growling, she tossed the goggles fragments away and began hacking the old fashioned way. "I'll show you, damn it!" As she ran through a list of possible passwords, Gran walked up and randomly tapped a few keys. Edward suddenly found herself gaining access to Razor's computer. Staring at Gran incredulously, she smiled. Perhaps it wasn't so random. "Nyah-hah! How about getting me into one of Razor's external devices?" Her happy smile quickly became a devious one. "It's payback time…" Ed and Gran teamed up, the former working with what she knew with the latter filling in the gaps. It was an odd team. And the absurdity of such a strategy seemed to be baffling their opponent as well. Razor's defense seemed to be wavering and Edward began to notice that she instinctively was no longer as on her toes about protecting her Tomato. A few clicks later, and both the monitor and keyboard were destroyed. The woman cackled evilly, surprising even herself. "Edward's a bad girl…"
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"What a complete and utter waste of time." Dex groaned, slumping on the sofa. "No clues, no leads… We didn't learn a damn thing!" Putting his head in his hands, he growled. "I swear, we come out doing worse every time."
"I managed to beat Razor!" Ed shouted triumphantly, pumping a fist into the air.. "With some help from Gran, of course!"
"Great, so the cat is a hacker…" Dex replied sarcastically. "Why the hell didn't you tell us that you were engaged in a conflict with Razor and you didn't tell us! We could have tracked the IP address to him and busted his ass!"
Pouting, she sighed, lowering her head apologetically. "Edward is sorry…" She had been so excited over her victory, she had forgotten to inform them until they had arrived. Needless to say, she felt very embarrassed.
"Don't worry, Edward…" Jet replied, walking in and sitting down. "I managed to find a little info that made me realize it would have been impossible to catch her."
"Her?…" Dex asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously and putting his hands on his knees. "Don't tell me you fell for her…"
"No!" Jet shouted, crossing his arms. "Razor, or Crystal Romani, was 15 years old… Her parents both died in an accident previously. She soon turned to hacking. She had lost an arm, a leg, and an eye in the accident that took her parents away from her, but her prosthetic limbs didn't hinder her at all."
"So, did you take sympathy on her?" Dex asked, glaring. "If she's over 18, you could get in real trouble if anyone finds out."
Jet shook his head, taking out an old newspaper "She died…" tossing the obituaries on the table, he pointed to her entry. "15 years ago… at the age of 17. No one ever knew that she was Razor except for one person… Her ex-boyfriend."
Both Edward and Dex's jaws dropped, staring at the page. "You… you're kidding right?…"
Do You Truly Know What's Real and What's Not?
