Howdy. It's been a while. What was the deal with the last chapter? It was a mix of writer's block, a chapter revealing a few new things about Edward, and an idea I had that didn't turn out as well as I thought it would. Hopefully, this chapter will make up for it. Here we have another 'Ballad of Fallen Angels' type session, if you know what I mean… A little bit of warning, this one has a few of the disturbing moments that I've recently made my trademark.

---Kouji Tamino

-----

Cowboy Bebop: The Second Session

In a dark, dimly lit room of an underground shelter on Earth, a woman with very short, spiky black hair stared lazily at her computer screen, with her ice blue eyes, dressed in a black bikini top and slightly tattered baggy jeans. The room she sat in was quite sloppy, the floors covered in chip bags, soda and beer cans, and cigarette butts. The room smelled heavily of tobacco and old clothes, which were also strewn all around. She scrolled through the list of IP addresses, searching intently for just the right one. An annoyed scowl was on her face, as the job was becoming quite tedious. She just wished she could go and strangle that bitch and just end it all. She shook her head, licking her lips in anticipation. That would be much too easy of an end to her… She wanted to have a little fun with her first. She chuckled in her sultry voice as she found what she was looking for, her angry expression turning into a twisted smile. "…Sin found it."

-----

"Ooh… Pretty…" Edward cooed, staring up at the sky as spores from the planet's terra-forming plants fell down from the sky. She walked backwards as she took the sight in, nearly bumping into Dex. "Whoops!" she giggled, stepping forward. "Sorry!"

Chuckling, Jet shook his head as he watched Ed. "Careful, Edward, or you might go blind", he replied, jokingly. He knew that Edward was in no danger of 'Venus Sickness', as they had made several trips to Venus before. For Dex, however, this was his first trip, and he was quite confused by Jet's joke.

Ignoring his confusion for the moment, he nudged the female member of the Bebop a bit. "Hey Ed, when we get back to the Bebop, could you teach me some of those crazy Jet Li moves?" He made random hand gestures and kicking motions to emphasize .

"You mean Bruce Lee"? Edward asked in amusement, laughing a bit. "And it's called Jeet Kun Do…" Smiling, she hopped on his back. "Of course Ed'll teach you, Dex-person! Although Edward is afraid that she can't teach you much… Ed learned most of what Ed knows from watching Spike-person and weaseling info out of him!" Giggling, she hopped off after the man made several failed attempts to get her off of him. "But don't worry! Edward will teach Dex-person all the basics at least!"

"All right, kiddies." Jet said with a smirk. "We're down here to collect our fee from that last hunt." Glancing toward Ed, he raised an eyebrow. "He is still secure, right?" He'd be damned if they lost this one, especially after coming this far.

Conking herself on the head repeatedly, she ran back into the Bebop and came back a few moments later, dragging along a tied-up and struggling man, she saluted her much older comrade. "Everyone is here and accounted for!"

"Mew!" called Gran, crawling towards the woman.

"Whoops!" Edward shouted. "Sorry! Now everyone's here!"

-----

Session 9: Devil Went Down to Venus

Dex yawned as he caught a card containing his share of the bounty head, a third of a million wulong. "Just another day in the life of a cowboy…" Sighing, he stared at his card solemnly. "But these small bounty heads are gonna kill me…" he whined, scratching his head.

"If you're gonna complain, don't come anymore." Jet growled in annoyance, one eye open. "Me and Ed are perfectly satisfied with the fact that we can get paid in these hard times, so one less mouth to feed would make us perfectly happy."

"Well whatever…" Dex muttered, seemingly not affected by Jet's words at all. "Let's get back to the ship so Ed can teach me some of those kick-ass moves!"

"Yay!" Ed shouted, doing cartwheels towards the ship as her other companions walked normally. "Edward has a pupil!" Giggling excitedly, she stopped in front of Dex. "You may call Edward 'sensei', Dex-person!"

Slowly glancing toward Jet, the younger man gave him an expression that said 'What in the world have I gotten myself into?'. The older man simply shrugged, smirking. "Have fun, 'young grasshopper'…" He chuckled, trying to hold back a much louder, much more obnoxious laugh. Putting his hands behind his head, he began to walk at a quicker pace, leaving a befuddled Dex to the devices of his new teacher.

Smiling, Edward held up the black and white kitten. "Dex-person, your first assignment is to give Gran a kiss!" she shouted jokingly. "Come on, lover-boy, pucker up!"

Dex's jaw dropped. "N-no way!" he shouted, backing away. Edward stepped forward, pushing the feline towards his face. "You can't seriously expect to do that, do you? Keep that thing away!" He burst into a run, Ed chasing him around. As Jet watched on in amusement. "Damn it, Jet! Help me out here!"

Laughing with a hand on his forehead, Jet shook his head. "No can do! You should be able to handle this on your own, right?" His expression became playfully devious. "Beside, I wouldn't want to interfere in your 'training'…"

-----

A little while later, on the Bebop, Edward finally began giving Dex a few fighting pointers. Dex wore a white 'wife-beater' a-shirt and blue sweats, while Ed of course, wore the usual. "Dex-person, before we begin, I would like you to try and hit Edward…" she replied, giving him a grin as she got into the familiar stance she often saw Spike use.

"Um, I really don't think this is such a good idea anymore, Edward…" Dex replied, crossing his arms. "No offense to you, I know you are a very good fighter, but I have a strict 'no striking women' policy."

Pouting, the redhead stuck out her tongue. "Ew, how sexist. Go ahead, Dex-person, try and hit me!" Smirking, she began to hop from foot to foot. "I think you'll find it quite hard to do so…"

Sighing, Dex reluctantly gave in to humor her for a bit. He wouldn't actually try and hit her though, just try and get a soft 'fake' punch in. As he made his attack, however, he found that it difficult to even accomplish that. "Wh-what the hell!"

Dodging Dex's punches with eases, Edward chuckled. "Not so easy, is it? Edward is water!"

"What?" Dex asked, stopping as he raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Dex-person, you have to learn how to flow like the water does!" Edward explained, moving around fluidly to prove her point. Of course, already having a very flexible body helped. Realizing this, she giggled. "Of course, Edward can't really expect you to be able to move quite this much like water…" It was with that comment, that the power suddenly went out, the Bebop becoming almost pitch black. "Whoops! Don't worry, Edward will fix everything!" With that, she leapt out of the room they had been training in, Dex soon following.

As he entered the living room, he bumped into Jet. "Ow! Sorry… Where the hell did Ed go?"

"Off to fix the power." Jet said with a snort. "She's done it so many times, she can easily navigate the dark hallways. It's amazing, really…" As they talked, an invisible gas seeped through the air vents, making the two men extremely drowsy. They both fell to the floor in a heap, two men in gasmasks popping out from their hiding places. They wasted no time in tying the men up.

-----

Meanwhile, Edward was wandering in the halls, feeling her way around for the door to the room where the power was controlled. She yelped as she suddenly pricked her finger on something, quickly pulling her finger back and sucking on it. She could taste the drop of blood that had formed there. Closing her eyes, she quickly lost consciousness.

-----

As Jet and Dex awoke, they found themselves restrained and weakened from the gas in their system, staring up at two figures that Jet did not recognize, but whom Dex knew quite well. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he asked angrily. "And where's Edward? I swear, if you bastards--"

"Hey, calm down…" Lance replied, a sneer on his face. "Our boss is taking care of her…" Chuckling lecherously, he continued. "…Very good care of her…"

Growling, Jet struggled to get free. He was making no progress at all, much to his surprise. "What in the--"

"Oh, right…" Lance began, chuckling cruelly. "We know about your cybernetic arm, so we used a special rope that's been bred with metal to make it stronger. You won't be getting out of that."

Grunting, Drake stared down at Jet. "A little old to be playin' cowboy, don't you think, old man?" He had never seen this guy before. Must've not gotten involved in the last confrontation.

"I'm younger than I look!" The older man shouted in annoyance. "Can still kick your ass, you son of a bitch…" He groaned as he was given a kick to the side for that comment.

Picking up Gran, Lance smirked at the kitten. "I hate cats…" Tossing the kitten into a burlap sack, he tied it closed and tossed it in a corner. He looked to Dex smugly, who could only glare at him.

-----

Edward awoke, slowly opening her eyes. "…Where is Edward?" She soon discovered that her arms and legs were tied to something, and she was lying down on the floor of the utility room with her limbs being stretched out. "Is anyone there?" She gasped as she suddenly felt a blade on her cheek, the sharp end dangerously grazing against her skin.

"It's been so long, Edward… I can't really see you clearly, but I still recognize those smooth legs…" The mysterious figure, who was a woman, allowed her fingers to brush against the other girl's thigh. Speaking in a deep, seductive voice, she continued to molest Edward as she named off body parts. "…those soft lips, that neck…" Using her free hand, she gently squeezed the neck of the redhead. Reaching down, she grabbed Edward's left breast and squeezed. "…and your wonderful, all natural breasts." She chuckled deep within her throat as her victim squirmed wildly. "Careful, my dear…" she warned, the knife still planted against Ed's cheek. "We wouldn't want you to--" She raised an eyebrow as the struggling caused Edward to cut herself on the blade. Standing up, the woman sighed. "Now didn't I warn you?"

"Please…" Ed pleaded, wincing in pain from the cut. The ropes were also burning her ankles and wrists. If she was about to die, this would be a horrible way to do so. "Tell Edward who you are… She wants to know why you are doing this."

The woman pouted. "You really don't know who I am?" Turning back on the power, she smiled as the lights came on. It was the woman who had been plotting earlier. "Recognize me now, honey?"

Edward's eyes widened in shock. "S-Sin? Is that really you?" Deep feelings of fear arose within her. "What do you want?" Blood from the cut on her cheek was flowing down her face. It wasn't deep, but it was bleeding just the same.

Shaking her head, Sin got back on her knees, leaning in toward Edward's face. "Now look what you've done… You've ruined your lovely face." Closing her eyes, she leaned in closer and licked Ed's cheek free of blood, her mouth lingering over the cut to suck some more of the crimson body fluid out. "Mmm… I hope it doesn't scar your perfect face…" Her sultry tone suddenly became vicious, her voice turning into a low hiss. "I want to see the look on your unscratched face as your body lies broken and lifeless on the ground." Kissing Edward on the lips, the other woman too shocked to resist, she laughed. "So stay safe until that day comes, love…" Putting a cloth doused in an chloroform on Ed's face, she watched as she lost consciousness again.

-----

When Edward awoke, she was no longer restrained. Standing up she gasped. "I hope Dex-person and Jet-person are okay!" Quickly running down the hallway, she panted heavily, hoping for dear life that her friends hadn't been harmed. As she entered the living room, she found Jet and Dex tied up, but for the most part, they were safe. "Oh, thank goodness…" she began, holding back her tears. "…I'm so glad…"

-----

Now untied, Jet and Dex checked up on Ed. "Are you alright?" Jet asked, concern on his face. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he stared at the cut on her face. "You okay, Edward?"

"She's back… someone who feels that Edward betrayed them has returned…" Falling to her hands and knees, she burst out crying. "Why do these things keep happening to me? I can't…" Looking up at Jet, she answered his question. "No, I'm not okay… Sin wants to kill me… And I don't know if I'll be prepared to take her…"

"So, the people from our past have allied themselves with one another, huh?" Dex replied, frowning. "This is just great. As if we didn't have enough problems."

Ed whimpered cutely. "Wait, Lance-person and Drake-person are back, too? Awww…" she curled up on the floor, wrapping her arms around herself. "…Where's Gran?…"

"Shit!" Dex exclaimed. "I forgot!" Running over to the burlap sack, Dex opened it up and pulled put Gran, who had passed out due to lack of oxygen. "Those bastards…" he muttered, handing the small creature to Ed. "I'm sorry…"

Staring down at her little kitten sadly, Edward hugged it against her cheek. "I think he'll be okay… He just needs rest." Setting him down on the couch, Edward began to shake violently. Her pupils dilated as she snarled, punching a dent into the wall to her right. "Someone's gonna pay… Edward's pissed!" Jet and Dex stared on in shock, their jaws dropping.

Hell Hath No Fury…