GAHOMGIMSOSORRY!!!!
This took way too long…my apologies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yo! Spike-a-roo!"
He opens one eye and reflexively catches the object thrown at him. Sitting up, he regards the palm-sized box. Looking up at Junefrost, who's counting the amount of similar boxes inside the bag she's holding, he asks, "Are these cigarettes?"
She does a quick calculation. "280," she answers, then blinks and looks back at Spike. "No. It's Rhapsody."
He raises an eyebrow. "Which is…?"
"Something that you need to get into your system unless you want your body to start rotting away while you're still in it…"
Spike makes a face. "Got a lighter?"
She pulls a squat metal one out of a pocket of her camouflage messenger bag and tosses it to him.
"Keep it. It's yours."
He taps the box and removes a Rhapsody, examining it. "So, it's light purple with a light blue filter?"
She glares at him. "Don't insult it; just smoke it, for goodness sake!" Setting the brown paper bag down next to the center table, she removes all the Rhapsody boxes from it and stacks them into two towers; seven in one while the other had six.
Spike shrugs and lights up, inhaling the smoke, then blowing it out in a cloud. He stares into it for a few seconds.
"Honeysuckle?" he asks.
Junefrost replied without even looking up from her box arranging. "That's what I've been told they taste like."
"There are sparkles in the smoke."
"Which you can only see if you stare at it long enough. It smells like honeysuckle, too, did you notice?"
Spike stared at her for a few seconds, then inhaled cautiously. "Kind of like the gardens at Shangri-la."
"Kinda." She turned and yelled at the room door. "Oy, Leaf! Rhapsody's here!"
"Coming, Junefrost," he answered. She nodded to herself, then snapped her fingers. Reaching under the armchair's base, she pushed a button and removed the central core from the bottom. Walking over, she plunked it in front of Spike.
"Take your pick."
He looked at the wide arrangement of weapons inside the box, ranging from the latest guns and grenades to ancient bombs and flintlock pistols. He picked one of these up and examined it.
"Does this thing actually still work?"
Junefrost glanced at his choice. "Yes, but I'd recommend another one. That one's mostly for show."
Lefer walked in as Spike kept on picking through the weapons. Reaching over Junefrost's shoulder, he snagged a pack of Rhapsody, tapped it, and opened it. Using a lighter from his pants pocket, he lit up and inhaled gratefully, falling off the back of the sofa he was leaning on and landing upside-down on the cushion next to Junefrost. He exhaled at the ceiling fan, then glanced up and over at her, smiling.
"Gracias, chica," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "De nada, mi amigo."
Lefer then looked up at Spike and eyed the gun the bounty hunter was sighting around the room with.
"Not that one," the angel said. "It doesn't fire straight; the barrel's a little crooked. Junefrost hit the last person a little too hard, and I haven't had time to fix it."
Spike glanced over at Junefrost, who was innocently contemplating the fan with her dark chocolate eyes.
"Thanks for the warning," he remarked.
"About what?" Lefer asks. "The gun or Junefrost's temper?"
Spike considered her a little more. "Both," he finally answered.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bebop cruises down, skimming the clouds, and plunges through the layer. Trailing wisps of the fluffy water vapor, Lefer brings it in, to land about as gracefully as the hunk of metal could, at the docking port. Spike, Junefrost, and the angel all disembarked, disguised, armed, and dangerous. Leaning against the rail, Spike peered down at the ground, which was some 1000 feet or so below him. Junefrost grabbed the back of his shirt, hauling him off, saying quite loudly something or other about him being afraid of heights. He couldn't help but chuckle a little as she let go and allowed him to walk normally. The outfit she'd donned to match her disguise looked supremely uncomfortable and was totally out of character for Junrfrost. He supposed it matched Jule's though, and he couldn't help but sigh appreciatively as he watched her butt through her tight black mini-skirt. She stopped and glared back at him, as if she had read what he was thinking, then shook her head and kept walking, following Lefer down the docking port's landscape. Spike hurried to catch them, then leaned down to Jule's ear as he drew level with her.
"So, this colony is new?" he asked.
She glanced back and nodded, brushing away a handful of platinum hair, the last tre inches or so tipped with ruby.
"Sarali used to be a mining town, but after the industries bled the asteroid dry, they found out that the solar wind whipping through the canyons made for a great ride. So the neighborhoods wouldn't screw up the perfect waves, they built the city in the sky. The levels are arranged from the best off as the ones closest to the docking port to the worst off, below all the others, where all the junk from the higher levels falls." She turned forward again. "That's where our bounty is."
Lefer glanced back to find that his two companions were almost out of sight and dropped back to meet up with them. The blue and khaki clothes he'd chosen were cut in the same style he usually would wear, only in different colors. Despite the trench coat, he radiated calm and control, without a hint of shadiness. Unlike Spike, he'd allowed Junefrost to braid his hair, and so his chestnut locks were tied back with a blue ribbon to match his eyes. The pair of small, square spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose only served to accentuate the carefully cultivated aura of incompetence, which drew attention away from the gun he'd slipped into a shoulder holster.
Jule wore hers in plain sight, strapped to a pale thigh, just above the top of her knee-high black boots. Despite the short, extremely tight black top that allowed the world to examine her curves and the diamond butterfly she'd pierced her bellybutton with, Spike knew she was packing some serious extra artillery in the large, black leather jacket she wore over her clothes. Spike, or rather Alphonse, was also loaded with two guns, a couple of old-school fragmentation grenades, and rounds to reload with. Dressed in the clothes that suited him best: the jeans, jacket, and shoes of his former life, he felt in his element. Tapping out a Rhapsody, he lit up and trailed smoke as he followed his two companions. They walked farther and farther down, descending into levels that grew steadily gloomier and filthier.
Finally, Lefer stopped in the middle of the street (which was abandoned) and looked around. "He's close by," he says.
"Good," Jule mutters, "My feet hurt from all that walking."
Lefer laughs at her, then motions to a nearby bar. "Your turn. I believe he's in there. See if you can bring him out. I'll be here; Spike, you go around back."
The bounty hunter considers the angel. "What am I waiting for?"
A wicked smile spreads across his face. "One bounty head."
Spike raises his eyebrows but heads for the alley, while Jule walks toward the entrance to the bar. Lefer crosses to the opposite side of the street and melts into the shadows there.
Inside the building, Jule saunters nonchalantly up to the barkeep, well aware of the eyes on her. Sidling up to the bar, she leans on it, oozing feminity, and pulls out a picture of the bounty head.
"Have you seen this man?" she purrs. "I'm afraid I've got a bit of a score to settle with him, so…"
The barkeep eyes her, then grins. "Aye. He's over there." He nods at the corner. Jule straightens up and glances over her shoulder, considering the figure sitting at the table there. With a nod, she straightens up and un-holsters her gun, firing three shots at him. The first breaks the glass in front of him, and the other two punch holes in the wall beside the man's head. She smiles sweetly.
"I'd run if I were you."
He doesn't need to be told twice. Before she's even done speaking, he's bolted out of his chair and is scrambling toward the door. Jule sends a few more bullets after him, chasing him out of the establishment. Out in the street, he's intercepted by an apparently harmless young man, standing square in his path.
"Out of my way!" he snarls, moving to shove past him.
"It's not very polite to act so rudely," Lefer replies, an innocent smile on his face.
Before the man can react to his comment, he steps forward and slugs him. Reeling from the blow, he staggers into the alley. Leaning on the wall, he regains his senses, then sniffs the air in puzzlement. He only has time to say one word before he's laid low by Spike.
"Honeysuckles?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And there you go. Sorry it took so long; I had a case of typer's block. As always reviews are appreciated.