Chapter 2 – Raising the Curtains
"Vash! What the hell are you doing way out here?" Meryl Stryfe yelled at Vash the Stampede. Her friend, Milly Thompson, was glad to see their old acquaintance as she greeted him with a warm smile.
Vash scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, "Aha, it's a long story, but there's something I'm looking for."
"Oh, and what might that be?" Meryl asked, her tone full with doubt.
"No need to sound like that, I'm being honest here, I really am looking for something out here."
"Did you lose something, Mr. Vash?" Milly asked. Vash shook his head.
After thinking about it for a minute, he elaborated. "Not so much as lost something, but discovered something I need to find. I know it's definitely somewhere around these parts."
"I should have known..." Meryl muttered, balling her hand into a fist, "Everywhere we find trouble, you're not too far behind."
"Whoa, whoa! Hold on! I didn't do this; in fact, I got here after this damage was done! Promise!" Vash was defending himself like a five-year-old would in the situation.
This conversation continued on casually. However, the manager of the establishment had slipped away to make a phone-call. Of course he would, after hearing the name of a possible bounty just casually sitting around his restaurant. Enough damage had been done by crazy criminals as it was, and this new guy was most likely the Humanoid Typhoon that was just getting posters put up in nearby areas.
"It's been nice catching up with you ladies, but I need to get back to my search."
Before the girls could say anything, Vash was already on his way out the exit. Meryl and Milly exchanged glances, shrugged, and went back to their business.
"Um, Sir?" Meryl voiced her confusion as the manager was nowhere in sight. A few moments later, he walked out of the kitchen.
"Ah, sorry. Had to make a quick phone call. Now, where were we?"
–
The Boobies that the Bebop crew was heading to now was very close to a busy city. Docking at the restaurant, Faye took her own ship, the Red Tail, and was heading down to the city. She told the crew it was for recon, but everyone knew she was just going to blow off the cash she had received for aiding in the capture of Alex Roller.
"Well, forget her. Just focus on the mission at hand." Jet reminded Spike, who was casually strolling off the Bebop and into Boobies.
"You don't have to tell me twice. Ed, tell me if anything Volnus-like is going on while I'm in there."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Ed responded, saluting Spike as he left.
–
In a bustling shopping mall, where flashing neon signs were plastered everywhere, and people broke out into fights inside shops having sales. Even in this day and age, humans were humans. Hell, even aliens were like humans.
It was here that a young girl, looking to be about thirteen, was wandering by herself. Nobody really questioned what this child was doing all by herself, since she had an air about her that made it seem as if she knew what she were doing anyway.
This girl was, in truth, a bounty. A bounty worth one million woolongs.
This girl was a member of Volnus.
It may be hard to believe that a mere child is a member of a five-man band of incredible thieves and has yet to leave any trail behind her, but perhaps that absurdity is one of the reasons she remains elusive. Among her peers, she simply went by the name "Cherry". Her blonde hair was tied into two pig tails that were similar in shape to a drill.
She was scanning the mall with her cat-like emerald eyes. This mall was to be Volnus' next target.
The leader had explained it earlier, "We're gonna make a huge scene at the mall, preferably by manipulating some of those hungry customers down there for the sales. It'll catch the attention of the people in the nearby Boobies, and other shops for that matter, making our true targets that much easier! So, Cherry, I want you to scout out the area for us first. We're sending you with a couple of explosives and a smoke bomb. Use them wisely, and remember!"
Don't get caught!
Cherry plastered a huge smiler on her face and bit down on the collar of her denim shrug to stop from squealing.
'The boss is going to be so proud of me after this operation!' she thought excitedly. 'But...'
Her cat eyes narrowed as she remembered that approximately thirty feet behind her, another woman from Volnus was following her to act as her mother in the event she might be caught.
'I'm not going to get caught though, I don't need her to babysit me!'
The young girl decided to slip into a crowded make-up shop, which was having a sale like most of the other shops in the mall. The woman who was tasked with following Cherry sighed and followed her into the crowd.
In this crowd was Faye Valentine.
Getting shoved every which way trying to bring what she had picked out to the cashier, she was growing more and more irritated.
More people continued to flood the already small shop, leaving very little space to walk. It'd be amazing if anyone was even able to leave the room anymore. Despite this dense crowd, Cherry was still able to move nimbly through.
Natural, for a professional burglar.
"Hey, watch it buddy!" Faye scolded, even though she didn't know who she was scolding.
Cherry saw this woman, Faye, and snickered. Seeing she was getting aggravated quickly, Cherry's mischievous nature couldn't resist. She purposefully bumped into a man next to her with a good deal of force, pushing him, in turn, into Faye.
This caused Faye to drop one of the items she was trying to drag up to the cashier.
Lipstick.
Cherry grinned slyly and reached down to grab it, stuffing it in her pocket, and making her way out of the crowd.
Just a little fun on the side was all she thought it was. As she left the shop, she strolled away snickering to herself. Little did she know...
"That brat!"
She was dealing with a bounty hunter. Faye pushed and shoved people out of her way, coincidentally the person who was following Cherry as well, and made her way to the exit. After fumbling out of the crowd, she looked left and right, eventually spotting Cherry striding through the mall like she was queen of the world. Faye made a dash towards the young girl who had just pocketed the lipstick. Right behind her came the woman following Cherry around.
"This isn't good." she muttered to herself as she trailed behind Faye by about ten feet.
Cherry was unaware that she had been spotted and was continuing to casually stroll through the mall. In a few moments, someone had grabbed her arm.
Her immediate thought was that it was a cop and her little heart nearly stopped. After turning to see it was just the woman from the make-up shop, she let out a sigh of relief.
"It's just you..." she whispered, though Faye heard her.
"Yeah, just me! Why don't you give me what you took back there."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Cherry blatantly lied, turning her head away and puffing out her cheeks.
Just then, a third voice chimed in, "Is something the matter, Ma'am?"
It was the woman following Cherry. Cherry grimaced at the thought that this situation was enough to warrant "back-up" but quickly swallowed her pride.
"Mommy!" she called out to the woman.
"Mommy?" Faye parroted.
"Yes, this is my daughter, Sherry."
Cherry felt another grimace coming on.
"That so... Well, your daughter was being a pick-pocket, and I'd like what she stole back."
The woman looked sternly at Cherry. "Sherry," she pretended to scold, "You know you shouldn't steal things. Give this lady her stuff back."
Cherry puffed out her cheeks again as she pulled the lipstick from her pocket and held it out towards Faye. Faye snatched it and placed it with everything else she was going to buy.
"Ah, I don't think I caught your name." she said to the woman claiming to be Cherry's mother.
"Oh? My apologies. I'm Fujiko. Fujiko Mine."
'Using your real name at a time like this...' Cherry thought to herself, 'What an idiotic woman.'
"Fujiko, huh? I'm Faye." As she said this, she looked back at the stuff she had in her hands. "Ah, I have to go pay for this!"
As she stormed off in the opposite direction, Fujiko and Cherry let out a small sigh of relief. Until, in the distance, as Faye stormed, they heard her.
"Spike better have another bounty on his hands by the time I get back."
Fujiko smacked Cherry on the top of the head. "See, you got yourself caught by a bounty hunter. You can't get cocky like that, so just stick to the plan!"
"You gave your real name to a bounty hunter, you know. What if she finds out we're a part of Volnus?"
"That, at least, is impossible." Fujiko looked back at the bounty hunter as she re-entered the awfully crowded make-up store. "Let's return to the recon, shall we?"
Before Cherry could answer, another issue presented itself.
"Excuse me ladies," a gentle voice reached their ears, "Did I happen to hear that you were a part of Volnus?"
The girls were facing away from the owner of the voice. Before turning on her heel, Fujiko put on a smile. "Volnus? You mean that gang of criminals making a fuss lately? Surely you must be mistaken, you think delicate little ladies like us could – ?"
"Cut the crap, Fujiko Mine." the voice switched from gentle to rough like it was nothing. "I want you to take me to the leader of Volnus. I'd like to have a word with that bastard."
"..." Fujiko and Cherry were both silent.
How could they so carelessly screw this up?
But Cherry was sure there was no one within ear shot of their conversation at the time. It was almost as if this mysterious person came out of thin air.
"You'll refer to me as Mars. Now, I'll say it one more time," a large grin spread across the mysterious person's face, "Take me to the leader of Volnus."
Cherry put her hands behind her back, trying to act scared. In reality, she was fiddling with a belt under her shirt to grab the smoke bomb. As soon as she had it in her grip, she tapped Fujiko's arm.
Mars, the mysterious person, watched them closely. This person knew what they were planning, but allowed them to follow through nonetheless.
Fujiko and Cherry jumped backwards as Cherry let the smoke bomb go. As the area filled with a thick fog, allowing the two to escape, the mysterious person shifted their voice from rough to that of an old woman.
"Help!" this person screamed, "It's Volnus! Help!"
Volnus.
That name was undoubtedly going to grab the entire mall's attention. Cops were quick to respond to the name at least. In a panic, Cherry pulled out one of the explosive as she was running alongside Fujiko. She threw it behind her, and within seconds, a circle of fire engulfed a small area, at least enough to divert attention away from themselves and stop anyone who might be pursuing.
Already past the wall of fire, though not pursuing anyone in particular, was Faye Valentine.
"So Volnus is somewhere in this mall. No doubt now, huh? Maybe I should tell Spike..." Faye pondered on this for a moment. "Nah. I'll catch 'em myself."
Fleeing the scene was Mars. This person had no interest in chasing down Volnus. They knew they would run into the group again in due time. So for now, they simply walked away.
Inside the food court of the mall, a floor under where the explosion had just occurred, people were in a panic. The only ones not panicking were three men at one table. One was carrying a pistol and wearing all black. One was looking at the ceiling with a goofy grin and wearing a green jacket. And the last one was dressed like a samurai.
"What do you think is going on up there?" the one in the green jacket asked. The man wearing black took a bit out of a burger, while the samurai remained silent. "Hm? Oh, come on. Let's go see what's going on."
–
Earlier.
"Sir, there's a phone call."
"Tracey, when is there ever not a phone call? I'll take it." a gruff old man picked up the phone on his desk.
"If this is about Alex Roller, he's in our custody. Nothing to worry about. What? Ah, the manager of the place, huh? Well we sent over the representative for your insurance, they did get there right? Yeah. Yeah? Vash the Stampede? You don't say! Well, well, well. We'll inform the officers in the surrounding area, don't you worry!"
Slamming the phone back on its receiver, the man swore under his breath.
"A lot is going on Tracey. A lot. Bring me a beer, will ya'?"
"Right away, Sir."
"They're all becoming pretty focused on one area. I wonder if Volnus is actually planning to strike soon."
–
Stuck in traffic.
"Apparently there was an explosion and a report about that group just down there in the mall, so the flying area is getting backed up around here while they make sure no more members of Volnus is flying around." QT explained to Dandy, who moaned in boredom and irritation.
"Just freakin' great. The thing we were looking for is literally right under our noses and we can't go grab it."
"There's no guarantee that it is that group, though?"
"It's gotta be!"
–
On the first floor of the mall, there were panicked screams and officers reminding patrons to remain calm. An explosion had just gone off on the third floor, but there was no sign that it was blatant terrorism, and nearly twenty minutes had passed with no more activity. The officers were starting to assume whoever set off the explosion had already left, but the shoppers refused to calm down.
In the middle of this panicked crowd was a man dressed as a cowboy, sitting upon a horse. Tipping his cowboy hat, he looked upon the people running around him.
"This looks like a job that requires justice. Well, I'll handle it, none of you pretty people have to worry!" the man boasted confidently. Though no one was paying attention in the slightest.
One would think the horse would warrant attention.
As this man continued to scan through the crowd for any suspicious figures, an elevator opened up nearby, and out came pouring more panicked people from higher floors. Hiding amongst them were Fujiko and Cherry.
"What a mess," Fujiko complained to herself, not even bothering to stay quiet since no one would hear anyway. "I hope you're prepared to get a scolding from the boss."
The thought of the boss scolding her nearly brought Cherry to tears. She greatly admired the boss and wanted nothing but his praise. At first she was content with completely blaming herself, but then she remembered Fujiko giving her real name to the bounty hunter.
"You prepare for a scolding too!" she whined childishly.
The elevator they had left from opened again, allowing more people from the higher floors to evacuate. Among this group was Faye. She quickly closed the distance between her and the Volnus girls without realizing it. And once right beside them...
"Oh, it's you two!"
The two girls froze. They still weren't sure if this woman had noticed their true identity yet.
"This is crazy, right? Any idea what the hell just happened?"
Cherry sighed in relief as Fujiko hurriedly tried to think of something to say.
"No, all I heard was an old woman scream Volnus, and then that explosion. It's scary, really!"
Fujiko nudged Cherry, and Cherry reluctantly hid behind Fujiko to play the part of the frightened daughter.
"This city has always been such a safe environment, too." Fujiko added.
"Well, you don't mind if I follow you guys out, right? We should stick together, don't you think?"
It wasn't that Faye couldn't handle anything that might come her way alone, and it wasn't that she knew who these two were either.
There were two reasons for her saying what she did. One was that these two might genuinely need help. Two was simply a hunch.
Her woman's intuition said these two were suspicious.
On the third floor, many if not most of the shoppers had already flown down flights of stairs or packed themselves like sardines in the elevators. Few remained on the third floor unless they were trapped or helping others evacuate.
Though, three individuals were neither of these. In fact, they had come from the floor below just to see what all the commotion was.
"Hey, Lupin, should we really be hanging around this sight? Some people are staying it's the work of that Volnus, and I'm sure we look suspicious standing around here." a man wearing black said to a man in a green jacket.
The man named Lupin looked over the scene intently.
"Alright, boys," he said, "Let's head to the first floor then."
–
"Busy day, is it not, Sir?"
The gruff man downed his fifth glass of beer after getting a report about Volnus from the officers on duty at the mall.
"Busiest yet. Let's hope it's worth it."
"It should make for an interesting story when it's all said and done, Sir."
The man laughed, "There's no doubt these events will be..."
"The story of the century!"