Vicious

[Bean Bandit]

As Vicious sat, the bird cawed softly. Lin began to speak.

"The Report was directly sent to Vicious from Callisto. The contact is requesting an...arrangement for some red-eye."

One of the old men sitting in the front of the hall eyed Vicious suspiciously.

"Why is he requesting YOU to make the trade?"

[Carthrat]

<-Control... control...->

"...we fought on Titan together. We were in the same unit."

[Bean Bandit]

Another of the group of wizened elderly men looked at Vicious, his glare seeming to penetrate down to the depths of Vicious' soul.

"Why does he rely upon you now?" the old man asked, looking for all the world like a chinese version of Yoda.

[Carthrat]

Under the steely gaze of the Elder, Vicious uncharacteristically flinched.

It was only slight, and he regained himself quickly.

But it was noticable to the Elders, who knew only too well of Vicious' seemingly emotionless disposition.

"Callisto is undergoing a depression right now. If he cannot see the future, he is sure to worry."

[Bean Bandit]

To match the minute flinch, the elder who had spoken let an equally minute smile flicker across his face.

"Is it not in fact YOU who are worried, Vicious? Your authority in limited in this area."

Another of the old men chimed in. "None may defy the will of the Van. Not even you, Vicious."

The oldest man, who sat in the center finally spoke. "You will travel to Callisto to make the exchange. Lin will accompany and...'assist' you."

With that, Lin and Vicious were ushered from the audience chamber, and directed back toward the shuttle.

[Bean Bandit]

They covered the distance back to the ship that had ferried them there, with assurances that lin would guard him for the honor of the Van being the sole converstation on the way back.

Once inside, Vicious was ushered to his personal seat, leaving him alone with his thoughts while the shuttle began the long journey to the gate...

[Carthrat]

Vicious stared outside the nearby window, watching space roll past as they began to enter the atmosphere..

Carthrat was to worried about his situation to appreciate the magnificent view. He could still barely get over the fact that he was Vicious, let alone work out what to do next..

*Vicious. I'm Vicious. Right. Got that. And it's way too easy for me to act like him..*

Carthrat was one of the most expressive person he knew, and that was saying something when talking about his little group.

How the hell could he act like Vicious so easily? Their personalities didn't match! They were totally different...

What the hell should he do?

Carthrat thought about this for a moment. He had knowledge of the Bebop universe... couldn't he use that to his advantage?

Of course he could. There had to be *some* way to backstab the Elders and gain control-

What? He didn't want to do that. He wanted OUT of the syndacite, and IN to some more normal life.

Yeah. Right. Jupiter Jazz. What happens at the end?

Ok, a plan. Vicious got hit by that missile, right? Fake a crash and feign your own death.

That'd work.

As the shuttle came in to land, Carthrat knew it wouldn't be that easy. While the Elders might dislike him, Vicious was too great an asset to just let die without searching for his body...

Looked like there was no way out.

Sensing his masters turmoil, his bird cawed mournfully...

[Bean Bandit]

As Vicious was lost in thought, he failed to immediately notice the passing starscape slow to a halt, and the fact that everyone else in the cabin was unnaturally still...as though they were frozen in time...

[Carthrat]

And to top things off, he-

Hang on. Everything had just stopped.

Maybe some kind god somewhere had decided to send him home!

Or maybe some new weapon had been introduced... or maybe some god had decided to fuck around with his mind even more.

Cursing, Vicious grabbed his katana and stood from his seat. This might be his chance to escape; he wasn't wasting it. He started to search around the ship.

[Bean Bandit]

A mad giggling, seemingly echoing from everywhere sounded thoughout the cabin. one of the shadows on the wall detatched itself, resolving into a humanoid shape, sporting a large grin.

"You're different from the others....and where do you think you're going, hmm?"

[Carthrat]

Vicious pulled out his Katana quickly and held it in a ready stance.

"Who the hell are you? Are you responsible for this?"

[Bean Bandit]

The shadow man's large, leering grin dissolved, replaced by a disdainful sneer.

"Do us both a favor and put that toy away. If I'm powerful enough to distort time for a moment to talk to you, do you think you can hurt me with that little thing? Besides, we both know you aren't as good as the man who REALLY owns it."

As the shadow man spoke, his form seemed to flex and shimmer, growing larger and smaller in turn, never seeming to hold one consistent shape for long.

[Carthrat]

Vicious stared for a moment.

Then he dropped the sword and stared hard at the... thing.

"Then what could you want with me? If you know who I am, send me back, dammit! I'm just a guy!"

[Bean Bandit]

The shadow man smiled again. Unlike his previously manic grin, this was a sinister, dark smile.

"I can't. I didn't bring you here. SHE did." He paused for effect, then continued. "But...As I said...you're different than the others. We could help each other, I think."

[Carthrat]

Carthrat *really* wanted to be somewhere else at this point.

In fact, if it was just him, he'd probably be running. But the part of Vicious that had melded with him stopped him... some kind of defiance against any 'superior' being made him stay and stare.

Then, something within the things sentence clicked.

"...SHE? And others? Who? And what others?

Start from the beginning!"