Dead or Alive (1/?)

[RedUmbrella]

Dead or Alive

Chapter 1

Firstly, authors notes, (there are always some, right?) I am labeling this as an AU fic because, as much as I adore Cowboy Bebop, I may state things a wee bit wrong as far as the planetary systems/colonies go. Also, I don?t plan any romance, so far, but I do hope to place in some good doki doki moments in along with the irrational fear I put these people through.

Horror, watch for coarse language, some gore, rating pg-13

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Dancing throughout the ship, Ed hummed a few bars off key into her head set while cracking codes to enter Rome?s orbit, which was unusually over-protected and safe guarded. Not only were entrance permissions not granted, there was literally a ?do not enter? sign posted up at every request.

Faye, none-to impressed, scoffed at every attempt with a slow whine. ?Now why would Rome want to keep people out??

The Bebop crew was on the slow, meticulous chase of Sasha Donaldson, a notorious piece of cash known best as a giver of plague and disease. They were pretty much going in on uncharted territory since the man was a mystery that couldn?t be solved or an elaborate rubix cube; the second authorities could figure him out, he changed his strategies and infected an unrelated colony.

Yes, authorities used the words ?infected? considering people died off at the very second he stood on the face of any planet. At first, he destroyed colonies tied in with a cult opposing his ideas, like a modern day Adolf Hitler, he sought out to eliminate people who believed differently than himself, seeing his image as a saviour of sorts to the people and cleanse the unpleasant morals which were segregated to specific roguish colonies. The governments and populace seemed to ignore him at first, considering he was doing as most people had wished they could do. The colonies in question were spilling over with cruelty and demoralization, however, they were human all the same with different idealisms than everyone else, there are laws covering that.

Fortunately/Unfortunately, this one man, who has been dubbed ?the Donaldson Disease? had taken over these colonies and have left them barren in his wake. Not a person survived, not a body unmutilated, not a soul remaining to speak of, this was his first issue on his resume. These colonies, although lawless and bizarre, never did merit a cruel and unusual genocide, by lawful standards, and thus, the Donaldson Disease was put up for bounty. A meager bounty at best, so no one worth their salt bothered try. Had it only ended there. With the bounty up and running, he decided to do the same, running to various planets or colonies, innocent by most, and destroyed them all. With each planet or colony, the bounty rose, and by the second of the Bebop?s attempts to enter Rome, his worth had just been raised by another couple million. The man has had every cowboy on his tracks, and not a one came out to tell the tale.

The colonies were left in bloodied heaps of partially decomposed bodies, and rumour had it that those bodies moved of their own will and hungered for anything with a heart beat. Metal rusted with a touch of the finger, chains rattled with the wind in part of the lack of other white noises of electricity which had long disappeared in partnership with any vehicular traffic. The colonies stood silent, ominous, and damned spooky. Cowboys, who had braved the thought to inspect the destruction after the Donaldson Disease had long gone, were left in a state of paranoid delusions, terror, and the effects of very, very bad acid flashbacks. They couldn?t speak in normal sentences without psychotic babble to tell the tale other than their obvious psychological state.

This is where the Bebop comes into play, if you?re wondering. It had seemed, yet another, bounty gone bad landed the crew in a nice heap of debt (that is not counting Faye?s apparent debt), and without food, to every one?s lack of surprise. With a nice hefty price on the Donaldson Disease?s head, Jet assumed Spike, probably Faye, with the help of Ed, that they could handle it, irregardless of the fact that this spelled certain doom. Faye stood in a corner on her own, refusing to be a part of a suicide mission, her good youthful looks too great to waste. The rest shrugged the danger off, opting for a more lottery-esque view.

?When we catch this guy, I?m retirin?? Jet spoke enthusiastically like the mission was of no big deal. In fact, he really didn?t see any problem with it.

There was a problem, however. The ship couldn?t enter Rome?s orbit, with or without permission. It was total lock down. Other cargo ships lined up patiently as news blared through the lines of the Donaldson Disease being in the relative area, whether in Rome or not, was to be confirmed, it seemed as though its? citizens were still alive and well, bustling about their regular business. Of course, this is what they could receive from the ship.

Breaking away from the monotony of hearing ?Non entri? bellowing from Ed?s system, the young freaky girl cackled happily with a proud ?Yatta!? Lights flashed outside, and she high fived Ein. The ship was being pulled into orbit, through the gates, and would reach the surface within the hour.


The crew stepped off and stretched their muscles, not like they were cramped to begin with and took in a deep breath of fresh air.

Spike lit up a cigarette while letting his eyes drag slowly over the scenery. ?Been a long time?, he thought while blowing a stream of smoke slowly out of his mouth and enjoying the feeling of familiarity.

Rome looked and smelled as it always had, children ran amok in the streets, screaming and giggling wildly, much like the slums of any urbanite city. The crackle of gunfire and gangs shouting stood poignant along with the chorus of sirens for police cruisers.

?Tijuana was more pleasant?? Faye smirked out of corner of her mouth while wrapping her arms around her slightly chilled and underdressed body. ?? and warm!?

Ed seconded that notion with the chattering of her teeth. ?Hey Jet-o, I need a coat-o!? She hauled Ein off the ground and attempted to wrap his tiny body around her neck and then trotted around like some well-to-do woman of society. ?Like my scarf?? she asked a lamp post.

Never one to complain, Spike shrugged his over-sized blue sport coat more protectively onto his shoulders. ?Suit yourselves, I have some people to talk to. If this is to be Donaldson?s next target, I need to know a little more about him.?

Ignoring the plight of the cold, he turned to his fighter?s hangar whistling a soft Italian tune, probably the national anthem.

?Hey! Spike!? Jet called from over his shoulder, in turn, who looked back curiously.

?I?m headin? off to the University. You find out anything? let me know. Okay??

Spike nodded wordlessly tossing the remainder of his cigarette Faye?s way. ?There,? he chuckled ?you can start a fire for yourself now.?


For all they knew, Donaldson was all ready in Rome, sitting at a desk at the University, eyes stuck in a microscope. The bodies of the professors were strewn haplessly across empty seats in the tiny classroom. He smiled to himself, knowing he was targeted by the Bebop?s crew. Although they were somewhat unknown, at best, he knew, and tracked any info loop regarding data to his whereabouts. Knowing to keep his goals safe, he put out a nice line of defense, and knowing his predators was a NICE defense.

Smells of rotting flesh swam around in the little room, Donaldson granted a cocky smile.

?And then there was one.?

He laughed at the thought of eliminating yet another colony, along with it, the Bebop?s crew. It gave him a nice satisfaction to think of Spike?s death at his hands, and the minions to do it for him. With Johnny Walker wisdom, he slipped off the perch in front of the microscope and flipped a little vial filled with aqua coloured liquid like a coin in between in fingers.

?Its closin? time.?

And so, he left the lab with a small dance to his step, flicking the vial onto the entrance doors of the University and not watching as it shattered into tiny pieces while the liquid scattered like that of a water balloon.


?Papa! Papa!!? a runt no older than seven years old launched himself at Spike?s legs with breakneck speeds. He held onto the older man?s calf with tears in his eyes and squealing like a banshee. ?Papa!! You ?ave come back!!?

Like a deer caught in the head lights, Spike felt the need to lunge to the side and let the kid fly off onto the hard concrete, but the whining drove into his skull like nails on a chalkboard. ?Listen, kid. What are you talking about?!?

The child, not willing to let go, cried with even more tears, if it were possible, and clenched onto his leg for dear life. ?Papa! Don? leave ag?in!?

?Mario!!? his mother?s voice came to the rescue. ?Whachyu doin? ta dis man?s leg hey?? She came out like any typical old country Italian woman would with curlers in her hair and a rolling pin in hand to smack the child over the head.

?Mama!? the kid shouted out. ?Papa?s home!? he pointed with a massive Cheshire grin to Spike who was waving his hands about so he could fan off any misunderstandings.

The woman squinted an eye and placed her hands roughly on her hips. ?Mario, into da house. Now.?

The kid ran off while singing deliriously into the shack which should be a house. He called out for his brothers to look outside, and well, see their dad.

Spike bit his lower lip and instantly regretted visiting his old friend; it is such a shame was a great informant.

?Spike-u!? she smiled as she swung her arms out to wrap him in the hug of the century. ?Where you been hey paisanno!??

?Nice to? see you too Benita.? He patted the woman weakly on the back as best he could with his nose buried deeply into her flour scented black curls.

?Whassa matta fo? you, hey? You not call? No write?!? Okay, so her English wasn?t the greatest, but she had been a great friend over the years, keeping herself as a fantastic informant (gossip) for the right price.

He combed a hand loosely through his bangs and grinned a killer smile while tossing his hands into air recklessly. ?You know, this and that. Things are always busy.?

She wasn?t buying it. ?Spike-u, I heard you was dead, man. Whachyu mean ?dis and dat?? I been ?a worried ?bout chu. Da boys miss?d chu ?round.? She was referring to a few months Spike had stayed with her in Rome while hiding out for various reasons, and had found him to be a great help around the house, particularly with entertaining the three boys she had, who?s father had been killed by the very people from whom Spike was hiding.

?Benita,? he sighed ?that?s a long story. I just need to ask you a couple of things, if you don?t mind.?

?How can I resist chu, hey?? she took him by the arm and brought him indoors, stuffing the poor man full of cannoli and gelato, and he was fighting? oh yes, he fought real hard with a full mouth as he listened to all the information she could possibly give.

?As far I can tell, Donaldson is a carrier of sorts, of a disease, what ?e did is take it outta ?is body and made a air born virus outta it. I dunno how it be transferred odder dan dat. I ?eard dat da people infected basically die and den dey gets up and go to infect odder people. Dat makes no sense, but dat?s what I was told. Even d?ough (though) it be air born, it not last long. Like it is heavy, so it relies on being transferred through saliva. I ?eard dat the University was comin? up wit a serum to counter-act it. De only problem is, it spread fast. Dere is no enough data on de virus. Dey ?ave only applied de teories from studying dose colonies already dead. ?e moves fast, so dere?s no way to find out who ?e?ll ?it next, hey. Also, dey figure dat some people cannot be infected, carriers of dat disease as well, like Donaldson. Dey ?aven?t found any ?hoo are immune yet, d?ough.?

?Shitty? he managed to say through a mouthful of tiramisu.

?Yeah. Anyting else?? she offered while pulling out a large platter of biscotti.

Reluctantly, he shook his head, bowed deeply, and was on his way to the university, to the disappointment of the children.



Pulling out a cigarette, Jet tapped it lightly against his closed fist as he watched a man dressed in a lab coat with wiry white hair stumble down the steps from the University?s entrance. The man, reeking of whiskey, shouldered Jet roughly even though there were tons of space he could have used to get down the shallow steps.

?What?s his deal?? he muttered under his breath, lighting the cigarette and sitting on the top step to finish what he had begun, and to think about the Donaldson Disease and what they plan on accomplishing while being in Rome.

All he knew, from resources, that Donaldson was in the Rome vicinity. What was his purpose to be there? Jet could only guess. How they were to catch him? Again, Jet came up with no resolution other than they would think of something at the very last minute; they always do.

Taking in another tobacco filled breath, he pondered about the luck the other are having as far as getting info, Donaldson has been able to elude the authorities, and every other bounty hunter this far? what would happen to them.

Should they even bother? 250 000-something woolongs dictated otherwise, definitely, they could ALL use the money. Retire. Settle down. Live a full life. Hell, even if they walked out with some nasty injuries, with that kind of money; who cares? Strangely, Jet cared, and cared a lot. He didn?t want to see anything bad happen to Ed; she was still so incredibly young. Brilliant, but young.

Noticing his cigarette was done, he dropped it to the ground and snuffed it out with the heel of his boot as he stood to grab one of the University?s doors. He wrapped his fingers around the bar, noticing it was soaked with some soapy water-y substance, and hauled the massive door open without a second thought.

?Dr. Shimizu, 2nd floor.? He read aloud to himself as his eyes darted nonchalantly to the info board. ?2nd floor it is? and now where the hell is the elevator??

[grateful_days]

Whoo! Go Ren-chan! I like the set up and I can't wait till the survival horror elements... I have a strange feeling that this'll be like Resident Evil II, Cowboy Bebop style. And that's a good thing. ^_^

[Kanya Barton]

AWESOME! This is gonna be cool! Don't keep us waiting too long for the next one alright!?
Peace out!

[pilot03]

Bring on the living.....um....dead? I hope you can post the next chapter soon. I can't wait for suspense and horror to fall into the Bebop's lap.

[Yawning!]

Twisted but in a good way! Stories like this are always crazy interesting and since you're using the Bebop crew, it's even better. Very cool plot. Dying for more...update!!!!
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Homer Simpson: I hate my own creation...now I know how God feels.