Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Fantaisie Sign ❯ The World Cannot Bring Me Down, Because I'm Already Here ( Chapter 13 )

DISCLAIMER: Cowboy Bebop and its characters are owned by the anime companies that made them, and not by me.

Author's Note: This fanfic is in the first-person style, with the POV being Edward's for all but a few chapters (and when the POV is different, I won't switch mid-chapter, the whole chapter will be like that). I've never even attempted doing something like this before, so bear with me.

French Note: For the few (non-generic) French language bits in this fic, I'll be using Babelfish. So pardon my French. ^_^

Note: Back to Ed's POV! ^_^

---

I sat in the dark, cold room for what seemed like over an hour, thoughts racing through my head about how to escape. I'd tried wriggling free from my bonds, but unlike metal handcuffs, which I could slip through fairly easily, these plastic cuffs had been tied extremely tightly, nearly cutting off my circulation. I could barely even move my wrists to strain free, even though my limbs were extremely thin. After trying to get free for what seemed like an eternity, I slumped up against the wall and pondered my predicament.

"Ed should have tried harder to get away..."

But I was so surprised by the quickness of my capture that by the time I knew fully what was happening, I was already tied up and halfway to the trunk of the thugs' car. Still, Sylvan and my friends had to know what had happened to me by now... Frémont called Sylvan, I saw his face... he looked so sad, terrified even... maybe even more than I was. Sylvan, Ed will find a way out of this mess somehow...

Then, the door to my tiny cell creaked open, and a tall, red-haired man stepped inside. He had a hideous scar on his face, probably caused by some sort of blade slash. His hand was also tightly bandaged, and I could see a large, bloody wound beneath the dressings, so I knew that that particular wound was probably made some time today. He was carrying a small bottle of water in his hand, presumably for me.

"Boss said to give you this," the scarfaced man said, thrusting the bottle up to my face. "Can't have you dying of thirst."

"Edward just had a drink a few hours ago," I said, trying to sound as angry as I could. The man scowled at me.

"Look, the boss says drink up!" the man shouted, sticking the end of it into my mouth and tipping it into the air so that I was forced to drink. Water poured into my mouth, and I could feel some of it slipping down into my throat. I began to cough and sputter, and the man quickly pulled the bottle away from my lips.

"There, that wasn't so bad," the man said.

"You almost choked me, you jerk," I half-whispered, just loud enough for the man to hear. "Frémont doesn't want me getting hurt, this guy can't do anything..."

But I was wrong. The man threw the water bottle across the room and forcefully grabbed my jaw with his hand, holding up the other, non-wounded appendage in front of my face for me to see, a tiny droplet of blood falling to the floor from beneath the bandages.

"See this? Your boyfriend did this to me today!" the man shouted, clenching my jaw harder. "And I won't hesitate to do much, much worse to you, you little-"

Now was my chance. I kicked forward, slamming my two bound feet into the man's stomach with ferocious intensity. The man let out a stifled yelp of pain and stumbled back, his hand falling away from my face and going toward his stomach as he doubled over. Putting my weight into my back, I pushed off with my hands and kicked the man hard, right in the face. He stepped back again, toward the doorway. Then, with blood dripping down his lower lip, he collapsed unconscious.

"I knocked him out..." I thought, still a bit amazed at my accomplishment. "Now I need to get out of here!"

But in trying to get to my feet, I ran into one problem.

"Wait, Edward is still tied up," I thought, collapsing back onto the ground. "This could be a problem..."

"What's going on here?"

At the sound of the voice, I turned my head. Standing in the doorway, next to the man whom I'd just knocked out, was Cecelle Fremont, a bewildered look on his face. He looked down at the scarfaced thug and smirked, turning back toward me.

"You didn't," Frémont said angrily. "Tell me you didn't do that."

"Edward did," I said, looking up at Fremont as I worked into a sitting position. "And Ed will do it to you, too."

"You must either have psychic powers or incredible body control to have been able to knock out one of my thugs while bound hand and foot, Miss Appledelhi," Frémont said, a grin appearing on his face.

"It's the last one," I said, as I began to get up again, trying to rise to my feet. "You don't mess with Radical Edward and expect to get away with it, do you?"

Although I was a bit wobbly at first, I was able to get myself into a standing position, face-to-face with Frémont. He slowly began to walk into my cell.

"Is that a threat, Miss Appledelhi?" he said, frowning. "Because I assure you, you will not survive a fight with me."

He reached inside his long trenchcoat and began to draw his crescent blade. Oh, no you don't! I leaped off the ground and did a mid-air somersault, trying to get as close to him as I could. My feet slammed into his chin, and he let out a loud cry, clearly stunned by the blow. I could see him stumble back, but now I needed to get to my feet again. But without my hands to steady myself, it was useless, and I fell hard on my back, my weight crushing my wrists as I fell onto them and the hard floor. Letting out a loud groan of pain, I quickly started trying to make it back my feet again. Fremont was stumbling toward me, and I knew I didn't have much time.

"Let me congratulate you..." Fremont said as he re-entered the room. "I was wrong. You're not helpless..."

"Damn right... I'm not..." I said fiercely as I managed to stand up for the second time. "Take this!"

I leapt up again and delivered a dropkick to Fremont's face, hitting him squarely in the nose. He stumbled backwards and out of the room again as I landed hard on my side. Well, it's better than falling on my back... As I looked up at Frémont again, he was tumbling backwards, tripping over the fallen scarfaced thug and landing hard on his back, his head hitting the wall. Now was my chance. I rolled over, outside of the cell, then, with my back to the unconscious thug's body, I frantically searched with my hands for anything that the thug had been carrying that I could use to cut through my bonds. But before I could even start searching the man's jacket, I felt a hard slash across my check that sent me rolling back, further down into the hallway. I was grateful that I was still outside my cell, but wincing in pain from an apparent cut on my cheek made by Fremont's crescent blade. He walked toward me, holding the blade in his gloved right hand.

"Surely you know how useless this is, Edward!" Frémont shouted, hurling his blade toward me. I rolled out of the way, narrowly missing the blade as it flew straight at my face, then watched its path as it curved and came back at me.

"Maybe if Ed times it just right, Ed can move in front of the blade and it will cut Ed free!" I thought. However, it was too late, as the blade quickly rushed past me and went right back into Fremont's hand. But now I had another opening. I swept my legs under Fremont's, sending him crashing to the ground, his blade flying from his hand and skidding across the floor.

"I can get it!" I thought. But then, two strong hands wrapped around my legs and pulled me back.

"No, you don't!" Frémont roared, his rage now evident in his voice. "Get back here!"

"Let... me... GO!" I yelled, pulling my legs free from Frémont's grip and kicking him in the face as hard as I could. As he clutched his face in pain, I began squirming toward the blade as quickly as I could, determined to grab it and free myself. The blade hadn't skidded very far down the narrow hallway, and I was just about to reach it... so close...

"Non," Frémont said sternly, stepping directly in front of the blade and blocking me from it. "It ends here."

Frémont lifted his leg, but I could tell he would try to hit me in the head, so I rolled out of the way, giving him time to pick up his blade. No... so close...

"Too bad, Edward," Frémont said coldly. For the third time, I picked myself up off of the ground and got into a standing position, ready to defend myself again.

"I won't let you hurt Sylvan!" I shouted. "No matter what you do to me, I'll fight you..."

"Like I said before, I must congratulate you for being able to put up an excellent fight despite not having the use of your limbs," he said, chuckling. "Someone's taught you well. But..."

Frémont swung his blade at my chest, but it whizzed by me, an inch short of its target. I smirked, preparing for another strike. But then, a chill went through me. Wait... he missed on purpose!

And that's when Frémont's fist slammed right into my nose, quickly knocking my tied body to the floor. His powerful right hook had taken me completely by surprise, and as a large trickle of blood began to gush from my nostrils, Fremont rudely dragged me back to my cell and threw me inside, my back slamming hard into the wall. He knelt down in front of me.

"Now, let's never, ever do something like that again," Frémont remarked.

"Brûlez dans l'enfer, vous bâtard sadique..." I said, glaring at him angrily.

"You know, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," Frémont said, slapping me hard on my face. "Little wench."

He left the room, locking the door behind him and carrying away the thug I'd knocked out earlier. I slumped against the wall and began to sob. I'd blown my only chance to escape, and now I would probably be killed... Oh, Sylvan... I failed...

---

"Francoise, I know you know how to fight... I mean, I'm the one that taught you! But to be able to fight effectively, there are five key things you need to remember."

"What are they, daddy?"

"Now, I'm serious... you've got to remember these five things. Otherwise, you'll be able to fight, but you won't ever be able to win. Even if you win, you lose. You've got to remember these five things, okay?"

"Wait, even if Ed wins, she-"

"The first thing to remember is to always fight with a clear purpose. Never, ever go into a battle without knowing what you're fighting for and being sure that it's a noble cause. If you don't remember that, then why fight at all? You've always got to have a purpose.

The second thing to remember is to be versatile. No matter what the situation, you have to have the mind and the spirit to be able to find some way to win in that particular situation. Quick thinking is essential.

The third thing to remember is that a good defense can be a good offense. Remember that. Defense is different than just curling into the fetal position and protecting your head from blows. That's not defense, that's being a wimp. Dodging and parrying are speed skills, but not defensive skills. Defense is learning to take a blow and bounce back with a response. It's knowing the response to use and the right way to use it.

The fourth thing is to fight with a reasonable amount of honor. I mean, you know, if somebody's trying to violate you or something, then by all means go for the testicles as hard as you can. But blatantly trying to win a fight by trying to poke someone in the eye or kick them in the crotch is going to get them upset, and sometimes, if they're upset enough they could be impossible to beat. Honor is calming, and if you fight with honor, you will be calmed as well, and not distracted by guilt.

Finally, the final and most important thing is to never give up. Francoise, no matter what, you've always got to have the will to win. No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you. That's the key to victory, Francoise."

"Thanks, daddy... Ed promises she will always remember what you taught her, no matter what."

"You're welcome, Francoise... I guess it's probably time to tell you about the birds and the bees now, huh?"

---

What I'd done today would make Daddy proud, I knew it... I'd been able to adapt to the predicament I was in, I fought with honor, and... no.... no, he wouldn't be proud... when Frémont hit me, something inside me gave up. It was like I couldn't move after that...

"Daddy... Sylvan... Ed is so sorry..."

---

"Get up. Get up, you worthless girl, get up!"

I blinked my eyes and looked up at Frémont from the cold, hard floor of my cell, where I had apparently fallen asleep. Frémont was standing over me, accompanied by three of his thugs, two of whom I knew as the ones who had kidnapped me from Dejoule Hall.

"It has been nine hours now since Monsieur Mazarin has been notified of your disappearance, and yet it seems that he values his precious little bistro more than he does his precious little girlfriend," Frémont said, a statement which renewed my anger. "So, we're going to give him a bit of a reminder about what's at stake here."

Frémont took out a roll of duct tape and tore off a strip, using it to cover my lips again, as well as the blood from my nose that had caked up around them while I had been asleep.

"You know, you really do have your mother's eyes," Frémont said, a remark that caught me completely off-guard. "Take her into the main room."

Three guards grabbed me, and I began to thrash about furiously, determined not to let these men take me anywhere.

"No, I won't be used against Sylvan, not anymore!"

The thought raced through my head, as well as the comment Frémont had made regarding my mother. Did he have something to do with my mother's disappearance ten years ago? Yet another reason to beat this guy to a pulp...

As I continued to thrash, the men holding me began to have to struggle just to hold on to my body. They won't be taking Edward anywhere!

"Stop struggling right now," Frémont said, pulling out a pistol and pressing it against my forehead. "I hate having to use such an uncivilized weapon as a gun, but if you resist anymore, I will blow your head off."

Terror coursed through my body, and I quickly stopped thrashing. I knew Frémont wouldn't hesitate to kill me, and it was a small wonder that he hadn't done it already. Quickly, the three men carried me into a large, wide-open room that looked like it had once been used for storage. I could hear rain and lightning pounding outside the warehouse, and I could see through the large windows at the top of the room that the sky had turned pitch black... it must have been past midnight. The men carried me over to a videophone mounted on the wall, and held me in place in front of it as Frémont lowered his gun and smirked at me.

"You will pay dearly for Sylvan's indecisiveness," Frémont said.

"Sylvan doesn't have a billion wulongs to give to you!" I thought. "If he did, he'd pay the ransom in a heartbeat!"

"Well," he said, drawing his crescent-shaped blade and holding it to my throat. "Are you afraid, Miss Appledelhi?"

I shook my head as much as the blade's close proximity allowed me to. Of course I was scared, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of me admitting that fact... he didn't deserve it, not one bit. He frowned, as I'd obviously told him what he didn't want me to.

"Wrong answer," he said, quickly slicing his blade across my neck. I fully expected it to be a killing blow and shut my eyes, but when the end didn't come, I opened them and realized that he'd only made a tiny cut to try and intimidate me. Well, it didn't work.

"Now," Fremont said, pointing the end of the blade to my neck again. "Are... you... afraid?"

This was it. I'd admit I was afraid, since it obviously meant my life, and he'd call Sylvan and torture me in front of him.... no.... it would crush Sylvan to see me get hurt! There was nothing I could do... a wave of hopelessness that had been only small before was now crushing me... I felt sad, afraid, and angry all at the same time... how could something that started out so wonderful end in such a horrific way? Ed is so sorry.... Ed is so sorry... Ed is so sorry...

No matter what, you've always got to have the will to win. No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you. That's the key to victory.

No matter how bleak it gets or how tough your opponent seems or how impossible it might seem for you to win, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you.

No matter how bleak it gets, you always have to have the will to win, deep inside of you.

You always have to have the will to win.

Never give up.

"NO!"

With tears streaming down my face, I desperately pushed my body forward, plunging myself toward the ground. As I fell under the blade, I pushed again, breaking completely free from the grip of all three of the men holding me and hitting the ground on my back. I heard a loud gasping noise, and I looked up to see that Frémont had missed me and had plunged his blade right into the chest of one of the three thugs. The other two lunged at me, and I kicked one of them squarely in the chest, knocking him back and causing him to hit his head on the ground and pass out. Then, I swept my legs under the other man, catching him by surprise and sending him crashing to the ground as well. I wearily climbed to my feet again, despite my limbs still being bound. Frémont ripped his blade from the chest of the man he had plunged it into and turned toward me, in a rage.

"There's no way I'll be defeated by a helpless, weak little girl like you!" Frémont shouted, swinging his blade at my head. I effortlessly ducked the slash, then, flipped myself backwards, kicking up at Fremont's hands.

"This better work..." I thought, moving my legs up as far as they would go. Success! My two feet crashed into Frémont's hands, causing me to immediately fall on my face, but at the same time, knocking the blade into the air. As the blade fell, I lifted my cuffed wrists into the path of the blade as it fell. As Frémont desperately grabbed for the blade, it eluded his grip and slashed through the plastic riot cuffs, finally cutting my arms free! I rolled out of the way as the blade clattered to the ground, ripped the tape away from my legs and lips, then lunged forward at Frémont, punching him in the face as hard as I could muster. The ferocious punch stunned him and knocked him to the ground.

"Who's helpless now, asshole?" I said, rubbing my wrists to get some of the circulation back into them after being tied for the last nine hours. "Ed needs to curb her pottymouth..."

Just then, one of the men whom I'd knocked down earlier got up, growling at me. I leaped up and spun around, kicking him hard in the face and knocking him back into the wall. The thug slumped against the wall, knocked out.

"Excellent show, Miss Appledelhi," came Frémont's voice from behind me. He had his crescent-shaped blade in his right hand.

"Darn, Ed should have picked that up when she had the chance... too late now, I guess..."

"But since you're now just a liability to me... you'll have to be killed. Get her!"

Before I could go after Frémont, about ten or twelve men came out of nowhere, guns at the ready. I gasped and ran for the large door at the back of the room as the men began to fire at me, praying that the door would be unlocked. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached the door and ripped it open, dashing out into a large, abandoned parking lot as the heavy rain assaulted me. I looked back toward the warehouse, expecting to see Frémont's thugs still chasing me. However, the door had closed behind me, and not a single man had followed me outside. I stopped running when I reached the middle of the lot and began gasping for breath. Oh my God, I don't believe it... I actually escaped!

I began running again, toward a street adjacent to the parking lot. Several cars were zooming past, and I hoped that at least one of them would give me a ride.

"I've got to get back to the Fantaisie Sign!" I thought, knowing that Sylvan would be extremely worried about me. I just hoped that he'd be there when I arrived... I ran up to the street and began waving my arms.

"Taxi! Taxi!" I shrieked over the roar of the thunder and the rain. "Ed needs a taxi!"

Sure enough, a bright yellow hovercar pulled up alongside me within five seconds of my hailing for it. Wow, that was a lucky break...

"Mademoiselle, are you okay?" the man said in a concerned tone. "You look like you've been attacked..."

"I was kidnapped!" I shouted, pointing at the warehouse where I'd been imprisoned.

"Oh my God," the man said. "Well, hop in, I'll get you to a hospital right-"

"No, I need to go to the Fantaisie Sign!" I shouted. "Please, there's someone important there I need to see!"

"Should I call the cops, too?" the man asked.

"Yes, but take me to the Fantaisie Sign first," I pleaded. "Hurry!"

I climbed into the taxi cab and reached down into the pocket of my skirt for my money card. However, it wasn't there anymore. Frémont's thugs must have taken it... all of Faye-Faye's money, gone... but at least Edward is safe...

I leaned back in the back seat of the cab and sighed, looking out the window as the cab sped off toward the Fantaisie Sign.

Ed escaped, Sylvan... you don't have to be afraid anymore...

---

And that's it for that chapter! Wow, not quite the "rescue" you expected, eh? Well, Fremont learned a hard lesson today: You can't keep a good Ed down! And he got his butt kicked in the process! But what happens now? What did Sylvan and Ed's friends do to try and find her? Are they still out looking? And what of Fremont? Why does he know Ed's mom? Will he want revenge? Why didn't he send his thugs after Edward? All those questions will be answered later... BTW, the next chapter is from Fremont's POV. Yep, you heard me, the BAD GUY'S point of view. ^_^ See ya next chapter!