Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Tenshi Trail: Shin Heart ❯ Vol. Three, Chapter Twenty-Five: Second Child ( Chapter 25 )

Second Child

Frankie looked on at him. “And what would that be?”

Caleb turned to the lead administrator. She stepped forward.

“We need you on a kill mission,” the angel told her. Frankie cocked her head at her.

“Okay,” she said. “For who?” The three angels gave her a confused look.

“Who is the target?” she asked. The leader angel kept down her dumb reaction.

“Oh right,” she said. The angel reached into her robe and pulled out the picture. Frankie took it and looked at it. Her eyes burned when she saw Sakura. She looked up at the angels. Never had they all looked so pale in their lives. Frankie clinched the picture.

“Fine!” she hissed. “I'll do it.” The angels looked surprised.

“You will?” the third angel asked.

“Hell yes!” she barked.

“I need to update your power first,” Caleb said.

“Why?” the tenshi-chi asked.

“This is a tough opponent,” he explained. “You're going to need everything you have.” Frankie smirked at him.

“Sweet! I needed a challenge after all of these years of being locked away!” she cheered. “Bring it!” Caleb led her further into his lab. She followed behind, itching for some action. The other two angels watched them.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” the subordinate asked.

“We have no choice at the moment,” the administrator replied. “Sakura has to be stopped!” Shortly after the readjustments, Frankie was ready to be shipped to the living realm.

Cherry was roaming the city to look for some new couples to pair up. Spike and Sakura were pretty much together. Phase one had been successful over the summer. Maybe it should be time to lay off of them for a bit and good on a new conquest.

Cherry scanned the crowd for new blood. So much potential today. But then, the sound of jingling bells caught her ear. Cherry paused and looked behind her.

White wings stood out in the crowd. Only, these weren't benevolent. This had a menacing presence around them. She smirked at the cupid-chan. Cherry prepared to attack.

“You!” she hissed.

“Oh, what's this?” Frankie asked her in her mind. “A little lost, cupid-chan?” Cherry drew out her bow and arrow. The tenshi-chi smirked at her.

“Awww, what are you going to do with that toy?” she mocked. “Hit me? You're not my opponent, anyway.” Cherry narrowed her eyes at her.

“You will not have Sakura!” she snapped.

“Funny,” Frankie said. “I didn't even mention her, but you seem to know where she is. Tell you what; I'll let you go if you tell me where she is.”

“Never!” the cupid-chan snapped.

“Such a shame,” the tenshi-chi replied. “I was going to spare you, now you'll be my punching bag!”

“Wait! Out here?!?” Cherry wailed. Too late. Frankie vanished in a blink. The cupid-chan jerked her head.

“WHA--?!?” she screamed in her head. A sharp pain stopped her cold in the gut. Her eyes widened into shock as she sank into black. Frankie smirked at the results.

“Boring!” she thought. “But at least I have some use for you now.” The tenshi-chi carried the cupid-chan with her into the traffic of moving people. Her mind linked up into Cherry's memories as a guide along the way.

A violent wind ripped through Sakura's hair outside on the dock. She felt her heart tying up into tiny knots. She breathed in heavily.

“Something wrong?” Spike asked behind her. His girlfriend glanced up behind her. The cowboy sat near the ship, smoking. Sakura trembled.

“There is unease,” she said. Spike made an odd face at her.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. The tenshi-chi shook her head. But then, she froze and looked above. A large, silver cross was dropped down from the sky.

“Watch out!” Spike yelled.

“Huh?” his girlfriend asked. It was lucky that she got out of the way when she did. The tenshi-chi sat up and looked up with wide-eyed terror. Cherry was martyred to the cross. She was out cold and had taken a serious beating.

“CHERRY!!!” Sakura cried. The cupid-chan's body crashed to the dock.

“No!” the tenshi-chi yelled as she tried to reach out to her. A roaring laugh shot through the air. Spike and Sakura looked up to see a girl about thirteen jumping out of the sky. She landed on the arm of the cross. Spike raised any eyebrow at her.

“Who the hell is that?” he asked. Frankie looked down at him.

“Why do you care, maggot?” she boomed.

Spike took another puff of his cigarette. “Oh, another mouthy brat.”

*Plus-cross on Frankie's head* “What was that?!?”

“Tell what you did to Cherry!” Sakura cried. Frankie recomposed herself and smirked at her real target.

“Oh, I'm going to do much worse to you than what I did to her!” she remarked. Sakura's eyes shot wide again.

“What did you say?!?” she yelped.

“Now, you die!” Frankie summed up in a creepy, child-like voice. She leapt up and sailed forward towards the real target. Boom! One punch to the stomach. Sakura was set sliding back into the water. Spike leapt up to his feet.

“Sakura!” he yelled as he tried to run over and help her. Frankie blocked him.

“Let her die!” she commanded.

“Get out of the way!” the cowboy barked.

“No,” the older tenshi-chi remarked.

“Fine then, I'll make you move!” he snapped. Spike was about to push her out of the way when he and Frankie noticed bubbles rising to the surface. The peaceful tenshi-chi sat up with now reddened eyes. She wanted blood.

“You… bitch!” the tenshi-chi cried. She rose up to her feet. Frankie grinned at her.

“Much better!” she said. “I'll have much more fun killing you!” The older tenshi-chi sailed forward to her target. Sakura dodged her the best way that she could.

“Running won't do you any good, little girl!” Frankie cackled as she kept attacking and striking her opponent. “You have to fight back some time!” She delivered another kick to the chest. Sakura froze up with a ringing thud in her ears. Her breath became heavier. Frankie tried her best to fight back her laughter.

“Aw, is daddy's little girl getting tired already?” she asked. Sakura didn't answer.

“Maybe you should quit now and I might just give you a quick death!” Frankie went on. The target lifted her head. Only, this wasn't the sweet tenshi-chi that Spike had come to love. Instead, the very devil had taken over Sakura's mind as dark waves sailed up from her body. Her attacker looked very confused now.

“What the hell is this?” she asked. The target sailed forward and punched Frankie right in the chest. The older tenshi-chi flew straight into the water. Oh, Sakura wasn't done there. She walked all the way over to her now-victim. Frankie sat up, trembling.

“You think you can take me down that easily?!?” she snapped. Sakura didn't answer she walked over to the other tenshi-chi. Frankie tried to fly away and dodge the next attack, but her former target grabbed her by the ankle and gave it a tight twist as if it was just clay. Frankie gasped aloud. She looked deep into Sakura's eyes and found a soulless doll hungry for blood in them. That's when the fear finally kicked in.

“Uh… maybe we should talk about this…” Frankie tried to reason. Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears. Sakura grabbed her by the arm and twisted that as well. This time, Frankie was loud enough to be heard from inside Bebop.

“Shut up, bitch!” the target hissed. She kept on beating her victim in the water. Spike watched on with an icy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Under normal circumstances, he would be thrilled to see Sakura finally standing up for herself. But, this just didn't feel right. There was self-defense and then there was… well, this. Blood was even starting to stain the water more than it needed to. Frankie didn't even seem to be conscious anymore. She just looked like a limp doll hanging there in her attacker's arms as Sakura kept beating her.

When the violence shows no sign of letting up as Sakura bashes Frankie in the spine for yet another time, Spike decided that it was time to stop her. That's where the problem took another turn. He didn't seem to know how to stop the wrathful devil that had invaded Sakura's state of mind. She was too far out of his reach at this point. If only there was some way to…

Suddenly as if in a trance, Spike's lips uttered one word unheard. As if on cue, Sakura froze in place as she was about to deliver the final blow to her out cold and bleeding victim. The rage receded from her body as she collapsed with Frankie in her arms in the cold, red salty water below. Spike came back to earth and pulled both tenshi-chi out of the water.

Bad Wrath Rising