Chapter 9: Final Decision

In front of them lay one of the great scourges of mankind, a member of a species that had been hunting humans for longer then man had been recording time. Now it lay beaten and unconscious, with more then a dozen bullet holes in it and enough tranquilizer to kill several men. There was no real worry that it would die before they could collect their bounty but they weren't taking chances. While Faye and Spike kept it covered with the last remaining tranq gun and regular gun respectively Jet had used Spike's communicator to call Ed and had her bring down any first aid gear she could find. The plant turned out to be well prepared for any accidents that might occur and Ed was able to bring them everything they would need until they could get to a real doctor. Faye turned out to be the least injured, only a slight concussion and a black eye that was threatening to swell shut. An ice pack secured to her head was all that was needed. Jet's missing arm was secondary to the cuts on his chest and the burns on his face. His chest was bandaged and they removed all the shrapnel in his face that could be done safely. Spike was almost in as bad a shape as the Predator was. The cuts on his face were so bad they almost had to perform rudimentary stitching to stop the bleeding. Fortunately heavy bandaging and lots of pressure were enough to stop it. Without an x-ray there was no telling exactly how many ribs he had broken so they ended up taping all of them just to be safe. There was also the matter of the numerous concussions he had suffered but the only thing he could do about that was take a handful of aspirin and bandage the areas that were starting to swell. When they were finished Spike again was doing a very good mummy impersonation. Finally Faye and Jet started to work on their bounty, with Spike ready to put a bullet through its head if it so much as twitched.

"I don't see why we have to help this guy." Faye grumbled as they bandaged his gunshot wounds. "He just tried his best to kill all of us."

"Because we need him alive Faye." Jet reminded her. "Otherwise everyone will think this is a hoax."

"Well he doesn't seem to be in any real trouble yet." Faye said.

"He probably isn't." Jet replied. "According to MPU's files the Predator that Harrigan fought took at least three shotgun blasts to the chest and was able to get up after it."

"So why are we even bothering?!" Faye exclaimed. "If they can take shotgun blasts a few bullets wouldn't hurt them!"

"Because he has more then a few bullets in him." Spike spoke up. "They might not be enough to kill him by themselves but with that much damage he'll bleed to death."

"Speaking of blood." Jet broke in. "Would you get a load of this." He held up his hand, which was glowing faintly. "In all those Sci-fi flicks the aliens always bled some kind of a weird colored blood. Never thought in real life they would bleed neon." Spike shrugged and Faye shook her head in disgust.

"Must be so they can see were they're going at night." Faye said sarcastically. She finished with the last bandage and stepped back, wiping her hands on her clothes, which took on a glow of their own. She looked at the glow and shook her head again.

"Well that takes care of that problem." Jet said as he finished. "Now we have another one to deal with."

"Which is?" Spike asked.

"These things don't breathe the same air we do." Jet explained. "And we don't know how long they can last. Spike, you saw where he dropped his mask, take Ed and go get it. I'll keep this guy covered." Spike nodded and gave Jet the gun. Backtracking he found the mask right where the Predator had dropped it. Because of his ribs Spike was unable to bend over and pick it up so Ed picked it up and held it in front of her face, pretending to be wearing it.

"Edward is now big alien hunter." She said as she began to imitate the Predator's movements. A little to closely for Spike's liking. She stopped and looked at Spike curiously. "Spike person looks different, nothing but colors."

"Let me see it Ed." Taking the mask Spike looked through it and instead of seeing Ed normally he saw a collection of reds and yellow's.

"Does Edward look different to?" Ed asked.

"Yep." Spike confirmed. "This thing must be set to infrared by default." They took the mask back to Jet and Faye, still pointing their weapons at the prone form.

"Is it damaged?" Jet asked. Spike shook his head. "Good." He took Faye's tranq gun and tossed it to Spike.

"Hey!" Faye protested. "What was that about?"

"Spike can't bend down to put that thing and I've only got one hand. That leaves only one person."

"Oh no you don't!! Not me!! Get Ed to do it, she's not hurt at all."

"Maybe." Spike said. "But he could wake up at any time." Faye gave him a dangerous glare. "The more time you wait the more you're giving him to wake up." Spike pointed out. Faye sneered at him and grabbed the mask away from him. Slowly she put the mask back onto the alien, disgusted at being so close to it. Following instructions from Spike she reattached the tubes to the bottom of the mask, which sealed itself with a hiss.

"Ok, now what?" Faye asked.

"Now we take him to where we can hold him until the cops get here." Jet said, giving her back the tranq gun. "You two keep him covered." He grabbed one of the Predator's wrists and gave a pull, barely able to move him. "Jeez! Faye, give me a hand will you. Spike, if he even breaths funny blow his head off." Spike nodded and Faye reluctantly put the tranq gun in the holster but grabbed the other arm. Both started pulling and they slowly began to drag the alien.

"This guy had to weigh three hundred easy." Faye grunted as they continued to drag him.

"More like three fifty." Jet put in. The going was slow but they eventually dragged him to the area of detainment they had selected. Beside a metal support column lay the chain from the pawnshop. Faye and Jet managed to get him braced against the column while Spike and Ed wrapped the reinforced chain around him. After making sure the alien's arms were pinned and thoroughly secured they stepped back. "Guess the only left to do is call the cops and have them come pick this thing up." He tired to make the call but got nothing but static. "Must not be able to get an outside line from here." Spike tossed Jet his gun.

"I'll go make the call. You two are in the best shape to deal with something." Spike left the room and Ed followed.

"Edward will help." She called after him.

"You think they'll be alright?" Faye asked Jet.

"Better off then with that bastard over there." He answered, motioning towards the Predator. The Predator let out a loud groan and in response Faye and Jet pointed their weapons at him. He raised his head and looked around. He tried to move his arms and when he found he couldn't move he began to struggle harder in an attempt to escape but the chains held fast. When he found himself unable to escape he let out a roar that echoed through the entire plant. It then lowered its head and didn't look at Faye or Jet, who didn't lower their weapons but did relax slightly.

"Not so fun when you're on the receiving end is it?" Faye taunted. The Predator raised his head and looked right at her, giving a low growl.

"Teasing something that can rip you limb from limb is not a good idea Faye." Jet warned.

"Oh come on Jet. He can't do anything tied up, and it's not like he can understand us." The Predator let out a loud yell that caused both of them to jump back.

"I guess he can." Jet stated. The Predator took a deep breath and again began to fight against the chains that held him to the support column. "You're wasting you're time pal. That's high grade steel, even you can't break it." The Predator ignored him and continued to try and raise his arms

He remembered falling after he had activated the self-destruct sequence. Next he had felt a great pain in his arm, making him wake up from his chemical induced stupor. Then he had received two blows to the head. One of the oomans had kicked him, though he couldn't see what one, then his head had struck something hard, knocking him unconscious. He remembered very little after that. He thought he had heard the oomans speaking then felt like he was being dragged somewhere. He had fought to snap himself awake but the chemical on the darts overtook him and again he was greeted with darkness. Slowly the chemical began to wear off and he became aware of things. He was standing but he could not move. As he breathed he noticed that it was the air of home and not the lung burning air the oomans breathed. Sight began to come back to him. He looked up and saw two of the oomans, Jet and the female, standing in front of him with their weapons drawn. Looking around he could not recognize the surroundings and when he tried to move he found himself bound to something by a metal chain. He struggled desperately to get loose but found he could barely move, let alone escape. A roar of anger and shame sprang from his throat, making the oomans wince. He had disgraced his clan and his species by allowing himself to be captured. He lowered his head in shame, unwilling to face his captors. The female noticed and had the gall to insult him!! Not willing to let it go unchallenged he lifted his head and glared at the female, giving her a warning growl. Jet warned the female about antagonizing him further but the female chose to ignore his advice and insulted him second time. Her arrogance was because she thought he did not understand their language. Now infuriated he directed an angry shout at the female, Faye, as Jet had called her. Both oomans jumped back and he decided he had to escape any way he could, he would not be made a live trophy and suffer the shame . Taking a deep breath to prepare himself he put all his strength into a struggle against the chains that bound him. Jet made a remark that he could not break the chains but that made him fight all the harder.

"What's this guy trying to do, see how long he can strain himself without passing out?" Faye asked as the Predator continued his futile attempt to escape. When Jet had mentioned that he couldn't escape the alien seemed to double his efforts, but that still was getting him nowhere.

"Let him." Jet said. "The more he exhausts himself the easier it'll be for the cops to take him away." The Predator had gained no headway but he was still struggling with all his energy. Veins in his arms and neck began to bulge, dangerously, Jet thought. It would be ironic that the Predator had survived being shot with almost a clips worth of pistol ammunition and a tranquilizer overdose just to have one of his veins burst and die while he was trying to escape. He was considering whether to have Faye tranquilize him again when he heard a low but unmistakable groan of metal under high strain. He realized it was coming from the direction of the Predator when one of the chains broke with a loud snap. Jet pointed his weapon " Hold it right there or I'll shoot!!!" Jet shouted. The Predator growled and another chain broke. Jet fired warning shots that barely missed the alien's head. The alien called Jet's bluff and ignored the whizzing bullets. "Don't just stand there, shoot him!!" Jet shouted to Faye, who just stood watching the impossible happen right in front of her. The shout snapped her back to reality and she took shaky aim. In quick succession the remaining chains snapped and fell to the floor. With a roar of triumph the Predator leapt towards Faye just as she fired. Her aim spoiled the dart Faye fired sailed harmlessly over the Predator's shoulder. He slashed Faye's arm, making her drop the tranquilizer gun, and then stepped on it, breaking it into several pieces. Clutching her bleeding arm Faye looked from the wrecked gun up to the Predator's face and heard him start to laugh.

"Fun." It said in Faye's voice as he waved his wristblades. The laughter started again but stopped when a bullet tore into his right shoulder. He turned to face Jet who stood pointing the smoking gun.

"Get away from her or the next shot is going through your head!!" Jet warned, trying to sound as threatening as he could. Instead of answering the Predator turned and punched Faye in the stomach then turned back.

"Go ahead!!" The Predator answered in Jet's voice.

[Damn it!! He knows we want him alive. Now what?!] The Predator answered for him by charging forward. Caught off guard Jet fired but missed. The Predator wrenched the gun away from him and punched him to the ground with the other. Though dazed Jet was able to see the Predator shift the gun into a firing position and begin to raise it.

When the Predator punched her Faye felt all the air being forced out of her and fell to the ground doubled over. Not one to give up that easily Faye took a page from Spike and took out four of her remaining darts, being careful not to stick herself with one. Adrenaline giving her the ability to ignore the pain in her stomach and her bleeding arm she crawled forward as the Predator attacked Jet. It stopped raising the gun and Faye stabbed all four darts into one of Predator's legs. The Predator let out a loud screech of pain and anger as the chemical took almost immediate effect, making him drop the gun and falling forward, almost landing on Jet. Jet just stared at the fallen alien, a mixture of fear and surprise on his face. Standing up slowly and painfully and keeping pressure on her arm wound Faye walked over to Jet, who was so lost in his own thoughts he didn't even notice Faye's approach.

"Hey. You ok?" Faye asked. When Jet didn't answer she tapped him on the shoulder, which made him start and in turn caused Faye to jump. "Sorry, but for a second there I thought you went into shock."

"I think I did." Jet responded. Faye looked at him quizzically but he just shook his head. "Later." Was the only explanation he gave. "Right now let's get that arm looked at and tie him up so he can't escape this time." After bandaging Faye's arm they used the broken sections of chain to tie the Predator's arms behind his back so he wouldn't have the leverage to break them then wrapped more chains around his torso so he couldn't move his arms at all. Using what was left they tied his legs together so he couldn't try to walk out. They attached the last few chains to the support column, making him hang off the ground by his shoulders. Just as they finished the Predator groaned and began to move.

"How could he shake off that much tranquilizer? The last time he was out for almost ten minutes." Faye asked.

"Maybe he's developing and immunity to it." Jet answered. "If that's the case Spike better get back quick." The Predator let out another groan and shook his head, trying to throw off the effects of the drug. When he looked around and again found himself unable to move instead of a roar he let out what sounded like a loud sigh and dropped it's head.

"Looks like you've completely broken his spirit." A voice said from behind them. Both turned to see Ed and Spike.

"Let's hope so." Jet said. "I don't want to have to go through all that again." Spike nodded. Ed went over to get a closer look at their alien prisoner.

"Keep your distance Ed, he can still be dangerous." To the others he said. "We came back here as soon as we could. We heard that guy roaring on the way out but figured since we didn't hear any gunfire you had things under control."

"Just barely." Faye said. She then glanced behind them. "Aren't there supposed to be an army of cops behind you?"

"They won't be here for another fifteen minutes." Spike stated.

"What do you mean another fifteen minutes!?" Faye shouted. "Didn't you tell them who we caught!?!?"

"No." Spike responded flatly. "The last thing I want to is face a media circus when they pick this guy up."

"Good." Jet broke in. "That gives us enough time to talk about this." Spike nodded but Faye looked at him like he had just grown a second head.

"What do you mean talk?" She exclaimed. "We caught him and now we're going to turn him in! It's that simple!!" Jet shook his head.

"Spike see what you think about this." He began to tell him about the Predator's attempt to escape. "Now here is where it gets interesting. He dared me to kill him and when I didn't he takes the gun …."

"And he was about to shoot you with it when I saved your ass." Faye interrupted. "Just where is this going?"

"Where it's going is this. You were on the ground behind him. You saw him raise the gun but what you didn't see was that he didn't aim it at me. He had it up against his head and was going to shoot himself. Just before he did you knocked him out again." Faye's eye widened at the revelation and looked over to the Predator, who was still awake but had not moved.

"But, why would he do something like that?" Faye asked, not really believing it.

"His code." Spike answered.

"What code?" Faye asked.

"The code these aliens live by." Jet answered. "It's believed from the way they act that all of them have a code to follow, a set of rules. The closest thing that can be compared to their actions on Earth was the samurai code of honor. Death was preferable to defeat." Spike nodded in agreement.

"He had several chances to kill all of us but didn't. When I challenged him to unarmed combat he could have used any of his weapons but he chose to fight on my terms."

"Spike, be serious!!" Faye broke in. "These things hunt people for fun!! They don't care who they kill!!"

"These are big game hunters Faye, not a bunch of stupid rednecks that like to shoot things just to watch them bleed. What about Meifa?" Jet asked. Faye snorted.

"She wasn't armed."

"And what about Ed?" Spike asked.

"She wasn't armed either!!" Faye said, feeling like she was talking to a brick wall.

"But she was a threat." Spike pointed out. "She alerted us back on the ship and almost any person I know would have killed her to keep her quiet rather then going through all the trouble to tie her up."

"And what about the twenty people he did kill?" Faye asked coyly. Spike shrugged.

"You could make an argument that they were all scum and deserved what they got." Jet said.

"They could have just as easily been cops Jet." Faye remarked. Jet nodded.

"That's true. They have killed cops on Earth before." He agreed. "I'm not saying we should thank him for what he's done or forgive him. What I am saying is that turning him in may not be the best thing to do."

"WHAT!?!?" Faye shouted, her patience finally gone. "You're not suggesting we let him go are you?!" She didn't wait for an answer. "I say we turn him in, collect our bounty and try to put this behind us!! You can't expect this honor thing of his to be real can you!?! We let him go he's going to come after us again. Or worse, go home to were he came from and bring a bunch of his friends back."

"NO!" A deep and odd sounding voice said from behind them. Ed scrambled back to the group. The four of them looked at the Predator who was now staring at them. "No honor. Eternal shame. Let me die!!!"

His plan had failed. He had hoped to recover a small measure of his honor by dying in combat, but Jet had denied him that, determined to capture him alive for whatever purposes they had in mind. He had been resigned to the fact he would have to kill himself but before he could the female had pumped more of chemical into him and again rendered him unconscious. When he had awoken his arms and legs were tightly bound and he was suspended above the ground. Not much but it didn't matter, breaking the chains combined with the large doses of the chemical had sapped what little strength he had left. He hung his head in shame, knowing he had dishonored his ancestors as well as all living hunters by allowing himself to be captured like this. He heard Jet and Faye talking but did not listen to what they said. It was of no consequence now. Another voice, Spike's, joined the conversation and he heard something moving towards him. Lifting his head he saw it was the child from the ship. It looked at him with wide and curious eyes, with no hint of the fear from their first encounter. He hung his head again. He was humiliated to a degree that he couldn't even scare a child. He ignored the child and paid only remote attention to the conversation the three adults were having till one of them mentioned the word honor. His interest peaked he began to follow the conversation. The two males appeared to be arguing with the female about what to do with him. They were recounting his actions earlier, but the names were unfamiliar. Meifa? The insane female he had encountered in the city no doubt. Ed? It had to be the child that was watching him. As the conversation progressed the males seemed to be trying to explain the concept of honor to the female, who was not listening. Then she mentioned the word bounty. This was all he was to them!?! A means to gain material goods!?! She then dared to suggest that he could return home after the humiliation he had suffered!! Spike and Jet seemed to have some knowledge of honor but the female called Faye knew nothing of it.

"NO!" He had declared in the ooman's language. "No honor. Eternal shame. Let me die!!" He could understand English very well but speaking it was another matter. However his point seemed to get across. The child rushed back to the adults who were looking back at him in surprise. They had not been aware he could speak their language. Spike stepped forward and began to speak.

"You heard everything we were saying, didn't you?" The Predator nodded his head. They had been talking in low voices except for Faye's outbursts and thought they couldn't be heard. "So you want do die?"

"Yes." Came the Predator's reply.

"Why?" Spike asked, treating it like an interrogation.

"My honor, gone. Death only way reclaim it." The alien answered in forced but clear sounding English.

"You wouldn't try to contact your own people?" Jet asked. The Predator snarled and looked away.

"Looks to me like somebody can't stand to see their ego bruised." Faye remarked. The Predator's head snapped in her direction.

"Bitch!!" He spat in his own voice. "Teasing, not a good idea." He said in Jet's voice. Faye's face turned red and she started to shout something when Spike cut her off.

"Faye, do us a favor and stop acting like this guy is stupid. He's probably smarter then all of us."

"We're not the ones that are tied up." Faye sneered.

"Extremely lucky." The Predator answered in Jet's voice. Faye shot him an angry glare.

"He's right." Jet spoke up. "We were lucky to survive all of this and even luckier to be able to pull off this harebrained scheme." The Predator growled angrily.

"You beat and humiliate. Trade me for….goods ….." He struggled to think of the word. "You'd allow others, humiliate me worse. Not warriors! Scavengers! No honor! LET ME DIE!!!!" Spike glanced over to Jet then back at the Predator.

"If we do release you, you're going to have to do this our way. You do what we tell you to or we turn you in. Agreed?"

"Yes." The Predator answered after some consideration. Jet sighed and shook his head. Faye gasped, walked over to Spike and slapped the bandaged part of his face. Yelling in pain he grabbed the bandage. "Damn it Faye! Just what the hell was that for?!"

"It's to try and knock some sense into you!! Just listen to yourself!!! You're willing to trust something from another planet just based on guess from dead scientists?!?!?!?"

"No, because he was willing to trust me." Spike said evenly. Faye gave him a puzzled look. "When I challenged him I could have easily picked up my gun and killed him after he dropped Jet. He knew that but he spared you and Jet anyway. He is a killer but he does keep his word." Faye looked at him in astonishment.

"He's right." Jet agreed. "If the scientists have even the smallest amount of their code right he has nothing to go back to now. Death is preferable to a lifetime of shame." The Predator grunted and nodded in agreement.

"And letting him do this is preferable to letting the Red Dragons get a hold of him. Imagine what they would do with this technology if they got their hands on it." Spike explained. The Predator let out a confused grunt and tilted his head to one side. "Red Dragons is the name of a powerful crime organization. When you killed a group of them in that alley they felt their power was threatened and sent the group at the warehouse to kill you. After you killed them they offered a reward to anyone who could catch or kill you." The Predator gave an angry growl. "Exactly how I feel about them, I should probably thank you for all the trouble you gave them." He then turned back to Faye. "So are you going to help or not?" Faye looked at Spike then Jet and back again. When she saw their minds were made up she exhaled loudly.

"I can't believe I'm giving up that ten billion." She said, sounding like she was on the verge of crying. They took down and unchained the Predator, who after making sure he could stand shot Faye an angry glance but did nothing else.

"You'll have to follow us back to the Bebop, after that we can decide what to do." The Predator nodded again and activated his cloak. "Now all that's left to do is deal with the cops once they get here."

"That's easy, just tell them that our bounty escaped." Jet suggested. "They won't think twice about it and we can get back to the Bebop with no problems." The police seemed skeptical but when they saw how the three of them looked they decided to take their word for it. After the cops left Spike searched out the destroyed plasma gun and threw it into one of the vats of molten metal to make sure no one could get anything from it. The police offered to give them a lift back to the Bebop and it was gladly taken. As the hover transport lifted off it shuddered slightly and the four of them exchanged nervous glances.

"Damn engines." The pilot cursed. "Can never get them to work right." They all breathed a sigh of relief but didn't relax until they were back on the Bebop and the hover transport vanished from sight.

"So where is he?" Faye asked looking around the deck.

"Here." A voice answered as a flash of energy signaled the deactivation of the Predator's cloak. "Plan?" He immediately inquired.

If those back home heard about this they would never believe it, the Predator was sure of that. Trusting oomans was risky, but they seemed sincere in their offer. Jet and Spike proved to be rational beings, unlike the female who was driven by simple greed. Jet and Spike understood honor, they were willing to reject the reward the criminals had set on him. Petty criminals driven by fear of an unknown power, had set a reward on him so that others would die rather than face the threat themselves. Cowards of the highest degree. And enemy's of these oomans, one reason they allowed him to regain his honor. Quite a change, he had originally believed that they would make him suffer but they turned out to respect their enemy, and he had to admit a grudging respect for them. They had beaten him in combat but did not give in to the materialist impulses and had fought like true warriors. Now with his self-destruct device destroyed they allowed him an honorable death. One of their choosing but unlike before he suspected no trap. When he inquired what was to be done Jet pointed to the horizon.

"There's a large desert outside the city. With it's sandstorms nobody will ever be able to find any evidence you were ever here." An exile of sorts until death. He nodded his approval and Jet turned and went inside the hangar. The other oomans followed and he entered last. He saw their flying craft, destroyed. Walking up to the Jet's craft he began searching the exterior. "Hey!! Get away from there!! You've done enough damage to it already!!!" He paid Jet no mind and continued to look until he found what he was looking for. Yanking the homing device out of the metal he showed it to Jet.

"Tracker." He said in the ooman's language. Jet seemed to scrutinize it for a second then shrugged.

"Guess that explains that." He said. "You stay in here until we get over the desert. Got that?" The Predator nodded in acknowledgment. "Good." Jet stated and left, followed by the others.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Faye complained as they entered the bridge.

"All this guy wants to do is die with some dignity." Spike responded. "If he didn't he would have done something by now." Faye looked skeptical but kept her mouth shut. The ride out was short and they made a rough landing in the middle of the desert just as the sun was beginning to rise. They all returned to the hangar and saw no sign of the Predator. The found him out on the deck surveying the new surroundings. "This good enough?" Spike asked him. The Predator nodded.

"How long will you last out there?" Jet asked.

"Not long." The Predator answered in his real voice. He approached Jet, grabbed his good shoulder and gave it a hard shake. "Respect." He explained. He removed a small object from his belt and gave it to Jet. It was a dagger. Looking closely at the handle he saw an odd insignia composed of two lightning bolts side by side and the year 1943 stamped into the blade. He approached Faye next. He gave a snort of contempt but shook her shoulder also. "Good fight." He told her.

"Yeah it was real fun." Faye replied sarcastically. The Predator gave another snort but said nothing else. He was about to take a step when Ed appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

"Is it Edward's turn now?" She asked eagerly. The Predator looked at her curiously but shook her shoulder anyway, causing her to fall over and start laughing. The Predator shook his head at Ed's antics and approached Spike.

"Worthy hunter." He told Spike as he shook his shoulder. Spike stepped back and responded with a bow that combatants gave at the end of a match, which the Predator returned. The Predator then disconnected the air hoses of his mask and took it off, offering it to Spike. "Trophy." Spike nodded and took it. The Predator then turned, jumped off the ship and started walking, never looking back.

"So we go through all that," Faye said as she watched the alien walk off. "and have nothing to show for it."

"We have this." Spike said, holding up the mask.

"Big deal." Faye snorted. "That's not going to get us any food or fuel."

"Maybe not." Jet spoke up. "But this dagger will. It's over a hundred years old and in prime condition so it has to be worth something."

"That's out last hope." Faye said as they entered the ship.

He had gone less then a mile when he heard the Bebop's engines rumble to life. Turning around he saw the ship lift off and disappear over the horizon. He again started walking, waiting for the desert climate to take its toll. After walking for several hours and taking no food or water he began to feel the effects of dehydration and the burning air of the unfamiliar atmosphere. His steps became stumbles and he felt life beginning to slip away. The last thing he saw were two oomans, one very old the other very young. The young one pointed at him and started to say something but he never heard what is was as he fell forward. As blackness embraced him he prepared himself for what awaited beyond.

The child ran up to the Predator's body and cautiously approached it.

"Is it dead Laughing Bull?" The child asked. Laughing Bull nodded.

"Yes. Another warrior has passed from this life. May the Great Spirit protect and guide his soul."

"But he is not human. Why would the Great Spirit protect him?"

"If the warrior is worthy the Great Spirit will welcome him, no matter what he may be." A gust of wind blew past them. "A storm is coming. We must prepare for it." He began to leave but the boy continued to stare at the strange body. "Leave him in peace, as you found him." The child hurried to follow him. The storm that hit was strong, within an hour the Predator's body was buried under several feet of sand. Above the planet, unseen by anyone, a star grew in size and intensity. It held its brightness briefly then faded from sight.

Epilogue:

On the Bebop

All the crew had recovered from the ordeal. Their wounds had been healed, Jet's arm had been replaced and the Swordfish, Hammerhead and Red Tail had been repaired.

"Who knew that an old dagger like that would be worth fifty million?" Spike remarked as he was putting the finishing touches on the Swordfish.

"Lucky for us that guy was a fanatic about that kind of stuff." Replied Jet, who was doing similar work on the Hammerhead. "Of course the bad news is after paying for the repairs on the ships, the replacement of my arm and the doctors for patching us up we only have about three hundred thousand left."

"At least we were able to stock up on food and top off the fuel tanks." Spike noted. "And I think Faye took it rather well." Jet chuckled at the remark. When they had told her how little money they had left she had taken the mask the Predator had given Spike and tried to put a bullet between its eyes. The bullet ricocheted back and nearly hit her. After that reminder she was resolved to being thankful to having any money at all as well as their lives, even though she still moped about it now and then. As for the mask, it had been mounted above the door inside the bridge, to remind them of their victory and just how small they really were.

Red Dragon Headquarters

An armored truck, surrounded by several police cruisers stopped in front of the Red Dragon's headquarters. S.W.A.T members surrounded the truck and opened the back. Out of it came an officer wearing a high ranking uniform and a several other S.W.A.T officers carrying a large trunk like case. Out of the building came a man with white hair and a face devoid of emotion. The ranking officer approached and saluted.

"Sir Vicious. We have retrieved the object as commanded."

"Let me see it." Vicious ordered. The officer nodded and gestured to the S.W.A.T officers holding the case, who opened it. Inside was a long metal spear unlike anything either man had seen before. "You're certain this is the only thing you could find?" The officer nodded. "Very well. Have your men bring it inside. The elders have expressed great interest in examining this." After the case was sealed and taken inside Vicious spoke to the officer in a low tone. "Are there any who might know where that weapon truly came from?"

"Only some bounty hunters, and I told them that all the alien stuff was just some bullshit story they made up. They'll never suspect a thing."

"Very well. The elders thank you commissioner and you shall be rewarded for your services." The police commissioner gave another salute but Vicious was already walking back into the building.

NOT THE END