**A/N** Another day, another chapter ^_^ This one probably had a chance of coming out a lot quicker coz I wrote some of it while I was at work…then again, I did the same for the last chapter and it took quite a bit. Well…^_^ at least it's been written, ne?

So anyway- you'll have to forgive any mistakes I make on this chapter. I was half asleep when I wrote it and anything that this chapter entails might have repeats of prior chapters or mistakes where it concerns the actual anime or manga of either title.  If you find something, please, PLEASE let me know so I can change it- I'm also up to suggestions ^_^.

Ah yes! As promised, the answer to the lovely riddle left to you, readers… The lines given were:

            This caused the crew to exchange puzzled expressions. Was this woman always so cheerful? Jet nudged Spike in the side.

            "She remind you of anybody?"

            Spike stuffed his hands in his pockets, cigarette snubbed and ground with one in reserve. He shrugged. "It's her voice- she sounds like someone familiar."

            Ed overheard their whispered conversation and grinning, still holding onto Ein – (who would later be tied to the rail outside the café for safekeeping) - put in her two cents.

            "Shucks howdy, y'all! Howdy shucks and sayonara!"

Could you guess who Edward was imitating? If you said Judy from Big Shot on Cowboy BeBop, you guessed right! If you didn't guess it and just waited to see the answer then…you're no fun. .

Disclaimers: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with either of the Trigun or Cowboy BeBop titles, anime, or manga. I do not know either creator (though that'd be cool, coz their work kicks ass ^_^) and am no way affiliated with the producers of the shows or books. (Yes…I was redundant just then…so sue me -.-). I'm making no profit from this other than the entertainment for myself, friends, and readers, so don't sue me, coz ya won't get a penny…or a woolong…or a double dollar…nyah.

Vacation

Session 12

Blood & Thunder

            Ed stared at her blank computer screen, fingers poised over the keys, ready to type.  She sat with legs sprawled on either side of the device, bare toes wriggling under the shade of the inn's patio roof.  Ein, as per usual, lay with his nose between his front paws just behind the gangly girl.

            Jet Black sat in the rickety rocking chair, arms crossed and battling the fatigue that'd pursued him since awaking.  The wood of the chair groaned softly under the man's muscled weight.  It was shocking it could hold him at all. 

            He yawned and turned his eyes to Ed.

            "How long ago did they leave?"

            The mop-topped girl pointed to the sun-dial she'd produced in the sand using a sun bleached stick and a triangle shaped rock.

            "An hour and twelve minutes ago…" she sighed, stretching her arms forward.

            The big man groaned. It felt like they'd been sitting there for ages.

            "What are you doin' anyway? Isn't that thing broken?"

            Ed sighed again. "The internal micro-micro chip was zapped, fried, toast when we went through the wormhole. Ed forgot before, but there's a backup chip stored safely away- maybe it was spared."

            Jet seemed skeptical. "What if it wasn't spared?"

            "Ed will be sad and disappointed," she pulled the corners of her mouth down and let out a quivering whimper.

            "I see…" was the reply- and then- "how long now?"

            The girl flopped back, arms outstretched past her orange-red hair, her back landing on the Welsh corgi. Ein jerked his head up, brown eyes wide as he let out a yelp, then shook off the familiar jolt and went back to sleep.

            "One hour and fourteen minutes, sir Papa-Jet…ooh, Ed is bored!"

            At that precise moment, Millie Thompson bumbled through the door from inside of the inn.  The brunette girl beamed, light blue eyes sparkling at the remainder of the BeBop crew.

            "Oh hey Mr. Jet, and Mr. Ed!"

            Ed blinked. "Ed's not a Mister! Ed's a little girl!"

            Millie turned slightly red at her mistake- even though she'd been the one to tell the others that Ed was a girl when they'd all met.

            "Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry, it's just such an unusual name for a girl to have."

            Ed sat up straight. "Ed named her self this because it's different."

            Jet rolled his eyes at the comment. Everything about the computer hacker was different and beyond.

            "That's good," Millie prompted, nodding. "As my little big brother always says, everyone is un-nique, so they should always let people know it."

            "I think you mean 'unique'," Jet corrected.

            "That's what I said, un-nique." Millie continued to smile obliviously.

            The lanky girl grinned in agreement to the statement.  She quite liked this Millie Thompson woman. 

            Jet remained indifferent.  He thought the group on this planet was slightly strange, though not nearly as strange as Ed.  Though, what could he really have expected? This was basically an alien planet, even though everyone seemed human enough.

            The one called Wolfwood was probably the most normal of the bunch- he kind of reminded Jet of Spike, when he really thought about it.  Millie and Vash seemed to have a screw loose, and that Meryl lady-

            "-Millie! Do you know where that broom head went off to this time?!"

            The raven haired woman burst through the door, seething, before Jet could finish the thought.

            "Gee, Meryl, I really don't know. I haven't seen him all day."

            "That's just like him to take off without warning!"

            Jet took the opportunity to finish his thought- Meryl was in dire need of anger management. She'd probably be cute if she weren't so sweaty and high-strung.

            "Spooky broom man went with Faye-Faye and Spike-person to the Be-BeBop."

            Meryl's expression darkened momentarily at the mention of Faye. 'That hussy,' she thought.

            "Back to your ship? How?" the woman mused aloud. "Certainly not by bus- there are none running this early…not by foot either. They didn't go by Tomas, did they?"

            "Yeah, they went on those funky, furry ostrich things." Jet confirmed.

            Millie blinked, "Oh…Meryl, Mr. Vash isn't very good at riding Tomases."

            Ed sat on Ein's back, limbs flailing in imitation of the gunman's riding technique as the corgi blinked and whined lightly in protest.

            "They rode over the sandy sand, fa-a-a-ar into the horizon!"

            The insurance women stared at Ed for a moment, wondering where her boundless energy came from.

            "In any case, he'd better not cause any more trouble.  That idiot is going to be the death of me, I swear!"

            Millie gazed at her partner. "I think that would make Mr. Vash sad, Meryl."

            The shorter woman tried not to laugh.  The big girl was so simple minded sometimes…or all the time. "Then it would serve him right. Ugh! He makes me want to rip my hair out!"

            "Meryl…can we go buy some pudding, please?"

            Jet and Ed seemed hopeful at the mention of any kind of food, though they were puzzled as to how Millie could change subject so quickly.

            The leftovers from dinner the night before might have had a chance of sticking around until the next day.  However, when Hurricane Faye is hungry, no food stands any chance. Jet thought he might've been drooling, thinking of the biscuits, potatoes, and crisped chicken they'd eaten. He pushed the thought of food away and resumed listening to the two women.

            "Millie, I'm afraid we can't afford those luxuries right now. I know we just got paid after compensating Mr. Wolfwood and Vash for our accommodations, we don't have that much left to spend."

            "Oh…" the disappointment read clear on the cheery girl's face, her eyes downcast.

            A squeak sounded from the inn's door and then a white cuffed hand lit on Millie's shoulder lightly.

            "C'mon big girl," a familiar and gravely voice spoke, "the pudding will be my treat today."

            "Oh, Mr. Priest, thank you so much!" she flung her arms tightly around the unsuspecting Wolfwood, who then dropped the cigarette he had lit onto the patio.

            The ashes glowed red and Ed jumped to her feet. "Fire in the hole! Fire in the ho-o-ole! All fire-fighters on duty!" As everyone watched, wondering, the red-haired girl stomped on the still burning cigarette until she was satisfied it'd been put out, then sat back down to stare at her computer.

            Jet glanced away and towards Meryl. "That guy's a priest?"

            Meryl nodded. "Yes- or so he says.  He's not your average clergyman, that's for sure. He smokes, drinks, gambles, and carries a weapon. But he has a good heart, and I think that's all that really matters."

            "Don't forget that I curse and ride a motorcycle." Wolfwood added, gently prying off the pudding-crazed woman from his person. "Ahh…my beautiful, shiny Angelina II…"

            "Sounds like my kind of preacher man," Jet grunted with a smirk. "I bet you don't make too much cash though."

            The lanky priest shrugged with an easy smile. "I make do.  Today I made fifteen double dollars by listening to the townspeople's confessions."

            "You charge for confessions?" Jet asked, quirking a brow. "What kind of a priest are you, anyway?"

            Wolfwood chuckled, "I hear that question a lot. I wouldn't charge if it weren't for the orphanage…the church I'm from raises parentless kids, and we're low on money. I have to charge for confessions to keep the organization running, not to mention to pay my way across these wastelands. It's not easy making a living, you know."

            "I suppose it isn't. This place looks kinda run down…" Jet replied thoughtfully. "I didn't see a church around here- how did the confession business work out?"

            Meryl and Millie exchanged weary expressions as Wolfwood pulled a model of a mini church from seemingly nowhere, a coin slot carved into the steeple.

            "With this mini-confessional! It's portable and lightweight and all you have to do is drop a coin in the slot. Each confession is one coin- you wouldn't believe how many sins people think they have. But it's my job to listen to them," Wolfwood nodded solemnly, "and if it makes them feel that much better to know they at least have my forgiveness, then so be it."

            Jet laughed. "So you are a priest after all."

            "Confession is goof for the soul," Wolfwood conceded, winking a blue eye. "You're free to try it, if you'd like. I'll even let the first time be free, my friend."

            The confessional vanished back into its hiding place and Wolfwood nudged Millie.

            "Let's go big girl."

            The pair turned toward the road, heading off toward the general store.

            Ed, springing back to life, waved a hand. "Bye-bye! Y'all come back now, ya hear?!"

            Meryl turned her grey-blue gaze to the girl and her monitor. The device was quite compact, consisting of an odd screen and the keys likened to those on her own typewriter.  While it actually resembled the typewriter, it really wasn't like anything she'd seen before.

            "What is it?"

            "Huh?" Ed looked up as though the woman spoke a foreign language. "It's a computer, silly."

            The word struck some meaning in Meryl's mind. "Lost technology…like your ship…that's amazing."

            Jet snorted, standing up from the chair. "It's not that amazing where we come from. It's just everyday stuff to us. You really don't have any of this?"

            Meryl shook her head. "Not really. We have transportation- the sand steamer takes us across vast distances, and then we have jeeps and buses for shorter distances. Of course we have electricity too, but that's generated by the plants inside giant glass bulbs, like the one we saw two nights ago. That's controlled by a giant computer- much like our broadcasting system, and those are nothing but panels and big lit up buttons." She sighed wistfully, "We're far from this kind of technology again."

            "Again?" Jet and Ed asked, thinking the same thing.

            "Well we haven't always lived here on Gunsmoke…or at least humans haven't always lived here. In fact, over one hundred and thirty years ago, humankind came to this place to try and start their lives all over again. I'm not really clear on all the details, but it's a story that's been passed down through generations…somehow Earth's best technology was lost somewhere along the line.

            "The people had to start again on this desert planet, using plants for energy." She paused to gaze to the horizon. "The battle to make this place as livable as Earth supposedly was still continues to this day- but apparently this was the only planet capable of supporting us."

            Ed's and Jet's faces could only be described as stunned…perhaps as beyond stunned.  The whole story seemed a little far-fetched, but then so did coming through a wormhole and crash landing on a planet filled with loonies. However, it did explain why everyone there appeared to be human, could speak intelligible languages, ate human food, and behaved as humans do.

            "So…you never knew what Earth looked like?" Ed asked, completely in awe.  Earth had been her home planet, though due to the disaster while building the space gates, she didn't know what it'd originally looked like.

            "That was before my time. I'm hardly twenty-five." Meryl replied with a faint smile.

            Jet found it surprising that the stressed out woman could even manage a smile that small.  He wondered just what date this crash on the planet had taken place…in fact he wondered what the date was in general. However he didn't get the chance to ask it.

            "So, does it work?" Meryl gestured to the computer.

            Ed frowned. "Nope, nope; Faye-Faye will bring back a part for Ed and we'll be back online! Ed hopes so."

            Meryl wiped imaginary dust from her hands. "I'd like to see it if you get it working again. Could I?"

            "Yup-yup!" Ed grinned cattily, amber eyes shining.

            "Thank you." The woman nodded. Maybe the weird kid wasn't so bad after all. Actually, she could probably bear to stand Jet, as well.

            Her eyes flickered to the sky, noticing that heavy grey clouds had moved in, turning the hue to a darker, mistier blue.

            "Hmm…looks like rain. That hasn't happened in quite a while it'll bring some relief from the heat. I'm going inside now, see you later."

            Moments passed before a light rain began to fall from the clouds, speckling the sand with polka dots. Jet crossed his arms and spoke.

            "How long now, Ed?"

            "One hour and fifty-one minutes…ooh…Ed is still bored."

            *                                                           *                                                           *

            "Are we there yet?" Faye Valentine called out from behind her male counterparts. "I'm really getting sore, here!"

            Ahead of Faye and behind the still shouting Vash, Spike grunted his reply. "You're not the only one, Faye; I think I'm bruising cargo more precious than yours."

            The woman couldn't help but laugh, a shake of her head causing short purple hair to bob.  She didn't think Spike's "cargo" was ever much use to him.  The man only ever had one woman on his mind and it didn't seem like he'd get to her any time soon.

            Julia.  Faye scoffed to herself. It seemed as though the woman was more trouble than she was worth, really. Then again, Faye had never met Julia, so she supposed she didn't have any room to think that of her.  She sighed. Any woman who could manage to make Spike lose his cool composure and go gaga must have something special. Faye only hoped that when he found Julia again, Spike would watch his back.

            Light raindrops from the sky splashed against the tip of Faye's nose, breaking her train of thought.  She groaned softly.  The rain would flatten her hair…though it did feel better than a scorching sun beating down on her skin all day.

            "Faye, look!" Spike shouted excitement evident in his voice.

            Anything that made him excited like a little boy had to be a good thing.

            So look Faye did, following her crewmate's pointing fingers. The hulking mass of the BeBop laid in the not too far distance- a shell of monstrous metal looming over slight hills of sand.  Surely riding the Tomases had taken much less time than their walk to New Oregon had a few days prior. The two BeBop members were actually thankful for that, despite sore thighs and rear ends from hard riding. 

            Vash paused in his frantic shouts- (though Spike and Faye had tuned him out quite some time ago) - and spoke up as they neared.

            "It looks like it's been spared from any looters!"

            Spike snorted- what looter would be out all the way in these wastelands?

            "I know what you're thinking," Vash prompted as his Tomas came to a jerky halt some feet from the ship, "you'd be surprised at how many goons there are roaming around out here." He wiped small drops of water from his face, "There's one in particular we might have to look out for."

            Managing a smooth stop, Spike swung from the saddle and rubbed the insides of his thighs, wincing at the dull ache. "Ow…you'd think these things would run a lot smoother, wouldn't you? So who is this person?" He stood as though oblivious to the cool rain, now steadily coming down.

            "Brilliant Dynamites Neon; you'd know him if you saw him just by knowing that name." Vash replied before giving a startled yell. "Incoming!"

            "Huh?" Spike whipped around to see Faye's Tomas get spooked by absolutely nothing, rocketing over the sand towards him and the gunman. The young woman was clinging desperately to the long furred neck, face contorted into an expression of shock.

            "Someone stop this thing!" She cried, teeth clenching and eyes closing as she braced herself for the crash.

            The crash never happened. In all seriousness, Vash leapt into action, the tail of his red trench coat fluttering behind him. His gloved hands deftly latched onto the reins of the wild Tomas, stopping it before it hit the ship or ran into the unmoved Spike. The Tomas let out a groan, small eyes rolling around warily at the sudden halt. Its hooves buried deep into the sand, causing Faye to yelp and lose her balance. As she slipped off the side of the saddle, she felt someone catch her easily.

            "Are you alright?" Vash asked, patting the Tomas to calm it before releasing the reins.

            His voice had sounded so close, Faye was sure it'd been the gunman who caught her. She panted, clutching her rescuer's shirt tightly, tilting her head back. "I could've been killed! That thing went crazy on me!"

            "That isn't what he asked, Faye."

            That voice was closer. Snapping her eyes open, Faye rested her gaze upon the face of Spike Spiegel and then realized it was her fellow crew member holding her in his arms.

            Spike shifted uncomfortable before letting the woman onto her own two feet. He actually hadn't minded the moment until she opened her mouth.

            "I'm fine," she mumbled, blinking at Vash through the light rain. Her jade eyes flashed deadly daggers to the Tomas she'd been riding and she made a mental note to choose a different one on the way back.

            "Good," Spike quipped, "now what do you say to the nice man who saved your ass?"

            Vash grinned expectantly. Faye only grinned back, though it seemed more like a grimace.

            "That's good enough for me," the gunman replied brightly. "You two go on in- I'll keep watch out here."

            "It's raining, you know, you can come in." Spike pointed out as he pulled the dented hatch open.

            "Plants need water to grow."

            Faye arched a brow toward the blond, stepping up to the hatch. "What's that supposed to mean? I don't see any plants out here, unless you count the tumbleweed."

            Vash squeezed his eyes shut, tilting his face up to the sky before one eye opened to look at the woman.

            "Nothing, it's just a statement. Go on and take care of what you need to do and don't worry about things out here. I've got you covered."

            With a wary sigh, the female crewmate followed Spike through the hatch.

            *                                                           *                                                           *

            "Do you know what you need, Faye?" Spike inquired of the young woman as they ducked through the circular opening into the living quarters of the ship. "I don't intend on hiding out here all day."

            Faye turned her gaze over the contents of the ship. Obviously she'd noticed how everything had changed while Spike hadn't.

            "Wow…" she murmured.

            The wormhole had quite a tumultuous effect on the contents of the ex-fishing ship. The lanky man let his mismatched brown eyes move over the floor in shock. The couches had been torn in half, tumbled on opposite sides of the room, the table was splintered, countless cargo crates were split or had slid to the far wall, and there were strange dents in the floor where the wormhole's gravity had applied the most pressure.

            "Holy shit," Spike muttered. "Jet's gonna flip when he sees this. I wonder if everything looks like this."

            "I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Faye mused, crossing to the corridor and stepping into it. "I'll meet you back by the hatch in fifteen minutes. As convenient it might be to stay here I agree that I don't wanna hang around too long either."

            Nodding, Spike moved in the opposite direction. "Right…hey Faye?"

            "Yeah?" she called, already halfway down the hall.

            "Don't you think it's strange that nothing happened to us but everything else was ripped to shreds?"

            For a moment there came no reply, and then- "…It is weird, but…don't gripe about it Fuzzy- better the ship than us, right?"

            Spike had no chance to think of a comeback because Faye had already resumed walking, her heels clicking against the walkway steadily. He sighed, putting his hands in his pockets before continuing on to collect the bare necessities.

            *                                                           *                                                           *

            Outside, the rain continued to steadily fall from the hazy sky, and Vash the Stampede enjoyed every moment of it. Very rarely did the sun disappear behind clouds filled with cool water and so when a rainfall came, the people of Gunsmoke found it a blessing.

            To Vash, the precipitation symbolized hope.  There was hope that life could prosper and grow into something as lush and beautiful as the rec. room had been on the Project S.E.E.D.S. ship.  Everything in there had been brimming with life even though it'd been contained onboard the ship moving through space.

            "And all of it was lost…" Vash whispered, remembering the horrible events that had followed his twin brother's insanity. "It'll happen again," he added, moving a hand to brush his cheeks.  There had been tears there, though if anyone had seen him they'd never have been able to differentiate them from the rain drops on his face.

            The quiet moment didn't last too much longer. As Vash leaned against the metal of the ship's hull, a blaring rift of music echoed muffled through the air. His aqua eyes flew open, hand immediately moving to his side, reaching for the silver gun packed away, and his form spun away from the ship, facing a large sand dune on the right.

            "What the…?" Vash stumbled as the ground rumbled again with another riling rift of music. The sound was vivacious, jazzy, and something the blond spiky haired man would never forget hearing. "Midvalley!"

            Sure enough the Master Saxer, donned in his pink and black outfit with the bronze instrument strapped to his shoulder was standing atop the dune. There was undoubtedly an evil glint in his eyes.

            "And so we meet again, Vash the Stampede. Tell me, isn't this a splendid day to die?"

            Vash grunted in reply, un-holstering his gun. "Actually, I find the rain a little too dreary for that. The day I die I hope its sunny outside and I'm in the middle of a green patch of land. So you see that day can't be today."

            Midvalley laughed, "I'm not here to kill you- not so soon after our last meeting." He put a hand up and waved.

            "Huh?" Vash's eyes widened to see ten men walk up from behind the saxophonist, all armed with long ranged rifles, all with a greedy eye for Vash's bounty.

            "Meet your new friends, Vash the Stampede- I think you'll enjoy trying to escape them without taking their lives." Midvalley chuckled and nodded once before playing the sax again, his tune having changed to accommodate the missing B-flat note on the brass.

            At once the men slid down the sand dune, all randomly firing shots at Vash. With a yell, Vash did his best to evade their shots, skittering about the grainy terrain, leaving heavy footprints in the rain clogged ground.

            "Hey! Can't we talk about this! I'd really hate to have to hurt you all, you know!"

            The men surrounded the gunman in no time, none of them speaking, all of them sneering. Vash arched an eyebrow, putting his hands up and dropped his weapon to the ground. He laughed awkwardly.

            "Ah-ha-ha! Can't we talk this out fellas? You don't want that stupid bounty, really, I'm more trouble than its worth…why aren't you saying anything? Hey, this is really creepy!"

            Midvalley the Horn Freak continued playing until the ground began to shake around the base of the BeBop. Vash turned his gaze quickly towards the ship.

            'Oh no…if he keeps going the whole thing will go underground!' Vash thought to him self, worry crossing his face. 'I gotta figure this out…and what is up with these bounty hunters? They look so fake…like…puppets.'

            Suddenly Vash knew what was going on. His eyes narrowed and he called out over the music. "Midvalley- you can't keep this up. Kiss your friends good-bye!"

            Ten rifles cocked in preparation to shoot Vash if he made a move. Midvalley stopped playing.

            "Oh really- how do you think you can get out of this one? If you move…they'll shoot you. Not to mention you've dropped your weapon- it'll take you too much time to pick it up."

            Vash grinned, "I've gotten out of predicaments much worse than this one." He spun around, his left hand making a strange clicking noise as it disconnected from his wrist, moving forward, down, and then over to reveal a hidden gun.

            Midvalley certainly had not seen this coming and stared before glaring over his shoulder at a figure unseen to those down the hill. Gunshots sounded rapidly and by the time the Saxer looked again, there were ten puppets in the shape of men lying limply in a heap in the sand. The rain poured down a bit harder, making Vash's figure difficult to discern amongst the ruins of the faux bounty hunting team. Only a fluttering red coat could be clearly seen.

            "They weren't real…they were a little too rigid to be real men," Vash's voice echoed up to Midvalley. "I suggest you leave before you get hurt too."

            "Damn." Midvalley grunted then turned around. Without proper back-up there was no way he wanted to take on the Stampede again. However, as he walked away, he continued playing his saxophone, causing a wall of rain packed sand to rise and slam down in front of the gunman.

            Vash groaned, running from the rolling wall of sand then a shot fired and he fell to his knees. Somehow one of the rifles had gone off…and a bullet was lodged deep in the back of his right shoulder. He screamed loudly just as Spike and Faye returned from the inside of the ship.

            The green haired lanky man blinked in confusion, seeing nothing but a heap of sand and Vash on his knees, screaming.

            "What the hell is going on out here?"

            Vash stopped screaming and got to his feet a bit shakily. He noticed the wall of sand had so conveniently covered up the trashed puppets. It figured.

            Faye moved to a Tomas- unbeknownst to her it was exactly the same one she'd ridden to the ship- and slung a bulky knapsack over the saddle before looking to Vash.

            "You're bleeding!"

            "So you do care!" Vash grinned, staggering to the pair. The wound hurt something terrible- his shoulder was throbbing and he could actually feel the rain dripping into it. At least he knew the bullet had passed clear through.

            He didn't get to hear Faye answer his comment- instead, he felt dizzy and his knees gave out, body hitting the ground and darkness consuming him.

            Spike arched a brow. "I bet he shot himself on accident…I don't see anyone else here."

            "Think he'll live?" Faye asked nudging Vash with her shoe.

            "Yeah…he's just a wimp, that's all. It looked like a pretty clean shot. Let's load him up and hope we can find our way back."

            "Well, wouldn't it be better to wait inside the BeBop till he comes to? I mean, what if we get lost?"

            Spike was already pulling Vash up to a Tomas. "And what if there's someone hanging around here waiting to pounce? I think we went pretty straightforward, Faye. He'll come to either way. Let's just go."

            The woman sighed, giving in. She wasn't going to be left behind, and she knew that Spike would definitely leave without her. She climbed onto the Tomas and gave a longing last look to the BeBop before the trio rode off, nobody noticing the barrel of a rifle sticking out of the sand only a few yards away…

KK- I'm a bit late here on this but here is the answer to Ed's impersonation!

Judy, from Big Shot!! You should have remembered that Spike and Jet were referring to Millie's voice sounding like someone familiar, and so Ed could only have been impersonating a female. The only one fitting that description is of course, Judy. ^_^ I thought of this while remembering that Lia Sargent is the VA for both Judy and Millie on CB and Trigun- a bit of trivia for you anime fans out there!

Kudos to these who knew the answer!

Thai Matrix and Outis! XD