A Trip in Paradise

This is a Cowboy Bebop/Mega Man X crossover created by TheIkranRider. This takes place after the events in Recessional of the Red Dragons, aka the Tharsis Wars.

More than six weeks had passed since the interstellar war. Trudy is seen with Spike inside the renovated convenient store that was first owned by the late Anastasia. He was sleeping away while there was a Big Shots! bulletin. Thanks to a donation of ₩200,000 (200,000 woolongs), both Punch and Judy were back up and running. Despite the upcoming dust storm, there was a bounty head that came from a mysterious occult known as the Drifters to send people to a fake planet named Emperyea for ₩15,000 for each criminal. With 2 criminals leading the occult, it was ₩30,000, to which Spike couldn't resist. Somehow, after their rambling, they noticed Punch and Judy deliriously happy as they had a change of heart and join their Master.

To their shock, it seemed that the Drifters wanted to evacuate all the Martians to Empyrea on account of the upcoming storm. Julia arrived with some food and supplies, and even she noticed the strange behavior from other Martians; it wasn't easy to gather her bearings since both the lots and interiors were completely vacant. She also gave Spike and Trudy a pamphlet highlighting the Master plan for the bogus journey to Planet Empyrea. This made Trudy wonder if there were some zealots they fought before; Spike recalled Dr. Londes and his insane environments, as well as Vincent.

They boarded each of their Zipcrafts, Spike's Swordfish II and Julia's new spacecraft, the Hearthstone; a few weeks back Spike's friend, Doohan, designed the latter like he did with the former, and Trudy boarded Julia's ship. They lifted off toward Julia's destination. They first docked next to fuselage tanks. The lot was of course empty, but Julia noticed a massive group of zealots at the rear of the place. Spike warned everyone to stay alert, but a Drifter met up with them. He offered Julia and Trudy to join his Master and head to Empyrea, which actually made them dazed. Spike snapped them out of their confusion and fought off several of the Drifters, as did an unexpected appearance from Zero. He gave them more data of the situation:

Takeshi Lucero Crowley Age: 37 Bounty: ₩15,000 Planet: Venus

He appeared to be nearly six feet tall, had a bald, elliptical head, very heavy eyebrows, a beard and mustache that were almost paper thin and had sharp edges. He also donned on a shiny, opaque uniform with red linings that Spike thought he could belong to the Yakuza. There was also a petite female to his right:

Lyn Targoons Dogma Age: 37 Bounty: ₩15,000 Planet: Venus

She had long, wild, blond hair that had portions covered by rose petals, a pale red ribbon was on top, she had long, ruby-painted fingernails that were about six inches; and glossy lips that matched the same shade as her sultry nails. She also smiled widely as her deep eyes sparkled with some sort of evil sneer. To Trudy, she didn't think she looked like her age; almost as if she was just Takeshi's...playgirl.

Zero was supposed to stay with Jet but there was an unfortunate turn of events. He walked out of the base without a trace during his slumber in his own capsule from Abel City and never returned. The transmission was lost and the Hammerhead was gone; luckily he was able to follow Spike, Julia, and Trudy. And Faye remained unavailable. The bounty heads seem surprisingly not like intimidating bait, but Spike said looks can be deceiving. So, Zero split up with Spike and investigated the interior while Trudy left with Julia.

Zero and Spike found an archaic projector which displayed a long infomercial involving the journey to Empyrea, while Julia and Trudy found a gathering as people scoffed some goulash like pigs at picnic tables. On a rear stage, there were Takeshi and Lyn enticing the braindead audience. Trudy reluctantly got immersed with the group as she got a bowl for Zero to analyze, then to her horror, she saw Jet and Faye march up to the bounty heads. She tried her best not to let her guard down, but then they noticed her and mentioned the Bebop in some kind of chant which aroused the group. She immediately headed back to Julia and they evaded the pursuing zealots. Spike and Zero met up with them and the women implored them to evacuate in their spacecrafts, with Zero in his vessel.

He analyzed the gruel and there were compounds of chemicals that were rapidly killing brain cells, even more faster than alcohol. Spike concluded that if they return to Tharsis, they're sitting ducks. Everyone was losing hope as all the Martians, Jet and Faye were controlled by the Drifters. The Swordfish soared over an old barn, he immediately turned as if he found something. Inside the barn, there was a massive ring in the ground, as if belonging to an unusual spacecraft, as well as a rustic document. Light from the ceiling gleamed on it, as if the roof was burnt from the inside, and he tore up the poster in all his rage.

He met up with the Hearthstone and the Shuttle. He unveiled the real deal that the Drifters were manipulating their victims' money and build a massive ship that'd cost a fistful of woolongs. He revealed that Jet, Faye, the Drifters and the 2 bounty heads would be relocated to the edge of the universe, specifically where the Big Bang had ended, right near Pluto at its moon, Charon; he noticed that celestial body after he remembered the blurry image from that poster. There was no "Master" just a falsity in order to run Mars and the whole galaxy dry. And the oncoming dust storm was the perfect time to exploit Mars' inhabitants.

Zero and the others were thrilled about his findings. And so, they headed through the asteroid field to avoid detection from any pursuing zealot while they had made it to Charon. Though they had to take a warp gate by the time they reached Jupiter.

They were just about to reach the Kulper Belt and saw the Red Tail and Hammerhead docked near a large facility. Many upon many slaves worked tirelessly in their delirium for Empyrea collecting space rock and ice particles despite the strain. Spike, Julia and Trudy snuck inside to catch up to the bounty heads, although Lyn was naked to the third base. This display nearly distracted Spike, but he was led inside the complex and noticed the flash drive where all peoples' woolongs were stored. Julia was able to shut down the power grid and the trio unleashed their fury on her and her followers. Until a shot rang out which belonged to Jet, while Faye was right beside him.

Spike was furious of their betrayals, especially since his team was the best group of bounty hunters, but they never budged. One of the evildoers grabbed Julia hostage as a weakness to get thru Spike. She was in a stasis tube losing oxygen.

Then, a plasma beam shot out from a certain someone who was too slow to show up. Upon its primitivity, the Shuttle was slower than the Zipcrafts, and the Maverick Hunter jumped in to save the day, destroying the complex. Zero broke Julia out and Spike did mouth-to-mouth, then there were a few resistors who came to their senses and assisted the group, while also holding Faye and Jet at gunpoint. The facility was collapsing and everyone but Spike escaped; he headed back for the hard drive, until...

He punched around the computer to download the currency, then he was caught in the crossfire. It was a devastating sight, even though the elusive cowboy, Andy, managed to capture Lyn and Takeshi and bring them to justice. To their horror, Spike was gone, only by a measly thread since he was hanging by the cliffside in his spacesuit. It was tempting, but the heroes decided to restore the equity back to each of the people of Venus and Mars as Anonymous.

During their celebratory leg home, Jet and Faye made a confession. As they landed within the Martian frontier, they said they only acted as spies working for the 2 bounty heads. Trudy was so enraged by this that she hit Faye directly in her face pinning her to the ground. She then glared at Jet, ready to attack, but Spike and Julia held her back. She stormed away without ever looking back. Spike and Zero tried to stop her hysteria, but Julia assured them to let her go for awhile. Zero concluded that's what it felt like to have her...faith shaking.

A few days later, with the dust storm looming closer, Spike looked for her aboard his Swordfish. He found a campsite and to his knowledge it belonged to Laughing Bull. Sure enough, he said Wandering Star was here. She soon emerged from a steep crater, and Spike was actually worried for her. She never wanted to give Faye nor Jet a second thought and Laughing Bull actually convinced her to return to Swimming bird and Hearthstone, and eventually rekindle their friendship and trust. While she'll still suffer from the pangs like any adult would, only time will tell on whether or not she'll be able to have a pep talk with them. Trudy accepted to head back home just before the dust storm hit, and she may talk to them once more if it passes, hopefully.