Cowboy Bebop. A Syndicate Story by Sean Cummings

Author:Sean Cummings [Sean Cummings]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags:  
Publisher: Titan

-TEN-

“ANTICIPATION”

They called him Dr. Teeth. He visited the Pits once a week on Sundays in order to patch up any injuries or lingering ailments the boys had received during the weekend’s fights. He was exceptionally tall and wore a bowler hat that he never, ever took off. The boys liked to joke about what he was hiding underneath that hat. Was it a terrible haircut? Or a nasty scar? Or, perhaps, did he have a metal plate inserted into his head as a child after an accident and had to wear a hat in order to block out the old FM radio signals that his head picked up from Earth? Whatever it was, Dr. Teeth looked every part a villain in a James Bond film. Unfortunately, he was anything but and had earned his nickname because he was a dentist. Humpty couldn’t convince an actual medical practitioner to come do back-office treatments on his boys, so he found the next best thing. A dentist without a conscience.

“That doesn’t look like a fight wound,” Dr. Teeth said, as he examined the knife wound on Fearless’s abdomen that he had received from Number Twenty-One. It was about two inches long and bright pink, the beginning stages of an infection setting in. Fearless was laying on his side on an old couch that was currently being used as a makeshift exam table. Next to it was a floor lamp with the lampshade removed, which was standing in for a proper medical light.

Fearless shrugged. “You wouldn’t believe the fingernails on this kid if I showed you.”

Dr. Teeth didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. “You know that I’m obligated to report any suspicious injuries to Mr. Lucky, right?”

“The only thing that’s suspicious,” Fearless quipped, “is that hat you never take off.”

“Hold still.” Dr. Teeth grumbled, as he began to stitch up the wound. Fearless’s eyes ticked to the White-Haired Boy, who sat in the corner. They shared a smile, the two now partners in crime and loving every second of it. Until—

The Irish Boy, aka Number Twenty-Two, stuck his head in the door. “Hey, Humpty wants to see you two when you’re done.”

Fearless grumbled. “Ah, shit.”

“You sure it was just some fingernails?” Dr. Teeth chuckled.

“Shut up and keep sewing, Teeth,” Fearless replied with an ice cold glare. His eyes ticked back to the White-Haired Boy sitting in the corner and winked. The White-Haired Boy looked down to his feet, trying not to laugh.

* * *

Humpty sat behind his old steel desk with a deep scowl. It was Sunday. And you never wanted to see Humpty on a Sunday. That’s because it was his only day off during the week. The boys had heard he spent his entire Sunday at church, attending mass three to four times in a row. Sometimes he’d stay after to have a meal with the priests, or stay late into the night wiping down pews and putting hymn books back in their correct places so they would be ready for the next morning’s mass.

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