In the distant future.
On a desert planet.
There's a legendary gunman.
Vash the Stampede.
High Noon
Agusta City-
KNIVES The name was written carefully in red ink in the center of town, on a high monument dedicated to a hero whose name had been lost through time.
Vash the Stampede had been standing in front of the monument with the horrid name for hours, seaming motionless. The red ink of Knives name matched the color of Vash's long, one sleeved trench coat. Red, the color of the geranium, was Vashs' favorite color. He loved it because Rem did. But Rem was gone now, taken away by Knives, and now Knives was near. Vash's yellow, spiked hair waved with the arid wind, as he was thinking about the past, of better days.
120 years ago.
"Vash.Vash" a sweet, angelic voice called out to him. A voice he had heard for only a short year, yet the voice of the person he loved the most.
As her long, dark blue hair waved in the wind, her pretty blue eyes looked concerned as she wandered around the Project SEEDS spaceship looking for Vash.
"Rem!!! I'm right here Rem!!" Vash jumped down from a rusty old compartment near the top of the dark, old, and scary storage room. He wore his natural blonde hair very long, almost to the back of his knees. He stared at Rem with his aqua eyes in confusion.
"What is it Rem?? Do you need something?"
"Knives, Mary, and I are going to go eat lunch in the rec room. Would you like to join us?" Rem Severem answered. Vash smiled and said: "Sure!"
Rec room
Vash and Knives lay on a blue, cotton blanket in the rec room. Knives, who almost looked like a clone of Vash, stared up at the huge room. The rec room was designed to simulate the Earth. They were sitting in a huge field of green grass, with a slight breeze coming from the north. There was one big oak tree with limbs that shot out from the trunk, and leaves that covered each limb so that no part of the wood could be seen. There were flowers of all colors in the field. Red, yellow, white, blue, violet, indigo, they covered every inch of the field. The sky was a perfect light blue with no clouds.
Rem sat with Mary, a short, pretty woman with red hair, brown eyes, and a red vest. Rem wore a white shirt and blue jeans. Knives and Vash wore body long white shirts, with light blue shorts that couldn't be seen underneath their shirts.
"Rem?"
"Yes Vash."
" Is this room anything like that planet you keep talking about?" Vash asked.
"Earth? Yes, I guess it's similar. But on Earth the area is a lot more spread out, and it has a lot more flowers." Rem closed her eyes and smiled. She was remembering Earth.
"Do you like flowers Rem?" Vash asked.
"I love flowers, especially red ones. In the language of flowers, red means strength, and courage." She answered.
"Can you eat flowers??" Vash asked. Rem and Mary laughed, and then Rem answered, " Sunflowers can be eaten."
Control deck
Joey, a tall, skinny, black haired man sat in his captain's chair, looking out the window at a beautiful, green planet. He looked around him, at his crew. Rem, Mary, Rowan and Rick all sat at their stations. Rowan was the brain of Project SEEDS, a short, skinny man with glasses. He looked like the model image of a scientist. Rick, the muscle of the group, had short brown hair, and a face that looked like a pro wrestler. Project SEEDS had been launched in the year 2021. The Earth had become a wasteland with no more natural materials left. Man had used up the Earth and it was now uninhabitable. The United Nations elected an alternative to the death of mankind. By launching hundreds of spaceships into space with a crew of 5, the ships would search for a new planet to inhabit. The rest of the human race was then put in suspended animation on the other ships, to sleep until their new home was ready. The trip was called Project SEEDS. On the trip, the crew had landed on a planet they thought would be good for humanity. When they got on the planet they realized they were wrong, but they had found two identical babies. They decided to take the babies with them, to raise them and try to figure out if they were human. They were named Vash and Knives. In one year the babies grew up to the size of 13 year olds, and the brains of Einstein. It was simply amazing. "Look at that planet!" Rem yelled The crew looked on as a huge planet came in front of them. It was about twice the size of Earth, yet they looked identical. Next to it was a huge ball of sand looking planet. "That planet looks just like Earth. And the air is reading breathable!" Rowan yelled. " That other planet though. It looks like there's nothing on it but sand. It looks like gunsmoke."
" Well it looks like we've found our new home." Rem said happily. After 4 years of searching, the crew had found their new home, and they were excited.
Observatory
Vash was curled up in a ball, crying, while floating in the zero gravity room. His brother Knives came in the big room with nothing but empty space, and floated up over to Vash. "What's wrong Vash?" he asked. "It's Rick. He beat me up again! He saw me in the control room, and got really mad. He called me a monster for growing up so fast. He said I wasn't human. Then he.he" Vash couldn't talk anymore. " Don't worry Vash. These people don't understand us. I promise I'll kill them and we'll be free." Knives tried to comfort Vash. But Vash was confused. "But Rem said that no one ever has the right to take the life of another. I don't want anyone to die, I don't like it when people are hurting." " Don't worry Vash. I'll figure something out." Knives took Vash in his arms and hugged him. The two brothers floated in zero gravity, silent.
Rec Room
" There you go Vash." Rem looked at Vash and smiled. She held up a mirror, showing Vash his new haircut. His hair was a lot shorter, and it stuck right up. "It looks weird." He said. " I think you look handsome Vash!" Rem exclaimed. "Really?! Thanks Rem!" Vash shouted. " No problem, now, Knives you're up." Rem looked around for Knives, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.
Knives Quarters
Knives snapped the last bit of hair he had left that hung over his face. His new haircut was almost exactly like Vash's except it was shorter, messier, and the front was a brownish shade. Knives looked at himself and frowned, "It isn't right!! Nothing's right!!!"
Meeting Room
Vash, Knives, and the crew, minus Rick all sat in chairs in front of a glass window. The room was dark, and no detail could be seen except for the suspended animation chamber that Rick was kept in. He was tied up in a strait jacket, screaming. Rowan rose and spoke to Rick, " Rick, you are now relieved of duties. The crew of this ship has found you guilty of rape. You are here by sentenced to 10 years of suspended animation. We thank you for all you've done." Rowan started the freezing process. Rem jumped to her feet and cried out, " Wait!! How do we know that Rick is guilty? This is wrong!! We need more proof!" Mary looked up at Rem with a solemn look on her face, " Rem, he raped me." "NO!!!NO!!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Rick was frozen, and the SEEDS crew was now at four.
Air Lock Chamber
Rowan and Mary sat on the floor of the air lock chamber, quietly. Rowan held a ring in front of Mary's eyes. The two had been going out for two years, and Rowan had just asked Mary to marry him. " Ro- Rowan, I don't kno- She was cut off by Rowans calm, yet chilling voice. "Don't worry! I know we'll be perfect together! And don't worry about Rick either! I locked his chamber door, and now he'll never awaken!!" Rowan looked hysterical now. Mary seemed scared, " I didn't want him too die!!" BANG!!
The doors to the air lock chamber opened, and Knives, Vash, and Rem stood there. When they saw inside, they all gasped. Sitting in a pool of blood was Rowan. He was sitting next to Mary's dead corpse, holding a gun, chuckling. "She didn't agree. She hated me, so I shut her up!" Rowan had gone crazy " Lets get you some help Rowan. You're not yourself!" Rem stepped closer to Rowan, but he lifted his gun towards Rem and started shaking. "Don't do it Rem!!! Don't come any closer.I'll shoot you!!" Rowan was still laughing yet he seemed sad. "Rowan, I'm not going to hurt you!" Rem got closer and closer, until she was face to face with Rowan, who had backed up to the wall.
Control room
Joey had been watching the whole scene in the air lock chamber via camera. Rem was at point blank range in front of Rowan who had gone mad. Joey had two options. One; he could take action and open the air lock door that Rowan was standing in front of and send Rowan into space. Or he could watch and hope Rem wouldn't get shot. The decision was obvious. He had too take action. With the press of one big red button on his control panel, the air lock door opened and Rowan was sucked into space. Screaming, Rem tried to grab his hand, but Rowan was already at least 30 meters from the ship. Joey closed the air lock door, and everyone was silent. The crew was down to 4.
I hour later
Joey sat quietly at his control panel. Rem hadn't even come up to the control room. After the incident, her and Vash went strait to their rooms. Knives was in the control room, talking to Joey. " I think you did the right thing Joey." Knives said. "I'm not so sure I did Knives, I feel really guilty." Knives stood up and faced Joey, " Well I'd be happy to make you feel better." His small eyes with big pupils suddenly grew huge and his pupils grew small. His face seemed darker and he smiled an evil, maniacal smile from ear to ear. He pulled out a gun, and to Joey's horror, pulled the trigger. Joey fell to the ground, dead.
Starboard Bridge
Rem walked with Vash down the bridge. Rem was quiet, thinking of what had happened earlier.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
An alarm overhead went off. Vash and Rem looked up and around trying to see what was wrong. A door to there left opened and Knives walked through.
" All the ships are heading towards that desert planet! Joey went crazy and is trying to kill all the humans, I had to stop him with force but I don't know how to reverse what he did. He set the ships to explode upon impact. Rem, we need to abandon ship, we have to leave!!" The act that Knives put on was a good one and convinced Rem to take action.
"Vash, Knives, get to the escape pods, blast off to that gunsmoke planet. I've got to save the ships. I'll put on the reverse boosters and keep the ships from exploding, but they're still going to land on that planet. You guys will have to start a new human race. You're going to have to start everything over again. It's hard for me to say this, but I won't be there to help you." Rem threw the boys into the escape pod and closed the door. As it was closing, Vash tried to get out but Knives held him in.
"Rem no!!! Don't leave me!!!!!!!!REM!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Rem smiled at Vash and said. " Don't worry Vash! You'll do fine. Take care of Knives." With that the door closed and Rem was gone.
"REM!!!!!!NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Knives looked out the window and laughed: "That woman is smarter then I thought! She actually stopped the ships from being destroyed! But they're still going to that planet of dust. HA! To bad, the ship she's on will be destroyed anyway, there's a bomb in the engine room set to go off in 3.2.1"
BANG!!!
Vash looked out the window and just caught a glimpse of the fireball that used to be the main ship. He watched in horror as the ship crumbled into tiny pieces, and he realized that Rem was gone for good. 10 years later
Although Vash had always hated Knives for what had happened ten years earlier, he had traveled with Knives for ten years vowing not to kill him. He decided he would never kill anybody since Rem had taught him that killing was bad. But Knives believed that humans were dirty creatures that only deserved death. He had traveled with Vash, killing people for sport. Vash didn't have anywhere else to go, so he followed Knives, confused about what he should do. The boys had now become men in stature and in thoughts, but Vash was still scared like a child. 5 years later
Knives stood on top of a cliff above July City aiming his big black Colt .45 at it. Immediately it transformed into a huge extension of his arm. A light began to form at the end of the devise. He pointed it at July and laughed his hysterical laugh. The light grew to a quarter the size of the city, and then in an instant it was shot right into the heart of the city. Vash looked in horror as the city melted away, and disappeared from the face of the planet. Knives had become a monster. 1 year later Vash and Knives stood at gunpoint. Vash aimed his silver Colt .45 at Knives, and Knives aimed his black Colt .45 at Vash. " High noon is here." Knives said. Knives pulled the trigger, but Vash jumped out of the way, just missing the hot lead bullet. Vash pulled the trigger on his gun. The bullet hit Knives in the thigh, and Knives fell to the ground. Knives had a low tolerance to pain, and he went in shock. His eyes got big and he looked scared for the first time in his life. He turned to Vash and said in a trembling voice: "Did you shoot me?? Did you shoot your own brother??!!" Vash stepped back in horror, and started to sniffle. A tear ran down his cheek, and he turned and ran, ran as far as he could.
At nightfall he stopped. He thought about Rem, about what she would do. He knew he could never face Knives again, but realized that one day he would have to. Everyone thought he had destroyed July City, but it was really Knives who had. Vash had shot Knives, and Vash knew that Knives would never stop looking for him.
Present Day
Meryl Strife stood behind Vash, leaning against a building with no particular shape or color. She was dying to say something, anything, to Vash, but she couldn't form any words. Vash had been a much darker person ever since his maniacal brother, Knives, had sent his right hand man, Legato, to kill him. Now Vash was more of a mature, scary person, living up to his reputation of an ace gunfighter. His usually calm, childish personality was no more. To Meryl, he seemed like another person. She stood there, quietly, recalling what had gone on in the past few months.
Meryl was an insurance agent for the Bernardeli Insurance Company. She was assigned, along with her partner Milly Thompson, to track down and follow the ruthless gun-fighting nomad known as Vash the Stampede. Their objective; to make sure Vash didn't cause any more damage to the already struggling planet. He had already destroyed the city of July years earlier and was labeled the first human disaster. A bounty was placed on his head for 60 billion dollars. Bernardeli didn't want insurance rates to go up any higher then they were already at, so they decided to send Milly and Meryl to prevent any further damage by Vash. They had tracked him down and followed him for a few months, and got to see who the real Vash the Stampede was.
Meryl had realized who Vash was. He wasn't a gun slinging, woman and child killing, destructive maniac as common belief stated. He was a love and peace chanting, goofish, flirtatious, idiotic pacifist with a past that was more horrible then anything imaginable.
Meryl knew that Knives had destroyed July City, not Vash. She knew that Knives had killed Vashs mother figure and person he loved the most, Rem Severem. She knew that Knives had almost destroyed the entire human race when he crashed the SEEDS spaceships into the planet Gunsmoke. She also knew that it was Knives fault that humanity was on the desert planet Gunsmoke. She knew Vash wasn't human; he was an alien, yet she also knew that he had human emotions. He was suffering; he had been suffering for 110 years, ever since he departed from Knives, leaving a gun wound in his brothers' leg. She knew she needed to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say. But she knew she had to say something.
She opened her mouth and began:
"Vas-
BANG
The smoke from Vashs' Colt 45 double action revolver was blown with the wind. Meryl didn't move a muscle, but she saw what had been done. Above the "I" in Knives name, a fresh bullet hole was engraved deep in the stone monument.
Vash dropped his heavy silver gun, and dropped to his knees. He buried his head into his gloved hands. His body leaned deeper towards the sand, and his head touched the ground. He felt his eyes begin to burn, and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't make a sound.
He swallowed and took a deep breath:
"Re- Rem, what should I do? "Rem, why am I alone?? "Rem, what does he want???
"REM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, but his cry was muffled by the screaming wind and by the chocking of his own voice. His loud, screaming cries soon quieted, but he continued to bawl like a baby. Meryl only saw him now as a crumbled shape of nothing on the ground. This wasn't the real Vash, how could it be?? From the outskirts of town, Vashs' crying could be heard. His suffering was the only noise in the abanded city; it seemed to be the only noise on the planet. Meryl still stood saying nothing, but wanting to say a million things. A tear ran down her cheek, she got goose bumps all over her body. Quietly, she began to cry too, wondering if Vash would ever be the same.
In the distance, the two suns of the planet were setting over the sand dunes. The heat from their fiery bodies died away, and the coolness of night was felt over Gunsmoke. Later, Vash, Meryl, and Milly all lay in there own beds, sleeping just like everyone else on the planet, save one.
In the distance, a voice could be heard. A chilling voice that commanded respect, and fear. It was a voice that made all tremble in fear. Out there, somewhere in the distance, Knives maniacal laugh could be heard.
High Noon
Agusta City-
KNIVES The name was written carefully in red ink in the center of town, on a high monument dedicated to a hero whose name had been lost through time.
Vash the Stampede had been standing in front of the monument with the horrid name for hours, seaming motionless. The red ink of Knives name matched the color of Vash's long, one sleeved trench coat. Red, the color of the geranium, was Vashs' favorite color. He loved it because Rem did. But Rem was gone now, taken away by Knives, and now Knives was near. Vash's yellow, spiked hair waved with the arid wind, as he was thinking about the past, of better days.
120 years ago.
"Vash.Vash" a sweet, angelic voice called out to him. A voice he had heard for only a short year, yet the voice of the person he loved the most.
As her long, dark blue hair waved in the wind, her pretty blue eyes looked concerned as she wandered around the Project SEEDS spaceship looking for Vash.
"Rem!!! I'm right here Rem!!" Vash jumped down from a rusty old compartment near the top of the dark, old, and scary storage room. He wore his natural blonde hair very long, almost to the back of his knees. He stared at Rem with his aqua eyes in confusion.
"What is it Rem?? Do you need something?"
"Knives, Mary, and I are going to go eat lunch in the rec room. Would you like to join us?" Rem Severem answered. Vash smiled and said: "Sure!"
Rec room
Vash and Knives lay on a blue, cotton blanket in the rec room. Knives, who almost looked like a clone of Vash, stared up at the huge room. The rec room was designed to simulate the Earth. They were sitting in a huge field of green grass, with a slight breeze coming from the north. There was one big oak tree with limbs that shot out from the trunk, and leaves that covered each limb so that no part of the wood could be seen. There were flowers of all colors in the field. Red, yellow, white, blue, violet, indigo, they covered every inch of the field. The sky was a perfect light blue with no clouds.
Rem sat with Mary, a short, pretty woman with red hair, brown eyes, and a red vest. Rem wore a white shirt and blue jeans. Knives and Vash wore body long white shirts, with light blue shorts that couldn't be seen underneath their shirts.
"Rem?"
"Yes Vash."
" Is this room anything like that planet you keep talking about?" Vash asked.
"Earth? Yes, I guess it's similar. But on Earth the area is a lot more spread out, and it has a lot more flowers." Rem closed her eyes and smiled. She was remembering Earth.
"Do you like flowers Rem?" Vash asked.
"I love flowers, especially red ones. In the language of flowers, red means strength, and courage." She answered.
"Can you eat flowers??" Vash asked. Rem and Mary laughed, and then Rem answered, " Sunflowers can be eaten."
Control deck
Joey, a tall, skinny, black haired man sat in his captain's chair, looking out the window at a beautiful, green planet. He looked around him, at his crew. Rem, Mary, Rowan and Rick all sat at their stations. Rowan was the brain of Project SEEDS, a short, skinny man with glasses. He looked like the model image of a scientist. Rick, the muscle of the group, had short brown hair, and a face that looked like a pro wrestler. Project SEEDS had been launched in the year 2021. The Earth had become a wasteland with no more natural materials left. Man had used up the Earth and it was now uninhabitable. The United Nations elected an alternative to the death of mankind. By launching hundreds of spaceships into space with a crew of 5, the ships would search for a new planet to inhabit. The rest of the human race was then put in suspended animation on the other ships, to sleep until their new home was ready. The trip was called Project SEEDS. On the trip, the crew had landed on a planet they thought would be good for humanity. When they got on the planet they realized they were wrong, but they had found two identical babies. They decided to take the babies with them, to raise them and try to figure out if they were human. They were named Vash and Knives. In one year the babies grew up to the size of 13 year olds, and the brains of Einstein. It was simply amazing. "Look at that planet!" Rem yelled The crew looked on as a huge planet came in front of them. It was about twice the size of Earth, yet they looked identical. Next to it was a huge ball of sand looking planet. "That planet looks just like Earth. And the air is reading breathable!" Rowan yelled. " That other planet though. It looks like there's nothing on it but sand. It looks like gunsmoke."
" Well it looks like we've found our new home." Rem said happily. After 4 years of searching, the crew had found their new home, and they were excited.
Observatory
Vash was curled up in a ball, crying, while floating in the zero gravity room. His brother Knives came in the big room with nothing but empty space, and floated up over to Vash. "What's wrong Vash?" he asked. "It's Rick. He beat me up again! He saw me in the control room, and got really mad. He called me a monster for growing up so fast. He said I wasn't human. Then he.he" Vash couldn't talk anymore. " Don't worry Vash. These people don't understand us. I promise I'll kill them and we'll be free." Knives tried to comfort Vash. But Vash was confused. "But Rem said that no one ever has the right to take the life of another. I don't want anyone to die, I don't like it when people are hurting." " Don't worry Vash. I'll figure something out." Knives took Vash in his arms and hugged him. The two brothers floated in zero gravity, silent.
Rec Room
" There you go Vash." Rem looked at Vash and smiled. She held up a mirror, showing Vash his new haircut. His hair was a lot shorter, and it stuck right up. "It looks weird." He said. " I think you look handsome Vash!" Rem exclaimed. "Really?! Thanks Rem!" Vash shouted. " No problem, now, Knives you're up." Rem looked around for Knives, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.
Knives Quarters
Knives snapped the last bit of hair he had left that hung over his face. His new haircut was almost exactly like Vash's except it was shorter, messier, and the front was a brownish shade. Knives looked at himself and frowned, "It isn't right!! Nothing's right!!!"
Meeting Room
Vash, Knives, and the crew, minus Rick all sat in chairs in front of a glass window. The room was dark, and no detail could be seen except for the suspended animation chamber that Rick was kept in. He was tied up in a strait jacket, screaming. Rowan rose and spoke to Rick, " Rick, you are now relieved of duties. The crew of this ship has found you guilty of rape. You are here by sentenced to 10 years of suspended animation. We thank you for all you've done." Rowan started the freezing process. Rem jumped to her feet and cried out, " Wait!! How do we know that Rick is guilty? This is wrong!! We need more proof!" Mary looked up at Rem with a solemn look on her face, " Rem, he raped me." "NO!!!NO!!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Rick was frozen, and the SEEDS crew was now at four.
Air Lock Chamber
Rowan and Mary sat on the floor of the air lock chamber, quietly. Rowan held a ring in front of Mary's eyes. The two had been going out for two years, and Rowan had just asked Mary to marry him. " Ro- Rowan, I don't kno- She was cut off by Rowans calm, yet chilling voice. "Don't worry! I know we'll be perfect together! And don't worry about Rick either! I locked his chamber door, and now he'll never awaken!!" Rowan looked hysterical now. Mary seemed scared, " I didn't want him too die!!" BANG!!
The doors to the air lock chamber opened, and Knives, Vash, and Rem stood there. When they saw inside, they all gasped. Sitting in a pool of blood was Rowan. He was sitting next to Mary's dead corpse, holding a gun, chuckling. "She didn't agree. She hated me, so I shut her up!" Rowan had gone crazy " Lets get you some help Rowan. You're not yourself!" Rem stepped closer to Rowan, but he lifted his gun towards Rem and started shaking. "Don't do it Rem!!! Don't come any closer.I'll shoot you!!" Rowan was still laughing yet he seemed sad. "Rowan, I'm not going to hurt you!" Rem got closer and closer, until she was face to face with Rowan, who had backed up to the wall.
Control room
Joey had been watching the whole scene in the air lock chamber via camera. Rem was at point blank range in front of Rowan who had gone mad. Joey had two options. One; he could take action and open the air lock door that Rowan was standing in front of and send Rowan into space. Or he could watch and hope Rem wouldn't get shot. The decision was obvious. He had too take action. With the press of one big red button on his control panel, the air lock door opened and Rowan was sucked into space. Screaming, Rem tried to grab his hand, but Rowan was already at least 30 meters from the ship. Joey closed the air lock door, and everyone was silent. The crew was down to 4.
I hour later
Joey sat quietly at his control panel. Rem hadn't even come up to the control room. After the incident, her and Vash went strait to their rooms. Knives was in the control room, talking to Joey. " I think you did the right thing Joey." Knives said. "I'm not so sure I did Knives, I feel really guilty." Knives stood up and faced Joey, " Well I'd be happy to make you feel better." His small eyes with big pupils suddenly grew huge and his pupils grew small. His face seemed darker and he smiled an evil, maniacal smile from ear to ear. He pulled out a gun, and to Joey's horror, pulled the trigger. Joey fell to the ground, dead.
Starboard Bridge
Rem walked with Vash down the bridge. Rem was quiet, thinking of what had happened earlier.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
An alarm overhead went off. Vash and Rem looked up and around trying to see what was wrong. A door to there left opened and Knives walked through.
" All the ships are heading towards that desert planet! Joey went crazy and is trying to kill all the humans, I had to stop him with force but I don't know how to reverse what he did. He set the ships to explode upon impact. Rem, we need to abandon ship, we have to leave!!" The act that Knives put on was a good one and convinced Rem to take action.
"Vash, Knives, get to the escape pods, blast off to that gunsmoke planet. I've got to save the ships. I'll put on the reverse boosters and keep the ships from exploding, but they're still going to land on that planet. You guys will have to start a new human race. You're going to have to start everything over again. It's hard for me to say this, but I won't be there to help you." Rem threw the boys into the escape pod and closed the door. As it was closing, Vash tried to get out but Knives held him in.
"Rem no!!! Don't leave me!!!!!!!!REM!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Rem smiled at Vash and said. " Don't worry Vash! You'll do fine. Take care of Knives." With that the door closed and Rem was gone.
"REM!!!!!!NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Knives looked out the window and laughed: "That woman is smarter then I thought! She actually stopped the ships from being destroyed! But they're still going to that planet of dust. HA! To bad, the ship she's on will be destroyed anyway, there's a bomb in the engine room set to go off in 3.2.1"
BANG!!!
Vash looked out the window and just caught a glimpse of the fireball that used to be the main ship. He watched in horror as the ship crumbled into tiny pieces, and he realized that Rem was gone for good. 10 years later
Although Vash had always hated Knives for what had happened ten years earlier, he had traveled with Knives for ten years vowing not to kill him. He decided he would never kill anybody since Rem had taught him that killing was bad. But Knives believed that humans were dirty creatures that only deserved death. He had traveled with Vash, killing people for sport. Vash didn't have anywhere else to go, so he followed Knives, confused about what he should do. The boys had now become men in stature and in thoughts, but Vash was still scared like a child. 5 years later
Knives stood on top of a cliff above July City aiming his big black Colt .45 at it. Immediately it transformed into a huge extension of his arm. A light began to form at the end of the devise. He pointed it at July and laughed his hysterical laugh. The light grew to a quarter the size of the city, and then in an instant it was shot right into the heart of the city. Vash looked in horror as the city melted away, and disappeared from the face of the planet. Knives had become a monster. 1 year later Vash and Knives stood at gunpoint. Vash aimed his silver Colt .45 at Knives, and Knives aimed his black Colt .45 at Vash. " High noon is here." Knives said. Knives pulled the trigger, but Vash jumped out of the way, just missing the hot lead bullet. Vash pulled the trigger on his gun. The bullet hit Knives in the thigh, and Knives fell to the ground. Knives had a low tolerance to pain, and he went in shock. His eyes got big and he looked scared for the first time in his life. He turned to Vash and said in a trembling voice: "Did you shoot me?? Did you shoot your own brother??!!" Vash stepped back in horror, and started to sniffle. A tear ran down his cheek, and he turned and ran, ran as far as he could.
At nightfall he stopped. He thought about Rem, about what she would do. He knew he could never face Knives again, but realized that one day he would have to. Everyone thought he had destroyed July City, but it was really Knives who had. Vash had shot Knives, and Vash knew that Knives would never stop looking for him.
Present Day
Meryl Strife stood behind Vash, leaning against a building with no particular shape or color. She was dying to say something, anything, to Vash, but she couldn't form any words. Vash had been a much darker person ever since his maniacal brother, Knives, had sent his right hand man, Legato, to kill him. Now Vash was more of a mature, scary person, living up to his reputation of an ace gunfighter. His usually calm, childish personality was no more. To Meryl, he seemed like another person. She stood there, quietly, recalling what had gone on in the past few months.
Meryl was an insurance agent for the Bernardeli Insurance Company. She was assigned, along with her partner Milly Thompson, to track down and follow the ruthless gun-fighting nomad known as Vash the Stampede. Their objective; to make sure Vash didn't cause any more damage to the already struggling planet. He had already destroyed the city of July years earlier and was labeled the first human disaster. A bounty was placed on his head for 60 billion dollars. Bernardeli didn't want insurance rates to go up any higher then they were already at, so they decided to send Milly and Meryl to prevent any further damage by Vash. They had tracked him down and followed him for a few months, and got to see who the real Vash the Stampede was.
Meryl had realized who Vash was. He wasn't a gun slinging, woman and child killing, destructive maniac as common belief stated. He was a love and peace chanting, goofish, flirtatious, idiotic pacifist with a past that was more horrible then anything imaginable.
Meryl knew that Knives had destroyed July City, not Vash. She knew that Knives had killed Vashs mother figure and person he loved the most, Rem Severem. She knew that Knives had almost destroyed the entire human race when he crashed the SEEDS spaceships into the planet Gunsmoke. She also knew that it was Knives fault that humanity was on the desert planet Gunsmoke. She knew Vash wasn't human; he was an alien, yet she also knew that he had human emotions. He was suffering; he had been suffering for 110 years, ever since he departed from Knives, leaving a gun wound in his brothers' leg. She knew she needed to say something to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say. But she knew she had to say something.
She opened her mouth and began:
"Vas-
BANG
The smoke from Vashs' Colt 45 double action revolver was blown with the wind. Meryl didn't move a muscle, but she saw what had been done. Above the "I" in Knives name, a fresh bullet hole was engraved deep in the stone monument.
Vash dropped his heavy silver gun, and dropped to his knees. He buried his head into his gloved hands. His body leaned deeper towards the sand, and his head touched the ground. He felt his eyes begin to burn, and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't make a sound.
He swallowed and took a deep breath:
"Re- Rem, what should I do? "Rem, why am I alone?? "Rem, what does he want???
"REM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, but his cry was muffled by the screaming wind and by the chocking of his own voice. His loud, screaming cries soon quieted, but he continued to bawl like a baby. Meryl only saw him now as a crumbled shape of nothing on the ground. This wasn't the real Vash, how could it be?? From the outskirts of town, Vashs' crying could be heard. His suffering was the only noise in the abanded city; it seemed to be the only noise on the planet. Meryl still stood saying nothing, but wanting to say a million things. A tear ran down her cheek, she got goose bumps all over her body. Quietly, she began to cry too, wondering if Vash would ever be the same.
In the distance, the two suns of the planet were setting over the sand dunes. The heat from their fiery bodies died away, and the coolness of night was felt over Gunsmoke. Later, Vash, Meryl, and Milly all lay in there own beds, sleeping just like everyone else on the planet, save one.
In the distance, a voice could be heard. A chilling voice that commanded respect, and fear. It was a voice that made all tremble in fear. Out there, somewhere in the distance, Knives maniacal laugh could be heard.