Wild Arms 3-

To Love a Running Gun

The life of one with nothing left to live for...

Disclaimer-Wild Arms 3 is copyright to Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Jet Enduro came upon the peak of the cliff. The night sky was adorned with stars and the shining moon. Their nurturing light bathed Filgaia in a peaceful serenity. That very serenity just months earlier had been on the verge of extinction. Had it not been for Jet and his Drifter friends, Filgaia would have been wiped out completely. But these unsung heroes were soon marked for death by the very people that inhibitied the world they had just saved. Branded as outlaws for their murder of the Ark of Destiny leader, they were forced to go into hiding until the whole situation settled. It was during that hiding that Jet abruptly left one night, not telling the other members of the group where he was going. Sure he had warned them time and time again before that he'd probably leave one day, but they never really believed him. Now this time he had actually done it. Not that he cared, no of course not. He was Jet Enduro, the heartless and callous Drifter who didn't give a rats ass about anything other than priceless treasure. He never asked for their companionship, those three just sort of stuck to him like glue.

They wasted their time with me.

A chill wind picked up around the cliff's top, causing Jet's twin scarfs to flutter wildly. With one motion of his hand, Jet untied the scarfs and let them drop to the cliffs below. He wasn't worried about them, for he would soon be joining them. Jet brought his hand to his back and removed his Airget-lamh from its holster. He held the semi-automatic ARM in front of his face. This gun was a part of himself, and it would be this gun that would end his miserable existence. He wouldn't let himself be killed by some vigilante who was out for the price on his head. Jet Enduro was much too prideful for that. He had a reputation to upkeep after all.

Taking the clip out from the ARM, Jet dropped all of the ammunition except for one. This one last bullet would be his final salvation from the hellish reality that was his own existence. Nothing in his life mattered. All of the material possessions he had obtained over the years were pointless. He realized too late that he gained nothing from them. His greed and lust for wealth led him to his demise.

That was the story he was going to tell himself as he took that faithless leap into the rocky depths below. But then, almost as if on cue, three figures appeared in his subconscious.

"Not now..." Jet muttered.

Clive Winslett, the know it all who would banter on for hours and hours about pointless things like excavations and historical records. Jet could never understand a damn word of what Clive was saying, he'd just roll his eyes and nod, trying to pretend like he cared.

Gallows Caradine, the bearish, boorish, and loud tribesman from Baskar colony. Jet was never very fond of Gallows. He merely regarded him as a distant ally. Gallows' brash nature always irked Jet. And his drinking too, Gallows would always have one too many, and then become a complete and utter moron that Jet REALLY disliked.

And finally, Virginia Maxwell, the ever vigilant and always cheerful leader. She was annoying beyond belief to Jet, with her upbeat attitude and never say die convictions. Jet always disliked that about her, because, deep down, he too wanted to be like that, but his own pride kept him the antisocial bastard the group had come to know him as.

But Jet never really hated Virginia. He didn't hate any of them. If there was one person in all of Filgaia he truly hated and could not stand, it was himself. He hated himself for being a Filgaia Sample, he hated himself for being Adam Kadmon, he hated himself just for being alive. It was unknown to Jet why he let himself continue to exist in this world for as long as he had, but now he'd take his life into his hands. The world didn't need nor want him, and Jet didn't need or want the world. It was a mutual, unknown agreement the boy had reached with himself and the world around him.

"Time to go..."

Jet brought his Airget-lamh up. At first he held it to his chest, clenching the ARM close to him. Treasures came and went. This was the only real material possession he truly cherished. And it was his priceless gun that would take him out of this world. The sharp crags below would erase his mortal body from the world, and Adam Kadmon the Filgaia Sample would cease to exist. Positioning the barrel of his ARM right below the point of his chin, Jet prepared to pull the trigger. This was the best way, quick and painless.

But...he hesitated. Jet lowered the gun back down. What was he doing? Was this really how it would end? Jet's heart and his mind were tearing at each other. He was unsure of what to do.

"I don't want to do this..." He weakly told himself.

Jet wanted to live. He wanted to live as Jet Enduro, not Adam Kadmon. But he was denied true existence the second he was created.

"Androids deserve no such thing as life. I never had a damn life to begin with."

And once again, the Airget-lamh was raised to Jet's head, this time right at his temple.

Now. His mind ordered. Now now now now now now now now now now now now now now NOW!

Jet pulled the trigger...

BANG!

The bullet screamed out of the barrel and hit...the air. The bullet grazed Jet's cheek, opening a small gash. Jet spat at himself for throwing off his aim at the very last second.

"Idiot..." Jet belittled himself. Opening the clip Jet dropped the empty shell to the ground, then picked up another unspent bullet, loading it into the chamber. The Airget-lamh clicked into its firing position.

"Jet!!!" A voice came from behind him. Jet bowed his head and cursed silently. He had been found. And the one to find him was none other than...

"Virginia." Jet said.

"Jet...wha...what are you doing...?" Virginia weakly asked as she saw Jet lower his ARM from his face. She saw the graze on his cheek and began to set up her own scenario of what he was planning on doing.

Jet turned back around, replying with a cold "Leave me alone..."

"I won't." Virginia refused.

"Get lost..." Jet demanded again. Virginia just shook her head in refusal and began to make her way to Jet. She was stopped dead in her tracks when Jet raised his Airget-lamh again, pointing it at the young Drifter girl.

"Jet..."

"I said go away!!!" He screamed.

"Jet...please...let me help you..."

"I don't need your help! I don't need anyone's help! I'm...!"

"Your own person?" Virginia finished for him. She knew him all too well.

"...just leave..."

"I don't care how many times you say it Jet, I'm not leaving. Go ahead and shoot me if you have to."

"Have it your way..." Jet mercilessly replied. In a split second Jet took aim and fired, striking Virginia in the arm. She screamed in pain as the bullet lodged itself into her body.

"You brought this on yourself..." Jet warned. Thinking this would stave off the persistant Virginia, Jet was quite shocked to find that she continued to stand. Her face was twisted up in pain from the shot, but she didn't back down. Even with blood seeping out of the wound on her arm, Virginia continued to come closer to Jet. Jet dropped to his knees in disbelief.

"J...Jet..." Virginia weakly called out as she held out her hands to hold him. Jet could then feel Virginia's immeasurable pain come unto him. It was not just the physical pain of the bullet, but also the emotional pain she felt from seeing her friend like this. As Virginia began to fall, Jet dropped his ARM to the ground and grabbed her. She fell into his lap, weakly crying out his name.

"Why...? Why?! Why do you have to care about me?!" Jet yelled as he buried his face into Virginia's hair. "I'm not worth it!!!"

"That's not true...you are worth it Jet..."

"Stop it! Stop calling me that! I'm Adam Kadmon dammit! I'm not Jet Enduro!"

"You're Jet...I don't know anyone named Adam Kadmon..."

Tears began to fall from Jet's eyes now. They fell onto Virginia's face with a sorrowful splash. Virginia, giggling to herself, raised her hand to Jet's eyes and wiped away his tears.

"Come on Jet...that's not like you at all..." Said the young girl. "Where's the mean, uncaring Jet that I know? Huh? Hehe, right now he'd be saying 'Whatever' or something. What'd you do with him you kidnapper?" She teased.

"Stop it..." Jet solemnly told her.

Virginia's voice instantly switched from teasing to serious. It was one her traits to be able to swap out her emotions at the drop of a hat.

"I don't care what you are, or where you came from. And I don't care what your real name is. All I care about is you Jet Enduro."

Virginia moved her hand to the pocket on her lilac dress and pulled out two familiar looking pieces of cloth.

"I found your scarfs...your face must be cold..." She said as her voice switched back to its playful mocking tone.

Jet took hold of them fervantly and tied them to Virginia's wounded arm, cutting off the circulation and halting the wound from bleeding.

"I'm not worth it..." He repeated.

"You are worth it..." She also repeated.

This was unbearable for Jet. Here he had just wounded his leader, and when she had just admitted she cared for him, he kept reiterating his own uselessness. Even now, as Virginia cried in pain from the bullet and the thoughts of the man she cherished most vanishing from her life forever, Jet never once returned her affections. How could he? How could a Filgaia Sample even begin to remotely understand the concept of human feelings?

I'm not worthy of your love!!! He wanted to scream at Virginia, but he instead decided to prove his point in actions, not words.

"No more..." Jet mumbled.

"What...?" Virginia said.

Jet layed Virginia down softly and took hold of his Airget-lamh once again. Before Virginia could say anything to try and stop him, he had loaded another bullet into the chamber.

"Goodbye Virginia..."

Jet backed up to the edge of the cliff, holding the gun barrel towards him once again. This time, it was pointed at his chest, exactly where his heart was. His empty, emotionless heart no one could ever hope to reach. No one, except her...

"No...! Jet...!" Virginia screamed pitifully.

"This is what you get...for loving a running gun..." Jet's words faded on the wind.

BANG!

The Airget-lamh was sent flying off the cliff, but its owner did not follow it.

"I'm worthless..." Jet once again reminded Virginia, who had just dropped her Rapier Ez to the ground, the barrel still smoking. Virginia held her arm and walked over to Jet, this time wrapping her own arms around him. The next words that came from her mouth beared what the Drifter girl felt inside her heart for this young man:

"If you're a running gun...then please... just stop running..."

Jet hugged Virginia tightly, tears coming freely down his cheeks once again. No longer did it matter what he was. Virginia Maxwell was the one to see past all of that. In doing so she also helped Jet overcome the greatest foe he had ever faced: himself. She was the savior of his own twisted past, proving that love knows no boundaries.

Even Filgaia Samples have a right to live, and a right to love...