"Your level of tension is off the charts."
He could feel the pain welling up inside him like a time bomb ready to burst.
"Your concentration has not faltered even for a second." His brother's voice chimed like a bell to his ears, taunting him. "You haven't failed once."
"I guess its to be expected." Knives' expression was knowing and expectant."Your great efforts deserve praise"
He faltered, his grip on the handle of his gun loosing a bit. The pain pulsated sharply. He staggered, losing balance.
No...No! It couldn't end like this. He had to stay awake. But it was pointless. He could already feel the darkness clouding his vision. Nevertheless he fought to keep upright. He couldn't let a bit of pain stand between him and saving everyone. He saw his brother looking across at him with a sad smile. Even Knives could see his concentration was beginning to slip. Oh, how he wanted to wipe that smile off his deranged twin's face. If he could only concentrate his blurry vision and aim accurately.
"Well done." Knives smiled widely. "Now you can rest."
Blood exploded out of his head, his ears, his mouth, and his eyes. He could feel the coppery taste of it stinging the inside of his mouth. The pain was too immense for him to handle. His legs gave way beneath him and he fell to the ground in a heap of blood soaked arms and legs. Time seemed to slow as he gazed at Knives with a blank expression.
"I imagine your disappointed." He frowned at Vash. "But now, you won't have to witness the rest."
Vash felt his head make impact with the floor.
He could have laughed at the irony of it all if he wasn't writhing on the ground in agony. It was all his fault any of this was happening. He had caused his death through his own ignorant actions. If only he hadn't been so stupid and used all his power maybe he could have ended this insanity long ago. He had been the only thing standing in between Knives and the annihilation of the human race. He was the only one capable of defeating Knives.
He clutched his hand into a fist and glared furiously up at Knives, his eyes becoming slightly glassy.
"Rest well, Vash." Knives gazed down at his twin, mournfully. "You no longer have to be burned by a reality that is too painful."
Vash heard his brother's memorable words. He wanted to shout that he wouldn't give up. He couldn't.
If I give up now what will happen to the humans of Gunsmoke?
He knew all too well what would happen and he couldn't allow his brother to blindly massacre billions of innocent people. He had to get up and fight.
But . . .
The blood pounded in his ears and needles pricked through his skin. The pain was overwhelming. More intense than anything he had ever felt before. This was what his brother had meant by decay. He felt like he deteriorating from the inside out He couldn't stand it. He desperately clung to the consciousness, but the darkness was slowly consuming his thoughts until . . .
White.
His mind turned blank. There was no pain. It was like his mind had been wiped clean. His body felt completely relaxed. His mind slowly cleared from the darkness. His mind filled with only memories of happy, peaceful moments.
He remembered the SEEDS ship where had grown up with Rem and Knives. Rem was smiling down at him, alive and well. Knives was also looking at him with an expression that he had not seen since before his brother had gone insane. They were in the rec room where they had spent most of their time together. It was covered in Rem's favorite flowers, red geraniums.
The scene shifted and he found himself on the bridge surrounded by thousands of pods of humans. Knives was beside him, smiling and telling him there was no difference between human hearts and theirs. The ghost of a girl appeared before them, ominously signaling for them to follow her. They followed her into a secret room where a fresh lily was placed by the door. Vash wanted to stop and drag Knives away from that terrible place, but he was powerless to do anything.
The report of Tessla was laid out before his eyes and all the gruesome details that were within it. He felt the shock and horror at seeing her horribly disfigured remains. The feeling of hopelessness and despair threatened to consume him whole.
Humans had done this.
Humans were different than them.
Their hearts weren't the same.
He hated humans. He wanted them all to die. He wanted to die. There was nothing but humans here. He tried to kill himself. Rem stopped him. He smiled as the wound on her hand became soaking red. But as he saw Rem's bloody figure crouched on the ground. He felt a strong twinge of guilt hit him. Tears spilled from his eyes and the next thing he knew he was crying for the woman he had previously thought he despised. Rem was crying and begging him not to kill himself. He saw her tears and forgave her.
His brother's expression was dark and twisted as he watched streaks of falling human colony pods crashing towards Gunsmoke. Red hot anger bubbled through him as he realized that Knives had deceived them. Him and Rem. Rem who was now dead.
A scream tore through his throat when he saw his brother leaving him behind. The gun in his hand fired and hit Knives in the shoulder. Vash screamed even louder as he realized that his arm had been cut off. Knives gave him a homicidal grin and departed, leaving Vash helpless and shrieking in agony.
The wails became deafening until they drowned out all of his other thoughts. The pain came back a hundred fold and kept stabbing him over and over again. The memories played like a never ending loop. The throbbing pain doubled with the strain of the memories was too great for Vash to resist.
He gave into it and faded into the recesses of unconsciousness. As he sank into the darkness, He saw Wolfwood's face smile at him from the shadows along with Meryl and Millie's.
With the last of his energy, he focused on their faces.
I'm sorry guys. I tried so hard and what was it for? Nothing.
He let the darkness take him with their faces disappearing from his sight.