Massive thanks and hugs to TooLazy2LogIn for my first review! Also, I don't have a schedule for updates, but the maximum time between each update- unless something comes up- will be about a week. But I'll try to avoid taking that long! Enjoy!


Valerie ushered the three towards the truck, but Meryl paused. "Oh, wait a moment." She turned to Milly and Vash, then whispered, "What do we do with our Thomases?"

Vash shrugged. "We can probably leave them here for now, don't you think? I mean, they've got water and grass now."

Meryl considered it, then nodded. "Mrs. Valerie? Could you give Milly and I a moment to go get our bags?"

The woman nodded and helped her son get back into the truck.

A few minutes later, all of the girls' bags were loaded into the back of the truck, and the trio got in the back seat of the car. Poor Vash and Milly, being so tall, had to bend over and hunch their shoulders. It was very uncomfortable. Meryl, on the other hand, who fit perfectly, was reminded of her height- or rather, lack thereof. During the ride back to the house, the insurance girls chatted with Valerie. Meryl talked about the weather and Milly asked if there was pudding on this planet. (She was extremely relieved when the answer was yes.)

Daniel turned around and folded his arms over the back of the seat, staring at Vash. Daniel pointed at Vash's mud-plastered hair. "Is that what your hair normally looks like?"

Vash smiled. "No, it's actually blond. Look, I'll show you. Eh… Could ya hand me one of those towels, kid?"

Daniel nodded and gave one to Vash, who draped it over his hair and vigorously scrubbed it until it was free of most of the mud. He pulled the towel off, his hair drooping, and then suddenly, with a soft poof, it sprang back up to its usual shape, flinging a few flakes of mud around the truck. Valerie paused mid-sentence and turned to look at Vash, eyes widening at the sight of his gravity-defying hair. She stared for a moment, then quickly turned back to face the road, gripping the steering wheel tighter, then muttered "It's full of hair gel. It's only hair gel. His hair must obey the laws of gravity like everything else. Of course…" She sighed and banged her head on the steering wheel. These people were driving her insane.

Vash pointed to his hair, then spoke to Daniel. "See? That's what it normally looks like. What's your name again?"

"My name's Daniel, mister."

"Well, nice to meet ya, Daniel. My name's Vash." He offered his hand to the boy, and they shook, both grinning. Valerie spoke up a moment later.

"We're here. You three, please get your things out of the truck and follow me into the house. I have some questions for you to answer."


Valerie held up a hand to stop Meryl. The three girls were seated around the oak table in the dining room of Valerie's home. "So. You're telling me that you three are from a different planet? A planet called Gunsmoke?"

Meryl nodded. "Gunsmoke? Like, the smoke… from a gun?"

"Um, yes."

"And it has two suns and five moons?" She nodded again. Valerie put her head in her hands. "Forgive me, but I'm finding this a little hard to believe."

There was a yell from the living room, then a shriek- Daniel. Valerie's eyes widened, and she practically flew out of her chair towards the doorway. "Daniel-!"

In the middle of her living room, Daniel was seated on Vash's shoulders, shrieking in delight. Vash was making whoosh noises and running around the room. "Look! What's that in the sky?! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERDAN!" He spun around, and froze when he caught sight of the three women staring at him from the doorway. There was a long, awkward silence as Valerie noticed a dish towel that was tied around Daniel's neck like a cape. Meryl pressed her hands over her mouth in a desperate attempt not to laugh, and failed miserably. Milly soon joined, and Vash blushed furiously. "I, uh, I didn't think you'd be able to, uh, hear from the dining room…"

Valerie pinched the bridge of her nose. "You said you were going to the bathroom."

"I did! And then I came out and Daniel wanted to play and he wouldn't leave me alone until I did, so, uh…" He trailed off awkwardly. Valerie shook her head and told Daniel to get down. "Mr. Vash, we need to talk to you also."

"I'll be right there!" Vash waited until they were out of sight before lifting Daniel off his shoulders.

"No, Mr. Vash! I want to keep playing!"

"Nah, I've gotta go talk to your mum. Here, watch some tv." Vash plopped Daniel down on the couch and handed him the remote. "I'll be back later," He told the boy, then left to sit at the table.

"As I was saying, I'm finding this a bit hard to believe, you must understand, and if it was anyone but me, I'm sure that you'd have been carted off to the crazy house long ago. But I try to keep an open mind. To put it simply, I'd like some proof," Valerie concluded, sitting straight in her chair.

All was silent, until Vash suddenly jumped to his feet, whispered something in Meryl's ear, and ran out of the house. Meryl slowly smiled and let him go. "Where is he going?"

Meryl just waved a hand dismissively. "He's getting our proof. He'll be back in a moment."


Panting slightly, Vash the Stampede came to a stop next to the two Thomases and leaned against the tree they were tied to. He untied the ropes and grabbed the reigns of the two animals, then began to lead them back towards Mrs. Valerie's house. Vash couldn't believe they were on Earth. Earth! This place was full of lost technology! Except, technically, it wasn't really lost anymore, he thought to himself.

As he walked, another car, this one smaller and gray, drove down the road. He glanced through its windows and saw a man and a woman in the front seats. He smiled and waved. The man in the driver's seat stared at the Thomases he was leading until the woman screeched, lunged across the front seats, and jerked the wheel to the left so that the husband wouldn't crash the car headfirst into a tree standing by the side of the road. The reaction to the Thomases just confirmed Vash's hunch that the creatures would be the only thing they'd need to prove that they were telling the truth about being from Gunsmoke.

Before long, he reached the door to Mrs. Valerie's house and knocked. She answered, and immediately froze, staring at the creatures that Vash had been leading. "What in the name of all that is holy are those freaks of nature?!"

Milly and Meryl appeared over her shoulder. "Those're called Thomases, Mrs. Valerie," Milly replied. "We use those to get around if we don't have a car, or a bike, or a motorcycle, or whatever."

"What, so they're like- horses or something?" She said, stepping forward cautiously after a moment.

"Horses?" Meryl questioned. At the same time, Vash nodded. "Yeah, like horses, I guess."

"What do you know about horses?" Meryl asked.

The Humanoid Typhoon's face went slightly red. "Well, I, you see, uh-"

Mrs. Valerie stepped forward and cautiously stretched her left hand towards the Thomas closest to her. It flicked its long tongue out and swiped it up the entire length of her arm. She made a slightly disgusted noise and stepped back, wiping the Thomas saliva onto her apron. "I think- I think I believe you. Just- We should probably go put those in the stables so nobody else sees them. They're sort of unnerving…"

After marveling at the horses, the four left the stables. Immediately after, there was a sound of shattering glass from inside the house, and Daniel screamed- a real scream, this time. Valerie's maternal instincts kicked in and she was in the living room in a flash, everyone else close behind her. Daniel was gone, and the window had been shattered. On the couch, scrawled along the cushions in fresh blood, were the words:

BRING VASH THE STAMPEDE TO GREENTOWN

-CARAPACIUS

Valerie gasped in shock, and Vash's eyes narrowed. Something was off. He stepped forward and leaned over the red letters, dipped his finger in the red letter 'v', brought it to his face, sniffed, and licked it. "What the hell are you doing, you sicko?!" Valerie and Meryl screamed at the same time. Vash wiped his finger on the fabric of his coat.

"It's only tomato juice."

"What?"

"It's tomato juice, not blood. Daniel's safe, for now. But I'll go to this Greentown and bring your son right back, ma'am! You can count on me!"

Valerie put her hands on her hips. "You must be out of your mind if you think that I'm going to let a perfect stranger go gallivanting off to find my only son who's just been kidnapped and might be in danger of losing his life. He's my son. And if anyone's going to beat the living shit out of his kidnapper, it is going to be me." She jabbed a thumb into her chest emphatically. It was quiet for a moment. She shook her head and straightened herself. "I'm going to get the shotgun. Then we're leaving."