Took a bit to write but I hope you like it!
Ari looked into my eyes and could see the seriousness in them. In hers, I saw a sense of fear, not for herself though, but for me. "You're out of your goddamn mind," She said breathlessly as she put her hand back down. "You have no idea," I said as I pulled out a cigarette of my own and lit it. "You do know what this guy is capable of don't you?" She said in disbelief. "Yup, I was in July when it went up," I said taking a hit.
Ari gasped again as I spoke. She obviously had no idea what the last 6 months had been like for me. "You- You can't be serious," She said, "As a heart attack. Morgan and I had settled there five years before with our daughter Serina," I said as I pulled Serinas' picture out of my pocket and handed it to her. "She looks just like you," She said with a slight smile. "She did," I said taking another hit. "Did? What happened?" She said with a sense of sympathy in her voice as she handed the picture back.
I put it back in my pocket and took a long hit off my cigarette. I then threw it on the ground, crushed it with my boot, and began to speak. "We were out on a family picnic at Indigo Park in the Northern part of July. Serina loved the blue and purple flowers that the city grew there, so we went there a lot," I said with a slight sadness in my voice. "I saw her chasing butterflies and trying her best to catch one, god that kid loved butterflies," I said as a tear streamed down my face. "First thing we saw was a flash of light coming from within the city. It looked the fuckin' sun had risen right there in July. Then the winds hit us. 100, maybe 200 miles an hour I don't really know," I said as the tears began flowing. "When I woke up, Morgan was hysterical. She was holding something, screaming that it HAD to be ok, and begging someone in the sky to let it live. When I finally saw what she was holding, I felt my soul shatter within my body," I said wiping the tears."I don't know how we survived but... All I know is that my daughter didn't," I said crying softly. "I uh... I buried her out by that canyon near Macca City, in a patch of daisies," I said, wiping my face again and making myself numb. "Morgan and I tried to keep going on but... She just lost the will to live. I buried her next to Serina 3 months ago," I said, lighting another cigarette. I never really smoked very often but when I spoke about my family, I just couldn't stop.
I looked up at Ari, she had tears streaming down her face. She wiped her face and looked at me dead in the eye, her eyes still filled with tears. "Billy... I... I'm so sorry..." She said softly. I hadn't heard her speak this softly to me in so long, it caught me off guard. "Don't be, there's nothing anyone can do about it now. I'm going after that son of a bitch and I'm gonna kill him," I said throwing my cigarette. I could see Ari really did feel for me. I didn't know if she had someone in July as well or if she just felt bad for me but either way, it was enough to make my heart jump a bit.
"Billy, I understand your pain, I really do. Don't forget we all came from nothing, but you can't do this," She said. Apparently, she did still have a soft spot for me after all these years. "He's not going to get away with it Ari. We may have done our share of evil in our time and I'll accept my punishment, but my daughter was innocent. She deserved a chance to do better than we did, to make the right choices where we fucked up, to fucking live," I said sternly. "Killing Vash the Stampede won't bring your daughter back," She said trying to hold my hands.
"I know that, it's not about bringing her back. It's about holding that mass murderer responsible for what he did. He killed thousands of people that day," I said. "Don't do that, don't act like you're doing this for anyone other than your daughter," She said looking me in the eye. "You're going to get yourself killed. Vash the Stampede isn't anything like what we faced in the old days," She said trying to convince me. "I'm sorry Ari, this is just something I have to do. I won't let him get away with it," I said as I turned and began walking back into the bar.
As I turned, I heard Ari sigh deeply. "You're a goddamned fool, Billy Mercer. you are still as headstrong and stubborn as you were 12 years ago. You never did give a shit about dying and you still fucking don't," She said. Her tone then shifted to a serious and meaningful one. "But I understand. If I could kill the person who killed my parents and made me live in that godforsaken orphanage instead of with them, I would walk through fire and flames just for the opportunity," She said. I stopped and turned around to her again. "If you're going after Vash, I'm going with you, "She said putting her hands on her hips. "You may be a sorry bastard but I'm not going to let you stare down The Humanoid Typhoon alone," She said sternly.
"Well, to be fair I'm not completely alone. I met a strange guy with an incredibly long name who can shoot like the devil himself. He's offered to help me as well," I said slightly smiling. "Oh? Was he the one who poured me that shot?" She asked looking into the bar slightly. "Yup. Names Valentinez something or other, I don't know it was long as hell," I said. "And is he the one surrounded by all those bandits with guns?" She asked slightly curiously. "Yeah, he- Wait, what?" I said looking into the bar myself. I saw every gun in that bar on that stranger and he had his hands up looking nervous as hell. I just sighed as they got closer and closer,
This stranger may have been willing to help but he was also a really good magnet for really bad people. I didn't care though, I knew I would need help against Vash the Stampede and this guy was the best and fastest shots I had ever seen. I knew with him, and now Ari on my side, there was no way we could lose.