Octovern Odyssey

by Nightstrike90

'Bombshell' Billy Mercer was once one of the most famous gunslingers on the planet of Gunsmoke. After the incident in July, he has vowed vengeance against the so called "Humanoid Typhoon" for the death of his family. The only problem is, no one actually knows what 'The Humanoid Typhoon' looks like or even his real name. Will that stop The Bombshell from getting his vengeance?

7. The Hunt Begins

Authors Note: If You're Reading This, Thank You So Much For Reading! I Hope You Enjoy it!

I awoke the next morning and slowly climbed out of bed, not wanting to wake the girl. After putting my clothes on and tipping her well, I made my way downstairs where The Stranger and Ari had already begun eating breakfast. "Morning Billy," He said as he stuffed his mouth with doughnuts. "How many have you had so far?" I asked as I sat in an open chair. "I lost count after 30," He said still eating. "He's up to 44," Ari said amused as she sipped a glass of water. "Where the hell is he putting them all?" I said laughing as I lit a cigarette. The stranger ate a bit more, then swallowed and laughed. "What can I say? I just love doughnuts!" He said as he threw one in the air and caught it with his mouth.

Ari and I ate our breakfast, making sure to be as full as possible. We didn't know when we'd be able to find another restaurant and this wasn't exactly the best place to hunt. Once we were done, the three of us walked back onto the streets of Octovern toward Town Square. "You really saw him huh?" Ari asked as she walked beside me. "Saw hell, I shot one of those stupid cannons of his damn near off," I said motioning to my 50 caliber revolver. "Little bastards quick though, call it rust or just getting old but I missed the little prick by half an inch," I said annoyed. "He's right. I watched the whole thing from a distance," The Stranger said slightly laughing. "And you didn't help because?" Ari asked. "Well, it wasn't really my place to interfere. Billy seemed like he wanted to do it himself, but when I saw how disappointed he was I just couldn't help but do something," He said kindly. "Ah don't worry Ari, it was just something I had to do, I didn't expect any help," I said shrugging. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ari look slightly suspiciously at The Stranger. I didn't know why maybe she thought he was a con artist or something, but after living the life I had, I knew what to take notice of and what to let pass.

The three of us arrived at the town square, which was still damaged from my previous bout with Vash the Stampede. Crews had come and begun cleaning the rubble but the distinct craters of exploding cannonballs couldn't be helped. "Damn, this guy had a good time blowing this place up," Ari said as she looked around. "Are you really surprised? Don't forget what he did to July," I said as I kicked a piece of burnt wood out of my way. "Speaking of that, you said you saw a bright light that looked like the sun right?" Ari asked as she inspected a hole slightly. "Yeah, what about it?" I said. "Well, if this guy has the power to destroy July, he didn't do it these weapons," She said as she stood up.

"So what does that mean? The Stranger asked curiously. "Well, it could mean that he doesn't have that power anymore. If he felt threatened enough to run he would have defiantly leveled Octovern as well," She said as she walked back towards us. She stopped and lit a cigarette, then spoke again. "It could also mean this guy is a fake," She said exhaling the smoke. "No way, this is him. He fits the description," I said as I pulled the wanted poster out of my pocket. 'WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: Vash the Stampede, The Humanoid Typhoon. $$60,000,000,000. For The Destruction of The Third City of July. Description: Tall, Slender, Unique Clothing, Spikey Blonde Hair, Carries Large Weapon' It read. "I'm telling you, this has to be him," I said with certainty. "Val, did you get a look at him?" I asked as I turned to him. Unfortunately, he had been distracted by a strange little black kitten sitting on a small pile of rubble so he didn't hear me or Ari. "Val!" I said loudly, catching his attention.

"Oh sorry, this little guy got the best of me," He said laughing. "I said, did you get a good look at the bastard yesterday?" I said again. "He looked pretty much like the posters describe, though I thought he'd be taller," He said jokingly. "Well, what do we do now?" I asked out of ideas. "If I'm not mistaken, I think he might be slightly injured," He said as he walked over to the partly damaged town hall. "How can you tell?" Ari asked confused. "Well, for one thing, there's a small trace of blood on the side of the building he was on," He said as he wiped it off and showed us. "I think he might have been damaged when his cannon's arm exploded. I'm not certain but I do know he would be more vulnerable if he's injured," He said as he looked back at the wall, inspecting it for more blood.

"If he's vulnerable, he won't risk staying in the city with that bounty on him," Ari said as she pulled out a map of the area. "So if he's not in the city, where the hell else would he be?" I asked confused. "Here," Ari said pointing to a spot on the western part of the map. "There are enormous plants on the outskirts. They are kept alive by natural wellsprings. To survive injured, you'd have no choice but to at least stop there to get water," She said. "Why there?" The Stranger asked. "Octovern is 110 miles from anywhere in any direction, without a Sand Steamer you'd have no hope of surviving without going to the spring to stock up on water," She said as she folded the map and put it in her pocket.

"Alright it's settled then, we go to the plants. At the very least we'll get an idea of which way he was going," I said. "Well it's gonna be a long walk, Those plants are 10 miles west of the city," Ari said as we began walking west. "So what did this guy look like anyway?" Ari asked as we walked. "Pretty much like the poster said. He's not as tall as it says and he wears a pinstripe suit but it's pretty much right," I said. "How do you think he did it?" Ari asked The Stranger as she looked back at him. "Did what?" He asked slightly confused. "How do you think he destroyed July? That kind of power isn't exactly a common thing to have," She said. "Oh, I don't know. How do you even destroy an entire city?" He said curiously. "He didn't destroy it. He fucking disintegrated it. There was nothing left except a few traumatized and distraught survivors," I said slightly angry. I wasn't upset with them, I just felt such a rage whenever I thought about July. "Regardless, what do we do on the off chance he still has access to that power?" Ari asked. "We kill him before he can use it, no is fast enough to avoid 3 well-trained gunslingers," I said confidently.

As we made our way through town discussing our plans, I couldn't shake this nagging feeling in my gut. Why had Ari looked so suspiciously at this stranger, why was she asking these questions knowing none of us had any answers to? I felt like she was growing more and more distrustful as we went but I couldn't figure why. With the way Ari had grown up, she had learned how to spot things that seemed off VERY quickly so I defiantly knew to trust her when she was cautious. Whatever it was, I can't say I distrusted this stranger but I defiantly watched him a bit more closely. I may not have distrusted him but I did trust Ari, and that was more than enough reason for me to be slightly on guard.