Ten Guns, Two Roses
Chapter 1 - Death in the Family
Author's Note: Ooh. Here we go into the actual plot of the storyline. Please forgive me for the shoddy writing of someone's death (who, you'll have to read and find out), but I didn't want to draw it out too long. Oh, and if I write Legato to terribly OOC, please forgive me - I don't think I know enough about him to write him correctly.
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Turquoise eyes regarded the spot where Wolfwood had been standing in confusion. What had gotten into Nick? First he was attacking him, then saving his life from a mysterious gunshot, and then knowing a little too much about what they were up against. Well, that was assuming the priest was right about their foes... and Vash seriously doubted that, since there didn't appear to be anyone else even though Nick said there had been. Frowning faintly, Vash scolded himself for mistrusting his friend; if Wolfwood said there was someone else, then there was, and it didn't matter how the priest knew that.
"Ah, Vash the Stampede," a voice - or more specifically, the voice of the 'other' Wolfwood was referring to - cut the spiky-haired male's thoughts.
Spinning on his heels, Vash cursed himself silently for loosing his mind in thought and allowing the enemy to sneak up on him. "And you are?" the gunman asked, half-attempting to stall for time to assess his enemy.
"Chapel the Evergreen," the large-eyed man replied simply, leaning on a metal cross that looked too much like Wolfwood's Cross Punisher for Vash's comfort. "A member of the Gung-Ho Guns." Taking his cross, the newly introduced Gung-Ho Gun separated the metal weapon into two guns, and leveled them both at Vash's chest with ease.
Vash nodded somewhat carelessly, as if it didn't concern him who his assailant was or how many guns were trained on him. Instead, the spiky-haired male was very concerned, but he had long before this fight learned to hide his true emotions behind a mask so that his enemies didn't know his thoughts. And so that he could walk into battle with a relatively clear head.
His cool manner, however, only happened to upset the black-clad Gung-Ho Gun. "You hesitate... just like I trained Wolfwood never to do," Chapel said casually, trying to hit a nerve with Vash. It didn't work though. Vash stood calmly, almost impassively, before his enemy and said nothing. And that was like fuel on the fire that was Chapel's growing rage. "Don't you care that your friend was trained by your enemy?"
The Stampede shook his head once, sharply, as he had done earlier when Wolfwood had demanded that he draw his gun. "Mistakes are made."
"Then yours was to trust Nicholas," Chapel snapped, beginning the battle between the pair by circling Vash warily. Sure that he was going to win the fight, though not a shot had been fired, the priest added, "He was sent to kill you. Did you know that?"
Confusion crept into Vash's features, as he counter-circled the Gung-Ho Gun. Had Nick been sent to kill him? It would explain the morning's events if it were true... Then realization swept over Vash; this was an elaborate lie... an attempt to make him falter. And for a moment it had almost worked. Smiling faintly, The Stampede responded, "Wolfwood? Kill me? I doubt it. You're just trying to confuse me."
The shots started now - two, aimed at the red-clad gunman's chest, both of which were expertly dodged. "You're a good as they say, Vash the Stampede... but I'm not trying to confuse you. What I say is merely a warning, and what I will say next is a part of that warning: Wolfwood is one of us. A Gung-Ho Gun."
Vash froze in his tracks, caught off-guard by both the statement itself and the undying conviction in his opponent's eyes. Wolfwood? A Gung-Ho Gun? The idea had never occurred to the gunman, but now that it had been said, it made almost perfect sense. The battle this morning, Wolfwood knowing where to find the one firing at them, and now Chapel telling him that he had trained his companion. It made sense. "G-Gung-Ho Gun..." Vash stammered, softly. Truth or not, it was still a shock.
"Hai," Chapel confirmed, letting a spray of bullets from his twin guns loose in Vash's general direction. As the priest had hoped, his opponent reacted slowly still in shock from the news, and although The Stampede managed to dodge some of the projectiles half a dozen or so caught him in the chest and left shoulder.
Biting back a noise of pain, Vash reached for the six-shooter at his side. His grip closing around it, the red-clad gunman crouched and pushed his yellow sunglasses father up on his face with his free hand, awaiting another attack from his enemy. When that did happen, Vash would take the opportunity to disarm his opponent with a quick shot or two. Moments later, Vash saw his chance and took it, and before long Vash had Chapel on the ground, unharmed but disarmed.
"Leave with your life now, Chapel the Evergreen. Leave, and be true to your God by killing no one else." Turning his back on the priest, Vash moved towards the door, about to head off to find his own man of the cloth. But he was never going to make it out the door, because the second the spiky-haired male turned, the leader of the Gung-Ho Guns - Legato Bluesummers - slipped into the defeated Chapel's psyche, and grabbed the priest's guns. Without mercy, the possessed man pumped the red-clad gunman full of lead. And it was apparent, as Vash hit the ground that he was dead.
"You should have killed him yourself," a voice called from the doorway, and Chapel tore his large red eyes away from Vash's fallen body to see the one who had actually killed The Stampede standing there. Shrugging faintly, Legato approached the body, and stared for a moment. It was a pity that Knives had ordered the death of his own brother - after all, Vash had been a perfect being, just like the blue-haired man's master. But still an order from Him was an order.
Withdrawing a gun from within the folds of his strange attire, the telepath sneered at the weapon. He hated guns, preferring to rely on his mind as his only weapon, but in this case his thoughts weren't going to do the trick. Aiming the weapon at the fallen gunman's right arm, Bluesummers fired several times, severing the limb from Vash's body. Then, tucking the weapon back into his outfit, he turned to the priest. "Take the body back to the Master... and be extremely alert. If His brother isn't quite dead yet, I don't want you botching this by being caught off guard."
Chapel nodded solemnly. "And what are you going to do?"
"What the Master ordered me to, which is no business of yours," the golden-eyed male snapped, as he bent down to pick up the severed arm from the ground. "If you're feeling bold, you can ask Him when you get back to headquarters, and if He feels you are fit to have His infinite wisdom He can tell you. But I will not. Now go."
Again the Gung-Ho Gun nodded, and without further questions, he lifted The Stampede's body onto his shoulders, and departed. Meanwhile, Legato remained in the forlorn bar, a cruel smile on his face. Nicholas Wolfwood was about to find himself tempted by the master of manipulation himself.
Chapter 1 - Death in the Family
Author's Note: Ooh. Here we go into the actual plot of the storyline. Please forgive me for the shoddy writing of someone's death (who, you'll have to read and find out), but I didn't want to draw it out too long. Oh, and if I write Legato to terribly OOC, please forgive me - I don't think I know enough about him to write him correctly.
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Turquoise eyes regarded the spot where Wolfwood had been standing in confusion. What had gotten into Nick? First he was attacking him, then saving his life from a mysterious gunshot, and then knowing a little too much about what they were up against. Well, that was assuming the priest was right about their foes... and Vash seriously doubted that, since there didn't appear to be anyone else even though Nick said there had been. Frowning faintly, Vash scolded himself for mistrusting his friend; if Wolfwood said there was someone else, then there was, and it didn't matter how the priest knew that.
"Ah, Vash the Stampede," a voice - or more specifically, the voice of the 'other' Wolfwood was referring to - cut the spiky-haired male's thoughts.
Spinning on his heels, Vash cursed himself silently for loosing his mind in thought and allowing the enemy to sneak up on him. "And you are?" the gunman asked, half-attempting to stall for time to assess his enemy.
"Chapel the Evergreen," the large-eyed man replied simply, leaning on a metal cross that looked too much like Wolfwood's Cross Punisher for Vash's comfort. "A member of the Gung-Ho Guns." Taking his cross, the newly introduced Gung-Ho Gun separated the metal weapon into two guns, and leveled them both at Vash's chest with ease.
Vash nodded somewhat carelessly, as if it didn't concern him who his assailant was or how many guns were trained on him. Instead, the spiky-haired male was very concerned, but he had long before this fight learned to hide his true emotions behind a mask so that his enemies didn't know his thoughts. And so that he could walk into battle with a relatively clear head.
His cool manner, however, only happened to upset the black-clad Gung-Ho Gun. "You hesitate... just like I trained Wolfwood never to do," Chapel said casually, trying to hit a nerve with Vash. It didn't work though. Vash stood calmly, almost impassively, before his enemy and said nothing. And that was like fuel on the fire that was Chapel's growing rage. "Don't you care that your friend was trained by your enemy?"
The Stampede shook his head once, sharply, as he had done earlier when Wolfwood had demanded that he draw his gun. "Mistakes are made."
"Then yours was to trust Nicholas," Chapel snapped, beginning the battle between the pair by circling Vash warily. Sure that he was going to win the fight, though not a shot had been fired, the priest added, "He was sent to kill you. Did you know that?"
Confusion crept into Vash's features, as he counter-circled the Gung-Ho Gun. Had Nick been sent to kill him? It would explain the morning's events if it were true... Then realization swept over Vash; this was an elaborate lie... an attempt to make him falter. And for a moment it had almost worked. Smiling faintly, The Stampede responded, "Wolfwood? Kill me? I doubt it. You're just trying to confuse me."
The shots started now - two, aimed at the red-clad gunman's chest, both of which were expertly dodged. "You're a good as they say, Vash the Stampede... but I'm not trying to confuse you. What I say is merely a warning, and what I will say next is a part of that warning: Wolfwood is one of us. A Gung-Ho Gun."
Vash froze in his tracks, caught off-guard by both the statement itself and the undying conviction in his opponent's eyes. Wolfwood? A Gung-Ho Gun? The idea had never occurred to the gunman, but now that it had been said, it made almost perfect sense. The battle this morning, Wolfwood knowing where to find the one firing at them, and now Chapel telling him that he had trained his companion. It made sense. "G-Gung-Ho Gun..." Vash stammered, softly. Truth or not, it was still a shock.
"Hai," Chapel confirmed, letting a spray of bullets from his twin guns loose in Vash's general direction. As the priest had hoped, his opponent reacted slowly still in shock from the news, and although The Stampede managed to dodge some of the projectiles half a dozen or so caught him in the chest and left shoulder.
Biting back a noise of pain, Vash reached for the six-shooter at his side. His grip closing around it, the red-clad gunman crouched and pushed his yellow sunglasses father up on his face with his free hand, awaiting another attack from his enemy. When that did happen, Vash would take the opportunity to disarm his opponent with a quick shot or two. Moments later, Vash saw his chance and took it, and before long Vash had Chapel on the ground, unharmed but disarmed.
"Leave with your life now, Chapel the Evergreen. Leave, and be true to your God by killing no one else." Turning his back on the priest, Vash moved towards the door, about to head off to find his own man of the cloth. But he was never going to make it out the door, because the second the spiky-haired male turned, the leader of the Gung-Ho Guns - Legato Bluesummers - slipped into the defeated Chapel's psyche, and grabbed the priest's guns. Without mercy, the possessed man pumped the red-clad gunman full of lead. And it was apparent, as Vash hit the ground that he was dead.
"You should have killed him yourself," a voice called from the doorway, and Chapel tore his large red eyes away from Vash's fallen body to see the one who had actually killed The Stampede standing there. Shrugging faintly, Legato approached the body, and stared for a moment. It was a pity that Knives had ordered the death of his own brother - after all, Vash had been a perfect being, just like the blue-haired man's master. But still an order from Him was an order.
Withdrawing a gun from within the folds of his strange attire, the telepath sneered at the weapon. He hated guns, preferring to rely on his mind as his only weapon, but in this case his thoughts weren't going to do the trick. Aiming the weapon at the fallen gunman's right arm, Bluesummers fired several times, severing the limb from Vash's body. Then, tucking the weapon back into his outfit, he turned to the priest. "Take the body back to the Master... and be extremely alert. If His brother isn't quite dead yet, I don't want you botching this by being caught off guard."
Chapel nodded solemnly. "And what are you going to do?"
"What the Master ordered me to, which is no business of yours," the golden-eyed male snapped, as he bent down to pick up the severed arm from the ground. "If you're feeling bold, you can ask Him when you get back to headquarters, and if He feels you are fit to have His infinite wisdom He can tell you. But I will not. Now go."
Again the Gung-Ho Gun nodded, and without further questions, he lifted The Stampede's body onto his shoulders, and departed. Meanwhile, Legato remained in the forlorn bar, a cruel smile on his face. Nicholas Wolfwood was about to find himself tempted by the master of manipulation himself.
