Chapter Twenty-eight: Wing It
'Oh crap, he's gone insane,'
Vash thought in panic,
'I can't even speak to him! This is the worst-case scenario. Come on, I'm a man who can get out of the worst situations possible. Think, Vash, think.'
Rederine kept his eyes open, his body stiff and standing, the amber in his eyes burning as the red light began to slowly brighten. The young lady's droning voice sounded.
Three minutes before self-destruction.
'This isn't good. I can only move my right-arm, but what bloody good is that if I don't have a gun to pick up? Wait! Maybe I can reach Rederine--'
Rederine looked only slightly surprised as Vash shot his right arm forward, stretching towards Rederine. His fingertips were far away from him. Rederine didn't do anything.
'This isn't working! Can I reach a gun?'
Desperately, he stretched towards the closest gun, but it was twice as far away than Rederine was from him. He was no where near a weapon of any kind that might help to snap Rederine out of his twisted reverie.
He looked around frantically, the red light continuing to brighten as a sign of warning.
Vash strained against the unseen force, urging all the nerves in his legs to move. It didn't respond; it felt frozen stiff and broken away from his body, a separate part unable to communicate with him. Despair began to fill him.
'How the hell can I get out of this one? ...Can I even?'
He couldn't die now. He just couldn't. He looked desperately at Rederine, who didn't do anything but look rigidly at the opposite wall. The woman's voice again.
Two minutes before self-destruction.
Was there no hope? Was he supposed to stand here, frozen like an idiot, unable to save anyone but die with them? That was certainly what Rederine expected him to do. Was this his fate? Vash didn't want to think so, but as the seconds ticked away, and his arm fell limply and helplessly to his side, he realised he couldn't get out of this situation without anything short of a miracle.
"Hey, asshole!!"
All eyes, including amber ones, shot towards the entrance and widened.
Meryl spun a single derringer in one hand before pointing it at Rederine, and easily pulled the trigger. The bullet shot right into his right knee, and he let out a howl of sharp pain.
"That was for torturing me, bastard. Vash-san!!"
She threw over what she had been holding in her left hand the entire time she had been running in circles. The bright red light reflected off the shiny metallic surface of the silver six-shooter that landed perfectly into Vash's right hand.
Completely off-guard, Rederine tried to maintain his hold on them. However, Vash slipped a finger into the trigger, and Rederine let out a yelp as Vash shot his other knee. Unable to stand, the red-head collapsed onto his legs as Milly, Wolfwood and Vash were suddenly free from the invisible high pressure. Meryl ran over to them as they sucked in air - it had been difficult to breath.
"What took you?"
Wolfwood muttered. A nerve popped on Meryl's temple, but she merely shrugged it off and replied,
"Got lost."
My miracle!
"Hey,"
Vash said softly.
"What?"
Meryl asked. Vash lifted an arm, and gently brushed his fingers against her cheek. Her eyes widened, and he saw the familiar violet-grey eyes - the eyes that had saved him from despair before. Then he lifted his hand and patted her on the head. This made an eye twitch on her, but she noticed blood staining his already red trenchcoat a darker scarlet. Meryl opened her mouth to express her concern when Vash grinned.
"Surprising stuff from someone so small!"
He said with a laugh, and Meryl raised a fist that was held back by Milly, consoling her as she fumed. Wolfwood let out a sigh of relief as he noticed that everyone seemed okay - especially Milly, who seemed the most unscathed. Vash turned to face the stunned red-head, and the professor not far from him, still lying down and unable to get up.
"Come on, Rederine."
Rederine looked up, aqua eyes looking at him gently.
"Let's get out of here."
He looked at his damaged knees, then up again to look at Vash's kind eyes. Then his uncertain face hardened as he bristled.
"No,"
He hissed,
"You get out of here!"
Vash was startled by a sudden force as a gold-tinted wind burst forth from Rederine, surrounding him and the professor in a dome-shape. Vash realised that Rederine had built up a barrier that was increasing in strength and size by the second, barring him from touching either Rederine or the professor.
"Rederine!!"
Vash yelled, watching as Rederine slowly emptied himself of his powers into the barrier. Wolfwood watched in awe as an invisible force pushed Vash backwards. Vash tried to keep his footing on the ground firm, but the soles of his boots skid along the metal.
"Don't do this!!"
Rederine gave a dry smile, clearly drained and tired, blood slowly pooling out below him from his knee-caps. The professor seemed unable to move at all.
"I'm tired, Vash the Stampede."
He said quietly.
"I'm sick and tired of it all. I can't stop the self-destruction, so don't even ask. Just leave me alone."
Then his amber eyes flared again as he screamed,
"Just get out!!"
The woman's voice came right on cue.
One minute before self-destruction.
Vash looked at Rederine, his palms pressed onto the invisible shield, when Wolfwood put a hand onto Vash's shoulder. He turned to the priest, who shook his head as he said,
"Vash, the girls."
Vash bit his lip, and turned back to Rederine. Rederine looked back at him, then did something strange. He tugged at the hem of his orange cloak, and gave a slight nod. Amazingly enough, Vash understood, and nodded back before turning to Wolfwood and the insurance girls.
"Okay, we gotta get out of here in less than sixty seconds."
Vash stated, then paused before prompting,
"Any ideas?"
Wolfwood pointed to the end of the hall, which held nothing but a metal wall. No doors were accessible because Rederine's huge barrier blocked the main entrance, and to get back up on Wolfwood's ledge would only get them lost.
"Leave it to me,"
The priest said as he sprinted forward, and at the end of the metal hall switched to rocket-launcher mode with his Cross Punisher and hitched it onto his shoulder.
KABLAM.
He blasted away a whole portion of the wall successfully, and as the others caught up behind him, the three peered over his shoulder and sweatdropped with him.
It was a way out, all right. It was had been a wall against the clear blue sky, sands visibly stretching out beyond their view, twin-suns winking at them from high above.
Several iles below, there was straight, solid metal - and, strangely enough, rock - before ground.
There was no way they were going to jump off where they were and land unscratched.
"Weren't we below or on ground level?"
Wolfwood asked, depression sinking in his voice.
"I think the lab was built into a cliff, and we're looking out opposite end,"
Meryl said, sounding more surprised than despaired,
"Afterall, Midnight Desert ends at a rock cliff, and the building was founded on rock."
(A/N: I know this hard to understand, but just imagine a building on the edge of a cliff. Now imagine a block of the cliff shaved out of it, so that the building on it nestles on where the cliff is shaved off, but the top of it is visible to the flat land at the top of the cliff. That 'top' of the building holds an entrance which people enter, and the 'underground level' is only underground to the cliff, but not to the other side of it which faces exactly what the cliff-face does - nothing. It's just a foundation of uneroded rock, though, rather than a cliff in this case. Does this make sense? If it doesn't, I'm sorry... this is the best I can attempt at explaining this. T_T Gomen.)
"....Now what?"
Vash said, feeling dizzy just from looking down. Wolfwood looked around, and his eyes caught onto the untidy row of chairs that had been toppled over by the previous shockwave Rederine had sent. He went over and kicked one up. He held it and checked to see if it folded, and it did. Better yet, as he flattened it, it clicked together in a temporary lock.
He hurriedly threw the folded chair to Vash, who caught it with surprise evident in his expression as Wolfwood grabbed another chair and flattened it as well.
"What's this for?"
Vash asked in surprise.
"There's no time to scale this,"
Wolfwood snapped,
"So we're gonna have to wing it."
Realising what Wolfwood intended to do, Vash held the folded chair and inspected its durability. It looked sturdy enough, made out of the same silver-plastic that had restricted him before, and the chair-seat was large enough for footing. He then also realised what Wolfwood needed him to do.
"...Rederine."
Rederine glanced up, to see the professor looking listlessly at him.
"Yes, sir?"
"Not sir."
The professor whispered. Rederine looked at him for a moment.
"Then what?"
He asked.
"You know."
The professor mumbled before closing his eyes. Rederine watched him slip into a deep faint silently, then pulled himself over to the professor with his arms and elbows. Sweeping his cloak over himself and the professor, he muttered,
"Not now; later."
Meryl wondered what the hell Wolfwood and Vash were planning to do to get out of this one, when the woman's droning voice came on.
Starting count-down, now. Ten.
"Oh shoot!!"
Meryl shrieked, looking around wildly in hope of a miracle escape route.
Nine.
Then she noticed Wolfwood murmuring something to Milly, and then gently slid his arms around her waist. Milly blushed madly as Meryl stared.
Eight.
"What are you doing?!!"
She demanded as Milly wrapped her arms tightly around Wolfwood's torso herself, burying her face against his chest.
Seven.
"Listen to me."
Meryl looked up at surprise to see Vash right up behind her, his eyes and voice completely serious.
Six.
"We're going to jump, so you have to hold onto me tight."
He hooked an arm around Meryl's waist, making her face go red.
Five.
"Y-you've got to be kidding!!"
Meryl cried.
Four.
"I'm not. Please, I beg you to hold onto me as tightly as possible."
Grumbling a little but not hesitant because she trusted him, she brought her fingers to a tight grip onto the back and front of Vash's red trenchcoat.
Three.
Looking satisfied, Vash tightened his hold onto her and pressed his foot onto the flattened chair. Meryl noticed Wolfwood doing the same thing with his chair. Milly was slightly more clutched to him. Vash called out to the priest,
"We're using the blast, aren't we?"
Two.
"We have no choice."
They smiled at each other, hiding the grimness and fear.
One.
In unison, both men said,
"Good luck."
and with that, they jumped out of the building, the flattened chairs beneath their feet starting to drop. Meryl and Milly had to stifle screams of shock, squeezing their eyes shut at the height they were at.
Then a massive explosion behind them sounded, deafening their ears for a moment as debris flew past them in dangerous shards. The impact, however, was exactly what both men needed. It slapped the chairs right back onto their feet, and regaining footing while clutching the girls tightly, they forced the chairs to point slightly downwards.
That's when they started to descend. At an alarming rate. Now was time to improvise even further.
"Damn it Wolfwood, how the hell are we going to land?!!"
Vash yelled, and Meryl couldn't help but pound Vash's back.
"You moron!! You should've thought about that first!!"
Several more explosions cushioned their fall, but it wouldn't last for long - they would start zooming downwards like crazy any moment soon, destined to land into pancakes.
"We didn't exactly have time to!"
Vash retorted, and Meryl contented to gripping his coat so tightly her knuckles grew white while mumbling into his clothes.
"Wolfwood-san, your cross--!!"
Milly exclaimed.
The abandoned Cross Punisher had flown out with them at the explosion, and was now flying right towards him!!. As dumbfounded as Wolfwood was by the extraordinary luck, he whipped an arm off Milly and out to grab it. Stupid as the motion was, as now Wolfwood and Milly started to freefall happily towards the ground at a terrifying rate, it was because Wolfwood knew exactly what to do.
His hand struggled to find the proper hold, and luckily, the Cross Punisher was already in rocket-launcher mode. Praying inwardly to God, Wolfwood pointed the launcher towards the ground which was growing alarmingly close. Both him and Milly falling head-first, he pressed his cheek against the top of Milly's head, and blasted.
As expected, the impact slowed him and Milly down - and Wolfwood let go of the Cross Punisher and threw it upwards as best as he could before he turned quickly so that they would land on him. The two landed from around fifteen feet from the air safely onto the ground, clouds of sand powdering the air, winding them both effectively.
Vash's hand groped for the Cross Punisher, but missed, and the weapon fell onto the sand below. Vash looked desperately around - at the speed they were going, they were definitely going to crash with enough impact to kill. He then noticed lots of bits of metal trailing past him in wisps of smoke from the explosion above.
Having no time to lose, Vash's eyes locked onto a slightly twisted sheet of metal, and purposefully lost footing on the chair. He heard Meryl's gasp and felt her grip grow tighter as he spun in the air, his arm around Meryl securely, and the other arm held out for balance as he landed onto the metal successfully.
Their sudden weight made the metal start to plummet, but it was slower than the previous chair. They were relieved for a few seconds before Vash managed to slip off the metal still several feet up in the air. Muttering an apology, Vash clutched Meryl to him tightly as they fell, and made sure they would land on him when they did fall. However, they landed at an odd angle on his back, skidding a little against the sand before rolling quite a distance before finally losing momentum.
They breathed heavily, bits of wreckage still flying past and crashing nearby.
[A/N: Yes, this is the last chapter. I mean, I'm definitely writing an epilogue that comes straight after this, but this chapter is basically the majority of everything ended. Phew! It wasn't that suspense-grabbing, was it? Nehehe. Sorry... I hope I didn't rush it too much. I know the laws of Physics are almost completely defied here but I couldn't help it. O.O Thanks for reading uptil here! ^^*]
