Vash froze. Again he heard the voice emanating from inside his head.
"Drop it on the floor."
Vash dropped it. He hadn't heard that voice in several months, not since the
last time he resigned himself to die.
"What just happened to your arm, idiot?"
"It happened again," Vash replied.
"No. Think, you dolt. Before that."
"The plant regenerated it."
"Then take Knives down to the damn plant. He's not dead. You can't tell
everything by putting you hand on his head, idiot. That plant's a whole lot
better at healing then you are."
Vash's eyes stopped glowing and his wings faded away as he looked back at the
form of his brother's body still wrapped in the blood-soaked blanket. He could feel
pieces of bone sticking out of his brother's skin as he slid his hands
underneath Knives' body. Vash carried his brother back to the hole. He handed down Knives' body to one of the men and went back to the room for Meryl. Vash took the
transmitter pen out of Meryl's pocket.
He radioed Doc in the control center. "Doc, James is going to be coming down with Meryl. She has a bad gash in her head. You'll want to look at her."
He carried Meryl to the hole and crawled down with the unconscious women.
"Vash, what the hell happened?" asked James as Vash handed Meryl to him. "Make
sure Doc looks at her. Her head was hit hard."
Martin gave Vash his shirt. Vash wrapped it around his waist. Vash picked up
Knives from where they had placed him on the floor.
"He can't be alive, not after this long," said James.
Vash walked away with his brother towards the elevator.
"You two get the guns from the guard room and bring Michael's people down.
Lock them in quarantine with Clara," said James to Karl and Martin.
The two men pressed a few buttons on the wall and started talking to the guards.
James caught up to Vash. They got into the elevator and James pressed the button
for Doc's floor.
"Did Augusta almost happen up there, Vash? Meryl said the light was just like
Augusta. She said she could help you. We had to let her up. Augusta can't happen
to this place."
Vash didn't reply. He stared straight forward like no one else existed. The
elevator stopped at Doc's floor. James got off with Meryl.
"Aren't you coming, Vash? Knives' looks like shit and your arm looks just like him."
The elevator door closed.
"Damn him," said James as he headed off to the control room with Meryl.
Vash got down to the plant room. He set his brother on the floor. Vash took the
blanket off his brother and saw the the full extent of the torture his brother
had been through. The dampeners were still on his arms. They'd tried to pry them
off, just to see what would happen but they had to be satisfied with the
lacerations they'd left. Vash put one hand up to the glass on the base of
the plant bulb.
"I'm sorry to be back so soon. I have another being like me who is badly hurt."
Suzume drifted down to him and placed her hand opposite his.
"I'll help," she replied. He explained to her about the dampeners on Knives'
arms.
"I can't take them off. Can you still help him?" he asked.
She reduced her power output down to a low level Knives' dampeners could tolerate.
James had left the dampener setting at maximum. Suzume told Vash it would be
much more comfortable for her if it was at mid level. Vash went down to the
controller. He adjusted the levels as she specified and walked back to the
plant. The bright glow of the plant was greatly reduced. Vash opened the hatch
and handed his brother over to the plant being. She took him by the shoulders
and drifted up with him to the center of the bulb. Vash closed the hatch. He
could see the plant being hold his brother. She passed one hand over his mangled
body and her entire body started to glow brightly, but Vash could just still see both plant being's forms through the light.
Vash had no place to go now. His old room was covered with bits and pieces of
metal and machines. His brother's room was covered in blood. Vash knelt on the
floor in front of the plant and cried for a very long time.
"Had enough yet? Do you feel better having cried about it?" the voice asked.
"Why are you still talking to me, Wolfwood?"
"I'm not doing this for you needle noggin. I'm doing this for Milly. She doesn't
deserve to die because of you. You almost killed her, everyone on this ship and
the next city over. No one cleared out the cities this time."
"I didn't fire it. Why are you still talking to me?"
"I'm not done with you yet. You haven't even noticed the gash in your arm."
Vash looked down at the bloody hole in his arm where the plant dampener
penetrated his arm.
"You're lucky she's not any stronger or you may not have woken up from two angel
arm blasts disintegrating your skull."
"Maybe that would've been better than having a damn voice in my head."
"I'm not done with you, Vash. Get up to Meryl and Milly in the hospital. They
need to know you're alive."
Vash reluctantly got up off the floor and went to Doc's room. He passed the quarantine room where the people involved in Knives' beating were tied up on the floor. He only looked in the room briefly, making sure Michael was there before moving on to Doc's medical room.
When he arrived Doc was wrapping Meryl's head with a bandage as she lay unconscious on a gurney.
"Vash," Doc said, "where did you take Knives? What happened to your arm? Your scars are gone!" said Doc as Vash entered the room.
"The plant healed my scars. She's healing Knives right now. It'll take a lot
longer with him. My arm could use a bandage."
Doc finished wrapping Meryl's head, and he picked out a large piece of gauze and
pressed it on Vash's bleeding arm.
"Its amazing, that all that power can be concentrated to heal a tiny cell. It's
amazing, it really is. There's so much about the plants we don't know. You'll
have to tell me what it was like when things quiet down a bit."
Vash pointed to Meryl.
"She has a dent in her skull but she'll be fine in a few hours. This wound is to
big to be from a derringer," Doc said as he looked Vash over for any other
injuries.
"The little women has so many guns under her cape, I thought she might have shot
you. Do all your friends from the outside carry concealed weapons?"
"Yes, actually they do," Vash said, "but I won't let them take them into the
cafeteria."
Doc laughed.
Eventually Vash's wound stopped bleeding and Doc finished wrapping it with a bandage.
Vash thanked him and got into a hospital gown.
"We need to talk, Vash." Vash sat down on the gurney next to Meryl. "That pink
light came all the way down here. Did it almost happen again?"
Vash looked at Meryl and didn't reply.
"Vash, what happened?"
"If you want me to leave I'll understand."
"I don't want you to leave. Vash, I need to know what happened so we can try and
prevent it happening again. This is your home as it has been for 80 years."
"Even if I almost killed everybody today? He was just a pile of bones, Doc. I
thought he was dead. The power comes freely when I'm angry or I want to use it.
One of Knives' men called it out of me at Augusta."
"Knives, did he make you do that today?" asked Doc.
Vash looked over at the doctor.
"No ... There's no place on this planet that's safe for me and Knives. I
panicked. There's been this noose around my neck for the past 20 years after
July. I just want it to go away, for everybody to go away. I wanted to die."
Vash looked back at Meryl. "She stopped me with the dampener." He touched Meryl's arm with his hand.
"I almost killed her anyway afterwards. She's got a lot of guts staying anywhere
near me."
"What can I do to help you, Vash?"
Vash thought about what he really need. He needed his own planet. "Be reasonable," he told himself.
"Keep everybody away from Knives. I have no idea what he's going to be like when he comes out of the plant. I need somewhere else to put him. I just can't keep him tied down in that room for the rest of his life. He may as well be dead."
"Do you think you can use the recreation room? The power's been at minimum
levels since we hit the atmosphere but after we get plant one working again we
may be able to spare more power, now that we aren't fighting gravity and that
typhoon anymore."
Plant one was still healing in the bulb with plant four. There was another bulb to be repaired.
"What are you going to do with Michael?" Vash asked.
Doc knitted his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
"There is only one thing I can do with all of them. Banish them to the outside.
We're not set up to be a prison. We're too closed a society. We can't tolerate
any violence against any resident of this ship."
Vash thought about the gash on Meryl's head.
"Did you hear anything I just told you?" he said raising his voice.
"I almost killed everybody on this ship. Why aren't you throwing me out?"
"Vash, you need to take care of Knives here. There's no other place. It's safer for
everybody on this planet that you're here. For eighty years you never hurt a
soul on board for any reason. The attack and the fall changed some of the people
for the worse. They have to leave. We need to keep this society for people like
you Vash, you are a peaceful man. Most of the young people know you are a good
man and the ones who don't are tied up in that room."
"What would you do with Knives, if I died."
"We'd have to put him in a sleep chamber indefinitely until we had some way
of dealing with him more effectively."
Vash felt Meryl's arm move slightly beneath his hand. He quickly removed his
hand and crossed his arms against his chest.
"We want you here Vash. You've been a father figure and a friend to many people
on this ship. I'm amazed that you'd think of going back out there when you have
that huge bounty on you."
"A lot of people lost their fathers and mothers because of me. Besides, aren't you afraid of being found out? Aiding and abetting a criminal? If you let them go to the outside they'll tell the government that I'm here. Maybe they already have. I'm not safe anywhere. I don't want any more people to die because of me."
"We'll just have to prepare for when they do come then. We can manage. Vash, you
need some rest. We can discuss this more later."
Suddenly, Vash felt a small yet powerful fist hit his back. Vash slid off the
gurney and fell to the floor. Meryl landed on his back and pummeled his head.
"Idiot, pea-brained, spiny haired moron," she yelled. "Don't ever do that again.
I can't leave you alone for one damn second."
"Get her off," Vash shouted. "Doc, help!"
Meryl fought back her tears as Doc pulled her off of Vash's back.
"It doesn't seem like you have a concussion," Doc said to Meryl as he dragged her
from Vash and deposited her on a chair.
"What were you saying about violence, Doc?" said Vash as he picked himself up
off the floor.
"Who's the one who hit me? It was either you or some demented depressed swan
that happened to fly by," said Meryl as she tried to evade Doc who was
attempting to corral her with outstretched arms.
"There will be no beating on Vash, young lady," Doc said.
"I'm used to it from her," Vash said, crossing his arms and getting back up on
the gurney. "The welts usually go away after a week."
Meryl darted past Doc and ran straight into Milly who walked into the room just
in time to prevent any more pummeling.
"I thought I heard you two," the tall lady said as she grabbed the snarling
agent by the back of her collar.
"Meryl, you have a wound on your head. You need
your rest," said Milly as she picked up the smaller agent and placed her on an
empty gurney. She pulled a sheet up to Meryl's chin and gave her a stern look.
"Cut that out right now. You need to stay professional or the chief will be very
mad at you because I'll tell him."
Meryl threw Vash a cold glare and turned away from him pulling the sheet over
her head. Milly could hear her crying. Milly turned around to look at Vash.
"You really shouldn't ... Mr. Vash, what happened to your scars?" asked Milly in
disbelief as she looked at Vash's healed body. They filled her in on the events
that happened during and after the plant transfer.
"You really think Knives will be okay?" Milly asked.
"I don't know how the dampeners will affect his healing. There's a lot about the
plants I never thought to ask about."
"Are you going to be okay, Mr. Vash?"
"I'll be fine, Milly. Sometimes I feel better when I'm around you two." Meryl
poked her head up from underneath the sheet. Her eyes were red from crying.
"Milly, we need to be on 24-hour surveillance for Vash and Knives. No more Mr.
Happy Coffee for me."
Doc sighed as he looked at his three patients.
"You can all start your surveillance after you get some good rest." Doc pulled a
blanket over Vash.
"Stay in bed for at least a day, all of you, right here, right now."
"Okay, Doc." said Milly. She headed out back to her bed.
"You two stay right where you are," Doc said to Vash and Meryl. "I need to talk
things over with James before I make any final decisions about Michael and the
others. I will see you all tomorrow. Goodnight."
Several hours later Vash sat up in bed. He couldn't sleep. His brother was alone
right now with the plant. Anybody could come in that room. He got up quietly,
placed his blanket over Meryl, and left the room. It was night outside and on
board the ship. Very few people were up. Vash passed a few small observation
windows showing the star-lit rocky landscape spreading out for miles. All of the
moons were out. The fifth moon seemed to look back at him. Vash looked down at his unhurt new arm. His whole body was cased in metal now. This ship was the only place he could be.
In the plant room Vash could see where Suzume had healed a section of his
brother's neck. A light blue glow surrounded the plant lady's enormous hands,
one of which was placed on his brothers head. Her other arm held the unconscious
man underneath his arms. It looked like the dampeners weren't absorbing any of
the low level of power that was slowly healing the man's body. Vash looked at
the pile of metal bits on the bottom of the plant. He saw his earring. Vash
reached up and felt his earlobe. Suzume had even healed that tiny innocuous
hole. That earring had come in very handy, maybe Milly could pierce it again.
Vash looked at the sleeping chamber that lay open on the cart. It would be so
easy to just crawl in and forget about the whole world for a hundred years or
more. Vash the Stampede would be gone and then he could really start over. Maybe
that's what he should do. Build a two-person ship and leave this planet with his
brother, find a new place and leave all humans and their laws and their
vendettas and their tempers behind.
"You never thanked her you idiot."
Vash put his hands to the sides of his head, cringed, and sat down on the floor.
"I didn't get a chance to. She was too busy pounding my back. Why are you still
talking to me? Aren't you dead?"
"Thank her and I'll go away."
"Fine. I'll thank her."
Vash heard the door to the plant room open.
"Vash? Are you here? Vash?" said a familiar voice from the lower level of the
plant room.
"I'm up here, Meryl" said Vash. It was too late to hide. He never ever got a break, ever.