Dangerous things were afoot one day at dusk.

"Well my friend, this is where it ends."

"I don't understand, sir."

"You did provide enough information of your specialty, but now because of some personal reasons of mine, we have to get rid of you."

"Did you have this planned from the beginning?"

"Yes, but don't take it personally."

"But why?"

"Let's just say that the main reason is that you and I have a few differences that might complicate our activities. It's a shame to kill a person of your usefulness. Good-bye."

A single shot rang out and bloody gun battle ensued.

TWO AND A HALF YEARS...

In the small town of Walsh, Vash, Meryl, and Milly sat in the local saloon, waiting for an important meeting to start. They had been waiting for about an hour for an agent from the Bernadelli Insurance Society to discuss reports about a man who was linked to a few incidents in which several towns received substantial damage had reappeared after several months of hiding, and rumors were that the person in question was worse than Vash.

"Man, when is she gonna get here?" Vash asked.

"Kate should be here soon." Meryl replied, "She sometimes runs a little late."

"Yeah, but she hasn't ever been this late before." Milly said.

Vash sighed and looked around. There was hardly anyone else in the saloon, expect for the bartender, a table of card players, and a young man sitting alone in a corner. Vash had noticed him earlier and something told him that something about the young man wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The guy was all by himself, and had short, light brown hair, and he wore a brown poncho, a long sleeved tan shirt, blue jeans, black boots, purple-tinted sunglasses, and was reading a newspaper and smoking some kind of cigarette. Vash thought he saw a gun holster on the young man's left hip, but he wasn't sure.

Just then, a young woman about Milly's age walked in and looked around. (Author's Note: I assume that Milly was 21 and Meryl was 22 in the series.) She had shoulder length flaming red hair and had an outfit like Meryl's, except it was light green and gray. She immediately caught the attention of every man in the saloon, Vash in particular.

"Wow, she's a cutie." he said and he immediately received a smack from Meryl, "Ow."

"Hope that teaches you." Meryl said.

The young woman saw Meryl and Milly and went over and sat down.

"Sorry I'm late." she said, "I got a little lost."

"That's okay, I'm glad you got here." Milly replied.

"So, is this Vash?" the young woman asked.

"Yep, I'm him." Vash stated.

"My name is Kate Horton." the young woman said, "I'm pleased to meet you."

So Kate, what is this all about?" Meryl asked wanting to get down with business.

"Have any of you heard of a man named Ace Landen?" Kate asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

" Well, the Bernadelli Insurance Society has given the me task of locating him and I want to know if I can have your assistance." Kate said.

"We'd be happy to help you." Milly said.

"Yeah, anything of an old friend." Meryl replied.

"Thanks, I do have some information on him that could help us." Kate said and she picked up a briefcase and took out some papers and passed them around, "Now, Ace Landen, also known as ÔThe One Man Demolition Team', has been linked to about two hundred and sixty-three incidents. A very serious one was when Blue City was half destroyed. As of now, Ace Landen has caused $$65 million in damages and has a $$20,000,000 bounty on his head."

"Wow, if he has done that much damage and has such a large bounty on his head, why haven't we heard about him?" Vash asked.

"It seems that he tries very hard to keep a low profile and most people who have witnessed his rampages have never gotten a really good look at him." Kate said, "The reports are conflicting, some say he is seven feet tall with a metal mask over his face, others say he is an android, and some say he has only one arm, but in all the rumors agree on several things."

"What are they?" Meryl asked.

"It appears that Ace Landen carries a powerful handgun, owns a zippo lighter with something called an American flag on it, and the most interesting thing about him is that he has one blue eye and one green eye." Kate said.

"Wow, do you think it's true?" Vash asked.

"I don't really care what he looks like, I just want to find him." Kate said coldly.

"Why are you so interested in finding this guy, Kate?" Milly asked, "Did he do something to you?"

Kate stared downed at the table and sighed.

"Well, in a way, yes." she said, "About seven months ago, in my hometown of Dakota City, a fight started between a man rumored to be Ace Landen and several other men and it spread and caused a riot throughout the whole city. My father was hurt and he later died."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Meryl said, "We didn't know."

"That's all right." Kate replied, "So, I asked the Bernadelli Insurance Society to give me this assignment so I could find Ace Landen and ask he if he was actually there."

Vash was listening to Kate's story, when he noticed the young man in the back. It seemed he was also listening in on the conversion.

"Excuse me." the bartender said, "I think I might have some information that might help you, miss."

"Really? What have you heard?" Kate asked with great interest.

"Well, I have heard the Ace Landen was last seen heading west. And I don't mean to tell tales out of school, but I did hear from a friend of mine that the guy has a stare that can burn through steel, and has slept with over fifty women." the bartender replied.

"Man, he sounds like a pervert." Milly said.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Meryl asked.

Before the bartender could replied, a huge explosion occurred. Vash, Meryl, Milly, and Kate rushed to a window and looked outside. They saw an eight foot tall man with two cybernetic arms carrying an M-16 assault rifle with a grenade launcher attached to it.

"Who is that guy, and what the hell he is doing?" Meryl asked.

"His name is Orn." the bartender replied, "He comes into town once or twice a week to cause trouble."

Vash stared at Orn angrily and started to walk out.

"Hold it!" the bartender said, "If you value your life, you shouldn't go out there."

"Sorry, I just sit around and let guys like that do what they want." Vash said, and he stepped out. The young man in the back watched Vash walk out into the street.

"He's either very brave or very stupid." he thought to himself.

Orn looked around at the deserted streets.

"Gee, there's no one out here to greet us." he said.

"These townsfolk are a bunch of cowards." his partner Diego replied.

"I guess, you go in that building and go upstairs and try to find someone we can beat up." Orn said.

"Got it." Diego said and he went into the building.

Orn starting looking around again and saw Vash, but he didn't know who it was.

"So, I hear you like coming here and causing trouble." Vash said.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" Orn asked.

"Let's say I don't like your kind. You lack compassion for other people." Vash replied and he pulled out his gun.

"Who in the hell do you think you are, punk?" Orn asked getting very annoyed.

"They call me...Vash." Vash said.

Orn couldn't believe his ears, "You're ÔThe Humanoid Typhoon'?" he asked.

"Yes sir." Vash said.

"Well, if I kill you, I'll make a name for myself." Orn said, "I would like to be known as the man who killed the legendary Vash the Stampede."

"Too bad that won't happen." Vash replied.

"We'll see about that!" Orn yelled as he aimed his M-16 and fired.

Vash began to dodge the shots, catching Orn by surprise. After about twenty seconds, Vash fired his gun and the bullet struck the M-16 and knocked it out of Orn's hands.

"So, is that all you have?" Vash asked, "Because if it is, you just don't have any skill."

"I might not have as much skill as you," Orn said, "but I do have a partner!"

Vash looked and for the first time had noticed Diego. He was up in the second story of the building, aiming an RPG right at Vash. Vash started to run as Diego fired the RPG, and the explosion knocked Vash to his feet and he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. He looked and saw a piece of shrapnel had cut deep into his arm, and the wound was bleeding badly. Orn picked up his M-16 and aimed at Vash.

"Looks like I will get the chance to kill you, Vash." he said sinisterly.

"I won't allow that." a voice said.

Orn looked around and a saw a young man walking out of the saloon. Vash looked as well and saw it was the young man he saw sitting alone. Meryl, Milly, and Kate watched as he walked up to Vash and kneeled down.

"Let me see that wound." he said and looked at Vash's injury and he bandaged it with a piece of cloth.

After he was done, he stepped up and faced Orn.

"Who are you?!" Orn demanded.

"My name isn't important." the young man replied, "But we could say that I can become your worse nightmare."

Orn started to laugh.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, "You must be stupid."

"If you're looking for stupid people, I suggest you look in a mirror." the young man stated.

"Why you little asshole!" Orn yelled and he fired his gun.

The young man calmly stepped to one side and the bullet missed.

Everyone stood motionless and stared in awe at the sight of what the young man did, except Orn, who was now getting madder by the second.

"Let's see if you can dodge this!!" he yelled as he pulled out another M-16. The young man yelled and began to jump, weave, and run to dodge the bullets. Diego tried to aim at the young man, when suddenly Kate appeared and pulled out a combat, pistol-gripped shotgun from under her coat and fired. The shot struck a sign at one end, and it swung down and it hit Diego, knocking him out cold. One of Orn's M-16s ran out of ammo and he quickly discarded it. The young man dove behind a wall, but quickly reappeared and pulled out a gun that appeared an M19 Combat Magnum, and fired four shots. Two of the shots managed to hit Orn's wrists, quickly blowing one off. The other one, which was the one still holding the gun and was still connected to his arm by a few wires, started to flail around wildly since the gun was on full automatic. Shots zinged around like a group of angry wasps, hitting all around the young man, but none of them hit him by some stroke of luck. Finally, the gun stopped and Orn fell down to knees. He had not been hit by his own shots, surprisingly. The young man came out from behind the wall, put his gun away, and walked up to Orn. He could tell by the look on Orn's face that he was now frightened of him.

"You look so pitiful." the young man said, "Like an animal at the mercy of the hunter."

"You going to kill me now?" Orn asked.

"No, I can't kill you like this." the young man replied, " But I hope you remember that I could have and that you'll do this again, because the next guy possibly won't be like me."

He turned and started to walk away, and this infuriated Orn. He took the nub of left arm, and pushed a button on his right shoulder. A large blade shot out like a switchblade, and he leapt at the young man. The young man spun around quickly, pulled out his gun and fired two more shots. The first bullet struck Orn's left leg, just above the knee, and the second shattered his blade weapon. He collapsed and began to cry in pain. The young man went up to Vash and helped him up.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Vash said.

"Well, let's get the local authorities and see if they can get that guy some medical attention." the young man replied and Vash agreed.

Later, after Orn and Diego were taken into custody, Vash, Meryl, Milly, and Kate came up to the young man.

"I want to say thanks to you for helping me out." Vash said.

"Your welcome." the young man said, and he turned to Kate, "And I must say thank you for taking care of that other guy."

"You knew it was me?" Kate asked.

"Yes, I can tell if a shotgun goes off by the sound." the young man stated.

And with that, he started to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute." Meryl yelled.

The young man turned around.

"Yes?" he said.

"We didn't catch your name." Meryl said.

"I didn't throw it." the young man said with a smile, and he walked away.

"I wonder who he was." Milly said.

" Me too, I wish he told us his name." Kate said.

"Oh, I have the feeling we'll cross paths with him again soon." Vash said as the young man disappeared over the hill.

TO BE CONTINUED...