Chapter 4
The shot echoed through the empty streets.
The breeze gently blew away the smoke from Spike's gun to reveal Vash, still standing. Well, at least he was still upright. He wasn't so much standing as he was balancing on one foot while the rest of his body contorted and twisted in such a way as to avoid the bullet. One of Spike's eyebrows rose.
"Hey!" Vash shouted, "Don't you think that was a little close?!"
Spike's gun, having been hurled with quite some force, smacked solidly into Vash's face, knocking him to the ground. As Vash spasmed in the dirt Spike nonchalantly approached and bent over him.
"Do people ever point out that something is very, very wrong with you?" Spike asked.
"Do people ever point out that you're a jerk?" Vash retorted.
"All the time." Spike said cheerily. He picked up his gun and walked back to his original spot. Vash climbed to his feet.
"Okay, so you dodge bullets. That's quite a trick." Spike said. "But then you caught my gun with your face." Vash let out a painful chuckle. "Which leads me to question exactly how seriously you're taking me."
"I'm getting the feeling that you're pretty serious." Vash said hesitantly.
"Good, then we understand each other." Spike said, raising his gun again.
Vash pushed his glasses up with one finger. "Yeah," he said solemnly, "I guess we do." He pulled his own gun from his holster and pointed it back at Spike.
The two men stared at each other down the barrels of their guns.
*BANG! BANG!*
Both shot simultaneously while each leapt for opposite sides of the street. Matching their long strides, they ran down the sidewalks, shooting at each other. Vash ducked into an alley and Spike dashed across the street. He kept tight to the wall of one of the buildings that made the alley, keeping cover just around the corner. Vash crouched behind a stack of crates. They fired off random shots, but every one clipped either the stone wall or a wooden crate.
Despite all the loud gunfire, Spike jumped when he heard a beeping coming from the comm-link on his wrist.
"Spike? Spike, can you hear me?"
"Jet!" Spike shouted in relief. "Hey, what took you so long?"
"Well excuse me for taking my precious time while tracking you through the uncharted reaches of space!" Jet said indignantly.
"Just shut up and get your ass down here!" Spike shouted, recoiling from stone shrapnel that flew into his face from a ricocheting bullet.
"Hey!" Vash shouted from deep in the alley, "Are you talking to yourself? And you think something's wrong with ME?"
"Jet," Spike growled, "I'm on the biggest bounty you've ever heard of and I need backup, NOW!"
"Hey, Spike, is that gun fire? Just like you to pick a fight no matter where you land." Jet grumbled. "Fine, I'm gonna track your comm-link and land right on top of you, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just GET HERE!" Spike fired again. Then he slipped from the corner and ran around the building, hoping to catch his prey from behind. He edged into the dark alley, his eyes on the pile of crates. He ran the last few steps and kicked them out of the way.
There wasn't anyone there.
"Where the hell has that guy gotten to now?" Spike whispered. He looked around, then felt some small, crumb-like particles fall on his head. They smelled like. . . doughnuts.
Spike looked up just in time to see Vash, who had shimmied up the walls of the narrow alley, throw himself over the edge of one of the buildings. Spike ran into the street but leapt back when a bullet sent up a spray of dirt right in front of him. With his back against the wall and Vash playing sniper on the roof, Spike was pinned. His best option right now was to stall Vash as long as he could until the Beebop arrived.
"Not bad." Spike said, sounding as cocky as ever. "You've got some - um - interesting moves, to say the least."
"We don't have to fight." Vash called from the roof. "Just stop chasing me. I don't want either of us to get hurt."
Spike looked desperately around as they talked. He noticed that the next building over had a tall wooden horse-cart next to it. The cart was just tall enough that Spike might barely be able to grab onto the top of the wall from there and heave himself onto the roof.
"Well, I think we already went over this. Neither of us is willing to give up." Spike said, edging to the corner of the building, readying himself to sprint across the intersection.
"I'd give up as long as you don't turn me in." Vash said, hopefully. He didn't know, however, that with those words he had allowed his opponent to get a rough estimate of his location on the roof. He figured it out when bullets turned the stone around him into flying shrapnel, forcing him to take cover. This bought Spike enough time to sprint across the narrow street. Keeping his momentum, he jumped onto the cart and leapt towards the roof. He caught the top of the wall with his free hand and swung his legs up and over in one fluid movement. He kept firing, forcing Vash to keep his head down. Spike ran as fast as he could towards the edge of the roof and with a shout hurled himself into space towards the roof that Vash was on.
"Don't!" Vash shouted "You won't make it!"
Spike's limbs flailed wildly in midair. The other building came towards him as if in slow motion. He saw stone chips flying everywhere, saw his gun spinning and falling away. He even had time to estimate his trajectory. He had time to figure out that he wasn't going to make it.
With a horrible crunch, Spike hit the wall just below the top. Just before he started to fall, a hand caught his wrist. It was Vash, of course.
"Hang on, I got you!" Vash said, bracing against the stone lip.
Spike looked up and grinned. "No," he said, reaching into his pocket, "I got you."
Vash was startled, to say the least, when the small electro-stunner jabbed into his forearm.
Spike was startled, to say the least, when the stunner, which was only supposed to deliver a minimal shock to stun opponents caused Vash's whole body to convulse violently, his already wild hair to explode as much as it could without detaching from his head, and his orange glasses to shatter revealing the blue eyes, which now were rolling up into his head.
Unconscious, Vash was pulled by Spike's weight over the edge of the building. The both fell to the hard-packed ground.
The shot echoed through the empty streets.
The breeze gently blew away the smoke from Spike's gun to reveal Vash, still standing. Well, at least he was still upright. He wasn't so much standing as he was balancing on one foot while the rest of his body contorted and twisted in such a way as to avoid the bullet. One of Spike's eyebrows rose.
"Hey!" Vash shouted, "Don't you think that was a little close?!"
Spike's gun, having been hurled with quite some force, smacked solidly into Vash's face, knocking him to the ground. As Vash spasmed in the dirt Spike nonchalantly approached and bent over him.
"Do people ever point out that something is very, very wrong with you?" Spike asked.
"Do people ever point out that you're a jerk?" Vash retorted.
"All the time." Spike said cheerily. He picked up his gun and walked back to his original spot. Vash climbed to his feet.
"Okay, so you dodge bullets. That's quite a trick." Spike said. "But then you caught my gun with your face." Vash let out a painful chuckle. "Which leads me to question exactly how seriously you're taking me."
"I'm getting the feeling that you're pretty serious." Vash said hesitantly.
"Good, then we understand each other." Spike said, raising his gun again.
Vash pushed his glasses up with one finger. "Yeah," he said solemnly, "I guess we do." He pulled his own gun from his holster and pointed it back at Spike.
The two men stared at each other down the barrels of their guns.
*BANG! BANG!*
Both shot simultaneously while each leapt for opposite sides of the street. Matching their long strides, they ran down the sidewalks, shooting at each other. Vash ducked into an alley and Spike dashed across the street. He kept tight to the wall of one of the buildings that made the alley, keeping cover just around the corner. Vash crouched behind a stack of crates. They fired off random shots, but every one clipped either the stone wall or a wooden crate.
Despite all the loud gunfire, Spike jumped when he heard a beeping coming from the comm-link on his wrist.
"Spike? Spike, can you hear me?"
"Jet!" Spike shouted in relief. "Hey, what took you so long?"
"Well excuse me for taking my precious time while tracking you through the uncharted reaches of space!" Jet said indignantly.
"Just shut up and get your ass down here!" Spike shouted, recoiling from stone shrapnel that flew into his face from a ricocheting bullet.
"Hey!" Vash shouted from deep in the alley, "Are you talking to yourself? And you think something's wrong with ME?"
"Jet," Spike growled, "I'm on the biggest bounty you've ever heard of and I need backup, NOW!"
"Hey, Spike, is that gun fire? Just like you to pick a fight no matter where you land." Jet grumbled. "Fine, I'm gonna track your comm-link and land right on top of you, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just GET HERE!" Spike fired again. Then he slipped from the corner and ran around the building, hoping to catch his prey from behind. He edged into the dark alley, his eyes on the pile of crates. He ran the last few steps and kicked them out of the way.
There wasn't anyone there.
"Where the hell has that guy gotten to now?" Spike whispered. He looked around, then felt some small, crumb-like particles fall on his head. They smelled like. . . doughnuts.
Spike looked up just in time to see Vash, who had shimmied up the walls of the narrow alley, throw himself over the edge of one of the buildings. Spike ran into the street but leapt back when a bullet sent up a spray of dirt right in front of him. With his back against the wall and Vash playing sniper on the roof, Spike was pinned. His best option right now was to stall Vash as long as he could until the Beebop arrived.
"Not bad." Spike said, sounding as cocky as ever. "You've got some - um - interesting moves, to say the least."
"We don't have to fight." Vash called from the roof. "Just stop chasing me. I don't want either of us to get hurt."
Spike looked desperately around as they talked. He noticed that the next building over had a tall wooden horse-cart next to it. The cart was just tall enough that Spike might barely be able to grab onto the top of the wall from there and heave himself onto the roof.
"Well, I think we already went over this. Neither of us is willing to give up." Spike said, edging to the corner of the building, readying himself to sprint across the intersection.
"I'd give up as long as you don't turn me in." Vash said, hopefully. He didn't know, however, that with those words he had allowed his opponent to get a rough estimate of his location on the roof. He figured it out when bullets turned the stone around him into flying shrapnel, forcing him to take cover. This bought Spike enough time to sprint across the narrow street. Keeping his momentum, he jumped onto the cart and leapt towards the roof. He caught the top of the wall with his free hand and swung his legs up and over in one fluid movement. He kept firing, forcing Vash to keep his head down. Spike ran as fast as he could towards the edge of the roof and with a shout hurled himself into space towards the roof that Vash was on.
"Don't!" Vash shouted "You won't make it!"
Spike's limbs flailed wildly in midair. The other building came towards him as if in slow motion. He saw stone chips flying everywhere, saw his gun spinning and falling away. He even had time to estimate his trajectory. He had time to figure out that he wasn't going to make it.
With a horrible crunch, Spike hit the wall just below the top. Just before he started to fall, a hand caught his wrist. It was Vash, of course.
"Hang on, I got you!" Vash said, bracing against the stone lip.
Spike looked up and grinned. "No," he said, reaching into his pocket, "I got you."
Vash was startled, to say the least, when the small electro-stunner jabbed into his forearm.
Spike was startled, to say the least, when the stunner, which was only supposed to deliver a minimal shock to stun opponents caused Vash's whole body to convulse violently, his already wild hair to explode as much as it could without detaching from his head, and his orange glasses to shatter revealing the blue eyes, which now were rolling up into his head.
Unconscious, Vash was pulled by Spike's weight over the edge of the building. The both fell to the hard-packed ground.