7

Both men stepped onto opposite sides of the street. Neither were ready to draw, and when the clock hit 12 neither one drew to fire while Knives watched.

"Either you start shooting at each other by the time I count down from 10, we will gun you down." Knives said as his men loaded their guns.

"10.........9.........8....."

"Draw." Nick said to Vash.

"You draw." Vash replied.

"7.........6......5......"

"Kill me damn it." Nick shouted.

"I won't, now draw." Vash shouted back.

"4........3.......2...."

"Either kill me or I'm gonna kill you." Nick shouted.

"1!!!!"

Before Knives and his men could fire, Nick drew and shot Vash in the stomach, sending him to the ground.

The old doctor inspected his body.

"He's dead, stay away from him you buzzards!!!!!!!" he shouted.

Some men carried Vash's body off as Meryl wept he heart out.

"I swear I'm gonna kill you for this you bastard." Nick shouted to Knives, who chuckled.

Nick wasn't going to wait for tomorrow to fight as he attacked Knives' men, smashing Chapel in his nose again and throwing the other men down, but before he could lay a finger on Knives he had a derringer pointed at him. The men knocked Nick down as Knives pointed the small gun at his head.

"We will fight tomorrow; I'll let you pick the time." Knives said.

"I choose in the morning, sunrise." Nick said.

The men hauled him off as Knives went back inside his mansion to prepare.

That night Chapel took the chance to beat Nick up for breaking his nose before.

Knives sat in his pajamas as he sharpened the bullets to his gun with a file. He had waited a long time for this day and he was going to be ready.

In the morning the men hauled out a battered Nick. Knives noticed a bruise on his drawing arm.

"Who did this?" Knives demanded.

"I did." Chapel said proudly.

"You ruined everything you idiot, get out of my town. I'll give you a 10 second head start." Knives said.

Chapel ran for the hills, knowing he wasn't kidding.

"What do you say Nick, I could draw with my other hand. Unlike some people I CAN fight with both hands." Knives said.

When the 10 seconds were up the men pelted Chapel with rifle shots, knocking him to the ground.

"I've always wanted to fight you Nick; you were the only one who could ever rival me. I'm trembling with sensation." Knives said, and with that he walked to the end of the street.

"No matter what happens, if he is still standing at the end, kill him, and then kill the rest of these vermin" Knives whispered to his men. All of them took a vantage point on buildings and balconies alike.

Nick only had one shot in his pistol and had to make it count as Knives waited for the clock to hit 12.

It hit

BOOM

Before Knives could fire, his mansion exploded behind him, and then the tower exploded, and so did the bank. Knives' men who stood on them were thrown off or caught in the blast.

When the smoke cleared a figure walked toward Knives. It was Vash. The townspeople, Meryl and Knives especially, were stunned.

"No, it can't be, YOUR DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!" Knives shouted.

Vash revealed a bottle of tomato juice in his hand and poured it out as he walked towards Knives

One of his men aimed at Vash but Nick took the chance to knock him out with his pistol.

"Milly, my luggage!!!" Nick shouted. Milly rushed out with Nick's cross shaped suitcase and tossed it to him. Nick wasted no time pulling the strap and sheet off and picked the big metal cross up by the handle in the center. Nick clicked a button and the long end of the cross opened to reveal a machine gun. He fired at the remaining men on top of the buildings, killing them. When some men rushed out of the saloon to help them, Nick turned his cross around as the short end revealed a rocket launcher which he fired and blew the building and men to smithereens. He turned to Knives.

"Sorry Knives, we changed the rules of this competition. From now on everyone fights fair and square." He said.

Knives turned back to Vash.

"Who are you??????" he shouted.

Vash answered by slinging a card into the ground at Knives' feet. He immediately recognized the name and the picture on it.

"You ruined my life." Vash said angrily.

Knives looked back up at him.

"Vash........brother...." Knives stammered, unable to believe his own brother who had been missing for years was right under his nose.

Knives began having flashbacks now about that fateful day.

"We have to get to the escape pod." Rem said.

"I don't understand, what's going on?" Vash asked.

"Someone must have re-routed the ships, at this rate they'll crash on that planet." Knives said.

Rem stopped for a moment and looked back.

"You two go on, I have to save these people." Rem said as she opened the door and ushered young Vash and Knives in.

"Rem no, you can't leave us." Vash pleaded, trying to grab her but only grabber her 1D tag and pulling it off.

"Vash, take care of Knives, everything will be okay." Rem said as the door closed.

Vash could do nothing but watch as the pod he and Knives were in eject from the ship which burned up in the atmosphere.

"No Rem!!!!!!! No!!!!!!!!!!" Vash shouted as tears began pouring down his face as he knew Rem was gone.

Knives laughed out loud.

"Foolish girl, now she's gone and only the two of us will be left alive." He said, revealing to Vash that he was the mastermind behind all this.

"ALL SHIPS NOW CHANGING COURSE" the computer voice said.

The ships with the people on it ignited their thrusters and began back on their original course to land on earth safely.

"She actually did it. Damn her." Knives said.

Vash knocked Knives out from behind as he looked out the window.

When Knives woke up Vash was gone, the door to the pod was open as they were on the planet now.

Knives gritted his teeth.

"You still aren't fast enough for me dear brother!!!!" Knives shouted.

"I feel lucky today." Vash shot back.

Neither waited for the clock to hit 12, both drew

Vash held a wound on his shoulder; it looked like he had missed Knives, who chuckled.

Suddenly Knives looked down and saw a hole clean through his body; the shot went clear through him so well he didn't even feel it.

Knives aimed again, but this time Vash was the faster. He fired the rest of the 5 shots in his revolver, hitting Knives in the arms, legs, and finally one in the head. Knives fell to the ground, dead.

Vash spun his silver revolver and holstered it.

He picked up Rem's ID and put it in his pocket. He searched Knives' body and found the sheriff star he took from Loose Ruth. Vash turned to Nick and tossed it to him.

"The law is needed in town; looks like you've been elected." Vash said.

Nick looked at the star and nodded.

Without a goodbye Vash climbed onto his Thomas and donned his yellow sunglasses. With a whip of the reigns he was off. The people cheered him as he stopped at the edge of town where Meryl was waiting.

"Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" Meryl asked.

Vash looked ahead, and then offered her a hand, which she took as she crawled on top of the Thomas with him. Vash kissed her as they rode into the sunset. Nick just smiled at them as Milly joined him by his side.

Dimitri was free again.