PART 7
BRAWL TO END IT ALL
Wolfwood stood, staring at the ruined church. His hand tightened into a fist as he thought of Alex, of Merryl and Millie, of everything. He was almost certain he was walking into some sort of trap. But, for Merryl, and for Millie especially, he walked into it with his head held high, and a sense of pride in his heart. He hefted his cross punisher, and marched forward.
He kicked the door to the church open, and leapt inside, landing in a crouch, ready for action. But there was no immediate danger. His eyes scanned the whole perimeter, checking each wall, each corner. His eyes eventually rested on the two people who were tied to the remnants of a large cross on what had probably once been an altar. Merryl and Millie strained to make themselves heard over the gags in their mouths. Wolfwood hurried over, dragging his cross with him.
"Hold on girls. I'll have you out in a minute." They both made loud grunts behind the gags, trying to tell him something.
"Nicholas!" Alex's voice cut the air like a knife. Wolfwood straightened up, moved his hands away from Millie's face, and slowly turned to face the demon.
There he was. Alex stood in front of the door's Wolfwood had just entered through. His hands dangled at his sides, the metal claws glinting the moonlight. His cloak billowed in the desert wind. He grinned that horrible grin, his teeth seeming to glow in the soft darkness. Wolfwood stepped down from the altar, stood next to his cross, and met the coldness of Alex's eyes with the determination of his own.
"I'm not scared of you anymore, Alex. And I'm not going to run from you anymore."
"You should see yourself, Nicholas," he said, completely ignoring Wolfwood's statement. "Do you have any idea what you look like? You resemble a child, laying in his bed, afraid to pull the covers off his head and look into the darkness. You try to put on a brace face, try to pretend you are courageous. But in the end, you are still the same weeping, miserable, bed wetting infant you know you are."
"This infants grown up, Alex. He's a man now. And he's tired of having you constantly looking over his shoulder."
"Well, you shall never have to worry about that again, ever." With those words, Alex began his charge down the aisle toward Wolfwood. But Wolfwood moved quick as well, quickly tearing the cover off his cross, whipping two pistols from their place with in, and opening fire. Alex dodged the shots with expert speed, and leapt into the air, swinging his claws high over his head, intending to split Wolfwood from head to groin.
Wolfwood leapt to the side, Alex landing with a hard crash onto the wood floor, kicking up sand and dust. Wolfwood leveled his guns to fire more shots, but Alex lunged into him, knocking one of the guns out of Wolfwood's hand and grasping Wolfwood's wrist with his own hand. He tried to bring his other claw down onto Wolfwood, but the wandering priest blocked the blow, clutching Alex's wrist. They started into each other's souls, their eyes filled with anger and hatred. They exchanged curses, head-butted each other savagely and tried their best to overpower the other. Wolfwood won this struggle first, and struck Alex across the face with his pistol. He tried to aim for a final shot, but Alex was back in an instant, clapping one claw hard around Wolfwood's throat, lifting him off his feet, and slamming him down onto one of the pews. The rotted wood collapsed under him, large chunks splintering in all directions. Wolfwood grabbed one of these splinters, and swung it up at Alex, who blocked the blow with his forearm. The wood broke against his skin, and Wolfwood felt a sweat drop fall from his brow as he watched Alex's arm wind back, and then fly forward to crush him. But Wolfwood rolled out of the way of the blow, and instead Alex's fist crashed through the wooden floor, leaving him stuck for a single second. He yanked his fist free and stood to face Wolfwood again.
"Fuck you!" Wolfwood shouted as he came back with a punch of his own. It struck Alex hard across his jaw, the force spun him completely around and sent him sprawling to the floor. Wolfwood leapt for his cross, reaching for more guns...
Vash stumbled and fell. He struggled back to his feet and then leaned against a large rock. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. He raised his head and gazed ahead of him. The world seemed to be listing a bit, tilting slightly from side to side. His vision would blur, and then clear, only to blur again.
He stood back up and walked a few more feet before stumbling again. He fell forward onto his hands and knees and cursed into the sand. Trying to keep up to Wolfwood alone was sapping every bit of energy he could muster. At this rate he would arrive just in time to wipe up whatever was left of his friends.
After he had awoken, groggy but alive, back at the inn, he had struggled to interrogate the innkeeper, who had a rough time understanding Vash's slurred dialect. After finding out where Wolfwood had gone, he had to haggle with the innkeeper, surrendering the last of what money he had had left in order to get the man do arrange some transportation out this far. And now, he had to try to walk the rest of the way. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that he was carrying Merryl and Millie's weapons with him. He had a nagging feeling they were all going to need to be able to defend themselves.
He pulled himself back to his feet and continued on his way. After stumbling and rising about twelve more times, he fell face first into the sand and then just lay, waiting to die. But after a moment, his ears perked slightly. He could make out a familiar noise somewhere nearby: gunshots.
Wolfwood struggled to see over the flashes of his pistols. The smell of gunpowder was growing thick in the air. If any of his shots actually connected, Alex did not show it. He was currently running across the top of the pews, jumping and dodging Wolfwood's shots as he went. He leapt down behind one of the pews and vanished. Wolfwood tried to fire more shots off, but his pistols only made clicks. Empty. Wolfwood cursed and tossed them aside. He then grabbed his cross punisher and tucked it firmly under his arm, readying the heavy machine gun it contained. He slowly edged his way down the aisle between the pews, ready to open fire.
His eyes flicked all over. He tried to keep calm, to keep his hands steady. But he was now more nervous than he had ever been in his life. In each shadow, he saw Alex's eyes. In each whisper of the wind, he heard his laugh. He spun around, aiming at nothing. Then he spun in another direction, once again aiming at nothing.
There it was! He pressed hard on the rigger, the shots tearing the air and carving up the rotted wood of the pews next to him in seconds. He screamed as he continued to fire, his cries rising above even the ringing of the bullets flying through the air. Eventually he released the trigger and stood, panting, while the dust and smoke cleared. When he could finally see, he found himself staring at nothing but a pile of shredded wood. He narrowed his eyes. He had been certain he heard something.
A section of one pew, torn from its place in the floor, crashed down over his back. It knocked the air out of him, sent him down onto the floor. He tried to get to his knees, but Alex proceeded to ram kick after rib-cracking kick into his body. Finally he stopped and raised his claw over his head, ready for the final blow.
Wolfwood moved as fast as he could. He rolled to his side, retrieved his fallen cross, and fired off, not bothering to aim, just hoping to hit something. The bullets missed Alex's body, but tore the upraised claw to pieces, leaving his hand bare and exposed.
Back up on the altar, Merryl had managed to work her mouth free of her gag, and was struggling to do the same with the knots that bound her.
"Don't worry Millie...just give me a minute here..."
"Need a hand?" a shaky voice murmured from behind her. She recognized the voice, in spite of how slurred and sloppy it was. "Vash!" she said, trying to keep her voice down lest she call Alex's attention onto her. "Hurry, get us out!"
"Jusht give ush a minute, we'll have ya'll right outta here..." he said as he fumbled with the knots. After a few seconds, he fell onto his knees. Merryl groaned and rolled her eyes.
Back on the floor, Wolfwood was back on his feet, facing down Alex. He parried with his cross when Alex lunged in and thrust at him with his remaining claw. Alex unleashed a flurry of slashes and stabs, and Wolfwood held his cross up in front of him, blocking each one. Sparks flew as metal screeched against metal. They danced around each other in this deadly tango. Finally, Wolfwood struck back, swinging his cross as hard as he could. But Alex dodged the blow expertly, leaping back, landing on his feet. Wolfwood quickly flipped the cross around and fired off a single rocket. Alex leapt over it, somersaulting in the air as the rocket roared beneath him and impacted with the wall, the explosion rattling the whole building, the roof groaning and threatening to collapse. He landed directly in front of Wolfwood and charged into him, tackling against him. They fell to the floor, tangled with each other.
Alex straddled Wolfwood and punched him hard across the face with his naked hand. The claw he leveled at Wolfwood's throat.
"Get ready..." he hissed. Wolfwood closed his eyes and waited...
"That's enough!" a third voice broke in. Alex's face raised just in time to see what was coming. The X-shaped stunner slammed into him, full force, pulled him off of Wolfwood, lifted him from the ground completely. He tumbled through the air for a moment before crashing into the stain- glass window, through the window. The glass fragmented everywhere, Alex's scream fading as he fell outside.
Wolfwood sat up and turned at his waist to look behind him. Millie and Merryl were free, weapons in hand. Vash stood behind them, his knees drooping, his shoulder sagging. He straightened up like a shot, eyes wide, only sink back down into the drugged slouch. Millie's stun gun smoked, and from behind it she wore a look of hard determination he had only seen on her a few times before. Right now, she looked like an angel to him.
He rose to his feet, limped his way over to her, and threw his arms around her.
"Glad to see you're feeling better" he said with a soft chuckle. He felt her arms tighten around him, and heard her sniffle. After a moment, he pulled away, wiped the tear from her face, and gave her his smile. It comforted her, and she returned it with her own.
Wolfwood then turned to Merryl and held his hand out to her. "Give me a gun."
"Huh?" was the group response from Merryl, Millie, and Vash.
"Give me a gun. This isn't over yet." Merryl hesitated a moment before handing him one of her tiny derringers. He grimaced a the size of it, but accepted it anyway. He addressed them all grimly. "Stay in here, no matter what you hear. This is between me and him."
"And what if he wins?" Vash demanded before he drooped back down again.
"Then God will protect all of you, I'm sure." With that Wolfwood turned from them, ran down the aisle to the entrance of the church, and went outside.
Wolfwood stood, staring at the ruined church. His hand tightened into a fist as he thought of Alex, of Merryl and Millie, of everything. He was almost certain he was walking into some sort of trap. But, for Merryl, and for Millie especially, he walked into it with his head held high, and a sense of pride in his heart. He hefted his cross punisher, and marched forward.
He kicked the door to the church open, and leapt inside, landing in a crouch, ready for action. But there was no immediate danger. His eyes scanned the whole perimeter, checking each wall, each corner. His eyes eventually rested on the two people who were tied to the remnants of a large cross on what had probably once been an altar. Merryl and Millie strained to make themselves heard over the gags in their mouths. Wolfwood hurried over, dragging his cross with him.
"Hold on girls. I'll have you out in a minute." They both made loud grunts behind the gags, trying to tell him something.
"Nicholas!" Alex's voice cut the air like a knife. Wolfwood straightened up, moved his hands away from Millie's face, and slowly turned to face the demon.
There he was. Alex stood in front of the door's Wolfwood had just entered through. His hands dangled at his sides, the metal claws glinting the moonlight. His cloak billowed in the desert wind. He grinned that horrible grin, his teeth seeming to glow in the soft darkness. Wolfwood stepped down from the altar, stood next to his cross, and met the coldness of Alex's eyes with the determination of his own.
"I'm not scared of you anymore, Alex. And I'm not going to run from you anymore."
"You should see yourself, Nicholas," he said, completely ignoring Wolfwood's statement. "Do you have any idea what you look like? You resemble a child, laying in his bed, afraid to pull the covers off his head and look into the darkness. You try to put on a brace face, try to pretend you are courageous. But in the end, you are still the same weeping, miserable, bed wetting infant you know you are."
"This infants grown up, Alex. He's a man now. And he's tired of having you constantly looking over his shoulder."
"Well, you shall never have to worry about that again, ever." With those words, Alex began his charge down the aisle toward Wolfwood. But Wolfwood moved quick as well, quickly tearing the cover off his cross, whipping two pistols from their place with in, and opening fire. Alex dodged the shots with expert speed, and leapt into the air, swinging his claws high over his head, intending to split Wolfwood from head to groin.
Wolfwood leapt to the side, Alex landing with a hard crash onto the wood floor, kicking up sand and dust. Wolfwood leveled his guns to fire more shots, but Alex lunged into him, knocking one of the guns out of Wolfwood's hand and grasping Wolfwood's wrist with his own hand. He tried to bring his other claw down onto Wolfwood, but the wandering priest blocked the blow, clutching Alex's wrist. They started into each other's souls, their eyes filled with anger and hatred. They exchanged curses, head-butted each other savagely and tried their best to overpower the other. Wolfwood won this struggle first, and struck Alex across the face with his pistol. He tried to aim for a final shot, but Alex was back in an instant, clapping one claw hard around Wolfwood's throat, lifting him off his feet, and slamming him down onto one of the pews. The rotted wood collapsed under him, large chunks splintering in all directions. Wolfwood grabbed one of these splinters, and swung it up at Alex, who blocked the blow with his forearm. The wood broke against his skin, and Wolfwood felt a sweat drop fall from his brow as he watched Alex's arm wind back, and then fly forward to crush him. But Wolfwood rolled out of the way of the blow, and instead Alex's fist crashed through the wooden floor, leaving him stuck for a single second. He yanked his fist free and stood to face Wolfwood again.
"Fuck you!" Wolfwood shouted as he came back with a punch of his own. It struck Alex hard across his jaw, the force spun him completely around and sent him sprawling to the floor. Wolfwood leapt for his cross, reaching for more guns...
Vash stumbled and fell. He struggled back to his feet and then leaned against a large rock. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision. He raised his head and gazed ahead of him. The world seemed to be listing a bit, tilting slightly from side to side. His vision would blur, and then clear, only to blur again.
He stood back up and walked a few more feet before stumbling again. He fell forward onto his hands and knees and cursed into the sand. Trying to keep up to Wolfwood alone was sapping every bit of energy he could muster. At this rate he would arrive just in time to wipe up whatever was left of his friends.
After he had awoken, groggy but alive, back at the inn, he had struggled to interrogate the innkeeper, who had a rough time understanding Vash's slurred dialect. After finding out where Wolfwood had gone, he had to haggle with the innkeeper, surrendering the last of what money he had had left in order to get the man do arrange some transportation out this far. And now, he had to try to walk the rest of the way. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that he was carrying Merryl and Millie's weapons with him. He had a nagging feeling they were all going to need to be able to defend themselves.
He pulled himself back to his feet and continued on his way. After stumbling and rising about twelve more times, he fell face first into the sand and then just lay, waiting to die. But after a moment, his ears perked slightly. He could make out a familiar noise somewhere nearby: gunshots.
Wolfwood struggled to see over the flashes of his pistols. The smell of gunpowder was growing thick in the air. If any of his shots actually connected, Alex did not show it. He was currently running across the top of the pews, jumping and dodging Wolfwood's shots as he went. He leapt down behind one of the pews and vanished. Wolfwood tried to fire more shots off, but his pistols only made clicks. Empty. Wolfwood cursed and tossed them aside. He then grabbed his cross punisher and tucked it firmly under his arm, readying the heavy machine gun it contained. He slowly edged his way down the aisle between the pews, ready to open fire.
His eyes flicked all over. He tried to keep calm, to keep his hands steady. But he was now more nervous than he had ever been in his life. In each shadow, he saw Alex's eyes. In each whisper of the wind, he heard his laugh. He spun around, aiming at nothing. Then he spun in another direction, once again aiming at nothing.
There it was! He pressed hard on the rigger, the shots tearing the air and carving up the rotted wood of the pews next to him in seconds. He screamed as he continued to fire, his cries rising above even the ringing of the bullets flying through the air. Eventually he released the trigger and stood, panting, while the dust and smoke cleared. When he could finally see, he found himself staring at nothing but a pile of shredded wood. He narrowed his eyes. He had been certain he heard something.
A section of one pew, torn from its place in the floor, crashed down over his back. It knocked the air out of him, sent him down onto the floor. He tried to get to his knees, but Alex proceeded to ram kick after rib-cracking kick into his body. Finally he stopped and raised his claw over his head, ready for the final blow.
Wolfwood moved as fast as he could. He rolled to his side, retrieved his fallen cross, and fired off, not bothering to aim, just hoping to hit something. The bullets missed Alex's body, but tore the upraised claw to pieces, leaving his hand bare and exposed.
Back up on the altar, Merryl had managed to work her mouth free of her gag, and was struggling to do the same with the knots that bound her.
"Don't worry Millie...just give me a minute here..."
"Need a hand?" a shaky voice murmured from behind her. She recognized the voice, in spite of how slurred and sloppy it was. "Vash!" she said, trying to keep her voice down lest she call Alex's attention onto her. "Hurry, get us out!"
"Jusht give ush a minute, we'll have ya'll right outta here..." he said as he fumbled with the knots. After a few seconds, he fell onto his knees. Merryl groaned and rolled her eyes.
Back on the floor, Wolfwood was back on his feet, facing down Alex. He parried with his cross when Alex lunged in and thrust at him with his remaining claw. Alex unleashed a flurry of slashes and stabs, and Wolfwood held his cross up in front of him, blocking each one. Sparks flew as metal screeched against metal. They danced around each other in this deadly tango. Finally, Wolfwood struck back, swinging his cross as hard as he could. But Alex dodged the blow expertly, leaping back, landing on his feet. Wolfwood quickly flipped the cross around and fired off a single rocket. Alex leapt over it, somersaulting in the air as the rocket roared beneath him and impacted with the wall, the explosion rattling the whole building, the roof groaning and threatening to collapse. He landed directly in front of Wolfwood and charged into him, tackling against him. They fell to the floor, tangled with each other.
Alex straddled Wolfwood and punched him hard across the face with his naked hand. The claw he leveled at Wolfwood's throat.
"Get ready..." he hissed. Wolfwood closed his eyes and waited...
"That's enough!" a third voice broke in. Alex's face raised just in time to see what was coming. The X-shaped stunner slammed into him, full force, pulled him off of Wolfwood, lifted him from the ground completely. He tumbled through the air for a moment before crashing into the stain- glass window, through the window. The glass fragmented everywhere, Alex's scream fading as he fell outside.
Wolfwood sat up and turned at his waist to look behind him. Millie and Merryl were free, weapons in hand. Vash stood behind them, his knees drooping, his shoulder sagging. He straightened up like a shot, eyes wide, only sink back down into the drugged slouch. Millie's stun gun smoked, and from behind it she wore a look of hard determination he had only seen on her a few times before. Right now, she looked like an angel to him.
He rose to his feet, limped his way over to her, and threw his arms around her.
"Glad to see you're feeling better" he said with a soft chuckle. He felt her arms tighten around him, and heard her sniffle. After a moment, he pulled away, wiped the tear from her face, and gave her his smile. It comforted her, and she returned it with her own.
Wolfwood then turned to Merryl and held his hand out to her. "Give me a gun."
"Huh?" was the group response from Merryl, Millie, and Vash.
"Give me a gun. This isn't over yet." Merryl hesitated a moment before handing him one of her tiny derringers. He grimaced a the size of it, but accepted it anyway. He addressed them all grimly. "Stay in here, no matter what you hear. This is between me and him."
"And what if he wins?" Vash demanded before he drooped back down again.
"Then God will protect all of you, I'm sure." With that Wolfwood turned from them, ran down the aisle to the entrance of the church, and went outside.