Lazarus Heart
Chapter five: Old memories
Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun.
Authors note: The Voice's identity is revealed in this chapter, although most of you have probably guessed who it is lol.
Warning: Beware cliffhangers.
"Come out from behind the boulder, we know your there, we can see your heat signature".
Vash cursed, "Well, so much for the element of surprise".
A spotlight on the top of the wagon flicked on, covering the area with light. Vash stood and walked out from behind the boulder, shielding his eyes with his hand.
"Who are you?" Vash asked.
A chuckle drifted beyond the light followed by the silhouette of a man.
"I could ask you the same thing", the silhouette replied.
Vash smirked, "me? I'm just a drifter who wandered into the town you were terrorizing".
The silhouette laughed, "drifter? More like an outlaw, right Vash?"
Vash's eyes narrowed, "you know who I am?"
The man moved to the side, out of the light and let Vash see him clearly. The man was middle aged, with gray hair covering his temples. Blue eyes looked at Vash, surrounded by a weathered face, "it's been awhile, Vash the Stampede," the man said with a sneer.
Vash raised an eyebrow, "do I know you?"
The man chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised if you can't remember me. It has been thirty years or more since I last saw you".
Vash concentrated, sifting through his memories, and finally recognized the man. "Reeve", Vash said with recognition.
Reeve smirked, "correct".
"Did you send the monster that killed those people?" Vash asked him coolly.
Reeve laughed heartedly, "your one to talk about monsters Vash, you haven't aged a day in all these years". "Not exactly normal are you?"
Vash ignored his comment, "I knew you were a con man, but I never thought you were a murderer". "I'll ask you again, why did you set that metal monster on those people?"
Reeve shrugged, "time can change people Vash, and you inspired me to use that machine".
Vash's eyes widened, "w-what do you mean?"
Reeve got a far away look in his eyes, "thirty years ago I was running a fake insurance scam, and making a killing at it until you came along. You saw right through me, and soon revealed my true intentions to the people I was scamming. I spent ten years in jail because of you!" Reeve growled.
"Ten years is a long time to think, and I spent every moment of it thinking about how to get revenge. After I was released, I began to follow the rumors about you, and watched as you gained the reputation you have now."
Vash sighed, "so this was all a trap to lure me here?"
Reeve laughed, "actually no, this was just business."
"Business? These are peoples lives!" Vash growled. "What could you gain from hurting these people?"
"A reputation" Reeve replied.
"What do you mean?" Vash asked darkly.
"A reputation can be very useful, you should know that better than anyone. You could walk into any city, and have anything you wanted, just because you're Vash the Stampede." Reeve chuckled, "have you caught onto my plan yet Stampede?"
Vash scowled, and his hand hovered over his gun, "you mean you killed all those people just to gain a reputation?"
Reeve smirked, "of course, all I'd have to do is slaughter a few towns, letting only a few escape, and rumors will do the rest of the work for me. Soon entire cities will run in fear of my monster, and leave all their valuables behind for the taking."
Vash growled, drawing his gun in a fluid motion, and pointed it at Reeve," sorry to ruin your fun, but I kinda broke your new toy".
Reeve smiled "that's to bad, and I went to all that trouble just make it look scary, but there's more where that came from".
As if given a silent command, a giant clawed hand burst from the grown beneath Vash's feet, and closed around him, creating a cage of steel blades. Vash's gun fell from his hand as the large machine pulled its metal body out of the sand. The machine was crudely build from what Vash see, a larger version of the machine he'd fought earlier that night.
Vash hoped the girls would be able to handle this thing, or at least find a way to get him loose. His hopes were in vain though; the machine brought its other arm down, and dug its claws into the sand around the girls, caging them as well. Meryl called Vash's name, and beat her fist against the flat side of the machine's claw, while Millie tried to pry them apart with her stun gun. Vash scowled at reeve, "leave them out of this Reeve, its me you have a problem with".
Reeve shook his head, "still the martyr are you? Well I'm sorry, but I can't have those two running around telling all my secrets can I?"
Vash sighed, "well if these are our last moments, then I want to know everything about how you did all of this, the sandstorms, the lost technology, everything."
Reeve chuckled, "why not? I can't refuse a man his last request."
He pointed to the wagon, " this is how we control all of it, the whole works. The sandstorms are created through the use of vents located on the sides of the wagon. They pull in air, and heat it to high temperatures; it's then released into the cooler air outside. The colder air will push under the warmer air, and cause the strong winds needed for a sandstorm."
While reeve was explaining his plan to Vash, Meryl and Millie were still trying to escape there machine made cage. Meryl rubbed her sore hand, "its no use, we can't budge these metal claws". Millie sighed, "and with the boulder in the way, we can't see what's going on."
Meryl nodded, "yeah, but Vash isn't called the Humanoid Typhoon for nothing, he'll find a way to get out of this". *He always does*, Meryl thought to herself.
Vash nodded, "ok that explains the sandstorms, but what about the lost technology, how did you get a hold of it, let alone know how to use it?"
Reeve shrugged, "it all happened by accident, my partner and I were crossing the desert when the ground caved in beneath us, we just sort of stumbled on to it. Luckily, none of the robots were active, which gave us plenty of time to study how they worked."
Vash interrupted Reeve, "who's your partner?"
Reeve walked over to the wagon, and opened a sliding door built into the side, revealing a row of control panels, "hey Rob, someone wants to meet you."
There was some shuffling inside the wagon, and after a few seconds, an older man stepped out of the wagon. His hair was gray, and he was wearing thick glasses with silver frames. Reeve put a hand on the gray haired man's shoulder, "Vash, this is Rob, he used to be a Plant engineer, and he's the one that does the maintenance on the robots."
Vash smiled, "well I guess this is the end of the line then?"
Reeve smirked, "guess so."
Vash was still smiling when his left hand shot out between the metal claws, and split apart. A crudely attached derringer, one of Meryl's to be precise, slid out of the hollow part of Vash's fake arm, and into his hand.
Vash mentally calculated the bullets path as he fired the small weapon. The bullet ricocheted off of a small rock underneath the wagon, and pierced a fuel line. Reeve and Rob had only a few seconds to look surprised, before the wagon blew up behind them.
The force of the blast sent the duo flying, along with their machine, and Vash. The machines hand lifted up off of the girls as it toppled over, and the impact of its fall caused its other hand to open, freeing Vash.
Vash fell out of the monster's hand, and used the momentum to roll on to his feet. He ran over to the girls, "are you alright?"
Meryl nodded, "I'm alright, Millie?"
"I'm fine", Millie replied.
Meryl walked around the boulder, and looked over at Reeve and Rob, who were sprawled on the ground.
"How are they?" She asked Vash.
Vash rubbed the back of his head; "well I don't think they'll be hurting anyone anytime soon".
Millie walked over, and noticed the gun in Vash's hand, "hey Meryl, isn't that the missing Derringer you were looking for?"
Meryl's eyebrow twitched as she too saw the gun, "yes Millie, that gun does look VERY familiar".
Vash slowly backed away from the small woman, "uh h-hey, take it easy, I was just barrowing it, honest."
Meryl stomped towards Vash, intent on showing him how she felt about her guns. Vash realizing her intent, darted around Meryl, and began to make his patented getaway.
Meryl ran after him, as Reeve regained consciousness, his eyes widened at the sight of Vash being chased by a woman half his size. Vash ran back towards Reeve, and slipped on the sand, he didn't fall, but it gave Meryl the opening she needed to tackle him.
"What did I tell you about touching my things?" Meryl yelled while she wrung his neck.
"N-not t-to" Vash choked out.
Reeve slowly got to his feet while Meryl and Vash argued. Now on his feet, he slowly walked over to Vash clutching something to his chest.
"You think you've won, don't you?" Reeve said weakly. Vash and Meryl stopped moving as they looked over at Reeve, who had begun to laugh manically.
"What's so funny?" Meryl asked in confusion.
Reeve chuckled softly, "nothing really, I'm just thinking about the explosives that were wired into the robots".
"W-what?" Vash said in surprise.
"You can't be serious?" Meryl added.
Reeve sighed as he let his arm fall to his side, and in his hand was a detonator.
"No!" Vash screamed as he scrambled to reach Reeve. Time seamed to slow down as reeve pressed the button, "adios" was the last thing he ever said. Two explosions echoed through the night, until the silence of the desert was all that remained.
********
*Lazarus was dreaming again, and that in its self was what disturbed him. He knew he was dreaming; yet he could still think clearly in the darkness of sleep. Soon the unknown church appeared, as his dream took shape.
The man dressed in black stood in front of him next to the altar, his back faced Lazarus, just like it did in the dreams that preceded this one. Lazarus sighed, and took a seat in the front pew while the man began his repetitive speech.
"Find him", the voice echoed through the church.
Lazarus rolled his eyes, "look its bad enough you talk to me when I'm awake, but do you have to mess with my dreams too?"
"Find him", the voice echoed again.
Lazarus stood up and clenched his fists, "look man, you're starting to really piss me off! Who are you?"
The man in black chuckle, and Lazarus heard the sound of a match being struck. Smoke curled around the dark haired mans head, as the smell of cigarette smoke filled the church.
The man chuckled, "You know these things don't do anything for me now, but bad habits are the hardest to break".
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Lazarus yelled.
The man in black sighed, and then slowly turned around to face Lazarus. He had dark eyes that matched his shaggy hair, and his chin was kind of pointy. The cigarette hung between his lips, while mirth danced in his eyes.
Lazarus shook his head and smirked, "well, at least I can put a face to the voice now. Could you maybe tell me your name too, so I can call you something besides the Voice?"
The man in black raised an arm up, and held it in the air like it was resting on something, a few seconds later, the cross gun appeared across his shoulders.
"Certainly, my name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood". *
End Chapter five, written by Lee.
Chapter five: Old memories
Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun.
Authors note: The Voice's identity is revealed in this chapter, although most of you have probably guessed who it is lol.
Warning: Beware cliffhangers.
"Come out from behind the boulder, we know your there, we can see your heat signature".
Vash cursed, "Well, so much for the element of surprise".
A spotlight on the top of the wagon flicked on, covering the area with light. Vash stood and walked out from behind the boulder, shielding his eyes with his hand.
"Who are you?" Vash asked.
A chuckle drifted beyond the light followed by the silhouette of a man.
"I could ask you the same thing", the silhouette replied.
Vash smirked, "me? I'm just a drifter who wandered into the town you were terrorizing".
The silhouette laughed, "drifter? More like an outlaw, right Vash?"
Vash's eyes narrowed, "you know who I am?"
The man moved to the side, out of the light and let Vash see him clearly. The man was middle aged, with gray hair covering his temples. Blue eyes looked at Vash, surrounded by a weathered face, "it's been awhile, Vash the Stampede," the man said with a sneer.
Vash raised an eyebrow, "do I know you?"
The man chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised if you can't remember me. It has been thirty years or more since I last saw you".
Vash concentrated, sifting through his memories, and finally recognized the man. "Reeve", Vash said with recognition.
Reeve smirked, "correct".
"Did you send the monster that killed those people?" Vash asked him coolly.
Reeve laughed heartedly, "your one to talk about monsters Vash, you haven't aged a day in all these years". "Not exactly normal are you?"
Vash ignored his comment, "I knew you were a con man, but I never thought you were a murderer". "I'll ask you again, why did you set that metal monster on those people?"
Reeve shrugged, "time can change people Vash, and you inspired me to use that machine".
Vash's eyes widened, "w-what do you mean?"
Reeve got a far away look in his eyes, "thirty years ago I was running a fake insurance scam, and making a killing at it until you came along. You saw right through me, and soon revealed my true intentions to the people I was scamming. I spent ten years in jail because of you!" Reeve growled.
"Ten years is a long time to think, and I spent every moment of it thinking about how to get revenge. After I was released, I began to follow the rumors about you, and watched as you gained the reputation you have now."
Vash sighed, "so this was all a trap to lure me here?"
Reeve laughed, "actually no, this was just business."
"Business? These are peoples lives!" Vash growled. "What could you gain from hurting these people?"
"A reputation" Reeve replied.
"What do you mean?" Vash asked darkly.
"A reputation can be very useful, you should know that better than anyone. You could walk into any city, and have anything you wanted, just because you're Vash the Stampede." Reeve chuckled, "have you caught onto my plan yet Stampede?"
Vash scowled, and his hand hovered over his gun, "you mean you killed all those people just to gain a reputation?"
Reeve smirked, "of course, all I'd have to do is slaughter a few towns, letting only a few escape, and rumors will do the rest of the work for me. Soon entire cities will run in fear of my monster, and leave all their valuables behind for the taking."
Vash growled, drawing his gun in a fluid motion, and pointed it at Reeve," sorry to ruin your fun, but I kinda broke your new toy".
Reeve smiled "that's to bad, and I went to all that trouble just make it look scary, but there's more where that came from".
As if given a silent command, a giant clawed hand burst from the grown beneath Vash's feet, and closed around him, creating a cage of steel blades. Vash's gun fell from his hand as the large machine pulled its metal body out of the sand. The machine was crudely build from what Vash see, a larger version of the machine he'd fought earlier that night.
Vash hoped the girls would be able to handle this thing, or at least find a way to get him loose. His hopes were in vain though; the machine brought its other arm down, and dug its claws into the sand around the girls, caging them as well. Meryl called Vash's name, and beat her fist against the flat side of the machine's claw, while Millie tried to pry them apart with her stun gun. Vash scowled at reeve, "leave them out of this Reeve, its me you have a problem with".
Reeve shook his head, "still the martyr are you? Well I'm sorry, but I can't have those two running around telling all my secrets can I?"
Vash sighed, "well if these are our last moments, then I want to know everything about how you did all of this, the sandstorms, the lost technology, everything."
Reeve chuckled, "why not? I can't refuse a man his last request."
He pointed to the wagon, " this is how we control all of it, the whole works. The sandstorms are created through the use of vents located on the sides of the wagon. They pull in air, and heat it to high temperatures; it's then released into the cooler air outside. The colder air will push under the warmer air, and cause the strong winds needed for a sandstorm."
While reeve was explaining his plan to Vash, Meryl and Millie were still trying to escape there machine made cage. Meryl rubbed her sore hand, "its no use, we can't budge these metal claws". Millie sighed, "and with the boulder in the way, we can't see what's going on."
Meryl nodded, "yeah, but Vash isn't called the Humanoid Typhoon for nothing, he'll find a way to get out of this". *He always does*, Meryl thought to herself.
Vash nodded, "ok that explains the sandstorms, but what about the lost technology, how did you get a hold of it, let alone know how to use it?"
Reeve shrugged, "it all happened by accident, my partner and I were crossing the desert when the ground caved in beneath us, we just sort of stumbled on to it. Luckily, none of the robots were active, which gave us plenty of time to study how they worked."
Vash interrupted Reeve, "who's your partner?"
Reeve walked over to the wagon, and opened a sliding door built into the side, revealing a row of control panels, "hey Rob, someone wants to meet you."
There was some shuffling inside the wagon, and after a few seconds, an older man stepped out of the wagon. His hair was gray, and he was wearing thick glasses with silver frames. Reeve put a hand on the gray haired man's shoulder, "Vash, this is Rob, he used to be a Plant engineer, and he's the one that does the maintenance on the robots."
Vash smiled, "well I guess this is the end of the line then?"
Reeve smirked, "guess so."
Vash was still smiling when his left hand shot out between the metal claws, and split apart. A crudely attached derringer, one of Meryl's to be precise, slid out of the hollow part of Vash's fake arm, and into his hand.
Vash mentally calculated the bullets path as he fired the small weapon. The bullet ricocheted off of a small rock underneath the wagon, and pierced a fuel line. Reeve and Rob had only a few seconds to look surprised, before the wagon blew up behind them.
The force of the blast sent the duo flying, along with their machine, and Vash. The machines hand lifted up off of the girls as it toppled over, and the impact of its fall caused its other hand to open, freeing Vash.
Vash fell out of the monster's hand, and used the momentum to roll on to his feet. He ran over to the girls, "are you alright?"
Meryl nodded, "I'm alright, Millie?"
"I'm fine", Millie replied.
Meryl walked around the boulder, and looked over at Reeve and Rob, who were sprawled on the ground.
"How are they?" She asked Vash.
Vash rubbed the back of his head; "well I don't think they'll be hurting anyone anytime soon".
Millie walked over, and noticed the gun in Vash's hand, "hey Meryl, isn't that the missing Derringer you were looking for?"
Meryl's eyebrow twitched as she too saw the gun, "yes Millie, that gun does look VERY familiar".
Vash slowly backed away from the small woman, "uh h-hey, take it easy, I was just barrowing it, honest."
Meryl stomped towards Vash, intent on showing him how she felt about her guns. Vash realizing her intent, darted around Meryl, and began to make his patented getaway.
Meryl ran after him, as Reeve regained consciousness, his eyes widened at the sight of Vash being chased by a woman half his size. Vash ran back towards Reeve, and slipped on the sand, he didn't fall, but it gave Meryl the opening she needed to tackle him.
"What did I tell you about touching my things?" Meryl yelled while she wrung his neck.
"N-not t-to" Vash choked out.
Reeve slowly got to his feet while Meryl and Vash argued. Now on his feet, he slowly walked over to Vash clutching something to his chest.
"You think you've won, don't you?" Reeve said weakly. Vash and Meryl stopped moving as they looked over at Reeve, who had begun to laugh manically.
"What's so funny?" Meryl asked in confusion.
Reeve chuckled softly, "nothing really, I'm just thinking about the explosives that were wired into the robots".
"W-what?" Vash said in surprise.
"You can't be serious?" Meryl added.
Reeve sighed as he let his arm fall to his side, and in his hand was a detonator.
"No!" Vash screamed as he scrambled to reach Reeve. Time seamed to slow down as reeve pressed the button, "adios" was the last thing he ever said. Two explosions echoed through the night, until the silence of the desert was all that remained.
********
*Lazarus was dreaming again, and that in its self was what disturbed him. He knew he was dreaming; yet he could still think clearly in the darkness of sleep. Soon the unknown church appeared, as his dream took shape.
The man dressed in black stood in front of him next to the altar, his back faced Lazarus, just like it did in the dreams that preceded this one. Lazarus sighed, and took a seat in the front pew while the man began his repetitive speech.
"Find him", the voice echoed through the church.
Lazarus rolled his eyes, "look its bad enough you talk to me when I'm awake, but do you have to mess with my dreams too?"
"Find him", the voice echoed again.
Lazarus stood up and clenched his fists, "look man, you're starting to really piss me off! Who are you?"
The man in black chuckle, and Lazarus heard the sound of a match being struck. Smoke curled around the dark haired mans head, as the smell of cigarette smoke filled the church.
The man chuckled, "You know these things don't do anything for me now, but bad habits are the hardest to break".
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Lazarus yelled.
The man in black sighed, and then slowly turned around to face Lazarus. He had dark eyes that matched his shaggy hair, and his chin was kind of pointy. The cigarette hung between his lips, while mirth danced in his eyes.
Lazarus shook his head and smirked, "well, at least I can put a face to the voice now. Could you maybe tell me your name too, so I can call you something besides the Voice?"
The man in black raised an arm up, and held it in the air like it was resting on something, a few seconds later, the cross gun appeared across his shoulders.
"Certainly, my name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood". *
End Chapter five, written by Lee.