A/N: -cries- I am SO happy so many people reviewed! Thanks!! And now for the next installment! Hopefully this'll start getting a little more interesting. So read and review!

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Along Came A Spider

Chapter Two: AWAKENING

Milly Thompson happily hummed to herself as she finished preparing her own meal. Her nose twitched from the salty smelling salmon as she made the sandwiches for Vash's brother, but she just smiled at the sour sensation.

The girl was just happy that Vash had returned; she had not ever seen him, in all the time that Milly spent around the man, this happy and that was saying a lot. It seemed like Vash had just finally managed to overcome some sort of burden that had plagued him since…well, since even before Milly had ever met him.

The insurance agent didn't really think that deeply about the situation. She was just glad that Vash had returned in once piece and that Meryl finally calmed down. For those few days that Vash was gone, Meryl was more anxious and bossy than usual, but Milly, of course, understood why and she never got upset.

In fact, it made her smile and laugh, although at the time Meryl didn't pay enough attention to notice Milly was laughing, since the small woman was preoccupied with worrying about the Humanoid Typhoon getting hurt. Of course, Meryl would never admit that to anyone, not even herself. This made Milly laugh, too.

Meryl can be so silly. She worries about Mr. Vash so much, but she's the only one that doesn't notice it, Milly thought to herself. Milly finished putting the last slice of bread onto the final sandwich. Milly grabbed a couple packages of pudding and placed them onto the plate.

Milly didn't know anything about Knives, much less what kinds of food he liked, so she decided to take a wild guess and give him Vash's favorite meal, along with her own favorite dessert. Which, on occasion, happened to be Milly's own meal of choice, although Meryl said that much pudding for dinner wasn't good for her.

Milly went from the kitchen and up the stairs towards Knives's room. She did this all with a smile…although many would say, even the usually emotionally-blind Meryl, that her new smiles were lacking a bit when it came to sincerity. Milly was just glad that she could do something that would distract her from feeling the hurt within herself.

She sniffled a little before she realized what she was thinking about. She wiped her tears on her shoulder, since her hands were preoccupied.

No…I can't think of him right now…I don't want to be sad…he wouldn't want me to be like that…

She reached Knives's bedroom and gently pushed the unlatched door open. Milly remembered what Meryl said…she couldn't stay in this room any longer than she had to and that when she finished doing whatever it was that brought her in here, she had to leave immediately.

Milly didn't understand why Meryl didn't want her to be in this room for long. Neither Vash nor Meryl would tell her anything about Mr. Knives, except that it wasn't good for her to be around him. If Milly didn't know any better, she'd think that Knives might be somehow dangerous.

But how dangerous could he be? He's Vash's brother, after all! Meryl made it sound like she didn't want Milly to be near Knives when he awoke, but the tall girl couldn't figure out why. She had asked Meryl once about Knives when Vash wasn't present. Meryl just said that she didn't know anything about him either, but Milly could tell that she was lying.

She decided to forget about all that for the moment as she walked towards the bed that Knives Millions slept in. There was a small end table next to the bed, which is where Milly set the plate upon.

Milly looked down at the sleeping figure. Although Knives was Vash's twin brother, she couldn't help but think that they must be so very different. Knives's face was an example…while his brother's was cheerful and lively with large, observant eyes like a child, Knives's was rugged and serious, as if he had become an old man at a young age.

She watched as the man's bare, muscled chest slowly rose and fell; his mouth quivered only a tiny bit from the ragged breathing, as if even in sleep Knives would show no weakness. Milly leaned down and pulled the blanket over the man's chest.

I guess he won't we getting up today, Milly thought. Despite this and because of her sometimes overly thoughtful nature, she decided to leave the plate of food, just in case the man woke up.

Milly walked back to the door, and as she did so she stared at the strange outfit that hung by a coat hook next to the door. The form-fitting suit was Knives's and, despite the blood and the holes in it, it still interested Milly. She was curious where Knives got such a weird looking outfit.

Milly opened the door to leave, but froze still. She suddenly had this frightened sense tingling her spine. She slowly turned and there, in bed, sitting upright was Knives Millions. He stared at her with hate, his face showing only a part of his anger that flowed inside of himself.

"He-hello, Mr. Knives," Milly managed to push out her throat. Why was she so scared? He was just looking at her…Milly didn't understand this. She rarely gets this frightened by people, especially wounded ones sitting in a bed. "There's some food on the table for you…"

Knives didn't speak. He didn't move. He only sat there glowering at the woman.

"Um…bye!" Milly said quickly. She leapt through the doorway and quickly shut the door. She leaned against it and took a deep breath.

So that's why Meryl didn't want me in there…

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Even after she left the room, I glared at the doorway that she had gone through. My head throbbed from a deep headache and I couldn't remember where I was…much less why I was here.

I tried to clear my head by breathing in and out, but this only sent pain through my chest. I looked down with my eyes, and saw a light pink area of newly grown and healed skin at the top of my chest…I instantly recognized it as a healed-over bullet wound and lightly rubbed it with my fingers, which sent more pain coursing through my nerves…pain that triggered memories through my headache.

Vash did this to me…

That female human that had been in here…she was one of the humans that followed Vash in his travels.

I looked around the room. This must be where they were staying. Along with the other woman and the priest.

No, wait…the priest was killed by Legato, I remember now. But death was too gentle a punishment for that damn man! Him and his cross punisher…

The memory of the last scene in my battle with Vash echoed through my head. Vash laying atop the ground and both my upper limbs mutated into the giant angel arms. Vash pulled the cross punisher out from the sand and shattered my glorious weapons…

If only I had remembered that Vash had brought that weapon with him! I had thought I had my brother beat and that had blinded my judgment.

Damn that priest to Hell!

If Nicholas D. Wolfwood had followed my orders, or at least that incompetent Chapel had had better control over his protégé, I would have had no need to worry about such things as losing! I should never have relied that heavily on those damn spiders! My expectations of Chapel the Evergreen and his apprentice were much too high, and because of that, they naturally failed.

Now I was stuck here with these spiders. This was worse than death! Now, everywhere I look, whenever I see a human, I will be remembered of that loss! Not only that, but my brethren are still in captivity…and now I'm not sure if that will ever change.

"DAMN IT!" I slammed my fist into the nearby wall over and over, making a deep impression in it. I did not stop until I got a hold of my rage; I had to calm my breathing down until the fiery stinging in my torso subsided.

I stared at my now bruised hand and was about to wipe the blood and plaster onto my suit when I realized I was not wearing it. The gall those two women must have to undress me like this!

I was not in the entirely nude, though. I wore some sort of thin shorts. They were obviously my brother's due to the fact that they were red. Why does Vash obsess over that color?

I shook my head, dismissing the thoughts of my overly sentimental and ignorant brother, and wiped the plaster and small trickle of blood onto the drapes of the window near the bed. My suit was hanging next to the door on the other side of the room…no problem. I would just get up and grab it. I quickly learned there was a slight problem in my simple plan.

My legs would not move.

I stared at both of the limbs which were still wrapped in bandages. They must not have been as recovered as my chest or arms were. No matter. They just need a little coercion, I thought to myself. I pushed up with my arms, ready to slide out of the bed, when I suddenly realized that that also was not a good idea.

My arms buckled from the weight and I fell against the bed, panting. It felt like the room was spinning.

Obviously my arms weren't, at the moment, up to the task of supporting my body's weight, even though they appeared to be healed. My brain was also still recovering, and it didn't seem to enjoy any quick movements at that moment.

I stared at the ceiling while grinding my teeth together. I had no choice. I'd have to wait here with Vash and these humans until I could take care of myself. I sighed. It was going to be difficult to refrain myself from killing one of those women.

My stomach suddenly let out a loud sound and sent pain through my gut. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the plate of food.

No…I wouldn't…I COULDN'T stoop that low to eat food prepared by a spider.

My stomach apparently disagreed with that logic, since it let out another bellow and a second shot of pain. It must have been weeks since I had eaten last.

I slowly sat up in bed and grabbed the plate of food; my hand shook from the light weight of the plate and its contents. I shouldn't have attacked the wall like I had. I used too much energy by doing so.

"Vash could have gone a little-less trigger happy…five wounds was a bit much, that dumbass," I said to myself as I set the plate onto my lap. I smelled the sandwiches, which caused myself to gag and my eye to twitch.

"Salmon? Ugh…" Now I was sure that that woman knew Vash. The fishy smell from the uncooked meat made me almost reconsider not eating it.

Once again, though, my stomach thought otherwise and let me know with a sharp burst of pain, making me wince. I disgustedly shoved the sandwiches into my mouth and chewed. When I quickly finished them, I looked to the small plastic packages which contained some squishy brown substance.

I opened one and sniffed it. It definitely smelled better than the sandwiches. In fact, it smelled almost…familiar. It was probably some sort of poison, but I really wanted to get the fish taste out of my mouth as quickly as possible.

I took in hand the spoon that woman had left for me and scooped some of the lightly jiggling brown substance. I closed my eyes as I brought the spoon to my mouth in expectation that it would be some sort of disgusting medicine or toxin.

My eyes shot open as I tasted the first spoonful.

Chocolate…pudding? I thought to myself. I surprised myself with the thought. It jumped into my mind before I had even the slightest bit of time to think. I had tasted something exactly like this before…many, many years ago back within the confines of the Seeds ship.

Back then, I had been able to enjoy things such as this all the time; it had been a sort of temporary escape from the humans. I stuffed more pudding into my mouth until I suddenly noticed there was none left. I placed the plate and empty packs of pudding back onto the table.

The taste of the pudding had released old memories that I had hoped were long gone. Some were fond memories, though, and I savored them for the brief moments that they stayed in my mind's eye. Images of Vash and myself, still young and long before the fall of the ships, sitting in the recreation room filled my skull. They were very pleasant, since they were from before Vash and I had split paths that day over the death of the spider.

But many of the memories of that doomed ship filled me with hate and fear. Phantom pains from bruises long healed shot through my mind as I remembered the constant beatings Steven had given me. That man had been the one that reinforced my beliefs of the human race; he had been the one, in his own ignorant way, that allowed me to come to the now obvious conclusion that humans were nothing more than carnivorous spiders willing to do anything to help them forget their own animal-like fear.

I laid down in the bed with my head atop the soft pillow and slowly I fell back into the soothing darkness of sleep.

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"I hurts!! Get it off, Meryl!!" Vash whined as he shook has arm. At one end of the arm wash Vash the Stampede, feared killer and destroyer of two cities, almost to the point of tears, and at the other end was the black cat, latched onto his hand.

Meryl tugged the cat's body in a failing attempt to dislodge the animal, "This is what you get for petting a stray cat when your hands smell like old fish!" Meryl grabbed one of the glasses of water she had brought out for them and dumped it onto the cat. The black stray let go and dropped onto the ground.

Vash kissed his bleeding hand, "Thanks, Meryl!" He sat back onto his chair, barely able to keep his eyes open. He soon realized after he had returned to Meryl and Milly that he was severely wounded, not only from bruises and bullet holes, but from his angel arms. The power it had taken to fire all that energy had taken a toll and Vash and Knives's plant bodies now had to recover all that energy through sleep, which was a slow and meticulous process.

Knives was even worse off since he had used more energy when he formed both of his limbs into angel arms and, although Vash prevented him from firing through the use of Wolfwood's cross punisher, the energy Knives had charged into his weapons was lost into the air. This was just as wasteful in energy and as taxing on his body as if he had actually fired them.

"Don't thank me! Just don't do something stupid like that again!" Meryl yelled. The black cat, soaking wet, shook herself, sending a heavy mist of water onto Meryl and Vash's bodies. "Vash, look at my clothes! They're soaking wet!' Meryl yelled at the man.

Vash yawned. He had been awake almost all day, and since he was still lacking his normal child-with-a-sugar-rush level of energy, it was beginning to tire him out. "That's not my fault!"

Before Meryl could choose whether to yell at the man again, slap him in the head, or to throw the stray cat onto him, Milly burst out of the front door and onto the porch, almost losing her balance in the process. "Meryl! Mr. Vash!"

"What's wrong, Milly?" Meryl asked worriedly.

"Kn-knives is awake!" Milly looked to Vash to check his reaction. Vash's face suddenly became grim and serious. "What do you want to do now, Mr. Vash?"

"I don't know…I suppose we can only wait and hope he gets a hold of himself. No doubt he's going to be upset…" Vash said with a sigh.

"Well," Meryl said, "Nothing has exploded yet, so that's a good sign."

Vash didn't react. He just sat there, wondering what he should do, now that he had Knives with him.

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Two Weeks Later, In Jeneorarock

The town of Jeneorarock had been quite prosperous in the many months since the deaths of the Roderick Thieves. They had plagued Jeneorarock and the surrounding cities for many years and now that they were gone, killed off by the terrifying blue-haired man in the white coat.

Now that the Roderick Thieves were done away with, the town of Jeneorarock was able to earn many things that other cities and towns on Gunsmoke took for granted. One of these 'luxuries' was the new sheriff named Forgo Madison and his partner, Aaron Richards.

They had been the first citizens to run for the position of sheriff of Jeneorarock in the last seven years since the Roderick Thieves first entered and killed off all forms of law enforcement. The townspeople were so grateful for their offer that both had been hired.

Forgo looked at the paper in his hand and scoffed, "This is a piece of crap! Look at him," he pointed to the small wanted poster in his hand, "do you think Vash the Stampede would look like some smiling idiot?" The picture on the wanted poster was that of Vash the Stampede. Or at least it was supposed to be, but Aaron was still skeptical that someone managed to get a good enough look at the Humanoid Typhoon to draw such a highly detailed picture.

"The Feds and Bernardelli both sent us thirty sheets," Forgo said, "And I doubt they would take the time and money to spread those across Gunsmoke if they didn't get it from a fairly reliable source."

"I still think the Humanoid Typhoon would look more like a huge man instead of some happy blonde dude with sparkly kiddy eyes."

"Shut up, Aaron," Forgo said and he leaned back in his chair.

Aaron scowled at his boss then, while mumbling a few things to himself, glanced out the window of the building. The sheriff's office was set towards the edge of town, near the open desert, so Aaron was shocked to see a lone figure walking towards the city. "What in the world? Hey, Forgo, check this out."

The other man looked out the window, "What kind of guy would…" he squinted his eyes more to get a better look, "It's a kid!"

"What?" Aaron asked, but he could also quickly make out the shape of a young, teenage sized child. Both men rushed outside and towards the child, but stopped in confusion as soon as they got a good look at the visitor.

He looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old, and was apparently a boy, despite the waist-length bleach-blonde hair that fell along his temple and onto his shoulders. He walked straight up, as if he had been raised as royalty, and his piercing blue eyes scanned the area, seeming to take in any information that presented itself to the him. His mouth was small and thin, absolutely expressionless.

Despite the young lad's physical appearance, the strangest aspect of him was his clothing. He wore some sort of strange jumpsuit that clung to his body, which was, for his age, quite wiry and contained taut muscles. The limbs were mostly white, but the torso and waist were mostly red.

Over all, Forgo and Aaron would have guessed, if they hadn't known better, that it resembled the suit that the ancient people that had originally created the plant's wore.

Aaron looked at Forgo skeptically before walking up to the boy. "Hello there!" he said cheerfully. The boy stopped in front of him and stared at each him, and then Aaron, before starting his walk again.

"Whoa, there, Sonny!" Forgo said and stepped in the child's path.

The boy looked at him from head to toe and, if Forgo's eyes weren't deceiving him, sneered at the adult, "You are not my father; do not call me 'Sonny'."

Forgo looked over the boy's head towards Aaron. Aaron shrugged. "Well, then," Forgo asked the boy, "could you tell us who your father is?"

"No."

Forgo jumped a little at this and looked around just to make sure that there weren't any people that could be this boy's parents, but there was nobody in sight.

"Would you at least mind telling us your name?" Aaron asked as he walked around the boy to stand next to Forgo.

The boy thought for a second. Whether he was trying to remember his name, or figuring out whether he should tell it, neither man could guess. "My name…" the boy said but seemed to trail off. He quickly stood even straighter than before, "I am Cherub."

"Well that's a cute name," Forgo said. Aaron thought to himself, this kid is a freak. What the Hell kind of name is 'Cherub'? Sounds like the name of a fruit or a plant or something…

"See? That wasn't so hard, Cherub!" Forgo placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Cherub seemed to change in an instant, going from calm watchfulness to writhing in anger. "Get your hand off of me!" The boy's hands clenched into fists.

Forgo just smiled. He figured this little boy hadn't seen many people in a long time, which he thought accounted for the sudden hostility. "Oh, don't be like that!" He moved his hand and rubbed the top of Cherub's head.

The boy, within the time it took one's eye to blink, reached up with one of his small hands and grabbed Forgo's wrist. He brought his other hand up and placed it onto the man's elbow and pushed, with surprising strength, inwards with both his hands.

The sound of Forgo's joint shattering echoed through the town and the man doubled over in pain. He held his twisted arm with his other hand. Aaron's eyes grew wide in shock as he reached for his gun. He pointed it at Cherub, but the boy brought his leg into the air and knocked the man's gun towards the sky.

Cherub turned to Forgo, who was on the ground in tears screaming as blood poured from his arm. The man's bone was visible from the wound. Cherub pointed a gun at the man.

How…how did he get Forgo's gun without me seeing?! Aaron thought to himself, unable to move as all this happened faster than he could think, No one could be THAT fast, much less a kid!

Cherub pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into Forgo's skull, quickly silencing the man's screams of anguish. The boy casually reached out with his other hand and Aaron's gun, descending from the sky, landing right into it. Cherub spun and pointed both weapons at the man frozen in fear at the sight of this small boy.

"I told him not to touch me."

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A/N: Hehehe…well, there he is!! My own special original character! This chapter was pretty long, and I thank all of you who managed to get through it all without falling asleep! So, I would appreciate it if you all would review now!!