"STOP THIS!" Vash yelled as he lifted his long, silver .45 revolver into
the air to guard against the machete. His gun was made of a stronger
material... though, he himself didn't even know what it was. Vash held his
firearm up with one hand as Mary Anne growled pushing her machete down
harder against the barrel of his weapon. His hands trembled as Vash found
that the girl was unbelievably strong! For having such a light looking
frame and appearing young in age, Mary Anne had strength to rival a bull!
Millie sat up and began to cry as she watched Vash fight for his life. "Leave him alone!" The young girl yelled. Meryl began to climb down from the Ferris wheel, jumping onto the ground and rushing toward the scene where Vash and Mary Anne were dueling. She pushed through the crowd of people, listening to their comments with disgust.
"I hope she kills that bastard! He's a sick one! If he lives, we'll have to kill him ourselves!"
"Forget it! I'm getting my gun, I'll kill them both!"
Meryl, now out of the crowd, leapt to Millie's side and drew small handguns out from under her white coat, aiming them at Mary Anne. "STOP! I'll shoot!"
"MERYL! GET YOURSELF AND MILLIE OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Vash cried out. He turned to scream at them. "GO NOW!" Another opening for Mary Anne. She was one to take advantage when this foolish man tried to protect these idiotic insurance girls. She grinned and jammed her elbow into Vash's gut. Vash trembled in pain as Mary Anne kept her elbow against his stomach and pulled out more blades from her trench coat, giggling like a sick rehab patient. "NO!" Meryl yelled aloud as she fired her gun at Mary Anne.
The girl hissed as she head-butt Vash in the face to send him stumbling backwards. She then knocked away Meryl's bullets with one swing of her machete. She had such perfect timing. She was quite the formidable foe. Mary Anne hissed at the females that were aiding Vash. "You're with him!? You'll die to then!" Mary Anne yelled as she lifted her hand into the air to fling blades at Meryl and Millie. Millie crawled over in front of Meryl and leapt up with her arms spread out to act as a human shield. "I won't let you hurt Meryl!"
"Then die protecting her..." Mary Anne said with a smirk. It disappeared from her face as she heard a gun shot and cracking. The upper half of the blades fell down to the floor, shattered and useless. Slowly, Mary Anne brought down her hand and looked over to Vash, dropping the broken hilts she held her hand. "Stop protecting them! You're suppose to kill me damn it!" she roared as she dashed toward Vash. Vash didn't budge, he was panting and baring his teeth out of anger. "Stop this, Mary Anne! Stop now- "He was stopped as he felt Mary Anne's knee dig deep against his gut. Vash stumbled back, gasping for air.
"Stop... ple-please." he managed to say. It came out as a simple mutter, but she had heard him fine. In response, she yelled and lifted her foot from the ground to jam it against Vash's jaw. "GAH!", was the only thing that escaped from his lips as he was sent spiraling into the air. "Now..." Mary Anne hissed as she pulled out several knives. She hesitated before she flung them. This couldn't be Vash the Stampede... this man wasn't even firing back at her. But his aim... his gunmanship earlier... he was truly skilled. She would have been laying dead on the floor right now if he would actually fight back to kill her. Tears cascaded down Vash's cheek and flew through the air.
Mary Anne was shaking her head. She had to snap out of it. This was the man that destroyed her life! All of these thoughts raced through her head as everything moved in slow motion. Her hands squeezed at the blades as she cried out and flung them at Vash while he was rotating in air. "NO!!!!!!" Meryl screamed as she ran from behind Millie.
The knives cut and slashed at Vash's body as they flew by him. She didn't kill him, but she could have! He hit the floor, with a thud. He was still breathing, but blood was coming from his wounds like crazy. He felt a painful stinging all over his body as Mary Anne walked over to him. She stood over him, a foot to each side. She looked down at him as she slowly squatted down to sit on his stomach. She was staring deep into Vash's eyes.
"You can't be Vash the Stampede... who are you?" Mary Anne lifted a brow at him as she brought the machete to his adams apple. "Vash the Stampede... the one who ruined so many lives... you can't be him. What kind of sorry excuse for a murderer are you?"
"I'm not a murderer.... I never meant to hurt anyone."
"Shut up..."
"It's true... "
"You could have killed me many times already... why are you letting me pummel you?"
"I don't want to hurt you..."
Mary Anne tossed the Machete from her hand and grabbed Vash by the collar, shaking him. "WHY?! I'M TRYING TO KILL YOU, DAMN IT! FIGHT BACK!" She began to slap at Vash's face. Again and again. A palm, then a backhand, the motions repeating with more fury after each blow. "HIT ME! HIT ME! HIT ME! DO SOMETHING!" She yelled as she continued her assault on him.
Still, Vash made no sound or movement; he just stared up at her with his blue hues. "I told you... I don't want to hurt you... you've been hurt enough... I know you're heart is aching...." Mary Anne pressed her face against Vash's chest, sobbing hysterically as she yelled at him.
"Lies! I worked hard to become just like you! To destroy as you did, so when we met, I would have no fear of taking your life! WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU! I killed so many other people just to be strong for this day! And...and!" she sobbed some more. "I just can't seem to bring myself to kill you! You're different... you're actually protecting lives! WHY?!" she coughed as her wind pipe tightened in her throat. "You're even risking your own life to protect others! You can't be Vash the Stampede! Why did it have to be you?!"
Vash wrapped his arms around her and sighed softly as he embraced her. "It was all a mistake...I know you hated me so bad, you wanted to get revenge for your parents and everyone in July... but I swear to you... I didn't mean to kill anyone..." Mary Anne buried her face into her hands as she yelled to herself.
"Then I've been living life wrong! I've been nothing but a murderer! All my life, I wanted to do the right thing... I thought it would be right to kill you...but each life I took... I only felt more and more pain... I just tried to hide it.... so I could be strong..." she didn't fight back as Vash held her. It was nice to be held for once... she hadn't been held like that for a long time. Suddenly, a vision popped in her head of her smiling family. Her mother's voice rang through her head.
"Mary Anne, remember that there's more to people than you think. Don't be quick to judge, always find out the truth about things... people are good in heart." The smiling face of her sweet mother had manifested itself out of the back of her head. She had been trying to hide them all along. She heard someone speaking in her head again... her father. "Grow up to be a good girl... help people. There are many evil people out there, but there are many good one's. They're just hard to find."
Suddenly, the image of her parents disappeared and Mary Anne began to open up to Vash. "I lied to myself... I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I would help by putting this man's life to rest... but... what good would that do? I just killed several people... I don't deserve to live...."
Vash responded back with a piece of advice. "You know you made a mistake... that's what counts. You don't give up when you mess up. You don't just lie down and lose... You have to keep going. You have to live on for your loved one's. I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be suffering like this. I'm sure they would want you to live. Just start over again, I know it sounds hard, but I know your heart is strong enough to do so. You loved your family and friends and everyone so much... but you let darkness take over your heart. I'm sorry if I was the cause of it, but I swear to you, I would never take another's life..."
Mary Anne stared into Vash's eyes and then slowly got up, nodding. "I believe you... as hard as it is to accept, I believe what you are saying... I was wrong this whole time... I was just a cold-hearted killer... I wasn't the young girl that my mom wanted to raise me to be." She smiled as she got offered her hand to him. He took it and she lifted him up with ease.
"Thank you Vash.... I promise I'll start a new life... I'll live through... I'll start again.... but..." she smiled as she placed a hand on his cheek. Vash blushed a bit. Behind him, Meryl's eyebrow was twitching as Mary Anne spoke to Vash with a sorrowful tone.
"How do you live... with such terrible pain? You're such a kind-hearted person... but so many want to kill you. Why do you bother to go on? " she asked.
A picture of his brother, Knives, flashed in Vash's head. "No matter how horrible things get, I won't give up. I'm living on... to correct mistakes...."
Mary Anne suddenly admired the man she had hated so much. How could she degrade herself to being such a horrible person, a horrible murderer, to take the life of an innocent man? She didn't care about killing him anymore. She didn't even care if he was lying. If he were lying, she would live his lie. She would give herself a reason to change... to be a better person. To continue living for herself and her mother and father's souls... instead of taking lives.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. Vash's eyes quivered in shock and anger as he lowered his gaze to see a huge hole in Mary Anne's side. Vash heard a male's voice come from the crowd. "Kill both the psycho's!"
A flying cross-slammed into the male's face, his gun flying into the air as he flew into a concession stand. "YOU BASTARD!" Millie yelled, holding her gun. She was crying as she began to run toward the man to beat the life out of him. Meryl grabbed Millie and tried to restrain her. "MILLIE! STOP! STOP! You can't do that! It won't do any good!"
Vash kept his gaze on Mary Anne's side, blood was pouring from her body very quickly. With her last ounce of strength, Mary Anne placed a finger on Vash's chin and pushed it upward so she could stare into his eyes. "Before my parents died... they told me to fall in love with a loving man.... " She gasped before continuing, "... when I see them on the other side, I can tell them I fell in love with the man I once hated...."
Tears streamed down Vash's face as Mary Anne turned into a corpse in his arms. He let out a loud scream filled with such sadness that the citizens began to back away. "RUN! VASH THE STAMPEDE IS ANGRY! HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!" Someone cried and they all began to dash away from him. Vash fell to his knees, hugging Mary Anne tightly in his arms.
"Who shot her?!" Vash demanded to know as he got up. The crowd was up and running! Vash laid Mary Anne down as he got up and began to walk toward the man who shot the gun earlier. He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a white shirt and slacks. "GET AWAY! YER ALL DAMN DEMONS! YOU ALL DESERVE TO DIE!" He yelled, and while his mouth was open, Vash shoved the long barrell of his gun into the male's mouth. "WHY DID YOU DO IT?!" Vash Demanded.
"Vash!" Meryl ran over to Vash and clung to his free arm, trying to pull him away. "VASH! PLEASE! This won't make things better!" Vash heard Meryl's voice, but he felt a demon controlling him at the moment. "I killed her Vash... what are you going to do?" Knives voice slipped from out of nowhere.
Suddenly, the male's form began to change shape in Vash's head. Vash was imagining this man to be Knives. The one who had killed Rem. His thumb slowly slid up as he pulled the hammer of his gun back. His finger was quivering against the trigger. "SHE WAS GOING TO START OVER! WHY DIDN"T YOU GIVE HER A CHANCE?"
"VASH!!!!" Meryl yelled. "Don't kill him!" she yelled again and again. The man began to cry tears and sob as he tried to back away, only to find his back against the wall of the concession stand. "Dun Kew meh!" he managed to say with the silver barrell in his mouth. "Pease! Pease!" he repeated like a broken record. "VASH! IF YOU TAKE THIS MAN'S LIFE! WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO!?"
Meryl screamed right into his ear. Vash looked to Meryl... and for a brief second, he saw an image of Rem in her. Tears came flooding out of Vash like the water works. He pulled his gun out of the man's mouth and the male quickly got to his feet, running toward the direction the crowd went. "HE'S CRAZY! HE'S A KILLER! HE'S A KILLER!" The man yelled as he disappeared behind the Ferris wheel.
"Vash... we should get out of here... now..." Meryl sighed as she rubbed his back. Vash clung to her and hugged her tightly. "She was going to start over... she was going to... to start over...." he sobbed. Meryl tried to fight back her tears as she held Vash. Millie was kneeling in front of Mary Anne's body with tears streaming down her face. "It's not fair...." And thus, the carnival of tears... had come to an end. Vash and the girls were not found in the city the next day. All the scavengers sent by the mayor had found was a red rose resting on the area Mary Anne's body had laid the day before.
Millie sat up and began to cry as she watched Vash fight for his life. "Leave him alone!" The young girl yelled. Meryl began to climb down from the Ferris wheel, jumping onto the ground and rushing toward the scene where Vash and Mary Anne were dueling. She pushed through the crowd of people, listening to their comments with disgust.
"I hope she kills that bastard! He's a sick one! If he lives, we'll have to kill him ourselves!"
"Forget it! I'm getting my gun, I'll kill them both!"
Meryl, now out of the crowd, leapt to Millie's side and drew small handguns out from under her white coat, aiming them at Mary Anne. "STOP! I'll shoot!"
"MERYL! GET YOURSELF AND MILLIE OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Vash cried out. He turned to scream at them. "GO NOW!" Another opening for Mary Anne. She was one to take advantage when this foolish man tried to protect these idiotic insurance girls. She grinned and jammed her elbow into Vash's gut. Vash trembled in pain as Mary Anne kept her elbow against his stomach and pulled out more blades from her trench coat, giggling like a sick rehab patient. "NO!" Meryl yelled aloud as she fired her gun at Mary Anne.
The girl hissed as she head-butt Vash in the face to send him stumbling backwards. She then knocked away Meryl's bullets with one swing of her machete. She had such perfect timing. She was quite the formidable foe. Mary Anne hissed at the females that were aiding Vash. "You're with him!? You'll die to then!" Mary Anne yelled as she lifted her hand into the air to fling blades at Meryl and Millie. Millie crawled over in front of Meryl and leapt up with her arms spread out to act as a human shield. "I won't let you hurt Meryl!"
"Then die protecting her..." Mary Anne said with a smirk. It disappeared from her face as she heard a gun shot and cracking. The upper half of the blades fell down to the floor, shattered and useless. Slowly, Mary Anne brought down her hand and looked over to Vash, dropping the broken hilts she held her hand. "Stop protecting them! You're suppose to kill me damn it!" she roared as she dashed toward Vash. Vash didn't budge, he was panting and baring his teeth out of anger. "Stop this, Mary Anne! Stop now- "He was stopped as he felt Mary Anne's knee dig deep against his gut. Vash stumbled back, gasping for air.
"Stop... ple-please." he managed to say. It came out as a simple mutter, but she had heard him fine. In response, she yelled and lifted her foot from the ground to jam it against Vash's jaw. "GAH!", was the only thing that escaped from his lips as he was sent spiraling into the air. "Now..." Mary Anne hissed as she pulled out several knives. She hesitated before she flung them. This couldn't be Vash the Stampede... this man wasn't even firing back at her. But his aim... his gunmanship earlier... he was truly skilled. She would have been laying dead on the floor right now if he would actually fight back to kill her. Tears cascaded down Vash's cheek and flew through the air.
Mary Anne was shaking her head. She had to snap out of it. This was the man that destroyed her life! All of these thoughts raced through her head as everything moved in slow motion. Her hands squeezed at the blades as she cried out and flung them at Vash while he was rotating in air. "NO!!!!!!" Meryl screamed as she ran from behind Millie.
The knives cut and slashed at Vash's body as they flew by him. She didn't kill him, but she could have! He hit the floor, with a thud. He was still breathing, but blood was coming from his wounds like crazy. He felt a painful stinging all over his body as Mary Anne walked over to him. She stood over him, a foot to each side. She looked down at him as she slowly squatted down to sit on his stomach. She was staring deep into Vash's eyes.
"You can't be Vash the Stampede... who are you?" Mary Anne lifted a brow at him as she brought the machete to his adams apple. "Vash the Stampede... the one who ruined so many lives... you can't be him. What kind of sorry excuse for a murderer are you?"
"I'm not a murderer.... I never meant to hurt anyone."
"Shut up..."
"It's true... "
"You could have killed me many times already... why are you letting me pummel you?"
"I don't want to hurt you..."
Mary Anne tossed the Machete from her hand and grabbed Vash by the collar, shaking him. "WHY?! I'M TRYING TO KILL YOU, DAMN IT! FIGHT BACK!" She began to slap at Vash's face. Again and again. A palm, then a backhand, the motions repeating with more fury after each blow. "HIT ME! HIT ME! HIT ME! DO SOMETHING!" She yelled as she continued her assault on him.
Still, Vash made no sound or movement; he just stared up at her with his blue hues. "I told you... I don't want to hurt you... you've been hurt enough... I know you're heart is aching...." Mary Anne pressed her face against Vash's chest, sobbing hysterically as she yelled at him.
"Lies! I worked hard to become just like you! To destroy as you did, so when we met, I would have no fear of taking your life! WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU! I killed so many other people just to be strong for this day! And...and!" she sobbed some more. "I just can't seem to bring myself to kill you! You're different... you're actually protecting lives! WHY?!" she coughed as her wind pipe tightened in her throat. "You're even risking your own life to protect others! You can't be Vash the Stampede! Why did it have to be you?!"
Vash wrapped his arms around her and sighed softly as he embraced her. "It was all a mistake...I know you hated me so bad, you wanted to get revenge for your parents and everyone in July... but I swear to you... I didn't mean to kill anyone..." Mary Anne buried her face into her hands as she yelled to herself.
"Then I've been living life wrong! I've been nothing but a murderer! All my life, I wanted to do the right thing... I thought it would be right to kill you...but each life I took... I only felt more and more pain... I just tried to hide it.... so I could be strong..." she didn't fight back as Vash held her. It was nice to be held for once... she hadn't been held like that for a long time. Suddenly, a vision popped in her head of her smiling family. Her mother's voice rang through her head.
"Mary Anne, remember that there's more to people than you think. Don't be quick to judge, always find out the truth about things... people are good in heart." The smiling face of her sweet mother had manifested itself out of the back of her head. She had been trying to hide them all along. She heard someone speaking in her head again... her father. "Grow up to be a good girl... help people. There are many evil people out there, but there are many good one's. They're just hard to find."
Suddenly, the image of her parents disappeared and Mary Anne began to open up to Vash. "I lied to myself... I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I would help by putting this man's life to rest... but... what good would that do? I just killed several people... I don't deserve to live...."
Vash responded back with a piece of advice. "You know you made a mistake... that's what counts. You don't give up when you mess up. You don't just lie down and lose... You have to keep going. You have to live on for your loved one's. I'm sure they wouldn't want you to be suffering like this. I'm sure they would want you to live. Just start over again, I know it sounds hard, but I know your heart is strong enough to do so. You loved your family and friends and everyone so much... but you let darkness take over your heart. I'm sorry if I was the cause of it, but I swear to you, I would never take another's life..."
Mary Anne stared into Vash's eyes and then slowly got up, nodding. "I believe you... as hard as it is to accept, I believe what you are saying... I was wrong this whole time... I was just a cold-hearted killer... I wasn't the young girl that my mom wanted to raise me to be." She smiled as she got offered her hand to him. He took it and she lifted him up with ease.
"Thank you Vash.... I promise I'll start a new life... I'll live through... I'll start again.... but..." she smiled as she placed a hand on his cheek. Vash blushed a bit. Behind him, Meryl's eyebrow was twitching as Mary Anne spoke to Vash with a sorrowful tone.
"How do you live... with such terrible pain? You're such a kind-hearted person... but so many want to kill you. Why do you bother to go on? " she asked.
A picture of his brother, Knives, flashed in Vash's head. "No matter how horrible things get, I won't give up. I'm living on... to correct mistakes...."
Mary Anne suddenly admired the man she had hated so much. How could she degrade herself to being such a horrible person, a horrible murderer, to take the life of an innocent man? She didn't care about killing him anymore. She didn't even care if he was lying. If he were lying, she would live his lie. She would give herself a reason to change... to be a better person. To continue living for herself and her mother and father's souls... instead of taking lives.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. Vash's eyes quivered in shock and anger as he lowered his gaze to see a huge hole in Mary Anne's side. Vash heard a male's voice come from the crowd. "Kill both the psycho's!"
A flying cross-slammed into the male's face, his gun flying into the air as he flew into a concession stand. "YOU BASTARD!" Millie yelled, holding her gun. She was crying as she began to run toward the man to beat the life out of him. Meryl grabbed Millie and tried to restrain her. "MILLIE! STOP! STOP! You can't do that! It won't do any good!"
Vash kept his gaze on Mary Anne's side, blood was pouring from her body very quickly. With her last ounce of strength, Mary Anne placed a finger on Vash's chin and pushed it upward so she could stare into his eyes. "Before my parents died... they told me to fall in love with a loving man.... " She gasped before continuing, "... when I see them on the other side, I can tell them I fell in love with the man I once hated...."
Tears streamed down Vash's face as Mary Anne turned into a corpse in his arms. He let out a loud scream filled with such sadness that the citizens began to back away. "RUN! VASH THE STAMPEDE IS ANGRY! HE'S GONNA KILL US ALL!" Someone cried and they all began to dash away from him. Vash fell to his knees, hugging Mary Anne tightly in his arms.
"Who shot her?!" Vash demanded to know as he got up. The crowd was up and running! Vash laid Mary Anne down as he got up and began to walk toward the man who shot the gun earlier. He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a white shirt and slacks. "GET AWAY! YER ALL DAMN DEMONS! YOU ALL DESERVE TO DIE!" He yelled, and while his mouth was open, Vash shoved the long barrell of his gun into the male's mouth. "WHY DID YOU DO IT?!" Vash Demanded.
"Vash!" Meryl ran over to Vash and clung to his free arm, trying to pull him away. "VASH! PLEASE! This won't make things better!" Vash heard Meryl's voice, but he felt a demon controlling him at the moment. "I killed her Vash... what are you going to do?" Knives voice slipped from out of nowhere.
Suddenly, the male's form began to change shape in Vash's head. Vash was imagining this man to be Knives. The one who had killed Rem. His thumb slowly slid up as he pulled the hammer of his gun back. His finger was quivering against the trigger. "SHE WAS GOING TO START OVER! WHY DIDN"T YOU GIVE HER A CHANCE?"
"VASH!!!!" Meryl yelled. "Don't kill him!" she yelled again and again. The man began to cry tears and sob as he tried to back away, only to find his back against the wall of the concession stand. "Dun Kew meh!" he managed to say with the silver barrell in his mouth. "Pease! Pease!" he repeated like a broken record. "VASH! IF YOU TAKE THIS MAN'S LIFE! WHAT GOOD WILL IT DO!?"
Meryl screamed right into his ear. Vash looked to Meryl... and for a brief second, he saw an image of Rem in her. Tears came flooding out of Vash like the water works. He pulled his gun out of the man's mouth and the male quickly got to his feet, running toward the direction the crowd went. "HE'S CRAZY! HE'S A KILLER! HE'S A KILLER!" The man yelled as he disappeared behind the Ferris wheel.
"Vash... we should get out of here... now..." Meryl sighed as she rubbed his back. Vash clung to her and hugged her tightly. "She was going to start over... she was going to... to start over...." he sobbed. Meryl tried to fight back her tears as she held Vash. Millie was kneeling in front of Mary Anne's body with tears streaming down her face. "It's not fair...." And thus, the carnival of tears... had come to an end. Vash and the girls were not found in the city the next day. All the scavengers sent by the mayor had found was a red rose resting on the area Mary Anne's body had laid the day before.