And the Dead Shall Walk the Earth

Vash stood on the edge of the gorge, staring down at its bottom far below and he wondered if he would have to jump. He quickly looked around, his eyes furiously searching for an alternate means to reach the bottom. He noticed a rope ladder tied to a large, misshapen boulder and moved towards the ladder to inspect its condition. It looked as if it had been recently replaced as the wooden rungs had a polished look to them and were in fairly good condition. The rope also had a fresh look to it and had no frayed parts from what Vash could see.

"This better not break on me," Vash muttered and began his descent. To his great relief, the rope ladder held his weight for the duration of his short downward journey and he was quite happy when his feet touched down on solid rock.

He crossed the small breadth of the canyon's floor, stepping over a small stream that ran through its center. Looking over the wall of the gorge, he saw another rope ladder and walked over to where it hung down to touch the bottom. He inspected it and noticed it was in almost the same pristine condition as the other ladder. Vash idly wondered who took care of the ladders as he absentmindedly pushed his sunglasses up his nose with his middle finger. There was a rope bridge spanning the canyon merely two iles southward. Who used these ladders? Why not use the bridge? Although he asked these questions, he felt that he already knew their answers.

I've almost caught up with you Knives, haven't I? Vash reflected, feeling a sense of sadness well up from deep inside of his soul. Would he ever be free of this? Would this be the last time that he would have to chase Knives over Gunsmoke's surface? Was the girl, Yume, still alive? What was Meryl doing right now? Was she thinking about him? Or had she given up and moved on?

Fighting despair, he pushed the feelings down, berating himself harshly as he angrily started climbing up the rope ladder. In fact, he was so absorbed in scolding himself that he almost did not hear the rope begin to complain quietly as he neared the top of the canyon wall.

His heart skipped a precious beat as he heard the loud snap and he frantically reached for the rock's edge right above his head. He grabbed it firmly as the rope ladder fell away beneath him, his blood rushing through his head and pounding in his ears as fright took an even firmer grip on his heart. He cursed his heavy red coat while his feet fought for purchase on the side of the canyon. Gasping, he thanked any deity that happened to be paying attention for the fact that the wall had a few footholds in the place where he was hanging precariously.

With a last few choice words snarled out through gritted teeth, Vash heaved himself over the canyon's edge and lay there, breathing heavily. He reached out with a hand weakened and trembling with shock and grabbed the end of one of the ropes that were attached to an iron ring driven into the rock ground. The woven rope was cut cleanly through, only leaving three strands to bear the weight of whoever decided to climb up its deadly ladder. Vash's face took on a solemn bearing and he found no doubt in his mind of who had placed that ladder there.

Shakily, he got to his feet and took a few deep breaths to bring his heart back to an ordinary pace. As he did this, he felt out with his mind, tentatively searching for the person he knew dwelled nearby and the one that he hoped had survived. He wiped a film of sweat from his brow and sighed in relief as he located both of them quite close to his current location. His long quest was nearly complete.

Then he felt a moment of confusion as he noticed a familiar presence nearby, emanating from within the nearby town. "No… it couldn't be…" he whispered, feeling the blood draining from his face and his knees threatening to give way. "He's dead… I killed him… he's dead! He's dead!" He choked on the last word, a whirlwind of emotions ripping through his body and threatening to drag him to the bottom of a sea from which he would find no easy return. He almost gave in to the pull, knowing that he would find a kind of numb peace within that sea, but Vash's inner voice warned him that if he truly was still among the living, than innocent people were no doubt suffering at that moment and only he could save them.

Vash turned from the direction that Knives lay in and started running towards the nearby town. I'm coming for you, Legato. His inner voice was filled with venom as he threw them towards his old enemy. And this time you're gonna stay dead.

Vash walked through the streets of the deserted town, his spine tingling with the knowledge that his brother's minion was close. He was slightly puzzled by the empty streets, seeing as how he had felt the presence of so many people earlier, but he shrugged that feeling off. They were here. He knew it. He just had to find them. To find Legato, he had to find them first.

He found the answer to the missing townsfolk when he entered the town center and saw the people grouped there. The women and children were lying face down on the ground, their hands on their heads, while above them stood the men of the town, holding two guns, one pointed at a victim in front of them, and the other pushing hard against their own temples. In front of the men, and between them and Vash, stood Legato. Vash noticed the wrinkles around his eyes and his whitish-blue hair, glinting in the late afternoon sun and felt slightly pleased at Legato's inability to escape the aging process. The human smiled at Vash, a cruel edge playing over his lips. "Welcome, Vash the Stampede." The townspeople's eyes widened and they stared at Vash with fear in their eyes, although Vash could see a glimmer of a desperate hope that this famed criminal might suddenly have a change of heart and decide to help them.

Vash looked back at Legato and felt his mind wrestle through molasses with the sight of the man he had long believed to be dead as he struggled for a few moments to find his power of speech. "Legato…" he choked out the man's name, as though he was really choking on the truth that the man was still alive. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? Yes. I suppose that is a valid question. Although I would have thought you would have been more interested in the fact that I am capable of doing anything." Legato continued to smile coldly at Vash while inside his head, he could hear the man's answer. I am proving to you, once and for all, that humans deserve nothing but pain, suffering, and death.

Legato turned away and approached one of the men. "You. I have a proposition for you." The man looked frightened and Vash would have been worried if he had not been. In fact, Vash would have bet money that the man would have ran away if he could have, but Legato was holding him in place with his mental powers. Legato spoke again, his silky voice tempting the human with a poisoned apple, "I offer you a choice between two deaths. Yours or his." He nodded in the direction that Vash stood.

"What?" the man looked startled.

"Either you kill him or I will kill you," Legato stated simply.

The blonde-haired Plant felt his stomach roil and he wondered which side of the deal the man would take. To kill or to be killed? In hypothetical situations, many would answer they would gladly die instead of take the life of another, but when the situation became reality, the decision became more difficult and the answer was not as readily reached. The man looked torn between the two choices. No one wants to die but many people believe that no one has the right to destroy another's life. Vash wistfully recalled Rem's words and hoped that this man adhered to that belief.

"Listen, you don't need to kill me," Vash pleaded. "Just trust me and I'll get you all out of this and no one needs to get killed."

Be silent, Vash the Stampede, Legato reprimanded him, Let the spider make his own decision.

Finally, the man's jaw set firmly in place and he said in a voice that shook, but was filled with conviction, "No. I'll not kill that man. He's done nothing to me." He spit on the ground at Legato's feet. "Do your own dirty work."

Legato stared at the man with a serene gaze. Then he murmured in a quiet voice that hinted at sarcasm, "What a pity." The man's eyes widened in shock as he felt his finger involuntary squeeze on the trigger of the gun to his head and a sharp report echoed through the town as he dropped to the ground, dead. The woman in front of him screamed in fright and backed away from the dead body as she continued to howl in fear.

Legato looked sharply at the woman in annoyance and her screams were silenced immediately when she picked up the dead man's gun. Satisfied, Legato turned to the man who had stood to the left of the dead man. "And your answer?" he queried the man.

The second man stared at his dead companion and took a steadying breath. "We all knew you was trouble the day you first showed up around here. Go back to Hell." Another gun cracked and his body fell to the earth, never to rise again. The child who had been in front of him merely lay still and silent, probably both from shock and having seen what had happened to the woman who had began screaming.

This time, the one who stood next to the dead man was a young man of about eighteen years of age. Vash looked at the human and realized that his face looked quite similar to Vash's own. Legato smirked, having recognized the similarities also. "How will you answer, boy?"

The young man looked at the woman at his feet and Vash could tell from the way he stared at her that they were related. The boy looked around frantically, as if he believed he could find a way to escape, but then slumped, defeated, as he realized that there was only one way he could leave this situation. "I'll do it," he said in a quiet voice.

Vash felt his heart skip a beat as the boy spoke those words and he quietly wondered if he could dodge the bullet when the boy shot at him. He sighed, disappointed that one so young would have the rest of his life warped by this day. "What's your name?" he said in a tired voice that reflected the feelings of his mournful heart.

"What?" the young man looked surprised and his hand slowly began dropping away from his head, the gun's barrel free to be pointed at a new target: Vash.

"I think I should at least know the name of the person who is going to be my murderer." Vash saw the boy wince and look down at the ground, not daring to meet the eyes of the man whose life he was going to end.

Legato smiled. "Go on and tell him your name, boy." The blonde man refused to look up from the ground and the gun he held pointed toward the ground trembled in an unsteady grip. Legato chuckled, obviously quite amused by the human's antics. "His name is Rance," he told Vash and the young man looked up in shock.

"How do you know my name?" he demanded weakly, his voice now trembling as much as his freed hand.

"With the same powers that I have been using to hold you and your dear family and friends in place, foolish boy," Legato growled. "Or did you fail to notice that you are all under my absolute control?"

"Sorry, sir." Rance looked back to his feet once more.

"Just kill him and I'll set you and the rest of the denizens of this town free with a promise not to harm any of you… for now." Legato stared at Vash, grinning with confidence. I've won, Vash the Stampede. You will never again cause my Master pain. He will be free of you forever, as will I. How does your defeat taste, Vash the Stampede? I know how my victory shall taste, for I plan to celebrate with a large ice cream sundae with all the topping available, something you shall never be able to experience again!

About halfway through Legato's triumphant tirade, Vash had stopped staring at the blue-haired human and instead had moved his gaze to rest on Rance, who was taking aim with the gun in his hand. Vash began to tense his muscles as he prepared to dodge the bullet but then he felt Legato's strong psychic grip surround him. A sudden icy sensation gripped his soul as he realized that although Legato couldn't hold him in place, he would slow the Plant's reactions down and Vash would not be able to move fast enough to dodge the speeding projectile. Feeling a sense of helplessness overwhelm his body, he watched with a calm expression as Rance began to pull the trigger, determined that even if he would not survive, he would not go down without trying to.

Then he saw the young man pull the trigger fully with a twitch of his hand and the loud explosion ripped through the town as Vash moved awkwardly to the side in his attempt to dodge the bullet but as he had expected, his reaction was hampered by Legato's efforts to slow him down. Reflexively, he reached for his chest after the shot was fired, expecting there to be an eruption of blood from his chest, followed by his veins turning to lava and burning him alive with pain. Amazingly, he felt nothing and he felt his chest in surprise, checking for wounds of which he found none. He looked up, wondering if Rance would fire another shot, when he saw the teenager staring at the fallen Legato.

Vash felt his knees grow weak with shock as he realized that somehow the boy had been able to shoot Legato instead of him. Legato must have been so distracted gloating over his victory and making sure Vash would be an easy target that he had not been paying attention to the boy's thoughts. The Plant felt tears touch the corners of his green eyes and as he stumbled over to Legato's body, he wondered why he was crying. He should be glad the man was dead. After all the suffering and death that he had inflicted on others, death was all that he deserved. But Vash suspected that some part of his heart had still believed that Legato could be changed and made to see that Knives was wrong.

"He's dead?" Vash whispered, staring at the fallen man as he stood in a circle of townspeople around Legato.

An older man knelt by the prone body and put his hand to Legato's neck and was silent for a moment. He stood with a disgusted look on his face. "Nope, the bastard's got a pulse. Shoot 'em again."

Rance looked pale and withdrawn but he diligently lifted the gun to finish Legato off. "No!" Vash said sharply, elbowing past a few people to stand by Rance. "No," he repeated, "I'll do it."

Rance looked relieved. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're too young. You shouldn't have to live with something this horrible for the rest of your life." Vash took the gun from the boy and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Besides, this is something I should have done a long time ago. Now's my time to make up for it."

Vash took a step forward and the townspeople backed up, giving him room to commit the deed and also giving themselves room to run as they remembered that he was Vash the Stampede and might decided to kill them along with Legato. He took aim at the prone man and breathed deeply. He was about to kill a man. And kill a man in cold blood. For some reason, the concept did not disturb him as it once would have. The last ten years had changed him as it had changed the man lying at his feet. What if he didn't kill Legato? Could Legato come to understand and accept Vash's view of the humans? Could he still kill Legato knowing that this was possibilities?

Vash the Stampede…Legato's voice echoed through Vash's mind and he could hear in the man's tone a sense of exhaustion that stretched for years. I told you once before that an egotistical being like myself cannot be allowed to live. I repeat these words to you now: Give me nothingness. Give me death. You attempted to give me these things that I desire once before and you failed. Now I ask you to try once more. My Master no longer requires my services. I lived beyond what was expected and now it is my time to pass on. Vash… grant me this one last wish.

The trigger was squeezed and the gun fired, a loud, final report assaulting the ears of those present. From a numb hand, the gun fell to the ground and it was followed by a man who collapsed over the body in front of him, tears pouring unrestrained from his weary eyes. And around him stood a group of strangers.

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Ehehehe. ^^;; I hope that turned out okay. Legato quoted himself from the Pioneer subtitles because that is what I own, or more, have illegal copies of. *gasps* But don't tell them that!! I liked that last paragraph though! I wanted to do it in a disconnected way so I think it turned out good. And I want to get this done on tomorrow, but I don't think that's happening. . But I'll try! And if it's not done on the 4th, which is its one year anniversary by the way, it'll be done really soon!!

Anyway, it's almost midnight so I've gotta be going to bed, you know?

Remember to check my livejournal for updates about progress and stuff and for information about new fanfics!!

And if you have any ideas for an EPILOGUE, go there and leave a comment about it!! You're not supposed to do it in reviews, so do it on my livejournal!! I want to do one, but I have no ideas!! So help me out!! ^_^