Disclaimer: Trigun is not mine. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really
appreciate it!!
Warnings: None really. This is chapter is pretty much just Vash and
Wolfwood doing what they do best. (You know- 'laying some of his gospel' on
the bandits...)
"Hell, Tongari, they're gaining." Wolfwood had joined Vash on the back observation deck. Several well armed crew members stood with them. The sand steamer had increased it's speed, trying to outrun the bandits.
"I can see that." Vash had put on his yellow sunglasses, but he grinned as his eyes slid over Wolfwood.
"What's so funny?"
"I didn't know you wore lip gloss that's all." Vash tapped his own cheek. "And you missed your lips when you applied it." Wolfwood swore and mopped at his cheek with his sleeve.
"Better?" He asked with a challenging glare.
"Yeah," Vash said with a grin, neglecting to tell Wolfwood that all he'd done was smear it all over his cheek, "Much better."
"Excuse me, but the boys over there are telling me that one of you is that legendary gunfighter, Vash the Stampede. Any truth to that?" asked a security guard. His badge proclaimed him the chief of the security team.
"Who wants to know?" asked Wolfwood setting his cross punisher in front of him.
"W-w-well Mr. Stampede," The security chief said thrusting his hands into his pockets, "w-w-we were just wondering if you could help us out with this band of bandits. It is rumored that you saved a sand steamer before, and we were kind of hoping the rumor was true."
Wolfwood stroked his chin in mock thoughtfulness, "The last steamer paid me $$500,000 for my trouble, how much are you offering?"
Vash's chin dropped to the floor in astonishment at the priest's outlandish request.
The security chief blanched and drew back a step or two, "I don't know if we got that much on board Mr. Stampede, But if you help us out, I'll see what I can do to raise it when we reach the next town . . . If we reach the next town."
"It's a deal," Wolfwood said with a grin, "You just got yourself an ace gunman. Now if you gentlemen will take up positions along the sides of the train, my associate and I will take care of defending the back of the train."
"Y-y-y-yes Sir, Th-th-thank you sir," stammered the security chief. Then he hurriedly ushered the men out of sight inside the steamer.
"What kind of priest are you?" Vash accused, waving his finger at Wolfwood. "Since when did we start taking large sums of money from innocent people for helping out?"
"Innocent?" snorted Wolfwood, "do you remember that family that the steamer split up because they only had enough money for the wife and child to ride, forcing the husband to stay behind to try and earn enough to catch the next steamer?"
"I remember you gave the man your fare and then bummed the money off me to ride with us," Vash retorted sarcastically.
"I'm a man of God, and it's sacrilegious not to give to those in need- - and let's face it, right now I'm in need."
"And I suppose it's ok to lie?" Vash needled.
"I didn't lie, "Wolfwood said with mock indignation, "I am an ace gunman!"
"That may be true, but you certainly are not Vash the Stampede."
"Ah, but I never said I was, did I?" Wolfwood grinned slipping on his sunglasses.
"Well it certainly sounded like you were bartering the services of Vash the Stampede for a mere 50,000$$ . . ." Vash accused.
"It was 500,000$$," retorted Wolfwood, "and besides, you wouldn't make me fight of these bandits all alone would you?"
"Well it would serve you right if . . . . "
Behind the arguing duo a leather padded grappling hook latched itself to the railing, and it was quickly joined by several friends. The ropes went taut with the weight of the men scaling the still moving heights. Silently the men made their way to the deck and began to slip over the rail, behind the backs of the two oblivious protectors.
"You ungrateful needle noggin, I am just trying to earn a few dollars of those who can easily afford my services, so that I can pay you back! If you don't want me to . . ."
Both men froze at the sound of hammers being pulled back. Slowly their heads turned and they duo stood staring down the barrels of ten guns, with more making their way up behind them.
"WWHHAAA!!!!" Yelled Vash looking like he was about to bolt for the hills.
"Oh great," Wolfwood said swiveling his cross punisher so it was in between himself and the rapidly multiplying bandits, "we were just talking about you. Thank you for coming up, you saved me a lot of time."
Vash dove behind Wolfwood, "Please Mr. Stampede, keep me safe from these bad men."
"What the heck are you talking about Tongari?" Wolfwood snapped irritatedly.
"Oh please Mr. Vash the Stampede, I don't do well with guns pointed at me," Vash said cringing behind Wolfwood in mock fear. "It's scary!"
"Vash The Stampede?" said one of the bandits stepping forward, "Well, this steamer's value just increased by about 60 Billion $$'s. Take a good look boys- this here is the man who stopped the Bad Lads from claiming their prize, but then I always said that Neon was too flashy for his own good. Well Mr. Vash The Stampede, you now face the Bad Seeds, and I am their leader Engineer Steve."
Wolfwood felt Vash tense up behind him at the mention of the gang leaders name. Vash carefully peered around the Wolfwood's shoulder and looked at the man's face. Yes the resemblance was uncanny, but he died 130 years ago when the ship blew up during the great fall. No- before then- Roland had mentioned something about making sure that Steve 'never woke up'... Vash narrowed his gaze and caught sight of a familiar medallion hanging around the leaders neck. Could it be?
"Well Engineer Steve," Wolfwood grinned flipping the snap-release on his cross punisher, "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave this train and not to come back until you have paid your fare like the rest of us."
The cross popped open with a flourish of white cloth and straps and the intruders found themselves looking down the barrels of twin 44 caliber pistols and a man who was grinning like a wolf. The leader of the Bad Seeds chuckled.
"Your reputation has made you arrogant Mr. Stampede. Do you think you can defeat all of us with those two small guns?"
"Mr. Vash?" said the cowering Broomhead that crouched behind him, tugging on his pant leg.
"Not now," hissed Wolfwood under his breath "I've got more then enough bullets for you and your small band of sneak thieves," Wolfwood retorted.
"Mr. Vash," came the quiet plea once more accompanied by another tug. Wolfwood ignored it, concentrating on the guns that were aimed at him from the front.
"Maybe enough for this small band,"Steve said with a wave to the twenty men who stood behind him. "But what about the rest of my crew?"
"Mr. Stampede," came an even more urgent plea and another tug. Wolfwood kicked Vash to make him let go of his pant leg. Vash stuck his kicked fingers in his mouth and tried his best to look pathetic.
"The crew that's driving the cars down below won't be much use to you in a gun fight."
"You are absolutely right, Mr. 60 billion $$ bounty head, that's why I sent some of my boys on ahead to make certain I knew where to find you and that I had plenty of backup to make certain you didn't get away."
"You did what?" Asked Wolfwood incredulously.
"H-h-he offered me and my boys a 30% cut of your bounty as long as we helped trap you back here on the back balcony," the security chief stammered.
Wolfwood turned to see thirty armed men standing with guns drawn aimed at his back. He gritted his teeth and kicked the man at his feet once again.
"Why didn't you mention the fact that I had drawn a crowd Tongari? " Wolfwood snarled, then under his breath, "now would be a good time for a little backup here."
"On your signal," sniffed Vash, but the gleam in his eye told Wolfwood that Vash was ready to be serious.
Wolfwood turned back to Steve and the Bad Seeds. "I guess you have all the cards, and I've been dealt a losing hand."
Steve's eyes narrowed, the outlaw was still far to calm, almost as if he knew something that no one else did. What was it? Surely he didn't think that that spineless man crying at his feet was going to be any help. And besides what could two men do against fifty armed men? Still, he had been warned the Stampede could be a tricky catch. Regardless, it was time to put an end to the running. Time to cash in the reward, and finally get revenge for what happened on board the ship so many years ago.
"Yes Vash the Stampede, you have been dealt the losing hand, a dead man's hand."
Steve gave the signal and the deck lit up with gunfire. It looked like a fireworks show with the bright muzzle flashes, the thick cloud of gun smoke, and the constant tinkle of spent copper casings raining down on the deck. The barrage of bullets stopped after three minutes and it took an agonizing thirty seconds for enough of the smoke to clear to see what remained of the legendary gunman and his cowering companion. There was no decking left where the two had stood, just a gaping circular hole, and . . . no . . . bodies? How could all that random gunfire make a perfect circular hole? The guns would've had to have fired directly into the floor...
"Damn it!" swore Steve, "Get some men down that hole immediately. He's getting away!"
The men milled about uncertainly. Ten of them quickly scurried to do Steve's bidding and dropped down the hole. How could anyone have survived that many bullets? There was just no way that any human could survive that. They called Vash the Stampede a humanoid typhoon, could he really be a force of nature and not human at all? The answer came to them all in a flash, as an explosion roared behind them. Steve ran to the railing only to see his largest troop mover falling behind in flames.
"Dammit," Steve yelled, turning on the security chief, "You promised that the heavy artillery was under your command, and my cars would be safe from shelling!"
"T-t-they are Steve, that wasn't one of my guns!" protested the security chief feebly.
"If it wasn't one of your guns, whose gun was it?" Steve growled menacingly.
"Mine," Wolfwood said with a cigarette dangling out of a corner of his mouth. He was perched on the roof top that was some eight feet behind and nine feet above where he was when the barrage started He grinned and took a long drag on his cigarette.
Without another word he flipped the cross punisher over and popped open the machine gun and aimed it at group standing on the deck. The gang scattered as he opened up a barrage of shells driving them away from the railing and towards the hole in the center of the deck. In ones and twos the gang members dove through the hole in the deck until all fifty sought refuge from his seemingly endless barrage of bullets. Wolfwood smiled, "They're all yours big guy, and I didn't hurt a hair on any of their heads. It's your turn now Tongari, I still have a convoy to take out."
With a sigh he flipped the cross punisher back over and looked through the rocket sights to see which car he would disable next.
Wolfwood was a good as his word, Vash thought with a smile. He had driven the Bad Seed Gang down to him relatively intact without killing a single one of them. Vash's hand flew faster then a human eye could follow and another bad Seed man crumbled without a sound. 25 down, 25 to go.
Two gang members were sitting back-to-back trying to keep as quiet as possible. Their eyes scanned the darkness for any sign of movement, but all they could hear was the nervous shuffling of feet throughout the cargo compartment they had fallen into.
"Hey guys," came a rough whisper, "you seen Steve around down here?
"Go away man, Steve is over by the hole somewhere, but I would stay away if I were you."
"Why?" Asked the whisperer.
"Because, man, where do you think Vash the Stampede is going to be heading? That man is not human. I don't want to die!"
Beside the two men, a pair of eyes lit up, "You're right, I'm not human," came the same whisper from before. A pair of hands grabbed their heads and crashed them together, knocking them unconscious. "And by the way, thanks for the tip on where to find Steve."
Steve sat in the darkness and cursed silently to him self. So far he had only managed to locate five of his men, and he new that they would not be enough to stop that devil. From up above he heard periodic rocket fire launching down at his convoy. If the shooter were accurate, there would be very few cars left by now. His fast way home had been taken from him. Curse that devil, Knives was right, he might just prove to be more then he and his gang could handle, but he would get revenge for his father. Suddenly without warning, the lights in the cargo hold came on. Steve blinked at the sudden brightness and quickly scanned the area around him for other members of his gang. He didn't have to look far, there were bodies strewn all over the storeroom. Alive or dead he couldn't tell, but just then he saw a movement to his left.
A man dressed in red walked out of the shadows, a man who looked very familiar.
"Knives?" Steve asked tentatively, "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think I'm doing here Steve?" Came the monotone reply.
"You were right, Vash was too much for us. It makes me sick to think that Vash might get away with how he had arranged my fathers execution. How in trying to cover up his mess doomed all of us descendants of the S.E.E.D. ships to live on this hellhole. I know if it wasn't for your intervention, there would have been no human survivors on this planet, but how can we, mere humans, hope to stop such a monster?"
Steve stopped as he noticed the other man had tears running down his cheeks. "Knives? Are you OK?"
"Is that the lie that my brother fed you to get you to come after me? He accused me of all his crimes?!"
Steve froze, "You aren't Knives! You are his brother, Vash The Stampede."
In a blur of motion Steve drew his gun and opened fire, and his five companions did likewise. For Vash, it was like time had slowed down for him again. Instinct kicked in and his honed reflexes did what the years of life on the run had taught them to do. Dodge the bullets, One . . . two . . . three . . . four, ooh, that last one grazed his coat. Five . . ten . . . Time for them to reload. He drew his 45 long colt and squeezed the trigger five times. The men around Steve fell with empty guns in their hands. Steve stood looking dumbfounded as Vash aimed the gun at him.
"I never killed your father, I've only ever killed one man, and that was because that man made me chose between his life and the lives of innocent people. You can choose to believe me or not, but I have no wish to hurt any more people today. If you drop your gun now I'll just tie you up with the others, or you can resist and end up like your five friends. The choice is yours."
Steve growled and dropped his gun, "A wise decision," Vash said with a hollow smile, "Very wise."
It took Wolfwood and Vash the better part of a half hour to tie up the entire Bad Seeds gang, and during that time he learned all he could from Steve. Vash learned that Steve had been released from a capsule twenty-five years ago where he had been frozen at the age of 2. He was indeed the son of the Engineer that had tormented Knives and himself back on the ship, and he had gotten the medallion from Knives when he told Steve about his past two years ago. Steve had gotten a tip that Vash was headed to Januaria City, and this was one of the only steamers that he could have taken. It was his big chance for revenge. Knives really did a number on him. He must have loved knowing that the son of his first victim trusted Knives in a way his father never did. The whole thing made Vash sad.
"Well Tongari, are we getting off the steamer or staying on til we reach Januaria?"
"If Meryl can handle it I think we'll just get a car in the next town. Thanks to that money you blackmailed off the crooked security chief, we should be able to get something fast." Vash sighed. "I'm tired of fighting bandits on steamers."
"Me too," Wolfwood laughed. They opened the door to their room and found themselves looking down the barrel of a stungun. "Whoa Millie! It's us! It's us!"
"Sorry," Millie lowered the stungun. "We heard lots of gunfire..."
"We know," Vash said tiredly. He sat down on the bunk next to Meryl, who was reholstering her derringers.
"How did it go?' she asked him.
"Bandits, ambushes by the steamer security team, a leader controlled by Knives gunning specifically for me... same old same old." Meryl touched his arm gently.
"Are we getting off the steamer?"
"Yes, if you can handle it..."
"Of course I can." Meryl looked at Millie who nodded back at her. The big girl pushed Wolfwood down onto a bunk with one hand.
"You two rest. We'll pack up, okay?"
"Hell, Tongari, they're gaining." Wolfwood had joined Vash on the back observation deck. Several well armed crew members stood with them. The sand steamer had increased it's speed, trying to outrun the bandits.
"I can see that." Vash had put on his yellow sunglasses, but he grinned as his eyes slid over Wolfwood.
"What's so funny?"
"I didn't know you wore lip gloss that's all." Vash tapped his own cheek. "And you missed your lips when you applied it." Wolfwood swore and mopped at his cheek with his sleeve.
"Better?" He asked with a challenging glare.
"Yeah," Vash said with a grin, neglecting to tell Wolfwood that all he'd done was smear it all over his cheek, "Much better."
"Excuse me, but the boys over there are telling me that one of you is that legendary gunfighter, Vash the Stampede. Any truth to that?" asked a security guard. His badge proclaimed him the chief of the security team.
"Who wants to know?" asked Wolfwood setting his cross punisher in front of him.
"W-w-well Mr. Stampede," The security chief said thrusting his hands into his pockets, "w-w-we were just wondering if you could help us out with this band of bandits. It is rumored that you saved a sand steamer before, and we were kind of hoping the rumor was true."
Wolfwood stroked his chin in mock thoughtfulness, "The last steamer paid me $$500,000 for my trouble, how much are you offering?"
Vash's chin dropped to the floor in astonishment at the priest's outlandish request.
The security chief blanched and drew back a step or two, "I don't know if we got that much on board Mr. Stampede, But if you help us out, I'll see what I can do to raise it when we reach the next town . . . If we reach the next town."
"It's a deal," Wolfwood said with a grin, "You just got yourself an ace gunman. Now if you gentlemen will take up positions along the sides of the train, my associate and I will take care of defending the back of the train."
"Y-y-y-yes Sir, Th-th-thank you sir," stammered the security chief. Then he hurriedly ushered the men out of sight inside the steamer.
"What kind of priest are you?" Vash accused, waving his finger at Wolfwood. "Since when did we start taking large sums of money from innocent people for helping out?"
"Innocent?" snorted Wolfwood, "do you remember that family that the steamer split up because they only had enough money for the wife and child to ride, forcing the husband to stay behind to try and earn enough to catch the next steamer?"
"I remember you gave the man your fare and then bummed the money off me to ride with us," Vash retorted sarcastically.
"I'm a man of God, and it's sacrilegious not to give to those in need- - and let's face it, right now I'm in need."
"And I suppose it's ok to lie?" Vash needled.
"I didn't lie, "Wolfwood said with mock indignation, "I am an ace gunman!"
"That may be true, but you certainly are not Vash the Stampede."
"Ah, but I never said I was, did I?" Wolfwood grinned slipping on his sunglasses.
"Well it certainly sounded like you were bartering the services of Vash the Stampede for a mere 50,000$$ . . ." Vash accused.
"It was 500,000$$," retorted Wolfwood, "and besides, you wouldn't make me fight of these bandits all alone would you?"
"Well it would serve you right if . . . . "
Behind the arguing duo a leather padded grappling hook latched itself to the railing, and it was quickly joined by several friends. The ropes went taut with the weight of the men scaling the still moving heights. Silently the men made their way to the deck and began to slip over the rail, behind the backs of the two oblivious protectors.
"You ungrateful needle noggin, I am just trying to earn a few dollars of those who can easily afford my services, so that I can pay you back! If you don't want me to . . ."
Both men froze at the sound of hammers being pulled back. Slowly their heads turned and they duo stood staring down the barrels of ten guns, with more making their way up behind them.
"WWHHAAA!!!!" Yelled Vash looking like he was about to bolt for the hills.
"Oh great," Wolfwood said swiveling his cross punisher so it was in between himself and the rapidly multiplying bandits, "we were just talking about you. Thank you for coming up, you saved me a lot of time."
Vash dove behind Wolfwood, "Please Mr. Stampede, keep me safe from these bad men."
"What the heck are you talking about Tongari?" Wolfwood snapped irritatedly.
"Oh please Mr. Vash the Stampede, I don't do well with guns pointed at me," Vash said cringing behind Wolfwood in mock fear. "It's scary!"
"Vash The Stampede?" said one of the bandits stepping forward, "Well, this steamer's value just increased by about 60 Billion $$'s. Take a good look boys- this here is the man who stopped the Bad Lads from claiming their prize, but then I always said that Neon was too flashy for his own good. Well Mr. Vash The Stampede, you now face the Bad Seeds, and I am their leader Engineer Steve."
Wolfwood felt Vash tense up behind him at the mention of the gang leaders name. Vash carefully peered around the Wolfwood's shoulder and looked at the man's face. Yes the resemblance was uncanny, but he died 130 years ago when the ship blew up during the great fall. No- before then- Roland had mentioned something about making sure that Steve 'never woke up'... Vash narrowed his gaze and caught sight of a familiar medallion hanging around the leaders neck. Could it be?
"Well Engineer Steve," Wolfwood grinned flipping the snap-release on his cross punisher, "I'm afraid you're going to have to leave this train and not to come back until you have paid your fare like the rest of us."
The cross popped open with a flourish of white cloth and straps and the intruders found themselves looking down the barrels of twin 44 caliber pistols and a man who was grinning like a wolf. The leader of the Bad Seeds chuckled.
"Your reputation has made you arrogant Mr. Stampede. Do you think you can defeat all of us with those two small guns?"
"Mr. Vash?" said the cowering Broomhead that crouched behind him, tugging on his pant leg.
"Not now," hissed Wolfwood under his breath "I've got more then enough bullets for you and your small band of sneak thieves," Wolfwood retorted.
"Mr. Vash," came the quiet plea once more accompanied by another tug. Wolfwood ignored it, concentrating on the guns that were aimed at him from the front.
"Maybe enough for this small band,"Steve said with a wave to the twenty men who stood behind him. "But what about the rest of my crew?"
"Mr. Stampede," came an even more urgent plea and another tug. Wolfwood kicked Vash to make him let go of his pant leg. Vash stuck his kicked fingers in his mouth and tried his best to look pathetic.
"The crew that's driving the cars down below won't be much use to you in a gun fight."
"You are absolutely right, Mr. 60 billion $$ bounty head, that's why I sent some of my boys on ahead to make certain I knew where to find you and that I had plenty of backup to make certain you didn't get away."
"You did what?" Asked Wolfwood incredulously.
"H-h-he offered me and my boys a 30% cut of your bounty as long as we helped trap you back here on the back balcony," the security chief stammered.
Wolfwood turned to see thirty armed men standing with guns drawn aimed at his back. He gritted his teeth and kicked the man at his feet once again.
"Why didn't you mention the fact that I had drawn a crowd Tongari? " Wolfwood snarled, then under his breath, "now would be a good time for a little backup here."
"On your signal," sniffed Vash, but the gleam in his eye told Wolfwood that Vash was ready to be serious.
Wolfwood turned back to Steve and the Bad Seeds. "I guess you have all the cards, and I've been dealt a losing hand."
Steve's eyes narrowed, the outlaw was still far to calm, almost as if he knew something that no one else did. What was it? Surely he didn't think that that spineless man crying at his feet was going to be any help. And besides what could two men do against fifty armed men? Still, he had been warned the Stampede could be a tricky catch. Regardless, it was time to put an end to the running. Time to cash in the reward, and finally get revenge for what happened on board the ship so many years ago.
"Yes Vash the Stampede, you have been dealt the losing hand, a dead man's hand."
Steve gave the signal and the deck lit up with gunfire. It looked like a fireworks show with the bright muzzle flashes, the thick cloud of gun smoke, and the constant tinkle of spent copper casings raining down on the deck. The barrage of bullets stopped after three minutes and it took an agonizing thirty seconds for enough of the smoke to clear to see what remained of the legendary gunman and his cowering companion. There was no decking left where the two had stood, just a gaping circular hole, and . . . no . . . bodies? How could all that random gunfire make a perfect circular hole? The guns would've had to have fired directly into the floor...
"Damn it!" swore Steve, "Get some men down that hole immediately. He's getting away!"
The men milled about uncertainly. Ten of them quickly scurried to do Steve's bidding and dropped down the hole. How could anyone have survived that many bullets? There was just no way that any human could survive that. They called Vash the Stampede a humanoid typhoon, could he really be a force of nature and not human at all? The answer came to them all in a flash, as an explosion roared behind them. Steve ran to the railing only to see his largest troop mover falling behind in flames.
"Dammit," Steve yelled, turning on the security chief, "You promised that the heavy artillery was under your command, and my cars would be safe from shelling!"
"T-t-they are Steve, that wasn't one of my guns!" protested the security chief feebly.
"If it wasn't one of your guns, whose gun was it?" Steve growled menacingly.
"Mine," Wolfwood said with a cigarette dangling out of a corner of his mouth. He was perched on the roof top that was some eight feet behind and nine feet above where he was when the barrage started He grinned and took a long drag on his cigarette.
Without another word he flipped the cross punisher over and popped open the machine gun and aimed it at group standing on the deck. The gang scattered as he opened up a barrage of shells driving them away from the railing and towards the hole in the center of the deck. In ones and twos the gang members dove through the hole in the deck until all fifty sought refuge from his seemingly endless barrage of bullets. Wolfwood smiled, "They're all yours big guy, and I didn't hurt a hair on any of their heads. It's your turn now Tongari, I still have a convoy to take out."
With a sigh he flipped the cross punisher back over and looked through the rocket sights to see which car he would disable next.
Wolfwood was a good as his word, Vash thought with a smile. He had driven the Bad Seed Gang down to him relatively intact without killing a single one of them. Vash's hand flew faster then a human eye could follow and another bad Seed man crumbled without a sound. 25 down, 25 to go.
Two gang members were sitting back-to-back trying to keep as quiet as possible. Their eyes scanned the darkness for any sign of movement, but all they could hear was the nervous shuffling of feet throughout the cargo compartment they had fallen into.
"Hey guys," came a rough whisper, "you seen Steve around down here?
"Go away man, Steve is over by the hole somewhere, but I would stay away if I were you."
"Why?" Asked the whisperer.
"Because, man, where do you think Vash the Stampede is going to be heading? That man is not human. I don't want to die!"
Beside the two men, a pair of eyes lit up, "You're right, I'm not human," came the same whisper from before. A pair of hands grabbed their heads and crashed them together, knocking them unconscious. "And by the way, thanks for the tip on where to find Steve."
Steve sat in the darkness and cursed silently to him self. So far he had only managed to locate five of his men, and he new that they would not be enough to stop that devil. From up above he heard periodic rocket fire launching down at his convoy. If the shooter were accurate, there would be very few cars left by now. His fast way home had been taken from him. Curse that devil, Knives was right, he might just prove to be more then he and his gang could handle, but he would get revenge for his father. Suddenly without warning, the lights in the cargo hold came on. Steve blinked at the sudden brightness and quickly scanned the area around him for other members of his gang. He didn't have to look far, there were bodies strewn all over the storeroom. Alive or dead he couldn't tell, but just then he saw a movement to his left.
A man dressed in red walked out of the shadows, a man who looked very familiar.
"Knives?" Steve asked tentatively, "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think I'm doing here Steve?" Came the monotone reply.
"You were right, Vash was too much for us. It makes me sick to think that Vash might get away with how he had arranged my fathers execution. How in trying to cover up his mess doomed all of us descendants of the S.E.E.D. ships to live on this hellhole. I know if it wasn't for your intervention, there would have been no human survivors on this planet, but how can we, mere humans, hope to stop such a monster?"
Steve stopped as he noticed the other man had tears running down his cheeks. "Knives? Are you OK?"
"Is that the lie that my brother fed you to get you to come after me? He accused me of all his crimes?!"
Steve froze, "You aren't Knives! You are his brother, Vash The Stampede."
In a blur of motion Steve drew his gun and opened fire, and his five companions did likewise. For Vash, it was like time had slowed down for him again. Instinct kicked in and his honed reflexes did what the years of life on the run had taught them to do. Dodge the bullets, One . . . two . . . three . . . four, ooh, that last one grazed his coat. Five . . ten . . . Time for them to reload. He drew his 45 long colt and squeezed the trigger five times. The men around Steve fell with empty guns in their hands. Steve stood looking dumbfounded as Vash aimed the gun at him.
"I never killed your father, I've only ever killed one man, and that was because that man made me chose between his life and the lives of innocent people. You can choose to believe me or not, but I have no wish to hurt any more people today. If you drop your gun now I'll just tie you up with the others, or you can resist and end up like your five friends. The choice is yours."
Steve growled and dropped his gun, "A wise decision," Vash said with a hollow smile, "Very wise."
It took Wolfwood and Vash the better part of a half hour to tie up the entire Bad Seeds gang, and during that time he learned all he could from Steve. Vash learned that Steve had been released from a capsule twenty-five years ago where he had been frozen at the age of 2. He was indeed the son of the Engineer that had tormented Knives and himself back on the ship, and he had gotten the medallion from Knives when he told Steve about his past two years ago. Steve had gotten a tip that Vash was headed to Januaria City, and this was one of the only steamers that he could have taken. It was his big chance for revenge. Knives really did a number on him. He must have loved knowing that the son of his first victim trusted Knives in a way his father never did. The whole thing made Vash sad.
"Well Tongari, are we getting off the steamer or staying on til we reach Januaria?"
"If Meryl can handle it I think we'll just get a car in the next town. Thanks to that money you blackmailed off the crooked security chief, we should be able to get something fast." Vash sighed. "I'm tired of fighting bandits on steamers."
"Me too," Wolfwood laughed. They opened the door to their room and found themselves looking down the barrel of a stungun. "Whoa Millie! It's us! It's us!"
"Sorry," Millie lowered the stungun. "We heard lots of gunfire..."
"We know," Vash said tiredly. He sat down on the bunk next to Meryl, who was reholstering her derringers.
"How did it go?' she asked him.
"Bandits, ambushes by the steamer security team, a leader controlled by Knives gunning specifically for me... same old same old." Meryl touched his arm gently.
"Are we getting off the steamer?"
"Yes, if you can handle it..."
"Of course I can." Meryl looked at Millie who nodded back at her. The big girl pushed Wolfwood down onto a bunk with one hand.
"You two rest. We'll pack up, okay?"
