Six months had passed since that fateful day when Vash and Sylvie met. Sylvie had received six letters from Vash including the one he had slipped into her mailbox before he left. Sylvie was still waiting for this month's letter and was getting worried that Vash had forgotten to send one.
Sylvie was sitting in the kitchen doing her homework with the evening radio songs and talk shows playing in the background. Steven was sitting in the family room reading the local paper and Michelle was off at the grocery store. Sylvie was in the middle of a math problem when the song that was playing suddenly stopped mid verse and a news broadcast took over.
"We have breaking news!" the news broadcaster said wildly. "The third city of July is gone!" Sylvie stopped writing and looked over at the radio.
"How can a city like July be gone?" Sylvie said out loud. Steven had told her all about the many big cities on the planet and had spent a lot of time telling her about July. Steven had been there once and told her it was immense.
"Many of you are probably wondering how can a city as huge as July be gone, but it is!" the news broadcaster went on. "The city is nothing but rubble, but the strangest part is that nobody died."
"Nobody died?" Sylvie wondered out loud. "But the city was destroyed. How can no one have died?"
"Experts are still puzzling over this but have come to no conclusions." The news broadcaster said. "The one responsible has been discovered though. His name is Vash The Stampede."
"Vash The Stampede!" Sylvie cried and leaped out of her chair.
"Vash The Stampede is said to be very dangerous. All inhabitants please remain alert. If you come in contact with him or see him please call your local authorities immediately." The news broadcaster continued. "He is a tall blonde man who carries a large silver handgun. That is all we know about his appearance at the moment."
"It is him!" Sylvie cried out in shock.
"Vash The Stampede is wanted by the feds dead or alive. The reward for anyone who turns him in is 60 billion double dollars." The news broadcaster said.
"That's an awfully big sum of money for one guy." Steven said sitting down at the table.
"That's the same man I talked to about six months ago." Sylvie told Steven. "They say that he totally destroyed the third city of July but that no one was killed."
"July City is gone!?!" Steven said in disbelief.
"That's what the news guy said." Sylvie informed him.
"I don't believe it!" Steven said. "I hope they catch this nutter. He needs to pay for what he has done."
Sylvie didn't answer her father's comment about Vash. Sylvie wondered why anyone would want to destroy a city for that matter. A letter was sent from Vash about a week after the July incident. Vash explained that he had no memory of ever destroying the city. Even though many people were afraid of Vash, Sylvie kept on believing that he was still a good man who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.