Jackie: I hope you all are enjoying this. I can see that I'm on the alert list of lots of people; it sure would be NICE if they would REVIEW. 'hint, hint'

Just a little warning, Mira is going to shine for about the next two chapters. Then I promise I'll get Meryl back in the lead.

Thanks to all my reviewers. I'm closing in on 100 reviews! YAY!

DISCLAIMER: Here. 'sets up her lawyer to spout useless legalese which roughly translates to "Trigun…uh… I don't own it." '

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Chapter 32;

Knives franticly typed at the console. In all his exhaustive calculations he had never considered the possibility of a brainwave split. He knew what happened to humans when this happened, but what would be the result with a plant? His scientific mind craved the answer, but his practical mind said it was far two dangerous.

Where had he gone wrong? He sat back for a moment and thought. The reality alteration must be too severe… I changed his reality too much.

He looked at the console and frowned. He could just reset to the defaults and cleanse Vash's memory, but it would undo so much work. There had to be a way to bond the split back together. He started typing again.

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Monique stood outside the elevator doors. She had heard the alert that the prisoners had escaped. Unlike the rest of the gung-ho-guns, she had not run off to recapture them. Why waste her time? She knew exactly where they were going.

Months ago, Knives's entire army disintegrated. She shifted through the rubble of his empire and drew together this army. It was no where near its former glory, but it contained only those people she felt were truly devoted to the cause. The rest of the garbage was just that, GARBAGE. She would collect their lives and the lives of every other wretched human on this planet in time.

The elevator dial began to move. Monique took cover behind a large metal table she had turned on its side. The elevator tolled to announce that it had reached its destination.

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Mira stood over the emergency escape hatch of the elevator, looking down into it. She held a lady's smith custom 38 caliber in each hand and she waited. The elevator tolled and she could hear the doors opening. Show time…

A small ball rolled into the elevator. Mira strained to see what it was. A BOMB! Mira leapt back, throwing herself into a ditch that served as the groove inset that kept the elevator's ascent and descent stable. She thanked her father for the rock climbing they did together and braced herself with her arms and legs so that she needed no bottom support.

The explosion decimated the elevator shell. However, to Mira's surprise it did not fall. She leapt through the hatch, using its edge as a swing bar to launch her out into the hallway. A shrieking sound was heard as the damaged elevator cables gave way and the empty casing fell. THAT was close…

"Quite an entrance," Monique said, using Mira's unguarded moment of surprise.

Mira's attention drew back to what was in front of her and found that she was looking down the barrel of a 20 gauged shot gun. She smiled down the riffle barrel and said, "You know us entertainers, we like to make our entrances good and flashy."

"You're the wench that married my master," Monique said, "And gave birth to his heirs."

"You're the wench that pretended to steal my husband," Mira mocked, "Though you can't steal the willing."

Monique looked confused for just a moment. She smiled and said, "You don't know what the bulb does, do you?"

"It doesn't matter," Mira said darkly, "I came here for one reason and one reason alone. To find that lying bastard and put him out of my misery."

Monique laughed so hard her gun lowered for just a moment. Mira capitalized and swung, hitting Monique at the base of the neck and knocking her out. Mira walked to the first door on the right. She didn't seem to notice the trail of blood behind her.

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"It isn't coming back down!" Meryl shouted, "It must be stuck!"

"Follow me!" Nick said and led them around the corner to stair access.

They climbed the stairs as fast as their legs could take them. Meryl's heart pounded in her chest. Mira was far ahead of them, it was impossible to get there in time, but she just had to try! In spite of her small size she was a full five stairs ahead of Nick and Millie, and that gap was growing. Half way up they all heard an explosion and the shrieking sound of metal drug across metal. Finally she reached the top of the staircase and threw herself through the door. She ran around the corner and gaped at what she saw.

The woman who had stolen Vash and Knives was in a heap on the ground behind a metal table that was lying on its side. Tendrils of smoke still rose out of the open elevator shaft and bits and pieces of metal shrapnel littered the hallway. Millie and Wolfwood skid to a halt behind her, panting heavily.

"Whoa," Nick breathed, "I guess Mira's been here."

"We've got to stop her," Meryl said and ran down the hallway.

She slipped and fell hard against the ground. Millie was instantly at her side, "Meryl, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Meryl barked, "What did I slip in?"

Wolfwood knelt down and examined the blood on the ground. He shook his head and said, "She opened one of her shot wounds. I don't know how she did it, but that's hardly the issue. If we don't get her help soon, she'll bleed to death."

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Jackie: Now who was it that said the plot couldn't get any thicker? 'Cause I have a few more little 'surprises' left.