Rating: PG-13 - curse words, adult themes.
Summary: Cowboy Bebop/Trigun crossover. In a last ditch effort to destroy humankind, Knives treks into the past. Vash, as well as Meryl, is dragged along for the ride.
Spoilers: If you haven't seen every episode/session of both series' and still read this fic, don't cry to me when you get spoiled!
Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop characters belong to Sunrise, Bandai Entertainment, Shinichiro Watanabe et al., and their many, many well-paid lawyers. Trigun characters belong to Yasuhiro Nightow, and his many, many well-paid lawyers. I am NOT making any money off this, nor am I trying to infringe on anyone's copyright. Believe that.
Song Disclaimer: Song titles (used as chapter titles, ala Cowboy Bebop's session titles) are used without permission. Probably not a sue-able offense, but you gotta CYA (cover your ass) nowadays. Proper credit will be assigned, just in case.
Authors' Notes: In the CB-verse, the story is very AU, with 12 years between present day and when the series itself actually took place. In the Trigun-Verse, it's the beginning of the final episode of the series.
I honest to God hope that no one is horribly out of character, either.
I'd like to thank Leah for beta'ing for me. Again. If this fic sucks, I blame you! Again.
Questions, Comments, Suggestions: Send to donnacsoprano76 AT gmail DOT com. All flames are read, laughed at then deleted with extreme prejudice.
"The Real Gunsmoke Blues Part II" By Net Girl
Chapter One: "To Battle Without Honour Or Humanity"
Vash stared down the barrel of his gun, into the intense blue eyes belonging to his brother, Knives. As did Knives, Vash pointed his weapon in the middle of his sibling's forehead; his other hand gripped the revolver carriage of Knives' gun. He couldn't figure out how things had deteriorated to this point. A standoff. A situation with very few outcomes, all of which demanded that one of them be dead.
So ... it's come to this, brother? Knives' voice filled Vash's mind as he connected with him telepathically. For what? For them? For her?
No. For you.
In what felt like slow motion, each tripped open the cylinder and the ejector rod of the other's gun, which sent bullets and empty shells into the air between them. At the same time, both grabbed a live round, slammed it into the cylinder before snapping it shut, then aimed at the other again.
Don't make me do this. The fear was as apparent on his own face as Vash's. Sweat poured down his forehead as he breathed hard and watched Vash closely, waiting for the next move.
I'm not making you do anything. We have free will. Remember? Vash's finger curled around the trigger of his silver-plated gun. He sensed the next action from Knives before it even happened. He squeezed the trigger, and so did Knives.
Both guns fired a single shot.
Meryl Stryfe froze in her tracks when she heard the sound of guns firing simultaneously, her weariness from her long journey immediately forgotten. The woman's eyes widened. On the near horizon, she could see that bright red coat - Vash. He fell backward onto the ground.
No! she thought, panicked.
She'd gone against her better judgment and Vash's request to stay behind until this business with his brother, Knives, was finished. She couldn't, though, no matter how much she tried to convince herself it was for her own good. Her deep concern and love for the man drove her into the wasteland to find him. Now she had. And he was in trouble.
Fear kept her feet rooted in place. She could only watch in muted horror as the scene continued to unfold in the distance. The confrontation had taken a turn for the worse. With a surprised gasp, Meryl shielded her eyes when a grand mixture of white and black exploded before her. She lowered her arm as the brilliant light faded away. The small green oasis Vash and Knives had been in was gone. Completely vanished. A deep crater and the two brothers was all that remained.
Her mouth hung open. This one of the few times when Meryl Stryfe was at a loss for words. In that instant, the story Vash had told her before he'd embarked on his mission became real to her. That reality terrified her more than anything before in her life.
Vash collapsed onto the ground, exhausted after he'd canceled out the second blast from Knives' own powerful weapon. Once Vash's arm reverted to normal and his hand held onto the grip of his regular gun, he aimed at Knives.
Knives' arm returned to its natural state. In better condition than Vash, he managed to fire five shots after he'd reloaded his black gun. When Vash pulled the trigger of his gun, only an empty click followed. He'd just had the one shot left in his weapon and he'd used that before they'd switched to their other guns.
Knives delivered a vicious kick to Vash, which knocked his brother flat onto his back and relieved Vash of his gun as well. He easily snatched Vash's gun out of the air and, before Vash's dazed eyes, used it and his own gun to transform both of his arms into their special weapon.
"I could kill you right now," Knives called out as the guns' glowed while he charged them. The smile on his face became more wicked as he aimed both guns at the ground below his feet. "But why should I do that when I have what I need to eliminate those who truly deserve it?"
Vash propped himself up on his elbows, confused by the turn this fight had taken and by what Knives intended to do. Then, he noticed it. Along the edges of the crater they'd created earlier, some form of machinery was below them. His panic rose. What vile plan did Knives have this time?
"Let's go back together! You can watch me destroy them all!"
Laughing maniacally, Knives fired both guns into the ground. A low rumbling followed then a cylinder of glimmering light that matched the circumference of the crater shot into the air, engulfing both of them and everything around them.
"Vash!" Meryl continued to run towards the light. That looks so familiar! Where have I seen such a thing before? she wondered as she increased her speed. "Vash!"
The cylinder of light collapsed down into itself and it was then that she remembered where she'd seen this before. A few years ago, when Vash had helped four people from their past return home - the crew of a spaceship oddly named the Bebop.
When she reached the edge of the glittering portal, she skidded to a stop. Her breath caught in her throat when she found no trace of Vash or Knives. Her eyes traveled the radius of the swirling disc and she noted the machinery along its edges.
What did he do? Devise a way to make his own portal? Of course, he did, stupid! Why else would it be here?
Her lips pressed together when she realized what it could mean. What if he'd managed to cut himself a path into the past? She knew from Vash's story that Knives wanted nothing more than to destroy the entire human race. Perhaps he'd decided to do it in another place. Why had he waited for Vash to come all of this way, though? Why take the one person who could stop him along for the ride?
The portal started to become unstable and that snapped Meryl back to the present. She didn't have time to go back for Milly or tell her associate what had happened. This was a decision she had to make and make now. Closing her eyes, she stepped forward and plunged into the portal. Her terrified shriek was cut off seconds later when it snapped shut, revealing the ingenious machine Knives constructed to create it.
A hot wind whipped across the barren desert landscape and tossed dust and sand into the cavern below. The three of them had disappeared. And no one would ever know where - or when - they'd disappeared to.
The portal established itself in mid-air when it materialized on the outskirts of a battered city on another planet. A moment later, Knives, followed directly by Vash and the large cross that had once belonged to Nicholas D. Wolfwood, dropped hard onto the ground. During the trip, Knives' arms had returned to normal and he lost both of the guns upon impact with the ground.
Vash's eyes opened, slowly. He lay face down on a semi-grassy patch of land. Soon, he focused on something glittering in the sunlight a few feet from him - his gun. Not far away, Knives, dazed by his own rough landing, uneasily pushed himself into a sitting position. His gaze locked onto his black gun then quickly searched out its silver twin. He found it laying near his also awake brother.
A shrill screaming came from the portal above. They looked up just as it spewed forth Meryl Stryfe. The young woman landed on her face, her feet almost touching the ground by her head. Groaning, her lower body snapped back until she lay flat on her stomach, stunned by the psychedelic trip through time and subspace. A second later, the swirling disc exploded out of existence.
Knives used the distraction as a chance to grab his gun. Before Vash could make sure that Meryl wasn't seriously injured, he noticed Knives making a move for his weapon. Diving forward, Vash snagged his own gun up from the ground and somersaulted as he cocked the hammer. When he came to a stop, he was flat on his back, his gun pointed at Knives just as Knives aimed down at him.
Breathing hard, Vash glared at Knives who towered over him with a triumphant smirk on his face. Neither one moved a muscle. They had themselves another standoff. However, this time, Vash's eyes occasionally flicked in Meryl's direction. He was surprised to see her fly out of that portal. She was supposed to be back in town, with Milly.
What the hell is she doing here? he couldn't help but think. He outwardly cringed, his grip on his gun tightening when he saw that Knives had 'heard' him.
Placing a hand to her forehead, Meryl sat back on her feet. Her head throbbed and she felt the warmth of her own blood trickling down the right side of her face. Blinking, she gasped lightly when Vash and Knives - guns aimed at each other - swam into focus before her. She instinctively reached underneath her coat for one of her Derringers but she froze, unsure of why.
It seems I have you at a disadvantage, Knives thought as his grin became more cruel. Why should I shoot you when I could do the superior beings of this universe a service by killing her?
For the first time since their battle had begun, Vash smiled. You're out of bullets, brother.
An eyebrow quirked. Knives wasn't fazed by the 'comment'. So are you ... brother. The gun in his hand began to morph as Knives called upon the true power he held within himself.
"Oh no ..." Meryl whispered, realizing what was about to happen. She began to crawl away from the two of them. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she let out a cry of terror when she saw Knives turning that black glowing "gun" on her.
No! Vash thought as his own arm transformed. I won't let you do this to me again!
Before either one had the chance to fire, their attention was drawn to the blue sky above them. A high-pitched whistling steadily grew louder. Neither could locate the source of it ... until it was too late. A rock, about twenty feet in diameter, slammed into the ground no more than 100 feet away from them. The force of earth meeting rock created a powerful, concentrated concussion explosion, which knocked Vash and Knives apart. Each landed on the ground, hard, several dozen yards away from each other.
Meryl covered her head as dust and small bits of detritus rained down on her. She opened her eyes. Neither Vash nor Knives moved. Shakily, she stood up and forced herself to walk forward. As she neared Vash, she saw he was sprawled upon Wolfwood's cross, almost as though someone had displayed him. His arms rested on each portion of the T and the rest of his body lay neatly down the spine.
"Vash?" She dropped to her knees beside him. He didn't look well at all - that last blast, combined with his previous fight, had taken so much out of him. The briefest thought that he might not survive crossed her mind. "Oh God ..." she murmured as she buried her face in the palms of her hands.
"He won't help you."
She gasped at the sound of Knives' voice behind her. She turned at the waist and looked up at the other blond. His cold, blue eyes glared down upon her with a hatred she'd never seen from another being. Before she could utter a syllable, she was violently struck upside the head by the barrel of Knives's gun. The woman fell forward, across Vash's body, and she didn't move again.
Knives snapped open the cylinder of his gun, reloaded it then jerked his wrist to close it. He pointed the barrel at Meryl's head, pulled back the hammer and smiled maliciously. How devastated Vash would be when he awoke to find this lowly, useless parasite he cared so much for dead.
His gaze shifted away from his intended victim and rested on Vash's face. After a moment, the gun lowered to his side, the hammer uncocking as his thumb shifted it back into place. Resting on one knee, Knives picked up Vash's gun, then he gently put it on his brother's chest.
Why only take one when I can take them all from you? Maybe you'll finally realize how right I am ...
With that final thought, Knives stood then stepped over the unconscious couple and headed for the city on the horizon. It was time to eliminate the human race. The two he'd left behind would never be able to stop him. Not here. Not now. When they eventually woke, they wouldn't know where to begin in trying to find him. Not until he wanted to be found, at any rate.
Chuckling, Knives paid no mind to the faded sign at the side of the crumbling highway which read:
'Calcutta - 30 Kilometers'.
Back on Gunsmoke , Milly Thompson held tightly to the reins of her thomas as it galloped across the vast stretch of desert land. She'd waited in the nearby town for hours and still no sign of either Mr. Vash or her superior. Terrified, she feared the worst.
Her chest tightened at the though of possibly having lost them as well. The evil brother of Vash, Knives, and his cohorts had already taken more than enough from her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered that day, not so long ago, when Nicholas Wolfwood died. She'd told Meryl she was absolutely fine, but she was far from it. Even her high sense of optimism couldn't find the silver lining in losing someone she loved. What good came from death?
Her eyes widened when she saw a massive black crater in the ground ahead. What could've caused such a thing? Once she was close enough, she reared her thomas to a halt and slid from the saddle.
"Ma'am!" she called as she ran towards the edge of the she neared, she found out exactly how deep it went into the ground. Some sort of cavern was beneath, the surface here and around it had collapsed in on itself. "Mr. Vash!"
Milly skidded to a stop then gazed down into the gaping hole. It was at that moment she discovered all of its secrets. Someone had collected various spare parts from the old spaceships and assembled it into ... what, she didn't quite know. A massive metal circle followed the circumference of the crater perfectly. She knelt down, brushed her fingers over it and leaned forward.
"Ma'am? Mr. Vash?" she yelled as she cupped her hands around her mouth. The only response was the hollow echo of her own voice. Sitting back on her heels, she felt the hope of finding her friends alive slipped away. "No ... not them, too."
Should Milly Thompson have been more familiar with the old technology, she would've recognized the striking resemblance the metal ring bore to the machinery of days gone by - a time when the circular object constructed out of junk before her was called a "hypergate".
End Chapter One.
Song Title Used: "To Battle Without Honour Or Humanity" - Tomoyasu Hotei
To the readers,
Almost exactly a year to the day, the sequel to the crossover begins! Hope you dig. Also, I apologize if the formatting is off. I'm using a new word processing program and I'm not quite used to it yet.
Your author,
Net Girl.
