Ch. 9 This Is Unlike Me, But…
Bleeding Sun
TRAIN SENT OUT OF CONTROL DUE TO HUMANIOD TYPHOON. APROX. 5,000 PASSENGERS FOUND DEAD ALONG WITH NOTORIOUS BADLAND BOYS.
That headline was everywhere. Wolfwood sighed as the last of the memorial was set up in Sun City. He had left Milly before she couldn't even wake up from the attack, and presumed Meryl to be dead. Obviously, though, Vash was still wandering about.
"That damn man. Look at the mess you left for me to clean up! CURSE YOU VASH!" He yelled and a chorus of other yells of agreement came from the other men cleaning up the train wreck and setting up the memorial.
"You're a clergy, right?" Another priest approached Wolfwood with bible in one hand and a shovel in another.
"Sort of." Wolfwood mumbled. The churchman pulled the cigarette from Nicholas' mouth and tossed it onto the ground.
"Then you might appreciate it when I say you should set a better example for others." The man waved goodbye and walked away. Wolfwood growled and reached for another cigarette. He looked up at the burning suns and wiped his forehead. A glinting on the cliff caught his eye and he looked up in and uninterested way. His jaw dropped in shock and the cigarette fell to the ground.
"Joe! I'm taking my break now!" Wolfwood yelled out to his boss and he dropped his shovel and jumped onto his motorcycle.
"But…" Joe muttered with wide eyes "you just started…"
Wolfwood tore down the road up the mountainside and pulled over by a body lying in the dirt. He was merely two feet from the edge of the cliff, and was only unconscious, but miraculously, wasn't injured.
"Hey Spikey! Get off your butt before I kick you over the edge!" Wolfwood shouted into Vash's ear. Vash's hand flew up and his fingers curled around Nicholas' neck. His face looked very disgruntled as he slowly managed to push himself onto his knees.
"You… can… let me… go… now…" Wolfwood choked out while clawing at Vash's hard fingers. The Stampede looked up at him with a scowl and released him. Wolfwood gasped for air and when color returned to his face he knocked Vash on the head with his fist.
"Yo Spikey! What were you thinking by killing all those people? Do you realize all the trouble you put me through!"
"Where's the giant girl?" Vash asked quietly. Wolfwood's face turned deathly pale and he turned away.
"I don't know. I don't care either." He fingered the pocket that was now absent of cigarettes shakily, becoming steadily upset that he had nothing to do with his hands.
"I see…" Vash stood up and brushed off his dirt covered black coat. He began walking away from Wolfwood but stopped when he felt his hand on his shoulder. He turned sharply and jumped away to see a very enraged Wolfwood.
"WERE YOU ABOUT TO LEAVE THIS MESS TO ME!" he yelled furiously "BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING IF YOU THINK YOU'RE GETTING OFF THAT EASY!" Wolfwood dragged Vash to the edge of the cliff and threw him over and enjoyed each inch the black dot fell down towards the rubble. He jumped on his bike and raced him down to the bottom.
Vash landed heavily on his face, and the feeling of dirt and mud and some sort of hard things (probably pieces of the ship) being drove into his body didn't help any. He pushed himself up and looked at the fifty or so workers staring at him with wide eyes. Some murmuring ran through the crowd until Wolfwood pulled to a halt beside Vash and picked him up be the thick collar of his coat.
"Look at this! It's a Bad Land Boy who survived! Let's make him work with us!" Wolfwood shouted over the hush in the crowd. Some nodding rolled about the men and then some yells of agreement roared out.
"WHAT!" Vash cried out in horror. The next minute he found himself in a sweaty white shirt, black pants, and clutching a shovel while digging through debris and corpses with chains hanging off his limbs.
"I ought to kill you…" Vash muttered to Wolfwood while crossly throwing more wreckage and a black cat (still living) into a cart. Wolfwood chuckled and pressed the barrel of his gun to Vash's head.
"Did ya hear that fellows! Poor little Bad Land Boy here isn't enjoying his work! Should I add more chains?" some cheers rang out and Wolfwood put away the gun and dropped more greasy chains on Vash's back. Vash stumbled towards his part of rubble heatedly and resumed shoveling away the rotting flesh.
"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Wolfwood laughed in Vash's face. Vash's nose crinkled up at the strong smell of tobacco still lingering on his breath. He slowly stood up and began breaking the chains off him. He picked up his coat and leather under-suit irritably and pulled on his infamous clothes while ignoring the stares from the crowd. He reached down and grasped air like a child reaching for out-of-reach cookies. His eyes widened and he looked at Wolfwood murderously.
"Give me my gun!" He roared and stuck out his hand towards Wolfwood. Nicholas barked out laughter and held up his gun teasingly.
"But Bad Land Boy, you haven't finished your job yet!" he laughed. Vash growled and his eyes darted about the men closing in, some were beating their shovels dangerously in their hand and others were pulling out pocketknives.
"I said… Give. Me. My. Gun!" He yelled at Wolfwood again. "I won't take this disgrace anymore! Give it back to me and I might allow you to live!"
"Who do you think you are?" One of the men cried out. The others grumbled in conformity. Vash turned his back to Wolfwood with an insane and gleeful smile spread across his face. His eyes widened in excitement at the opportunity to introduce himself.
"Why, my unlucky foes…" he snarled the word like it was the ugliest name he could call them "I am-!" He cried out when a shot rang out and grazed his arm. He swung around and looked at Wolfwood looking at his gun with vice.
"How can you shoot with this! I was aiming dead-center at your head!" He growled and threw the "useless" thing to the ground. Vash's eyebrows instantly drew down in a scowl and his pupils shrunk with lunacy. His long arm was flung around and the backside of his hand made a sickening slap against Wolfwood's face. Wolfwood was sent crashing to the ground and he groaned out in pain. Vash looked around at the other men as they closed in even more and he reached down for his gun.
"You people don't even know who I am, do you? I'm the legendary-" Vash yelped at feeling Wolfwood's long and rough fingers curled around his wrist. Wolfwood gave a large tug and pulled Vash down to the ground beside him and began grumbling unnecessary curse words.
"Are you stupid in the head or something? Look Spikey, more than half these men lost there families on this train you wrecked and there is no way in hell you can take them all on. Play along and pretend to be a Bad Lander or be killed by a mob of emotionally unstable guys." Vash pouted and pulled his gun closer to his chest protectively.
"I have no doubt that I can wipe these insects away in a matter of seconds, so I don't see your problem." Vash growled with his wild dull eyes darting about the gathering of angry and curious eyes.
"My problem is that you would so willingly kick the dog when it's down! I've killed before, so don't think I'm new to the territory, but you're about ready to slaughter these men!" Wolfwood turned his blackening and swelling face toward Vash to see his reaction. Vash stared blankly into space with no emotion crossing over his expression. Ever so slowly a smile etched its way onto his face and he raised the hand clutching his gun with white knuckles up to aim at the heart of a nearby man. As the man fell with cold dead eyes the other people began fleeing in shock. Wolfwood jumped up and tackled Vash before he could stand and began beating him with curled fists wherever he could.
"DAMN YOU!" Wolfwood hollered out. Vash flinched with each punch while reaching up towards Wolfwood and he finally coiled his gloved fingers around the collar of his shirt. He threw him off himself with all his power, sending Wolfwood skidding away towards his bike. Wolfwood rolled over and jumped to his feet and pointed with a shaky hand his pistol at Vash's chest. Vash jumped to his feet and howled out in fury when a large crowd of people passed inbetween the two fighting males.
"Out of my way!" he cried out trying to get passed them to kill off that terrorist priest. Wolfwood appeared from nowhere in front of Vash with his gun pressed against his forehead.
"One more step and I'll blow your brains out!" Wolfwood yelled. The scattering crowd stopped in their tracks and watched the spectacle with wide eyes. Vash slowly stood to his tallest and wrapped his fingers around the front of the gun, holding it steady.
"Go ahead then…" He laughed out like a madman and greeted his fate with open arms. "I dare you." He growled under his breath. Wolfwood's smile spread in suit and he pulled a string attached to the keys in his motorcycle and activated it. The engine blew up dust in a tornado and with only the loud roaring sounds and a screech of wheels, the crowd was left with two missing men.
"I can't believe I let you convince me to not kill them." Vash snarled into Wolfwood's ear. Wolfwood rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder at Vash clinging to the sides of the motorcycle as they flew past Sun City.
"If you're gonna ride with me I'm gonna have to get ya a side cart or something." Wolfwood grumbled. Vash turned his head away and ran a hand over the smooth top of the helmet pressing down his hair. Wolfwood turned his attention back to the road and tried ignoring the Typhoon on the back of his bike. His concentration was broken to hear Vash say something he never expected.
"Hey… Can we stop? I need to go."
The brakes slammed and two men went sailing into the air, screaming. This was going to be a long trip.
I'm sorry, I just had to end this one differently. A little light-heartedness for the moment being. If this was a hard chapter to understand, I'll summarize it for ya. Wolfwood finds himself with a crowd of men from Sun City, the destination of the Sand Steamer, cleaning up the wreckage from the crash. Wolfwood, while lighting a cigarette, spots Vash on the cliff and drags him down to the people and covers up the Typhoon's identity to protect both Vash and the hard-working men. Vash and Wolfwood have a serious talk about his killing problem and Wolfwood eventually convinces him to not kill the saddened men and to travel with him to another city. Ends in humor.
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