Ch. 12 Bleeding Sun
My Little Sickness

Vash moaned in pain as he rolled on his side. His vision was blurry and his breath was coming ragged. Something was unquestionably wrong with him, but how was this possible? He was immune to human diseases, how could he become so sick so fast? He glanced to the side table and spotted his sunglasses next to a glass of ice cold water. His eyes swept the rest of the room before landing on a small girl in the doorway. Vash snarled and tried pushing himself into a sitting position but a hand landed on his shoulder and with some effort, pushed him back down. He looked up to a woman standing over him with a cool rag. She pressed it on his forehead and smiled in satisfaction.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked. Vash suddenly felt a large wave of nausea and he rolled to his side and threw up next to the bed in a conveniently placed trash bin. The woman jumped back with a worried and sickened face. Vash was ready to fall from the bed in exhaustion but he paused when booming echoed from outside.

"Oh no…" the woman muttered. Charlene Polo stared out the window with wide eyes. "A train just crashed into the satellite!" She cried out. Her daughter slapped her hands over her open mouth. Vash grumbled and just barely kept himself from toppling off the mattress.

His head was still spinning, and standing didn't help, but none-the-less Vash wobbled to his feet and stumbled to the door.

"Oh dear, no!" The woman named Charlene called to him with outstretched hands. "Please don't get up! You're very sick, hun, you need your rest."

Vash continued his dizzying journey from the shop/home. His brain seemed to be kicking in again and he remembered the beast-boy and his mosquitoes. It was more than likely his "pets" carried diseases, and now he was ill because of those mutant bugs…

Wolfwood smiled as he shook the hotel keeper's hand in greeting.

"It's very nice of you to let me stay here until my bike's fixed. You know I don't have much money, right?" The old gentleman chuckled a bit gravely and shook his head. He looked like the sort of man to commit suicide in the morning. "It's no trouble my boy. Please, stay as long as you want… it makes no difference." Wolfwood shrugged and climbed the stairs to his room on the second floor. He plopped his cross on the bed and the springs cried in resistance. He ignored the creaky mattress and sat at a chair by the window. His fingers pawed at his jacket's pocket out of habit and he blew a sigh through his lips. His dark hair hung lazily around his face and he glanced out the window just in time to spot a large train crashing into a satellite.

Wolfwood leapt from his chair and scrambled out the window with his cross swinging from his back. He pounced off the roof and landed heavily on the dirt road and began bounding towards the crash site. He skidded to a stop to see that wretched black coat swinging slowly down the street.

"Spikey - you idiot! What are you doing? Where have you been!" Nicholas knocked Vash on the head with the end of his cross-punisher. Vash mumbled curses and looked up at Wolfwood from his slumped over state.

"What the hell are you rushing for?" Vash asked while laying a hand over his eyes to block out those annoying suns. Wolfwood glared at him then stuck his nose in the air. "I have a feeling this town is having some sort of feud, and crashing that train might upset a good number of the residents, so I'm going to the satellite to check it out."

Vash merely half-listened as his headache swelled. "I'll go with you…" He mumbled as he turned and swayed towards the satellite and began walking clumsily down the road. Wolfwood stared for a moment before catching up and walking beside him to the site.

They joined a large crowd gathered around the train. Suddenly, the intercom erupted into life and a voice boomed over it. It had only one demand…

"The death of all the Polo Family!"

Vash ignored the gasps coming from around him and continued pushing through the crowd. His forehead sweated and his sight blurred, but he continued pushing until he was by the train. He slumped against it and ground his teeth together when Wolfwood wrapped his arm under Vash's and pulled them through a crack in the train's hull.

When they entered Vash could hear the slight murmur from some ruff men up in the control room. Wolfwood looked both ways then down at Vash.

"Which way do we go?"

"What do I look like, a damn dog?" Vash griped. Wolfwood sighed and let go of the Stampede.

"How about you put that Humanoid Typhoon title to work, eh? We'll scare them out and put an end to this feud." Wolfwood said. Vash shook his head.

"Does it look like I'm here to help anybody? Get out of my face." Vash sucked in a lungful of air and willed himself to stand straight and menacingly. His brain felt like a puddle right now, but that didn't matter. It didn't take brains to kill people.

The Stampede walked in slow strides, making sure his footsteps were heard. As he neared the control room the voices stopped to listen to him near. Vash swallowed another breath and grinned maniacally.

"Total slaughter! Total slaughter!" He sang in a low voice that echoed from the walls and straight into the Fris family's fear. "I won't leave a single man alive! Ladidadidie! Genocide! Ladidadidud, an ocean of blood! Let's begin, the killing time!" by this time the men were panicking. Vash entered the room with one large sweep. His eyes flashed without the sunglasses to cover them and his grin grew.

"I want to see your hearts!" Vash growled between his smiling teeth. The men cried in horror and Vash swept his arm up while loosely clutching the black gun and he shot the people to pieces. Even an old gentleman who was apparently not part of the Fris'.

Wolfwood stumbled in and grabbed Vash's arm. Vash grinned with satisfaction. "I don't feel ill anymore!" He cried out in joy. Wolfwood shook his head and pulled Vash away from the murdered mass. They left through an opening in the back of the train and, after stopping for Vash's glasses that he insisted were necessary, got Wolfwood's bike from the shop and sped away.

Nicholas turned his head to look at Vash angrily in his side cart. "Spikey, you need to…" Wolfwood shook his head and ran a hand over his helmet. "Never mind." Vash shrugged as they pulled into the next town. Vash looked around at the empty streets with uninterested eyes.

They road to the center of the town without spotting a soul, and were slowly becoming suspicious. Vash stirred at the sight of the center and leapt from the moving motorcycle. He threw the helmet to the ground and stared at the statue sitting as silent as the municipality.

"Knives." He read off the stone slab.