"What time is it?"

Meryl dropped her coffee, and the mug shattered across the wood floor. Milly just looked at it, then back to Meryl.

Meryl turned to stare at her. "How...how do you do that?"

Milly's hair was all messed up and she had a tired look in her eyes. "Huh?"

"Sneak up like that?"

"Oh...sorry...I wasn't trying to."

"Why are you up so early anyway? I figured you'd be hungover..."

"I had some bad dreams..." She stepped away from the coffee that was currently running towards her toes. "You want me to get a towel for that?"

"No...I'm the one who dropped it. You should go back to sleep. We don't have to go to that stupid shooting contest. In fact, I don't think I even want to go."

Milly smiled a bit. "But you have too...it's your duty."

"You are hungover aren't you?"

She threw Meryl a towel with a smirk. "I'll be okay in about a half hour or so."

The priest complained, dragging the red coat along. "You're a real wimp, you know that?"

"Please don't talk so loud." The ground warped beneath his feet and the nausea worsened.

Wolfwood's eyes went cold. "If you throw up on me..."

Milly shaded her eyes with one hand and pointed with the other. "There they are, Sempai!" Her smile faded. "Mr. Vash doesn't look so good though..."

Meryl looked up in mild concern. Vash had an arm around Wolfwood and was slowly walking towards them with his head hung.

He made a fake heaving sound and clutched at Wolfwood's jacket. Nick panicked, shoving him to the sand.

Vash laughed weakly with his face in the dirt. "Got ya..."

"Idiot." Wolfwood began to step over him as Vash hurled for real. "DAMMIT! YOU STUPID-"

The girls sighed as people began to stare.

Vash walked back under the tent after shooting all five bottles. "I messed up...I didn't want to be too good."

"You worry too much..." Nick fished out a cigarette.

"Will the next contestant please step up, Mr. Nicholas D. Wolfwood!"

He dropped it. "YOU PUT ME IN THE CONTEST?"

Vash shrugged. "What's the big deal? You did the same to me! Besides, it gives Neil's mom twice the chance of getting that money."

The announcer's voice rang out again. "Is Mr. Nicholas present?"

He growled, grabbing a pistol off one of the tables. Milly and Vash observed this with silent interest. The bottles hadn't stood a chance. He sat calmly back down while everyone stared.

That was precision shooting. He didn't hesitate either. Milly smiled. "How come your so good?"

He crossed his arms and gave her that soapbox tone. "Sadly...this is a dangerous time we live in. Even a man of God must know how to defend himself."

She could see he wasn't going to be open about it. But she still had to mess with him a little. "Yeah...I guess I'd say that too..." Nick looked up at her in disbelief. She smiled in a way he'd never seen before. "Ex-gunman Nicholas D. Wolfwood, or maybe...you were a bounty hunter." She paused to look in his eyes. "Nah...you don't have the bounty look, I'm staying with gunman."

It definitely hit a nerve and his tone quickly ended the discussion. "Don't even joke like that."

Milly let it go but Vash glanced at the priest uneasily.

Naturally, the boys were more than a match for all the other contestants, and the roster quickly dwindled to include only their two names. Since they both intended to give the prize money to the same person anyway, Wolfwood decided to forfeit and just let Vash have the win. He left to go inform the judges.

Meryl spoke once Wolfwood was out of earshot. "Were you trying to make him angry earlier, Milly?"

Milly relaxed in his now empty chair. "Of course not. I just wanted to see what he'd say."

The three sat in silence until Nick came back. Wolfwood looked at Vash. "Get up."

He whined without budging. "But I thought you withdrew..."

His voice was serious. "Tell me...what do you see in that window?"

They all followed Wolfwood's gaze. Neil's mother was up in one of the buildings...with a man holding a gun to her temple.

"And that about sums it up." Wolfwood turned and walked out onto the shooting area.

Vash glared but went to follow him. Meryl moved into his path. "Wait. You can't do this. There's got to be some other way. He'll kill you! Let us help..." He wasn't saying anything. "Vash?" He put his hands on her shoulders and moved her aside. "Vash!...Vash?" She looked to Milly hopelessly. "They'll kill each other...we can't let them..." Meryl stopped when she realized Milly wasn't paying the least bit attention to her.

The man in the window was too busy watching Wolfwood and Vash. Milly was sure she could hit him without injuring the woman. She had one revolver on each hip. She reached inside her trenchcoat for the one on the right. Meryl grabbed her wrist. Milly looked at her pleadingly. "You've got to trust me." Shots rang out behind them as the boys' duel started.

Meryl looked at Vash then back to Milly. She knew he'd die to save that woman. She couldn't let that happen. Meryl released Milly's wrist. "Do it."

Milly looked back up...but the man was now staring straight at them. He glared pressing the gun harder to the woman's temple. Milly relaxed, showing him both her hands and sighing. "This is not good..."

Large men rushed up with rifles. The girls were forced to sit with their hands behind their heads, while the guns were held to their backs.

Meryl was now furious. "What the hell do you think a stunt like this is going to accomplish?"

One particularly gross man spoke for them all. "Relax babes. All that's gotta happen is your boyfriends gotta fight each other, and the blonde one's gotta die. Besides that, everyone goes home happy."

The girls traded glances. "Our...boyfriends?" They then turned to look down the barrels of their respective rifles and yelled simultaneously.

Milly:"BUT HE'S A PRIEST!"

Meryl:"BUT HE'S VASH THE STAMPEDE!"

Vash and Wolfwood looked at each other. They hadn't heard the rest, just the yelling part. No clue on that front. Vash smiled. Wolfwood smiled. Both hit the dirt in a pool of blood.

The girls gasped in shock. The men behind them ran off to check the bodies. Milly jumped up, but she couldn't act. She couldn't do anything. Meryl sat wide-eyed, unbelieving. They just couldn't be...it couldn't end like that. A sudden shot brought them both back to reality. The bullet erupted from the Long Colt and sent Wolfwood's pistol back to him. The boys leapt up firing, to the horror of the riflemen. Vash smiled at the insurance girls, waving his empty ketchup bottle.

Milly could think now. She could help. She spun around and blew a bullet through the shoulder of the man in the window. Neil's mom screamed, but fled unharmed. Nick was startled when his target fell before he could even pull the trigger. He looked to the source of the bullet. Milly winked at him.

Meryl and Milly kept close, sniping off...in those oh so tricky non-lethal spots...different men that approached Vash and Wolfwood. Meryl grabbed Derringer after Derringer. "There's too many!"

Wolfwood chunked the useless pistol and called out to them. "CAN ONE OF YOU GIRLS TOSS ME MY LUGGAGE?"

They both looked at the huge cross. "Um...we can try."

Milly grabbed it by one of the straps while Meryl yelled at her. "How the hell are you gonna throw that?"

"Uh...centripetal force?" She spun around twice then chunked it as hard as she could, hoping its own weight would carry it the rest of the way. At least they were higher up than the boys were. Ironically, it kind of looked like some frisbee from hell. Wolfwood caught it, spun it around, and shoved its base into the sand. With one click, all the straps and material flew off in a chain reaction, to reveal an intimidating metal frame. He quickly slid open a side arm full of pistols and began unloading them on the helpless devils coming down the hill.

Milly lowered her revolvers. "And he gets touchy when I call him a gunman..."

Meryl just stared in amazement while Vash yelled from below, "WHAT KIND OF CHURCHMAN ARE YOU!"