Hey there guys! I posted this fic awhile ago, then deleted it and am now publishing it afresh! I hope you all enjoy it! (But I warn you, this story may be updated slowly due to my other fics and schoolwork)

Chapter 2/7

The Calking

"This way!" The woman pulled Vash threw the crowd hastily, knocking people aside, Meryl and Millie desperately trying to catch up with the two, feeling a little forgotten. "I hope it's not too late!"

"Don't worry ma'am!" Vash assured her. "I'm sure we'll make it in time to save your son!"

"We're almost there!" She told him, "The place where that man is keeping my son should be right around here!"

"I'm feeling horribly like a third wheel here Vash!" Meryl screamed from behind. Millie had strategically chosen to stay out of it. "What exactly are you doing, rushing to every pretty girl you meet's needs!"

"Not every pretty girl!" Vash corrected her. "Every pretty single girl!"

"Is there a difference!" she asked incredulously, doing her best not to pull out her one-shot guns.

"Anyway, this isn't the time for fighting," Vash told her, pulling out his gun. "We've got to go save the little boy in there."

"Mr. Vash is right," Millie nodded to her partner, and Meryl sighed, shaking her head.

"You're right. That kid's safety comes before Vash's shenanigans. C'mon Millie, we'll go in after Vash."

"This guy is probably armed," Vash warned the two of them. "Be careful you two. I can't afford to protect you when this pretty lady's son is on the line."

"One more word out of you…"

"C'mon!" Vash told the two as the woman from before ran up to what looked to be an abandoned building with swinging bar doors.

"This is where he's keeping my son!" the woman exclaimed, looking extremely frightened. "Please, save my son! He's all I've got left in the world!"

"Well, you'll soon have something else," Vash assured the woman, grasping her hand. Meryl once again grew angry, and Millie had to restrain her. "But don't worry ma'am, your son is safe with me."

"All right, Millie," Meryl turned to Millie and nodded to her. "We're going to run in after Vash. While the guy's focused on him, we'll ambush him and take the kid."

"Right, Meryl!" Millie nodded, smiling.

"If you can, get a shot on the guy!" Meryl told her. "They don't call you Stun Gun Millie for nothing."

"Whatever you say, Meryl!" Millie smiled, responding in her usual upbeat tone.

"HYAH!" Vash kicked back the door of the building, only to have it harmlessly swing back towards them. Meryl and Millie looked at Vash, and he sweatdropped. "Let's go!" Vash, recovering from the rather embarrassing entrance, sprinted into the building. Meryl and Millie sighed and ran in after him, ready to ambush the kidnapper.

"M-M-Mommy!"

"Don't worry kid, we're coming!" Vash assured the kid, his gun drawn and pointed at the kid's kidnapper.

In front of them was a man with dark hair and a beard. He was wearing a wide brimmed hat, so they couldn't see his eyes well, but in his hand was a gun stuck into the lower jaw of his hostage. In the man's arm was a crying boy with messy brown hair wearing a pair of overalls.

"Mommy! I want my mommy!" the boy cried, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Shut up, kid!" the man remarked, plunging the gun farther into the boy's face, making him cry even more. "Don't come any closer you three! You do, and the kid gets a face full of lead!"

"Using a boy as a hostage!" Meryl snapped. "That's horrible! What exactly do you want?"

"Money," the man remarked, frowning. "Give me all the money that broad has on her, and maybe, if I'm in a good mood, I'll let the kid go."

"Meryl…" Vash rasped to Meryl. "You know what to do."

"Right! Meryl nodded. "Millie, go!"

Meryl jumped into the air to reveal her one shot pistols under her coat. Millie took out her stun gun and shot towards the man.

"Damn!" he muttered, rolling over on his side, missing the blow by inches.

"Be careful of the kid, Meryl!" Vash called to her. "We don't want him to get hit by mistake!"

"Right, Vash!" Meryl nodded. "Millie!"

"I'm on it!" Millie nodded to her partner. She rushed forward and gave the man a hard kick in the stomach, sending him backwards. He let go of the boy, and Millie gathered him into her arms and rushed him away from the battlefield.

Meryl took out two of her one-shot pistols and aimed them at the kidnapper. He looked up, his eyes now wide. "Don't move!" Meryl told him. "Your hostage is gone and so is your weapon."

The man looked down and gasped to see that the gun in his hand was no longer there. "Looking for this?" He looked up at Vash, who was twirling the gun around his finger. He obviously had picked it up when Millie had kicked the man. "I suggest you turn yourself in. There's no need for you to die."

"Why aren't you firing your gun, mister?"

Vash looked back to see the boy looking at him, as if pleading him to shoot. "You've got to kill him! He's a bad man, isn't he?"

"Kid, I don't want to kill this guy…" Vash muttered. "There's no need."

"HAH! Let down your guard!" the man shouted and Vash turned his head just in time to see the man grabbing yet another gun from his vest and aiming it at Vash. "Say goodbye, Mr. Hero!"

"Vash!" Meryl shouted. There was no time! She grasped the one shot pistols in her hand and fired. The man fell back as the bullets hit him straight in the chest. The gun fell out of his hand and he slumped to the floor. "Vash, are you okay?"

"I-Is he dead?" Vash asked, eyes wide. "Meryl, you didn't have to do that!"

"He would've shot you!" Meryl retorted. "I had no choice but to use real bullets! You should thank me for saving your life!"

"Very good. I see you saved my son."

The three looked back and gasped as they saw none other then the woman from before now holding a pistol in her pale hand, a gaunt expression on her face. "But I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you."

"Huh?" Millie gasped, looking at the woman. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought you wanted us to save your son!" Meryl told the woman.

"Unless…" Vash murmured, then looked up. "It was all a trap, wasn't it? You were part of the kidnapping ring as well?"

"Good guess," the woman smirked. "But no cigar, I'm afraid. You've got it slightly backwards, Mr. Vash."

Meryl raised her guns, and Millie readied her stun gun, still protecting the boy. "Oh, you want to shoot me I see?" the woman smirked. She threw her head back and laughed. "That's funny!"

"Millie, what's wrong with this woman?" Meryl asked, her eyes wide.

"I-I'm not sure, Meryl…"

The three spun around as they heard the sound of clinking glasses. They gasped to see none other then the kidnapper rising to his feet, using the counter of glasses as a support. He rose to his feet and pulled out his weapon. Now both the man and the woman had the trio boxed in.

"B-but I shot him!" Meryl gasped. "Did I miss? I could've sworn I hit him right in the chest!"

"Why don't you shoot them?"

Vash looked down once again at the boy that Millie had in her arms. He was looking up at Vash with wide eyes. "Kill them. They're bad people."

Vash's eyes grew wide and he let out a small gasp. "Millie, let go of that kid!"

"Wh-why Mr. Vash?" Millie asked.

"Let him go!" he shouted. "Or else he might--"

It was too late. The boy had taken his elbows and had elbowed Millie right in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She fell to the ground, and the woman in the red dress fired her weapon at her.

"Millie!" Meryl screamed, but Millie was quick to react. She rolled on her side, and the bullet hit the floorboard, missing Millie by inches.

The boy walked slowly over towards the woman, the man following suit. All three of them now stood in front of the trio, looking at them with dark eyes. The boy smiled, and then raised his hand. The two people behind him raised their guns and pointed them at the trio.

Meryl raised her shot pistols. "Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!"

"Don't be stupid," the boy remarked, smirking evilly. "Miss, want to see how much damage a bullet can do to my parents here?"

"Y-your parents?" Vash asked, eyes wide. "So these kidnappers are actually your parents? What do you want from us?"

"Not from you as a whole," the boy smiled. "But from you, Mr. Vash the Stampede."

Vash's eyes narrowed, and Millie and Meryl stepped next to him, ready to take down the evil trio standing in front of you. The boy smirked, rose his hand in the air, and then snapped his fingers.

The boy's mother and father raised their guns, pointed them straight at the trio, and then, in a single flowing motion, turned the guns back at themselves and fired.

Vash, Meryl and Millie gasped as the sound of the guns resounded through the building. Blood flowed freely from the man and the woman's necks. It was a sick sight to behold, but they seemed unphased.

"Wh-what the heck?" Meryl asked, covering her mouth as to make herself not vomit. "Why aren't they dead? No one can walk away after being shot straight in the jugular!"

"Those people aren't real," Vash said, his voice growing serious.

"Sorry, wrong again Mr. Vash!" the boy laughed. "My parents are quite real. They're just…well…how do you put it? Oh…handicapped!"

"Handicapped?" Meryl asked, her eyebrows raising. "H-How so?"

"Well, they can't die," the boy laughed, and Vash's eyebrow twitched. "What I mean is, they're already dead."

"Already dead?" Millie asked, shivering. "S-So they're…they're…?"

"Zombies?" the boy asked, smiling. "You could say that. But I prefer the term 'puppet'. My parents have become my puppets, and I'm the puppeteer."

"How can you control your own parents?" Meryl asked. "That's so cruel!"

"My parents are dead," the boy shrugged. "I'm simply using their bodies for my purposes."

"So you're a necromancer," Vash gathered. Meryl and Millie looked at Vash, surprised.

"A-A necromancer? A person who can control the dead?" Meryl asked. "That kid's a necromancer? They actually exist?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" the boy laughed. "But I should probably introduce myself. The name's Benree, and my parents are Rosaline and Fitzwilliam." He nodded his head to his two still bleeding parents respectively.

"What do you want from me?" Vash asked. "You're obviously after me for something."

"Good call!' Benree laughed, grinning. "The truth is, Mr. Vash the Stampede, I want revenge on you for what you did."

Meryl and Millie looked at Vash, curious as to know if Vash knew or remembered what he could have possibly done to Benree. Vash looked as though he was drawing a blank, so Benree continued.

"You're the one who murdered my parents and made me an orphan," Benree snarled. "I remember it as clear as day. That horrible expression on your face. So blank…so…" Benree gritted his teeth, "so cruel. You murdered them in cold blood!"

Vash remained silent as Benree continued his story.

"The Humanoid Typhoon!" Benree shouted, looking vicious and angry. "You, Vash the Stampede murdered my parents! But that's not what I'm angry about!" Benree looked at his feet, and for a moment, the trio thought the young boy was about to break down in tears. He looked up, his eyes as angry as ever. "I begged you to kill me as well, but you didn't! You just walked away and left me with my two dead parents!" Benree's eyes filled with tears as he gritted his teeth in anger. "YOU MADE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL!"

"Benree…" Vash began. "I don't rem--"

"Don't say anything, Vash the Stampede," Benree muttered. "After you destroyed me and my life, I studied and became a necromancer just so I could get revenge on you using my own parents even if their spirits had left this world."

"Where in the world could you have learned necromancy?" Meryl asked.

"While I was wandering, carrying my parent's bodies…" Benree recalled. "I met my Master. I told him my story, and he taught me the cursed art of necromancy. He said I had true talent."

"Who's this…Master?" Vash asked.

"Enough out of you," Benree smirked. "I'm afraid that my parents and I will have to take our leave for now. But don't worry Mr. Vash the Stampede." Benree grinned at Vash, an evil glare going through his eyes. "You will face us again. Consider this a sentence to your upcoming death."

Benree snapped his fingers again, and a purple and black smoke filled the room, blowing Vash, Meryl, and Millie backwards into the counter. They covered their eyes from the blowing smoke and dust, and when it finally cleared, Benree and his puppets were no longer in the room.

"Vash…what in the world is that kid going to do?" Meryl asked, looking at the spot where Benree had once stood.

"I'm not sure Meryl," Vash shook his head. "But it's obvious that he won't let me be until he's gotten his revenge. I'm going to have to convince him otherwise."

Meryl sighed, looking out the door. "Easier said then done, Vash."

Yay! I finished the second chapter! I hope you'll all enjoy this short story! I know I will. I really like this short piece. (It's only seven chapters, by the way. Consider it just another chapter in the many escapades of Vash. I don't see enough of those stories.)

Until then,

Ciao for now!