Disclaimer: A house is not easy to get a hold on, even though they can't run and usually aren't greased.
Chapter 30: The Calm Before...
Well, it was about time to pack up and go. Fifteen iles and a good climb wasn't anything he couldn't do at any time, in any condition, in any weather, but others might not be so trailworthy. Thus, he had bugged Knives to fix up an old transport bus to haul them most of the way. Bro actually took to the idea fairly readily. No matter how used you were to your own company, staying cooped up in a room would eventually leave even the most ardent stick in the mud itching for something to do. The transport was no problem, though he had expected Knives to be a bit peeved about all the people that would be in fairly close proximity to the irate one as he worked on it down by the street. However, even the two hanger on bar girls didn't seem to annoy him that much, though the two of them were so set on him that they were practically chasing off anyone else that got close. Why did that seem so familiar for some reason?
Whatever the reason, at least Knives wasn't being a huge pain in the ass lately. He was almost sort of maybe displaying something resembling compassion towards Lina, if you stood on your head and crossed your eyes while looking. Well, at least it was something. A good salmon sandwich started out as deswheat sprouts in the fields and fish eggs in hydroponics, you just had to shelter and care for them well and they'd eventually get to a nice sandwichy state somewhere down the line. It was something to hope for, though he just wished that there was a little more time before getting tossed into a battle. Knives could really benefit from it. He had considered asking bro to stay behind, but he already knew what sort of a yelling match that would get into. Knives was coming to look after him, and that was pretty much that. Now, if he could just finagle the rest of the group out of any ideas of tagging along...
"Meryl, I think it would be best if you-"
"No."
"Won't you please reconsider?"
"Okay, let me reconsider. ...huh, you're right, the answer changed. It's now hell no!"
He sighed deeply. Maybe if he tried appealing to her sensitive side with the eyes and waterworks? Nah, she knew him too well for that to work. What if he hogtied her and threw her in the closet? That might work... but when he got back, she'd really let him have it. Scratch idea number two, he wasn't that brave. Actually, considering the bond between them now, there was really only one option open for him. He straightened up and looked right into her flashing eyes, that just dared him to try and push her away. So he drew her in.
She made a muffled yelp into his shirt, but soon relaxed in his embrace. He planted a kiss on the top of her head, then began to plead.
"Meryl... I love you. My heart wants you right there with me through everything, but I have to keep my head about me. This is going to be the toughest fight I've ever been in. There are going to be more bullets in the air, than, well, air. I have no clue how I'm going to pull this one off. Even with my abilities, it's going to take everything I've got just to get me through alive. I simply can't protect you on this one, so please stay here and wait for me."
She was silent for a while, her breath tickling his neck. She finally spoke, though softly. "You really are an idiot."
"But it's the truth!"
"I know it is, as only a spiky haired idiot can know truth. However, you said it yourself- toughest fight ever. Did it even cross your mind how I'd feel if you weren't quite good enough? I've been through a lot, but I don't know if I could get through that, and I never want to find out. So I'm going with you, simple as that. For better or worse, remember?"
Now it was his turn to be silent for a while. He wanted to say so many things, but they all jammed up trying to get out. Eventually something did manage to squeeze out- "I'm a really lucky guy."
"No argument here. Still, I wish there was more I could do... I might be Derringer Meryl, but right now I don't have a single one on me. If they get close, I can zap them with the suit, but that's about it."
"You know, there might be another option..." He started to rummage through his bag, but couldn't find what he was looking for. He turned to the other dirt encrusted suitcase he had dragged in shortly after settling down in the apartment, and unclasped it. No, not here either... Then his attention was drawn to Meryl, who looked quite surprised. "Vash, is that-"
"Man, I can't find it anywhere. Oh, wait, I bet I stuck it in my coat pocket! Let's see, that should be in the dresser..."
"How did you get so much money? There must be over a million in here! ...Is this some of the original credit script from before they made the double dollar standard?"
"What? Oh, that. Well, I don't like to travel with money, but I do pick it up from time to time. I give most of it away, but I always tuck a little away here and there just in case. Of course, sometimes someone digs it up by sheer luck or-"
"So this is how you've always managed to have just a few double dollars handy! Just how many of these things do you have?"
"Eh, well, if I had to guess... Maybe two dozen. Most only have a few thousand, luckily the one I buried around here was one of the largest. Really helped get things moving for the wedding! I call it my Hole-in-the-Ground Bank. Ah, here we go! I just hope it's not too heavy."
He toss it to her, and she nearly dropped it twice. First out of surprise of having something unexpectedly heavy hefted her way, and then again when she got a good look at just what it was.
"Vash, you can't be serious! This is much too dangerous! What if it goes off?"
"No worries, Meryl. It won't go boom unless you've got a lot of power to dump and can send the telepathic command to the plants inside. Otherwise, it's just a fancy looking Colt. Besides, it matches your hair."
"And what about Knives? He's going to be angry, to put it mildly."
"Well, I'm certainly not about to hand it back to him just yet. He can't have it until he learns how to be nice, and until then it'd just be gathering dust."
She ran a critical eye over the black gun, holding it gingerly as if it were about to bite. He dug through a few more pockets and retrieved the belt and holster for it, and passed them off to the dubious recipient. She finally concluded her inspection and strapped it to her waist.
"See? It's all good!"
"I'll reserve judgment for later, though..."
She gave a halfhearted smile and looked to the window. In a split second, she had it drawn and aimed at the horizon. Nowhere near his speed, but still quite good. She smoothly re-holstered the Angel Arm gun, not changing her gaze from the distant line between sand and sky.
"...I wonder what they'll call me now? Hard to be Derringer Meryl without the derringers."
"Well, that's hard to say. You never know what'll stick. However, I know what I'd call you. How does 'Beloved Meryl' sound?"
She turned to him, and he knew by the merry glint in her eye that he had just scored bigtime. "C'mon you doofus, let's go see if we can talk some sense into the others."
"What a disaster."
She hoped that the massive failure in convincing people to stay behind would balance out in some incredible luck come tomorrow. The only one who actually agreed to stay behind was the gunsmith, claiming that he was only in the business of making guns, not shooting them. Why was he the only reasonable one of the lot? Milly had politely but firmly said she was coming along, and that was that. Rai-Dei, well, he could actually take care of himself and was almost certainly better suited for this than her. Lina had begun spitting venom at the mere suggestion that she not come, and it quickly degenerated into a screaming match between the two of them. Vash had to wade in and break them up before they escalated too far. That girl was just too much like herself.
Now that it was well established that they had all lost their senses at some point, the only thing left to do was gather enough supplies for the six of them and load the transport. She couldn't quite shake the feeling that Vash knew that he'd end up taking them all from the start. Why else would he have found what was essentially a small bus? It would have been far too large for just one person. In any event, it was better than an open air truck bed. Just what had happened to that truck, anyway? It should have been around somewhere...
"I'm ready to go down, Meryl."
"Okay Milly, just let me get my- What are you doing?"
Milly was well prepared for travel from the neck down. Above that things were uncertain, what with the large brown bag that was over her partner's head with two little round holes for eyes. "Milly, I know that we have to disguise ourselves, but really- a general store's bag? That's going to draw attention, not evade it."
"Well, what would you suggest?"
Her mouth opened to reply before she realized just what a problem this was. Her own small stature helped in staying unnoticed, but Milly was the exact opposite- her height had drawn occasional stares back when they were insurance agents, and now that they were being actively hunted she would stand out, literally. There was no way a bag would help things. If only Milly's duster had a hood, or... Maybe...
"Dammit Harry, will you stop oogling the girls? You can't afford them anyway unless we get some money, and if you aren't looking hard we won't get any money."
"Ray, two words- bite me. Besides, we're looking for some girls anyway, so don't blame me for letting the old eyes linger on the lookers."
"In that case, cough up the papers. I'll look while you oogle, and it'll be sixty/forty."
Harry grunted, but obliged and shoved the two crumpled up sheets to him. Damn idiot couldn't keep his mind on the job even with a huge reward at stake. He smoothed out the flimsy material and studied their targets. Derringer Meryl and Stungun Milly, the only two members of the Stampede's gang to be caught on film. Word had it that they were in town, but where was anyone's guess. He had figured that he'd just follow the gunfire, but the entire place was staying quiet. Well, aside from that one blond fool just down the street, who couldn't stop whining about how heavy all the bags were as he tossed them onto a transport. People like that would get chewed up and spat out if they ran across the walking moneybags. Especially that Stungun Milly, just looking at her picture left a bad feeling in him. She was much too happy in it, with that huge grin and casual wave. Probably the last photo the guy ever took before he got strung up by the Stampede's lackeys, or worse- the only people that happy on a hellhole of a planet like this had to be hardcore sadists.
"Hey, check it out- that dude's got the biggest knife I've ever seen. Looks like the Cavalry's checking something out, too. Geeze, what a pipsqueak..."
"Don't stare at the Cavalry, Harry. They weren't too pleased over the last bounty you dragged in, damn near had you killed before they confirmed it was the guy. You gotta be more careful with the face, hamburger doesn't look much like anything, and shot up hamburger looks even less like anything."
"Hah! Looks like they've got one hell of a group. Check out that babe by the frowny fellow, I'd like a piece of what she's got. Oh yeah, she's the best one yet, though I can't say much for the hat. The back looks like a mushroom, and I hate mushrooms."
Against his better judgement, he found his eyes drifting on over to the bustle down the way that had thoroughly captured Harry's attention. It was quite the oddball crew. Bunch of wusses, though. A few were trying to keep an air of toughness about them, but blondie was sucking it away faster than it could be produced. Well, what was this? The next one in the parade looked ready for a sandstorm, swathed head to toe with... a bedsheet? Geeze. Must be a pretty frail person- or maybe just a bit obsessive about keeping dust out. Even the huge cross they carried was wrapped up tight. Well, as long as they weren't in the way once they found a head that was worth something.
"C'mon Harry, let's head somewhere else. This part of town's too peaceful for the Stampede or his gang."
"Eh, guess you're right. Too bad, the scenery's great around here. ...Though it's odd, I feel like somebody's laughing at us."
At one point along the base of a mountain some fifteen iles south of Inepril, a growing encampment had formed. It had no name, no plan, and no law. The best spots went to those with the strength to hold them, or to those who appeared to have the strength to hold them. Bluff and bravado weighed in equally with muscle and gunpowder. Alliances would form, mature, and fall apart in mere hours as new arrivals upset the precarious balances of power. All in all, Corporal Rand disliked it as strongly as he was able.
He would have hated it, but hatred was a luxury emotion. Too random and intense, it simply got in the way of his job, and he didn't let anything get in the way of the job. He was the leader of the Cleanup Crew. Whenever a mess surfaced that the council and regular Cavalry couldn't take care of, it fell to them to get it cleaned up and they always got the job done- Usually in the dead of night, and very quietly at that. This assignment was a little larger than usual, even if the order was only three words- "Kill the Stampede." But that was the way he preferred the orders. Nice and simple, just an objective and no instructions or restraints on how to carry it out.
The 3rd was around and had been ordered to do the same, though the odds that they actually would were slim to none. Slackoffs and hicks, the whole lot of them. That was why they were stuck in the large attention-getting battlesteamer while his group was stuck in some simple ragtag tents on the very outskirts of the unnamed mountain base town. The plan was to lay low and let the 3rd flush out the Stampede, then once they had confirmed it was him, they would pick him off. They were specially equipped for this- ceramic composite bullets and prototype psijammers, the latter to guard against the mind voodoo intelligence suspected he had, and the former selected due to a few documented cases of magnetics going wild when the Stampede showed up. Between the two, his troops should keep their heads and their aim. Just in time too, the report from the scout he had sent to check on the 3rd indicated that they may have been partially subverted already. It was a good stratagem to have them as the primary target if the Stampede unleashed his city killer, though it was regrettable.
He dwelled on the regret for a moment, but pushed the feeling aside. It would only get in the way of the job.
"Are we there yet?"
"Lina, we just left."
"I know, but..." She swiveled her eyes to the back and lowered her voice. "... I really don't like those two."
"Well, Knives seems to really not like them too, which is actually pretty good since he downright despises everyone else. Besides, maybe you could learn a thing or two from them, it'll help you get more ladylike."
"You're one to talk, jerk!"
Lina stormed back in the transport, and he heard the seat cushions protest when she plunked down. They traveled in silence for a minute, until he felt someone behind him. A casual sniff told him exactly who it was. "Hey Meryl. I like the perfume."
"You bought it for me, remember?"
"Nope, all I can remember is that thing you did with your t-"
"Next subject, now."
"Heh... Well, I've been thinking about the future, and I've got an idea of a nice, peaceful place we could go where nobody else will follow. It's a bit unusual, but I think it'll work out well for us."
"You actually planned ahead that far?"
"Hey! I make plans all the time, and they're all so incredibly good that it just looks like I made 'em up on the fly."
He watched her out the corner of his eye as she strained to keep from bursting out in laughter. That was his Meryl, always steadfast and in control- around others, that is. When it was just the two of them, he got to see so much more of her. Such a tangle of happiness, sorrow, love, fear, and hope, stumbling along as best she could, so much like a butterfly looking for a flower. Such pure, simple beauty, so fragile, yet braving the winds that surround the typhoon. Such warmth- yet still strong enough to twist his head back around and whisper in his ear that he had better watch the terrain's curves right now.
"So, just where is this peaceful place?"
"Well, do you remember that bus ride we took right after we had that run in with Brilliant Dynamites Neon?"
"The one where we first met Wo- ...yeah."
The cutoff wasn't lost on him. There were still some things better left unsaid. "Well, you know how those guardian machines came after the us, but since they're shut down and only you and Milly were up to coming after us..."
"Yeah, we found you in that buried... ship... Oh my."
"All the Plants were intact and most of the machinery was still functional. That means plenty of food and water, though the entire place is kinda dusty-"
"You can't be serious! Do you have any idea what the taxes are like on an entire ship? Even your cash won't cover it for a year!"
"That's where a fine benefit of the outlaw lifestyle comes into play! We don't have to pay taxes, and besides- who's going to know we're there?"
She leaned on the back of the driver's chair, and he could practically hear her thinking it over. "So... An entire ship, just for us?"
"Yep."
"A mansion made of real wood, a room in a ship, water to swim in... Once I would have considered getting any of those to be my goal, when I'd finally be able to say 'I'm successful in life'. It's so strange... Now, they all feel unimportant."
"Huh, wonder what happened there?"
"Sometimes, you really are a broomhead."
He just grinned and started whistling an upbeat tune.
The suns were just starting to dip down, slowly taking away their shine. That was fine by him, it let everyone else glitter a bit more, and it just might put a stop to the frequent unsuccessful attempts by the dullards to make a claim on the precipice. They didn't deserve such a prominent position, so when he had found a few at the peak he encouraged them to move elsewhere and claimed it as his own. It was a perfect stage, and had a grand audience- the Bad Lads off thataway, the Cavalry on the steamer, even the folks back in the city could watch. That golden boy knew how to pick his fights, it'd be a real shame that they'd only get one performance up here. He'd better make it the best one ever.
And wouldn't you know it, here comes the title man of this show. Looks like he brought plenty of others to help him glow. The guy was weird like that- the more folks came near him, the brighter he got. Most only got dimmer as the others blotted them out, but not him, oh no, this boy was different. Maybe too bright- a burning glow, that would make any who couldn't match it go up in a puff of smoke.
He had no intention of going out like that. Brilliance was in his name, and once the two-bit actors were out of the way he and Vash could put on the best show. They'd just have to clear out the wanna-be men so they could go at it without interruption. It would actually make for a good opening act, having the two brightest up against the dimwit horde. However, right now, it was much too late to put on a proper show. Besides, nothing was scheduled until tomorrow. That meant tonight was the time to eat, drink, and make merry, for tomorrow one would burn out. The best parties were always the ones right before a big gig.
He flashed his famous showman's grin and tipped his hat back at they came up the last few yarnz. "Vash! I saved the best spot just for us! Let's celebrate our fight tomorrow with a real shindig tonight!"
"...and that's how the Thomas ended up riding him!"
The crowd around the campfire guffawed merrily while Eriks denied that it had been a Thomas, but rather a nasty mean despicable beast from the vast unknown side of Gunsmoke, come solely to make trouble for him. More laughter rang out around the circle, then the members began to break into their own little groups. Eriks and her new sister-in-law wrapped a blanket around themselves and began to coo into each other's ears. Ew, mushy... Neon got up and announced that he was going to go take a leak off the cliff, whether or not anyone actually wanted to know. Knives was still planted a little ways from the fire, staring down the one walkable slope at the other flickering lights that dotted the mountain's base. Rai-Dei was long gone, fast asleep so he could take second watch later that night. Milly was-
"Yippie! Who wants marshmallows?"
Before she could blink, there was a rod in her hand, a marshmallow on the rod, and the fire under the marshmallow. Another quickly ended up joining her own as the same set of items got dropped on Knives' escorts. Well, one of them, anyway. The less gaudy one had been staring wide-eyed into the fire all night long, seemingly entranced by the flickering flame atop the oil can. The marshmallow seemed to fit in with her overall gaze, though she kept dipping it down almost right into the fire. The gaudy one, on the other hand, flatly rejected the offering as being much too fattening for her figure. In the end, it was just the three of them that ended up toasting the treats. Not even the offer of sugary food managed to budge Eriks from under the blanket. All he said was that he already had his treat, to a multitude of eye rolls.
She was only on her sixth marshmallow when an acrid smell drifted over from the gaudy one. It wrinkled her nose, and she turned to glare at the offender. Gaudy was busy with a small bottle of polish, going over each fingernail in turn and oblivious to what it was doing to her own efforts to enjoy some toasted treats. She waved her half done marshmallow under the gaudy one's nose. "Hey, do you mind not using the stench makeup right now? I'm trying to eat here."
"Maintaining beauty takes constant effort. It's the price one pays for glamour. Not that you appear to know much on the subject."
"Hmph! I'll have you know that I don't need an entire chest full of glop to look good. I'm frankly amazed that you can carry around that huge case, especially considering how useless it is."
"Tools of my trade, dearie. Besides, I think you'd enjoy it once you were used to it."
"Dream on. I've got better things to do."
"Oh, really now? Your boots say differently. Such a fine Sunset color, and I've seen how carefully you shine them up."
Ergh. She had found her one point of obsession, and it left her flustered. "Bah! I just want people to remember it when I kick their butts, so I hopefully won't have to repeat myself later! And they're not 'Sunset' or any other of those freaky colors you makeup people have, they're red. R-E-D Red! Same as your polish."
"Tsk! You'll never develop a lady's charms like that. So many hues all crudely lumped under one bland term is not good for the art. This fine color is known as 'Crimson'. Doesn't the name excite you?"
"No, but kicking your butt is starting to sound pretty exciting."
She didn't even get a proper response, merely a noise that was halfway between a laugh and a giggle. Why, that haughty stuck-up b-
"Lina!"
Milly's voice brought her around, to see the small flame that had enveloped her marshmallow. She cursed and started waving it around to try and put it out, but it instead flew off the stick. It arced way up, then fell straight down to neatly reimpale itself- on Eriks' hair.
"Ohmygosh Mr. Vash!"
"What's up big girl? Hey, something smells good."
Meryl glanced up and yelped at the flame shooting up from her husband's head. That's when Eriks finally noticed. "HAAALP! Flamey marshmallow hair! Put it out! Put it out!"
Eriks jumped up and started running around madly. He patted his head to try and put it out, but only managed to spread burning marshmallow goo onto his hands thus tripling the number of fires being waved about. A blur zipped by and slammed into Eriks, sending him to the ground and rapidly snuffing out the fires. In the next instant, she found herself wishing she was anywhere but where she was. Knives was glaring at her, his face contorted into an expression of such pure, consuming hatred that it cut to her core. /"How dare you..."/
"Stop it, Knives. It was just an accident."
That... That... That wasn't... The sureness, the determination, every line on his body spoke of power just beneath the surface, a terrible power. It all came crashing down around her. That wasn't Eriks. That was Vash. The man who twice wiped out an entire city, the man who put the Eye of the Demon into the fifth moon. She sank to the ground, unsure if her legs could keep holding her up, and backed away from the circle. The cold suddenly began to bite, invading from all directions. What the hell was she doing here? She only knew how to bar brawl, and poorly at that. The people down there weren't drunks, they were deadly. This was no casual camping trip. She was in way over her head.
A sudden warmth touched her. "It's much too cold to be on your own. Now why don't we get some sleep?"
She couldn't say a word as Milly helped her into her sleeping bag, as her jaw felt frozen. The big girl then swept another blanket around them both. It was nice and warm, but the shivers just got worse. At least Milly was blocking the way to the campfire, so nobody would see her like this.
"Do you need anything?"
"No." What did she need? She needed her head examined. She needed to go back home. She needed to undo the last year. She needed...
"...mommy..."
"Dammit." She was not going to start bawling for mother. She clenched her teeth, refusing to let any more words pass by. More shudders came, but this time they weren't hers. She looked up.
Milly was crying. That was wrong. She hadn't known Milly long, but Milly never got sad. Large arms encircled her, bag and all, and squeezed gently. "Did I make her sad?"
"No, you just answered a question I had... About what might have been..."
A question? What might have been? It made no sense to her. The world had gone crazy around her. ...Maybe it would make more sense in the morning.
Oddly enough, sleep came easily, and no bad dreams were dreamt that night.
"Mornin' Roy."
"Mornin' Julius. You sleep well?"
"Better than you, I'd say. Are you sure you don't want some extra leave? She is your sister and all."
"And do what? Be left guessing even more than I already am? No thank you. I'm staying here."
"Figured. That's why I brought you breakfast."
"That's against regulations to have food on the bridge, you know."
"I think we agree that regulations can go sit on it and twirl. I won't say if you don't, and I don't think anyone would mind."
A chorus of "Aye!"s resounded around the bridge. There was a nervous excitement about the whole ship, and here at the official center of everything that nervousness doubled. He slid into the captain's chair as Roy slid out. There was a sense that it couldn't go unoccupied, even for a second.
"So, how's our team doing?"
"Take a look, I've been staring through the viewer ever since the first sun crept up and lit the mountaintop."
He swung the viewer's scope back into place. While it wasn't as good as the ones for the gunners, and nowhere close to what the lookout had, it was still good enough to bring the distant figures into focus with just the slightest hint of pixelation. It wasn't even at full zoom yet, he could probably see the whites of their eyes if he so desired.
They were spread out in a loose line. The end was occupied by the massive and infamous Brilliant Dynamites Neon, casually leaning against a rock, and that Rai-Dei fellow that had taken to following Vash around. The little flower girl from the wedding was next to the swordsman, and then there was a loose group of three- Vash, Milly and Meryl. At the other end, he spotted Vash's brother and two more women. They looked the least able, but there was a certain confidence about them... Almost too confident. It bugged his gut sense. He panned it back to Vash and studied the main target of all the aggression. The red coat billowed around him in the morning breeze, with the sun glinting off his silver gun and glasses. Meryl stood at his side minus the uniform, slightly turned into the sunlight, one hand on his shoulder and the other holding a large black gun even with her head, pointed to the sky. Roy's sister stood a foot or two off to the other side, each hand resting atop a massive object- one a stungun, the other a shining cross.
There was no way he'd go walking up that mountain for a measly sixty one and a half billion double dollars. However, he didn't speak for the wave of humanity that was slowly creeping up the slope. He didn't even need to use the viewer to see them. Today was not going to be one of his better days. He saw one last detail before he pushed the box aside that made his stomach flip flop. The eyes on Vash and his brother... It was a bit too light to tell, but they almost looked to be... glowing.
If he hadn't know better, he'd have pegged that small lineup as the guards of the gates of Hell. He began the status roll.
"Gunners report."
"All large cannons ready and active, short range antipersonnel guns on standby."
"Engines."
"Power levels all green, drive is running hot, response is under two seconds."
"Comm."
"Lots of activity across the dial. Cavalry-only bands are being used by unauthorized sources. In-unit communications are hardwired and secure."
"Medical."
"Doc's ready to receive injured, teams on standby."
"Damage Control."
"No damage sustained, all teams report ready."
He took a deep breath and looked up. Huh. Their resident painting enthusiast had been busy, the upper plate of the bridge now sported the ship's namesake, a golden winged lady carrying a massive shield and blazing sword. He dipped his gaze back down, to the distant mountain, and made a silent prayer for a faithful friend while unconsciously rubbing a gold band. "Milly, may you only conduct weddings. Never funerals."
"Gun teams, find range! I want some dirt to fly just before that line! Link triggers, and... FIRE!"
The ship shuddered as the cannons all spoke up at once, signaling the start of the storm.
Well, that's it for this chapter. It's rather good sized one, well worth the wait, eh?
Wolfwood: Dammit, what's going to happen to my big girl!
Legato: Is Master going to be all right?
Wolfwood: Can they hear me on that? Hey, you better take care of the girls, needlenoggin!
Don't crowd the mic, fellows. And no, we don't broadcast there.
¤phone rings¤ Hello? Yes, uh huh... Oops.
Wolfwood: "Oops?" What do you mean, "Oops?"
Absolutely nothing. ...okay, there was a little mistake in processing, and someone down here is not supposed to be here. It was a very unusual case.
Wolfwood: Me?
Nope, you're a keeper. Now go feed Cerebus while I do the...
cjflutterbye: Not yet six weeks, but still a month. No cookies for me either unless I write faster :(
Maria: Vash gets the FUN jobs, and while the camping trip was good for a while, well, you know... Knives is scary.
hope-is-4ever: And indeed they did, the poor fools, and Knives has behaved. Mostly.
Sunsilver: This is one of the longest chapters to date, and hopefully ended at a predictable, though frustrating, point.
Yma: Offline, busy, moving. I'll get around eventually, but I am glad the letters had the point-counterpoint effect I had aimed for. The spice makes the stew ;)
kitsune: Chapters left- However many more it'll take. There's a lot more coming, so I haven't the foggiest. It's like walking from one mountain to another- you know where you are and which way to go, but the exact path is hard to make out. Another 30 is doubtful, but you never know. And if last time's blurb was evil, this time it's downright sadistic. I am such a meany.
Next Chapter: "Total slaughter, total slaughter. I won't leave, a single man alive. La la da la, genocide. La la lo la, an ocean of blood. Let's begin... ¤tap¤ The killing time... ¤tap¤ ... ¤tap¤"