Author's Note: Hi again, everyone! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I put forth some effort and wrote the second chapter! Yay! Sorry it took so long, though. This was because I was actually writing the chapter as I typed, not just typing from something I had written beforehand. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: All the characters written about in this fic are the property of someone else. It always makes me sad to type that. The main characters, the Trigun cast and the InuYasha crew, belong to Yasuhiro Nightow-san and Rumiko Takahashi-san, respectively.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Which rooms are ours, bro?"

Knives sighed, looking around for the sign that would direct them to the elevator. The attendant at the front desk had been far too swamped with other con attendants to do anything more than pitch the keys at him and hysterically bawl something about following the signs. "They're on the third floor. Now shut up and follow me."

Vash nervously backed away from his irate sibling as Knives stalked out of the lobby and down a random hotel hallway. "Wolfwood, do you think he's still mad at me?"

"Tongari, let's be honest. You dropped the con banner on him and nearly knocked him senseless with the pole it was attached to." The priest took a drag on his cigarette, disregarding the prominent 'No Smoking' sign. "He's pissed."

"Oh. Um, I'll just be staying behind you, then."

Shrugging, Wolfwood followed after the rest of the company as they followed their fearless leader in search of the elevator. Fortunately for Vash, who was again fighting the urge to ask if they were there yet, an elevator was close at hand. Between them, he and Rai Dei were able to smash Zazie into the corner farthest from the control panel, so to keep the little demon-child from punching any unwanted buttons.

Once they reached the third floor, it was a simple matter to find the allotted rooms. Knives stopped at the door of room 333 and turned to face his minions. "Alright. Allow me to lay it on the line for you. As of now this room belongs to me. That means that none of you are allowed inside without my permission, not for any reason. Trespassers face the penalty of slow torture followed by eventual death at my discretion, with the one exception of Legato, who will be rooming with me. Any questions?"

Legato raised a hand. "You're not joking, Master? I'm really allowed inside and you won't break my spine in half for it?"

"Uh, yes, Legato." Knives took a moment to be scared by the happy look on his favorite minion's face before turning back to the rest of the assembly. "Split off into the next three rooms however you choose. Just remember that these rooms are to be whole and intact when we leave this con or it comes out of your salary!"

"I'm with Nicky!" Vash immediately squealed, latching onto the sleeve of the priest's black jacket. Wolfwood sighed deeply. "This is gonna be great, Nick! Three day sleep-over, alright!"

The priest sighed again. "Yeah, whatever."

Dominique hoisted her purse and matched purple luggage and without further ado made her claim on the room closest to her. Zazie trotted after from lack of anything else to do at the moment. Rai Dei considered for a moment before choosing the room farthest down the hall. This left Vash and a reluctant Wolfwood to the room next to Knives and Legato.

"Hi, bro!" Vash grinned hugely as he pulled open the door that joined the two rooms and stuck his spiky blonde head inside. "Wow, cool, we can see each other without even having to go out in the hall!"

"Will you calm down?" Knives snapped, aiming a kick at the door. "Just stay over on your own side. There's a reason I didn't want to share a room with you, you know."

"Fine, be that way." Vash pouted and the door snapped closed. Knives thought for a moment before sliding the dresser in front of it. Three seconds later Vash tried to reopen the door only to be rudely denied entrance. "Aw, Knives!"

The older blonde turned triumphantly back into the room, only to see Legato, hamster-like, stuffing his cheeks with an expensive sandwich from the mini-fridge in the corner. He decided then and there that Legato was going to be paying for his own food for the rest of their stay. There was no way his budget could afford to support his minion's formidable appetite for three more days. Legato gulped guiltily, wiping crumbs off his mouth.

"Go ahead and enjoy your snacks, you blue-haired glutton; it's your own money you're inhaling."

"Understood, Master. So, what are we going to do first?"

Knives thought it over. Part of him wanted nothing more than to collapse face-down on one of the room's two double beds and start fresh the next morning. Mostly, though, he wanted to go out into the thick of the convention and spread the story of Naraku's embarrassment at Taco Bell to everyone he knew and then some. That thought settled that.

"Get your coat, Legato. We're going for a walk."

"Yes, Master."

"Going somewhere, bro?" Vash asked, miraculously materializing in the hall. "Where you going? Is there food? Can I come with you?"

Knives sighed, running a hand over his face. "You never slow down, do you? Alright, you can come. But I want you to keep in mind the fact that you are a lone hero at a villains' convention. That makes you the lowest of the low. The bottom of the bottom of the food chain. You're lower than Team Rocket, Vash."

"Wha? But that's not fair! What about Wolfwood? Isn't he a good guy, too?"

"No, Chapel is what we like to call a middleman. Big difference there. Just watch your step around here, alright? There are plenty of not-so-nice people here today who would love to get a piece of you. If you're going to go wandering around at any time you might want to take Chapel with you."

Seeing that his brother was probably right, Vash dropped the argument and darted back into his room to bribe said priest to go on a walk with them. Wolfwood wasn't too thrilled over the idea but agreed anyway, just to stay firmly on his boss's good side.

O.O.O.O.O

As the four of them made their way slowly through the hotel to the heart of the con, it became clear to Knives just how stupid a mistake he'd made in allowing Vash to come along. The blonde gunman danced around the group displaying a certain childlike excitement usually pertaining to five-year-olds. He pointed, gawked, and exclaimed loudly over everything that caught his attention, alternately haring off from the group and dashing back again like a giant puppy out for walkies.

"I would suggest we pretend not to know him, but that would be kind of dumb, huh? I mean, you're twins, right? Ha ha!" Wolfwood would never know how close to a smiting he came at that moment. Only their timely arrival at the Trigun booth saved him from Knives, who was seconds away from drilling the moronic clergyman in the head.

Dominique was already out on the front lines. She had prepared the booth single-handed and was now running it flawlessly, explaining the principles of psychological torture to a young group of wide eyed villain wanna-be's. Zazie was also there and dressed in his special con outfit, the trick-or-treat costume of a grossly overgrown spider he had stolen from a costume shop. Stationed in front of the booth, he was handing out anti-human pamphlets.

"Hello, Dominique," Legato drawled, approaching the booth. The wanna-be's, looking back to see who had spoken, shrieked and scattered at the sight of Legato's golden eyes and intimidating shoulder spikes and skull. It also helped that he could actually perform the complex kinds of mental torture Dominique had been talking about. Knives smiled widely at their reaction and tripped one of them, causing more screaming and panic as the young trainees fled (not without reason) for their lives.

Dominique sighed, somewhat annoyed that her audience had been scared away, but she knew better than to say anything. "Welcome, Master. I hope everything is to your liking."

Knives nodded approvingly as Legato helped himself to the skull-shaped suckers that had been set out in a bowl for the booth visitors. "Yes, good work, Cyclops. It appears you have everything under control. Everything looks set up according to plan. So, what does our schedule look like?"

"Well." Dominique picked up her clipboard, trying to ignore Vash playing with the Plant replica on the table. "Today is mostly just a walk, look, and mingle day, though someone is supposed to be in attendance at the booth at all times. Tomorrow morning we have an autograph session, if anyone works up the courage to approach the booth. Tomorrow evening is the formal dinner where the meeting of the UAVU will be held. Your attendance is mandatory, Master."

Knives groaned but didn't complain. Meetings of the United Anime Villains Union were only held twice a year, so he was pretty much obliged to show up and pretend to pay attention. He could handle two hours of prattle if he had to.

"Thursday," Dominique continued, "is demonstration and awards day. I hear we're good candidates for the 'Most Eccentric' slot."

Before Knives could comment there was a crash as the model Plant fell off the table. "Oops!" Vash sweat-dropped, rubbing the back of his spiky blonde head. "Sorry."

Suddenly a vice rang out, causing most of the people in the immediate vicinity to turn and stare at Vash. "A hero! An illicit hero at the Villains Convention! Throw him out!" Knives swore at the voice, which could only belong to Kagura. He couldn't see the Wind Witch, but he would bet his angel arms she was hovering up near the rafters on Naraku's orders.

"Aw, man! What should I do, Knives?" Vash was looking all around in little panicky jerks as more and more people began to take notice of him. As you can well imagine, a hero at a villains' con was a big deal, and not in a good way. However, before Knives could speak Wolfwood had taken action, seizing the Humanoid typhoon by the back of his oversized coat collar and tossing him under the booth table.

Knives breathed a sigh of relief as the table covering hid his twin from view. Moments later, crisis averted, he turned to face the staring crowd with an evil glare in place. "What are you all looking at? Get lost!" The starers screamed again and ran, leaving behind a dust cloud and two familiar figures carrying buckets. "And where the Hell have you been, Blade and Hornfreak?"

"I found the bathrooms," Midvalley beamed, placing his burdens on the table. "Here's the black paint you wanted, Dom."

"Thank you, Midvalley. The model guns I brought for Thursday's demo need touching up badly." Dominique reached for the paint but stopped as the table rattled.

"Can I come out now?"

Midvalley and Rai Dei swapped confused glances as Wolfwood, puffing yet another cigarette, pulled back the tablecloth to reveal the very cramped Stampede. "I don't think that's a good idea, Tongari. You're so tall and so, well, red, you're like a walking neon sign. You might as well go out and start introducing yourself to random evil doers."

"Wait." Everyone paused and looked at Knives expectantly. The plant slowly looked from the paint buckets, to his twin, and back again. "I have an idea."

O.O.O.O.O

Ten minutes later Knives, Wolfwood, and a loudly protesting Vash appeared from the men's room. "Lady and gentlemen," Knives happily addressed his minions, "I am pleased to present to you...Dark Vash!"

"My coat," Vash whimpered desolately, fingering the fabric still sticky with black paint. "And...my hair! My beautiful, beautiful hair!"

"Don't touch it, it's still tacky," Wolfwood scolded, smacking the errant hands away. He had dug into Cross Punisher's dark and unpredictable depths and discovered a bottle of liquid paper, which he had used to turn Vash's formerly blonde spikes a blinding white while Knives took care of the flaming red trench coat in nearby sink.

"What an ingenious idea, Master," Legato marveled, giving the hair a curious poke. A single drop of liquid paper rolled to the end of one spike, hung a moment, and fell to splatter on the toe of Vash's boot. Vash whimpered. "Now all we have to do is get him a pair of red colored contacts. No one will suspect a thing."

"But I don't wear contacts!"

Completely ignoring his brother, Knives turned to the rest of the group. "Let's move along. I want one volunteer to stay here and watch the booth, another to go find out where that son of a demon Naraku is hiding his booth, and the rest of you, come with me. I want...to go swimming."

Rai Dei immediately raised a hand. "I'll stay with the booth." Knives nodded his approval, unaware that the samurai was volunteering strictly as a way to get away from the rest of them for a while.

"Excellent. Zazie, I want you to go scout out Naraku. You're the smallest, so you have less chance of being seen spying on them. Report to us at the pool area with your findings. And take off that damn outfit!"

O.O.O.O.O

"Cannonball!" Getting a running start, Midvalley launched himself into the hotel pool. The resulting splash soaked all and sundry, except for Legato who could use his psychic powers to shield himself. Dominique spared a glare for the sporting musician, wondering if it would be worth it to pour her ice-cold wine cooler down his saxophone-patterned swim trunks.

"Come on, Tongari, in you go."

"Nicky, no! The water's freezing! Stop it!" Shrieking and laughing, fighting only halfheartedly, Vash was unceremoniously hoisted over Wolfwood's shoulder and carried toward the pool. As the threat became imminent he began to struggle harder, finally toppling both himself and the priest into the water.

"Great, Vash, just great, you got us both wet!"

"No I didn't, you started it!"

Legato looked up from spreading his giant hotdog shaped beach towel on a pool chair as a loud and enthusiastic splashing fight broke out. "Well, at least some of us are taking the opportunity to enjoy the vacation."

"Uh-huh." Dominique was also staring avidly at the combatants. Wolfwood attempted to put his friend in a headlock and was dunked under after a brief wrestling match. He then retaliated by grabbing Vash around the waist and lifting him clean out of the pool, only to body-slam him back into the water moments later. Both men were laughing insanely, causing Dominique to wonder how they avoided breathing the water they were so happily thrashing in. There was now not a doubt in her mind. "They have got to be gay."

"What was that?"

"Eep! Nothing, Master!"

"My brother is not gay! He's not! He's just...very affectionate!"

"Um, yes Master! I'll never mention it again!"

"See that you do not. Chapel, you are not to drown him, do you hear me?" Knives, flustered and distracted all at once, didn't notice that Zazie had returned until the little boy had stolen his martini. "Hey, put that down! You're a minor! And what the Hell are you wearing!"

Zazie stared at him like he was stupid. "It's a mole costume. Get it? I'm a mole and I'm wearing a mole costume?"

"I get it, alright! I want you to forget everything bad I ever said to put down your poncho and go back to wearing it! All these stupid costumes are driving me crazy! So, did you find where Naraku is hiding? Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Zazie wasn't. Gulping down the stolen martini he ran for the pool, still in his mole costume. Luckily, the outfit proved buoyant.

"Lord Sessho-maru, what is that?"

"Hmm. It appears to be a rodent of unnatural size bobbing about in the pool." The dog-demon kept a firm grip on Rin's hand as he stared at the spectacle before them. He knew that the little girl was eager to try out her new bathing suit, but the chances of him letting her near a swimming pool full of giddy Gung-Ho Guns were next to nil. "Come on, Rin. Let's go to the kids' pool instead."

"Okay!"

Knives felt like slamming his head on the brick wall that surrounded the swimming area. The maturity level of his band of killers was deteriorating at an alarming rate. And he still didn't know where Naraku was hiding. Making up his mind, the plant abandoned his plastic chair and headed purposefully toward the kiddy pool.

"Watch me, Lord Sessho-maru!" Rin gulped a deep breath and swam underwater like a frog from one end of the children's pool to the other. The great Lord of the Western Lands allowed the barest trace of a smile to grace his lips, just before a shadow blocked out the fading light he'd been using to sun his "furry."

"What are you up to, Millions?"

"Oh, nothing, really." Knives pulled up another chair uninvited and sat down next to the glowering demon. "Same as you, I suppose."

"Go away."

Pretending not to hear the growled command, the blonde shielded his eyes from the glare of the setting sun reflecting across the water, turning the surface of the pool a brilliant gold. "She's a real cutie-pie, isn't she?" Knives nodded absently at Rin, who was trying with great concentration to climb onto an inflatable raft.

Sessho-maru was instantly on guard. "Why?"

"Just stating the obvious. You're keeping a good eye on her, I hope?"

"Is that a threat?" The demon's tail began to frizz, a bad sign for everyone within about fifty miles of the hotel.

"Not at all. It's just...between you and me..." Knives leaned closer, and despite himself so did Sessho-maru. "I hear Naraku's still a bit pissy over the Taco Bell thing. Word is he's planning to avenge his pride by picking a few of us off. He's going to start with Zazie, for obvious reasons, and..." He pointed wordlessly toward the pool and the little girl still happily cavorting therein. "I guess he wasn't too happy with the 'I see London, I see France' thing."

There was silence for a moment. Rin wobbled on top of her raft and fell off backwards, laughing as she splashed up a shower of golden water droplets. Sessho-maru's eyes turned a charming shade of blood red. "He would not dare."

"Whatever you say, my friend." Stretching hard, Knives got to his feet and prepared to rejoin his minions. "Still..." he put a hand on the dog-demon's shoulder, "stay alert, huh, Lassie? I'd hate to see anything happen to a cutie like that..." With that the plant walked away. He loved lying through his teeth. It was almost better than flossing.

"Millions."

Without turning around, Knives smiled a feline smile. "Yes?"

"Naraku is hiding the Feudal Villains' booth under a shield next to the water fountains and soda machine. I won't say a word."

"Excellent. Give this to our favorite demon mutt, will you?" Tossing a folded note to Sessho-maru, Knives went back to his outlaw band, well satisfied. Never send a human brat in a mole costume to do a plant's job.

O.O.O.O.O

The demon watched him go with mixed feelings. Of course he knew Millions was probably making the whole thing up, but there was no use taking chances where his little Rin-Rin was concerned. Besides, even if it all was a lie, it would be amusing to watch Millions battle it out with Naraku.

"What does it say, Lord Sessho-maru?" Rin swam up to the side to stare curiously at the note in her lord's hand.

The dog-demon flipped the paper open. "Naraku sucks toes for three dollars––and likes it. Signed, Millions Knives." Yes, this would definitely be entertaining.

O.O.O.O.O

To be continued...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

(2nd) Author's Note: Thanks for reading, everyone! I apologize for the shortness of this segment, but certain... tortures... such as advanced chemistry are doing their best to break me, body, mind, and soul. I'll try real hard to get the next chapter up faster and make it longer. And hey, if you have a favorite villain you'd like to make an appearance at the Villains' Con, let me know and they might show up (wink, wink).