AUTHOR'S NOTES!

This chapter has been much-anticipated by my good friend TwilightStar7, and I have tried to incorporate as many of the ideas she had in as I can while still retaining the plotline I have in my head. I tried my best to get a bridge jump scene, but I don't know if I got what she had in mind! Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to her, and I hope you enjoy it! And bonus points to whoever can catch the Mama Luigi reference!

CHAPTER 6

"OH MY GOD!"

Wolfwood was jolted awake by hearing the Lord's name taken in vain. His eyes flew open to see a steaming mad Vash with a beard that covered only half his face. In a different situation, Wolfwood would've been guffawing like a hyena, but the outlaw's expression spelled death with a capital d.

"NICHOLAS D. WOLFWOOD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" Vash roared. "WHERE'S MY BEARD?"

Oh crap, I forgot to finish shaving Spikey! Wolfwood cursed inwardly. The priest jerked away from the raging, half-furry face as he tried to remember what Millie had told him to tell Vash. All he could think to say was:

"I didn't do anything!"

That was true. The girls had done the deed. He'd only let them in.

"Who else could've done it, huh?" Vash growled. "You're the only one who was in here last night, so it must have been you!"

"It wasn't me, I swear to God!" Wolfwood shrieked.

Vash's normally aqua-colored eyes were burning red with hellfire. "You're lying!" He made as to tackle Wolfwood, who quickly rolled out of bed and crawled away as the blond gunman landed on the tangled sheets and blankets.

When Vash located the priest, he had made it through the doorway and was sprinting down the stairs.

"YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" the half-bearded outlaw bellowed.

Totally oblivious to the fact he was still in his pajamas, Wolfwood ran out of Hotel Johnston as fast as his feet would take him. He realized he was barefoot as soon as he hit the street, but he couldn't do anything about that now. A crazy man was after him, for God's sake!

Wolfwood could hear Vash close behind him. I've got to shake him off somehow, he told himself. He quickly rounded the first corner he saw and shot down an alleyway.

"Phew, I lost him," Wolfwood panted, looking both left and right.

"HAH! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME THAT EASILY, BEARD-STEALER!"

Wolfwood looked up and shrieked. Vash was perched on a clothesline, ready to swoop in like a falcon after its prey. The priest stumbled out in to the streets once again. He heard a thump in the alleyway—Vash had dove, or fell. Either way, Wolfwood hazarded a look over his shoulder and saw the crazy, half-bearded outlaw hard on his heels.

People were filling up in the streets. The sand-steamer bound to May was leaving today, so the potential passengers needed to get tickets before they were sold out. An idea dawned on the panicked priest: he could hide in the crowd! Wolfwood thanked God for sand-steamer ticket rushes.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, there's a madman after me," Wolfwood apologized as he pushed through the accumulating crowd. The pajama-clad priest ducked and weaved through the throng of people, sure that he lost Vash. He paused for a minute to regain his breath.

"WOLFWOOD!"

Damn! How did Spikey find me in this crowd? Wolfwood desperately dove in to the center of a group of children, most likely on a field trip. The kids stared at him.

"Shh, that guy with half a beard," the clergyman whispered, "is out to get me."

The kids continued to stare at him like he had three heads. Wolfwood looked at them pleadingly, and they finally nodded in understanding when they sighted Vash.

"Quick, run that way, mister," one of the kids breathed, pointing at the loading dock for the sand-steamer. "We'll distract him!"

"Thanks, and God bless you!" Wolfwood cried thankfully, and sprinted off.

Vash spotted him and tried to pursue, but got caught in the mess of children.

"Darn it! I would've caught him if it wasn't for you meddling kids!" the half-bearded Humanoid Typhoon scolded them.

Wolfwood quickly climbed up the scaffolding and on to the catwalk where the workers were loading cargo that the crane had brought up aboard the sand-steamer. He looked about, certain he had escaped the wrath of the shaven outlaw. Vash would never be crazy enough to follow him up here…

The catwalk creaked behind him under the weight of another man.

"I've got you now," laughed a crazed voice.

Scratch that, Vash was crazy enough to follow him up here.

The priest wasn't sure what possessed him to do what he did next.

He jumped.

He fell for hours, or at least felt like hours, screaming "GOD PLEASE SAVE ME!" The crowd waiting for the sand-steamer stared in fearful awe, awaiting the man to hit the ground with a splat. But the Lord had heard his plea, and thankfully, Wolfwood landed in a conveniently placed open-topped truck of laundry.

"I'LL GET YOU, NICHOLAS, IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" Vash shrieked from a dizzying twenty or so feet above the ground.

Wolfwood stumbled out of the truck, feeling quite ill when he realized he had actually just jumped from that height. Several people asked if he was okay, but here was no time for him to tell them that he was fine. Vash would be copying the daring move before long and he had to get as far away as he could if he at all valued his life, which he did much more after that near-suicidal jump.

There were only two people in Corning who could stop Vash the Stampede's rage-filled rampage and Wolfwood needed to get to them before his time ran out, or before the sheriff got called in to the picture.

Summoning the last of his energy, he ran as fast as he could to his final destination. It was none other than where the chase had begun: Hotel Johnston.