Chapter16
-Rhez-
Rhez had been laying in the room for hours. He couldn't move, he couldn't see, and he could hardly breathe. He heard the door slide open and three people walk in.
"Cut him lose." Someone said. Rhez's entire body tingled as he heard the man, he knew this voice, it was Knives. He felt himself being lifted up as someone else cut a slit down the front of the cocoon. Rhez burst out and fell to his knees, the light and air rushing over him and overwhelming his senses.
"Thank you Azreial, Gabriel, you know the rest of your orders, that will be all." Knives said as the twins walked out of the room. Rhez got down on his hands and knees and began coughing. Knives squatted down in front of him, smiling and waiting for Rhez to look up at him. Rhez finally looked up, but after wanting to reach Knives so badly, didn't have much to say.
"Well well little seed, it looks like you've gone and grown without me." Knives said with a smile. "You…. Made me kill those people…." Rhez said with disgust. Knives stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "Did I? Did I make you?" He said as Rhez sat back against the bed in the room. "You took control of me and killed them!" He screamed. "No no no little seed, I simply pointed you in the right direction. You made the right decision to remove the weeds." "They aren't weeds! They're people!" Rhez screamed again. Knives chuckled and shook his head. "And does human life hold value to you? What about those that you killed on the sand steamer?" Rhez cringed when he thought about it, but then came up with an answer. "Those where bad people! Those people deserved it! What about Lena?! She wasn't bad, she helped me!" Rhez jumped up, grabbing Knives around the neck. In one smooth motion Knives chopped Rhez in the throat and kicked his feet out from under him. Rhez hit the ground hard, getting the wind knocked out of him. Knives put a foot on Rhez's throat and pushed down hard enough to slowly choke him. "You see little seed, good and bad are simply construed conceptions of these pathetic creatures. Because every single one of them is bad! They will destroy this world! And in time they will destroy each other. They are a plague and a bane to everything they touch. Murderers, thieves, rapists, every last one of them has something lurking just beneath the surface." "I… Don't…. Believe… you…" Knives pulled his foot back, reaching down and grabbing Rhez by the shirt. With one hand he lifted him off the ground and slammed him against the wall. "They are all spiders little seed!" Rhez's eyes widened at this. "Ah, I see you understand this comparison then? Good, because then you must understand that we are the only ones who can save the butterfly." He let Rhez down and backed off. Rhez looked at him as he rubbed his neck. "Who is the butterfly then?" Knives laughed and turned away. "You will have to find that out for yourself little seed. For me, it is our family." "Our… family? Like Vash?" Knives cracked his neck and looked back at him. "Not exactly… I'm going to leave you in here little seed. There is nothing I can do to help you if you can't see that all of the humans are bad." Knives opened the door and started to leave. "Wait…. I… want to protect them… our family…"
A small smile crossed Knives' face. "Then come with me."
The twins left the compound, looking up at the mid-day suns. "Our orders are to…" "Follow the Stran…" "And assist him as needed…" They said, walking off in the direction he had went.
Rhez hit the ground hard again, Knives shaking his head in disappointment. "You have no hand to hand skills at all." He said as Rhez got up. They had moved to the false town training area. "Give me a gun and…" "You won't always have a gun!" Knives snapped at him. "You already know how to shoot, it is your melee skills that require training. Now on your feet!" Knives screamed as he slammed a fist down, Rhez rolling away just in time. Rhez leapt up, throwing a punch that Knives easily smacked away. He followed his momentum with a low sweeping kick, but Knives jumped the attack and kicked him in the chest. Rhez went rolling backwards, but popped up to his feet as Knives charged him. It became easier as he went, predicting the movement, dodging them, slowly he got the hang of it. They had been going for a while, Rhez was exhausted but Knives still seemed just fine. Rhez threw a sloppy punch, Knives making him pay for it by grabbing his arm and slinging him over his shoulder with force. Rhez slammed hard into the ground. "That's enough for today." Knives said casually. "It will never be enough…" Rhez said to himself. Knives smiled as he walked away. "Good boy."
Nearly a week a passed since Rhez arrived here. He had been aloud to re-arm himself from the armory, there where enough guns there for him to have the same thing he had before with the exception of his revolver. He had added throwing knives loaded on springs in his sleeves, similar to the guns hidden there as well. There was a knock at his door, but he didn't bother to respond. He was just wearing his pants and was suspended upside down from the ceiling by his feet strapped to a bar. He was doing upside down crunches, punching at the air a few times every time he came up. The door slid open and Knives walked in. "Rhez, you didn't answer your door." He said. Rhez dropped down from the ceiling and bowed slightly. "Sorry, I didn't know it was you." He said. Knives waved it off and put a hand on his shoulder. "I have a present for you." "A present?" Knives smiled again. "Two presents actually…" He held up a strange looking gun. It was a revolver, but the drum was placed low and in front of the trigger and it looked more complex than anything Rhez had seen yet. "I thought that you might appreciate its rather unique appearance." Knives spun it in his hand and hand it to Rhez. He took the gun and looked it over. It had a nice weight to it, and something about it just seemed right. "Thank you." He said finally as he put it in the back of his pants. "The other…" Knives said as he motioned towards the door. Rhez's blood ran cold at the sight of who walked through the door. "You?" Elle walked in with a sly smile on her face. "I… saw you die…" Knives laughed and shook his head. "Death is relative, for my children." He said. "Your children?" Rhez said confused. "Well, not my blood children of course. But I did create them."
(Camera pans down into the depths of the lair, showing a huge room full of test tubes and computers. Bodies hang in suspended animation in a green liquid inside of the tubes. Some of them are horribly mutated, some of them looking strikingly like the new Gung Ho Guns.)
"It is no problem for me to simply, re-create them." Rhez took a step back, unsure of what to say. "I… I don't understand…" "You don't need to understand, all you need to remember is that we are the superior species on this planet." Knives said. "So… are the others… our family?" Rhez asked. "No. Not family exactly, but good friends, and maybe more." Elle said as she walked over to Rhez and ran a hand down his chest. "I don't have time for this…" He started to say, but Knives cut him off. "I need you to do something for me Rhez." "Do something for you?" Rhez asked. "We have another friend on his way here, I need you to show him the way." Knives said. "His name is Livio the Twin Fangs, and you will find him in December." Elle kissed his neck and he looked at her, then back at Knives. Knives smiled, turning and leaving the room.
Reverend Tobias Granz, also known as Granz the Wayward stood leaning against an apple tree, spinning the small black cross in his hand. "So, is he ready yet?" He asked as Knives emerged from the bunker. "Yes, I am sending Elle with him, Freak as well." "Freak? Why must I stay behind while that monstrosity goes to have fun?" Granz protested. Knives shot him a glare that dropped the revered to his knees. "Question me again and I will rip you limb from limb!" Knives screamed at him. "Yes master… I am sorry…" Granz whimpered out. "I am sending Elle with him to keep him in check, if he starts to question things again, she can bring him back to our way of thinking. Freak is going incase Livio is as reluctant as Randal tends to be. I do not know where Vash is, or what he is waiting for, but I will use his reluctance to form my new order in one swift motion."
The next morning Rhez came walking out of the base, Elle and Freak already waiting for him. He looked Freak up and down, still not sure of him. "Don't screw this up." Granz said walking up to them. Rhez spun, pulling his new gun and pointing it at Granz. "I don't like you priest, watch your tongue or I'll have Freak here rip it out." Rhez said with a smile, liking the fact that he thought of something for Freak to do. Granz reached for his cross, but stopped as Knives emerged from the base. "Well now Granz, I see that you're wishing a farewell to our travelers." Knives said. Granz nodded and backed away. "Alright then, you should be on your way." Knives said to Rhez. He nodded and started to leave. "I will protect our friends and family… at all costs." He said before leaving. "Come on Freak." Elle said as she walked beside Rhez. Freak followed along behind, once again covered by a long black coat.
Tia walked up beside Granz as Knives returned to the bunker. "Do you think this is wise?" He said to her. "Sending both of them out at the same time, while not knowing where Vash is?" She asked. "Yeah." Granz said without looking at her. "Smarter than questioning him." Tia said before going inside.