Disclaimer: Dun even wanna own it. I couldn't draw a smexy Knives like Nightow could. Tee he hee. : P

Spoilers: All of mangaverse till Trigun Maximum episode 94. Huge, I mean HUGE spoilers from the manga. Though, I couldn't resist taking bits of suitable animeverse (like Vash's left arm, spiders and butterflies, and other little stuffs) into this story. X3

A/N: This fic is totally from Knives' POV. Some OOC-ness should be predicted, as I want dis story to be full of angst. And that ain't sumthin easy to do from Knives' point of view, mind you. You may even see Knives as bein too mushy, but I really believe he absolutely adores his dear brother (a.k.a. suffers from a chronic brother complex. XD). Wanna hear out my reasons? Jump to this fic's Chapter 5 and read the Author's Note. (smiles)

Oh, this fic will have a lot of ranting from Knives, and there will be a character that I believe most can't even predict will walk into this fic. May I introduce to you... (SLICE!)

(Knives stomps the decapitated author repeatedly in the guts) "Do. (stomp) You. (stomp) Wanna. (stomp) Ruin. (stomp) This. (stomp) Story. (stomp) You. (stomp) MANIAC? " (stomp) (stomp) (stomp)

(Vash steps in, pulling away his frenzied brother from the bloody author.) (Vash smiles his shiny grin as he faces the readers, while patting on a sulking, snuggling Knives' back.) "Ah, as Knives tried to say, it'll be too much of a spoiler. And, err ... that person... will only get into this story around the second episode. So please bear with my brother ranting about for now– Hey, Knives! Stop nibbling on my earring!"

(Knives retracts his teeth, and sulks again, hugging even closer onto a still-smiling-albeit-the-fact-that-he-was-cuffing-Knives-upside-his-head Vash, if that is ever possible with the lack of space between them...)

"I just don't like her. She is happily bullying the both of us throughout this story. Most importantly, she is happily bullying YOU throughout this story. I don't like it. I don't like it, AT ALL." (With that statement, Knives glares darkly at the author, while still attached to his sighing-and-already-given-up-to-his-twin's-overprotective-nature brother; NOT a very convincing act from the author's P.O.V... Not that she'd give that little detail the slip of her bloody tongue as a que for the freaky-and-snappy-brother-complex-for-a-psycho Knives to start chopping her already bloody body into bloody bits of unknown bloody matters...)

(The still bleeding author sweatdrops, raising a crooked bloody hand, waving it)

Err... may we start with the story then...?

A/N (2): February 20th, 2007: Revised the chapter. And man, how many bloody mistakes could I make in this relatively bloody short chappie..? TvT

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After The End of All

Part 1

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I have lost track of time.

The human ships from Earth managed to stop me from my rampage. From annihilating the filthy human spiders that my dear brother loved so much. And even more surprisingly, they somehow were able to separate me from the bonds – or cointegration, as the Earthen dubbed it – of the rest of my Plant sisters.

I thought it was impossible. I was ready to sacrifice all to get the Eden I've desired. Even my own body, even my own brother... but still they spared me from death.

It didn't stop there.

They locked me up in a mechanized coffin... somewhere. My best guess? In one of the Earthlings' spaceships. They wouldn't dare keep someone who was capable to bring genocide to human somewhere near human settlements, would they? I was left defeated after the final battle; powerless, with no means to attack, and was very sure that either my brother or one of his foul humans would end my life. Surprise, surprise. In my last few moments of awareness, I could barely discern my brother begging to the spiders to spare me. Me: a suicidal murderer of all human species. Thanks to him, I was now strapped in my cold tomb, which was slowly treating me back to health. Notice the sarcasm?

So here I stay, in the total darkness of my coffin, unable to activate any of my powers. It may be the damned coffin that suppressed the powers of Plants. Hell, they lashed me up so well in here, I couldn't even twitch a muscle. I could hear nothing; except the soft humming of machineries, and my own breathing that could scarcely be heard though the face mask that have been a permanent ornament on my face. I couldn't even determine how long I've been here; alone in this fucking shadow of a metal sarcophagus.

In this distasteful situation, the only thing I could do was think.

When I first regained my awareness, I was enraged for the fact that they kept me immobile in some godforsaken box. Standing straight up, but securely bounded onto the wall behind me. Arms spread on either side of my body, with needles attached to my forearms. I felt like I was put into some kind of metal cross of sorts. Fuming as I couldn't move. I was screaming for release, demanding to anyone out there to let me go. But at time goes by, with no reaction or changes whatsoever, I gradually lowered the volume of my shouting. Now, I barely even used my voice anymore. I couldn't even remember when the last time I even uttered a syllable was.

Then, I started thinking of a way to free myself. I tried everything I could think of; straining myself of the binds on my body, trying to use my powers ...everything. But the damned coffin was able to withstand every effort I put in. I was left extremely exhausted after every tries. I suppose the human civilization on Earth was much more advanced than that of Gunsmoke when it came to technologies involved in controlling and manipulating the powers of Plants.

As I begun to comprehend the very slight possibility of me escaping this hellhole –after a few months of number-crunching, the exact possibility was 0.07642, and I don't play with losing games– I started to seriously think of Vash.

Vashu... my dear twin brother. The liberation of Plants from humans was to create Eden for him. For us. For our sisters. But especially, for him.

My sweet, innocent Vashu. He didn't want to grasp the nature of what the filth was doing to him. Constantly yearning for contact with humans, he left me and sided with them. Even willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of humanity. But how did the insects repay him? By labeling him as the Humanoid Typhoon, a hazard; someone who was able to destroy a town to oblivion in mere hours, with a $$60,000,000,000 bounty on his head. Vash the Stampede. For the sake of got that is in Me, he couldn't even hurt a fly! He'd rather leave a portion of his food to the little fly, just to let it live! Couldn't they see that? No. They'd rather get rid of anything that they thought will bring them harm first, and then think of the consequences; when the harm only comes in the form of their own kind. Always selfish. My poor brother was more than happy to be at their service; to make them happy. And by spreading his "Love and Peace" philosophy all around Gunsmoke with that silly crossed-fingers sign, he hoped that all humans could live at total peace. What bullshit.

But his adamant stand to his naive believes was what makes him beautiful. And cute.

I silently chuckled at the thought.

But then, what have happened to him? I could still recall: the total blackness of his hair. 'The darkness of decay,' I once told him. Not a wisp of the striking blond that I used to love so much. Even his soft aqua jade irises turned into a ferocious tone of magenta. I understood the fact that I may have lost my brother. Even though I could accept his death at my hands, should it be by cointegrating with me or by the cuts of my Angel Blades, I couldn't let him die by any other means. Yes, that did appear to be selfish for me to do so. But by dying in my arms, a part of him will always be with me. I'd rather have a breathing, living brother to talk to, to take care of, to tease... to pour all my heart to. But he had left me with no more choice. I've tried every means possible to make him come back to my side, but he won't relent. He loved the humans far too much; those vermin he has taken as companions for more almost a century; even when they were the source of his distress, his long suffering, the scars on his body-- everything that tainted his beauty. I was exhausted of other alternatives. I wanted to create Eden for him to spare him from all those pain. But with him shoving his constant human contraption –commonly known as a gun– to my face every time we meet, I painfully concluded that I could never get my brother back. Even so, I could not let him suffer even more than he did. I care for him too much for that.

Thus, here I was, alone in my coffin, persistent thoughts of what has happened, and what could happen continuously plaguing my mind. 'What ifs...' has been a constant companion whenever I start thinking of Vash.

"What if Vash have never left me? Wouldn't it be good?"...Naah. As I have stated before, he loved humans to damn much to side with me and join me in my sacred mission to purge humankind.

"What if he's still alive out there, happy for the fact that he managed to save the lives of both humanity and his brother?" He would be very, very happy then. Of that was what I was very sure. But if everything went the way he wants, I believe I would end up living with him peacefully, in a community full of those spiders. Not that I'd tolerate even the thought of residing near to a human settlement. My initial thoughts were that I'd rather stay in this metal tomb of mine. But after long, I grasp the fact that I missed him, longed for him, as so much as pining for him. I kept thinking that if I ever could turn back time, there was a possibility that I may lower myself to put up with human scum, and go and live with him in his human community, as long as I could see that sweet smile of his. Not those hollow, painful ones that he threw around hazardously for everyone to see. It was that honest, gorgeous smile he used to wear when we were children. Those innocent and bright grins that didn't understand the meaning of pain, of hurting; so full of life...

"What if Vash was already dead?"

No... no... I could never let myself think of that. If he died, what was the purpose of me being alive? Especially tied and bound in this impossibly cold coffin, not knowing until when I would live; when I could just die. Plants are basically almost immortal, as long as we don't abuse the limits of our power or sustain lethal injuries particularly in the head. We could live for centuries long.

I used to love the fact that Plants are undying. However, now I preferred otherwise.

Everything I did was for Vash. Everything.

If he was dead, what was I doing all I did for?

'Why make him suffer then?' It was to teach him a lesson. Never fuck with his elders. In particular, me. Forget the fact that we never knew who was the older of the two of us, but I have always seen myself as Vash's caretaker; the eldest of us twins. It would make him think twice about not listening to my advices, or leaving me behind to go with those humans-be-damned of his ever again. Not to forget, it was also as revenge for that one shot he made at me back then, before I cut off his left arm.

'Why force him to do what he didn't want? By forcing him to kill?' To turn his back to his believes that we should never kill, by making him murder another?' It was to open his eyes to the fact that humans are powerless to us 'Free-Borns'. Couldn't he see? We are superior to them insects. We are the savior of our kind. An epitome of disaster to humans. The leaders of liberation of the Plants. We were to rule the world, making it our Eden, and live the rest of out lives happily ever after, with our sisters providing for us

Therefore, I planned for the total annihilation of human. To create the Eden he so deserved. Just for his sake.

"But... what if he's not alive anymore?"

Then immortality is a curse. I couldn't even comprehend my life without him. Without a purpose to live. Even if I won our battle of humanity and killed him in the process, I believed that by creating Eden, my brother would be at ease, as his sisters are all safe and secured in the blissful Eden. Then, I'd join him 'on the other side'; if there ever was one. I simply couldn't live without him. That was all.

At this kind of thoughts, I have considered suicide. However, being put in this vessel, which somehow heals every injury in my body continuously, I couldn't even have the grace to kill myself. Once or twice, I gnawed on my tongue until it was almost separated from my body, to let myself die of loss of blood. But being blessed with the superhuman healing ability of Plants and the fact that my coffin was constantly healing me, my tongue was healed and fixed back in its place in no time.

It was driving me insane.

Nevertheless, I kept thinking, "Vash wouldn't like it if I died along with him, right? He'd like it better if I just live as long as I could, helping the human as the way he did, right?"

'Fuck you, Vash! I couldn't do that! I just couldn't! You know it!'

"But you want him to always be happy, right?"

'That's right. I'd do anything. Everything. I've always done so, and I would always do.'

"You'd do anything?"

'Yes...'

"Really?"

'YES! Fuck damn it, yes!'

"Then would you save him?"

... 'What in the...?'

I was beginning to realize, that I was having a monologue while referring to myself as a second person. Was I going insane...? That... that would be... good... I think... Denial was good...

"Knives, your brother... would you want to save him?"

But wait... Since when did my thoughts consist of a female voice? And what was this 'save my brother' thing...?

"If you'd agree to spare humankind, and not to associate yourself in harming of humans in any way possible, either physically, psychologically, or both, we will let you out of the Recuperation Chamber, which you are residing in right now."

Huh? What...?

"...You must help us save your brother."

Vash?

Save Vash...? Which means... he's still alive? That's a good thing, right? Right?

'But, what's wrong with him?'

"We will explain everything later. But first, we want to show you something."

A collective of lights was forming in front of me in a rectangular shape. It has the eerie resemblance to that of the holograms back from the Seed ships... My irises throbbed in union from the brightness of the suspended holo-screen. I haven't been exposed to light for how-would-I-knows how long... My eyes blinked repeatedly, and it took some time for me to adjust.

When I got used to the glaring light, I focused my attention to the 3-D hologram.

And I screamed.

Like I've never screamed before.

Please... no... not again...

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TURN TO THE NEXT EPISODE.

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