"I have arranged for the coin pieces to be
given to 12 assassins. They are the worst scum this world has to offer, and
all of them are now after you. I will be satisfied if they feed you but a tenth
of the hell you have put Him through."
Legato's voice echoes, heavy with portent. a turning point has
been passed, the storyline has changed. the way ahead has made a decided
shift to the nasty, with occasional sections of ooh-that's-harsh.
cutting edges abound, and Our Comedic Hero is like to get sliced badly enough
that only Vash the Stampede may remain in the end.
so fasten your seatbelt, securely grasp the safety bar in front of you, and
get ready for a very loooong journey. the good times have passed. all
we can do is wait and pray they swing back around.
-8-10-
TRIGUN 03
#14 DIABLO
Deep Space Future Gun Action
-11-
KBAM
Meryl slams her hands down on the desk.
Meryl- He. Did. NOT. Do. It!!! Your accusations
are groundless!
the Sheriff, sitting opposite her, has the "yeah yeah, whatever"
look of someone who's been putting up with unreasonableness for an extensive
period of time and is trying to be sorta nice.
Sheriff- So tell it to the judge. This ain't the courtroom.
But just so you know--
he starts ticking points off on his fingers.
Sheriff- We have witnesses placing him in the shoe store just prior to
the murder. He was closest to the scene when the shoemaker's head was
found. And when we do a background check, what do we find? He's
the Humanoid Typhoon! Any sane person'd lock up a man like him. But
say I did let him out, and he takes off. Truth, lies, it all vanishes
into the dark right along with him. You willing to take responsibility
for that?
point made. Meryl doesn't like it, but she shuts up.
night comes, the relaxing peace of the early afternoon shifting into the
tense calm of a nearly empty jailhouse.
-12-
Vash sits alone in a stark cell, a heavy chain wrapping around his wrists.
there's only a short length before it bolts into the wall. almost
as if he'd gone with the lazy summer afternoon, Our Cheery Hero is nowhere in
sight. instead, a dark and brooding man slouches on the metal bench, mind
turned inward and dancing little circles of vicious glee.
Vash- Finally! A clue. I've got you now, Knives. You won't
get away. Don't even think about underestimating me, either. I will
hunt you down. I will…!
-13-
with nothing to do but stare, gloat and think, Vash slips back into the past,
returning to a time of precious memories of peace. a deep and ever-present
thrum vibrates the metal floorboards, the colony Ship making it's slow progress
towards Eden. a little blonde boy stands in front of a huge glass wall,
fleshy left hand resting lightly on the glass and a quiet, pensive expression
on his face.
Voice- I thought I'd find you here, Vash.
-14-
the little boy turns around and looks up at the smiling, black-haired woman
dressed simply in white shirt and jeans.
Young Vash- Rem. Why'd they put everyone to sleep? The Ship
is way too quiet. There's only *us* and you, Rem.
the young woman pauses for a second, gathering her thoughts for a complicated
answer. the kind expression never leaves her face.
Rem- …Vash.
-15-
Rem- Do you know what's written on the outer hull of every single one
of these Ships? "Project Seeds". The people sleeping here
are the "seeds" of humanity's future, sent off into the unknown by
their parents to find a new home. Right now, I'm the caretaker of those
"seeds". If there is a God in this infinite universe of ours,
maybe he'll have mercy on our species' attempt to prolong its life and smile
on our journey. For all that this may seem like one last pitiful shot
by the sad remnants of a race, no one in there is just going to lay down and
die. We're going to live.
-16-
beyond the glass stretches a huge chamber that'd dwarf a small city, millions
upon millions of slim coffin-like glass cases trailing off as far as the eye
can see. each contains a single person, slumbering peacefully.
Rem- There's a fight waiting for all of them once we reach our new world. That
makes it my job to keep watch over this little rest they get before starting.
-17-
Young Vash- Don't you get lonely at all?
Rem- I'm okay. I've got you and Knives to keep me company, after
all.
Young Vash- //thinking// Rem told me once. On Earth, someone she loved
a lot died. Being alone, it didn't matter to her where she went. So
she got on the Ships. I wondered what it felt like to have someone you
loved a lot die. I wondered what it would feel like if Rem died.
Hot water started dripping out of my eyes and wouldn't stop.
-18-
Young Vash- Rem. Rem! I'll stay with you! I'll keep
you company always!
full of innocent earnestness, he trots after the gently smiling Rem, and
the two happy figures vanish into the white mists of the past. hunched
over himself on the cold metal bench, Vash hugs his knees and tries not to cry.
memories well up again, a dull rumble providing backdrop for the empty mechanical
voice of the computer and the high shriek of alarms.
-19-
Young Vash- It's too late!! There's no time!!
Computer- All systems auto lockdown.
Vash- //thinking// The situation was hopeless from the start. A
program anomaly cropped up out of nowhere, cracking into the navigation mainframe
and sending the following command to all the Ships:
begin freefall to the planet below.
-20-
near the outer hull of the ship, the roar of straining engines is nearly
deafening. Young Vash clambers into a large, torpedo-like escape pod.
halfway in he stops and turns around. Rem hangs back, seeming a little
preoccupied.
Young Vash- C'mon Rem, hurry up!
Rem- They're all going to crash. All 90 million people will die.
All of them! DAMMIT!!
-21-
decision made, Rem sends up a soft prayer.
Rem- ……Alex, give me strength.
alright, back to business.
Rem- Vash! Knives! You two go on ahead.
Young Vash- Wha--? You mean you aren't---? NO!!
Rem hits the switch to close the pod's hatch, the two doors starting their slow
slide shut.
Young Vash- I won't go! Not without you Rem! Rem!! REEEEEEM!!!
he braces both hands against the doors --they're too small to grasp the width
of the metal-- and tries as hard as a young child can to stop them. his
efforts are, of course, fruitless. Rem smiles sadly as Vash is forced
back into the pod.
Rem- ….I'm sorry. But if he were still alive, I know he'd make the
same decision.
tears paint wide trails down Young Vash's face. his hands still clutch
the closing doors, but the gap is barely wide enough for him to see through.
Rem- Vash………
-22-
CHA-THUNK
the doors close. the entrance is sealed. Young Vash stares at
it blankly, mouth gaping. it takes a bit for his reluctant mind to process
what just happened, but when it does, Vash screams her name with a voice that
just may have been loud enough to reach her.
uncaring of its passenger's unwillingness to depart, the escape pod shoots out
into space, rocketing away from the doomed Ships' trajectory. the last
of the Ships falls past in a deceptively slow tumble.
-23-
once it and the debris it was shedding pass, the interior of the escape pod
goes silent as a tomb. outside the one small window, a burning Ship can
be seen disintegrating like a red dandelion in the wind.
Vash- //thinking// That was the last time I saw her. The mother
ship looked like a slowly shattering ruby, all glittering and red as it quietly
broke apart and vanished.
-24-
Young Vash huddles in on himself, tears pouring. next to him sits another,
wrapped in shadows. suddenly, this other starts to snigger, then chuckle,
then laugh uproariously, like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the universe.
Young Vash- What's gotten into you, Knives?! What's so funny?
Young Knives- Humans! They're so bewildering. For a ridiculous little
thing called "sentimentalism" they'd throw away their very lives!
I'd decided letting her live might not be that bad, but ah well. Minor
imperfections are acceptable. She gets purged with the rest of them!!
Just simple colonists? Shyeah right! Humankind is a disease
oozing its way through the healthy universe, looking for a new planet to contaminate.
They need to be exterminated!
-25-
his mind already over-abused by shock this day, Young Vash stutters to keep
up with this new warp in what had been a happy life.
Young Vash- Wait... no…you? The program anomaly?
Knives- It was disgustingly easy. But don't worry. I've made sure
the plant ship will be fine. You and me-- we've got a new world to make.
the last straw is placed, and that poor proverbial camel's back breaks. Young
Vash's mind refuses to cope any more. tears and screaming start, and neither
look to stop any time soon…
-26-
but that was a long, long time ago. the screaming has faded, the tears
have dried, and the anguish has turned to a deep, smoldering anger. Vash
sits on the cold metal bench in his tiny bare cell, the pain of that event oh
so long ago feeding the banked fire in his soul until the flames blaze high
enough to be reflected through his eyes, both burning bright blue.
Vash- Ready or not, Knives, here I come!
-27-
a wide eyed Millie tentatively pokes her head around the door to the cells.
Millie- Mr. Vash?
what she sees halts her in her tracks, her loose slouch instantly snapping
straight. Meryl, directly behind Millie and not really paying attention
to where she was going, gets smacked back into the wall behind them. but
the cells are poorly lit, and Millie wasn't too sure of what was there. looking
a little harder, she finds only Our Haggard Hero, grinning, though he looked
a little worn around the edges. what so shocked her just a second ago
was no more.
Vash- Oh, hello you two.
-28-
Meryl edges around Millie, the Sheriff right behind her.
Meryl- I'm sorry, Mr. Vash. The Sheriff is being a hard-headed bas---
Sheriff- Hey, watch it!
Meryl- Anyway, would you just sit tight for tonight? We'll try again tomorrow.
Vash- Thank you. But you really don't have to go through all this
just for me.
Meryl- What do you mean, 'don't have to'? You're completely innocent!
pissed as hell to perfectly calm in 3.4 seconds. if there's one thing
besides shooting that Vash is exceptionally good at, it's fool-proof masks.
Meryl buys it, but Millie isn't so sure…
Millie- uhm…er… Mr. Vash?
Vash- Yes?
faced with the soft, yet distant, smile head on, Millie's courage disappears.
Millie- um… well…MEVERNIND!
......o-kaaaaaaaay......
-29-
back in the office part of the police station, a cloaked shadow fills the
entirety of the station's double-doors. that's both vertically and horizontally,
by the way. the guy's BIG. a vaguely myopic-looking deputy scribbling
out the ever-present paperwork looks up as both doors gets pushed open.
at the same moment, several rooms away, Vash perks up. pleasantly smiling
to completely focused in 1.6 seconds. he knows the visitor is no friend.
Vash- Someone's here.
-30-
a loose, brown poncho shrouds the giant shoulders to feet, and a wide-brimmed
sombrero keeps his face in shadows. the Myopic Deputy blinks up at him,
not quite sure what to do.
Myopic Deputy- Can I……help you?
Vash- GET DOWN!!!
the giant whips up both hands, the poncho flaring out of the way---
-31-
and two mini gatling guns open fire. interestingly enough, the guns
are wrapped around the man's wrists; bracelets every psycho military buff would
want. the wooden wall between the front office and the cells in back disintegrates
in the sheet of bullets, the concrete parts of it faring little better. Meryl,
Millie and the Sheriff lie flat on the floor, half-buried in the remnants of
the wall.
-32-
the deputy huddles against the side wall. scared to death? yes.
hurt? no. the poncho slides all the way to the ground, and the sombrero
is nowhere in sight. a man built like a pro wrestler and dressed in a skin-tight,
dark suit, complete with a heavy-glass faceplate stands arrogantly in the office,
chuckling. smoke curls up from the two gatling-bracelets on his wrists.
Monev- I owe ya guys one! You went and trussed up my mark and set him
up all pretty, just for me. I know you can hear me, Vash the Stampede!!
-33-
Monev- Gung Ho Guns 1, my name's Monev the Gale!!
smoke and dust waft lazily through the back, the bars to Vash's cell mangled
into twisted wrecks half way up from the floor. spent bullets pebble the
cell's stone wall in a big clump, right where Vash had been sitting. now,
he's torqued off to the side, stretched as far as the chains binding him will
let him go. someone else coughs, Meryl and Millie slowly making their way up
from the floor.
Vash- What are you guys waiting for?! Get out of here, NOW!
Millie- But, Mr. Vash--
Vash- I'm the only one he's after! Run while you still can!
Meryl- Don't be ridiculous.
-34-35-
Meryl- Do you really understand the situation you're in right now?
Vash isn't listening. who knows where he got it, but he has a lock
pick and is furiously working at the manacles with his right hand. his
eyes never leave the newly widened doorway. a footstep thuds. Vash's
hands start working faster. another footstep and another and another and
another and Monev leaps through the last of the smoke-- from the side. caught,
Vash has time only to blink like a deer in headlights before Monev has his throat
and slams him into the wall.
-36-
somehow still conscious, he glares through blood at his attacker. Monev
is silent for some time.
Monev- Well, whaddayaknow. You really do look exactly like that picture, don'tcha.
with more guts than smarts, Meryl steps up and points one of her little derringers
at a guy who's at least 3 times her size.
Meryl- Let-- Let him go!
Vash- Wha-- IDIOT, RUN!!!
Monev spares her a glance, then negligently kicks Meryl away. she slams
painfully into the wall, hitting her head hard enough to knock herself out.
-37-
Millie- Sempai!
the big girl runs over to her partner in concern. Monev ignores them.
Monev- 20 years is a long damn time. Every single day was hell, training for
just one thing--- killing you. Those days die with you, in 10... 9... 8... 7...
6... 5... 4... 3... 2... ONE!!
-38-
before the word 'one' has finished leaving Monev's mouth, Vash is moving.
unable to get the manacles off in time, he falls back on a last resort.
his right hand separates at the wrist, slipping on well oiled metal joints
to rest just underneath his forearm. where arm bones should be, a gun
barrel pokes out, and a trigger fits snuggly against his finger. Vash
contorts himself around Monev's wide gattling-bracelet, and the other man winces
as the hidden gun's barrel swings past his face. but the shots go into
Monev's shoulder.
-39-
pain lances through Monev's brain, his right arm twitching upwards, then both
his gattling-bracelets are firing and Vash is firing and somehow only the chains
binding Vash get shot.
-40-
free, Vash is no way in hell sticking around. he takes off one way,
and Monev follows. both men fire, but only Vash scores anything, two rounds
impacting Monev's bullet-proof faceplate.
forgotten, Millie huddles close to the floor and screams.
-41-
Monev is the first outside, diving out the double doors to the Sheriff's
Office in a shower of breaking glass.
Monev- //thinking// Whoa, hang on a sec, here! This ain't what I got signed
on for! He's supposed to be a die-hard pacifist! A wuss, easy pickings!
Somebody somewhere screwed up my info! Just look at his eyes…
Vash makes his leisurely way out, the lights from the interior backlighting
him spectacularly.
-42-
shadow wraps around him like it belongs there, an errant wind flipping up the
tattered, bullet-cut edges of his longcoat and making them dance like living
things. two hard, cold eyes glow faintly out of the darkness hiding his
features, looking down a long way to find their target.
Monev- Now we see who you really are--- DIABLO!
DIABLO/ End