no guarantees on the accuracy of this chapter... Wolfwood says some things that I just couldn't puzzle out (I think they're some Kansai-area sayings...), Sensei says some stuff that's inscrutable, and the Puppetmaster just plain talks funny...
-165-
#6
the past.
there's blood everywhere, splattered liberally across the ground and soaking
into the blanket covering most of a small body, two slim, death-pale legs all
that's visible…
Mourner 1- Unbelievable…
Mourner 2- Don't tell me it's happened again?!
Mourner 3- But they're only distantly related to the Fris family. There was
no reason for her to be involved…
black-clad men and women mill about, shocked and grieving. one elderly lady
sits listlessly in a chair by a window, staring blankly out at nothing for hours
on end. Baldy shuffles up behind her, plate of food held in his hand.
Baldy- Dear, please, you need to eat…
he never gets a response.
the present.
Wolfwood- Ya hear about that sort of thing wa~~aay too often. Even guys who
normally balk at a fight will grab for a gun if someone kills their kin---
-166-
#6 sin
"HE KILLED MY DAUGHTER!!"
-167-
the words hang in the still air, heavy with accusation and challenge. Vash
stands frozen, Colt poised calmly, but inside him a war is brewing. outside
the ship federal troops stay ready, but all they hear is the silence…
ConFed 1- …The ship's interior has gone quiet, sir.
Head Fed- Alright. Prepare to storm it.
the crowd, of course, only hears it's own muttering. there's something Big
going on, so they sure as all heck aren't going to miss it. Brad stands near
the edge, his height giving him, and Sensei perched on his shoulder, an unobstructed
view.
Brad- I wonder if he's dead… It was a stupid stunt from the start, Sensei.
Sensei- Oh, he's quite alright. At least, he should be.
-168-
Sensei- If you're worried, take a better look into your own heart. Remember,
incompetents never learn the most effective way of solving problems, no matter
how many years they try.
reclining leisurely on a nearby barrel, an apparently unconcerned Wolfwood
watches on, lighting up a cigarette.
Wolfwood- Time after time they keep upping the stakes, and every time they regret
the results. Likely be the case here, too… End up singing with the angels
after this one, and everything I told ya will be moot. Hn. Looks like my luck's
going to be tested, too. So what's it gonna be, Tongari?
good question. debate rages behind Vash's eyes, Longshot wavering, and dipping.
on one side stands Rem, smiling gently. "No one has the right to take another's
life."
-169-
the Colt dips further…
and on the other stands Knives, smirking down from a height. "Wanna save
one? Then the other's gonna die."
… and further, until it hangs uselessly by his side. the hostage screams.
Baldy-…… This won't take long. When I'm done, you can turn me in to
the Feds or the sheriff or whoever, I don't care.
Wussy Hostage- NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
-170-
seeing his savior giving up, the hostage resorts to a time-honored way of
saving one's own skin: begging and groveling for all he's worth.
Wussy Hostage- Please, I don't wanna die! Forgive me! I beg you, please! Please,
oh God, don't do it! Ple~~ase!
Baldy- QUIET! Begging for your lousy hide? My daughter did too, didn't she?
Remember!? Aileen was a MESS. Not only was she violated who knows how many times,
but she was shot in dozens of places that took a long time to kill her! You
and your buddies kept having your fun while she was slowly dying!
Baldy's gone beyond rage, now, and his hostage knows it. a puddle spreads
from the seat of the tied man's pants and he's lying in his own vomit, shaking
and cowering.
Wussy Hostage- ohgodohgodohgodIdon'twannadiesomebodysavemepleaseohgodnoIdon'twannadiegod
pleasedon'tdoitIdon'twannadiepleasenopleaseohgodpleaseNONOOOOOOOO!!!
-171-
the hammer clicks back, a deceptively soft sound, and the hostage screams,
gibbering wordlessly. Vash grits his teeth, internal war still roiling. what
right does he have to interfere? killing is wrong. but the guy is a sick and
cowardly lump of useless meat, why should his life be saved? killing is wrong.
but if anyone were to have the right to kill, this old man… outside and
unaware, everyone stands waiting-Brad, Sensei, Wolfwood, all wondering just
how the dice will fall…
-172-173-
Vash leaps.
-174-
Vash- DON'T!!
he crashes into the old man, both hands wrapping around the barrel of the
gun and shoving it's muzzle to the floor.
Baldy- HEY! Damn it, butt out! Let go! Leggo!! What the hell do you know?!
he looses an elbow, slamming it into the side of Vash's face again and again.
Baldy- Don't you dare judge me by your opinion of justice! You don't have any
idea what kind of anguish I'm in!
-175-
Baldy- Let GO!!!
but Vash doesn't. even though the left side of his face is mashed to an unrecognizable
welter of bruises and blood runs freely from his nose, the one eye not swollen
shut still stares at the old man in quiet determination.
the fight on which his life hangs gone quiet, the bound hostage starts to whimper.
I don't envy his family the psychiatrist's bills this guy's gonna have…
Wussy Hostage- wa~~~~ah… aaaa~~~aah… hel... plea..*hic*…help
me… save me~~~…papa… paa~~~ pa~~~~…
…hon, that was the wrong thing to say.
-176-
Baldy's undoubtedly seeing only in shades of red now, his hostage's plea
for parental help bringing up painful memories of what his daughter must have
done, and the sheer gall of the bastard to do the same triggers a white-hot
rage. getting strength from that anger he hauls the gun around despite Vash
hanging onto it, and aims it squarely at the cringing lump's tear-streaked face…
speaking of the colors red and white, the setting sun is likely doing pretty
things with them, time passing and happenings on the outside of the hijacked
steamer far less tension-wracked than the inside. federal troops scurry this
way and that, clearing debris and hauling litters draped with injured hijackers.
Head Fed- Progress report!
ConFed- Sir! The operation commenced at 16:04 and successfully completed its
objective, encountering absolutely no resistance.
-177-
ConFed- Presently, a detailed casualty count is under way. Also, 13 hijackers
have been taken into custody, as well as one additional person…
Vash. one half of his face swollen well out of proportion and drying blood
dribbling to his chin, he walks calmly past the surprised whispers of the still-not-dispersed
crowd.
-178-
and behind him: Baldy. decidedly less dignified, or perhaps simply less tired,
the old man stumbles along, tears blinding him. the crowd's whispers intensify
as one last person is assisted out of the steamer by two troops. traumatized
within an inch of his life, but still having that life, the hostage totters
out.
Crowd- Hey, isn't that…?
Crowd- The Polo kid…? He's alive?
Vash- //thinking// In the end, he just couldn't kill a man in cold blood. His
daughter's death goes unavenged. Call him weak, but… that "weakness",
it saved both him and me.
-179-
Vash- //thinking// Yet…
legs wobbling, Vash starts to collapse, two nearby troops catching him before
he can fall too far.
Vash- ah, sor- sorry, sorry.
ConFed- You okay?
obviously not, but there isn't much you can do, is there? elsewhere, in the
crowd, watching…
Brad- I don't get it. At all. What was the point of all that? It makes no sense
whatsoever to me, Sensei.
-180-
Sensei- It was to prevent this disaster from leaving behind any corpses.
Brad- I get that part, but… Why suffer through all that risk and danger
when it leaves him so drop-dead exhausted?
Sensei- Let me put it this way; what if I had gotten caught in there?
Brad- ?
Sensei- Would you come save me?
Brad- ……… of course I would. We're kin.
Sensei- Exactly that. But to Vash the Stampede… his concept of who is "kin"
is ridiculously broad.
-181-
Sensei- It must be a source of incredible pain, for one so long-lived. Shall
we go?
Brad- Huh? What, we're just going to leave him?
Sensei- We've fulfilled our duties here. It's alright, he'll muddle out a solution
for himself.
Brad-………
now very thoroughly confused, Brad stares after the departing Sensei.
…and Time moves on, as it is wont to do, dusk deepening into full dark.
the town settles down, a night of peace settling softly around them…
-182-
KABOOOO~~~~~~OOOOM!!!
…or so they could hope. sorry, no dice this time. Vash the Stampede
is in town, after all.
ConFed 1- huh.. what the…
ConFed 2- What the hell is it this time?
ConFed 3- An explosion?!
ConFed 4- At Gate 7! All the witnesses are bailing!
…which is probably a very smart idea. streamers of smoke part long enough
to show the whirring wheels of a motorcycle…
-183-
…and the missile-end of the Cross Punisher opens yet another door for
the Angelina II and one extremely peeved Wolfwood. federal troops go flying
every which way.
Wolfwood- YO!! WE'RE LEAVIN' TONGARI!! Good Lord, what I do for you,
ya blockhead.
-184-
Wolfwood- … GAH!
a nearby pile of rubble sprouts one bony leg of aforementioned blockhead.
Wolfwood- Don't get buried, dimwit!
said leg is grabbed, and the rest of a sleeping Vash is unceremoniously hauled
out.
Vash- ya~~wn. Gee, another really flashy rescue.
Wolfwood- Shut it! This is all your fault, since you had to go and be
such a Goodie Two Shoes. Oh yeah. Hey, Mister!
somewhat dazed, but fortunately un-buried, Baldy looks up.
Wolfwood- You don't need to be here any more, right? Bet you've got family waiting
for you outside of town. Get on.
-185-
Vash- Wolfwood, you really are a nic-- *murph*!
talk to the hand, hon. real up close and personal.
Wolfwood- MORON! Don't get me wrong here. I still think you're looking at the
world through rosy glasses. Keep pushing your luck like that, and one of these
days it ain't gonna work. There's gonna come a day when you'll have to choose.
One day, for sure.
-186-
far elsewhere, well into the trackless depths of the desert, the Mousy man
in black sits, looking through a set of binoculars at who knows what. without
a word, Lurawd walks up behind him. the other man turns to him, the large white
suitcase beside him falling open.
-187-
and Lurawd simply… falls apart. a puppet, his pieces un-pop and break
down without any visible assistance, floating through the air to stack themselves
neatly in the suitcase at the feet of the Mousy man. or perhaps I should call
him The Puppetmaster.
Puppetmaster- DiSCoVeRY. thE fIgUrE MoVeS. SKiLL CoNFiRMS thOUght. mAkE FouNDaTioNS
ReSouND And reach conclusions from the resulting waves.
the speech travels through space to a polite looking little butler-doll,
who finishes the last of the sentence far less brokenly than did the man.
-188-
it sketches a bow to the figure which hangs suspended in something that looks
like a cross between an iron maiden and a coffin, only his face visible…
Puppet- There can be no mistake. Vash the Stampede has resurfaced, Master Legato.
#6 sin/END
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