Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Cowboy Bebop Meets Trigun ❯ Angels and Devils ( Chapter 27 )

Disclaimer: YES! IT'S ALL MINE! Oh, wait... I was thinking of the stuff I've bought for both animes. Hehe, my bad.

 

A/N: Another day, another chapter, yah? I have here some actiony sequences. I hope you like them. Maybe I'm getting better at this... Nah!

 

 

Chapter 27: Angels and Devils

 

Jet was in the command center of the Eden with Ed, trying to reestablish contact with Nightingale and the others. He wished that someone had given either Spike or Vash a communicator so he could know what the hell was going on. However, even that might not have helped since now even Nightingale wasn't answering. The last thing before he lost contact was that she and Wolfwood had been surrounded. At this rate, who knew what shit was going down.

Ed was currently sitting in front of Tomato, goggles strapped on, singing softly to herself, with Ein in her lap. Admittedly, she was one strange kid, but she was also the best hacker around. Ed had accessed the entire Red Dragon Syndicate's network after just five to ten minutes of hacking. That took skill.

As a matter of fact, that was what she was looking at right now. After accessing the surveillance system, Ed had manipulated a loop into the camera system. Of course, if Jet really wanted to know what was happening, he could tell Ed to get rid of the loop and just watch what was happening, but that might do more harm then good. So, Jet paced about instead, worrying.

“Jet-person, what's the matter?”

“I'm worried about the others,” he muttered.

“No worries, Jet-person!”

“What do you mean `no worries,' Ed? I can't contact them! They might be dead for all we know!”

“Jet-person, Ed could try calling Vash-person.”

“Ed, he doesn't have a communicator.”

Ed giggled. “Vash-person has a walkie-talkie in his ear, yes!”

Jet stared at her, puzzled. “Huh?”

Ed held up an object. “Lookie!”

“Ed, that's a pen.”

“No, Jet-person! It's a walkie-talkie!”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep-yep!”

“Well, I'll be damned,” Jet muttered. “Ed, patch me through to Vash!”

“Sure thing, Jet-person!”

 

 

Vash moved as quickly as he dared without waking his still unconscious brother. He had left Spike behind with Julia, and even though Vash had been hesitant to leave Spike alone with Julia, he really hadn't had any other choice. Knives seemed entirely too pale to Vash. Also, he moaned a little every now and then.

Actually, it was a bizarre feeling. Who would have guessed that the great Millions Knives would be reduced to this? His arrogance had obviously been his downfall. If he had just stayed put on the ship, none of this would have happened. But no, he had to go off, escape and get himself, as well as everyone else, in this mess.

Vash stopped that train of thought. He shouldn't be thinking about his brother like that. Besides, no matter how tough it would be and no matter how much other said he should give up and not try; Vash was going to take care of Knives. In Vash's mind, that would be the best way to honor Rem's last request: “Vash, take care of Knives.”

Vash wondered how Wolfwood and Nightingale were doing. That explosion from earlier had definitely been Wolfwood's Cross Punisher. Knowing him, Wolfwood would be having the time of his life beating the shit out of Red Dragon Syndicate goons. The thought made him smile a little. Of course, sometimes Vash worried that the Preacher Man would, despite his chosen profession as a man of the cloth, not hesitate to kill if he saw no other alternative. That was repugnant to Vash, because Rem had always said that there was always another way. Still, at this point all Vash could do was hope Wolfwood wouldn't kill any of them.

But then, Vash wondered, if Spike was the one he should be worrying about when it came to not killing people. After all, Spike had seemed pretty adamant about how he would take care of business. But, Vash had to admit, Spike was right about him not forcing his viewpoints on others. Vash could preach them, sure, but bugging them about it really wasn't fair.

“Vash-person! Ed to Vash-person! Come in, Vash-person!”

Vash skidded to a halt and looked around wildly for the source of the voice. Then, he smacked himself mentally when he realized it was his earring communicator. He remembered then that he had given Ed the pen so she could contact him.

I wonder what's up. “Hey, Ed, what's up?”

“Jet-person wants to say hi!”

“Ed, I do not want to say hi! Give me that!”

Vash smiled a little at their antics. As the scuffle he could hear in the background subsided, and Ed began to whine at Jet, Vash heard Jet's voice come back on the line.

“Vash, what the hell is going in there? I can't reach Nightingale or Wolfwood! How are things on your end?”

“Well, we found the main reactor, and I'm carrying my brother to safety now. But you're going to have to help me navigate this building, since I don't know my way around here.”

“Fine. Wait a second,” Jet paused, “isn't Spike there with you?”

“No.”

“WHAT?”

“Spike stayed behind at the reactor.”

“Why the hell didn't he come with you?”

“Because he saw Julia.”

“WHAT?”

Vash sighed. “Yeah, that's what I thought. But according to Spike, it was her.”

“So he's staying behind for a woman?”

“No, I think there's more to it than that.”

“Damn,” Jet muttered. “I should have known he'd pull something like this.”

“Yeah, well,” Vash cleared his throat, indicating he wanted to change the subject, “why can't you contact Nightingale?”

“I don't know. The last I heard, she and Wolfwood were surrounded.”

“Ah.” Vash smiled mischievously. “Well, that explains the explosion I heard earlier.”

“Explosion? What explosion?”

“Well, I'm assuming it was Wolfwood unleashing his Cross Punisher on a bunch of unsuspecting goons.”

“Ah, I see,” Jet said. “Well, since everything seems to be under control (except for Spike going all moody again), I guess you better get out of there now.”

“Yeah,” Vash grunted as he shifted his brother's weight slightly on his shoulder. “See, Knives is still unconscious, and I would kinda prefer if we got him out of here before he wakes up.”

“Oh, yeah. Point taken. I'll have Ed guide you out.”

“Yippee! Ed gets to help!” Ed squealed in the background.

“Yes, you get to help,” Jet sighed. “But, if you don't give instructions Vash can understand, I'm going to have to do it for you.”

“Ok, Jet-person! Gimmee communipenthingy!”

“Ok, ok! Here!”

“Yay! Vash-person?”

“Yes, Ed,” Vash said, amused.

“Ok, Edward will be giving instructions, okok?”

“That's fine with me.”

“Goody! Ok, Vash-person, first...”

As Vash began to follow Ed's instructions, shifting the weight of his burden occasionally, he wondered how everyone else was doing. Hopefully, they were all carrying out their end of the mission and doing well.

I'm worried about them, but I can't let that distract me. I have to get Knives out of here.

 

 

Spike held his gun loosely in his right hand while the left was wrapped around a grenade, ready to flick the key out at any second. His finger rested lightly on the trigger, ready to react in an instant. Vicious looked much the same, blade held out in an elegant fighting pose, his face wreathed with an insane grin.

Then, he attacked.

Vicious charged swiftly for Spike, whipping his katana forward. Spike quickly flicked the key out of the grenade and tossed it in Vicious's direction. The resulting explosion created a cloud of dust, hiding both fighters from view.

Spike's eyes shifted back and forth, searching furiously for Vicious. Out of the corner of his eye, he barely made out Vicious's blade as it headed straight for him. Spike shifted his position smoothly before bringing his gun up. Blade met handgun with a clang.

Vicious's eyes widened with fury as he forced more and more pressure down on Spike's gun. Then, Spike abruptly pulled his gun out of the deadlock. Vicious lost his balance for a moment, but it was more than enough time for Spike to aim his gun and fire.

Spike watched Vicious skid backwards from the force of the blow, but he did not fall. Instead, he merely straightened himself and wiped away the line of blood forming on his cheek. Vicious stared at the blood on his hand for a moment before grinning.

“So, you've drawn first blood. I salute you, old friend,” Vicious smirked as he raised his hand in a mock salute.

Spike didn't answer. Don't let him get to you. That's what he wants.

“Nothing to say? Very well, then let's continue where we left off, shall we?”

Vicious charged again, katana in hand. Spike fired a few shots of his handgun, causing Vicious to sidestep as many a possible. Then, as Vicious positioned his katana for a strike, Spike immediately raised his gun in defense. However, in mid-strike, the blade shifted to become a thrust, thereby allowing the blade to slide over the gun. Spike jerked his head out of the way, but the blade still cut into his face. Quickly, Spike knocked the katana aside with his gun.

As Vicious took a few steps back, Spike wiped his face with his sleeve, staining it with blood. The throbbing sting of the wound quickly subsided as the blood dried on his face. As Spike turned to face Vicious, he noticed the other's grin.

“A draw,” Vicious observed.

“Don't get used to it,” Spike growled.

Vicious laughed. “So, you still believe you can defeat me.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well then, come at me if you really think you can!”

Spike dropped his gun and immediately reached for two, fully loaded ones. He aimed and began to fire them in rapid succession. Vicious ducked behind a pile of debris from the previous explosion of the grenade. Spike stopped his attack to reload.

Vicious, mark my words, I am going to finish this here and now...

 

 

Vash stepped on board the Eden, relieved to be back. Carrying his brother all this way had made him a little sore, but Vash felt happier than he had in a long time. Vash had made it back with Knives in one piece, and things were starting to look up. Once everyone got out of the syndicate headquarters, they could all go home again.

“Mr. Vash!” Millie shouted cheerfully.

Vash grinned. “Hey, insurance girl! What's up?”

“Mr. Jet says he wants to see you in the command center right away!”

“Ok, I'll be there in a minute.”

“Oh, and Mr. Vash, let me take care of Mr. Knives.”

Vash hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Millie nodded. “Oh, sure! I'll just carry him back to his room and make sure he's ok.”

“Well, if you're sure,” Vash said, as he handed his brother over to Millie who lifted him as though he weighed nothing.

“I'll see you later, ok, Mr. Vash?”

“Sure, Millie, but I want to know, where's Meryl?”

Millie smiled. “Here and there! I'm sure you'll see her later. Bye!” she chirped as she left.

Uh, that was weird.

Vash shook those thoughts clear. He had to see what Jet wanted. Once he arrived at the command center, Vash immediately ducked as a certain red-haired someone attempted to pounce on him.

“No fair, Vash-person! Ed wanted to wrestle!”

Vash laughed nervously. “Um, how about we do that later, Ed?”

“Oh, ok,” Ed pouted.

“Oh, you're back,” Jet said. “Where's your brother?”

“Oh, I let Millie take care of him.”

Jet raised his eyebrows. “You sure that's a good idea?”

“Well, I don't think he'll wake up for a while.”

“If you say so. In any case, now that you've got your brother back, I think we can tell everyone to come back, don't you?”

Vash nodded. “Yeah. See if you can reach Nightingale again.”

“What about Spike?”

“I don't know,” Vash said quietly.

Jet frowned but made the call.

 

 

Spike began to inch his way along the floor to the pile of rubble where Vicious had taken cover. He had one hand on a gun and another on a grenade. As he crouched down low to the floor, he tried to catch any sounds that might indicate Vicious's exact location. He listened hard.

Nothing.

Since he wasn't able to hear anything, Spike decided the best way to flush Vicious out would be to make a lot of noise. Spike pulled the key out of the grenade and tossed it over the side of the rubble. Debris rained down on Spike's head after the explosion shook the foundation of the floor.

Spike frowned. Still nothing. No screams of pain, no nothing. Just dead silence.

Suddenly, Spike heard a rustle behind him. Spike whirled about only to be faced with Vicious plunging his blade towards Spike. A split second later, both men found themselves in a draw. While Vicious's blade hung over Spike's shoulder, Spike's gun rested on Vicious's shoulder.

Vicious grinned. “You should see yourself. Do you have any idea what you look like right at this moment, Spike?”

“What?”

“A ravenous beast. The same blood runs through both of us, the blood of a beast who wanders, hunting for the blood of others.”

“I've bled all of that kind of blood away.”

“Then why are you still alive?” Vicious demanded.

In the same instant, both men attacked. Vicious's blade ripped into Spike's shoulder as Spike fired point-blank at Vicious. Spike clutched his shoulder as the warm blood seeped through the cracks of his fingers. Vicious, seeming to ignore the pain altogether, grabbed Spike's face and began to squeeze, an insane look of glee on his face.

Then, Vicious's eyes widened as he saw the object held in the palm of Spike's outstretched, wounded hand: a grenade.

“Are you insane? If you release the key now, both of us will die.”

Spike smiled. “I'm willing to accept that alternative.”

Then, he pulled the key free, tossing the grenade in Vicious's direction.

 

 

Wolfwood smashed another goon's face with his handgun before spinning around and knocking another goon flying with the Cross Punisher. He and Nightingale had been at this for a while now, whittling away at the enemy's henchmen until finally they were down to about fifty apiece.

This is taking a while, but I guess that gives Needle Noggin and Spike more time to find Knives.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wolfwood could see Nightingale's whip snaking out all around her, taking many by surprise as she knocked the weapons from their hands. However, once someone got up close and personal, she would either wound him non-fatally with her katana or strike out with her legs to deliver damaging kicks.

The goons fell to them one by one. By the time Wolfwood and Nightingale were done, there were 200 henchmen lying on the ground, moaning from the pain of some sort of wound.

“Aw, quit your whining!” Wolfwood scoffed, as he lit a cigarette. “At least you're not dead.”

“Mr. Wolfwood, I do believe our associates have been attempting to contact us for some time now.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, call `em so they don't think we're dead or something.”

A few moments later, they had a very irate Jet on the other line.

“...trying to contact you for ages! There's no excuse!”

“Jet, we had our hands full. It was 200 goons against the two of us. Cut us some slack, here!” Wolfwood said.

“You didn't kill anyone, did you?”

“Needle Noggin! You're already back? Did you find Knives?”

“Yup! He's here, unconscious.”

“I hope he stays that way,” Wolfwood muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Needle Noggin. So, what happened to Spike?”

“...He didn't come with me.”

“Why?”

“It's a long story. Look, we've got what we came for so you guys can come back now.”

“I cannot leave until I destroy the Angel Annihilator,” Nightingale stated.

“What? But they can't even use it anymore.”

“It does not matter.”

“Vash, don't worry about it,” Wolfwood said. “I'll stay with her until she's done, ok?”

“Ok, but be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After shutting off the communication, Wolfwood turned to Nightingale. “So, where to?”

Before she could answer, a tremor shook the building. Wolfwood looked wildly about, wondering just what the hell was going on. When the ground shook a second time, he said, “Ok! What the hell is going on here?”

“Mr. Wolfwood, I want you to get out of here.”

He looked at Nightingale, who suddenly tossed him the communicator. She was staring off into the distance at the main reactor, which Wolfwood suddenly noticed was flashing violently. She seemed focused on something unseen yet there nonetheless.

“I can't just leave you here!”

“Yes, you can! There isn't much time left. The reactor has become unstable. I am the only one capable of stopping it. Leave. Now. Before I force you.”

Wolfwood stared. Then, he asked her gently, “Are you sure?”

She bowed her head. “Yeah. I'm sure.”

Wolfwood nodded silently before slinging his Cross Punisher over his shoulder and rushing from the building. Nightingale had seemed so...open just now. It was as if all her barriers had dropped in that one, brief instant.

Lord, whatever it is she has planned, may she go with Your protection and love.

 

 

Red Dragon Syndicate HQ is shaking apart? -bites nails- What could possibly happen next?

Knives: The building impl-

-clamps hand over Knives's mouth- Don't spoil it for them!

Knives: Remove your filthy human hands from my face, spider.

O.O Oh, you're going to get it now.

Knives: What could you possibly do to me?

-5 minutes later-

Knives: SOMEONE SAVE ME!

No one shall save you from me, for I am the omnipotent authoress! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Knives: NOOOOOOOOOO!

Yes! I AM GOD!

Vash: Really?

No.

Vash and Knives: -fall down anime style-

-gleeful grin- Anyway, review the chapter while they recover.