Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Under the Five Moons ❯ Defying Rules ( Chapter 4 )

Me no own Trigun. You own Trigun? You no own Trigun either? Hmm, we know who Trigun! See first chapter if you no know who own Trigun.

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The sand steamer slowed to halt in front of Septombre city. Inside, Evans was enjoying a cigar in the first class cabin the captain had given him in thanks for helping to save the ship. He inhaled deeply. The nice thing about cigars was that you didn't need as many of them. Somewhere in the city, a bomb went off, leveling a building. The explosion rocked the steamer, and Evans fell to the floor. He propped himself up on his hands and chewed on his cigar. "I do believe that's my bounty."

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Nikki shouldered her bag and stepped down from the ramp. She pushed her small-lensed sunglasses up her nose. Funny how no matter how long people lived on this planet, they never got used to the two suns. Whatever, it kept the sunglasses industry in business at least.

She stared at the plume of smoke rising from the explosion. She wondered if the woman she was looking for caused it. The woman who might lead her to her father.

Jeremiah stepped down beside her, his cross now covered in hard cloth and wrapped in leather straps. "You here for her too?"

Nikki turned to him, "You heard about it too?"

Jeremiah grinned, "How could I not? It's almost all people talk about these days. Actually when I first heard about it, I thought it my really be you."

Nikki cocked her head to the side. "Why would you think that? I'm not the destructive type."

Jeremiah shrugged. He really could be as gullible as his mother sometimes.

Cigar smoked wafted down the gangway as Evans disembarked. He waved to Nikki and Jeremiah. "Hey guys."

Jeremiah waved back. "Where you off to, Cavalryman?"

Evans pointed towards the rising smoke plume.

Nikki raised her eyebrows. "Your heading towards the explosion. . ."

BOOM!

". . .s? Doesn't that seem a little counter intuitive?" she asked.

"Not for me, I gotta catch Calamity Clarissa Shriver, daughter of Vash the Stampede, or at least, so she claims," he said.

Jeremiah scratched his head. "You sure it's her?"

"Who else would be causing such large explosions in Septombre city?" he responded. He took his spent cigar out his mouth and dropped it on the road, crushing it under his boot. He walked off down the street, whistling.

Nikki looked towards Jeremiah. "Should we follow him?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "I dunno, I kinda want to look into this whole Gung-Ho Gun thing. You heard that freak back on the train. Maybe your uncle. . ."

Nikki slapped her hand over his mouth. "Don't ever call him my uncle, ever. He's a psychopathic killer who wants to wipe at all humans, including you and me."

Jeremiah moved her hand from his mouth. "Technically, you're not human."

She slapped him in the face, leaving a red hand imprint on his cheek.

Jeremiah arched his eyebrows. "You know something Nikki? I am getting tired of your denial. I understood it when you first learned, it's not something easily faced. But, Goddamnit! you're going to have to face up to it sooner or later! The fact of the matter is…"

BOOM!

Jeremiah looked at the new plume of smoke rising from the ruined buildings. "We should probably go after Evans, shouldn't we?"

Nikki nodded. "Couldn't agree more."

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Near the bank, a red-haired woman stood, flipping a detonator in her left hand. It wasn't the only one she had; her open green coat was covered in pouches, bulging with all sorts of fun and chaotic devices. She tossed the detonator into the air and caught it. She was getting pretty impatient. "Hurry it up boys! I got better things to do than wait for your sorry asses!" Inside the bank her flunkies were emptying the vault as fast as they could.

All the other buildings around the bank had boarded up their windows, locked their doors, and thrown up barricades. Their residents had taken up their guns, kneeling behind desks, crouched under tables, anywhere they could find. Who knows what horror this woman could unleash. The daughter of the Humanoid Typhoon himself, what could she do?

For a while, no sound could be heard on the dusty streets save for the redhead flipping the detonator and a black cat's meow. Then a low whistle slid its way into the silence, breaking it without it even noticing. The whistle stopped and was replaced by humming. The townspeople couldn't believe what they were hearing. What moron would be walking the streets with that woman out there? Moreover, what moron would draw attention to him by whistling or humming?

"Soooo, on the second night the children of the pebble hold hands and sketch a jig. No wait, those aren't the words."

The redhead looked up. Who the hell was this guy? A Cavalryman? What sort of idiot Cavalryman would walk up to her alone.

Evans stopped in his track, his hands still in his pockets. He looked up at her. "I can't remember, what's the second verse again?"

The woman snapped her fingers. One of her flunkies stepped up to him. "You know, you really shouldn't be bothering Miss Calamity right. . ."

Evans whirled around, reached up, and broke the man's nose. He shoved his fist into the man's solar plexus. He stood back as the man crumpled to the street. A relatively clever flunky thought that he might get the drop on this suicidal Cavalryman. All he got for his trouble was Evans' gloved fist entering his teeth. Evans looked up at Calamity and grinned. "So much for that."

Calamity dropped her detonator and reached for a pouch on her coat. Before she could reach it, she felt Evans' steel kiss on her throat. "You wouldn't want to do that now, would you?"

Calamity growled, she slid her foot under her dropped detonator and flipped it up to her hand. She flipped over the cover and placed her thumb firmly on the button. "Back off, or I blow one of those pleasant little houses straight to hell!"

Evans shrugged. "Alright, go ahead, I'm not stopping you."

Calamity started to turn her head, but stopped when she realized that this would probably kill her. "Wha? You're willing to let these innocents die? I thought you were a Cavalryman?"

"I am, I'm just not a very good one." He pressed the saber a little closer to her throat. "I'm sure you've got explosives wired all over the place. It'd be just like you. C'mon, blow them up, I really don't care."

Calamity started quavering. Her thumb drew closer to the button. The sweat beaded down her forehead. Her palms started to grow very slippery. She sighed and dropped the detonator. Evans removed his saber and sheathed it. He brought some rope from his officer's coat and tied her hands together. Once he was sure that she wouldn't have the dexterity to open any of her coat pouches, he sighed and leaned against her shoulder. "Thank God, for a second I thought you were actually going to blow it."

"What! I thought you didn't care?"

"Oh come on! What kind of monster could not care about innocents burning?"

Calamity glared at him. "How could you be sure that I wouldn't blow them all to the afterlife?"

"I looked over your record before the Cavalry sent me out here. You've never killed anyone, even when it meant dropping the loot, or even spending jail time. I knew it was a long shot."

"And if I had blown them up?"

"I dunno. I don't if I could have lived with myself. Could you have lived with the knowledge that you killed them?"

Their conversation was interrupted by the return of the rest of Calamity's flunkies. "Miss Calamity? What's going on?"

One flunky stepped forward. He was about seven feet tall, and looked like he would've been the leader of the bunch before Miss Shriver had come along. He drew his gun. "Gentlemen, a great opportunity has been laid out before us. I suggest we take it." He pointed gun at Calamity and Evans. The rest of the men, sensing a change in the wind, followed suit.

Calamity hung her head. "Great work, mister Cavalryman. Now what?"

Evans laughed nervously. "You know, that's a good question." He pushed his sunglasses up his nose.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Six bullets flew through the air, but only three shots could be heard, so fast was the trigger pulled. Nikki stood, arm outstretched, the red revolver clutched in her hand. Jeremiah stood a few steps behind her, his cross standing upright in the sand in front of him. Evans looked back at the would-be mutineers; they were all kneeling on the street, clutching their stinging hands.

"Ummm, thanks?"

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Jeremiah tossed back his drink. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked up at Evans. "So now what are you going to do?"

It was an hour later in the local bar. The townspeople weren't quite as generous as the steamer crew, but they had offered to buy drinks.

Evans sipped at his beer. "I figure I can catch a ride back to the Calvary headquarters on that sand steamer we saved. That guy Kaite told me he could get me a ride if I ever needed one. Then I can too over Miss "the Stampede" over to them. Then maybe, just maybe, they'll put me back in field duty and I'll get off of these bounty assignments."

They hadn't found a good place to put Calamity while they drank, so they just bound her arm and stuck her on the barstool next to her. "You don't believe I'm the daughter of Vash the Stampede, do you?"

Evans chuckled. "Nope," he said, as he took a drink.

"I am the daughter of Vash the Stampede!" She perked up as an idea came to her. "In, in fact, I can lead you to him!"

Evans placed his beer on the bar and stared at Calamity. "You can lead me to the Humanoid Typhoon? The Sixty Billion Double Dollar Man?"

Calamity nodded her head vigorously.

"No thanks lady. Even if you could bring me to Vash the Stampede, which I doubt, I don't rate my chances too well against him."

"Oh come on, don't tell me the Sixty Billion Double Dollars doesn't appeal to you?"

"I was sent out to bring you in, and I'm bringing you in."

"Excuse me, but do you really know where Vash the Stampede is?" Nikki leaned over Jeremiah and entered the conversation.

Calamity nodded her head. "Yes, yes I do. I really don't care what you do to him, but I can bring you to him if you want! Just get me loose!"

Nikki turned to Evans and looked at him pleadingly.

Evans scowled. "You can't seriously be asking me to let her go, can you?"

Nikki smiled. "Please?"

"NO! I'm not letting her go for anything. Anyway, why do you want Vash? The truth of the matter is that nobody can pay the bounty on him."

Nikki shook her head. "It's not about money."

"Is it revenge? Did he kill your family or something? Revenge doesn't help. It just makes the pain worse."

Nikki shook her head. "It's not about revenge."

Evans slammed his glass down on the bar. "Then what? Why are you chasing after the only living natural disaster?"

Nikki didn't respond, she just sipped at her beer. Jeremiah signaled for a refill. "C'mon man, we saved your life. Well, technically she saved your life."

Evans stared at the bar for a long time. He picked up his beer and sipped at it. "Ah hell!" He drew his saber and slashed at Calamity. Her ropes fell away to the floor. "Field duty's too damn boring anyway." He grabbed his beer and downed it in one gulp. He slammed on his beer on the bar.

Jeremiah raised his refreshed beer in toast. "Good man!"

Evans nodded. "Very good. When should we leave?"

Calamity signaled to the barman for a drink. "If my opinion counts for anything at all, we should leave tomorrow."

Evans smacked her on the back of the head. "Who said you opinion did count for anything?"

Calamity smacked him back. "Well, seeing as how I'm the only one who knows where we're going, I think it should."

While Evans and Calamity were arguing, two voices floated into the bar.

"We can't really tell them that we can't help them."

"Well, we do have a policy. Vash the Stampede, we've made it clear that we can't help them in his case."

"But it isn't Mr. Vash that did this. It's someone who claims to be his daughter."

"Well, how do we know she isn't his daughter?"

"Oh come on, Sempai! We both know she wouldn't do this!"

"Well, how do we know he doesn't have another daughter?"

"Sempai! I can't believe you said that! Don't you trust him?"

"Sigh. I do trust him, I was just trying to think of a way we could follow the bosses orders. I do want to help these people."

The color drained from Nikki and Jeremiah's faces. As one, they turned to Evans and Calamity.

Nikki grabbed Evans arm. "I think we should leave now."

Evans raised his eyebrows. "What, like today?"

Jeremiah put his beer down and grabbed his cross. "No, like now. As in immediately. Out the back door if at all possible."

"Look, I'd rather not agree with the outlaw, but I'm thinking we should wait until morning," Evans said. Calamity nodded in agreement.

The voices grew louder as their owners entered the bar. Nikki was about to respond when the voices cut her off in unison.

"NIKKI SAVEREM STRYFE!"

"JEREMIAH THOMAS WOLFWOOD!"

Nikki and Jeremiah chuckled nervously, then spoke as one. "Hi mom."

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Vash: Whenever someone takes leave, he is always surprised by the way things have changed when he returns. The longer he was away, the greater his shock and amazement.

If that person has been away for a particularly long while, some things may have changed that he isn't ready to accept. If a man has taken leave of the world for twenty-one years, what must he feel like when he unexpectedly comes back? Next Chapter: Twenty-One years gone.

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