Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Under the Five Moons ❯ Crossfire ( Chapter 14 )

Let's seeee. What don't I own? Trigun, and all of its characters. Oh yeah, and the idea of calling vampires "Caineites" comes from White Wolf Publishing.

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On some nights, the darkness of the desert can be absolute. Nights when none of the five moons shine, when only the stars bring light to the sand. On one of these nights, figures clad in black slid towards the crashed ship.

The crashed ship in question is called New Transylvania, last bastion of the vampires. Normally they are solitary creatures by nature. There is no companionship; there is only competition for prey. The Great Fall changed all that, a world with two suns is not a friendly place for the creatures of the night. Now the only way they could survive was to band together, and that was what New Transylvania was for, a place where they could meet when they had to. Tonight, a night without light, was one of those nights. It would also be the last.

The men and women clad in black advanced towards the Ship, while inside the ship, a man clad in shadows slipped through halls. Not even the vampires saw the man of shadows moving through their halls. They had no idea that anything was out of the ordinary.

"There are greater evils in the world then the children of the night," Martinez said to Legato as they stood on a cliff overlooking the ship. "I above all others should know this."

*********************************************************** *********

Open-air markets are like oceans, even at night. The people, potential customers, are the drops in the oceans, swelling, receding, constantly moving. Every stall is an island in this sea of consumerism; people break upon these stalls like waves break on a beach. Then they recede, looking for a better deal, lower price, more features. The bars are safe harbors, places where a drop in this ocean can stay for a bit, in calmer waters. Perhaps even stay there all night.

Of course, this metaphor is completely lost on the people of Gunsmoke.

As one of the waves of consumers crashed upon a stall, two hands slipped out and grabbed a pair of sandwiches from a food stall. Nobody noticed. It was like when a wave takes shells from the sand on a beach. Nobody notices unless they're watching the shells. And nobody was watching the shells.

The hands receded with the wave and headed for a safe cove. This particular cove was becoming quite crowded. The most popular coves are the ones that are offering entertainment. Calamity pushed her way through the crowds to the table in the center. Jeremiah sat there, rubbing his arm.

"Got you a snack," Calamity said.

Jeremiah looked toward his next opponent. The large man nodded graciously. Jeremiah thanked him and turned to Calamity, who handed him the sandwich. "Do I want to know how you got this?" He asked.

"If I tell you, you might not eat it."

Jeremiah grimaced, but dug into the sandwich anyway. "You know, I'm not arm wrestling all these guys for the fun of it, I'm doing it because we're broke. I just feel that it's more honorable then all your stealing."

Calamity smiled and patted Jeremiah on the cheek. "Of course it is, that's why I do the stealing. I wouldn't want you to impugn your honor in any way." She took a bite out of her sandwich and nodded her head to the still waiting challenger. "This guy's the town favorite," she whispered. "Never been beaten. Apparently he lifts the tail ends of cars over his head for exercise."

Jeremiah swallowed the rest of his sandwich. "Well, yeah he's the town favorite. He's about my height and at least seventy pounds heavier. What are the odds?"

"For you? Ten to one."

"Really? That good? Why don't you go and bet all we got. With any luck we might get enough to get a cabin on the steamer and a room with a shower at the hotel tonight."

"If they pay up that is."

Jeremiah motioned to the challenger, who heaved a forearm as big around as Jeremiah's torso onto the table. "I'm sure you'll find a way," he said as he clasped the giant's hand. "That hopefully doesn't involve too much property damage," he added.

*********************************************************** ********

The man clad in shadow crawled silently across the ceiling. When it came to guarding against infiltration, vampires were, quite frankly, rank amateurs. They were so caught up in their own arrogance and so full of their amazing powers, they didn't even bother to think what someone with actual skill could do.

A pair of vampires passed under the shadow man, who froze immediately.

"Whaddya think the Lord wants to tell us this time?" one said.

"Didn't you hear? The last werewolf died yesterday. I'm sure the Lord wishes to discuss our future."

"Future? Don't make me laugh, buddy. We ain't got no future here. You saw what happened to the werewolves, they were driven crazy by the ever changing moons. Have you seen a werewolf out when it was a full moon and a new moon at the same time? I have." The vampire shuddered.

"Don't worry about the werewolves. Dirty beasts, barely worthy to be in our presence, let alone live with us."

The other vampire chuckled, and they both moved on down another corridor. The man clad in shadow shook his head. It was just as Neron had said, the vampires had become too caught up in their own superiority, even here, after the Great Fall had changed everything.

"Raifen, is everything alright?" a voice whispered in his ear.

Raifen inclined his head ever so slightly towards his collar. "I'm fine Zarlina, you don't have to worry about me." He started crawling again, ever closer to the vault.

"Just remember, if you die, your order dies with you. You are all that is left."

Raifen smiled. "And if I die, Knives won't be able to pull off this stunt he's planning. And then you won't have your revenge, will you?"

"How sweet of you to think of me, Raifen."

"Same for you, Zarlina," Raifen whispered back. [It's not like anybody else will.]

*********************************************************** *********

"See? You didn't have to blow anything up to get them to pay up."

"Yeah, I guess."

Jeremiah chuckled. "Don't sound too disappointed. Isn't this better then stealing it?"

Calamity accepted the room key from the clerk and tramped upstairs. "It's safer I guess, but it kinda lacks the thrill."

Jeremiah hefted his cross and followed her. "Maybe not for you, but I was in definite danger of having my arm ripped off."

Calamity shook her head. "Who are you kidding? With the exception of that last guy, none of them stood a thomas' chance in a typhoon against you." She stopped at a room and unlocked the door. "Great, the lights are off." Her hands brushed the wall. "Where's the damn light switch?"

Jeremiah came up behind her, eyes glowing. "It's on the other side of the room. How stupid is that?" He pushed by her and leaned his cross on the wall. He worked his way over to the room and flipped on the light. "What the hell was the room designer thinking?" he asked as he turned around. Calamity stood there in silence, staring at his glowing eyes. "That's the first time you've used that since. . ."

Jeremiah sat on the edge of one of the beds. "Since Jenora? Yeah, I guess it is."

Calamity shooed him to the side and sat next to him. "Guess those aren't your real eyes, eh?"

Jeremiah chuckled mirthlessly. "What gave it away?"

Calamity slowly reached out and brushed her hands across his face. "Scars. Small ones, but they're there. Did it hurt?"

"Yeah, it did."

Calamity pulled her hands away and pulled her legs up on the bed. She swiveled around on the bed and leaned against the bedpost, pulling her knees to her chest. "Why did you have it done?"

Jeremiah hung his head. "I don't really know anymore. Danil did it to me when I was eighteen. Said it would bring me closer to God, and therefore closer to my father. 'Los ojos del Dios', or something like that."

Calamity lowered her head. "Danil? That man at Christmas City?"

Jeremiah nodded.

"He's the scariest man I've ever seen. His eyes glow like yours, but his light has no warmth. When he looks at you, it's like. . . It's like he knows everything wrong you've ever done in your life, and he's going to punish you for it. Who is he?"

Jeremiah shook his head. "Who is he? He's Father Raphael Danil, and he's everything you said he was. But if I'm going to tell you about Father Danil, I have to tell you about The Flock."

"The Flock?"

********************************************************** **********

The two vampires Raifen had been listening to made their way to the converted grand hall. This took a while, as the old abandoned ship was a maze of corridors and darkened areas. Not that the dark bothered the vampires that much.

The pair were arguing over which way was the quickest when they nearly ran into a group of black clad figures. There were seven of them standing there, all wielding strange guns. About the length of a rifle, with a round thin barrel and a pistol grip. Right in front the trigger guard, a box was snapped into place. The leader of the group raised his gun to the vampire's head.

The threatened vampire chuckled. "What are you doing, boy? You can't kill a vampire with regular bullets."

His compatriot joined in the laughter. "And besides, if even you're shooting blessed bullets from blessed gun, which I doubt, the noise would bring every single bloodsucker in this ship down on you."

The leader of black clad figures smirked. "Well, then it's a good thing we're not using bullets is it?"

All the vampires saw before the final sleep took hold of them, for good this time, was green light.

*********************************************************** *********

Wolfwood struck a match on his shoe and lit a cigarette. "Will you hurry up in there!" He shouted to Vash.

"Patience is a virtue buddy!" Vash shouted back through the curtain.

"So is me not coming in there and smackin' ya around!" He took a drag on his cigarette. "Why do we have to go through with this anyway? Isn't that red coat you're always wearing enough for you?"

"It draws too much attention! We don't want Knives watching us like he was last time!"

"THAT WAS ME WATCHING YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

"Whatever. It's time for a change of style anyway," Vash said as he stepped out of the changing room. "Well, what do you think?"

Wolfwood dropped his cigarette on the floor and crushed it under his shoe. "It's exactly the same, only black."

Vash turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. "Yeah, it'll be kinda hot, but I thought to myself, 'Hey, Wolfwood does it, I can do it too.' I do wish there was some red in it. I like red."

"Red is the color of blood Vash."

"Yeah, but it's also the color of determination."

Wolfwood laughed. "I guess it is." He walked over to a sunglasses stand and spun it around. He selected a pair and tossed them to Vash. "Here, see if these suit you."

"They're just like my old ones, only. . ."

"Only red, yeah. Happy?"

Vash slipped on the glasses. "Yeah, actually."

"Good. Let's pay for your stuff and get some food, I'm dyin here." Wolfwood counted out some money and laid it on the counter. "Let's go Vash. Vash?"

Vash stared at Wolfwood uncomfortably. "Wolfwood, don't talk about you dying anymore, okay?"

Wolfwood grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

They stepped onto the busy street. It was about seven thirty, and the streets were still crowded with people. It wouldn't be until later that they would scatter into the bars and more or less stay there the night.

"Hey look! Doughnuts!"

"Didn't we have doughnuts for breakfast?"

"Doughnuts are good for all meals! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, dessert, midnight snacks, early morning snacks-"

"Alright, I get the picture, we'll have doughnuts."

"Sweet!"

Vash dashed through the door and up to the counter. "I'll have, err. . . three boxes of doughnuts."

"What type?"

"Oh, just chuck a couple of everything in there."

The man behind the counter nodded. "Three variety assortments coming up." He took three boxes, deftly slid the doughnuts in, and handed them to Vash. "That'll be fifteen double-dollars and sixty sea cents."

Vash dug around in his pocket before he realized that Wolfwood had all the money. "Hey, Wolfwood!"

The chain-smoking priest sauntered in. "I was wondering how long it would take before you realized you had no money," he said, paying the clerk.

The two men left the shop and sat down on a bench across the street. Vash offered a box to Wolfwood, who declined. "I'll have some later."

Vash shrugged and ripped open the first box.

Wolfwood chuckled and lit a cigarette. "Some things never change," he muttered. "Thank God for those things."

He looked back up towards Vash to see that he hadn't touched a single doughnut yet. He was just staring into the box, with teary eyes. "You know who else really likes doughnuts?" he asked.

"Who?"

"Nikki. She really loves doughnuts. Almost as much as me." A single tear drop fell from his eye.

"Vash, don't worry about her. If she's anything like you or Meryl, she's fine. We would have read about it in the paper if she had been killed."

Vash nodded and choked back any further tears. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. She's stronger then me, I can tell you that much."

"There ya go then."

Vash smiled. "Yeah, there you go." He reached into the box and grabbed a doughnut. "Yummy."

Wolfwood nodded and continued smoking. "Vash?"

"Mwes?" Vash answered through a doughnut.

"What's my son like?"

Vash swallowed and put down the doughnut he was holding. "Jeremiah? He looks a lot like you. I mean a lot like you. He's got Millie's eye and hair color, but other than that, looking at his face is like looking at your face." He bolted down another doughnut. "Tall kid, though kinda skinny. The last time I saw him, he was taller than you, and that was about five years ago."

Wolfwood dropped his spent cigarette and pulled out a new one. "Yeah, but I don't really care what he looks like, I want to know what he's like. I mean, is he a good kid? Please tell me he's more like his mother."

Vash tossed the first box into the trash can and opened the second. "He's a good kid. I guess he's a bit like both of you in some ways. He's definitely got Millie's drive to do what's right, but when he sets about doing it, he's just like you. Always follows it through to the end. I remember when he and Nikki were nine, she got pushed down by a couple of kids at school. Jeremiah came home with a couple of cuts, the other kids came home with black eyes."

Wolfwood chuckled. "Yeah, that does sound like me."

"He was only sixteen the last time I saw him, so he may have changed."

Wolfwood shrugged. "As long as he didn't up with The Flock like I did, I'm happy."

Vash turned to Wolfwood. "What's The Flock?"

********************************************************** **********

All leaders have ministers, even undead ones. The leader of the vampires had four. They were his cabinet, his council and the four most powerful vampires aside from himself. His Vampire Lords.

"So, what is the Master going to tell everyone?" a vampire in the robes of a medieval monk asked.

A woman in Reniassance clothing shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Roland. I can't read his mind, nor do I wish to.

A little boy perched on the edge of a table snickered. "No, you wouldn't, would you Laela? Too afraid of what you see?" He stood on the table and clasped his hands by his cheek, striking a romantic pose. "'Oh Master, please, be my love for all nights! Forever and ever until the number twenty-one come and all vampires come to an end!'"

A man dressed as a gladiator smacked him in the back of the head. "You're over a thousand years old, Michael. Try to act like it."

"Age doesn't mean maturity," a voice said. The Vampire Lords spun around to see a man leaning against the door frame. Tall, with black hair that matched his black shirt and pants. He had a cross shaped long sword strapped to his back over a coat that swirled with all colors the human imagination could possibly think of. He straightened himself and pointed at the gladiator vampire. "You look like a challenge. I'll fight you."

"What?" Laela asked. "Who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled. "I am known as Brother Joseph, one of humanity's demons."

"N-Neron? You work for Neron?"

Joseph grimaced. "Neron? No, I don't work for him, or that false angel he calls a boss. I work for God, as does my compatriot, Sister Ophelia."

A woman dressed entirely in black entered the room. Her long purple hair brushed her mid-back She stood next to Joseph. Well, perhaps stood is not the best word choice. She floated, her feet dangling three inches above the ground. She had a black long-sleeved her coat in the same cut as her companion's, but with a turned-collar.

"Pardon the dramatisim of the floating, but Sister Ophelia lost the use of her legs during the Neon Wars, as well as her vocal chords."

Laela walked up to the floating woman and peered at her. "So she can't talk?"

Ophelia turned her head towards the small vampire. She reached into her coat pocket and brought out a pack of cards. She shuffled them absentmindedly as she stared back into the vampires gaze. A voice echoed through the room. "Are you familiar with the tarot, monster?"

Laela grinned, baring her fangs. "Ahhh, so the mute can speak. It must be a mage. Yes, mage, I am familiar with the tarot. It was a device used by petty fortune-tellers to try and divine the futures of any idiot who wanted to know what it held. I doubt anyone lives who knows their true significance, or even how to truly read them."

Ophelia pulled the top card and flipped it through her fingers. "Then you should be familiar with this card then." She flipped it face forward to the vampire. There was blinding flash of light and an unearthly shriek that roused the spirits for miles away. When the light faded, Laela was gone, replaced by a pile of ash, with a tarot card lying in the ash. Two young children on a wall, their arms outstretched to a sun.

Ophelia smiled. "The Sun Card works so wonderfully on you vampires. Shame it's only got one shot in it before it has to be recharged though."

The gladiator vampire roared. "I will crush you, you magi bitch!" He drew his sword and dashed towards her. Ophelia could barely see him coming, but she didn't even bat an eye.

CLANG!!!!

Joseph stood between them, his cross-shaped long sword holding black the gladiator's sword. "I told you, I'm fighting you, not her." He gave slightly in an attempt to make the gladiator overstep, but the vampire had centuries of combat experience, and simply moved backwards. His hand shot out and grabbed Joseph by the collar of his multi-colored coat.

"What do you think you are? Going up against a vampire lord? I don't care if you are one of Neron Martinez's demons, you can't destroy all of us!"

Joseph grinned. "Is that so? I could see how you could believe that, but I don't think you know all the facts. Here, let me show you the light." There was another, much smaller, flash of light, and the gladiator screamed and dropped Joseph. He fell to the floor, clutching his eyes.

"What, what did you do?"

Joseph walked around the crumpled vampire. "You never listen. I'm one of humanity's demons. I showed you the light. Unfortunately, it was too much for your eyes. You'll be blind for the rest of your unlife. The good news is, that won't be too long." He stabbed the gladiator vampire through the chest with his sword. There vampire roared at Joseph, then melted around the blade. Joseph pulled the blade out and swung it around a couple of times. "Consecrated in a church, no less. Who wants to go next?" He turned to find that he was talking to empty air. Michael and Roland had escaped through the now broken window.

Ophelia retrieved her card and looked at Joseph. "I don't think they will get very far."

Joseph wiped his sword on a tablecloth. "What makes you say that?"

Opehlia pulled another card from her pack. It showed a woman standing next to a tree, with the words "THE LOVERS" written along the top, and was glowing red.

"Pardon me for being critical, but the phrase 'lovers' implied plural. Where's the other one?"

Ophelia put the card back in the deck. "Johnny's got it, and if Johnny's here, it's a safe bet to assume that Blayne is here, or even Legato and Martinez."

Joseph nodded. "Let evil kill evil then, we have other things to deal with."

*********************************************************** *********

"The Flock has one basic principal that they live by, 'you sin, you die'. There's nothing more to it. They were born from a distrust of the federal government and a hatred for this planet. The growing feeling was that we deserved this planet, as a punishment for all our sin."

Calamity stared at him. "So all sins merit death?"

Jeremiah nodded. "They want to cleanse this world of sin. They figure the best way to do that is to kill the sinner."

"So, theft?"

"Death."

"Murder?"

"Death."

"Pre-marital relations?"

"Death."

"Er. . .I dunno, homosexuality?"

"Death."

"You do anything, and it's death," Calamity said. She hung her head. "So much death. They call themselves a religious group?"

"Actually, there is one crime that doesn't merit a death sentence."

"And that is?"

Jeremiah chuckled mirthlessly. "If you're a plant technician. In which case they kill your family, torture you, then kill you."

Calamity raised an eyebrow. "Plant technician? What's so bad about being a Plant technician?"

"The thing that Danil and the Flock hate more than any sinner, is a Plant. To them Plants exemplify how we have turned away from God. 'False angels,' Father Danil calls them, or 'false lights'. Joseph and Ophelia prefer the name 'the Great Deceivers'."

"Ophelia? Would that be Ophelia Drysdale? Kinda good lookin'? Purple hair? That was the main that I remember about her, don't see purple hair too much."

"Yeah, you know her?"

"Kind of. So, how were they able to give you those eyes? Why are they such a threat?"

********************************************************* ***********

Raifen paused, holding his breath. Those screams had rocked the entire ship, but nobody was responding. Raifen could only surmise that that was because everyone else was dead. Again.

He inclined his head. "Zarlina, tell Legato that the Flock is here."

[We already knew that Raifen. Obtain the Geoformer and escape the ship. The Flock may or may not already know that we are already here, but I see no reason to inform them of our presence. Don't fail your contract Raifen. You know what failure means.]

[Seppukku, I know. I won't fail you master.]

[I don't believe you will Raifen.]

Raifen nodded and swiped the Geoformer into his rucksack. He quickly glanced around, threw the rucksack over his back, and then slipped out of the door, undistinguishable from the shadow that the vampires love so much.

He slipped down a corridor and ducked into a room. It appeared to be the Master Vampire's private quarters. He didn't appear to be very into decoration, but the upside-down cross over the coffin was a dead give away. Martinez had warned him about that. No matter, it had a window, and that was all Raifen needed. Suddenly, Raifen heard footsteps in the corridor. Vampires could be quiet if they wanted to, but the Master Vampire would have no reason to want to, and if it was anybody else, Raifen was pretty sure he didn't want to meet them.

The room offered plenty of shadow, but Raifen knew it would be pointless against the Master Vampire. [Damn, of all the times. . .] Raifen concentrated, and started a low chant. The greatest secret of his order, the ability to disappear from all physical sight completely.

Unfortunately, there was a drawback. [Removing yourself from physical sight places you in view of mental sight.] All the ghosts in the area were going to see him, and vice-versa. It was not that he was worried about them giving him away, but if his suspicions were correct and the Flock was indeed here, then there should be more angry vampire ghosts then he could shake his katana at.

A very angry vampire burst into the room and looked around. He was quite the dandy, dressed in the nicest clothes money could buy on Gunsmoke, with a million double dollar hair cut. He carried himself with dignity and confidence. Living so long had given him the habit of talking to himself though.

"No, this can't be happening. We can't be brought down by a bunch of humans like this. When we end, the world ends! Everyone knows that!"

"Really? It doesn't appear to be in here," Joseph said as he entered the room. He was holding a large book in his hands. He slammed it shut and placed it gently by his side.

The vampire spun around and hissed. "You think you can destroy us? As long as one survives, we will go on."

"We know that," Ophelia projected. She floated in and took a position on the other side of the doorway, constantly shuffling her tarot deck. "That's why we've killed all the others. Even your precious Vampire Lords."

The vampire smiled slowly. "And you think that means you can defeat me? Me who has lived since the Great Flood? I was there when your precious savior was crucified. I was there when the empire that destroyed him fell. I survived four World Wars, and I survived the Great Fall. What makes you think that you can defeat me?"

Ophelia shook her head. "Not us." She pulled a card from the top of her deck. The Hierophant.

The vampire arched and eyebrow. "The High Priest? You're boss is going to defeat me?"

Joseph unsheathed his long sword and knelt on the ground, holding the long sword out in front of him, point down. On the other side of the doorway, Ophelia bowed her head a floated a few inches lower.

A man entered the room. Fairly tall, he appeared to be about 6'3", give or take an inch. His hair was completely gray, but despite his apparent age, his body was tensed like a steel spring. He was dressed exactly the same as the rest of his Flock, black pants, white shirt, black jacket, cross shaped cuff links, with two exceptions. One, he had a golden cross embroidered on the back of his jacket, and two, he had a starched white collar around his throat.

Father Danil slowly approached the vampire, spinning a cross shaped pistol in one hand. "Well, monster. Aren't you going to fight me? C'mon, I'd like to see how I fair against an overlord of darkness, or whatever it is you call yourself."

The vampire burst out laughing. Tears rolling from his eyes, he pointed at Danil. "You expect to beat me with those pathetic cross guns of yours? You didn't even bother to bring a blaster? Where did you get those, if I may ask?"

Danil smiled. "Where we got them is not really your concern. But you are right, it wouldn't be fair for me to use these on you yet." He opened his coat and placed the pistol in his harness, were it rested with five other crosses. Danil smiled, then gestured to the vampire.

The vampire roared and flew at Danil faster then Joseph or Ophelia could ever hope to see. Father Danil's hand flashed up, and a wooden stake grew out of the vampire's chest. It fell to the floor motionless. Father Danil placed his hands behind his back and walked up to it.

"Know, don't pretend you aren't dead, because I know that wooden stakes don't kill you. It's just keeping you still long enough that I can get a word in edgewise." He bent down and pulled the vampire up by the collar. "I think I know what can be done for you. You see, I know that you were there for all the events depicted in the Bible, but it's been over two thousand years. Maybe you need a refresher course." He motioned towards Joseph, who stood up and sheathed his sword. He picked up the large Bible and threw it open on the coffin.

Raifen grimaced under his cloak of invisibility. He knew what they were going to do.

Danil dragged the paralyzed vampire to the coffin, talking to him all the way. "You see, the way I see it. You did managed to survive all those wars and trials, but at no point during that time did you have to survive me." He lifted the vampire's head up and slammed it down into the open Bible.

There was a flash, then a disturbing sizzling sound. The vampire's body convulsed, and the stake dropped out. His hand flew to the coffin and he tried to push himself away from the book, but Father Danil held it firm. After this had gone on for thirty seconds, Father Danil threw the vampire's body to the floor. He drew two of his cross-shaped pistols and pointed them at the twitching vampire.

"When you get to hell, look up my cousin. Tell him that I'm continuing the good work."

BLAM!

BLAM!

BLAM!

BLAM!

BLAM!

BLAM!

The vampire stopped twitching and Father Danil holstered his guns. "So dies the greatest of the vampires." He looked towards Ophelia. "Any human prisoners?"

A small black cat suddenly leapt over the coffin and ran to Ophelia, who put her deck away and scooped up the cat. "Some. A couple of bandits, some brothel maids, and a plant tech of all things."

Danil nodded then towards Joseph. "Tie them up and then blow the place. Legato and his blood-sucking friend will surely have already taken the Geoformer. This exercise was never intended to take it for ourselves, but to remind Knives that we are still here. We'll just have to go after the other one."

The trio left the room, and Raifen breathed a sigh of relief. He dropped his cloak of shadow and escaped through the window, having no wish to see either the Flock or the Master Vampire's ghost.

*********************************************************** *********

"Are the really that big a threat?" Vash asked, opening the third box. He placed it between himself and Wolfwood. "I mean, they can't have more people then the Cavalry, can they?"

"No they don't have that many people, but then, they don't need to," Wolfwood answered, dropping his cigarette. He reached for a doughnut.

"What do they have?" Vash asked.

"Vash, you were on the ships before they crashed, yeah?"

Vash nodded and stuffed a doughnut in his mouth.

"And bein' the good little boys that you are, I'm sure you and your crazy brother used the data base judiciously." He swallowed the doughnut. "But did you actually ever look for the databanks the data was held in?"

Vash shook his head. "It wouldn't have been there. It was all stored on the main computer on a different ship. It crashed along with the other ships before the Great Fall and. . . was never recovered. . ." Vash's hand stopped as it reached for another doughnut.

Wolfwood smiled. "Exactly. The Flock found it, and everything on it. Weapons data, medical info, even the lost lore of the magi, they found freaking everything on those computers."

Vash nodded. "How do you know all this Wolfwood? I've been around a lot longer then you have and I've never heard of these guys."

Wolfwood shrugged. "Of course you haven't, they go out of their way to avoid you. Didn't you hear me tell you that they hate Plants? The record of your birth was on the database too. As to how I know all this, well, it's because I've seen the ship myself."

Vash arched his eyebrows. "You seemed pretty surprised by the flying ship when you went in it."

"I seemed a lot of things around that time, Tongari. Most of them were true at the end. Anyway, you remember my mentor, Chapel the Evergreen? Well he's the cousin of The Flock's leader, Father Danil. When he took me in, the entire Flock took me in. I was trained at their facilities, with all of their weaponry. Well, one fine day Chapel splits with Danil, and takes me with him. Nobody's really sure why Chapel split from his cousin, the only person who really knows is probably dead. I can't really see Legato or Knives letting him live."

Vash sighed and put his head in his hands. "And here I was thinking my only enemy was Knives."

Wolfwood chuckled and reached for the last doughnut. "It's never that easy, my friend."

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Michael and Roland fled into the night. Never before in their long afterlives had they felt such fear in their hearts. Not even when the Master Vampire had been angry with them, there had never been such a feeling of certainty that this was the end.

They were so blinded with fear that neither of them noticed the dark figure until they slammed into it. Michael catapulted back into Roland, throwing both of them to the ground. Roland untalged himself from Michael's flailing form and looked up at the mysterious figure. "N-n-n- Neron!" he stammered.

Martinez smiled. "Actually, I'm going by Martinez these days."

Roland stood up and brushed the sand off of his robe. "Are you going to try and kill us?"

Martinez shrugged. "The thought has crossed my mind."

Michael laughed. "You cannot defeat both of us by yourself, Neron. You couldn't even defeat one of us by yourself."

Martinez nodded. "You're right." He pointed behind the pair. "But he can."

Before they could turn around, something took over their minds. Their bodies froze up, and they fell back to the sands.

"And you call yourselves superior. It's pathetic."

Legato stepped out of the shadows behind them. He glared down at the trembling vampires. "I sense fear in you, the fear every inferior creature feels when it is faced with the sudden and shocking realization that there something greater than it. Think on this, I may be greater than you, but I serve one even greater than me.

Michael spat at Legato than turned to Martinez. "Is this one of your demons, Neron?"

"I told you, it's Martinez. Legato here is certainly one of my greatest successes, but he's hardly mine. His master is another."

"Who?" Roland asked.

Two cross-shaped daggers flew from the darkness into the sand between the vampires.

"Knives," Johnny said as he emerged from the darkness. Blayne followed him, her wolf close behind. Next came a sickly looking woman dressed in a gray jacket, black pants, and a green shirt. Her orange eyes regarded the vampire with hatred.

Martinez laughed. "Allow me to introduce some of my other successes. These are, respectively, Johnny the Bladestorm, Blayne the Steelclaw, and Zarlina the Ashenfall."

A blindfolded man slipped out of the shadows. He took a rucksack from his back and tossed it to Martinez. Martinez caught it easily. "Thank you Raifen."

Raifen bowed and took up a place by Zarlina. Martinez handed the bag to Johnny and approached Roland. "You two said to me that I wouldn't be able to take on either of you by myself, and that's true. I've decided I want to rectify that situation." Martinez reached down and dragged Roland up by the hood of his robe. He twisted Roland's head to the side and sank his fangs into the vampire's throat. There was an awful sucking sound and Roland fell limp. Martinez dropped the body and wiped his mouth. He then turned his attention to Michael.

"You know Michael, the Gung-Ho Guns used to use a numbering system. So and so was the second Gung-Ho Gun, this other person was the ninth, etc. We've dropped that system these days, but occasionally refer to myself as the twenty-first Gung-Ho Gun. A little in joke between us vampires."

Martinez started circling Michael's twitching body. "You see, my friends, there is a prophecy among the vampires. On the twenty-first day, the twenty-first hour, twenty-one years after the brother's fight began anew, all of the Caineites will come to an end." He knelt down in front of Michael. "Twenty-one years ago, Vash and Knives began their long struggle again. It's August twenty first." Martinez pulled his pocket watch and flipped it open. "And it's almost nine o'clock. Twenty-one hundred hours."

Michael struggled, but Legato's mind control held him tightly to the sand. "What about you?" Michael shouted. "You're one of us as well!"

Martinez lifted Michael up by the collar. "No I'm not, you excommunicated me, remember?" He opened his mouth and bit deep into Michael's neck. After a short period, he dropped the last Caineite and breathed in deeply.

"Feel good?" a voice said from behind them.

"Great," Martinez said. He turned around. Joseph and Ophelia watched them from a short distance. Johnny smiled and waved at Ophelia, who grinned.

Johnny pulled a tarot card from his poncho and held it up for all to see. It was almost identical to Ophelia's Lovers card, only this one depicted a single male by a tree. Still grinning, he moved his hand back and shot the card towards Ophelia.

Ophelia made a few passes and her card shot out to meet Johnny's. The fused in mid-air, forming a single Lovers card which floated between the two parties. Johnny's other hand darted out and a knife flew towards the card, piercing it through the tree depicted on it.

Joseph caught the knife and removed the card. He tore it up and scattered the pieces to the winds. "Tell the demonic great deceiver Father Danil says 'Hi'."

Blayne nodded. "We will. Just remember to inform the arrogant self- defeating fanatic that Knives sends his regards."

Ophelia nodded. The two parties slowly backed away, and faded into the night.

None of the five moons were there to watch the meeting. No light shone on it. The servants of a Plant and the followers of a priest met that night, to remind the world that high noon was coming, and that nobody should stand in their way.

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Calamity: Yeah, I'm not normal, so what? So what if I can channel electricity? I'm hardly the weirdest person on this freaking planet. The real weird ones are the ones who completely embrace their difference, to the point that they can do whatever they want to anybody else, because they aren't the same. Next chapter: Gemini