Usual disclaimers apply. I neither own Trigun nor it's characters.

***

The people of December city didn't see it coming. How could they? How could anyone foresee it? How could anyone see long dead technology, feral beasts, and walking corpses battering down their doors?

How could anyone foresee the army of clergymen? How could they have known that this army wouldn't save them, but would shove them aside, shoot them, kill them, just for getting in their way, or holding the wrong job, or marrying the wrong person?

Who could have seen Armageddon itself bearing down on the sleeping city?

How could they have seen it coming?

***

Johnny sighed and looked to Legato. "I don't suppose you could hold her with your mind powers or something? She's getting quite antsy over here."

Legato stared down from the platform he was standing on. "Johnny, I have quite a few better things to do with my time then hold on to the spiderfly for you. Just hold a little while longer, and you won't have to worry about holding on to her anymore."

Johnny sulked. "But I wanna fight. Ophelia's out there somewhere… I know she is."

Then tie it up. Blayne sent. Bind the spiderfly so it can't get away, then go out and find the mute witch who held your heart.

"Will you quit calling me that!?" Nikki screamed. "I have a name!"

"No," Legato said. "You don't."

Nikki started to speak, but found her throat constricted.

"You don't have a name, and do you want to know why?"

Nikki tried to shout at him, to scream some curse, but her vocal chords where still not under her power. All she could do was stare up at the blue-haired man, at his single golden eye that regarded her with such disdain.

"You do not have a name because you do not deserve a name. Because you are not a person. Even humans, their lives not worth the sand you are standing on, are people. They were meant to exist, even if that existence turned out to be a failure. Thus, they are worthy, of nothing else, of a label. You? You are a wretched creature, not worthy of anything. Not the clothes you're wearing on your back, not the life your spider mother and your misguided father gave to you, and you are especially not worth a name, because that would recognize you as a person. And that is something I cannot bring myself to do."

The shadows cast by the defunct Plant began to swirl. Martinez stepped from the shadows, looking at his pocket watch. The shadows closed behind him and he snapped the watch shut. "What a nice night for a battle. The Master has finished cleaning up the remaining scum by the east block. How many more Plants do we need to power the Teraformer?"

"One," Legato said.

"Just one?"

Legato nodded.

"Why not this one?" Martinez asked.

"It's defunct," Johnny said. "The Plant died, possibly a virus, possibly old age. Who cares? There's nothing in there any more."

Martinez looked to Johnny. "Heh. Poor Johnny, you look bored. Guard duty wearing you out? It's too bad that…". Martinez's gazed swept up to the defunct Plant. "Now there's an interesting idea."

Blayne's large form dropped from the platform. She turned to stare up where Martinez was looking. What is? Oh. That is an interesting idea…

The four stared up at the defunct Plant.

"What?" Nikki asked. "What are you… oh God no. Please, not that. Don't do that."

Martinez put his hand to his ear. Nikki noticed that he was wearing a small metal hoop in his ear. "Right away, sir." He gestured slightly, and the shadows behind him started to swirl. Knives stepped out, reloading his black Long Colt.

"Why are you all just standing there?" He looked up at the defunct Plant they were staring out. "We have… now that, is a very interesting idea." He snapped his Long Colt shut. "A very interesting idea indeed." He turned to Nikki. His eyes were glowing ice blue. They weren't human eyes. They never were human's eyes, but now they weren't even Plant's eyes. They were something else. Devil's eyes.

"I wonder what will happen."

***

Two trails of dust blazing through the desert, following at the heels of two motorcycles

One bike leaned to the right and approached the other. Jeremiah leaned over and shouted, "Slow down!"

Wolfwood glanced at his son. "We're a good half an ile from December City! Why slow down!"

"Because there are a lot of guys with guns up ahead."

Vash turned to Jeremiah. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, can you see the dark?" Calamity asked from behind Jeremiah. "'Cause he can."

The two motorcycles slowed to a halt as their headlights revealed twelve men decked out in Cavalry gray pointing automatic rifles at them.

"Special Cavalry operation gents," a man with sergeant's stripes said, "you might want to turn around. We can lend you some camping supplies for the night if ya need it."

Vash stepped off of Wolfwood's motorcycle. "Just let us through," he said. "Don't get in our way."

"Look buddy, I don't care what reasons you have for going into December City, it ain't happening."

Vash started to approach the sergeant. "Don't get in our way," he repeated.

"Sir, I said-"

The sergeant suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of Vash's Long Colt. "I said, don't get in my way."

Wolfwood reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. "Well Vash, this isn't a side of you I've seen in a while. What happened to the happy-go-lucky clown?"

Vash closed his eyes and sighed. "I failed the two people I love the most in this world, Wolfwood. I can't afford to play the fool any more."

The sergeant lowered his gun slightly. "Vash the Stampede? Father Nicholas D. Wolfwood?"

"I see our names precede ourselves," Wolfwood said. "Tell me, are you going to try and catch him? On any other night, I would tell you to go ahead and try, but tonight, I actually fear for your safety."

"Lower your rifles!" the sergeant shouted. "Father and Mr. Wolfwood, Miss Shriver, Mr. Vash, would you all please come with me? The General is expecting you."

***

A sister of the Flock fired off another burst, then ran for cover as the large robot shot laser fire in return. She rolled behind a building, leaned around the corner, and shot the robot in the head. She sighed, put down her rife, and unscrewed her canteen.

A pair of hands reached from the darkness, grabbed her by the shoulders, then dragged her back into the shadow. There was a brief struggle, than silence.

"It's almost disturbing how well you found a match for my size," Zarlina said.

"I'm very observant," Raifen replied.

"You were observing her measurements?"

"Yes, but I was thinking of you while I was doing it."

Zarlina chuckled. Her laugh was low and raspy, as if her throat had forgotten how to laugh. Or had never even known. "Aww, that's almost sweet."

***

"There's major infighting going on here and here," Major Allenby said, jabbing at an overview map of December City. "Evans' scouting report says that most of the survivors are holding out in the Bernardelli Insurance Society complex here in uptown."

General Braxler nodded. "Do we have any idea what type of perimeter guards there might be?"

Colonel Winchester stepped forward. "I took a drive around the perimeter of the town and tried to use my scope to search for any visible guards. Both sides seemed to have abandoned the outer perimeter, but I'm almost certain it gets worse and worse further in. I don't think they were expecting any outside resistance."

General Braxler studied the map. "Well they wouldn't would they? They've somehow managed to sever all radio and satellite contact into December City. They don't expect anyone to come riding over the hill."

"They're expecting us."

General Braxler looked up to see Vash the Stampede standing in front of him, tangerine colored sunglasses covering his eyes. Behind him, both Wolfwoods were leaning their Cross Punishers against a jeep. Calamity sidled up next to Vash and looked around her.

"First time I've been around so many Cavalrymen without them trying to kill me," she mumbled.

"Vash the Stampede, I presume?"

Vash nodded.

Braxler grinned. "We've met before. Alliance Hill ring any bells?"

"…A few."

"So," General Braxler said, "which one is expecting you? The crazy priests? Or is it your brother?"

"Both," Wolfwood said as he stepped into the tent. "But how do you know about that?"

Evans was suddenly leaning against one of the wooden posts holding up the tent. "That would be me."

Vash raised an eyebrow. "We trusted with you a secret. This is what you did with that information?"

Evans nodded. "Damn right."

"You brought them here so that they can get involved in this so that more people can die? I thought you had learned something from me and Nikki."

General Braxler stood up. "I believe he had. But Vash, from what I've heard, you're always running around, trying to keep the enemy away from us." He approached Vash. "You can't do this forever, Vash. You can't keep fighting darkness alone. It's time you let humanity fight for itself." A sudden flash and Braxler's saber was at Vash's throat. "And we are capable of doing so."

Vash smiled. "I dunno, I'm not used to working with others. I tried it twenty years ago, and my buddy got killed."

Wolfwood put his hand on Vash's shoulder. "I was willing to give me life back then, I'm still willing to give it now."

Major Allenby regarded the two. "You're awfully flippant for a man with a sword at his throat."

General Braxler pulled his saber away and sheathed it. "Well, in his defense Major, he did have a gun to my chest."

Vash slowly pulled away his left arm and let the gun slide back in.

General Braxler nodded, then returned to his map. "Well boys, I don't know how much you know about warfare aside from single combat, but I have to say that this may be worst battle field I have ever seen. I can say with definite certainty that I do not want to fight here. So I won't."

Calamity stuck her hands in her pockets. "What? After that overly-dramatic speech and the overly-dramatic sword draw, you're freakin abandoning the fight?"

Braxler chuckled. "You misunderstand, Miss Calamity. I want to fight this fight; I just don't want to fight it here. I'm proposing we change the battlefield."

"How do we do that?" Jeremiah asked, ducking into the tent.

"Your girlfriend's good with explosives," Colonel Winchester said. "Why don't you ask her?"

"Who said she was my girlfriend? OW!"

Calamity glared at him.

"I'm just saying I don't know if we've advanced-OW! Dad?"

Evans lunged across and slapped his hand across Jeremiah's mouth. "Shut up while you're ahead, buddy. And it was me. I'm sorry if that was incorrect. Which it's not, right?" He turned to Calamity, who nodded.

Suddenly, Vash screamed in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his head. Major Allenby grabbed him by the arm and helped him slowly to his feet.

Vash's sunglasses fell down the bridge of his nose. For a moment the assembled officers could see pain in his eyes, but it was quickly covered up by rage. His eyes began to slowly glow an icy blue. "He's… he's hurting her. He's killing her!"

Evans' eyes narrowed. "He's killing who?"

***

"Well… that was interesting."

"Extremely. Did you know that when a human is placed inside a Plant bulb and the power is turned on, nothing happens to them? And we all know what happens to one of my kind when it is trapped inside one of these infernal things. But when the Spiderfly is placed inside? It hurts more than any of us can possibly imagine. Nature itself rejects her."

Martinez moved a few controls on a panel and the bulb opened. He tossed her Long Colts in. Johnny followed it with the guitar.

"The inner glass is bullet proof." Martinez said. "There's only one way I can think of off the top of my head for you to break through it.

"And that's a way you will never take," Legato added.

Martinez flipped a few switches and the gate started to close.

Knives stood in front of the closing door and knelt down in front of Nikki as she looked up at him.

"You will never take that route, because it would mean admitting that you aren't human. It would mean admitting… that I'm right."

***

Danil struck a match against a wall and lit a cigarette. Smoking was the only vice he allowed himself, and he rarely allowed it. He shook out the match and approached Millie and Meryl, who were tied to a stone pillar holding up a building.

"Still not talking, ladies? You can trust us, can't you? We don't seek to destroy the human race, just the sinners." He gently lifted Meryl's chin and stared into her blue-gray eyes. "Now that I think on it, you aren't among the sinners. Whose to say you choose to bear the child of a false angel? Perhaps I was wrong, perhaps he forced himself upon you. Perhaps you kept the baby purely out of sympathy. Did you enjoy the act, Miss Stryfe? I don't think you did. I think he forced himself on you to create a miserable offspring to continue his bloodline. You just happened to be there. You could not be blamed for submitting to him, what else could you do? I apologize for persecuting you early. I had not thought about what pain you must have gone through under the Stampede."

Meryl snarled and tried to kick Danil, who stepped back slightly. "I seem to have struck a nerve. You enjoyed it, didn't you? You enjoyed the act, you enjoyed carrying the creature, and you enjoyed raising it. You enjoyed it all. Now, a question to my disciples," Danil said, turning around to face Joseph, Ophelia, and Elija. "Who is more sinful, the Stampede or the Insurance Woman?"

Joseph smiled. "Easy."

Ophelia nodded. "The Stampede."

Danil smiled. "Very good. But why?"

Elija looked up. "Because it is a creature of sin. No matter how much a person sins, some part of it will always remain clean. Nothing is clean about the Plants, the false angels responsible for our fall to this planet."

Danil nodded. "Excellent. I've taught you all very well. Now, to the business at hand. There are two more Plants that we can take, while we only need one more to power the Teraformer. Since I am quite paranoid, we will be taking both. Our main forces are busy fighting off the wolves, robots, and ungodly undead of Knives' forces, so we will have to do it. Joseph, are you willing to go to the one on the east side of town alone? There's little fighting going on."

Joseph bowed. "Whatever you ask, Father."

Danil nodded. "Good. Ophelia? Come with me. Elija, watch the hostages."

Elija bowed and the other three started to leave. Elija was about to turn to Millie and Meryl when Danil's voice stopped him. "Oh Elija?"

Elija turned around, "Yes Fa- urk!"

He suddenly found Danil lifting him off the ground by the throat. "I know your penchant for killing. I know your belief that all are unworthy of salvation. I understand this. But you will not touch either of them until I tell you otherwise. This operation is too important to jeopardize, and I will not let God's work be halted because you killed our only control over Chapel the Peacemaker and Vash the Stampede, do you understand?"

Elija nodded slowly, and Danil slowly let him down. Elija bowed, then turned to Millie and Meryl and smiled. Danil turned on his heel and left.

"Don't cry Meryl," Millie suddenly said.

Meryl sniffed. "I wasn't crying Millie."

Millie smiled. "Of course you weren't. I just said that because we've got hope now."

"What new hope could we have now?"

"A knife just appeared in my hand."

Meryl looked up slightly. "Could it be… Lieutenant?"

***

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Colonel Winchester asked.

"Of course. My son sneaks Calamity in with that ugly-ass eye of his. She plants explosives at the appropriate places, comes back and sets 'em off. We have our ideal battle ground for an urban invasion. In the meantime, Vash, Nick, and Jeremiah make a frontal assault to distract both sides. They seem to think that Danil and Knives will let them through, so they'll be busy with them. Then, when the dust has settled, we strike."

"But why send the outlaw?" Major Allenby asked. "Can we really trust her? Why couldn't we use our own demolitions experts?"

"Because," General Braxler said as he raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes, "she knows more about urban demolition than the rest of our boys. Now, go tell the troops to get ready. We attack the instant the girl hits the switch on the bombs."

Major Allenby saluted, then ran off.

Colonel Winchester raised her enormous rifle up and peered through the scope. "I've still got a bad feeling about this, Phillip."

General Braxler smiled. "C'mon Winnie. Have I ever let you down before?"

"Yes."

"Alright, have I ever let you down in matters of war before?"

***

Legato cocked his head to the side, as if hearing something from a great distance.

Master?

Yes, Legato?

Vash the Stampede is approaching.

Hmm, excellent. Tell Blayne to call off her wolves.

Legato turned to his cousin. Tell your pack not to attack the Stampede.

Blayne nodded. I would never have them touch such perfection. Flawed as the Stampede may be compared to the Master, I would not destroy such beauty.

***

Calamity stood up and wiped her hands on her coat. "That's the last of them."

Evans looked at his watch. "Well, despite making a quick stop to give Millie and Meryl that knife, we're still on time."

"Why couldn't we just have freed them?"

"With all of them there? With that creepy priest there? Did you look into his eyes? No, they would have realized. And they would have found me. I don't know how… but he would've found me. Alright, I'll take you back. I've got something else to do."

Calamity shook her head. "I'm not going back. There's still something else I have to settle. With my old family."

Evans sighed. "Alright, I understand. Just remember to blow the-"

"I will. You go back and tell them I got away or something."

Evans shook his head. "They aren't actually expecting me back. The officers know about Legato, but the enlisted men know nothing. He's too frightening. If they knew that death awaited them in a white trench coat, they might not fight. I wasn't just sent here to help you set the explosives, I was sent to take him out."

Calamity raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

Evans sighed. "I… think I have a way. God help me if I'm wrong."

***

Nikki sat down in the bulb and hugged her knees to her chest. She stared out at Legato and Blayne patrolling the bulb outside. Legato seemed to be messing with the Flock members who did not have any protection against him.

"Monster," she mumbled.

"He's right you know," a voice said.

Nikki looked up to see the ethereal form stepping through the air and into the bulb. Tall, with dark skin and long black hair, he looked very familiar.

"Lasuken?" Nikki asked.

The man nodded. "Lasuken. That's the last time we met."

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

The man shrugged. "If I felt like being annoying, I would tell you to ask me who I was. But I don't have time. I was Dr. Ravenflight, the proponent, designer, and director of Project SEEDS. Nowadays… nowadays I watch after humanity."

Nikki laughed mirthlessly. "You're here to watch after humanity, and you just told me that my uncle is right? Way to give me a pep talk."

"He was right though. I don't think he meant it as help, but it can be if you let it."

Nikki looked up. "How? How can admitting… that, possibly help me?"

"Because if you admit it, you can get out of this glass prison. If you admit it, you can fight."

***

Johnny stood up from the devices and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Still wearing the glasses, Johnny?"

Johnny shrugged. "Only for delicate work like this, I guess." He turned around to see Ophelia floating behind him. She held a tarot card pack in her right hand and a small device in her left.

"I don't suppose you'd consider hooking this component up for me?" She asked.

Johnny laughed. "Of course, luv. Hand it over."

Ophelia tossed the component over and Johnny caught it with one hand. He turned around and began hooking it up.

"Thanks. Kind of silly to fight now."

"Oh, of course. It'd be rude to start the party until all the guests had arrived."

Ophelia shuffled her deck and glanced around. "You think Clarissa will show up as well?"

Johnny stood up and rolled his neck. "Oh, it's not Clarissa anymore. It's Calamity."

"I wonder why the insistence on the new name?"

Calamity suddenly appeared behind her. "It's a symbol. It shows that I've left you two behind."

Ophelia shrugged. "Symbols? Is that all it is? A symbol?"

"Symbols are powerful," Johnny said. "Believe me, I hang around with a vampire these days. Symbols are powerful."

Ophelia grinned. "I guess so. Still, not time to start the part yet."

"What… what are you talking about?"

Ophelia slowly rotated in mid-air. "All the guests in our little group may have arrived, but the guests of honor still aren't here. We can't start until all the guests have arrived."

***

A Flock member stood up and fired a laser blast at the moving corpses that were slowly shambling towards them. A few corpses raised their guns and returned fire. The brother ducked behind a wall. He turned to the other brothers and sisters with him.

"The unholy dead are still coming my brethren. Fear not though! Though they may be persistent, they're hardly invincible."

A sister broke apart from the pack and stood in front of the man. He stared into her orange eyes, almost perplexed at how sickly she looked. "Are you all right sister? Perhaps you should have stayed back?"

The sister put her hand on the brother's cheek. "I couldn't stay back. Not for something like this. I just… I just want you to promise me that we'll make it."

The man smiled. "There's nothing to worry about, I assure you that, that. AAAAAHHHHHH!" He started to writhe in pain and fell to the ground. He looked towards his brethren for help, but they were all already dead or on their way, coughing up blood, screaming in pain as poison coursed through their bodies.

Zarlina nodded, pulled on her gloves, and ran on to find another group of religious zealots.

***

Joseph walked through the empty city streets, hands in the pockets of his multi-colored coat, singing softly. The Plant loomed up in front of him.

"I wore my coat, with golden lining."

He stopped suddenly. He held up his hand and a flash of light illuminated the darkness. Before Raifen could hide, Joseph drew his pistol and fired at him. Raifen rolled to the side and threw a shiruken at Joseph, knocking the gun out of his hand.

Joseph laughed and drew his long sword from the sheath on his back. "Oh good, I thought this was going to be boring. Still with the Gung-Ho Guns, man of shadow?"

Raifen slowly pulled his sword from its sheath. "No. I am here on my own interests, man of light."

"You've been in the shadows too long. Away from the truth of God's light, you lost your way. You won't even come out of the shadows after leaving evil. You have to be dragged out into the light. Allow me to remove that blindfold, and show you the truth and beauty of Heaven's light."

"No," Raifen said. He pulled his blindfold down from his eyes. "I can do that myself."

***

"See, Knives was right. You aren't human. That's nothing to be ashamed of though. We can't all choose what we're born as. We can only choose what to do with our life."

"Thanks. Very helpful. Nature still rejects me. I wasn't meant to exist, plain and simple."

The spirit shook its head. "Man, you're a tough nut to crack. Okay, listen. There's a spirit for every living thing, can you wrap your head around that?"

"For every individual thing?" Nikki asked.

"No, no. For every type of living thing. A spirit for wolves, a fox spirit, a thomas spirit, a dog spirit, etc. Humanity is no different. I currently am filling that role. Every once in a while the spirit of humanity gets a little bored with it. Someone else takes over. I'm sure it'll be the same with Plants once Tessla gets tired of it. It's a hard job, watching over an entire species."

"Your point?"

"My point?" the spirit said. He kneeled in front of her. "My point is that every living thing has a right to exist. The demons created by the vampire have a right exist, the Plants, made by man, have a right to exist. And the hybrids have a right to exist." He held placed his hands together and held them up in front of Nikki. "Look at this."

Nikki stared at the glowing light in the spirit's cupped hands. "What's this?" she asked.

"The spirit of your kind," the ghost said as it faded away.

"The spirit of my kind? My kind? So… I guess, we are meant to exist." Nikki started to chuckle. "I guess it's kind of obvious. If I weren't meant to exist, would I have lasted this long?"

She stood up and looked around the bulb. "So… how do I get out? I guess I could Angel Arm my way out, but that would probably cause way too much damage in the process. God only knows what'd get caught in the blast."

"Not as powerful."

Nikki spun around. "Who said that? That you Dr. Ravenflight?"

"Lower power."

"Who's there?"

"Little half-Plant. Keep the power low."

Nikki strapped on her guitar and slowly drew her Long Colts. "A lower powered Angel Arm? It could still level the city!"

"Save us, half-Plant. Save us from the one who calls us brother, and the one who seeks to God's work. Not a weak Angel Arm. Angel Blade."

"Angel Blade."

"Angel Blade."

"Angel Blade."

***

Legato surveyed the town below him as he paced the catwalk on the Plant. He ran a hand over the fences, stopping at each post. The posts were new, an added conceit of December City to remind the rest of the Planet that, while January City might be the seat of government, December City was where the money was. They were about waist high and came to a point. The exception being the post in the center, which was about neck high and ended with a small blade. Legato ran his fingers along it and smiled when a faint trickle of blood dripped from the tips of his fingers.

"I wonder what they meant by this flourish? Perhaps a statement to all those who would challenge December City's might. As if it were saying 'Come and take us.'" Legato chuckled softly. "The irony is almost sickening."

Suddenly Evans appeared in front of Legato. He rushed forward, pushed Legato up against the wall, and brought his face up to Legato's.

"Look at me, you son of a bitch, look at me."

Legato suddenly found himself staring into Evans' Demon's Eye. He was almost drawn into it, into its repulsiveness, its reptilian appearance. Evans pushed away from Legato and stumbled back. He looked up expectantly at the blue-haired man, his hand covering the Demon's Eye.

Legato blinked to clear his vision. Somehow, he felt… less aware. "What did you do?" he asked.

Evans chuckled. "Did it work? The Demon's Eye can hypnotize all five senses. Or, theoretically, completely block out one sixth sense."

Legato began to slowly clap as he approached Evans. "Very good. Very good indeed. Did your mother tell you that one? Did she figure out how you could succeed where she had failed? She tried to pull that trick herself once, a long time ago."

"Sorry, haven't seen hide nor hair of Rai-Dei, Dominique, or Midvalley for a while now. Can't say I know quite for sure what happened to them, but my theory is that the Reaper caught up with them. They've been brought to the punishment that they worked so hard to avoid."

Legato shrugged. Suddenly he rushed Evans, caught him in the stomach with a low uppercut, and threw him to the side.

Evans rolled to a kneeling position just in time to see Legato frown in concentration as he pulled the long metal post. He spun it around and rested behind his neck across his shoulders.

"Shit," Evans said. "I was kind of counting on you being a wuss without your powers."

Legato smirked slightly. "Only a great fool relies on one weapon alone." He dashed forward and brought the spear around for a quick stab the stomach.

Evans stood up, drew his saber, and blocked the strike. "You know," he said as he drew another sword from his belt, "that's pretty good advice."

***

Danil walked along the lower catwalk and stared up above him at Johnny and Ophelia's meeting. He wasn't overly surprised to see them there. No more when they didn't start to fight immediately. He had, after all, told Ophelia not to.

"Cold night," a voice said.

Danil nodded and huddled his coat around him. "Very cold. Aren't you freezing in that outfit?"

"These suits are surprisingly warm," Knives responded, looking out over the city.

Danil nodded and let his gaze sweep over the city as well. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it. "Care for one?" he asked, offering the pack without looking at Knives.

Knives shook his head, keeping his gaze locked on the city. "Smoking? A human vice. I like to think I'm above such a sin."

Danil chuckled. "A sin? I guess it could be consider as such. A vice made by man. Just as we made you, our own spiritual downfall."

"Mankind making its own worst enemy. A poetic justice in that."

A sudden blur of motion, and both men were staring at each other down the barrels of their guns.

"So, it finally comes down to this. To activate our devices, all we have to do is hit the power button and select the correct circuit to direct the energy through, but obviously neither of us is going to let the other do that."

"It was inevitable, really. It had to come to this. Just the two of us. All the warfare, the circumvention, the subterfuge, all working to this point. This moment. This gunfight."

"Perhaps we should just have started by doing this. We could have saved a lot of time that way."

"Perhaps. But that wouldn't have been as fun."

Knives right hand shot out to the side and opened up to let the gun slide out. At the same time, Danil's left hand reached inside his coat, pulled out another cross shaped pistol, and aimed it to his side.

"Come on out," Danil said, his eyes starting to glow.

"We know you're there," Knives said.

From the darkness, Vash and Wolfwood emerged from the shadows. Wolfwood pulled the cigarette from his mouth and threw it the ground. Jeremiah followed them, his Cross Punisher resting across his shoulders.

"Ahh, my wayward students return. Did you learn much while away, Born-again? Did you learn to hate the Plants while in their employ, Peacemaker?"

"Learn to hate?" Wolfwood asked. "Funny, I seem to remember the Savior talking about love a lot. I must have missed that part of the Bible. I mean, I did sort of skim it."

"I rather believe words are useless at this point," Martinez said, walking along the underside of a catwalk. He looked down at Knives and Danil, then looked up at Johnny, Ophelia, and Calamity. "We've all already decided our positions, there is no use trying to convince anyone any differently. What we do now is fight, prove that our opinions are the correct ones. But understand this," Martinez said as he stopped walking and stared at Jeremiah. "I have been working far too long to have any of you screw this up for me." He reached up and brushed the small cross-shaped scar on his cheek. "I still owe you something, don't I, Chapel the Born-Again?"

"A moot point though," Danil said. "All it would take is a word from me, and the lovely insurance ladies go on to meet their final judgment." Danil leaned his head to the side. "Wait, what did you say Eilja?"

Knives chuckled. "The final failing of the humans. My hostage won't be so easily-"

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from across the town. Blinding light emerged from one of the bulbs in downtown.

"What… what is this light? It's not Joseph!"

"She couldn't have! She never would have admitted the truth!"

***

Legato and Evans stared at the bulb as the light inside grew steadily stronger and stronger.

Schick!

Schink!

A diagonal circular cut appeared around the bulb and the top half slowly slid down towards them. The pair jumped backwards as the bulb crashed down to the ground. Nikki stood in the center of the ruined bulb, both arms transformed into giant organic blades.

As her arms started to revert back to their human form, Blayne leapt up from nowhere onto the catwalk and pounced on Nikki. Nikki threw herself backward and began to fire at Blayne the instant her guns reformed.

Evans charged at Legato with a double overhead chop, which Legato blocked with his improvised spear. "Did you think I came alone?" Evans snarled.

***

Calamity brought out the detonator and stared at the ones she once called brother and sister. "The guests of honor are here," she said.

Johnny grinned. Metal flowed down from the studs in his arms and formed itself into knives. "Time to start the party?"

"Oh now big brother. You know that the party doesn't really start until the party crashers arrive."

So saying, Calamity flipped up the cover and the detonator and thumbed the switch.

***

Dozens of explosions ripped through the town, toppling buildings. Inside the Bernardelli Insurance Society complex, mothers hushed their children as the remaining survivors continued to fight off the ever-approaching end. Thousands of people drew their guns to fight off the enemy. Hundreds of people screamed, "CCCCHHHHAAAARRRRGE!" as they raced down towards the city. The clock tower in the center of town struck twelve. Its low peals ringing out over everything.

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

BONG

***

Vash: I used to claim to know where the start of all this was. Now… now I'm not sure this mess has just one beginning. So many different paths, starting all over time, all over the universe, leading to this one place, this one time. No matter the outcome… I can promise you one thing, Rem. I will take care of them. I will take care of all of them. I can promise you that tonight, under these five moons, it ends. Next Chapter: Grand Finale.