| Midvalley |
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-----DISCLAIMER----- Nope. Yasuhiro Nightow owns the Trigun characters, not me. Ima just
borrowin'.
-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: Sorry 'bout the wait. Sigh. Hmmm... I didn't like the last chapter at all. AT ALL. And I doubt I'm going to like this one. Kuroneko: Mya, mya. **pats Lynda on the back sympathetically** Lynda: So I'm just going to write. Get this over with. Drag myself
painfully closer to the deciding and dividing chapter. It's comin',
and by the looks of how I'm going, soon. Er... Um... **eyes shift**
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Hissing and screeching with all the indignant rage of a poor loser, the Vault bubbled and oozed down to the stones of the alleyway, the black seeping between the cobbles and sinking away from the world. Over the other side of the street, Vash lowered his gun arm, wispy tendrils of smoke snaking through the air from the barrel. 'It's getting worse. That's the 5th one in the last two days.' Wolfwood noted, pushing his dark sunglasses further up his nose, the Punisher not even off his shoulder. He hadn't even been aware of the Vault until Vash the Stampede had spun and fired, and only then when it had made that god-awful racket they usually did when dying. They were getting smarter too. Now the creatures tended to lurk in dark places, alleys and warehouses... Anywhere where they could easily be mistaken for a shadow. 'It's been getting colder, too.' Vash noted, grimacing and most obviously
not referring to the humid climate of the December streets. Wolfwood
raised his eyebrows in reply, gazing down the now empty alley. Tongari
was right, of course. There was a Demonic chill spicing the air, and
neither of them could work out where it was coming from. 'He'll make his move soon.' Vash continued coldly, hard and horribly focused eyes sweeping the scenery and evaluating from behind golden sunglasses. He'd been like this for the past 2 days. Distanced. Nothing could be said or done to drag the Humanoid Typhoon kicking and sceaming back to 'goofy cheer'. Nothing at all. Thinking about it, Wolfwood came to the conclusion that the meager shield of happy-go-lucky the blonde hid himself behind was, in the current situation, better off discarded. And discarded it had been. This man in the red coat was oddly alien. He seemed callous... And was now every bit of the Vash the Stampede advertised on bullet riddled wanted posters. 'Hey, Tongari...' 'Yeah, Wolfwood?' '... Have you any idea as to where the girls are going?' Wolfwood asked, the pair of them finally trudging into motion after their Guards. There was a short silence. 'Wha- I thought you knew!' Vash finally replied in a mild fluster, eyes wide and twin catches of cyan peeking over the now slipped golden sunglasses. Ah. And there was the Vash few truly knew and loved. 'How am I supposed to know?' Wolfwood demanded, relief settling him back into the manner he usually donned for his friend. He thereafter followed a gloved and raised finger which was aimed, pointedly, to Milly Thompson. Who was, despite protests of one Meryl Stryfe, successfully dragging the shorter woman down the street and ignoring the barrage of 'where are we going's. A snippet of Milly's chirpish and cheerful voice filtered through the December street din. 'You'll see when we get there, Sempai, because it's a secret!' 'So we're followin' the Big Girl. Why should I know where we're goin'?' the priest retorted, miffed slightly at the idiotic and knowing grin the Humanoid Typhoon had plastered over his features. 'Well, you seem to know everything that's going on with your Guard, so I thought that maybe-' Vash began, raising his face slightly and pushing the glasses back up the bridge of his nose, palm smothering the smirk that was threatening to dominate his once lugubrious face. 'I was too busy keepin' an eye on you, Tongari, so I wasn't paying attention!' Wolfwood snapped, his current state of 'miffed' accelerating into 'vexed'. 'Keep an eye on me?' Vash asked, blinking those cleared eyes. Wolfwood fumbled for a cigerette, found one, then lit it. 'You've been so sharp, you've been dull.' the priest noted, raising an eyebrow. 'Whatever's been on your brain has taken up all of your attention, so I've had to keep an eye on you so you don't stuff up royally and get us both suspended.' he continued waving an hand. He regretted the words the second they left his lips. The clear gaze of Vash the Stampede suddenly unfocused then clouded again, recollection drawing the blonde back into his previous melancholy demeanor. 'The stakes are too high for me not to pay attention.' Vash retorted distantly, his gaze settling on the Guards in front of them. 'Well you're just going to have to try harder. Other stuff is important too, y'know. Like where the hell we're going?' Wolfwood offered, picking up the pace so as to close the distance between Living and Angels. 'Probably to get some groceries or something.' Vash replied simply, frowning. 'Why are you so worried?' 'Because it's a surprise from the Big Girl. Who knows what we're headin' into?' the priest returned promptly, grimacing as possibilities paraded across his admittedly pessimistic imagination. 'I see your point.' Vash muttered. The pair managed to catch up to the two Insurance Workers, only for the conversation between the Living having died but seconds before. Milly was quiet because she appeared, in her haste, to have lost her way, and Meryl because she was out of breath from struggling. 'I could've sworn we were on Ballast st.' Milly murmured, eyes blinking in mild confusion. Meryl grimaced. 'That's on the EAST side of town, Milly.' she managed, one hand rising to push aside a few insubordinate raven strands. 'Then where are-' 'This is the WEST side of town, Milly.' one short tempered Investigator huffed, shooting her partner an impatient glance. 'Really? How did we get all the way over here?' the taller queried inquisitively, head cocking gently to one side. 'How should I know?! You're the one who dragged us all the way over here!' 'Oh. Oh well, I guess I made a wrong turn! Let's get going Sempai, sooner we set off, sooner we get there!' Milly exclaimed cheerfully, one hand securing over the now non-struggling wrist of her companion. Meryl simply groaned in response. There was a pause. 'Which way is west, Sempai?' the brunette asked innocently, shielding the sun from her eyes and squinting in random directions. 'THAT way.' Meryl offered, eyebrow tweaking, hand waved in the opposite direction of the newly risen sun. She was jerked into motion after a fully rejuvinated and overly cheerful partner. Wolfwood and Vash followed. 'What's with the long face, Tongari? You'd normally be grinning in a situation like this.' the priest noted, pushing his black sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose. The sun reflected blindingly off the tangerine lenses of Vash the Stampede's own black rimmed eyewear, expressive eyes effectively hidden from view. 'The way things are going... This is all going to end.' he replied quietly, morbidly. And was thereafter slapped across the back of his head. The force nearly toppled the tall outlaw, a small 'geh' wrung from a surprised voice box and sunglasses having been thrown off and hanging limply from one ear. 'Would you lighten up?!' Wolfwood snapped, frustration etched on every feature, fist raised again threateningly. 'You didn't have to hit me!' Vash whined, cringing from the balled fist and rubbing the back of his head with one hand while replacing scewed eyewear with the other. Although noticably lower on his nose this time. 'Keep thinkin' like that and your going to waste all this when you do have it, so just knock it off.' the priest continued, glaring. 'But... Doesn't it make you sad that we'll lose this? Them?' Vash managed, eyes swimming in sappy, unshed and sentimental tears. 'We don't know that yet.' was the sharp reply, Wolfwood turning his gaze down to the cobbled streets. It was always mildly embarrassing to watch the most wanted man on the planet blubber away like a baby. 'I'd say it's pretty certain. Wouldn't you, Angel?' a voice queried casually to their left. With a startled jump, both Wingers spun to the vocalization, the already piqued wariness causing guns to be leveled before the turning had even finished. Leaning casually against a brick wall, one ankle crossed over the other, Midvalley the Hornfreak watched lackadaisically. One hand was buried in the white suit's pocket, the other resting on the saxophone suspended from a sling over a shoulder. The Demon raised an eyebrow. 'Well, wouldn't you?' he asked again after the long silence, a small smile quirking the corner of his mouth. 'No, I wouldn't.' Wolfwood replied simply, fist the straps of the Cross Punisher were clutched in twitching slightly. A gloved hand was raised before him, halting. 'I'll handle this, Wolfwood.' Vash announced, eyes hard again and focused sharply on the Demon before them. The statement wrought a small derisive laugh from the black haired Winger. 'Like hell you will! You can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, what makes you think you can handle this?!' Vash's gaze didn't even flicker. 'I can handle this.' he repeated. 'Someone has to follow the girls, and I doubt this guy's going to let me be the one to walk away.' 'True.' Midvalley confessed. 'My orders were specifically for Vash the Stampede.' 'Then let's move on anyway and deal with this idiot if he follows!' Wolfwood snapped, switching his glare between the pair. Vash suddenly turned his eyes on the priest. 'And bring a fully conscious Demon near our Guards?' he asked, eyebrow raised. The smoking man spluttered slightly, cigerette near shredding between grinding teeth. The point had been made; the situation was being controlled and there wasn't a thing that either of them could do to change it. With a final and resentful huff, Wolfwood shouldered his Cross again. 'You just wait until you come back, Tongari.' he warned, glaring. Then, shooting daggers at the smirking Demon, Wolfwood reluctantly hurried after the retreating forms of two Insurance Workers. Long after the street was cleared of ex-priest Angels and Insurance Workers, the pair remained as they were, locked in stalemate. Eventually, after a good stream of Living passed by unsuspecting, Vash finally spoke. 'Where is Legato?' he asked coldly, having not moved an inch in all the time spent staring. Midvalley's smile broadened somewhat, and the musician stepped out from the shade of the wall and into the busy street. 'Close.' he replied. 'Take me to him.' 'Sorry, but my role today is simply a messenger.' Midvalley apologized, gazing down at his Saxophone and settling his fingers around it. 'A messenger?' 'That's right, my friend. I bear a message from Legato... And Ultimately Knives.' He brought the mouth piece to his lips and played a note, soft, low, harmonic. 'A piece of what's to come, so to speak. A warning. That's about it, but I'm sure you get the picture.' 'And if I ignore this message?' Vash asked, corners of his mouth edging slightly into a snarl based grimace. 'It's all the same in the end. You either go to the Master willingly and you both are on better footing for the life in the world he is creating, or you go unwillingly and have to live with it as is.' 'I have a message of my own.' Vash replied coldly, still unmoving. Midvalley lowered the instrument and raised an eyebrow. 'Oh?' 'I'll stop Knives. Whatever it takes. And if Legato wants to stop me, then he can come and do it himself instead of sending one of his little Demons.' '...That's it?' 'Yep.' 'I see... Well, now that the pleasantries are over, it's time for the show to begin. The curtain rises on a preformance like no other and Sylvia will sing beautifully for the exultant audience tonight.' Midvalley announced, again rising 'Sylvia' to his lips, one eye open and glued to the stoic gunman opposite. 'It seems that she responds best when faced with you, Vash the Stampede.' 'What is a musician doing as a Demon?' Winger asked suspisciously, squinting through golden lenses. 'Haven't you heard? The Devil has all the best tunes.' Midvalley responded, fingers settling over an A. There was a considerable silence. Then, '... You're going to attack me with a trumpet?' Vash asked incredulously, one hand waving repeatedly, glasses slipping down his nose slightly. Apparently, out of all the insults that could've been flung, calling a saxophone a trumpet was by far the worst in Midvalley the Hornfreak's eyes. With a scowl and a twitch of the eyebrow, the Demon managed to, despite teeth clamping vindictively over the mouthpiece, play the first note.
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Wolfwood glanced over his shoulder for the millionth time, again scowling when a spikey haired figure wasn't grinning apologetically and jogging to catch up. And the girls were still walking away. Still moving further and further from somewhere that, admittedly, he would rather be. And, still, he had no idea where the Insurance Girls were going. Wolfwood had a sneaking suspiscion that it was highly relative to the Wingers, but there was no way of finding out. Until they got there, in which, no doubt, he would be unpleasantly surprised. But this was the Big Girl he was talking about, and she didn't have one vindictive bone in her body. Wolfwood seriously doubted that his Guard would deliberately and intentionally drag the Small Insurance Girl all the way to something that would harm either her or the two Guardian Angels following them. And, despite it all, the priest found himself curious. Even over his amounting anxiety for his partner's saftey. 'Well, here we are Sempai!' Milly suddenly announced, dropping the wrist she was clutching and standing, hands on hips and stance wide, in front of a tiny, shady and dirty looking shop. Meryl bent over and used the break in movement to catch her breath, hands on knees, then looked up. 'What's this, Milly?' she asked suspisciously, eyeing the derelict
little nook of a store warily. It, in all honesty, looked like an alley
given a roof, wall and door. Wolfwood peered at the tiny shop curiously,
trying to find a sign or display that might reveal a purpose to it's
existence. The single window had been painted over black for odd reasons,
and the green paint on the grubby door was flaking badly. But, above
the grotesque gargoyle head knocker, there was an eye painted in red.
It had been slopped onto the metal door pretty haphazardly, and a pentagram
was found in the middle of the oculus. 'I found it in the paper this morning.' Milly said in a conspiracy laden breath. 'Madame Tinumcrook is an Average!' The last was barely a whisper, secretive and excitable. Meryl blinked. 'A what?!' 'An Average.' Milly repeated, this time in her normal tone, textured with a slight hint of innocent confusion. Something clicked in the shorter's eyes. 'I think you mean a Medium, Milly.' Meryl corrected. Then did a double take. 'Wh-what are we doing at a Medium's?!' she demanded, brow furrowed in distaste and shock. Milly stepped up the single uneven step and knocked on the door. 'Madame Tinumcrook can speak to spirits! And even though Mr. Angel
isn't Mr. Ghost, I figured we might just be able to meet our Angels!'
she exclaimed over her shoulder. Meryl spluttered. She seemed almost
as shocked as one Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who was had dropped the Punisher
on his foot in his astonishment. 'Who's there?' a crackling little voice demanded. Milly blinked and began turning around, trying to find the source of the noise. In a more normal and exasperated tone, the voice said, 'Down here, missy. What do you want?' Blinking, the tall Insurance Worker dropped her gaze to the crack in the door and immediately pushed her face to it. There was a clatter as whoever was behind it jumped back from the proximity in surprise. 'We're here to see Madame Tinumcrook!' she said into the tiny opening, leaning in further. 'For what reason?' was the next shaky question. Milly turned to Meryl, gave her a slow and all together far too exaggerated wink, then turned back. 'We want to speak to Guardian Angels.' she said promptly, folding her arms and nodding. There was a long pause. Behind the brunette, Meryl was grimacing and looking about as unhappy as one is capable of being, unaware that the Guardian Angel beside her was as distressed as she. Finally, the door opened fully to reveal a short, short old woman in a ridiculous get up. She appeared to be wearing a toga made of curtains. She eyed the pair suspisciously. 'Come in.' the old woman finally spat, turning and shuffling into the tiny shop. Milly grinned and hurriedly entered. Meryl took longer, and her expression was oddly unreadable. She seemed worried, and kept looking over her shoulder. The facial cast was dropped, and with a huge sigh, she followed. Wolfwood was further more reluctant. There was only one thing he found stupider about Mediums and their
complete ignorance about the occult... And that was there lack of ignorance
in the art of Exorcism. But, when push comes to shove, his and Tongari's
Guards were in there, and it was his job to watch over them. With a
resigned sigh, shouldering the Cross Punisher resolutely, Wolfwood moved
to follow... And nearly broke his nose. Experience told the priest that launching a missle at the shield would
do very little at all, and it was a stupid idea considering the girls
were in that tiny box of a building. Smoky blue eyes swept around for
the source... And found it. With a guilty glance down the street, Wolfwood took a page out of Vash the Stampede's book and reached up, grabbed the small power thumming object and threw it to the cobbles. A few beads bounced away. Then, with possibly more emotion than was necessary, the priest proceeded to stomp repeatedly on the tiny bundle until it was a tiny pulpatated mass of goodness knows what. With an inconspicuous whistle, Wolfwood nudged what was left of the Ward to the left and under a milk carton, then sauntered into the tiny store. Acting as Angelic as he was, in fact, not.
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Vash dived behind the apple stall, a fraction of a second before the aforementioned booth exploded, fruit flying in random directions, most imploding and spraying juice on the surrounding populace. With a grimace, the 60 Billion Double Dollar Man waited for the debris to settle before twisting over the mangled stall and returning a barrage of bullets then ducking back down. Some musical notes later and the bullets were returned, embedding in the metal behind him. 'We've been at this for some time. Wanna call it quits?' Vash called out hopefully, trying desperately to ignore the owlish attention the battle was recieving from the Living in the crowded street. So far none had been stupid enough to venture into the cross fire. 'The show isn't over until the fat lady sings.' Midvalley responded from the other side of the street, another riff raining down brick and mortar from the building above the outlaw. 'But I don't have a fat lady!' Vash whined, taking a breath then launching himself for another form of shelter. This one was a car, this time much closer to the Demon. The automobile rocked as another shockwave nearly flipped it. 'Then the show must go on.' the musician returned simply, sounding a little exasperated. '...You must be running out of breath, Hornfreak.' the blonde attempted, checking his gun and grimacing when he realized he'd wasted most his ammo. 'I'm a musician like none you've seen, Vash the Stampede.' Midvalley snapped, sounding slightly vexed at the insinuation at his lack of skill. 'Then I'll just have to keep dodging.' Vash retorted promptly, not moving as the car he had his back pressed up against rocked drastically again. There was a long pause. The a high pitched scream as a Living was knocked from their feet and thrown to the wall in front of the Humanoid Typhoon. 'Then I'll just have to start killing humans.' Midvalley replied simply, another scream as another Living was attacked. With a start, Vash the Stampede was on his feet and over the car. Midvalley, Sylvia still raised to his lips, smiled. 'And so it ends.' he noted. Vash stood slowly from his pre landing
crouch and faced the Demon steadly, eyes narrowed. The crowd around
them was near deafening in their panic, most trying to help up the two
injured. Midvalley smiled and took a breath. Vash clenched his teeth
and waited, brow drawing in. Vash panicked, but found there was nothing really to panic to. He was
surrounded by black and purple; mists and this inexorable tugging that
dragged him back and further back by an invisible force around his middle.
-with the powers to be, bring this spirit of Light to ME! BRING THIS TO ME and...Er... AlakaZAM!! ... HOLY JUMPIN' JACKAROOS, IT WORKED!' Vash, eyes clenched shut, found that the world had stopped spinning and the suction had ceased. When his ears finally registered that the words had indeed been delivered to him, one cyan eye opened slowly. The room was tiny. The room was dark and misty with incense, dotted with candles and draped with heavy crushed velvet curtains. He was standing in the middle of a sparking magic circle, lightening crackling over the chalk markings. There were symbols. By the circle was books. And a little old woman, two Insurance Workers and a Guardian Angel. All of which shocked. All of which staring directly at him. 'Wow Sempai, it WORKED!' Milly cheered, reaching over and shaking the
unresponsive shoulder of Meryl Stryfe. The Living were seated on the
outskirts of the magic circle, each crosslegged on a cushion. The little
old woman seemed too shocked to speak, and Wolfwood had dropped his
cigerette. Milly seemed too estatic for words, and... With confused
and astonishment spread eyes, Vash the Stampede swept his stare over
them, words defying his throat. And there it was. That connection, fleeting, elusive. It hovered in
the air between them, connected from retina to retina, shocked gaze
to shocked gaze. It had always been there, but here it was, solid, usable.
It was almost tangible the moment eye contact clicked. Vash, for one
brief and dazed moment, contemplated reaching out and pulling on that
connection, near physical that it was, wondering who would be drawn
to who in the process. This is all it had taken to discover that bond
between Guardian and Guard? Angel and Living? Recognition? Awareness? 'It's you.' she whispered, seemingly dazed beyond coherency. 'In that dream.' 'Sempai?' Milly asked suddenly, snapping both from the intense moment. Meryl stuttered and hurriedly turned her gaze to a random candle and muttered something along the lines of 'nothing', while Vash remembered where he was. Or, rather, where he had been and what he had been doing. 'Um, hi.' he greeted, waving in embarrassment. 'This is kinda awkward, but can I go back?' Milly and the Medium gazed at him owlishly, Wolfwood scowled and Meryl couldn't help her curiousity and returned her stare. Vash knew not to make the mistake this time by looking back. The Medium snapped herself out of her stupefaction. 'Go back?! Not bloody likely! This is a breakthrough! Tell me ALL about the afterlife!' she cackled enthusiastically. Shooting a nervous glance at Wolfwood, who was making 'kill the conversation' motions, he replied, 'Um...No.' 'Why do you have to go back, Mr. Vash the Stampede?' Milly asked, cocking her head to the side. Vash spluttered some, trying to ignore the fact that both the Medium and Meryl were doing so as well. 'I was in a battle with a Demon.' he offered. 'You're saftey does depend upon my success, y'know.' 'Now we're gettin' somewhere!' the Medium announced with glee. 'A Demon? Were you fighting in the bowels of Hell?' 'Not really. It was kinda around an apple store.' Vash replied sheepishly, shrinking under their gazes, tingling under Meryl's. 'Ap-... Well, did he attempt to damn you with his Unholy Pitch Fork of Damnation?' the Medium asked, sounding a little desperate. 'Er... No, it was actually a Trumpet called Sylvia. No, wait, it was a Saxophone. He got pretty pissed when I called it that. He nearly nailed me too.' Vash said, tapping his chin in recollection. Then snapping back to the present. 'Listen can I please go n-' 'You said something about these girl's safety, what was that about?' the Medium asked in a slightly aggrivated tone of voice. She seemed determinded to wring something out of this Angel before her. Vash shook his head, then turned his gaze to Wolfwood. 'Get me outta here, Wolfwood!' he pleaded, 'there's people there and I doubt that Demon's gonna wait forever!' Wolfwood stared back. The three Living in the room turned to see what the focus of attention was, but, of course, could see nothing. The priest spluttered some, then, his eyes cleared as an idea hailed it's arrival in his head. With a fierce look of determination, the Winger walked over and scuffed up the chalk marks on the ground with a frustrated foot. The Medium shreiked as chalk was kicked up in the action, and Vash felt something strike him in the stomach harshly enough to knock the breath from his lungs. He was sent hurtling backwards by the force and the tiny room spiralled away into the haze. With a disturbing feeling of being pushed at break neck speed, Vash the Stampede was suddenly hurtled back out into the December street. And, by pure chance, into the inquisitive form of Midvalley the Hornfreak. The Demon had wandered over to the disappearance point to inspect it when a fully grown man carrying around quite a bit of metal was thrown into him. Vash clattered to the ground on top of a very unconscious Midvalley, breathless and winded. Sylvia lay beside them. Shakily standing, Vash stared down at the out cold Demon at his feet. He had to get back to the others. Being away just proved to be a very silly thing to do, and he really wanted to talk to Wolfwood about the latest turn of events. But he had a Demon in his hands. What to do...? Well... There was only one thing to do.
It was sighed to Legato, the initials at the bottom reading, Vash T.S.
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-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: LONG!!!! ACK!!! But I suppose it should be, considering you waited this long. -_-;; Kuroneko: Mya? Lynda: Sorry it did take so long. Sigh. It's too late. MUCH too late
considering I have a HUGE day of work early tomorrow. Ack! Hmmm... Next chapter you say?
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