𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘳

Chapter 13. Love

"Once again, despite your disobedience, the master has noted that you are exceptionally more talented than our simple pawns, the gung-ho guns. You... are valuable to him, unfortunately." Legato spoke to me, his tone seething with jealousy and coldness. He wanted to kill me, he wanted to lop my head right off with his bare hands but his loyalty barred him. He gritted his teeth. Seeing him so frustrated makes me feel satisfied.

"He wants to pull the Ace card, the one where you hurt Vash with someone 'close' to him," I say.

"But you will not go without reprimanding."

"Sounds like fun."

"It will not be."

"I am Vash the Stampede! I'm sorry, but this is my daily massacre that will begin now!" Vash yells in the streets of Augusta. Did he think anyone would buy into it? "Take a look at me and start freaking out! Observe my red coat, my lovely blonde hair, my one hundred percent accurate gunmanship! Get at least 100 iles away from this place if you don't want to die!"

The people did listen, until everyone was driven out of Augusta.

"Right. This is the guy we're fighting..." I say. "A complete idiot."

The master wants you too meet him in the church. Legato says.

Well this is sounding sacrilegious. This is my reprimanding? That sounds like a treat to me.

Hardly.

It sure will. I'll make it right for Shana... then Rebecca can truly die. Shana's death will not be in vain.

Sayonara, fuckin' Bluesummers freak.

I light a cigarette. Knives, a terrifying calm. I am that calm now. There is guilt, eating up my insides, but I keep a straight face. Vash... Millie... Meryl, perhaps they could be my true friends but I want my own selfish revenge. Because I couldn't come to terms with my past, but now I know that it was wrong to betray them. Because they were compassionate, but I repaid them in bullets.

I met Vash the Stampede. He was not the man that killed Shana, and I couldn't recognize that. But I do now, and Shana would not want me to take his life. It would hurt her, it would hurt Rebecca far more. I should make things right, if not for my sake.

I put on my poker-face. It's time to play.

"Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." Knives shut the Bible as I walk through the door, even though he was only at the beginning of the 'Lord's Prayer', "You must have learned this as a child, right?"

"Yes, back on earth. I would recite it every night before bed," I reply, walking through the pews. This church had long been abandoned, because the people felt abandoned by God. So they abandoned him in return. It was sad, actually. Humans are purpose driven, and when we failed Earth and came to Gunsmoke, we lost our purpose.

"Humans are quite terrible creatures, aren't they?" he asks. "They imagine heaven is glorious, filled with equality, songs and angels and the glory of God. They should strive to make to Earth shine as brightly as the heavens above, but they destroyed it. Humans are selfish creatures by nature."

"Yes, I guess. You're quite pessimistic about it though," I say. "They are so selfish that they would like to protect others instead of themselves. That's right, they are compassionate. Infinitely so, that they could care about every fleck of life on this planet with every bit of their soul. They believe in second chances, and that they can make things right. And they go forward everyday, with hope."

"That hopeful thinking kills them."

"I don't think so, Master Knives. I think that's what it is to be alive." I aim my gun at him, firing, "And I believe in second chances too. They can right their wrongs against our kind. I believe I can make things right for myself as well."

"You're an idiot, Rebecca." Knives grabs my shoulder, squeezing tight so the blood comes from the wound. He moves fast, but I expected that. "You're the same as a human."

"I don't care." I slice at him with my katana to get free, then fire bullets at his head. He tackles me down with a grin, and I kick him, causing him to crash straight through the second story, "Shana... Vash... they were both wonderful people. But you corrupt them... you feed on them like a predator and you treat them like trash. They don't deserve to ever see you again, which is why I'm sending you to hell."

I climb to the second story, and he finally pulls out his gun, firing at me. I fire back, hiding behind a table and reloading. I eye all the tables throughout the room and toss my hat, hoping he'll act on instinct and fire.

He has one pair of eyes, and it's trained on the hat as I watch a bullet pass through and I move. He kicks up the table I was previously behind, and then I throw the one I was just behind at him, leaping on top of it and firing at his hand. I get him this time, and he drops his gun. I mean, it could be the second one to steal from him...

"This is a nice little blade you've got here." Knives examines... my katana? It's missing from my belt, alarming me. "I'm just playing with you, that's all, Rebecca."

"When did..?!" I dodge as he swings, then have to block with my own gun.

"I'm getting you back. You stole my revolver, so I just stole your katana." He smiles cruelly. "Since you shot me with my own gun... I'll have to cut you with your own blade."

I dodge the swings, and he just seems to get faster. He's insane... and insanely good. Terrifyingly calm. Incredibly cruel... he's fear itself. Yet I've come to face him.

As I go to drop a grenade, he finally gets me, slicing along my torso. I cry out in pain, clutching at my side. I'm at a dead end, my back to the stained glass window of the church and my hands shaking.

"Why do you still fight? Shana's dead, your entire life from before is dead. There's nothing left to fight for. If you finished what you started, by killing Vash, we wouldn't be in this mess. It's so easy for you, and easier for me." He sighs, shaking his head. "You truly are an idiot, Rebecca."

"Love is infinite, Knives. Because I was human... Because of Shana, compassion is infinite. You can't take that from this world, no matter how hard you try or what you do."

"Idiot. It's so sad you'll miss Vash's performance. " He tosses my sword back at me, which I catch. "I hope you are happy in your next life."

"No you don't," I say, pulling my pistol and shooting him.

He clutches the wound. How'd he let his guard down so easily, I don't know. He's the only idiot in this shack. He snarls at me, "You're right. But I'll serve justice for the rest of the plants on this planet... and end the human race that you believe in so much." He kicks me, the glass shattering against my back as I fall.

The grenade blows up the entire second story. I smile.

Then I see the light... not the kind of light you see when you'll either ascend to heaven or descend to hell... I've seen that before. But it sure does resemble hell, this light. It's the same as July, light filling Augusta.

Just like Shana... Guess I didn't miss Vash after all.

End of Volume 1

~

A/N: So that's basically the end of 'trigun' a.k.a part 1, or the whole settup/prologue for the story to come. Feel free to leave feedback on the book so far, or just plain 'Revy' for this book vs Shana Revy from the old version 'Bullets and Feelings/Rapid Fire Heart' *that fanfiction is like 4 years old now.

This Chapter was really weird to write, might I mention. I myself am a christian, and now I'm writing a character who not only completely hates the notion of God/Jesus, but also participates in making this chapter pretty much a sacrilegious act, shitting on the bible and blowing up a church. It's really just weird but it's like me and class debates, writing with something seriously even if I'm not on board with it. I chose, after all, to make Revy a cynical character who contradicts a lot of things of my own experiences, and characters and events of the series And it is a hell of a lot of fun to write her.