𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘳

Chapter 24. Fools of July

Disclaimer: Fuck the timeline I don't get it I don't abide by it. You get the jist of the flow, don't bother with the dates because they're hard to recall and I'm not about to make a wiki page dating it all.

A/N: These background conflict saturated chapters have been rising for reason.

*Whisper* It's here

[ Gambler ]

"Rich and poor all together," Vash remarks, anger crossing his tone but he tries to keep it down for the sake of everyone around. The Dragon's Nest is a mish-mash of buildings, a complex within a complex. It's not a slum or anything, there's plenty of money. It's a city within a city, given multiple levels, factories, apartments, hotels, department stores, bars, and more. It's narrow streets are filled with drunks and lowlives sitting on the side and I wonder how anyone can stand to go outside when it's like a dump, so crammed you couldn't afford to be any more than skinny.

But then again, when has anyone ever had enough food to last them more than a few days?

"Well, if anyone hinders us I'll just have to fuck them up," Wolfwood remarks. "Hear that, big chick? That's what'll happen. This ain't your world, so you should just stay and watch. Just trust us to bring the midget girl back."

Millie looks at him with a puzzled expression, but for once it meant she understood something a whole lot better than we did. She tries to smile with her words as she would regret the tone she'd have to deal with later, but also tried to stifle a laugh. "No way. There's no point in arguing, but I'm after them too and I can't stand by when they took Meryl. I'm always a big trouble to her, and I can't take it if I can't do anything for her this time around."

"Don't be an idiot and talk about how you feel."

Millie pulled the large gun from under her coat. "Do I need to prove myself? I can make four kilos ninety-eight with this."

"Fine, we'll help you out," Vash immediately says, though he'd probably been thinking about it since we picked her.

"Tongari?!" Wolfwood snapped at his decision.

"We don't know where Meryl has been taken. This place is just as dangerous as the next area, therefore--" Vash stopped, looking up with ominous laughing reaching him from the roof top.

"There were only supposed to be three gung-ho left," Wolfwood says, staring at the unfamiliar--- well, that thing wasn't even human. The laughter came from a large suit, someone on all fours upon a rounded shell attached to his body through strange contraptions. "Hoppered the Gaunlet, Midvalley the Hornfreak, and Zazie... so who the hell are you?!"

I look up to see the man crashing down at an alarming rate-- well, with a body like that it can only be Hoppered. They wanted to drag the whole nest into it from the start, the way he's moving now. He'll not only crush us but a building will go down with him.

A sax blares before anyone can respond to gauntlet, jolting my head and I barely have the chance to cover my ears. The noise is so loud I can still feel it beneath my skin as it gives me the worst migraine I've ever experienced, the sound agonizing.

Wolfwood gets the worst of it, he's down with bloody ears. His body has dropped and I'm not sure if he's even still alive.

My hands drop from my ears, spinning to turn to the roof top where Midvalley is, who turns satisfied with killing one of two traitors. If that's enough to piss me off, it's enough to revive Wolfwood from the rift and fire a missile shot at that Hornfreak.

It doesn't take much time for him to bolt it and lead Midvalley off for revenge in the same way. I'm sure more than our group will have perforated eardrums regardless. And the people unlucky enough to hear the sax in their homes won't have survived.