Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It ❯ Gone ( Chapter 20 )

"You! It was you all this time!" Kale cried, anger and hurt burning bright in her storm-colored eyes. Kane tilted her head to the side and fingered her dagger absently.

Todd sauntered up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The other men stood around, watching their captures closely. One of the men kicked the guns under the railing until everyone could hear the clanking of each one hitting the next platform.

"Why?!" Kale cried. Kane leaned into Todd and smiled.

"Do you have any idea how much money our father left when he died?" When Kale said nothing, her twin continued. "An ass load. I don't know where he got all of it, but there's a lot. Enough to have made him a filthy rich bastard."

"What does this have to with you wanting to kill me?" Kale hissed. Knives watched Kane closely as she slid from Todd's arms and walked over to her sister, crouching own on her haunches.

"When he died, instead of handing all of it to mother or splitting it between all of us, he had handed it all over to you."

"What?! You lie!" Kale shouted.

"Wrong. I read his blasted will a year back. I was so furious and over come with jealousy that I wanted to get revenge. You were innocent in the whole thing I'm sure, but I personally didn't care and still don't. Father always sacrificed his time for you and you only. I hated it. Mother didn't give a shit about either of us so I was basically alone."

"But why do you want to kill me?! I did nothing to you!"

"BECAUSE I HATE YOU!!" Everything went silent, the words bouncing off the walls. Kale stared at her sister in shock.

"I was literally forced to live my own blasted life at fourteen! After our parents got a divorce, I wanted to go with you and father and live here, but after the trial I was forced into mother's custody while you were placed into father's! It just wasn't fair to me. Then I visit once and find you with Todd. A handsome devil he is with a weak, pathetic girl like you. You sicken me, Kale, you really do."

"What are you going to do with me?" Kale whispered, looking sadly at the railing beside her.

"Well, murder you of course, weren't you listening to any of this?"

"And the others?"

"Can't have any witnesses now can I? You're truly stupid. Though I'll be all the richer once I kill Vash the Stampede over there. In a way, I thank you for bringing the sixty billion double dollars my way, sis. As for the priest and psycho, they can watch." Kale straightened and backed away.

Knives twitched with hatred. He glanced over at his brother then at Wolfwood. They sat motionless in horror as Kane grabbed one of the guns handed to her. She cocked it and aimed at Kale's forehead. Everything stood still, the very air waiting in the intense silence.

Kale suddenly rolled away when the gun was fired. Everyone's eyes widened, even Knives watched in surprise. His eyes followed her roll until her back was leaning against the railing. She slouched down, eyes wide as baseballs. Kane shouted a curse and aimed again.

The crack of the gun reached everyone's ears.

Knives hid a smile when he saw his black revolver smoking in Kale's hands. Her body was turned so that her front was facing the railing and the gun was pointed up at her sister. Kane watched helplessly as her gun flew out of her hands and clattered noisily behind her.

Kale, breathing hard, turned the revolver in her hands so that it was pressed against the cords binding her wrists together. Another shot rang out and the steel rope fell lifelessly to the floor.

"I don't care," Kale growled as she stood slowly, the gun pointing at her sister, "if you hate me or not. Killing me or my friends is not going to help you." Kane scowled and stepped back, the men following her because Kale swayed the gun in unsteady hands.

"Oh believe me, it would do me a great deal . . . if you did DIE!" Kane pulled another dagger from her belt and threw her arm forward and opened her hand, the dagger slicing through the air and spinning toward her sister.

Kale moved the gun up to her face to protect herself. The dagger clang against metal and the force from the blow knocked the gun from her hand. Kale watched in horror as the gun flew over the railing. Kane threw back her head and laughed triumphantly.

"You lost, sis. Give up," she said, her hand out to one of the men as she silently requested another gun. Kale started to freak out. She was unarmed and in a very dangerous situation. Her eyes fell on the dagger lying motionless just in front of her. Either she could die right where she stood or she could die trying to save everyone.

Without much choice, Kale dove at the dagger and grabbed it. She charged at her sister, but instead of tackling her like everyone had anticipated, she slid along the floor and crawled/ran into hall she had just about passed up.

Kane gapped as her sister ran further away. She turned to the men and snarled, "You idiot! Don't stand there! Shoot her damnit!" Todd fumbled with his shotgun, lifted it and fired. The shot just missed the woman as it hit the wall above her head. Kale disappeared around the corner.

"Argh! Give me that!" she grabbed the shotgun from Todd's hands and started after her sister.

"Hey! What about the others?!" Kane turned her head slightly to glare at him.

"What do you think?" she shouted and rounded the corner. Todd snorted then turned to the three bound men glaring evilly at him.

"Oh c'mon. Don't take it personally, now. We just honestly can't have any witnesses!" He pulled out a pistol from his back pocket then turned to the men behind him, an evil smile playing his lips. "Right?" Four gunshots and four men crumpled to the floor, dead.

Todd chuckled and blew at the smoke emitting from gun. He then turned back to Knives, Wolfwood, and Vash. Other than Knives, the other two stared in horror and rage at his actions. Knives was just ticked off that he was bound and without a weapon.

"You . . . you . . ." Vash whispered in seething rage. Knives glanced over his shoulder to see his bother's head bowed and his shoulders shaking. He groaned and rolled his eyes upward. Wolfwood was looking frantically around him, trying to find something that would help them against their fate.

"Oh please. Shut up ya, wuss. It isn't that bad. I'll honor ya with a bullet to the brain so ya don't have to suffer! So who wants to go first?" He lazily waved the gun from side to side, stopping on each of their faces.

"Something I'd like to know," Knives asked curiously, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly as he eyed the bulky man.

"Yeah?"

"You were the woman's 'boyfriend', am I right?" Todd eyed him suspiciously.

"Yeah, that's right. What of it?"

"Why are you on her sister's side?"

"I get fifty percent of the money. You'd have to be a complete moron to want to pass up all that cash!"

"I see," Knives mumbled. "Alright, I'll be the first." A sharp intake of breath sounded from behind him along with a shocked gasp.

"What?! No, Knives! NO!" Vash cried. His green eyes flicked to Todd who was taking aim then back to his brother.

Knives watched the gun as it wavered slightly. Watched as the finger tightened on the trigger until it was pulled back completely.

In slow motion the lead bullet erupted from the pistol and whizzed through the air then, with lightening speed, hit its dead-aim target.

Knives's eyes crossed for an instant then widened as his head snapped back and his body leaned backwards until he fell.

"KNIVES!!" Vash screamed as tears began to stream down his face as his brother lie dead in front of him. Wolfwood shook with rage as he glared up at Todd who was laughing and reloading his gun.

"One down two to go," he said as he advanced them, his eyes steady on Vash who was staring at his brother as he sobbed. His foot just passed Knives when the plant's body twitched. Blue eyes snapped open

Vash's gasp of surprise and joy alerted Todd as he spun around to see Knives standing up to his astounding height. His head was bowed and his ice-cold eyes bore into his own. Todd's mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Knives suddenly smiled, revealing the bullet meant to kill him clamped between his teeth.

((A/N: I lied, Lily! XD You bums thought I'd have the guy die, didn't ya? Bwahahaha!! Suckers! ^^U After all, how can I make a freakin' sequel with a dead guy? It isn't possible really Oo))

"You bastard!" Todd shouted as he aimed his pistol. Knives spit the bullet out and slid to the side as another bullet zinged past his ear. Todd stared in shock, which gave Knives the advantage.

In one moment he stood there quietly and the next he was ramming his shoulder into Todd's chest, knocking the poor man to the ground hard.

The crack he heard was like music to his ears when he had pressed his foot against the man's head and jerked it to one side. After eyeing his brother and the priest, Knives walked over to the railing.

He looked down and spotted his gun on the platform just below them. He leaped over it and Vash and Wolfwood heard him land with a clank. Then they heard a gun going off.

"Knives?" Vash called, worried

Some noises were the response they heard before a black revolver was tossed up in the air. It landed at Vash's feet. Then a silver revolver and a couple of pistols landed beside the black one.

Hands shot up and grasped the lowest bar of the railing and they pulled the handsome platinum-haired man up and over.

"Well, that was fun," Knives mused as he picked up his gun and kicked the others two their owners. After Vash and Wolfwood had freed themselves they followed Knives who was already walking down the hall and around the corner.

"You didn't have to kill him, you know," Vash chided in a whisper.

"Shut up, brother. In the beginning it was my business to dispose of mankind, and because of you I can't do it. But now it's either kill or be killed. Learn from that," he hissed, putting distance between them.

+++

Kale's breath was coming in short gasps as she flew around the corner, but to her dismay she ended up losing her footing. She fell hard and skidded slightly. A moan escaped her mouth as she laid there, her cheek pressed against the cold, dirty floor with her eyes closed tightly.

"Why?" she breathed, "Why is this happening?"

"Because I want it to," a chilling voice sounded from behind her. Kale was about to get up, to put as much space as she could between her and her insane sister, but she had the wind knocked from her when a booted foot connected hard with her stomach, shoving her onto her back.

"Ugh!" Kale grunted in pain. The foot planted itself firmly on her throat and steadily added crushing pressure to her windpipe. She struggled wildly to breathe.

"Hehe," she heard above her. Kale clenched the dagger and swiftly brought across Kane's leg. Immediately the pressure was gone and Kane cried out in pain. Kale got up and tackled her sister.

"Stop this, Kane!" she shouted. She tried to pin the flailing woman down but was thrown off when a knee got her in the stomach.

"Shut up and sit still," Kane hissed.

Kale jumped to her feet and began running down the halls again, her twin on her heels. Instead of coming to another long hall she came to a wide room with boxes, crates, and scattered items on the cracked cement floor. It was the first floor.

A shot was heard and a bullet whizzed just past Kale's ear. She screeched and spun around, the dagger the only thing she could use. Kane chuckled as she stepped into the dimly lit room.

"Aw, what's the matter? Scared? Well, don't be. If you stand right where you are you'll be down in a second. I'll actually make it quick and painless for you. You are my sister and all, right?"

"Stay away from," Kale growled as she started backing up, lifting the dagger defensively. Kane watched this and threw her head back and laughed.

"I carry a gun around and all you have is a stupid blade. How very pathetic. I'll tell you what," she said and tossed her gun to the floor. "It's because I haven't seen you in a long time that I'll give you a fighting chance. Blade to blade combat, no?" She whipped out two blades and smirked.

"No! I don't want to hurt you!" Kale protested, backing up.

She knew they were both good, but her sister had two knives and that wasn't very good odds for her. Kane positioned her daggers so that one blade was pointing down and the other was pointing up.

"Oh, please. You? Hurt me?! Whatever!" Kane charged at her twin and made a wide swing inward. Kale leaped away quickly only to stumble and fall back on her butt.

"You're sloppy, sister!" The gleaming blade came down, slicing deep into her forearm. Kale cried out and lashed out with a clenched fist while her sister was close, getting her in the jaw. Kane's head snapped back and she stumbled away.

"Bitch," she hissed as she spit out some blood. Kale stood up shakily, her blood coating most of her arm. She quickly covered the wound and watched warily as Kane advanced her, twirling her daggers.

"You really suck at this. What have you been doing all these years? Sitting on your ass and watching time pass you by?" Kale growled and started circling Kane.

"I've been doing more than you would have done in a years." Kane charged at her sister again, her arms crossed and blades pointing in. With a cry she whipped her arms out, the blades slicing crisscrossed. Blood spilled and Kale's nightshirt fell open.

"C'mon!" Kane shouted and slammed her elbow into her collarbone, shoving her back onto the ground. Kale's vision blurred as her sister's foot connected with her stomach over and over again.

Her laughing started to fade along with the pain. Echoing of childish voices entered her mind instead and flashbacks of her childhood blinded her for a moment.

+++

"Ow, Kane! That hurt!" Young Kale cried, tears beginning to fill up in her eyes. She held her arm where small cut had formed. Her sister stood in front of her with a hand on her hip and small knife in the other. She rolled her eyes.

"You're such a wussy, Kale! Shape up! You'll never be as good as me if you keep crying over the smallest things such as a scratch. I mean, these things aren't even sharp! You're such a baby,"

"I am not," Kale argued, hurt that her sister would call her such things. Kane laughed.

"Oh, whatever. If you weren't then how come I see tears?"

"Sand got in my eye! That's all," she shouted and pulled out her own dull blade.

"Cry baby, cry baby!" Kane chanted and pretended to weep.

"Shut up!" She ran toward her sister, her anger blinding her and she struck out without thought. Kane stepped to the side and slapped the back of her head, tipping her off balance. Kale shrieked and fell face first into the sand.

"What a loser," Kane said. "You can't even control yourself from some simple taunting." Kale cried into the sand as her sister continued her verbal assault.

"You won't be able to do anything on this dried up planet," she said and kicked her sister onto her back. "When the day comes that I take over the family fortune you will wish you had never cried in your life and you'll envy me because I'm stronger in strength and will and much smarter."

"I hate you!" Kale cried and lunged at her. Kane sneered and her fist cracked across her face, knocking her back down, but a hand shot out and grabbed a fist full of her shirt and jerked her back. Kane's eyes burned into hers.

"I hate you too, sister. You always drag me down. I can never do anything without mamma telling me to take you with me. She doesn't believe I can do things on my own without someone to 'protect' me. Thing is, she doesn't know exactly how pathetic-"

"No."

"Worthless-"

"No!"

"And utterly stupid, annoying, and whiny you are!"

"No! That's not true!"

"Not to mention-"

"Shut up!"

"Just how cowardly you are . . ."

+++

Dark stormy eyes snapped open. Kane stood over her with her an arm pulled back. Both blades glinted in that hand. A wicked smile split her features.

"So long, sis, tell daddy hi for me!" Kane brought her hand down with the daggers aimed at her throat. Kale squeezed her eyes shut and shot up, her arm out and dagger pointed. Altogether Kane stopped moving and she began to cough and sputter.

Kale opened an eye and froze. Dark ribbons of red rolled down her arm as she stared at the knife embedded deeply in Kane's chest.

"K-Kale . . ." she heard above her. Tears began running down her cheeks as she looked up at her sister's pain-stricken face.

"Lucky-y--thru-ust," she managed to get out. Kale screamed and shoved her sister from her, yanking the knife from her body. Kane fell to the floor with a loud thud but didn't get up. Her chest rose once then stopped.

"No," Kale whispered as she looked at the bloody dagger. Her hand began to tremble and she shook her head furiously.

"NO!" The blade flew through the air and clattered noisily across the room. Kale leapt to her feet and ran to a dark corner of the room. There she sat with her legs to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees. She cried softly as her sister lay dead in the middle of the room.

+++

Knives turned a corner and paused when he entered the opening room. When he had heard the gunshot he had immediately broken into a dead run, following the sound. Now he stood on the first floor where it was dead silent.

Wolfwood and Vash came huffing up to him and they fell to their knees. Knives glared down at them and moved forward. His cold blue eyes roamed the room then stopped on a feminine form that lay in a puddle of blood in the middle of the room. His heart skipped a beat then slammed hard against his chest.

Was it Kale?

His emotions and feelings at that very moment were mixing and swirling around inside him like a tornado. Fear, horror, hatred, sorrow, vengeance, numbness, coldness.

"Dear God," Wolfwood whispered behind him. He obviously saw the woman.

"W-who is it?" Vash asked. Though they were all hoping it wasn't Kale, they just didn't know for sure. Finally Knives was the one who forced his feet to move forward. He slowly made his way to the body and stood over it.

The clothes. Baggy jeans and a blood stained blue T-shirt. Relief like no other engulfed Knives, making his legs quiver and nearly buckle.

He wanted to fall to his hands and knees and shout his joy to God. That's how uncharacteristically happy he was. The feeling disturbed him. Why was he so relieved that it wasn't Kale lying at his feet?

"Knives?" His brother called to him. He looked over his shoulder. Vash looked like he would crumple to the floor if he found it was Kale. Wolfwood just stared at him, waiting for his answer.

"It's Kane," he finally said. Vash nearly fainted, but instead leaned heavily on Wolfwood for support. At the moment, he didn't mind.

"Where's Kale then?" he asked. Knives was already moving around trying to find any clue that might tell him where she was or if she was mortally wounded. He was far across the room, away from the other two men when heard a soft voice call to him.

"Kn-Knives?" He spun around and spotted Kale's small form huddled in the shadows. The urge to run to her and scoop her into his arms was strong, but he fought it with his selfish pride.

Instead he stalked over to her quickly, insults and many harsh reprimands on his tongue. But when she shrunk away quickly, a small cry of alarm, he stopped altogether.

The frightened and utterly guilty expression on her bloody and damp face made him want to kick himself for being so stupid.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, standing a small distance away from her. The fact that he had actually said that to a human made him want to laugh. But he remained calm and watched as Kale slowly unfolded herself and stepped out of the shadows.

His heart stopped for an instant when he looked her up and down. On her upper right arm was a long, deep cut and below it the rest of her arm was coated in the blood that was still steadily oozing from the wound.

Her nightshirt was sliced up and hung loosely, exposing pale skin with blood running down from a few more wounds. He quickly avoided looking at her chest and glared into her sorrow filled eyes.

"Knives," she whispered again, her voice cracking and tears began running down her cheeks. She obviously didn't care about her lack of modesty, but he did when Wolfwood and Vash started over when they saw her. He quickly grabbed what was left of her shirt and brought it around her body.

"Kale! You're all right! What happened?!" Vash demanded. Kale didn't budge. Her eyes remained locked with Knives's.

"I killed her," she said, as if he was the only person in the room. "I killed her. I murdered my own sister! I KILLED HER, KNIVES!" She flung herself at the blonde-haired plant and buried her face into his chest. They were all shocked by these, Knives the most. He had never let any human touch him like this.

"Knives lets get outta here," Vash said as he watched Kale sympathetically. Wolfwood nodded and turned his attention the dead twin.

"You guys go ahead. I'll deal with Kane's body."

Upon hearing her sister's name, Kale screamed in anguish and cried harder. Knives said nothing as he bent down and swept her into his arms and started toward the door.

Why was he feeling like someone was tearing at his chest? He didn't understand it. He didn't understand any of it. All he really wanted to do was to sit down and sooth Kale with gentle words of nothing and admit to her how her crying was breaking down his self-control to keep calm and not go into a bloodlust rage.

But being as arrogantly proud as he was, he refrained from saying a single word as he walked toward the vehicle siting alone under the three moons that hung high in the sky.

To Be Continued . . .

+++

Yeah! I'm DONE!! XD WOOO!!! Well, until the sequel of course. I'm very sorry if the action scene sucked ass. I jus don't like to write out action like that. It bores me to no end. I'm a gentle romance writer. ^^ Not some bloodthirsty action freak ready to stab the nearest person with my pencil. >] Well, onward to the sequel! Be looking for it!

Oh, btw, for those who liked this story and haven't read this, I have another fic up. It's called "The Outlaw and The Insurance Lady" It's a Vash/Meryl romance but it isn't what you think. >) May I suggest a read? Laterz!