Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Resurrection Of Nicholas D. Wolfwood ❯ Guns And Knives ( Chapter 23 )

The Resurrection Of Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Part Twenty-Three: Guns And Knives

By Bekka Mouri

(Trigun doesn't belong to me and I am not making any money from this so please don't sue. Knives reflects on his life and wonders which way to go. Wolfwood faces his next opponent. Spoilers and speculations.)

Knives tried to move his arms again but it was no use. He wanted nothing more than to break out of the plant and find Nagato. He wanted to make him suffer for keeping in what was little more than a glass coffin that kept him barely alive and abusing him when he challenged him. ~I can't believe Vash tried to sway me to like those worthless creatures… I should have destroyed them all when I had the chance. ~

He thought back to how he fought listening to Vash's stories about how all humans were not bad. If they weren't, why was he where he was now? Why was Vash carved from head to toe with scars that would never heal? How could he have any feeling for the wretched Homo sapiens after everything that happened to them both?

Knives had started to listen to the stories, unable to ignore his brother's words and started believing that they weren't all bad but now he regretted thinking that. All he wanted to do was get better and wipe the whole population out like he had planned before Vash meddled in his plans. It was unfortunate that Vash had somehow gotten the balls to shoot him but he hadn't gotten enough to kill him so that was a good thing. He would make Vash wish he had put a bullet in his head in Demitri and then he would do it to him.

An ashamed feeling spread through him as he thought and he sighed. No… Vash had gone to a lot of trouble to keep him alive and he recalled the voice of a woman that came every day to check on them. He was certain she was human but why did she even bother to care about either of them after everything they had done? Did she realize how hard he had tried to destroy the whole human race?

If he had the energy to, he would have growled in frustration. Everything Vash had told him had gotten to him even thought he did not want to admit to it to himself totally. Perhaps not all humans were spiders that would kill the butterflies unless they were stopped and maybe he had assumed the wrong things all along. He thought back to when he decided humans were scum and needed to be destroyed.

First, it was the lesson about Earth Joey and Rem gave him and Vash. They told them why Project SEEDS had been drafted and Knives had deducted that the humans had been responsible for the deterioration of the planet they had left. When he told Joey what he thought Joey couldn't help but agree. Joey explained that things would be different though once they reached a suitable planet and Knives believed him.

He then remembered how Steve had abused Vash and him. The man was walking scum and hated the two plants. He was always grabbing Mary's chest or hanging all over her with no regard to whether the kids were around or not. What really chafed Steve's ass though was the fact the two boys were smarter than anyone on the ship, including Rowan, and could do anything in a few hours when it took him two or three days.

He saw them as monsters and as punching bags. He would get stinking drunk and find the boys when they were separated. At first it had just been beatings and Knives tried to stay strong, hoping that he would get caught in the act and punished accordingly. He told Vash to stay strong and not let Steve bother him for they would only have to suffer until he was caught or they found an inhabitable planet.

The problem was that he was never caught and Knives knew why. The monitors on the ship were easy to disconnect and reconnect. Whenever Steve would find one of the boys alone, he would disconnect the monitor but not the intercom and beat them until he was satisfied. One time, he watched Steve disconnect the monitors and decided it would be useful to know later on.

It wasn't long until the beatings escalated into something more sinister and hurtful. There weren't any girls on the crew except for Rem and Mary but neither of them would have anything to do with Steve because he was such a pig. Knives felt a single tear slip down his cheek as he recalled all of the horrible things Steve had done to him and wondered if Vash even knew what he had to suffer though. He was certain Steve had never touched Vash because of the way Vash thought of the humans.

Knives decided it was time for action after Steve had started the sexual abuse and knew exactly how he would do it. They were in the dining room when Steve stood up from the bar and asked the rest of the crew how they could stand eating with little monsters. Mary had scolded him and told he had had one too many. He responded by draping himself all over her and Knives asked him if that was any way to behave around innocent children.

Steve glared but said nothing; he would have incriminated himself if he did say anything. He knew what he had been doing to Knives and Vash was wrong, even more so in Knives' case because of how far the abuse had escalated. Instead, he started laughing like a maniac and left the room. Mary commented he had been acting crazy and Knives said it was because he was scared.

Knives wondered if Vash remembered how horrible their childhoods had been and how he could still see humans as worthy beings. He opened his eyes and tried to look out of the plant when he heard a noise. He knew it couldn't have been Nagato because he knew what the door sounded like when it opened. The noise had been more like an air grate falling from the ceiling and clattering to the floor…

**

Wolfwood stood in the stairwell between two floors and smoked a cigarette. He knew he had one the right thing by shooting Zazie just like he had the time before but he couldn't help thinking about the poor kid that had died when Zazie possessed him. Had the kid been an orphan or a runaway? Maybe someone was looking for him and would never know the kid wasn't going to ever come home.

~Damn… I wonder if these guys were the ones at the orphanage? So help them if they're the fuckers that shot my kids, ~ He stamped the cigarette out on the heel of his boot and flicked the butt into the darkness. He looked up the stairs and wondered what was waiting for him on the next level.

As Wolfwood got to the top of the stairs, he could sense the presence of another person and stepped back, drawing a gun from his jacket. " Who's there? " He called out.

" My name is Shin and I am the student of Rai Dei The Blade. I wish to engage in Shi Ai with you, Nicholas D. Wolfwood. "

" Shi Ai, huh? " Wolfwood chuckled. " Why is it so damn hard to say a death match? That would save a lot of trouble for you and keep you from running your mouth so much. That was one of Rai Dei's problems… talking too damn much when he should have been fighting. "

Shin made a low growl and Wolfwood rolled his eyes. " My teacher was a great man and if I ever find out who killed him… "

" I did. Now, are we going to talk or are we going to fight? " Wolfwood stepped into the room. " I really don't have that much time to waste. "

Shin stepped out from a shadow, a samurai sword much like Rai Dei's in his hands. " Well, this will make things much easier. I heard you were a traitor and all traitors must die! "

Wolfwood looked at the sword and knew that Shin would use it only up until he was forced to draw his gun. He would have to be careful because the only thing that had saved Vash from Rai Dei had been his Angel Arm. Vash had said that if Legato hadn't made him use it, Rai Dei would have most certainly killed him. ~But can I jump around like Vash? ~

" Fight me! " Shin shouted and charged at Wolfwood.

~Aim at the blade… ~ He thought to himself as he moved. If a ricochet got Shin, that would have been better than shooting him directly and probably had less of a chance of killing him. He shot off a round and heard each bullet bounce off the blade and hit the rock walls.

" Give me a real fight! " Shin said, swinging the sword. " Drop the warrior's compassion bullshit and fight like you actually value your life! "

" I won't kill you unless I have to, " Wolfwood shouted, firing off another round. He had two guns left and the rest were in the cross, which he had left in the stairwell when he sensed Shin's presence. He knew he couldn't risk trying to reload for Shin's sword was certain to be razor sharp and he was probably just a lightning quick as his teacher.

" Then I will make you have to do it! You will run out of bullets before I run out of swings, " Shin snarled.

Wolfwood dodged as Shin swung again and caught the front of his jacket, slicing it open. He felt the blade pass over his shirt but Shin wasn't close enough to do any damage. Wolfwood pulled a loaded gun from his jacket and aimed but Shin sliced through the barrel, knocking it out of his hand as he did. Wolfwood reached to get the other gun but found he didn't have it.

Shin laughed as Wolfwood continued to dodge his swings. " You idiot! Even I noticed when the gun fell out of your jacket. That'll teach you to jump around like a fool! "

~This is bad! ~ Wolfwood thought. He couldn't keep jumping around for much longer and it seemed Shin was trying to get him as far away from the dropped gun as well as the door. ~How would needle noggin get out of this one? ~

" Give it up and die! " Shin screamed.

" Not a chance! " Wolfwood replied but was surprised when he tripped. He landed on his back and looked to see what he had tripped over. Something that looked like a handle stuck up from the floor and had probably caught the back of his heel as he moved backward. ~Damn, where did that come from? ~

Shin laughed and was over Wolfwood in the blink of an eye. " That's was lots of fun but I think I have won this match. Do the honorable thing and let my declare my victory by killing you. You were a worth opponent, Nicholas D. Wolfwood but now you die! "

Wolfwood watched as Shin lifted the sword high above his head as he talked. ~What am I going to do now? ~ He asked himself. He recalled what Cathy had said about the man in the weird clothes and realized this had been the guy that supposedly tried to catch her. ~It's worth a shot, ~ He thought and kicked upward with his leg.

Everything after that happened so quickly, Wolfwood wasn't too sure it had happened. All he knew was he found himself on the other side of the room and Shin looked like he was dead. Wolfwood had heard an explosion but wondered what had caused it. He was by the undamaged gun he dropped and picked it up so he could make sure Shin was really dead.

He got to his feet and approached Shin slowly, the gun aimed in case he wasn't dead. He got right next to him and discovered that he wasn't in any danger from Shin. " Christ on a crutch… " Wolfwood muttered as he tried to decide what he was looking at. It looked like Shin had brought the sword down with such force; the blade had gone into the hilt and hit the gun that was built into it right before the blade went through Shin's stomach.

The force combined with the friction of the blade had caused all of the bullets to detonate at once and it looked like the force of the blast had blown both of Shin's hands off as well as his wrists. Wolfwood took a step back and reached into his jacket. He pulled out his cigarettes and matches as well as the feather, put them in one of his pants pockets and took off the slashed garment. He covered Shin's upper body with it and walked to the door, ~I really need a smoke after seeing that… ~

Wolfwood went back to the landing and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it with a match and tossed the smoldering stick into the stairwell after he shook it out. He unwrapped the cross and opened it, looking to see how much more ammunition he had as well as guns. He looked at the left arm and furrowed his brow; he had never looked in it because the guns in the right had always been enough.

He slid the compartment open and couldn't help but smile. Inside sat a gun belt with two holsters and several clips of ammunition. In the holsters were two automatic pistols Wolfwood was certain would pack one hell of a punch. He took the belt out and put it on, ~I think I am going to make it… Nagato better watch his ass. ~

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