Trigun

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 10: QUICK DRAW


The episode begins in a very mellow manner. Vash wakes up in May City and philosophizes about his identity. He goes through his daily routine, meditating about peace and love, training a little, cooking, and then going outside and playing with the city's children.

The next scene shows a young woman finding Vash's bleeding body on the city's grounds. The woman bends down to see if Vash is all right and Vash jumps up from his place, calling the name "Aileen." Vash then realizes that the woman is not Aileen.

The young woman introduces herself as Michelle. Vash asks her for lunch but the woman slaps him and leaves. Nearby, the children Vash has befriended tell Vash to try harder next time. It turns out Vash wasn't really bleeding, he was just covering himself up with tomatoe juice to pick up girls.

In the distance, we see another child who does not want to play with the rest. He's a loner named Neil.

Some time passes and Vash runs into Neil. Vash asks if he can eat at Neil's mother's restaurant. Neil agrees and leads him there. Vash immediately falls for Neil's mother but is shocked to see Wolfwood, the priest, working at the restaurant as well. Wolfwood tells Vash how Neil's father left a huge debt and ran away from home, leaving the mother helpless and in huge financial trouble. Wolfwood then tells Vash that there's a quick draw tournament that will go on soon - a good way to win the money to help Neil's mother out.

The next two scenes go by quickly. Milly and Meryl scold Vash for entering the tournament, foreseeing trouble. Then, the town's mayor is disbelieving that THE Vash would enter his tournament. He believes it's just a punk using Vash's name for kicks.

Vash is laying awake in his room. There's a sudden knock, it's Wolfwood, bearing a bottle of alcohol. Wolfwood and Vash drink up a little until Wolfwood calls out to Milly and Meryl (who were hiding and eavesdropping) to come join them. The two young women enter and apologize for eavesdropping. Milly joins Vash and Wolfwood in their drinking while Meryl looks on distressed that her partner will drink too much.

The next day draws upon everyone - the day of the tournament. Vash is, unfortunately, very drunk. Despite his inebriation though, he manages to excel in the first part of the competition, shooting a row of bottles in the distance. Wolfwood's name then gets called to compete, Wolfwood is baffled until Vash tells him that he signed the priest up. Wolfwood also shoots the bottles in the distance with great skill.

The next round of the competition consists of one-on-one dueling. Vash and Wolfwood both manage to take down every single adversary without killing them. The final round consists of Vash vs. Wolfwood. Wolfwood goes to the tournament head and tells him that he'd like to withdraw, giving Vash first place. The tournament head scoffs at Wolfwood, telling him that if he takes Vash out, he'll guarantee Neil's family's safety and, furthermore, split Vash's bounty with him.

So Vash and Wolfwood face off. They end up shooting each other and both falling down to the ground. The tournament head yells in delight that the entire bounty is his. He orders all the gunfighters in the town to finish Vash and Wolfwood off. But he got more than he bargained for when Vash and Wolfwood both get up and take out all the gunfighters (they were pretending). We also get to see Wolfwood's weapon - the giant cross he'd been carrying around for so long was really a gun storage unit.

Later on, Wolfwood collects the grand prize from the tournament head. Also, Neil's father finally returns. The episode ends with Vash and Wolfwood both playing with the city's children. All is peaceful again.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 11: ESCAPR FROM PAIN


The episode begins with Wolfwood on a caravan, playing chess with a gentleman and his cat (the same cat we see throughout the series). Wolfwood is sweating profusely, unable to think of what to do next. Nearby, Milly is arguing with the bartender that she would like some pudding. Milly then walks over to Wolfwood and tells him that she, Meryl, and Vash are all aboard the caravan as well. Milly then moves one of Wolfwood's chess pieces. Wolfwood yells at Milly but is astonished when his opponent gives up - the move was brilliant.

Milly and Wolfwood then leave the bar and walk around the caravan's site. Wolfwood purchased Milly a large grocery bag's worth of pudding in appreciation for helping him win at chess. All of a sudden, a girl (who was dancing in the bar previously) bumps into Milly while running. The girl asks them to help her hide and we see a group of men chasing her. Wolfwood lets the girl hide behind him but when the men arrive, he immediately tells them where she is. The men would have gotten hold of the girl except for one thing...

One of them stepped on one of Milly's pudding containers, wasting it all. Milly takes out her gun in fury and knocks them all down with it. The girl thanks Wolfwood and Milly. But more men are on the way.

So the young girl grabs onto Milly's belly as Milly wraps her jacket around her. Milly now looks very pregnant and walks hand-in-hand with Wolfwood, like a married couple.

Meanwhile, Meryl and Vash are hanging out in a room. A group of burly men enter the room and approach Vash.

Back to Milly and Wolfwood. They arrive at a location outside the caravan's borders and a young man named Julius greets them. We find out that the dancing girl's name is Moore. Julius and Moore are very good friends. It turns out the men earlier were chasing Moore because of her relationship with Julius. Julius is the son of the mayor of Fondrique (the city the caravan is heading to). The caravan is not allowed to enter the city without Julian aboard and Julian ran away because the caravan was also an importer of women, not just normal merchandise (Moore was actually one of the women being imported).

Meanwhile, the group of burly men (including the caravan's owner) offer Vash $$20 million to find Julius.

The morals in the case are mixed: if Julius doesn't return, the caravan can't return to the city and so both the caravan and the city will likely go under. Wolfwood realizes this and tries to stop Julius/Moore from running away. He even tells them that if they move, he'll shoot himself in the head. The two kids call his bluff and leave. Milly follows them.

On the way, Milly, Julius, and Moore get ambushed by a group of violent men from the caravan. Wolfwood pops up and takes quick care of them. Then, in the horizon, an even large group looks on. Wolfwood is prepared to face them when Vash joins the fray.

Vash steps to the front of the group and removes his gun. He shoots both Julius and Moore, they fall the ground. The men from the caravan yell at Vash, he was paid to retrive the two, not kill them. Vash simply glares at them and they all flee.

Milly runs up to Vash and is very upset, she can't believe Vash killed the two. Wolfwood then goes to Vash and immediately understands that the bullets Vash used to shoot Julius and Moore were fakes. The two are still alive. Julius and Moore both head out. Vash offers them the money he was paid but they refuse, they want to rely on just themselves.

The next scene shows Vash, Milly, and Meryl aboard the caravan, heading out. Wolfwood parted ways with them, riding off on a motorcycle.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 12: DIABLO


This episode begins in a much darker way than the rest. A figure, shrouded in shadows, talks to another man about a new bounty. The talk is very mysterious and we can't see too much. We then cut to a bright red, stormy sky above a city. Vash is in a shoe store that sells more than shoes.

It's the next day. The sky is bright blue and Milly, Meryl, and Vash are sitting down, enjoying the day. Some kids accidentally hit Vash in the head with their dodgeball during play but Vash doesn't really mind and instead plays back with the kids. Vash then buys everyone (including a very isolated little girl) some ice cream. The girl runs off though without taking it.

Then, when Vash is alone, one of the mysterious characters we met earlier sits by him. The character calls himself "Legato Bluesummers." He has a dark voice. Vash seems concerned when he hears him. Legato warns Vash that his life will end before the day is over. Legato then teases Vash, by giving the isolated girl we met earlier some food and by patting her on the head. Finally, Legato drops a brown paper bag and leaves, telling him that what's left in the bag is his present. Soon after he leaves, the shoemaker's wife runs out and yells that her husband has been murdered. Vash is blamed.

Sitting in a lonely jail cell, Vash begins to have flashbacks about Legato. They're very vague and have to do with his complicated past. Suddenly, Milly and Meryl visit the cell. Vash forces a smile to greet them.

The next scene shows a huge behemoth of a man walk into the sheriff's headquarters. He begins blasting the place apart as the sheriff cowers. The man introduces himself as Monev the Gale, the one hired by Legato to kill Vash.

Vash begins to panic in his cell. He yells at Meryl and Milly to leave but it's too late as Monev breaks in and grabs Vash by the throat. Meryl tries to stop him but she is easily flicked aside. Monev counts down, holding his massive weapon to Vash's face. Just as he's about to pull the trigger, Milly fires her cannon and knocks Monev away, giving Vash the opportunity to run.

Monev chases Vash for quite some time. Vash keeps stopping along the way to get people to safety. Monev realizes this so he stops chasing Vash and simply blows everything in the town to dust, killing lots and lots of innocent bystanders. Monev cheers when he thinks that Vash is dead. His cheers turn to cries of horror though when three bullets hit the armor on his face. Vash glares at Monev from the distance, his eyes are strangely shining brightly. Monev cowers and runs away.

Milly and Meryl approach Vash but they are terrified of his expression. Monev sits atop a ledge and is amazed to himself at Vash's true side.

Monev then sees Vash enter into a bank. He unleashes a flurry of ammunition into the bank and Vash fires his last two bullets back. Monev is delighted that Vash has run out of bullets but is shocked when Vash's arm reveals a hidden gun. Vash shoots Monev's armor off and then walks toward the behemoth before pointing the gun straight into one of his eyes.

Monev cries for mercy. Vash is about to kill him when he gets a flashback of his most inspirational figure in life, Rem. The flashback is very light-hearted, Rem tells him that he thinks too much. Vash leaves the flashback and decides to spare Monev - he feels that if he broke his promise to Rem of never killing anyone, that Rem would really die in his heart.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 13: VASH THE STAMPEDE


This episode begins with Meryl typing a report about Vash to the company she works for. While she is typing the report, we go through every episode up until now in flashback form (yes, this is one of those anime flashback episodes).

Toward the end of the episode, Milly and Meryl find out that Vash is staying in the same motel as them. They enter the room and see Vash without his shirt on - it's a shocking sight because Vash has tons of scars and metallic implants.

The end of the episode shows Vash heading off to another city. Milly and Meryl folllow him.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 14: LITTLR ARCADIA


The beginning of this episode has Milly and Meryl sitting in a hotel room in the morning (they are in the city of New Arcadia), talking to one another. Milly had stayed up all night writing letters to every relative she has. Suddenly, the two of them hear a gunshot outside and rush to see what happened.

Outside, they see one of the townsmen had "accidentally" fired his gun at an elderly couple. Vash shields the couple and faces the aggressor down. He is about to reach for his gun when Milly and Meryl tackle him, taking care of the guy themselves.

Time passes and Vash, Milly, Meryl, and the old couple are sitting around a table and talking. The elderly couple asks Milly and Meryl if they would like to be their bodyguards. Meryl refuses until the couple offers the job to Vash. Meryl then accepts the offer and so the three of them officially become the couple's bodyguards. The elderly couple then takes their new bodyguards to their farm, a luscious plantation that a local landlord named Morgan is fiercely after.

Meryl and Milly are patrolling the farm at night when they hear a noise outside. It's the rowdy man from earlier. He surrenders but announces himself to the ladies as Badwick, the son of the elderly couple that owns the farm. Milly immediately gets upset at Badwick, even going so far as to try and punch him; she wonders why anyone would point a gun to their parents.

The next scene shows Morgan, the landlord, standing outside with a group of his men. A gigantic woman with a smaller woman riding on her shoulder enter the scene. It seems they're part of the Nebraska Family that we met in episode five. They're helping Morgan out in order to pay for their relatives' bail.

Inside the elderly couple's house, Badwick is fiercely trying to get his father to sell the land to Morgan. The father is stubborn and absolutely refuses to turn over the land he spent 20 years working on to a man like Morgan. Suddenly, an explosion goes off near the house.

We cut to Morgan and his gang and see that three friends of the Nebraska Family have arrived. They're both dressed in armor and are quite large as well. They rush toward the elder couple's house and overwhelm them. The elderly man then steps out of his house with a shotgun and talks with Morgan face-to-face. Morgan offers him an insane amount of money but the elderly man refuses. Morgan then tells all his men to take out their guns and kill the elderly couple and everyone with them, to the last man. Milly then rushes out in the middle of everything and points her gun at everyone.

After a lot of hesitation, Meryl walks into the fray as well. She points her two tiny guns at Morgan and challenges him to make a move. Morgan isn't scared and lifts his hand to order his men to open fire. Suddenly though, Badwick, who is going through an epitome of sorts, drives by Morgan on his motorcycle, waving the deed to the land in the air. Morgan orders the Nebraska Family to stop him in which case the giant woman (the mother of the family) tosses one of the Nebraska friends at the moving motorcycle. Meryl points her tiny gun at the friend who is about to crush Badwick on his motorcycle and manages to miraculously deflect the friend away.

(We learn though that Vash, who was hiding secretly in a garbage bin, was the real shooter behind the deflection.)

Now that Badwick has escaped with the deed, Morgan isn't sure of what to do. He is knocked to the ground though when the Nebraska Family begins to cry, one of their own was shot. Morgan's men decide to leave the scene. All is peaceful again.

The next scene shows Badwick entering a bank and giving the land's deed to the teller. The teller then informs him that there is an ownership transfer document attached to the deed. Badwick's parents transferred ownership of the land to their son. Badwick gets teary-eyed.

The end of this episode has Milly and Meryl hurrying to make the bus Vash is riding on. Meryl has to run because she stayed up all night writing letters to her family (taking Milly's example). Meryl puts the letters in the mailbox and rushes toward the bus.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 15: DEMON EYE


The episode begins with Vash carrying both Meryl and Milly through the desert (they're sitting on a chair he's holding into the air).

We then see a great windmill looming over a city called "Jeneorarock." A group of bandits enter the city and walk into a bar with some ladies walking beside them (their captives). Nearby, Legato is sitting and eating a small cake.

One of the bandits sees that his captive is staring at Legato. The bandit gets jealous and beats the lady before firing at Legato. Legato gets up and walks toward the man. The bandit soon-after chokes himself. Then, all of his associates pull out their guns and point them at one another before firing. All the bandits die. Legato tells their once-captive women to make good use of their time - the end is near.

The next scene shows that Vash, Milly, and Meryl have finally arrived in town. Vash is immediately suspicious.

At the outscirts of town, Legato is talking to another large group of bandits - members of the same gang as the one in the bar. The commander of the group pulls a gun on Legato and Legato immediately kills half the men. (This time he has the help of a very elite force called the "Gung-Ho Guns" including: Gray the Ninelives, Dominique the Cyclops, Zazie the Beast, Chapel the Evergreen, Leonof the Puppetmaster, Hoppered the Gauntlet, Rai-Dei the Blade, E.G. Mine, Caine the Longshot, and Midvalley the Hornfreak.)

Legato tells Dominique the Cyclops to take care of Vash. She agrees.

Meanwhile, Vash is walking around the town trying to find out if Legato had arrived. Everyone in the town is too afraid to come out and talk to him (one of Vash's fingers even gets a door slammed on it). Then, Vash sees high up in the air, next to the windmill, Legato gazing down at him. Vash charges up to the top of the windmill but Legato is gone. Instead, he meets Dominique the Cyclops (a beautiful woman with a spot of metal covering one of her eyes).

Dominique and Vash begin to duel. Dominique has the unique power to teleport. Vash wonders how she is able to teleport until he figures out that it's because the piece of metal on her eye alters her opponent's senses. To beat the "demon eye" (as it is called), Vash focuses on the pain on his finger (from the door slamming earlier). This technique works and Vash is able to see Dominique's movements. He then puts a bullet into the demon eye, shattering it to pieces.

Milly and Meryl run up and don't understand what's going on. Dominique takes the opportunity to run away.

The episode ends on a grave note: Vash tells Milly and Meryl that they cannot follow him anymore. Furthermore, Vash leaves, he wishes to hunt Legato and end his reign of terror.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 16: FIFTH MOON


Legato is sitting in a luxurious room and allows another member of the Gung-Ho Guns to go after Vash.

In Jeneorarock, Milly and Meryl are sitting around, wondering where Vash is. It's been two weeks since he's left. Finally, Meryl gets fed up and decides to go after him.

The next scene shows Vash in a bar. He's terrified at the thought of having to face Legato. Suddenly, a large man walks in and tells Vash to go to Augusta City or else... The man points a gun to his head shortly after and kills himself. Vash knows it's Legato and begins, in a determined manner, toward the city.

Vash arrives at the city in the next scene. Both Milly/Meryl and Wolfwood find out about this. Apparently, Vash is causing quite a rampage, shooting wildly into the air and yelling for everyone to run away or else. He manages to evacuate the entire city (which is what he planned, wanting to clear the area for his battle with Legato).

As Vash is walking around the city, he sees the dead bodies of Dominique the Cylops and Monev the Gale. From behind, E.G. Mine, the Gung-Ho Gun we met in the first scene, announces himself. E.G. attacks Vash unsuccessfully when another Gung-Ho Gun enters the scene. This new entrant is named Rai-Dei the Blade and looks to be a samarai.

Rai-Dei challenges Vash to a one-on-one deathmatch. E.G. Mine gets upset that Rai-Dei is stealing his kill, to which the Blade responds that E.G. never had a chance in the first place against Vash. Rai-Dei kills E.G. Mine shortly after.

Rai-Dei duels Vash but Vash fights too honorably for him, not willing to shoot a challenger that only has a sword for defense. Rai-Dei, through some clever trickery (his sword blade can eject, among other things) manages to actually wound Vash and bring him to the ground. Vash then sees Legato's image in his mind, telling him to use it. Vash's hidden gun glows brightly in response. Rai-Dei is shocked.

Milly and Meryl are looking around Augusta City for signs of Vash. Milly then sees a great white light and grabs Meryl, rushing her away from the city.

Vash's hidden gun swells up to a greater and greater size. The Stampede cries in horror for it to stop but he can't do anything. The gun swells to a massive size and then draws light from the moon (causing a hole in the moon). Suddenly, there's a great white explosion and the entire city becomes leveled to the ground.

Time passes and Rai-Dei emerges from the ruins of the city. Wolfwood, sitting on a motorcycle nearby, asks whether Rai-Dei knows Vash's location. Rai-Dei answers to the negative but pleads with Wolfwood to join him in finding and killing Vash. Wolfwood responds by shooting Rai-Dei, sending him falling dead to the ground.

The last scene of this episode has Meryl reading a newly arrived letter from the insurance company. The letter orders Milly and Meryl to come back to the office, they will no longer be covering the damages caused by Vash the Stampede. Meryl cries profusely and Milly curses Vash for (indirectly) making Meryl cry.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 17: REM SEIBUREM


This episode begins very enigmatically. It is apparently a flashback. A group of astronauts in space have spotted a habitable planet. Rem (Vash's lost love interest) is onboard. She is elated and wishes that the planet has lots of flowers.

In the ship's control room, Rem is joined by Vash (who is only a boy at this stage). Rem explains to Vash that their ship is merely a "seed" designed to propagate the human race into perpetuity.

The next scene shows the ship's recreation room. It is modeled after a vast garden. Rem, Vash, an older boy who looks the same as Vash (named Knives), and another young woman crew member (named Mary) are all having a picnic. Rem seems to have a great love of life and can't wait to turn their destination planet into a paradise.

The next scene shows the ship's briefing room. The ship's captain, Joey, and Rem tell Vash and the rest of the crew about Earth and how its resources have all been exhausted and how the planet can no longer support people. That is why they're travelling to find a new planet to settle the human race and begin anew.

The next scene shows Rem talking with Joey. Joey tells her that he's not cut out to educate the children while Rem is more upbeat. Apparently, Vash and Knives are both super-humans, possessive of an extremely high I.Q. One of the crew members, a burly man named Steve, calls the two "monsters."

The next scene shows Rem cutting Vash's hair. She decides to spike his hair high up, like a now-deceased man she used to love. Vash really likes Rem. Next, Rem calls out to Knives but the boy is gone. Vash finds Knives and is shocked to see that he has cut his own hair, wanting to look different than Vash.

The crew is all sitting around a table at the next scene. Steve sits isolated at a bar. Suddenly, Steve gets up and insults Vash and Knives before leaving the room. Rem worries about him.

Progressively, Knives begins to turn more and more violent. In a small scene where a spider is about to eat a butterfly, Knives grabs the spider and squeezes it to death (when Vash simply wanted to isolate the two to save both).

The next scene shows Steve in a large capsule. He is being frozen by the crew for allegedly raping Mary. Steve swears that he's innocent but no one hears his story (despite Rem's pleas to hear him out). Steve is being frozen until they arrive at their destination, in which case he will stand formal trial.

Mary and Rowan (Mary's love interest aboard the ship) discuss the implications of their plot against Steve. Rowan then tells Mary that he tinkered with the freezer so that Steve will never awaken. Mary begins to grow scared of Rowan. Rowan has clearly gone insane.

Vash, Knives, and Rem enter the room a few moments later and see Rowan, gun in hand, hovering over Mary's dead body. Rowan then points his gun toward Vash. Rem stands in the way, telling him that no one has the right to take another person's life. Rem approaches Rowan, trying to calm him down. The captain, seeing everything via a surveillance screen, decides he can't risk Rem's life and presses a button, opening a hatch and ejecting Rowan into space.

Rem cries and tells Joey that he shouldn't have done that. Joey contemplates his decision in his lonely quarters. Knives walks in a few moments later and tells Joey he made the right choice. Joey still isn't sure. Knives then takes out a gun and shoots Joey in the head. Knives then manipulates the computers onboard to send all the ships to crash on the planet. He then runs to Vash and Rem and fabricates a story about what's going on. Rem decides that everyone should flee into the ship's escape pods.

Vash and Knives enter the escape pod first. Rem is about to enter when she has a sudden change of mind, she wants to stay onboard and help Joey to safety. Rem runs away as Vash and Knives blast off in their pod.

Vash is gazing intently out of the pod's windows and lets out a great cry when he sees their entire ship explode. Knives laughs and tells Vash that all the human ships will crash and that they will be the only two alive on the planet, what he deems as perfect beings. Vash is enraged. But there's some hope remaining...

The rest of the ships don't crash after all, they actually activate themselves into landing mode. It seems that before Rem's ship exploded, she was able to pull this off. And thus was the human race seeded on this new planet. And thus was Knives and Vash stranded with them.

The episode ends with a shot of the present - over 100 years later. Vash is determined to take care of Knives.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 18: AND NOW, GOODBYE


This episode begins with a strange sequence. It's either a dream or a flashback. Vash (grown-up) and Knives (also grown-up) are facing each other in a room. Knives has recently killed a man who somehow linked Vash with Rem. Knives then shoots Vash for being too sentimental and then snaps his fingers, causing Vash's arm to swell up into a gigantic weapon. Vash points the weapon toward Knives and Knives yells angrily at Vash.

The next scene shows a new city. Wolfwood has just arrived and, upon entering a bar, the priest learns that the city is under siege by a group of bandits supposedly led by Vash. Tension is high in the city, everyone wants to leave but no one can.

A young blonde man named Eriks and a little girl named Lina enter the bar next. Lina tells the bartender that she ran away from one of the bandits, thanks to Eriks. The bartender grows very concerned and a few moments later, a giant hole is blasted through the bar's wall. The bandit Lina escaped from holds a hostage and yells for the young girl to come out or else he'll kill the hostage. Eriks steps out of the bar to confront the bandit.

Eriks looks and talks very much like Vash. Eriks negotiates with the bandit and is told that if he strips nude and barks like a dog, the hostage will be let go and all will be forgiven. Eriks takes the offer and strips down, he is covered by metallic implants and scars (revealing that it is Vash). Eriks barks like a dog and so the bandit decides to leave (seeing Wolfwood makes him keep his word). But, after driving only a short distance away, the bandit has one of his men shoot Eriks. Eriks falls over as if shot in the back and is rushed to the hospital.

Inside the hospital, Lina's grandmother grows upset about Eriks' fate. She even tries to take up a gun and fight the bandits herself but is calmed down and escorted out. Wolfwood walks into Eriks' room. Wolfwood then slaps Eriks in the face, telling him to wake up. The doctor gets upset but is shocked when Eriks actually opens his eyes. Eriks tells the doctor to leave. Once everyone has left but Wolfwood, the two talk as old friends. Eriks is indeed Vash the Stampede in disguise.

Vash and Wolfwood begin talking. We learn that Vash has taken up the simple identity of a local boy named Eriks in order to live a quiet life. Wolfwood tries to get Vash to join him, even giving Vash back his gun, fully repaired (Wolfwood found Frank Marlon to fix it).

The next scene shows a flashback of how Vash ended up in that town. He was living as a vagabond when Lina found him and took him to her grandmother, Sheryl. The grandmother washed Vash up and gave him a clean pair of clothes and a place to stay.

The next scene has Wolfwood leaving but telling Vash one more thing. He tells Vash that all the residents in a town called Caracas have mysterious vanished with everything else remaining the same. And, written in blood upon one of the town's monuments, was the word "Knives." Wolfwood departs and Vash sobs, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, Vash hears downstairs that Lina has been kidnapped by the bandits. Vash finally takes up his gun and leaves his room, seeing Wolfwood waiting for him. Vash and Wolfwood go to the bandits' headquarters and prepare to take on all 200 of them. A funny scene ensues where Vash and Wolfwood calmly walk toward the headquarters amidst billions of bullets coming at them.

The next scene has Lina cutting Vash's hair to make him look more like the man he was before. Lina can't believe that Vash is leaving and sheds some tears.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 19: HANG FIRE


The episode begins with Meryl sleeping and dreaming of Vash at the insurance company where she works. Her co-workers wake her up and talk with her a little. Then, the chief of the company emerges from his office and tells Meryl that Vash has been spotted at Little Jersey and that she and Milly are to head after him (the reason for this is not explained). Meryl is extremely happy that Vash is still alive and gets Milly (who was washing the windows - a punishment for being late so often).

The next scene has Vash and Wolfwood being picked up in the desert by a truck driver. (Wolfwood's motorcycle broke down and the two were stranded.) Vash and Wolfwood get into some squabbles aboard the truck, arguing over where to go and who should get the last canteen of water.

Finally, Vash and Wolfwood end up going to New Oregon, a town that's divided among two feuding families: The Polo Family and the Fris Family. Vash, upon hearing of this feud, decides to try and help resolve things against the wishes of Wolfwood. Vash enters the the office of some man and asks to see a Max Simon. The man gives him allowance.

We cut to Milly and Meryl. They're aboard a train heading for New Oregon. (They made an earlier stop in Little Jersey and found out Vash was heading for New Oregon.) Milly and Meryl are both at peace, happy that, unlike last time, they won't have to deal with any bandits. And then, of course, some bandits storm the train and hold them at gun point.

Vash sees Max Simon (an old man) and happily greets him. Moments later, the train that Milly and Meryl were travelling aboard crashes into New Oregon's satellite (it's most valuable asset that the families were feuding over). The Fris family has successfully hijacked the satellite for its own personal use. The leader of the family, via microphone, tells the entire city that they have one demand: the death of the Polo family.

Inside the train, Milly and Meryl manage to incapacitate their captors. Furthermore, Vash and Max storm through the train, taking out all the bandits (without killing any, of course). Vash finally gets to the main control room of the train and knocks everyone out except the leader (the leader ran away in fright).

Inside the control room, there's one final crisis left that needs resolution. A member of the Fris Family is pointing a gun at a hostage, a member of the Polo Family. Apparently, this particular Polo member murdered the daughter of the man holding the gun to his face. A long struggle ensues in the mind of the would-be avenging father but, with the help of Vash, the struggle is appeased and everything ends peacefully with no one getting killed.

The next scene has Milly, Meryl, Vash, and Wolfwood standing at the outskirts of town. They're getting ready to move on.

The last scene of this episode shows the supposed leader of the Fris Family breaking apart into pieces and floating into the briefcase of a previously unseen member of the Gung-Ho Guns: Leonof the Puppetmaster.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 20: FLYING SHIP


We're in New Oregon. A real typhoon is sweeping the city. Milly and Meryl are relaxing in their hotel room; they go to Vash's room and are shocked to see that he isn't there. A note that Vash left behind reveals that the Stampede left and that he doesn't want the two young women to look for him. Milly doesn't show any signs of despair though, she tells Meryl that she placed a transmitter in Vash's food earlier. Milly whips out a locator device and follows its signal. Unfortunately, the device leads her to under Vash's bed, where Vash put his food without touching it.

The next scene shows a flashback of right after Vash and Knives landed on the new planet. Vash fights with Knives a little bit as Knives has a dreadful expression on his face, affirming his aim to kill all humans.

We cut to the present. Vash jumps off of a cliff, in the midst of the typhoon, and lands on a strange, floating platform. He then hears a voice; it's Wolfwood, who is also clutching at the platform. The platform floats high into the air and we see one of the Earth ships that never landed, suspended and preserved. Vash comments that the residents of the ship will get their first guest in 20 years (Wolfwood).

Down below, Leonof the Puppetmaster contacts Legato and tells him that Vash has made his move. Legato laughs and assigns another of the Gung-Ho Guns on the job.

Vash and Wolfwood arrive at the door of the Earth ship. They are greeted by a doctor (presumably the ship's leader) and a large man named Brad. Vash is treated well but everyone fears and distrusts Wolfwood because he is of the warring people outside. We are also introduced to a character named Jessica, a young girl who runs and immediately hugs Vash. Brad immediately becomes jealous of the girl's affections toward Vash. Vash then leaves with the doctor and Wolfwood is instructed to stay in place until his return.

Back to Milly and Meryl. The two young women decide to leave their room and find Vash. They immediately run into the tycoon's fury and quickly regret their decision.

In the ship, a little boy throws something at Wolfwood. He can't stand the sight of the priest. Wolfwood shrugs him off but then everyone aboard the ship begins to plead with Wolfwood to leave. The priest then angrily begins lecturing that eventually everyone aboard the ship will have to live on the desert planet below.

In a remote room, Vash, Brad, and the doctor begin talking about the two massive explosions set off by Vash in the past. Brad gets really upset at Vash and storms off. The doctor tells Vash that Brad is just jealous because he's in love with Jessica and Jessica's in love with Vash. The doctor then hands Vash a briefcase that contains inside it a very technologically advanced arm.

Walking along the hallways of the ship, Wolfwood comes upon a locked door. He breaks the door open and sees two dead bodies. A lot of the ship's residents walk in and are stunned to see Wolfwood standing over them. Brad arrives at the scene and points a gun at the priest. Wolfwood looks him in the eyes and states that he didn't do it.

The next scene has Vash and the doctor walking along one of the ship's hallways. Vash has installed the new arm and is very pleased with it. Him and the doctor go to Jessica's room but are stunned to see her missing. Vash then picked up a wrapped gift that was intended for him and sees the word "KILL" written on the package in red.

Brad is still pointing his gun at Wolfwood. He's really unsure of whether or not to kill the priest. Then, from behind, one of the other members of the ship falls dead, pushing Brad away from Wolfwood. Brad turns around and sees that everyone lies dead with a man-shaped puppet standing in the distance. Wolfwood steps into the hallway and exchanges a few words from the unseen Leonof the Puppetmaster. He then destroys a few of the puppets as another one steps forward with Jessica in its grasp. The Puppetmaster tells Brad that if he captures Wolfwood, Jessica will be released. Brad points a gun to Wolfwood's head, weeping that it's the only way.

After a lot of hesitation, the puppet holding Jessica hostage falls to pieces. Vash arrives at the scene.

There's then a very quick flashback that shows Rem telling Vash of how red geraniums are used to mean "determination" in flower language.

Jessica runs and hugs Vash. Everyone is happy until Leonof's voice transmits inside the ship. Leonof informs Vash that some puppets still remain in the ship and that there are two more Gung-Ho Guns aboard. Vash shows a look of horror.

The episode ends with a shot of Milly and Meryl braving the typhoon. It's not a pretty site (though it is quite funny).


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 21: OUT OF TIME


The episode begins with a shot of Legato in some great chamber, talking to someone who is in what looks like a giant test tube. Legato vows revenge on Vash for the damage he caused to the test tube person.

A fast-paced scene follows. Inside the ship, Vash and Wolfwood have the task of taking out Leonof's puppets as well as finding the two other Gung-Ho Gun members who have invaded the ship. A lot of action follows and a lot of the ship's residents die. We also learn that the aim of the intruders is to go to explode the ship's two plants and so crash the ship into the planet below.

Wolfwood finds and confronts one of the Gung-Ho Gun gang members. It is a well-armored behemoth. Wolfwood can't pierce its armor with his bullets so he switches his giant cross weapon into rocket mode and fires multiple missiles, knocking the beast to the ground.

Meanwhile, Vash and Brad are killing puppets throughout the ship's corridors. Vash then hears the location of one of the Gung-Ho Gun gang members from the doctor and uses his gun to drill through multiple floors of the ship, leading him to the very bottom. There, he sees the floor strewn with dead bodies. Vash sheds tears until a Gung-Ho Gun member appears and introduces himself as "Hoppered the Gauntlet." Vash prepares to fight this new threat.

We cut to Wolfwood. He is rejoicing at having killed the Gung-Ho Gun until, of course, it gets back up, unaffected. Wolfwood then realizes that the Gun before him is "Gray the Ninelives" - a beast who has nine lives. Gray fires some missiles toward Wolfwood that break a great hole in the ground, sending both him and Wolfwood into a capacious chamber.

The battle between Vash and Hoppered isn't going too well. Vash can't penetrate Hoppered's armor and is dealt a hard blow. Hoppered talks a great deal during the fight.

The battle between Wolfwood and Gray is going much better. Wolfwood accidentally shoots a pipe above Gray's head and covers the behemoth in acid. Gray's exterior melts away and a robotic skeleton is all that's left. Wolfwood smiles, he's figured out Gray the Ninelives' secret. He then fires a few missiles at the robot.

Back to Vash and Hoppered. Vash pleads for Hoppered to stop shooting the ship's plant. Hoppered laughs and decides to finally finish Vash off instead. Vash keeps running away from Hoppered's shots until he comes up with a clever trap. He places a gun on a small ledge and hooks a wire to it. As he's running away from Hoppered, he pulls the wire and fires the gun at Hoppered's unprotected back. Hoppered falls to the ground as Brad rushes to Vash to help him up.

Meanwhile, Wolfwood is reclining in victory with the remains of Gray behind him. All of a sudden, Gray's legs begin to move toward the ship's plant. Wolfwood tries to blast the legs but he is out of ammunition. He screams as Gray's legs reveal a gun and blast at the plant.

In New Oregon, Milly and Meryl are finally happy that the typhoon has passed. They look up and see the ship slowly falling to the ground.

Inside the ship, Vash gets up and walks toward the plant. He communicates with an organic creature inside the plant and the ship's power becomes fully restored. That is, until Hoppered revitalizes himself and throws himself at the plant in sacrifice.

The ship plummets and hits the ground. Vash and Brad leave the ship and all the ship's residents, outside on the sand, curse Vash for causing this. Surprisingly, Brad defends the Stampede.

Still inside the ship, Wolfwood finds Jessica bound and tied up in a small room. He comes to an immediate realization: Jessica has been in this room the entire time and the Jessica they thought they had rescued in the previous episode was just a puppet. Wolfwood runs outside, on one of the ship's balconies and yells loudly to Vash, showing him the real Jessica. Before Vash can react, the puppet Jessica opens fire...

But it is Brad who gets shot multiple times. Brad threw himself heroically in front of the Stampede. The puppet then runs out of bullets. Vash falls to his knees and weeps for Brad.

Elsewhere, Leonof is sitting in the desert, sighing that his perfect plan failed. A shadow covers his face. He looks up and see Wolfwood floating on a platform directly above him. Wolfwood launches a rocket at the Puppetmaster, blasting him to pieces.

The episode ends with Brad, before he final dies, commenting on how Vash lives outside of time. Vash continues to cry as the episode ends.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 22: ALTERNATIVE


Vash, Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl are camping outside. It's night. Vash has a very serious face and Wolfwood tries, unsuccessfully, to lighten his mood. Vash reflects on everyone that died in the previous episode, blaming himself entirely for their fates.

The next day, the four of them head out (via car) to a distant city. Upon arriving at the city's massive gates, they are greeted by very hostile guards who refuse to give them entrance. Wolfwood is angered by this but Vash simply tells him that they must do it for a reason. Upon turning back to their car, Vash sees a young boy inside it who immediately takes flight. The boy is stopped by Milly and forced to thank Vash for his kindness.

The boy then enters a large building some short distance away. Wolfwood and Meryl knock on the building's door and are met with a flurry of thrown trash. The building houses a group of children, orphans as it were, and they are not happy about the visitors. Wolfwood makes peace with the children by offering them his group's emergency rations.

Time passes and one of the orphans tells Vash and Wolfwood what's going on. Apparently, most of the towns in the areas evacuated a short time ago and the one town that remains populated refuses to accept any outsiders. Without anywhere to go, all the orphans left behind by the evacuations got together and founded this abode. We see a flashback of how the evacuations took place, how all the parents in the town simply got into a trance and blindly walked out of their respective towns.

Throughout the day and into the night, Milly and Meryl help entertain and care for the children. A great meal is cooked and all the kids are fed heartily and tucked into bed.

That night, inside the city that's off limits, a resident is horrified to see the city's gates open widely. Another resident, in a trance, is behind this. When questioned, the tranced resident opens fire on the other resident, killing him instantly. We see Legato's face flash by as well as the body of a saxophone-playing member of the Gung-Ho Guns (who stands near the gate).

It's the next day. A group of men from the town open fire on the room that Vash and Wolfwood are staying in. The two leave the room and the men are very violent toward them. They blame Vash and Wolfwood for the incident that happened the previous night. Before anything can be resolved, a lot of giant sand worms burst through the ground and begin to attack everything around (including the nearby city). Vash and Wolfwood ready their guns to drive them away.

A long battle ensues but there seems to be an endless number of sand worms. Finally, after a lot of running around, Vash realizes that something doesn't seem right about this situation. He sees the little boy he met in the beginning of this episode (who was caught fiddling with Vash's car) and shoots an earpiece he has on, shattering it to the ground. The sand worms immediately run away. Vash asks why the boy would control the worms with such a device and the boy responds by introducing himself as a Gung-Ho Gun. His name is "Zazie the Beast."

Zazie seems to have full control of the situation. He has a gun pointed at Meryl and another one pointed at an unarmed Vash (his gun was shot out of his hand by the Beast). Vash smiles and walks toward Zazie, asking whether or not he really wants to do what he's doing. Vash has faith that Zazie is really a good guy.

A few tense moments pass and Zazie really hesitates. Indeed, it looks like he might not shoot Vash after all. Suddenly, Zazie falls to the ground with a smoking hole in his chest: Wolfwood killed him. Vash walks over to Wolfwood and the two exchange some bitter words. Everyone is stunned. Wolfwood then leaves the scene.

The episode ends with a curious scene. A man who is dressed almost exactly like Wolfwood (with a weapon that looks just like Wolfwood's) is looking on over the city from a distance.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 23: PARADISE


The episode begins with a flashback of Wolfwood's childhood. He fired his first gun at a very young age: to kill his abusive guardian. Since that day he's come into constant conflict with helping children (so they have a happier childhood than him) and shooting people.

The next scene shows Vash in the city of Tonim, standing before the town's monument that has the word "Knives" written on it in blood. Vash shoots a hole through the monument.

Wolfwood is sitting calmly in a remote part of town. He sees a figure approach, a figure we saw earlier in hig childhood. A tall man that's dressed similarly to Wolfwood (but with freakish eyes and with a green apple in his hand) confronts the priest. We learn some staggering things here. Wolfwood's been working for Knives the entire time. The tall man (named Chapel) dubs Wolfwood a member of the Gung-Ho Guns and asks him to kill Vash. Chapel then guarantees that if this deed is done, all the orphans Wolfwood takes care of will be guaranteed safety.

The next scene shows another member of the Gung-Ho Guns far outside of town. He is Caine the Longshot. He removes his gun (which is really, really long) and aims it toward Tonim (taking a sniper position). Caine also makes his disfigured body invisible.

Wolfwood is walking sombre and passes Vash. He hesitates but then passes by without a word. Inside a room, Wolfwood is sitting and smoking cigarettes, confused as to what he should do. Milly enters the room with some food for the priest. The two talk about the earlier incident with the Gung-Ho Gun child and Wolfwood breaks into tears. Wolfwood then asks Milly if she would please stay and eat with him.

Early the next day, Vash and Wolfwood both leave their rooms. They face each other and exchange a few casual words. All of a sudden, Wolfwood takes out his giant cross weapon and readies it to attack Vash. Vash doesn't move but rather makes one request of Wolfwood: after he dies, he wants Wolfwood to promise never to shoot anyone ever again. After some more talking, Wolfwood finally decides to drop his weapon. All is not peaceful though.

A shot just barely misses Vash. Wolfwood takes Vash inside a room and tells him of the sniper located outside of town. Wolfwood tells Vash to take care of the sniper while he himself will go after his old mentor. Outside of the room, Wolfwood and his old mentor encounter one another. A fierce fight ensues.

Meanwhile, Vash drives out of town to find the sniper. We cut to the sniper's point of view. He fires a bullet into Vash's car and the vehicle explodes. He zooms in on the wreck but doesn't see Vash's body, he only sees Vash's red jacket. Caine's eyes widen as his gun gets blown into a thousand pieces. Vash is standing right next to him, without jacket: the car was just a decoy. Vash tells Caine to go back home. Instead, Caine pulls out a small pistol and puts it to his own head.

We go back to the battle between Wolfwood and Chapel. The battle turns grim for Wolfwood as he is lying on the ground with his mentor standing above him. The camera zooms away and we hear multiple gun shots. The camera zooms back and Wolfwood is standing while his mentor falls to the ground. Wolfwood is about to finish his mentor off when, instead, he decides just to take his green apple. Wolfwood takes a bite of the apple, declares it delicious, and walks away. Chapel, in rage, musters up the courage to pick up his gun. He aims to shoot Wolfwood in the back. The priest turns around, raises his own gun, and the camera switches away. More gun shots are heard.

The next scene shows a little grave that Vash dug for Caine. Vash is sitting, tormented, in the middle of the town. Wolfwood approaches him, bleeding badly, and tells him that Knives is in Demitrihi. Vash is confused, how does Wolfwood know about Knives? When Vash looks up to ask him, he sees him gone. (Also in this scene, Vash told Wolfwood that he's upset because he "failed to save someone" - this is very important.)

The next scene is one of the most beautiful in the series. Wolfwood stumbles into the town's church with a trail of blood following him. He collapses before the alter and begins to reflect on his life, wondering if he should have lived it differently. He is ready to accept his imminent death when he remembers Vash, Milly, and Meryl. He then becomes determined to live, but it's too late: Wolfwood's eyes eventually close and he dies. It was also hinted in his reflection that Milly is pregnant with Wolfwood's child.

The last scene of the episode has Milly and Meryl crying loudly in their room with Vash looking grim just outside.


SCREEN SHOTS:

[DarkLordDragon]

EPISODE 24: SIN


The opening to this episode is intense. Outside a massive building, Legato and Midvalley the Hornfreak (the saxophone-playing Gun) slowly approach in a high-tech carriage. Chapel stands to meet them...

Legato and Midvalley leave the carriage and Legato comments that the mentor is still upset. (Here we learn that Legato actually controlled Chapel to shoot Wolfwood in the previous episode.) Chapel takes out his guns and prepares to shoot both Legato and Midvalley. He is suspended in the air in telekinetic response. Legato doesn't kill him but instead waits patiently. Soon after, Knives enters the scene. Knives walks toward the mentor and comments on how weak humans are. He then summons a black hole that engulfs the mentor.

The next day, Vash is casually walking around LR Town. He stops by a donut stand and orders an entire bag of donuts. As Vash is gobbling the donuts down, he looks around and admires all the town's citizens. They're going through their daily lives. Vash suddenly breaks down into tears at how happy everyone is and drops his bag of donuts to the ground.

Back in Tonim, Milly and Meryl are sulking about their room, still upset about Wolfwood's death. Meryl has a small flashback of how, before Vash left, she confronted him about what's really going on. Vash then told her everything, especially about Knives. We return to the present. Meryl and Milly, after some light-hearted talk (designed to alleviate their sorrows) decide to go after Vash.

Inside LR, Vash continues to sit and cry. Two young boys approach him and are amazed that a grown man is crying. Vash begins to talk to them until the boys start talking about Wolfwood and how it's Vash's fault he perished. The two young boys then faint, as does everyone in the town. Vash gets up and Legato is standing close by. Legato tells Vash that he's responsible for the deaths of the Gung-Ho Guns and Wolfwood. Legato then tells Vash to meet him at the top of a mountain in the distance. He casually walks away.

Vash then hears another voice. It's another Gung-Ho Gun, Midvalley the Hornfreak. Midvalley addresses Vash by name and everyone in the town, upon hearing that name, evacuate immediately. Midvalley then prepares to engage the Stampede in battle. Midvalley has an incredibly powerful ability, by playing his saxophone he is able to deflect bullets and cause massive shockwaves wherever he chooses. But Midvalley can't kill Vash, he's under orders not to. Instead, Midvalley just threatens townspeople (who are under Legato's control not to run away), forcing Vash to keep running in front of them and blocking Midvalley's shockwaves.

We cut to Milly and Meryl. They are trodding along toward LR and come upon a stranded townsperson who is crawling on his belly in pain. Meryl bends down to give him some water but the townsperson instead grabs Meryl's wrist.

Back in LR, Midvalley is standing above a tired, worn-out Vash. He commends Vash's iron will. Suddenly, Vash manages to use his arm gun to richochet bullets into Midvalley's saxophone. The saxophone doesn't work anymore and Midvalley uses the saxophone's built-in guns to shoot himself. Vash screams in anguish and curses Legato.

The next scene has Vash approaching Legato on the mountain. Legato begins speaking philosophy and Vash just shoots his armor a few times in response. Vash then points his gun to Legato's head. Legato makes Vash's arm swell up to create an explosion but Vash simply represes it. Legato then has a mob of townspeople walk near, holding Milly and Meryl captive. Legato tells Vash to kill him. Vash refuses.

Soft music plays in the background. Legato gives Vash a choice, either Vash can put a bullet in his head, or Legato will have the townspeople kill Meryl and Milly. Vash shakes in pain at having to make such a choice. Vash reflects for a good deal of time about Rem, about his past, and about other things. Vash finally pulls the trigger and directly kills Legato.

The episode ends with a shot of Knives laughing hysterically.


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