Quick-draw tourney. (Gee, how DID i come up with that?!)

Vash was back on his feet being wrestled by kids within a week. Sasha was amazed. She even briefly wondered if he and Knives were gods. But somehow, watching a grown man be taken down by a group of kids, none older then seven, kind of discredited that theory. She watched him and giggled whenever he acted like he was in pain. So did Meryl and Millie, though from the window instead of the front porch.

"Isn't it wonderful, Meryl? Vash is back to his normal self again! Now you can tell him what you were going to when he went off to fight Mr. Knives."

"Millie! Will you please get off tha..wait. MR. Knives?"

"Uh-huh! Vash's brother."

"I KNOW who he IS!!"

"You sounded like you didn't."

"Nevermind."

Millie chuckled. "Seems like you're always saying that to me."

Meryl sighed and looked out the window again. Vash was rolling on the dirt, begging for mercy while the pack of children pinned his arms behind his back. She chuckeld at him as she absent-mindedly dried a bowl Vash had eaten out of. But then, she caught herself watching him, and quickly acted indifferent.

"I bet it'd really make his day if you told him."

"DROP IT, Millie..."

"Pitiful." Vash looked up and saw Knives glaring down at him in disgust. Vash grinned and waved his silly wave. One of the kids saw Knives and leapt at him, thinking he could play with him too. Vash grabbed him in midair and pulled him back to the leg he was bending back. The kid decided Vash was enough fun for him.

"Hey, kids? I need a minute to talk to this man, ok?"

"No way! You're a villain, and we don't let villains have their way!" A kid tried an arm-bar. Vash shrieked in 'pain'.

"PLEEEEZE?! If you do, i'll go to jail quietly, ok?"

"Alright. C'mon, let's go see if the ice cream wagon has come through yet!" The kids got off Vash and followed the one who'd said that off into another part of town. Vash stood, brushing off the dirt.

"I'll never understand why you let those filthy urchins crawl on you! Have some pride!"

"Hey, c'mon! It's not like I asked them to."

"So they just do it whenever they feel like? Pathetic."

"It's fun! You used ot have fun too, remember?"

"I still have fun. And so will you." Knives held up a poster for a quick-draw tournament. Vash scratched the back of his head.

"I dunno. Those always turn out so bad. Last time, I nearly got killed over a hundred times. Not to mention how close I came to killing someone else."

"Regardless, Vash, you know as well as I do you want to participate. You have a natural urge to use your gun. Admit it, you feel naked without one."

"Maybe. What's your point?"

"Think of this as a sparring match with the whole town. Use rubber bullets, if it'll make you feel better. It'll be fun. Like old times."

"Will you be in it too?"

"Of course. I'd never miss a chance to shoot a human."

"I won't let you!"

"Then I guess you'll have to be there to make sure I don't, won't you?"

"That's not fair. I shouldn't have to babysit you, Knives!"

"It's not babysitting. Think of it as a small token of appology after disintegrating my body."

"Funny. I thought I did that when you made me an outlaw for the last eighty or so years."

"If you won't be there, then i'll just have to massacre everyone. You know I can do it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Good! It starts tomorrow at noon." Knives walked away.

"Hey, wait! I didn't even say i'd be there!"

"Enter."

"GAAAAHH!!! Sasha!"

"You want meat in your soup? then enter that tournament and win some money."

Vash sighed. "Alright. But if i'm gonna stick my neck out for meat, you'd better learn to make better soup."

Sasha tackled Vash and put him in a leg hold similar to the one he'd been in before.

"YAAAAHHH!!! UNCLE!! UNCLLLLEEEE!!!"