Log; Complete

[mildlyreckless.livejournal.com]

When; Monday, November 26th.
Rating; R for violence and language.
Characters; Razlo/Livio (crybaby_livio) and Vash (mildlyreckless).
Summary; As agreed here, Razlo and Vash face off in the gardens.
Log;
Vash pushed his sunglasses further up his nose as he made his way towards the garden. He had no idea how he was going to do this. He didn't need anyone to tell him that fighting Razlo was a stupid idea, but it was far better than the alternatives that had presented themselves.

He also didn't need anyone to tell him that everyone was absolutely furious with him for agreeing to do it. Vash hadn't felt so collectively despised since leaving No-Man's Land. But he told himself that it was better if they hated him and kept out of the way rather than end up how Wolfwood had been less than a second away from being last night. Hated for it or not, Vash wasn't going to let Razlo kill anyone. Livio was going to have enough regrets already.

So here he was; walking into the Xanadu, armed to the teeth. With his defenses he'd be able to deflect some of the bullets, but if Razlo was still packing two M60's, Vash knew there was no way in hell he'd be able to stop them all in the City. And he refused to use his arm as an offensive option against Razlo. So it'd have to be bullets.

How the hell could he pull this off?

~*~

Razlo wouldn't be going in light this time. He still had one of his heavy machine guns (since his other one was fubar thanks to Vash), and Livio's Double-Fangs, although he was loathe to use them since they were toys compared to his Punishers.

He placed the first round of the ammo belt into the chamber, then brought down the top half of the M60. He racked back the charging lever and smiled. Today was going to be a good day.

There was still blood on Razlo's hands from the morning's work-- even though he had licked most of it clean. He figured leaving a little for Vash to see would get a good message across.

Razlo stood from his spot in the garden, hefting his M60. He made sure everything was in working order: loaded and repaired machine gun, both Double-Fangs in the holsters under his shoulders, that pussy .45 in the back of his pants, and his own hands.

Time to find his prey.

~*~

Vash stared past the nearby trees with empty eyes as he tried to think. Livio's body could take a lot, and he moved much faster and stronger than normal humans. Vash had lived a long time shifting his reactions so that he could match humans in a way that was certainly noticeable, but not terribly frightening. If he could just step things up a bit, he knew he'd be able to keep up with Razlo. It was just a matter of trying to figure out how to get him to back down.

Livio's body could literally put itself back together. Vash had seen it. If he had a chance here, he was going to have to hurt him. As much as he hated that, he knew that was how it had to be. He looked down at his gun arm and flexed his fingers. If Razlo was making him wait, he was going to be pissed.

~*~

Razlo spotted Vash; he could've shot him right there, but that wouldn't be any fun at all. Instead, Razlo fired a five-round burst into the air-- making Vash turn towards him.

"Hey, asshole," he said. "You waitin' on me?"

~*~

Vash's eyes narrowed at the gunfire and the voice. This was basically fighting a super-powered kid in the end. He casually turned around to look at Razlo and smiled easily, tension in his eyes hidden by golden lenses.

"Actually, I was waiting for my friend Livio," he said cheerfully. "But since you're here, we can start whenever you're ready!"

He noticed blood on Razlo but decided not to ask. They were already here for a fight. Knowing what horrible things the man had done the night before wouldn't make any difference.

~*~

"Keep waitin', then, princess.” Razlo reached for his belt and grabbed a grenade. "Maybe he'll come back in time to see me standin' over your corpse."

He pulled the pin, dropped the grenade, and kicked it before it hit the ground. The explosive arced across the space between the two-- heading right for Vash.

Razlo raised his machine gun and prepared to fire in time with the detonation.

~*~

'Princess?' That was a new one. Vash rushed backwards to avoid the majority of the blast and drew his revolver as wind and heat rushed over him. Razlo certainly didn't waste any time, but that was fine with him. He heard the sound of a machine gun being leveled and his eyes widened before he dropped to the side to roll out of the way, then darted forward. Machine guns were a lot trickier at close-range, and Vash intended to give Razlo a run for his money in every way possible.

~*~

Razlo kept firing, not caring that he would probably melt the barrel and most of the components of the bolt-- like he did when he fought Elendira. He wasn't going to give Vash an inch to shoot back, and didn't even bother taking cover. It felt good enough to stand in the open, holding the 20-pound weapon up one-handed, as if it were no heavier than a pistol.

When Vash rushed forward, Razlo became even more excited; was he actually going to engage in close quarters? That idiot must have wanted to die.

~*~

Vash's eyes locked onto Razlo and he zigzagged through the barrage of bullets, getting nicked by a few rounds. He needed to get a feel for Razlo's reaction time and his attack patterns if he stood a chance of winning this. He got within almost ten feet and fired four shots for Razlo's legs, rounding to get behind him.

He was a little surprised at how carelessly Razlo was using his weapon. He knew the damage he was doing to the gun, didn't he? From what Vash had seen of both Livio and Wolfwood, he had a feeling that Razlo knew exactly what he was doing. It was more obvious now that Razlo acted more like a berserker than anything else. Vash didn't have a chance matching brawn against brawn here. He'd have to use finesse. As he circled behind Razlo, he fired his last two shots into the other man's left knee before snapping to reload the revolver.

~*~

The shots to the knees didn’t do much more than piss Razlo off for throwing him off momentarily. Without even looking at him, he snapped one of the Double-Fangs out of its holster, unfolded it, then fired back towards Vash. He then swung his M60 over his head and turned so he was facing him, then fired with both guns.

There was no telling how Vash expected a revolver to do any real damage, but apparently, he believed it.

The ammo belt on the M60 was running low-- Razlo estimated 60 rounds left. Normally that would be more than enough, but in this case, he wasn’t so sure. It didn’t matter. He had plenty of back-ups, and they were more wieldy than the bulky machine gun he’d been using.

~*~

Razlo's lack of reaction to the shots told him what he needed to know about THAT guess... He reloaded with more powerful ammo - exploding rounds this time - and caught a few bullets in the leg and chest as he darted out of the line of fire. His gun arm flipped open and he fired a few bursts for Razlo's torso as he ran for the cover of a nearby tree.

~*~

Razlo backpedaled from the larger caliber rounds hitting his chest. They cracked several ribs and partly deflated his lungs, but he still managed to empty his M60 on Vash. He discarded the empty, half-melted weapon and pulled the second Double-Fang. Now, with two, more compact weapons, he could be more accurate and flexible. Rounds spat from the SMGs, one barrel focused on Vash’s prosthetic gun arm, the other on his center of mass.

Razlo ran toward Vash, jumped, used his fists to push himself off the Plant's shoulder, then after flipping several times through the air landed behind him--the rear-facing barrels pointed at him-- and fired.

~*~

Vash brought his arms in and spun to avoid the bullets, but took a few in the back. Only one penetrated his coat - thank God for his friend back home - but that didn't stop him from feeling it. He turned again to face Razlo and could only stare as Razlo flipped over him.

Don't lose him now!

Vash cart-wheeled away from the bullets and fired three of his exploding revolver rounds at Livio's ankle before landing upright and pivoting on his right foot to fire another shot towards his lung.

~*~

The rounds blew away the bone and most of the muscle in Razlo’s ankle. He winced, then another one exploded in his ribcage, mangling the already shredded lung tissue and blowing a 2-inch diameter exit wound in his front chest. The last of the air was violently exhaled from his body, accompanied by a large amount of blood.

He stumbled, but caught himself on his hands. Blood flowed freely from his mouth and the wound in his chest. It was already starting to heal, but it wouldn’t be complete for some time. He stood again, but the pressure on the injured leg was too much--it fell off; Razlo was able to keep his balance. He couldn’t figure out why Vash hadn’t finished him off when he was on the ground, but whatever the reason, he was glad he still had a chance.

Taking in a long, ragged breath--but only one lung filling-- he tensed his one leg, then, once he had finished his inhale, he pushed off towards Vash.

~*~

Vash cringed as Razlo tried to recover from his wounds, but steeled himself again and rushed forward to meet Razlo head-on, firing his automatic at his right arm. He couldn't stop to think about it. Not yet. Not if he wanted to reach Livio.

~*~

Razlo was getting extremely irritated. Now his arm from just above the wrist was about fall off, too. Only the bone and a couple muscles held it on.

He used his left arm to grab Vash's and pointed it away from himself. He brought his other hand and swiped the Double-Fang he held across his mouth. Using his momentary stunned state, Razlo shifted around behind Vash and grabbed him by the neck with his right hand. The arm was barely still functioning, but he was still able to grip it hard enough.

"I'm gonna rip your goddamn spine out, you fucking bastard!" He dug his fingers deeper into Vash's neck.

An arm snapped up broke through the exposed bone of Razlo's right hand-- separating it from his person.

Razlo blinked.

What the hell?

Neither of Vash's arms could have reached back that far-- it was his own.

"You little fucker!" But Razlo wasn't yelling at Vash.

~*~

Vash fell to the ground gasping, still a bit dazed from the blow to the face, and clumsily flung the disembodied hand still gripping his neck away towards Razlo. He'd done a number on his windpipe, he knew that much. If Razlo hadn't stopped when he did, it could've been his vertebrae as well. Vash coughed hoarsely and saw blood hit the grass - those bullets must've hit him harder than he'd originally thought - before he turned back to look at Razlo, rubbing his neck with his right hand.

"...Livio?" he croaked uncertainly.

~*~

Razlo wasn't going to let Livio take over again just yet, let alone respond to Vash.

"I'm not finished," Razlo growled.

"Yeah. You are. You've done enough."

"I haven’t done nearly enough! You think I'm gonna let you back in after just three days?!"

"I don't expect you to 'let' me do anything," Livio said. "I'm taking my body back!"

"Fuck you--" Razlo screamed as he felt a red-hot spike in his mind.

"I'm not letting you kill anymore people, Razlo! The ones you already have are gonna have to be enough for now."

"I... You..."

"Don't bother with the insults right now! I've let you have enough 'fun.' If you want to stay, then you'll need to accept the way I'm gonna live."

Razlo paused for a while before saying, "You can’t do this." His tone was slightly sadder than normal.

"I'm sorry, Razlo," Livio said sincerely. "I know I owe you so much. But... please stop."

Razlo's shoulders slumped and he looked down.

Livio sighed and laid back on the grass, finally able to move by his own will. He pulled a vial from his pocket, popped the top and drank. The wounds in his chest were healing, but he needed to give it a boost. Plus, it would be much harder to regenerate his fallen limbs without the agent. But it would still be hours before his foot and hand had been recovered.

After spending a minute lying on the ground, catching his breath, he brought he head up to look at Vash.

"...Hey," he said quietly.

~*~

Vash didn't speak as Razlo and Livio struggled with one another; he merely watched and waited with his finger still on the trigger just in case. Then, just like that, it was over. Vash sagged a bit in relief and gave Livio a tired smile.

"Hey, Livio," he said gently, taking to speaking in whispers. "Good to have you back." He looked at Livio's damaged limbs and his smile became hollow. "I'm sorry about all that."

~*~

"Don't be," Livio said, sitting up. "I would've killed him if I was in your position."

He looked to the sky and stared at the clouds passing by. His face didn't betray how he felt-- except for the tears streaming from his eyes.

"Should I not even bother apologizing?" he asked without looking at his friend.

~*~

Vash watched Livio for a while before looking up as well.

"You don't have to," he whispered. "You were able to warn us. That's really something, I think. We were able to get ready for it."

Vash put his hand to his stomach with a wince and took a careful breath.

"It could have been a lot worse, Livio. And it's not like we can change what happened at this point anyway, so there's no point in dwelling on it."

~*~

Livio took in a long breath and let it out shakily.

"Yeah... I guess so," he said, running his fingers through his hair.

He stood, and limped over to Vash, trying not to put too much weight on the stump where his foot used to be. Balancing uncertainly on one leg, Livio extended his hand to Vash.

~*~

Vash blinked at Livio and then laughed with a raspy voice, waving his hand dismissively but gratefully as he pushed himself up onto his feet.

"I don't want to pull on you when you're like this, Livio," he said hoarsely. "I'll be fine. Let me take you home."

~*~

Livio shifted on his foot. He pulled another vial from his pocket and held it up to Vash.

"Need one? It'll help." Vash didn't look much better than Livio felt, and he knew that he had to be hurting. In fact, he looked like he might fall apart if he moved.

~*~

Vash smiled and shook his head.

"I've got my own extra assistance," he whispered. He just didn't use it like he really could most of the time. "I just need to go home and sleep for a bit." And push the bullets out of his body. "Don't worry about me, really. Just walk with me and we'll call it even."

If he fell over and hurt himself on the way home, everybody would pitch a fit at him. Vash felt a brief pang of guilt for bringing pain onto Wolfwood this way, but he decided it was better than letting Wolfwood get himself killed. Even if it meant the man hated him.

"Come on."

~*~

He was barely convinced, but Livio obliged Vash anyway and put away the ampoule.

They started hobbling away together-- then Livio stopped.

"Oh, God," he whispered, then looked at Vash with a look that was a mix of terror and disgust. "Razlo slept with Elendira!"

~*~

Vash stopped and stared at Livio for a while and then reached over to gingerly pat his shoulder.

"...Damn, man," he rasped. "I am so sorry."

~*~

Livio shuddered slightly, then carefully took Vash's arm, slung it over his shoulder and started walking again. He knew Vash said he was fine, but his appearance and voice painted a different picture. And even though Livio only had half a foot, he still managed to support him. Vash was just lucky Livio wasn’t carrying him home.

~*~

Vash's eyebrows went up in surprise as Livio supported him, but he decided to let him do it when he tried to say "hey" as a protest and only got air to come out.

Point taken.

Vash smiled at his friend and patted his shoulder as a sign of gratitude and reassurance and walked with him. Yeah, Livio really was a good guy. Kid. Whatever. At any rate, he was a good friend.