What, do I have an "All Trigun characters welcome sign in front of my house?

This morning, as I was outside, I couldn't help but notice the group of people heading toward me. In the lead was none other than Nicholas D. Wolfwood, a priest and friend of Vash's, whom I'd thought long dead. But it seems death isn't forever with these guys, much as it wasn't for Darth Maul and Count Dooku (among others).

Wolfwood explained that he was the temporary leader of these new Gung-Ho Guns, mostly made up of former members who'd been killed on Gunsmoke. "Vash and Knives will be the real leaders once we catch up to them," he told me. Meryl and Milly will also be a part of the team as well. Unlike the previous incarnation, the new Gung-Ho Guns are dedicated to the vision of Rem Sevarem, who envisioned a new Eden for humanity. However, they're also willing to fight to protect that Eden. Seems that Knives has changed more than I thought: Wolfwood told me that he's the one who suggested the team's new mission, once he found out they were alive again.

The full team now consists of:

1. Vash the Stampede
2. Millions Knives
3. Nicholas D. Wolfwood
4. Derringer Meryl (Meryl Stryfe) - Meryl has consented to join the team at Vash's request, once they both learned the new purpose of the Gung-Ho Guns. Her weapons are fifty one-shot pistols, or derringers.
5. Stun-gun Milly (Milly Thompson) - see Meryl. Milly uses a huge stun-gun, or heavy concussion gun, as her weapon. It fires long bullets that pop out to form an X, and can even knock over a truck with just two.
6. Chapel the Evergreen - Wolfwood's mentor, he was once killed with a miniature black hole by Knives.
7. Monev the Gale - wearing a huge power suit with arm-mounted chain guns and a set of pressure chambers on his back, Monev once diad at the hands of E.G. Mine. After his revival, Monev changed his attitude for the most part, but still fears Vash after nearly dying at his hands.
8. Gray/Brad the Ninelives - formerly a large android, he's now a cyborg, as Vash's friend Brad (who was killed by Leonoff the Puppetmaster) had his brain transplanted into the mechanical body after it was rebuilt. Despite his revulsion at killing, Brad is willing to fight so all will have the peace he once knew.
9. Midvalley the Hornfreak - having died when he activated the damaged mini-guns in his saxophone Sylvia, which caused it to explode in his face, Midvalley revived and became Wolfwood's second-in-command until they rejoin Vash and Knives.
10. Brilliant Dynamite's Neon, or B.D.N. - formerly leader of the Badlads gang, Neon wasn't originally recruited as a Gung-Ho Gun: he found them and told them that he was joining, once he found out about their new purpose. His sense of honor isn't quite like Vash's, but he gave up killing without reason after their first encounter.
11. Rai-Dei the Blade - a man who seeks the knowledge learned only when facing death, he follows the way of Bushido, or the code of the samurai. Armed with a sword that can fire its own blade and has a concealed rifle in the sheath, Rai-Dei was originally killed by Wolfwood after surviving the Fifth Moon incident. He now fights to make Earth into a paradise, where all humanity, including the warriors such as himself, can rest.
12. Dominique the Cyclops - a woman who wears the "Demon's Eye", she's able to cause hypnosis and sensory paralysis in her foes, inducing a trance that makes her movements appear light-speed. Unlike the others who died and came back, she also remembers her fate in the manga, where she jumped to her death after losing to Vash.

The former members who stayed dead are:

Zazie the Beast
E.G. Mine
Leonoff the Puppetmaster
Hoppered the Gauntlet
Caine the Longshot
Legato Bluesummers

After introductions and explanations, Wolfwood told me that he and the others were heading out to Idaho to join Vash, Knives, Meryl and Milly in the Terran Resistance. They'll be late for the first round, but as long as they don't miss the entire war, none of them is too worried.

Good luck, guys (and girls). See you again when the war's over.

Well, it looks like they found me. Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, who spent the better part of two and a half years tracking Vash on Gunsmoke (including two years after the Fifth Moon and before he fought the last six Gung-Ho Guns), then a year searching for him on Earth, finally showed up at my house again earlier this evening.

Let me tell you: facing these two when they're mad is the scariest thing that could happen to a guy. Without letting me get a word in edgewise, they promptly accused me of working for Knives, claiming he was out to destroy the human race and that I was a willing accomplice to his plans. The fact that I was wearing my "Resistance is futile" shirt from Roswell, New Mexico certainly didn't help. Neither did the phonecall from Knives right then. Fortunately, he had Vash with him, and between the three of us, we persuaded them that Knives wasn't evil anymore, I hadn't been in the first place, and that Vash was doing just fine out in Idaho (even if he was helping fight a war against the Galactic Empire).

Meryl and Milly have since taken off, heading west to join Vash and Knives. They did apologize for giving me a hard time though, and I've let them know they're welcome to come back and visit me once the war's over. In the meantime, I heave a sigh of relief... and pity any Imperials who get in their way.

Until next time!

The war has started, as I recently learned over at "Me, Myself and Vader". As I stated there, I'm sending help: Vash the Stampede and his no-longer-evil twin Knives have gone to join the Terran Resistance. Even if I can't help directly, Vash and Knives will certainly hit 'em hard a few times for me.

How come I've never mentioned them before? Simple: I promised Vash and Knives that I wouldn't. There are still a few people looking for them, even though the bounty on Vash's head was lifted about two years before he fought Knives, and three years before he came here. I'm fairly certain I saw Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson peering through our windows a few weeks back. Luckily, Vash was out of town at the time (he was making another doughnut run). But when Vash found out about Palpatine's first strike out in Idaho, he told me that if he didn't make it back, he wanted the world to know that he'd been living here for almost three years now without causing any trouble. I suspect Meryl and Milly will be dropping in any day now, if they haven't already spotted him heading west.

Good luck, guys.

In other news: Dang, it's been a while! Not too much new and exciting in the fanfic world (at least when it comes to my stuff), though I have been working on some of them.

In movie news: Some weeks ago, I finally finished watching all the DVDs I'd bought over the past year since I started working at Blockbuster (Knives won't admit it, but he's hooked on Firefly), and now I've started buying more again. I've also rented and watched "When A Stranger Calls" (released today). I fail to see why it got so many negative reviews. It's a suspense film, after all, not a slasher flick. You want blood, go watch "Friday the 13th" (another of Knives' favorites). I for one enjoyed this movie.

That's pretty much it. Vash, Knives, I'll see you whenever you get back and hopefully hear from you soon. Kenya, Vader, good luck. Palpatine, *bleep* *bleep*!

Until next time!