TRIGUN MAXIMUM VOLUME 4 Chapter 1
Jessica narration: cooking for Vash
Cool pick of Vash and the SEEDS ship.
General conversation.
Talk about the satelite.
Vash and Wolfwood take a walk...
To the satelite room... (Sure...that's what it's called!)
A little guy with steampunk goggles is working.
Wolfwood is impressed.
Wolfwood thoughts.
Vash hangs with the girls while Wolfwood looks on...
Something from the sky is rushing toward the SEEDS ship...
In the satelite room, they receive a transmission!
Luida is on the move!
Everyone is like, "Whoah..."
And then they're HAPPY!
Vash and wolfwood stand against the wall, looking at the crowd.
Vash attempts to celebrate with Wolfwood, but it seems that he has to manually engage Wolfwood in a high-five.
Milly and Meryl are already getting drunk.
Meryl grabs onto Vash's arm and pulls him while Milly offers encouragement
EVERYONE DRINKS!
The little steampunk guy is so happy he's crying.
Luida has a moment with either a spiritual or imagined Doc. (She might be imagining what he would say in this situation...)
Everybody is celebrating! (Our heroes are in the bottom left corner having fun)
Later that night, everyone is trashed.
Vash has a striped tie around his head.
He looks to be passed out...and drooling...
ZOMG ANGRY KNIVES!!
VASH IMMEDIATELY SITS UP!
He sense...
Through the wall...
Past the ship...
Through the desert...
KNIVES HAS GONE FULL-ON ANGEL ARM!
Vash looks unbelieving
Knives looks murderous
Something speeds across the land in a straight line...
It's thin and sharp...
And then heads up...
From the ground, the power heads...
STRAIGHT INTO THE SKY!
Static...
That's all the satelite operator can hear.
Above the planet, debris swirls around...
KNIVES IS READY TO DESTROY HUMANITY!
A door opens
Vash is holding his bag.
He looks over and sees Brad.
Vash says goodbye...or at least tries too.
Brad follows for a bit...
But then Vash leaves for real...
Wolfwood is already outside waiting for Vash to get there.
Jessica narration: I cried all day...
Chapter 2
Monev
EG Mine
Dominique
Raidei
Grey
Leonov
Midvalley is mentally ticking down the number of his ilk who have died after facing Vash...
Establishing shot: a lounge is full of people bleading from their ears, eyes, and mouths as a band plays on stage...
Midvalley and Hoppard.
They investigate Knives' handiwork.
His angelarm blade sliced right through his head quarters
The cross-section is SHINY...oooooh...
The corner of the hull is incredibly sharp...
and Hoppard is on the unstable side of the cut.
Hands clap.
Midvalley's band is taken aback.
Knives seems very entertained.
EVERYONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!
Knives likes Midvalley's "style," killing a whole bar full of people to kill one mark.
Midvalley's bandmates bandmates want to sonically attack Knives, but Midvalley knows better...
A cool 2-page spread of some of the GHGs.
(notice Wolfwood is only represented by his weapon and his arm sticking into the frame from the right side...)
Flashback: Midvalley killing people.
Dead people.
Midvalley with dying and dead people.
Wiping blood off of his shoe.
Knives looking on...
Knives is looking down...
A big splatter mark...squishing humans like BUGS!
Midvalley thinks back to his orders: Eternal suffering...
Drapery...
Legato is held in his sarcophagus
and reports to...
Knives...
Legato does not approve of "Chapel."
Knives thinks he's doing a great job!
Legato is surprised.
Knives reveals that "Chapel" has a different mission from all the other GHGS.
Legato looks a little betrayed and lost as Knives acts nonchalant and dismissively.
Legato's babysitter carries him away from Knives' headquarters.
Midvalley appears to be standing in the same corridor.
IRONICALLY, the real traitor is right under Legato's nose.
Midvalley is planning to defect...not for any virtuous reason, but simply because he knows he is going to die sooner than later if he keeps working for Knives...
Midvalley contemplates killing Legato, but questions whether or not he'd actually be able to pull it off...
He looks at the read of his sax...
He's nervous...
sweating...
FLASHBACK...
Midvalley's band members decide to attack Knives.
Midvalley shouts for them to stop, but Knives totally kills them.
In an instant, Midvalley finds himself surrounded by decapitated torsos, disembodied heads and arms, flying legs, and lots and lots of blood.
Back to present...
Midvalley attempts to put the reed to his mouth...
But he can't. He's shaking too bad.
Is it because of Knives' presence? Is Knives somehow aware of what Midvalley is attempting to do? Or is Knives quietly meditating upon the idea that humans will try to murder each other even when it is pointless?
Either way, Knives looks a little despondant.
Establishing shot: Sky.
Sky and horizon.
Two little dots make their way across the desert. The spots are none other than...
Our Vehicularly-Challenged Heroes!
Vash has a tendency to face-plant in the desert...I guess plants need water.
Vash is playing, but Wolfwood gets concerned for Vash's state of aliveness.
Vash perks up at a noise.
A car is kicking up dirt in the distance...
Vash and Wolfwood are excited!
The car comes closer...
AND DRIVES RIGHT PAST THEM...carrying none other than Our Miffed and Passive-Agressive Heroines!
They have water...
Vash and Wolfwood are in disbelief...
Vash and Wolfwood run after the car...
Transition to dark interior...
Hoppard crash-lands.
Midvalley and Hoppard have demonstrated their super-secret teamwork.
Legato decides to deploy them together. (Also, after considering how the last two GHGs forced Our Resourceful Heroes to split up, Legato might be planning again to separate Wolfwood from Vash so that one of the other GHGs can KILL HIM... Keeping secrets from him...That'll show Knives.)
Chapter 3
Meryl looking a little more vulnerable than usual...
Zombie Vash!
Zombie Vash and Zombie Wolfwood!
It's daytime and birds are flying outside...
The doctor thanks Meryl and Milly for "saving these poor souls..."
The look on the girls' faces reveals that there actually was some doubt about the well being of Our Dehydrated Heroes
Meryl covers her face with her hand...
The boys are speechless...
Outside.
Meryl is power walking and Milly has to keep up.
Meryl buys a ton of what look like steamed buns.
Meryl stuffs her face as the girls muster up some false cheerfulness...
but it doesn't last long...
They are regretful for leaving them out in the desert for too long.
Meryl is experiencing conflicting emotions.
Milly looks on as Meryl contemplates the dangerous turn of events.
Suddenly something happens...
A crowd gathers...
As a huge cybernetic hand grabs the shoulders of a man...
and drops him to the ground...
He struggles to get up...
A silhouette of a girl slapping a monster/big baddie
This guy is basically assaulting a girl...
He grabs her by the head...
Some sort of cylindrical metal tube emerges...
The tube is between the puckered baddie and the screaming girl...
Gun to baddies head...
Milly's gun to be exact! The baddie is still holding the girl by the head.
She readies...
and FIRES!
But the baddie appears to counter the attack with his hand.
Suddenly, the baddie turns his amorous attention towards Milly.
But she just shoots him in the head.
He falls backwards...
Where Meryl greets him with a deringer to the skull.
And she will TOTALLY shoot this guy in the head if he moves.
The baddie knows it...
He is taken away in shackles.
Meryl and Milly congradulate each other.
Meryl looks at the small gun
and remembers...
her father? (He appears to have the kind of ear mufflers you wear at a shooting range to block out the sound)
The man hands a small, skinny Meryl a gun.
Back in the present, Meryl is still thinking...
Above her, an insect flies by...
And it keeps flying
into the desert.
On top of a rock,
Zazie is waiting...
The insect crawls onto Zazie's face...
and CLIMBS INSIDE HIS LOWER EYE LID!!!
Zazie takes a moment.
Then makes a decision.
Our Medically-averse Heroes release themselves from the hospital...
by bribing the doctor...
It's night.
Vash and wolfwood converse about the girls...
More conversation about the girls.
Wolfwood seems to be advocating splitting town,
but he also wants to to "pay them back."
Vash, however, sees through Wolfwood's words: Wolfwood wants to see the girls.
(In a reversal of the events in "Girls, Bravo,") Vash reasures Wolfwood that they'll catch up to the girls soon.
But then Vash turns around and acts resigned to the idea that despite the danger, the girls will catch up to him no matter what...
Establishing shot: somewhere in the desert...
An overhead shot of a vehicle...
A strange vehicle moving at great speed.
It's dark inside.
At the bar, Midvalley holds a shot.
Midvalley and Hoppard converse.
Over the next few pages, it seems like Midvalley and Hoppard are talking about defecting. Hoppard wants to kill Vash out of revenge, but Midvalley wants to escape. I think Hoppard is okay with going along with this plan...
Somewhere in the desert, insects are flying around...
Zazie stands on the roof of a building.
I believe that when Zazie is talking about "IT," he is refering to Vash's angel arm.
He sends the insects forward...
Back at the hospital,
Milly and Meryl realize they've been ditched.
Meryl is ready to find Our Missing Heroes.
An insect flies by a lamp.
Milly..senses something...
She turns away from Meryl...
just as a swarm of insects obsconds with Meryl.
She looks back...
No Meryl...
Chapter 4
A picture of a care-free Milly.
Establishing shot: a street in a town.
A patio restaurant.
Wolfwood and Vash are eating (An aside: In this volume, the food seems to be Asian. There were steamed buns, and now the guys look to be eating ramen or udon with chopsticks. I guess the only other food we really see is the girls eating desert or Legato eating hotdogs and steak...)
Wolfwood notices...
Milly, and calls out to her.
She sees them and starts crying!
Wolfwood is like...HUH?!
Somewhere else in the town, in narrow alley with TALL buildings,
Meryl is in an old elevator.
She regains consciousness...
AND REALIZES WHERE SHE IS, banging her head as she sits up!
Something is in her mouth...
She looks at it.
Insect remains...
She starts coughing in disgust.
Someone is outside watching her...
It's Zazie.
He looks at Meryl, who looks frightened by his eyes.
She hears other voices.
Midvalley and Hoppard have just arrived.
Zazie explains his plan.
Meryl is bait, but the dialogue here is confusing. In both the Dark Horse edition and the scanlation, it appears that Zazie is talking to BLUESUMMERS, which might indicate that Zazie is to keep tabs on Midvalley and Hoppard in case Midvalley tries to jump ship. (It seems like Legato is a little more on edge when it comes to displaying and maintaining loyalty to Knives than before.)
Midvalley reacts to Meryl's presence with surprise and Hoppard's dialogue indicates somewhat that this is the case because, instead of reacting to the "Meryl is Bait" statement, Hoppard is surprised to see her...
and RUSHES the cage, causing her to fall back defensively.
He screams at Meryl.
Midvalley tries to get Hoppard to chill, but Meryl starts shouting back at Hoppard!
Hoppard is surprised at Meryl's lack of understanding in the situation.
Meryl in the cage.
Hoppard backs off.
Meryl looks determined, angry, curious, and flustered at the same time. (What emotion is that?)
Midvalley looks on.
Transition from daytime to night.
Somewhere else in the city, Vash looks out a window as Wolfwood sits uneasily.
The GHGs have Meryl.
In the other room, Milly is awake in bed, possibly listening...
A sudden light comes into the room...
Vash sits up...
Wolfwood turns around to see what Vash sees: Zazie standing outside their window...
He's standing on a sandworm.
Zazie expects Vash to try to negotiate, since Vash is now known for trying to talk his way out of fights.
However, Zazie is taken aback when Vash THROWS open the windows and LEAPS ONTO THE SANDWORM!!!
Wolfwood AND Milly are surprised by Vash's reaction as well!
Vash slips down the sandworm,
but catches on one of the straps.
Zazie looks excited.
Vash is climbing up.
Wolfwood has a gun on him.
But then the sandworm slams into the building on the other side of the street,
and Vash is left hanging on for dear life.
Suddenly the sandworm flips Vash off of him, and he goes careening toward Wolfwood.
Vash tumbles all over Wolfwood.
Milly is still watching...
as the sandworm plunges into the ground!
and leaves a HUGE HOLE in the ground.
Our Meryl-less Heroes all look out the window at a huge complex in the middle of the city...
Establishing shot from below the gigantic complex.
It's dense, the alleys are narrow, there are several stories...
Our heroes survey the surroundings. It's a huge slum.
Vash knows this is a trap. Too many people.
Wolfwood is aware of this.
Sudennly, Wolfwood looks all cool and reassures Vash that no one will be dying as long as they're around (This is a significant change from Wolfwood's previous stance of being prepared to shoot a few people if "necessary.")
Wolfwood comments to Vash about his mission...
Wolfwood tells Milly to stay.
She refuses.
Vash puts his hand to his forehead as Milly and Wolfwood argue.
More arguing...
AND THEN SUDDENLY VIOLENCE! FROM MILLY! TOWARDS WOLFWOOD! (go big girl!)
Wolfwood and Milly stare at each other...
and then Vash casts the deciding vote for Milly to come along.
Vash reasons that any place is as safe/dangerous as the next.
I BELIEVE AT THIS POINT THE DIALOGUE CHANGES TO HOPPARD. He is anticipating using Milly and Wolfwood along with Meryl against Vash.
Above the buildings, Hoppard leans over a ledge and watches...
Vash suddenly looks up! And sees Hoppard above them!!
Chapter 5
Hoppard is still on the roof,
but from their vantage point on the ground, they don't appear to be able to figure out who it is.
Someone else is coming, too...
It's Midvalley!
Hoppard jumps off the roof...
and falls towards the ground...
his hand is on a control...
THAT PROPELS HIM FORWARD AT GREAT SPEED!
Debris falls down towards Vash, Wolfwood, and Milly.
RUN! Our heroes are separated!
A big tank falls down and bursts open, gushing water and catching Wolfwood.
He is washed away into a puddle of water.
He sees the water coming out of the broken tank,
but then looks up!
MIDVALLEY!
Midvalley sends a sonic onslaught in Wolfwood's direction!
Glass from all around shatters and falls down.
Wolfwood is in agony!
His brain is not happy.
He coughs up blood and falls back into the water.
Midvalley looks down...
And apologizes for killing Wolfwood so quickly.
Somewhere nearby, Vash is covering his ears from Midvalley's sax.
The sounds of the city come back.
Vash doesn't know what the sound was.
He tells Milly to get away.
Hoppard gets ready...
And introduces himself to Vash.
Hoppard swings an arm out, holding a gun.
He puts the gun down...
and slams TWO coin fragments into the ground.
Milly feels frozen.
I think she's picking up on the "killing intent" that is eminating from Vash. (I have noticed that before each fight, Vash and Knives seem to send out some sort of existential dread that blankets all characters within range... HOWEVER, she also seems to question her motivation for coming. If she came out of revenge, she would be just like the GHGs.)
But Vash isn't interested.
Vash's reaction surprises Milly.
Vash is only here for Meryl!
Hoppard taunts...
THEN AIMS HIS GUN AT MILLY!!!
In other news, Wolfwood is not dead.
Midvalley stops and turns to see Wolfwood aiming his Cross Punisher up at Midvalley.
Hoppard advances...
Wolfwood and Vash open fire on their respective targets!
Vash shoots the gun out of Hoppard's hand before Milly can lift her stungun.
Wolfwood's torpedo goes up...
AND UP!!!
Midvalley watches it...
It EXPLODES in the sky.
People start running to see what the hell is going on.
There is a large explosion.
From her "cage," Meryl sees it.
Zazie watches as well.
Zazie teases Meryl...
And lets it slip that Vash...HAS A BROTHER!
Knives is close by.
Meryl is clueless.
Zazie decides to fill her in...
Chapter 6
As the SEEDS ships fall to the ground,
the sandworms look up...
IMPACT FROM COLLISION!
The Sandworms are all ?!?!
The sandworms communicate with each other
and observe...
two newcomers...
VASH AND KNIVES!
Hurt Vash
Disdainful Knives.
Meryl makes a bizarre face.
Zazie notes this...
Zazie is part of a native collective conscience which existed on this world before humans came here. He also seems to be an empath, able to feel the feelings of others.
When we return to Vash and Hoppard, we find Hoppard has launched an offensive.
He has aimed toward Vash, but Vash dives out of the way RIGHT BEFORE IMPACT.
Hoppard appears to go through a wall into a welling, sailing over a chair and table, with what appear to be blinds or drapes hanging from the front of his shield-thing.
Bottles fly past Hoppard.
Vash is skidding on the ground.
IMPACT!
Hoppard and Vash both raise their guns.
Vash is bent over, one kneed bent under him, one straight forward, his head near the ground, as he turns to aim at Hoppard's exposed form.
Hoppard's aiming back.
Vash looks at the balconies above...
and yells at the residents to run!
Residents begin to scramble.
Hoppard spins his shield,
And turns towards Vash,
who again narrowly dives out of the way.
As Hoppard confronts Vash about July, he appears to be crying out of all the eye-holes in his face mask.
Hoppard flashback of July.
Back to Zazie on the subject of what "THEY" are...
Get ready for the big reveal...Meryl finds out that Vash is...
A PLANT!
Flashback montage: Wrecked SEEDS ship.
Settlers walking across the desert. Setlers coming out of the Ship
A mom and a little kid
People fighting
A city
A graveyard
A Plant in a bulb above some technicians
A sunset...
and VASH AND KINVES IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL...WATCHING...
Flash to an ANGEL ARM! And the moon...
Meryl falls back...and begins to shake.
Zazie seems to be lumping him and his kind with the humans, which suggests to me that Zazie doesn't know whether or not Knives is contemplating killing EVERY NONPLANT THING ON THE PLANET...
Cut to Midvalley. He's crawling away.
He has sustained injuries from Wolfwood's attack.
He reminds himself that Wolfwood IS STILL A GHG and can't be killed THAT easily.
Midvalley prepares to attack again,
but one of the keys on his sax is damaged/jammed
Midvalley sees Hoppard below.
Hoppard attacks!
But again Vash just BARELY DODGES.
Vash goes spinning wildly...
and hits the ground hard.
Hoppard sees Vash laid out on the ground.
Hoppard taunts Vash as Vash looks around, making a run for cover.
Hoppard opens fire JUST as Vash jumps inside a building (You can see his foot at the left side of the panel)
Hoppard is disgusted by Vash
Inside the building, Vash is breathing hard.
Establishing shot...it looks like the sun is rising over the complex.
People are helping each other evacuate.
A fist...
MILLY'S FIST!!
A group of people gather around something...
MILLY CLIMBS OVER THEM!
It's WOLFWOOD!
She immediately climbs down to him.
As she comes over to him, he SUDDENLY SITS UP, scaring Milly pretty bad.
Wolfwood asks about Vash.
They sit and might be listening to battle sounds...not sure since I can't read Japanese sound effects...
Wolfwood says, "LET'S GO!"
Milly starts crying.
Wolfwood's like, YEAH THIS IS SCARY! TOLD YOU!
Wolfwood wants to move on alone...
Milly looks like she's about to fight...
A very bright light shines down on them.
Milly looks up.
A man is shining a flashlight down at them.
Milly notices as Wolfwood gropes around the puddle.
Wolfwood can't SEE.
Milly looks scared/surprised/concerned.
Somewhere else in the compound, Midvalley meets up with Zazie (To me, Zazie kind of looks like a happy puppy whose owner has come home.)
Zazie/Midvalley conversation. Zazie talks about Legato...
Midvalley drinks a shot of alcohol...
Zazie notices...something...
A sandworm in the distance delivers a message...
Someone is approaching...
Chapter 7
A narrow alley...
Cables...
Lots of cables...
Something is hanging from them...
A man-shaped something...
A VASH-SHAPED SOMETHING!
Hoppard antagonizes an exhausted Vash about July.
Vash slowly opens his eyes...and sees...
THE FIFTH MOON!
FLASHBACK!
Someone is on a cliff standing in rags.
It's Vash...
and he's BAWLING AND SCREAMING!
He begins to think about July and his responsibility for it...
Hoppard gets in Vash's face.
Vash doesn't pull away.
Hoppard notes this briefly before PUNCHING VASH IN THE FACE...
Conversation.
Hoppard wants to kill Vash.
It appears...that Vash would also like to kill Hoppard.
I think the memory of Rem is the only thing holding him back at the moment...
Vash tells Hoppard he CAN KILL VASH!
but not before Vash deals with KNIVES!
Hoppard is no longer interested in conversing as he crawls behind his shield...
He gets ready...
Vash is still trapped/hanging from the cables!
Hoppard FIRES!
But instead of hitting Vash, he propels himself upward!
Back to Wolfwood.
He has found his Cross Punisher and has it on his shoulder.
He still can't see.
He realizes that he can't see...
Milly runs after Wolfwood, but Wolfwood turns around and TOTALLY DECKS HER!
She collapses and he catches her.
He calls up to the people for help with her,
but they're all angry!
And Wolfwood ends up having to take care of Milly anyway!
He acknowledges that Meryl's kidnapping is enough to get them all involved.
Establishing shot...somewhere else in the complex...
High above everything...
Hoppard and Midvalley...
They regroup and compare notes...
Midvalley and Hoppard have something else to do...
Establishing shot...An airship.
Darkness. Drapery. An old-fashioned phone.
Someone answers it.
It's a woman...and she's talking to KNIVES...
She talks as Vash makes his way toward the tall central building in the compound.
Very close by, Knives appears to be deep in thought...
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