Fifth Moon

Fifth Moon is the sixteenth episode of the Trigun anime. This episode covers Chapter 16 and Chapter 20 of the manga.

Summary
At an undisclosed location, Midvalley enjoys the company of some beautiful ladies, while Legato enjoys a sundae. He's soon approached by a restless E.G. Mine who wants his turn to fight against Vash who has already taken out two of their allies. Legatos allows Mine to fight Vash, but unbeknownst to the lackey sends another as well.

Two weeks have passed since Vash left Meryl and Milly in Jeneora Rock and they are notably worried. After overhearing a few men talk disparagingly of Vash, Meryl buts in and says her two cents to the men, but immediately regrets it. Recalling the words of the old man said to her, Meryl rekindles her mission to follow Vash to the ends of the planet. Meanwhile, in some saloon, Vash is confronted by a male corpse controlled by Legato who relays a message from him and sequentially shoots himself in the head. Following the message from Legato, Vash heads to the city known as Augusta.

News of Vash the Stampede going on a rampage in Augusta spreads like wildfire and an old friend along with the insurance girls, catch wind of it. At the site of the new, Vash fires off his gun openly proclaiming his name and reputation. This scares off the entire population in the city and once this feat is accomplished, Vash finds the corpses of Monev and Dominque hung to a wall. Mine then confronts Vash and after a brief talk, they fight and are soon joined by another Gung-Ho-Gun Rai-Dei the Blade. The samurai Gung-Ho challenges Vash to a "Shi-Ai", but Vash doesn't understand that. So, Rai-Dei elaborates in brevity that its a deathmatch. When Vash asks for his reason as to why Rai-Dei insists on doing this, believing it's a ploy by Legato, Rai-Dei answers that it's his bushido creed. Rai-Dei desires no more, but to experience the visual of standing before the abyss of death. A livid Mine, intervenes between Rai-Dei and Vash's discussion. Rai-Dei then informs Mine that he already lost due to Vash's marksmanship and finishes him off.

With Mine taken care of, Vash and Rai-Dei both start the deathmatch between them. Just outside of the town, Meryl and Milly arrive in the outskirts and a determined Meryl seeks to regroup with Vash, much to a hesitant Milly. The fight between Vash and Rai-Dei continues and after getting the upper hand on Vash by firing his sword and using his sheath as a rifle. Rai-Dei demands to know what Vash sees, it's then that Legatos appears in Vash's mind and demands that he uses it. At that moment, Vash's Angel Arm activates and elsewhere, Meryl and Milly are seen in the city finding a piece of Vash's coat. A brilliant light engulfs a nearby building and so, Milly riding on her Thomas while having Meryl in her arm, rides out of the city. As Vash's arm starts to transform, Rai-Dei is astounded by the process and Vash pleads that he run away in order to save himself. Rai-Dei tries to, but a building that collapses in front of him blocks the way. Using his prosthetic arm, Vash shoots at his Angel Arm to divert the direction of the arm when it fires off, it decimates the city and blows a massive hole into the 5th moon.

In the aftermath, Rai-Dei is shown to be alive and is met by Wolfwood who asks where Vash is. Having no clue to his location and hoping to team up with Wolfwood in order to kill Vash, in turn, Wolfwood finishes off Rai-Dei. He then comments on what Vash did to Augusto and asks if this is the path Vash chose.

Once again, news spreads of the incident Vash caused in Augusto. Soon Meryl and Milly get official orders from their agency that terminates their responsibility to follow Vash and to return to HQ effective immediately. The news leaves Meryl distraught.

Appearances

 * Vash the Stampede
 * E.G. Mine
 * Rai-Dei the Blade
 * Legato Bluesummers
 * Midvalley the Hornfreak
 * Monev the Gale (Corpse)
 * Dominique the Cyclops (Corpse)
 * Nicholas D. Wolfwood
 * Kuroneko
 * Frank Marlon
 * Julius
 * Moore
 * Brilliant Dynamites Neon
 * Elizabeth
 * Neil
 * Clair
 * Kaite Trevisick
 * Ingway