Synopsis
After the flashback: we see the ikkou-minus-3 (I-3) driving along. Goku gripes that he'd never thought Sanzo would be such an asshole; Hakkai diplomatically says "well, he's very stubborn" and Gojyo snaps that Hakkai shouldn't let the "self-centered, bald SoB" off so easy. It'll be great not having him around, says Gojyo, and angry Goku agrees. The saru wonders how the KT is. Flashback to their dropping Lirin off: the princess thanked them, and angrily swore to kill Hazel next time she saw him, for tricking her and hurting her brother and friends. Hakkai advised her to return home at once, as her brother must be worried; Lirin promised to help the SI defeat Hazel ("and afterward we'll beat you guys too!" --yeah right, bring it on, snorts Gojyo) and took off on dragonback.==Goku is still pensive; Gojyo remarks that he has too few brain cells to waste them on worrying, and Goku suddenly stands up in the back seat and lets out a howl that nearly startles Hakuryu into a wheelie. Gojyo upbraids Goku; the saru gripes that "just thinking of that baldy Sanzo makes me so mad!" (yeah, right.) --Hakkai laughs, and Gojyo tells him to pick up speed, so they can reach the West before Sanzo does. We're counting on you, Hakuryu! Goku tells the jeep, which kyuus in enthused response. Hakkai adds that there's no chance he'll get there ahead of them, as he's traveling on foot, and G&G break out in fresh chortles; he's so slow! and those sandals are hard to walk in! [Um, Goku ought to have noticed that he gave up wearing his temple sandals 2 series ago...] And he smokes too much, puts in Hakkai. Yet more chortles from the back seat.
On the trail: Sanzo trips on a rock, stumbles and goes splat; he cusses, dusts off and walks on. Hazel observes that at this pace they'll be campin' out for the night, and Gato has been patiently gathering up Sanzo's chain-smoked cigarettes as he drops them--he has most of a can full. Hazel catches up as the monk lights yet another and asks if he doesn't think he smokes too much; Sanzo hmphs indignantly and walks on.
They come to an open field, and Sanzo sits down to finish his cig in peace, looking pensive. Hazel walks up and addresses him, but Sanzo at once rises in silence and begins to leave, only to find the very large form of Gato standing immovably in his way. Don't be rude, Gat, chides Hazel, and the big guy stands aside. Don't worry, he adds as Sanzo strides off; Sanzo-han will need our help sooner or later.
The IM3 has stopped to do some grocery shopping, and all happily comment on how much faster and cheaper shopping is without Mr. Annoying. Goku wonders what he's eating now, and he and Gojyo agree that besides being a chain smoker, Sanzo has unhealthy eating habits as well. [They're trying just a little too hard to be fine with this, ne?]==Suddenly a PoRY bursts in, recognizing them as the Sanzo-ikkou and demanding the sutra. You picked the wrong day to pick a fight with us, says Gojyo, and they arm up and dust the youkai in jig time. Goku gripes that they shouldn't still have to fight off sutra-hunters now that they've split with Sanzo...
...but another PoRY (that's Pack of Random Youkai, in case you forgot) has caught up with the man in question. They call down from the cliff above that they've been waiting for him--and where are his followers? Shut up, snaps Sanzo; don't talk about them unless you're trying to piss me off. Having fewer to fight makes it easier for us, grin the youkai, but Sanzo picks one off with his first shot and challenges the rest to bring it. Would you like some help, Sanzo-han? calls Hazel-rah, but he snarls that Hazel needs to shut up too, and that he'll kill them both if they don't quit talking to him. He drills two more youkai, reloads [just bullets, apparently...] and goes on shooting them down as more pour in. Sanzo-han is so adorable when he's angry, purrs the bishop; get goin', Gato. The big guy joins the gunfight. Sanzo is ticked off until a gut kick sends him and the banishing gun flying in opposite directions. Sanzo is slammed hard into the stone wall and goes down. Gato barrels in just in time to get between him and the horde, and Sanzo has no choice but to accept the assist. When Gato runs out of ammo, he turns and slams a punch into the cliffside; a huge boulder is jarred free and takes out the rest of the demons. Hazel snickers.
Sanzo comes to and grimaces in pain. Gat notes that he's awake and says it's probably best if he stays still. Where is this, Sanzo manages, and Gat --who's cooking in a pot over a campfire--tells him they're in a mountain cave. [whether he (a) punched his way into it or (b) actually formed it with his blow isn't clear, but I'm guessing (a)--though either is pretty incredible.] Sanzo tries to straighten up, flinches and groans in pain, and subsides with a look of exhausted worry. [aww..] It seems that Gat hauled himself and Sanzo out from under the rockslide he caused, and that the priest just had breath enough to bitch that he hasn't asked for the HT's help before blacking out. Now he and Gat are resting in the cave, and the big native hands him a plate of the (soup? stew?) he's cooked. Sanzo grudgingly takes the plate, tries it, makes an awful face and coughs. Gat apologetically says that, being dead, he can no longer tell what food tastes like, but that Sanzo will heal faster if he eats it. Sanzo steels himself and drains the plate, then reaches for a cigarette. Lighting up, he comments on Gat's loyalty and self-sacrificing service, and asks his exact relation to the bishop. He's taken aback when Gat replies that back before he died, he'd tried to kill Hazel.
Flashback: once upon a time, Gato [who looked exactly as he does now, clothes and all] and his clan lived in tepees in Monument Valley and hunted deerlike things with tomahawks, killed only what they needed, and lived in harmony with nature. All was good until a dozen guys who all looked exactly like Wyatt Earp rode into the valley, butchered whole herds of deer-beasties and left them to rot, then gunned down and burned Gat's village. He and his hunting party returned home to find a smoking ruin. They charged the Earps, but were no match for their guns. I felt myself dying, he tells Sanzo; I felt helpless anger that I couldn't protect what I loved...and then, he says, a spirit arrived. We see a glowing light, a voice that says it will give him strength to support his rage. Revitalized, he got to his feet, threw aside the nearest Wyatt, took his gun and blazed away. Having dropped all the Earps, he asked the one still breathing where he came from and if there were more on the way. The spirit, he tells Sanzo, told me to touch the man. When I did, I suddenly knew what he knew--I saw the things that were happening in his country ...and then, suddenly, a green swirly tunnel swallowed him down, and when he woke, he was in the same European city we see in Hazel's flashbacks. It was Hazel's village, he says. Skeptical Sanzo [and who can blame him!] says that's quite a tall tale, and Gat agrees that he doubted his own senses as well, but soon learned why he was there. Hazel was only a child then, but he was already destroying monsters with his uncanny power, killing indiscriminately. I knew, says Gat angrily, that I was there to stop his meaningless slaughter. But when he drew his guns, they failed to fire; and the blue-eyed boy dropped him with a simple "Leave this life." Hazel brought him back to life with a monster's soul, he says (like Hazel, he uses the English word "monster", not bakemono or youkai), and told him that from now on he must defend and protect Hazel, who in turn promised to restore him, no matter how often he was harmed. He believes that the reason his own soul is still with him is because the Great Spirit is also still with him, even after all this time. But Hazel, who I had tried to kill, became my master, he finishes; and the spirit no longer speaks to me.
Pause. Sanzo glances sidelong at him. And you're okay with that? he asks. Gato replies that Hazel put it most clearly: He can't ever betray Hazel, since without his reviving power he'd be long dead. That's the only reason I protect him, and I will until the end.
Sanzo looks thoughtful (and a bit dubious); Hazel reappears, carrying a large grocery sack (which seems to contain mostly French bread). I'm back, he announces cheerily, let's eat together! but the moment he sits down, Sanzo rises, says he's imposed on them enough and walks out into the sunset. H&G step to the cave mouth to watch him go, and are surprised by a sly chuckle from behind them: Dr. Ni, of all people, and a shadowy figure at his side (does it have youkai ears?) . Looks as if you've shown your cards, blue-eyed angel; he says; do you need some help? The two look distrustful; Ni chortles in unpleasant glee... (and agh! the preview says that the shadowy youkai with Ni is Zakuro!)
