Tear Jerker / Betray Me Not

As a Gungrave Continuation Fic, Betray Me Not keeps the grim atmosphere of the canon.

Decisions, Consequences, and a Second Chance

• It opens with Biscoe realizing that he's too late. Brandon has presumably died by the time they arrive.
  • Biscoe's remorse. He is so guilty that the stench of rotten meat suffocates him less than his attempt to hold back his tears.
• Broad Strokes make the way Mika begs Biscoe to save Brandon much sadder than in the canon. She is screaming and crying and pulling Biscoe's suit as she pleads to the mob boss. Poor kid is afraid to be all alone.
  • Even sadder when Biscoe chooses to dismiss her coldly in order to obey Millennion's Code of Iron. It results in Mika crying as she runs out of the office.
• Mika biting Biscoe's agents in a desperate attempt to reach Brandon is an awesome moment for her, but at the same time, it's very sad. As Biscoe has said, she is an orphan whose Parental Substitute is in danger, and it's just her instinct to be that wild.
• Norton's suggestion regarding Brandon's punishment. It's very mean, because it's very much like flogging an animal. It's even worse because Norton thinks it's okay to treat Brandon like an animal. All because he's a Necrolyzer and a traitor.
• Biscoe's attempt to save Brandon. He orders his men to stop attacking, but the response? They disagree. Biscoe yelling in a fit of rage just shows how much he cares for Mika, and to a lesser extent, Brandon.
• Mika being a Stepford Smiler as she tries to accept Brandon's death.
  • Biscoe sympathizing with the poor kid and hugging her.
• As the trailer journeys to the graveyard to bury Brandon, Mika keeps looking at Brandon's corpse. Biscoe's guess? Poor kid is sorta saying goodbye to her Parental Substitute, as she will never have the chance to see him again once they arrive at the graveyard.
• When Brandon turns out to be alive? "Welcome back." Tearjerkingly heartwarming.

Betray Me Not

• Brandon is very upset for betraying Millennion and Mika. He deems himself to be irredeemably evil and doesn't deserve kindness from anybody. And it's worse when Mika keeps being kind to him, which only saddens him.
  • Just as sad when you see how everybody in Millennion treats him. Nobody cares about the fact that he's a gentle, sentient undead.
• The moment Mika asks if Brandon has truly betrayed her and Millennion. Brandon, who has been holding back his tears all this long, finally cries and tearfully admits that he has indeed betrayed Mika and Millennion.
• The way Biscoe and Norton treat Brandon. To adhere to the Code of Iron without disrespecting Mika, they punish Brandon severely and don't find a reason to be nice to him.
  • It's plain tragic when you think that Brandon, whose stitched wounds (his lost arm and leg) actually take three weeks to recover as remarked by Dr. William, is forced to wear an Artificial Limb the next day just so that he can work in a mafia operation.
  • Biscoe doesn't care (on the exterior at least) about William's statement regarding prosthesis and Brandon's health and brushes him off and later, they also threaten Dr. William. Combined with Genius Bonus, this is actually plain terrible. An amputee will receive temporary prosthesis for stump fitting process, as the residual limb will gradually shrink after the amputation and take some time before it stops shrinking. If prosthetic fitting isn't done, the prosthesis will inflict various discomfort to the wearer, and if it's any worse, skin breakdown (which actually happens to Brandon) may happen. After that, walking with an artificial leg isn't simple and one needs to practice walking with it. These are neglected by Biscoe and Norton, which results in Brandon's constant problems in walking (which worry Mika as well) due to the lack of practice and the short prosthesis. Everything eventually culminates in William's anger when he finds that Brandon's residual leg is severely infected and on the risk of getting further amputated. Due to Gungrave universe's pathetic or non-existent law enforcement, nothing can be done. This simply cranks the Emotional Torque up to eleven.
  • How does Norton scold Brandon? By reminding Brandon of his betrayal towards Mika. Poor Brandon has been struggling to cope with his grief and guilt of betraying Mika (and Millennion), but Norton is just rubbing salt into the wound.
    • And on top of that, when Brandon keeps looking down to hide the fact that he is deeply hurt by Norton and crying, Norton thinks that he is being disrespectful. He snaps at Brandon and orders him to look up. Brandon does look up, silently, with tears in his eye. Good work, Norton.
• When Mika reveals the truth behind her thought of Brandon finally finding his peace the moment she finds him. She still can't truly move on without him, and that thought is just her attempt to console herself.
• Brandon's speech after brutally murdering Harry's goon.
  Brandon: I'm not... I'm never a false friend. *tears up* I have a family to protect.
  • Brandon then collapses and tearfully apologizes to Harry. From the start, Brandon has doubted if it's a good idea to betray Harry. But he then thinks that there's nothing wrong with betraying a dead man (Harry), because Mika, a child who has a future, is more important. However, Harry's goon just nails it when he says that Brandon isn't supposed to betray his best friend Harry, even if he's already dead.
• After annihilating Harry's goons, Brandon struggles to return to Biscoe. However, he soon falls because he isn't used to wearing prosthesis, and he can't get up easily. But Biscoe's guards don't help him. Even after Biscoe commands them to, they still dub Brandon as a convict and seemingly refuse to help him. Only when Mika finally runs out of patience and decides to help Brandon by herself do they come to Brandon.
• When William angrily points out that Biscoe and Norton have put Brandon through a Cold-Blooded Torture and reveals that he is almost forced to amputate the remainder of Brandon's leg, which is badly infected and rotting. The moment Biscoe decides to reconcile with Brandon is just as sad while being heartwarming.
  • And a teary Biscoe as he speaks some kind words to Brandon and (implicitly) apologizes to him.
  • Biscoe himself. He is a Jerkass (but pales in comparison to Norton), but that is on the surface. He has to act tough so that his underlings fear him, but he cares for Mika and to a lesser extent, Brandon. Deep down, he knows that he will cause so much pain to Brandon and doesn't really have the heart to do such thing. It's why he immediately melts when he finds out that Brandon has deliberately allowed Biscoe to abuse him to show his underlings that their boss is a strict person.

Worth

• Poor Brandon thinks that Disabled Means Helpless, which is why he urges William to kill him. He wants to help Millennion and Mika.
• Whenever William takes Brandon for a walk around Millennion's lobby, the guards aren't very nice to him. Luckily, they just stare at him, so Brandon doesn't think that it's a big problem.
• The worst one here is the report from the surveillance room. It's known that Brian is the one who starts everything and makes Brandon angry, but then, from Biscoe's speech, it seems like the report just says that Brandon almost hits Brian. No motive. No reason. You see how horrible Millennion is towards Brandon just because he has once betrayed and is then pardoned.
  • It's even worse when Biscoe ends up slapping Brandon and snapping at him. Fortunately, there's William who helps defend Brandon.
  • And then, Biscoe also mentions that not everybody agrees that he just punishes Brandon (the events in Betray Me Not) by forcing him to wear an Artificial Limb while the wound on his residual leg is still stitched and then sending him to a mafia operation (annihilating the remainder of Harry's Millennion).
  • And keep in mind that Brandon is still filled with sorrow and suicidal thoughts at that moment.
• Brandon admitting that the mess with Brian is his fault. The way he addresses it looks like he actually prefers dying.
• Biscoe and his man talking about how valuable Brandon is to Millennion may be a heartwarming line, but it's actually pretty sad because it's what that Brandon never realizes until the end of Worth due to how cruel Millennion has been to him. He does get better, as hinted in the other works related to the whole series.

Rehabilitation

• Lost Leg has Brandon's prosthesis finally crumbling to pieces due to his obstinacy. Because Brandon is still recovering, he relies on it so much and appreciates it despite its flaws. When it breaks, Brandon just enters Five Stages of Grief.
  • His phantom sensation, which has been very mild thanks to the prosthesis, becomes severely annoying to him again.
  • The fact that Brandon has been confined to his bed for many days is pretty tearjerking by itself. His body aches due to lying on the bed for too long, said pain prevents him from sleeping soundly, his muscles are slowly locking up on him, and to top it off, an hour feels like a day when he's all alone in the trailer. The prosthesis is the only thing that can prevent those for him, yet it breaks. Ouch.

Loan Shark

• Retribution has a calm, yet angry Brandon seeking vengeance on the man who has led a riot that killed his fellow Loan Shark. By the time he reaches his target, however, he notices that Leonard is a father to a little girl. He momentarily doubts if killing Leonard for quench his desire to revenge is the right thing thanks to him seeing Leonard's daughter as Mika and Leonard as Brandon himself.
  • He decides to kill Leonard anyway, but Brandon is deeply pained due to him seeing a crying Mika hugging his (Brandon's) lifeless body instead of Leonard's daughter hugging Leonard's corpse.
  • Let's not imagine what will become of the poor orphaned girl. This is something that further saddens Brandon.

Guardian of a Lifetime

• The Hellhound of Billion:
  • When Charles beats Brandon to within an inch of his life and leaves him for dead. After breaking his skull and wrist, Charles proceeds to shoot Brandon in his thighs with an anti-necrolyze rifle, paralyzing him leg down. It's really difficult to see Brandon with such a serious injury. And he crawls, slowly and painfully in a desperate attempt to get back at Charles.
    • In addition to the painful crawl, there's a detailed depiction of his injuries. Brandon is bleeding from his ears and nostrils, and he coughs up blood. In addition, some blood is trickling down his throat, causing him to cough. Which in turn, will worsen his bleeding.
    • And there's Brandon being finally pushed into Despair Event Horizon. Having leaving Millennion Tower against Biscoe's and Mika's request, Brandon knows he's not wanted anywhere. So he just lets a civilian harass him: said man snaps at him, stomps the gunshot wound on his shoulder (caused by an anti-necrolyze bullet) and causes Brandon to scream in pain twice, and nabs his wallet. This happens because Brandon already comes into terms with the fact that he'll die alone and unloved.
  • The revelation of what happened to Brandon's parents. They were shot down when he was six, which traumatized him to the point he was terrified of guns. Poor guy never gets a break.
  • Poor Sara learning about the fact that Charles has killed many Millennion men and causing Brandon to be wheelchair-bound. Mama Didn't Raise No Criminal! What makes it painful is that she meets Brandon and Arnold when Brandon is on his way to give her son a proper retribution for his crime.
    • Brandon even thinks of bringing Sara along, but because punishing Charles is his duty, he can't bring himself to take her, an obstacle, with him.
  • As nasty as he is, Charles' death is still pretty sad. With a leg of his ripped off by an angry Gilbert, he lies there in his mother's arms, his skin yellowing and his muscles seizing up. He seems to have difficulty speaking as well.
    • Charles eventually dies with a smile, clearly grateful at Brandon's mercy. Both heartwarming and tearjerking, because unlike his first death, he is no longer vengeful and can finally die in peace.
  • Arnold's death and funeral. He's Brandon's faithful driver who has appeared many times throughout the series, and he's a relatively nice and fun-loving guy.
    • When Mika stands before his grave and thanks him for everything, it's just...ouch.
    • Poor Kevin's reaction to this. Yeah, it sucks to live in Billion.
  • Sara's death. Charles' hellhounds killed her. It wouldn't have stung so much if Charles' aim of killing those hellhounds - his very reason to necrolyze himself aside from his vengeance - is to protect her.
• Crossfire has Vash reminiscing about Rem and shedding tears. Then he briefly talks by himself about Knives and how much he hates what he's done to Rem and many people. However, Vash being Vash, just can't bring himself to hate anybody.