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Disclaimer: All characters except for a few in this series belong to their respective…um, companies? You know what I mean.
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Puppet Master Chapter One
Heero's Madness
Duo glanced up nervously as Heero walked through the back door and into the huge kitchen. Keeping his eyes down and his mind off of the strange nervousness crawling in his belly, Duo finished the pizza slice he was eating and gave Heero a quick glance. The pilot's back was turned to him and his body was covered in under a thick trench coat.
It had been over two weeks since anyone had seen or heard anything of the cold solider. Not that it had been the first time Heero had simply vanished in the night; sometimes he'd be gone for days and even weeks at a time only to show up one morning, cloaked in his trenchcoat without a word of where he'd been. When he came back, Heero would usually hole up in the room Quatra had given him and refused to come out. Even Wufei walked quietly near Heero's door during those times. The first time Heero reappeared without a word, one of the maids had accidentally entered his room, thinking him still gone. Her body was found three days later in the closet, tied up, beaten and scarred badly. Luckily, she lived but left the next day, refusing to tell anything about what'd happened.
The past few days, Duo, Quatra and even Wufei had gathered together to discuss Heero's behavior. None wanted to straight-out face him-even Wufei had ignored his burning pride when he told them that he wasn't willing to confront the cobalt-eyed solider. Quatra was still angry about what Heero had done to the maid while Trowa remained quiet, refusing to attend. Each had noticed that every time Heero returned, he became more hostile, emitting a malicious feeling much more venomous than during the war.
The pilots were living in a huge, mountain mansion that had been abandoned years before. It had once been furnished and was still livable, if a bit musty. Thanks to Quatra, the deserted house was soon turned into a beautiful home. Quatra had paid to have the floor's old yellow carpet removed and replaced it with shining wood floor except in the main receiving hall where pure white carpet was instated. Large wooden beds were bought for each of the pilots and their individual rooms were decorated each to the pilot's own taste. Huge chandeliers were hung over the other recreation rooms, many made out of beautiful crystal. The walls were repainted to become the white they'd originally been and huge wall-hangings hung over them. The windows were cleaned and occasionally replaced until the once forlorn looking house became an elegant mansion home to all five pilots.
Heero had lived in the home for barely a week before leaving. Each day he had become more withdrawn and seemed more tortured about some hidden matter. Trowa had watched with a knowing and somber expression while Wufei hardly noticed, too busy with his new command as Preventer "Dragon." Quatra was visited nearly constantly by his sisters and Duo was hanging out with Hilde so none but Trowa noticed Heero's strange demeanor until he'd left. At the time, none of them-excepting Trowa- had paid much attention to Heero's departure, each believing he'd return soon. After he'd been gone for nearly a week, Quatra began looking around and eventually everyone else added his own effort to the search.
That's when they'd first entered his room. The other pilots had garnished their rooms but Heero seemed to have left it the way they'd first found it. Thick, dust-covered black drapes blocked the windows and there was dust everywhere except for a small desk in the corner. Wufei had automatically assumed the desk to be the place where Heero had used his computer but there was nothing in the room, no markings, fingerprints or even footmarks, that would betray Heero's previous presence. If they didn't know better, the teen pilots would have believed the room void of all occupants for many years. Besides that, nothing could be found anywhere in the room that would connect a living person to the chamber. Duo told them with a cheerful smile that it was because Heero was use to being followed by OZ or someone, the effective way he'd covered his tracks was just a reflex. Trowa had shook his head, arguing that Heero never did anything without some purpose behind the action.
For the next six months, Heero came and went in a quiet yet dominant manner. He rarely talked to anyone and the one time someone had tried to follow him, the trail was lost within fifteen minutes. Quatra would have been willing to let Heero continue on like that but the violent manner Heero treated anyone who bothered him was unacceptable. The Arabian boy was the most distressed about Heero's character. Wufei was more than willing to let it go and Duo wasn't willing to take judgement on his 'friend.' The whole time, Trowa seemed to watch Heero with an awareness none of the others had and refused to be a part of any discussions about the solider.
At the moment, Duo cursed his luck at being the first one to confront him. He waited in silence a few minutes as Heero searched through the cupboards for something Duo couldn't see and then cleared his throat noisily. Forcing a friendly smile, the American pilot said cheerfully, "Hey, Heero. How's it going? Haven't seen 'ya in awhile."
Heero didn't reply but stopped searching, pulling something out of a drawer and applying it to his skin.
Duo's smile faltered but stayed plastered on his face. "So, where've you been hiding, huh? We were getting kind of worried, you know. What with you just disappearing again. Relena even called to talk to you-"
Heero's body stiffened noticeably at the mention of Relena's name. He finished applying whatever it was to his face in stiff jerky movements and than turned his head to face the other pilot. Bloodshot Prussian met cheerful azure. Duo breathed in sharply as he saw the damage on Heero's face. There was a long, jagged cut running from the corner of Heero's left eye that ran halfway down his cheek and a two cuts crossed on his right cheek, forming a broken cross. Various other smaller cuts marked his face but those three were the only ones that would form scars. Another cut formed at the bottom tip of Heero's right ear and ran a shredded course down his neck, going beyond sight. Here and there blood still ran freely and Duo caught a glimpse of what Heero had been using-a bloody rag was clenched in his right fist.
Since he'd first began leaving, Heero had traded in his traditional green tank top and black spandex shorts for a pair of long, baggy pants that were as black as midnight and a black tank top. Over them Heero also wore a heavy and long trench coat and he had also begun wearing leather gloves with the fingers cut off to give the user a better grip. His usually unruly brown hair had grown a bit, now reaching his shoulders. With his new scars and the murderous look in his eyes, Heero looked like an outlaw or assassin, especially in the dim evening lights.
Duo could hardly stop himself from staring. There was no way anyone could have done this to Heero and still live. The fact that anyone could do this to a Gundam Pilot was more than a little unbelievable and Duo found it hard to believe that Heero had suffered from such a grievous injury. "Heero…what happened?" Duo asked concernedly. He began to step forward but found himself staring down the receiving end of the gun Heero had just pulled out.
"What do you want?" Heero's cold monotone asked, chilling Duo to the bone. Heero didn't seem to notice or care about the blood freely flowing down the sides of his face.
"I-I wanna help. I mean, we're buddies, right? And buddies gotta stick together…Heero, what did this?"
Heero icy face stared at him a moment more and flickered slightly to something behind the chestnut-hair pilot. For a moment, nothing moved but than Heero's shoulder began to shake slightly. Soon, an uncontrollable tremor was racking his body and his face tipped down. Dark drown hair hid his face from view.
Duo watched in shock and began moving forward. A single click from Heero's still upright gun stopped him and Duo watched helplessly as Heero continued swaying slightly.
A while later, cruel and condemning laughter erupted from Heero's stained lips. Head still down, Heero asked quietly, "Friends? Help me?"
Duo nodded earnestly. "Yea, man. We're all here if you gatta unload some of the stuff in your head. That's what friends are for, and we're all friends."
Heero straightened and looked Duo in the eye. In the depths of his cobalt eyes burned a fire of hatred and loathing with such an intensity Duo's breath was taken away. "Help me?" he questioned again but this time his voice was full of repulsion. "You cannot help me in the least." His eyes weren't focused on Duo but something behind him. "I was wrong to come back. I will not draw near here again," Heero hissed angrily but Duo couldn't tell whether his anger was directed at Duo or himself. Heero began backing away towards the door he came from.
From behind Duo a gun was fired. Heero easily dodged the bullet and sprang out the door. Duo whirled around to see Wufei nearly crashing into him. The Chinese ignored the American and followed Heero, a tranquilizer in his hand. Duo nearly collapsed from relief as he saw Trowa and Quatra also walk into the overlarge kitchen.
Quatra walked to the door and shook his head sadly. Turning to the other two, he said, "It's raining. We'll never catch Heero at this rate."
Duo stuttered, "C-catch? Why are you guys shooting at Heero? What's going on?"
Quatra smiled sorrowfully. "We have reason to believe that Heero is or will soon become a threat to the peace of the colonies and to the Earth for that matter. For that reason, we are trying to figure out whether he truly is. We wouldn't have shot at him had he not shown any violence but you saw how he acted. We had no choice.?
"What's this 'we' stuff you're talking about? Are you in with this Trowa? I know Wufei is but I'm not. And what evidence are you talking about or have you forgotten that Heero was practically raised to protect the peace of the colonies and of Earth?"
Quatra began to answer but Trowa raised his hand and stepped forward. "You are correct. Heero was raised to protect peace. But the way he protects it is in the battles and wars he fought. He was raised with the belief that there will always be a war to be fought for the peace of the colonies. Heero's mentor and instructor, Doctor J., never thought that the war would be over, at least not in Heero's lifetime, and therefore left out anything that Heero was to do in peacetime."
Duo rubbed the back of his head to hide his still quivering hand. The fear from the encounter with Heero was still affecting him more than he'd care to admit. "I've faced death head-on thousands of times. Why'd Heero scare me so much when nothing else did?' He scrowled. 'It's because you know what he's capable of when he's angry or ordered to do something and he was not someone you want to face…'
Duo shivered and hid the thought. "So what? The wars over and we all survived it just fine-even Wufei. Why is Heero the only one going psycho?"
Quatra broke in. "It's not that simple. I mean, none of us were trained as extensively as Heero. I know that I didn't begin my training until ten years ago, spending the first seven years of my life with my family. Trowa was first picked to be a pilot only three years ago and Wufei was first trained only five years ago. You-"
Duo smiled. "Yea, I was in the orphanage. I got ten years of training behind me."
Quatra nodded. "That's what we mean. Heero was practically born into this life. We all had some other life before being forced into the war but fighting's the only life Heero's ever known."
"What do you mean, 'born into it?' Heero's has to have been picked like the rest of us"
Trowa shook his head. "When we first met, I did some research on all of you. Everyone was picked except for me and Heero. I volunteered to pilot Heavy Arms and Heero was selected from a dozen different pregnancies. He was allowed three months with his birth mother before being forced into the program. His mother wasn't willing to let him go so she was killed with the other nominees to prevent any evidence. Since that time, Heero was trained to be the perfect solider in every aspect-technology, flight, strategic planning, anything militaristic including hand-to-hand combat and martial training.
"Does Heero know about his mom?" Duo asked, already dreading the answer.
Quatra looked out the window. "If we could find that out, it is safe to assume that Heero's known about it for some time. Probably since he was a child."
"Jeez," Duo muttered.
"When the war ended and after Mari-Maya's attack, the Gundams were officially destroyed. Even Wufei self-destructed his Gundam. With the colonies and Earth putting away their weapons, we pilots believed that we too could put down our weapons-the Gundams-and begin living the life we would and should have lived, had there not been a war. However, Heero, with his training, was a weapon," Quatra finished.
"What do you mean?"
Trowa shook his head. "Heero faced wars many times worse than the one we've fought during his training. He was only about five years old when they first had him kill. It is as though his human emotions and feelings were destroyed and replaced with indifference and obedience. If he was only five, the type of training he underwent is beyond our reasoning. Heero was brought up so he'd be perfect in everything but he was also taught to follow his orders completely. If Dr. J. had ordered him to kill any one of us, he would have done it without a second thought."
"But it's worse," Quatra continued. "Heero is slowly undoing himself during these times of peace. He was never taught that such a time would come and is now trying to deal with it as one would deal with something completely against one's teachings. His condition is worsening daily."
"What are you saying?" Duo asked incredulously. "Is Heero going mad or something?"
"Well, that is one of the more predictable ways Heero may deal with this situation. During the year between the first major war and the skirmish we had with Marie-Maya, the only reason Heero didn't change was because he helped the Preventers…"
"And Relena kicked him out, didn't she?" Duo's eyes narrowed at Relena's name, remembering Heero's reaction.
Quatra nodded. "It's not common knowledge. Few people, no matter what we did for them, would allow us teens to help prevent wars. Wufei is working under the designation of 'in-training' for his missions with Sally, so the older Preventers don't get suspicious."
"WHY?!? WHY DID SHE FIRE HIM?"
Trowa looked at Duo. "She told him that she believed that he'd done more than his share in the fight for peace -"
"Well is that isn't the understatement of the year," Duo muttered.
"-and that he didn't need to help with the Preventers. Most of the Preventers know exactly who Heero is and are more than afraid of him. Before Marie-Maya, the Preventers Unit was much smaller than it is now. Relena probably didn't want to scare off potential allies."
Quatra shook his head in disagreement. "I think that Miss Relena stopped Heero from being a Preventer because she thought it would be for the better. She must have wanted to help him after what he did for her in both wars and discharging him to prevent Heero from having to relive his life of fighting is what she must have had in mind."
"Yeah, she did a lot of good," Duo remarked sarcastically. He sighed. "So, what other 'ways' might Heero deal with this peace time stuff?"
Trowa began to leave the kitchen. He stopped at the open wall that served as a doorway between the kitchen the hall leading towards the pilots' rooms. "He may do many things. I believe that the top three possibilities are that he goes insane, he kills himself or…"
"Wait! Why would Heero kill himself?"
Quatra shrugged. "Why else? Heero knows he can't live in peacetime the way he currently is. He'll see himself as a threat to the peace he was raised to protect and he'll remove that threat before it harms the colonies."
Duo scratched the back of his head, attempting to digest everything the two other pilots had told him. "…and the last way?"
Trowa began walking again. "The most likely one, with his current condition. Heero never actually destroyed Wing Zero."
Duo's eyes went wide. "What?!?"
"Add the fact that's Heero's mental condition is worsening and it's a powerful combination. The way Heero's acting, he'd be a perfect target to anyone who knew how to deal with him. If they told him the right information, Heero would follow them without question-just like the way he followed his orders from Dr. J.. Imagine the possible power that person could gain if they had Heero completely loyal to them with the power of Wing Zero and its unique system behind them." Trowa walked down the hall. "Without out own Gundams, that sort of alliance could prove fatal to the peace of the Earth and colonies."
"Well, what do we?" Duo asked.
Quatra sighed. "What can we do? If we can't deal with this problem on our own, the Preventers Unit will hear about it soon. I've heard that Zechs will be coming in for a refueling soon and he'd be only too happy to take out Heero-that's what he's been wanting to do for some time now. And if Lady Une hears about this, she'll have this place swarming with Preventers, all intent on helping Heero in their own way by killing him and destroying Wing Zero."
Quatra looked out the door again. "I don't want that to happen but we've got to find Heero first before we can do anything else."
Wufei choose that moment to come storming in, completely soaked from the pouring rain. He dropped the raincoat he was wearing and threw off his muddy shoes, glaring at the floor the whole time. When he saw the two, he glared at them and stormed off to his room.
Duo sighed and shook his head. "I'll take that as a sign that he didn't find Heero."
*****
Sailor Pluto gasped awake, her trance sliding off her like water. A grave and frightened expression lined her face. It was still there minutes later as Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus walked in, Sailor Saturn walking along between them. They were laughing about something but the laughter stopped as soon as they saw Pluto's face.
"We have a big problem."