Leikaru: Wow! My first Gundam Wing fanfic!!
Vulpus: Now if you'll just update that other story in the YYH section you're all set...
Leikaru: -thwacks muse on head- maybe if you'd help, I would!
Vulus: -glares at Leikaru- Well, people, here is the disclaimer.
Laikaru does NOT own any of the Gundam Wing characters or the original story. This version with the characters however, is hers.
Leikaru: Thank you Vulpus! -glares at the lawyers outside her window- You can go home now. -is holding a rather large katana- Now then! One with the story!!
Duo hadn't liked the sound of this mission from the beginning. Of course, he hadn't let the others in on his uneasiness, and had merely laughed it off in front of them. Unfortunately he was now wishing he had insisted he had gotten the others to just destroy the base with the gundams instead of going in to bomb the base.
Of course they'd gotten in without a hitch, but what they found had been far from what they'd been told to expect. They'd expected a weapons manufacturing base. They'd discovered a genetic altering one instead.
And now the jester of the group, Duo Maxwell, Shinigami, sat in a holding cell awaiting his fate. Lucky him the guards hadn't found his communications device. At least not yet.
"02, do you copy?" the familiar nasally voice of Heero Yuy came directly into his ear. "I repeat. 02 do you copy?"
"Loud and clear 01" he had curled himself up into a little ball so that it would much harder for the guards to see or hear him speak to his comrades of war.
"Status report." Duo chuckled lightly at his Japanese friends demand.
"Status? Currently in one of the holding cells waiting to be taken in for either questioning or experimentation, or at least that's what I gather from the snippets of conversation from the guards." Indeed, that was exactly what he had heard the guards mumbling about.
"Oh Duo!" Quatre's clear voice rang through the link. "I'm so sorry! This is all my fault! If I'd only been more careful, you wouldn't be in this horrid mess!" Guards had spotted Quatre while he and Duo had been getting ready to set one of the bombs they had brought in to destroy the base. Duo had made the blonde Arabian escape whilst he led the guards on a chase, which ultimately lead to his own capture, and the successful escape of his friend.
"Eh… s'ok Q-man. No big deal… I think…" Duo couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling that questioning wasn't the only thing the Oz bastards had planned ahead for him. He heard someone snort to his reply to Quatre.
"This is no time to be making jokes Maxwell. The predicament you are in is not funny in the least." Duo chuckled lightly at his friend's indignant remark. So it had been Wufei. Surprise surprise there…
"Actually Wuffles, I do believe that I was being dead serious for once." For a moment, Duo thought that the Chinese pilot was going to go into a fit about how his name was not Wuffles, and that it was Wufei. But instead, all he got was a sigh.
"Just be careful Maxwell…" for a moment, the violet eyed pilot went into shock, but the sound of guards approaching quickly snapped him out of it. He quickly and quietly whispered to the others.
"Thanks Wufei." He paused for a moment before continuing so that Wufei would know that he was serious about thanking him, before continuing to relay the fact of the incoming captors. " Guards are coming now." At his statement, all noise on the other end immediately ceased to exist, but Deathscythe's pilot knew they were still there.
An escort of ten guards entered the cell just seconds after the connection was cut. They were all grimfaced, and almost looked regretful that he was in there, and what they were going to do to him.
"You are to be brought to the labs. Any escape attempts will be halted immediately and painfully." A small, grim, smirk found it's way to Duo's face as he was forced to his feet and led away from his cell.
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Heero had cut off their end of the communicator's link, but they were still able to hear what was going on at Duo's end, without the guards ever being able to hear them or find the device, allowing them to monitor the braided pilot, and ensure that he was still alive. But the fact that the Oz soldiers were bringing their American friend to the lab for experimentation was almost too much.
Quatre was almost in tears, and was clutching at Trowa as if he was his only lifeline, and Trowa in turn had a tight grip on his tiny lover and distressed look upon his normally impassive face. Heero's own lover, Wufei, stood in front of the radio, abnormally pale with his clenched so painfully tight that the knuckles on his hands were white. His onyx eyes were shaded by his hair, which had come undone from its usual low ponytail during their escape. Heero himself sat beside the radio, not three feet from Wufei, and was positive that the floor was wilting under the glare that he currently had directed at the floor, having nothing else to direct it at. Quatre's light voice, laden with sorrow, broke through the silence with a slight tremble.
"This is all my fault!" His tight grip on Trowa escalated as he sobbed. "If only I'd checked before venturing into the blasted hallway!" Heero glanced towards Quatre.
" No. He'd not want you to blame yourself Quatre." But it was Wufei who spoke next. The fact that he used Quatre's first name instead of last, caught the blonde by surprise, effectively quieting him as the Chinese youth had planned.
Dead silence once more fell over the group as they listened to the footfalls of Duo and his captors, as they trudged towards the lab. And after mere moments, the continuous tap of feet stopped.
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Duo looked wearily at the door that the guards had brought him to. He thought of trying to make a run for it, but on the other hand, he had no wish to die just yet, seeing as he still hadn't kissed either Wufei or Heero, despite the fact that the two Asians were an item, and that he had a slim chance in hell to even hope that he would ever get the chance to have a real relationship with the two beauties. Duo smirked wearily on the inside. It was times like this that he really didn't need such thoughts, as he was probably awaiting his damnation. Then the lab door opened, cutting into his thoughts.
"Ah. I see our new test subject has arrived." The man that stepped out into the hall way was, at the oldest, forty-five. He was tall and handsome, but shivers crawled warningly up Duo's spine, as he looked the man over. The scientists voice was slick and smooth, and did absolutely nothing to quell someone's fears. If anything, it only heightened them, though it might also have something to do with what he was saying. "This is a fine specimen." Glaring at the scientist, Duo was tempted to take a swing at the vile beast before him. " To which Gundam pilot do I bestow this operation to?"
"We have reason to believe that he is the Gundam pilot 01." At this statement, Duo had no choice but to laugh out right in their faces. All those present fixated him with a glare.
"You got the wrong pilot, sorry buddy." There was a maniacal gleam in his voice as he spoke, and just because he was who he was, he mocked them. " Shinigami laughs at your utter stupidity. You thought that you could ensnare pilot 01? Fat chance you ugly bastards." The scientist looked at Duo with something akin to hate, but that quickly turned into malicious amusement.
"Ah, then you are pilot 02, judging by your reference of… 'Shinigami'." Violet eyes narrowed as he scowled at the man. " I doubt you'll recognize me, but that hair and those distinctive eyes are a dead give away." The captured pilot looked confusedly at the scientist. He had a feeling that the man was talking about something far from the present date, and that it came from before Duo was a pilot.
" Colony L2, forces that are resisting Oz, lie hidden within a small run down church. In order to save the Father and Sister of the church, a young orphan boy commandeers a mobile suit. Only to return and find his home in shambles because of a bomb dropped upon the 'holy' place. Poor poor bastard orphan." The vile man's words seem to stir something within Duo, as he started to tremble. " His church was destroyed, and thus his attempts to save the only people he considers family, are dead. No one to look after the little street rat." The creature that stood before Duo looked straight at the trembling teen, pausing a mere moment before continuing. " It was I, who gave the order to decimate the Maxwell Church. I am responsible for the Maxwell Church massacre. Though I never expected the only survivor to still be alive." A malevolent sneer was perched upon the mans lips as he looked at the boy before him that trembled and hid his face from view by way of his bangs. Then the scientist turned pale as he realized why the pilot was trembling. Duo snapped.
"Eh heh heh…" the low lilting chuckle sent all listening into a state of slightly fear, so maniacal was the sound. " Do you know…? How long I've looked for you?" the voice that sounded was that of a chaotically insane man that had been waiting for many years for his moment. " Do you know?! You FUCKING BASTARD?!!!" Lunging at the man, Duo aimed to kill, despite the fact that he was cuffed and surrounded be armed guards.
The first hit he took knocked the COM link out of its hiding place and onto the cold whit floors of the base. The guards stared in shock for only a moment, before being spurred into action.
"Dammit! The little bastard had a communications device the entire time!" Duo had to think quickly before the soldiers grabbed the device.
"Sorry guys!" and with that, he stomped on the fragile device, effectively cutting off full communication with the other pilots, and any chance that Oz might have to use it as a tracer, leading them straight to the others.
Seconds later, Duo Maxwell, pilot of Deathscythe, and Shinigami, lay unconscious on the floor, surrounded by leering men in uniforms.
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"Sorry guys!" rang throughout the room before the cackle of the device breaking, and finally only static, as they lost their one and only link to the braided American.
All four occupants stared in utter shock at the radio that sat perched upon the only table within the immediate vicinity. The pilot of Sandrock, Quatre, spoke first.
"The Maxwell Church Massacre…" the next to speak was Wufei.
"They did report that only one survivor had survived… I remember that from when I lived on L5. The elders insisted that we know of this injustice…" he paused before continuing. " I just never thought that the survivor would still be alive, and one of the gundam pilots no less…" Shenlong's pilot sunk to his knees, and Heero came to kneel beside him.
"I thought that Duo had grown up with a family… You know, the standard… with a loving mother, a caring father, and maybe a couple of siblings…" Quatre just sat in his stricken state as he spoke. " I never even dreamed that Duo had been orphaned so young… maybe sometime just a little before he was picked up by G… but not an orphan his entire life…"
"Indeed, even I presumed that. I never once thought that maybe he was an orphan… let alone the Maxwell Massacre survivor…" This time it was Trowa who spoke. Heero could only look away.
" I took the liberty of looking into everyone's pasts… call me paranoid, but I did…" Quatre, Trowa, and even Wufei looked to the Japanese pilot.
"So you knew? You knew who Duo was?" Heero shook his head and the others looked at him in surprise.
"There… were no records what so ever, of a Duo Maxwell ever even existing. I'm guessing he took a first name while on the streets, and his last from the Maxwell Church." Heero clenched his fists. " It could also just be the poor system of L2 though… but that I highly doubt…" He looked at the radio. " I found information on everyone, save for Duo."
Wufei looked as his lover, and then back to the radio.
"Regardless. We must retrieve him." Wufei's tone softened for what he said next. " He is a Comrade… No. Duo is our friend, and we must recover him from that base."
The other three pilots all nodded simultaneously and proceeded to come up with a plan to successfully retrieve the fallen Shinigami from Oz's clutches.
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Voices, pain, light, and darkness. In an endless circle, these were the only things that Duo knew. He had no clue as to what time it was, or how long he had been there as a captive. Had it been weeks? Months? Maybe even only hours. They all blended together, and the captive boy could do nothing to stop his tormentors from continuing. Finally, all he knew was blissful darkness.
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When Duo awoke, all he was aware of was the darkness. Of course, the pain was still there, but not half as excruciating as it had been previously, and the voices had totally disappeared, much to the boy's relief. The only sounds he could hear currently, was the sound of his own labored breathing, and the weak beating of his heart. The light was gone as well, but he had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact that there was a bandage covering his eyes.
During the other moments he had spent in wakefulness, he distinctly remembered being strapped down to a table of some sorts. But now, he could move about freely, albeit sluggishly due to the pain that weighed down upon his limbs.
When a voice rang out suddenly, he started slightly, but then ignored it. The voice was unfamiliar and he didn't trust it. Until it informed him of how long he had been there as a captive.
"Look boy, you've been our prisoner for a grand total of two days. And that's even with what the lab did to you." Duo frowned slightly. Only two days? He was sure he'd been there for much longer. A thought crossed his mind as the speaker continued, and he chose to ignore the person and continue with his thoughts.
The others… he hoped terribly that they were all right… Suddenly a loud humming caught his attention, and he felt the pain and weariness drain from his body, He had no clue what those idiots were doing, but he knew it was making him dangerous. Finally, with the pain gone, he was able to notice that his senses had been enhanced. He smirked as he started to hear the panicked shouts of the strangers. The fools thought that they could create a weapon, and use it for their own purposes? The idiots had only succeeded in making their enemy that much stronger, endowing Shinigami with an even deadlier means of disposing of them. As he stood, he heard the scientist start to go hysterical with fear. He could hear it, smell it… and he could taste it. A smirk that promised death played upon his features. It was time to let Shinigami out to play, in a violent rain of blood.
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When Heero, Wufei, Quatre and Trowa were finally able to get back into the base they were startled to find the disarray that it was in. The walls and floors were spattered with blood, and corpses littered the hallways. There was certain sense within their minds that no one escaped the wrath that had blown through here.
As they continued to walk down the hall, there were many doors, all of which were closed tight, and marked with a streak of blood. Save for one. At the very end of the hallway, they found a singular door, the only one that wasn't marked by blood, or closed. Cautiously, the four entered the room. Apparently it was one of the observation rooms, and huddled in a corner, was Duo Maxwell.
His hair was drenched with blood, and his clothing was still damp. From what skin was showing they could easily see that it was smeared with the red life force of the Oz soldiers. There was only one corpse in the room, and it lay in the corner. Heero went to investigate it, but came back and said nothing.
Quatre hesitantly stepped towards the fearsome sight that was their friend.
"D-Duo?" the blood-drenched pilot lifted his head towards the sound of the gentle pilots voice, and they could only gasp.
Crimson gauze covered his eyes, hiding them from view. And, as was the rest of him, damp from blood.
"Duo!" Quatre ran towards their friend. And when Duo spoke, his voice was hoarse and filled with confusion.
"Quatre…?" he slowly moved his head to look at where he had heard his friend. Or at least, he would have been looking had the gauze not been covering his violently violet eyes. "What…happened…? …Why…?"
"He's confused…" murmured the usually impassive pilot. Heero shook his head at Trowa's remark.
"No. He's in shock." They were sure that they had spoken quiet enough that Duo wouldn't have been able to hear them. But, much to their chagrin, he heard them anyway.
"Heero? …Trowa? I'm… probably both… right at this point…in time…" a shaky chuckle sounded from his throat. "I'm amazed th-that I'm s-still coherent to this… degree…" Wufei looked at the braided boy, and strode past Quatre to kneel beside him.
"Come on Duo. We're getting you out of here." Said boys mouth dropped open as he stared at Wufei with his bandaged eyes.
"…Fei…You didn't …call me…Maxwell…" Wufei smiled gently at the astonished boy, but unfortunately, Duo couldn't see it.
"Come. I believe that you'll be wanting a bath." A small smile worked its way onto Duo's blood smeared face, and Wufei started to help him get to his feet. But the moment the American was on his feet, a strangled cry was cut off early from Duo. "Duo?!"
The others quickly rushed over. Duo was on his feet and standing, but only just barely. It was now apparent that the blood that covered him was not entirely someone else's.
Slash marks marred his back and chest, still dripping blood, and apparent on his legs were multiple bullet wounds that also, still bled.
The four rescuers quickly looked to one another, and hastily removed their injured companion from the bloodstained base. When they were an appropriate distance away, Heero hit a detonator. Plumes of smoke billowed up into the air, and Duo Maxwell slipped into oblivion.
End Chapter One
Leikaru: Well??? What did you think??? Will you review?? It would be much appreciated!!!!
Vulpus: More reviews, means a faster update. Seriously... I think that's why the other fic kinda died. No one reviewed...
Leikaru: Any way, Review please! I've already started the second chapter, and would like to know if people want more!!!!