Disclaimer:
Author's Note:
Okay…since I got reviews from some people that wanted me to make a sequel, I am. Technically. Actually, you could call it an alternate universe of the alternate universe, of the alternate universe—Gundam Wing. This is only a could-have happened story. It's not gonna take the place of the character's original death.Note Dealing with the Absence of Two Characters:
One: I decided that I would take out two people so I could put two more people in. (Rach, g'luck w/ John!Another Note:
Flashbacks will be in italics with this (~FLASHBACK~) written above it, and followed by ~*****~A Note to all my Buds in Advance:
This is Duo, Kelly, Washu, the Evil Goose, Puerto Rican Boy, Keri-chan, duo-KUN, and Ja-Keli; signing off.
Luv ya!
*******************************************************************************
The Rebirth of a Star
~FLASHBACK~
"You'll never be able to destroy this suit!" Hari yelled, trying to get out of her grasp. She wouldn't budge.
"Wing cannons; powering up," Keli stated, as the wings moved forward, touching the other suit because it was so close.
"You wouldn't!" Hari yelled at her.
"Oh yes I would," she mumbled. Keli grabbed onto the self-destruct device, and pressed the small red button. "Self-destruct sequence; activated. Self-destruct in fifteen seconds."
"WHAT!?"
"THIS is my revenge!" KuodoKumo began to glow a bright shade of blue. The Wing cannons were almost all the way powered up.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Duo yelled at her.
"Self-destruct in ten, nine, eight, seven..."
"KELI!" Jenn screamed.
"Wing cannons ready to fire...four… three..."
"YOU'LL NEVER KILL ME!" Hari screamed out.
"WING CANNONS FIRING!" She yelled out as the bright light washed over everything. The wing cannons fired, at the same time the self-destruct sequence was initiated. Both of the suits exploded completely, sending a bright yellow shock wave out over space. The other suits were blown back.
Once the waves had died down, all of the pilots stared quietly at the scene. Both of the suits were gone, and wreckage was everywhere. No trace of the two pilots could be found.
~*****~
AC 199
Now only two specific groups to protect the people remained—a unified taskforce that some higher officials from the war of AC 195 ran, and Peace Legacy—the "guardian angel" for the earth.
The Gundam pilots had kept close ties with the PL organization, and worked together for a common goal of keeping the people safe—which they could do a lot better than any government-run organization.
"Okay, we just give this place a little torching, and be out before the cops can do anything about it," Duo stated, in his usual carefree voice.
"Hai," Heero replied.
Duo grinned as they reached the base, "I'll give this place a taste of Shinigami."
~~~*~~~
Meanwhile on Earth…
"I don't see the reason we have to get rid of that one base." Emily stated, staring at the monitor, which held an above-ground picture of a secret base that was being used on the L-2 Colony cluster, and then looking at the four other people around her.
Since Keli had died in the battle against Hari, the agents had graduated from high school, Kassy and Angelina had gone off to have a higher education (As in…they went to college, and wanted out of the group). To keep the agent number at five, they each had to induct a new member to take their place.
Kassy had chosen Leigh, a tall American girl from New York with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin. She was usually quiet, but incredibly funny when she wanted to be. Leigh was smart, and good with recording data and information. She was also good with a gun.
Angelina had chosen Rachel, a normal-heighted British girl with wavy blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin. Rachel was bright, hyper, and had a tendency to be perverted about anything. She was athletic, and could fight well, due to being a dancer when she was younger.
All of the agents in Peace Legacy were now 19, with the exception of the operators and mechanics dealing with the mobile suits. Along with the original five Gundams from Peace Legacy (Kassy's and Angelina's had been repainted. Kassy's [which was now Leigh's] was turquoise, and Angelina's [which was now Rachel's] was green.), ShootingStarr was now also stored there, because Ichimei's lab was now only used for mobile suit repairs—old suits that had been used in the war that the government organization wanted, just in case.
The only major changes to the members' appearances were that Karen had gotten her hair cut to her shoulders and had dyed it red, and Emily had grown a few inches. Other than that—and the fact that two of the members were now gone—everything was the same.
The Gundam pilots were now all 20, and lived scattered throughout the colonies. They only got together if something major were to happen—attacking a base didn't count.
"Because, Heero and Duo are gonna destroy it, and we need to be able to document this," John told Emily, who looked like she was about to fall asleep standing up. "We've gotta make sure the government organization doesn't get word of it."
"Yup," Karen added, "Heero instructed us to this task for him. I'm sure he and the other pilots are busy, or just trying to lead normal lives."
"I wanna live a normal life…" Emily mumbled. She liked it better now because they didn't have to do any real fighting, but she still didn't like the idea of beating the government to operations.
"You are living a normal life," Leigh told her, "you've just got a little bit extra."
"At least I joined after high school," Rachel muttered, "otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to handle it."
"Well, I could handle it when I was 15, so you can handle it now," John retorted. Another thing—now John was dating Rachel.
"Would you all shut up," Karen instructed, "I can see Heero and Duo coming up to the building."
~~~*~~~
Duo and Heero reached the door of the base. Heero swiped a fake ID through the door scanner, and he and the other pilot stepped into the building.
"Hey Heero, do you think there are gonna be any guards?" Duo asked, looking around the inside of the building.
"I'm not sure, but it will be easy to get rid of them if we do," He replied. His eyes swept the area, and noticed nothing unusual. "All right. We need to go to the weapons' room."
The two began walking down a hallway.
~~~*~~~
A young woman was sitting in a comfortable chair, gazing out the window at the fake grass outside. She turned back to her computer. "Security cameras. Do a scan of the area." After a few seconds, it beeped.
"Two males, age 18-25, are roaming the hallway. Do you wish to send an e-mail to all of the soldiers on a break?"
"Bring me up a visual, along with the stats of each of them." Two pictures popped up. One was of a boy that looked about 15 with messy brown hair, blue eyes, and a green tank-top on. The other was of a kid the same age, but with lighter brown hair, violet eyes, and a priest's outfit. They were out of date pictures.
"Only visual available. No information on either trespasser. What would you like to do with this information Commander?"
"Computer, shut down now," she commanded. The computer screen went blank. "I remember those two." She stood up, and walked out of the office.
~~~*~~~
Heero and Duo walked through the halls as if they belonged there. The two walked quickly, heading in the direction of the weapons' room. They didn't get that far before they were noticed.
"You two. I order you to stop," a female voice stated loudly. They came to a halt, and turned around slowly.
The girl standing in front of them was a few inches short of the Gundam pilots, had prussian blue eyes and her dark brown hair that hung in a high ponytail behind her. She was wearing a pair of jeans and an army-like shirt. The gun in her hand was pointed at them.
"Hey Lady, we've done nothing wrong, so let us go," Duo stated confidently.
"Let's see: you've broken into this base, with the intentions of blowing it sky-high. You got me so far?" She put a hand on her hip, but her right hand still held the gun.
"And…?" Duo questioned. He glanced over at Heero, and noticed his hand edging towards his gun.
Heero drew his gun in a fluid motion, and aimed at her. Before he could fire, the gun fell from his hand. He stared down at it, then at the woman. The barrel of her gun was still smoking.
"We've got a lot to talk about," she said, throwing her gun to the ground, and raising her hands, "You can kill me if you want. Duo, I know you've got a gun on you somewhere."
He stared at her. "H-h-how do you know my name?" In less than a second, his automatic was aimed at her head.
She smiled, "I used to be an ally of yours. But then I died, and took a long journey to hell and back."
"Keli Akutenshi," Heero muttered. His relative—his cousin.
"That's right. I took a journey to hell, but now I'm back."
"Are you gonna kill us or something?" Duo demanded. He couldn't understand how a person he'd thought dead was up and walking around.
"You're the one with the gun pointed at me," she muttered.
He glanced at the weapon in his hands and threw it down. "Heero and I are blowing up this base, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Keli nodded, "I know."
"So what are you gonna do about it?"
"Let you do the dirty work for me," she stated. "I'm only staying here until I have an excuse to leave. Like being pronounced dead. For the second time."
"Fine then," Heero told her. "Where will you go after this?"
"I'm hoping I can explain some of this to you, so if you'll let me, I wish to travel with the two of you."
"I don't have a problem with that," Heero said, "I have some explaining to do myself. 'Like telling you that we're related,' he finished in his mind.
"I wanna know something first," Duo butted in, "If you've been here the whole damned time, why the hell didn't you contact anybody?!"
"I'm going to tell you this once, and only once, so pay attention." She demanded, "I didn't want any of you worrying about me, and I wanted you to think I was dead. I haven't even been awake from a coma for six months yet, so things are still fuzzy. There are things I still don't remember; but I know this—being a pilot I was a menace to everyone I was around."
"But you're not—" Duo began. She held up her hand.
"Don't tell me I'm not a menace." She sighed, "Look, we don't have a shit-load of time. I'm the only person here right now, which is lucky for you two bakas, but most of the trainees will be back in a few minutes. Do what you came here to do, and then I'll explain everything that I can."
Duo sighed, and walked in the direction of the weapons' room. Heero followed him.
"If you're heading for the weapon arsenal, its the other way," Keli muttered, pointing down an adjacent hallway.
~~~*~~~
"There goes the base," Rachel said matter-of-factly as it was reduced to little more than nothing on the monitor screen.
"And there are Heero and Duo," Karen added, pointing to the silhouetted figures moving through the smoke. They couldn't' see the third figure get into the car Duo had hijacked.
~~~*~~~
"So: are you going to tell us what the hell happened to you, or are we just gonna have to guess?" Duo demanded, glaring at the brunette staring out the back window of the car.
Keli sighed, "Fine. But you're in for a confusing story." She brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and began the tale. "First off, when I self-destructed, I had on a support system. I didn't think it would help much, and pretty much didn't care. The simultaneous blasts knocked me out, and sent me into a long coma.
"I woke up in a hospital, and it was explained to me that some guys from a military base was passing by in a ship, saw a body, and picked me up. They figured I was some girl that was dumb enough to jump out of a shuttle or something like that. I think. Anyway, the people that saved me took me to a hospital here on L-2.
"I was in a coma for a year and a half. When I finally woke up, the men that had brought me there had the plans to build a military base. I woke up only knowing my name, your names along with the agents and other Gundam pilots, my family, and the fact that I could pilot a mobile suit.
"
"
"So that explains you working for the base," Heero interrupted.
"Hai. And by the time I remembered how to contact anyone, I was in the organization too much to try to resist. I didn't have any power. But, after a few months of good tests and pilot checks, they made me a commander of the base. And that's where I am now."
"I still can't believe you didn't die," Duo mumbled.
"Why? Do you want me dead or something? You're acting like I'm evil." She responded, still looking out the car window.
"No, it's just so—hard to believe."
Keli sighed, "I honestly don't know why I was saved from death. Why save someone who's useless? God can waste his time on some saint. He doesn't need to watch over me, since I've pretty much committed all of the sins in the bible."
"Cause you don't believe in that, right?" Duo prompted.
She turned her gaze on him. "Yeah…"
Heero looked at the girl in the rear mirror. She still looked the same, only her hair was longer, and it had grown down to halfway down her back in the two years she had been missing.
He spoke up, "Do you want me to contact the others and tell them?"
She glanced up, and then returned her eyes to the somber road, staring out the window with saddened, wary eyes. "I don't' think it would be a good idea yet."
"Why the hell not?!" Duo practically yelled at her. He was mad, and he didn't know why. "You want them to keep thinking you're dead for the rest of your life?!"
"No, I want them to not have to worry about me," she replied slowly.
~FLASHBACK~
Keli couldn't take it anymore, "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOMETHING LIKE THIS?!?"
"I was following an order," she stated.
"And you couldn't even tell me about it?" Keli demanded.
She nodded, "Yeah."
Keli glanced down at her leg, and then craned her neck so she could get a glimpse of her shoulder, "I'm gonna ruin all the upholstery."
"It's not my car, and we should get you to a doctor."
"What? And let them find out that the infamous Gundam rebel girl is staying in this city? I'd rather die from blood loss," Keli muttered with a small voice. She was getting really tired, and it was getting hard for her to stay awake. She slumped down in the seat, knocked out.
She woke back up in a small room. Bandages were now around her shoulder, arm and leg where she had been shot. No one was in the room besides her.
She didn't do anything, just laid there, waiting. After awhile, she started hearing people's voices outside of the room. She could tell that her friends were there, along with someone she'd never heard before.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Yes. She'll be fine, but I would suggest that she stay here for a few days, just to recuperate. To me it's amazing that she's not dead, and what's more, she's not even too badly hurt. And we all know how good of a shot Kassy is. The way she bullet went in, you can tell she was trying to take out a major artery."
Keli glanced at the wall, and noticed a clock. It was tomorrow. They all walked into the room at that moment, and saw that she was awake.
*****~*****
~FLASHBACK~
Keli nodded and closed her eyes. When they got back, she got out of the Gundam and took the helmet off that was over her face. Quatre had someone find a bandage for her arm, and it was tied around the cut. People from the ball were appearing from around the corner.
"We watched everything that happened by video cameras," Noin explained, "are all of you okay?"
"I just need sleep," Keli muttered, "sleep and aspirin. Anybody got any aspirin? My head feels like shit." She absently walked back to her room, and fell down on the bed there.
Keli woke up late the next morning at the sound of voices. "Hey, she's awake now," Emily said.
She pulled a pillow from behind her head and threw it at Emily with her eyes still closed, "Yeah, because of you."
Kassy stared at her, "Keri-chan, it's like thee-o-clock now. You should be getting up."
She opened her eyes and saw that Emily, Kassy, Karen, and Angelina were all in her room, "Err... g'moring. What happened at the meeting?"
"There wasn't one," Angelina explained, "since the threat was over everyone left. You feeling better?"
*****~*****
The images came flooding to her in one instant, and she gasped in surprised.
"
"I-I just remembered something," Keli said shakily. The images had drained her strength, and had scared her. She had known who everyone was, even though she didn't remember any of the faces. "I guess it was after a battle—both times. I remembered waking up in a room, and being surrounded by people I knew. Then I remembered passing out in a car with you sitting up front with a girl I guess is Kassy, and then waking up in a hospital-type place."
Duo nodded, "I remember when that stuff happened. They were both times your friends showed compassion for you. I guess you saying you didn't want them to care triggered it." He thought to himself, 'She doesn't remember anything at all. And at this rate, she won't remember anything significant for awhile, if this is just triggered by her thoughts'.
"So you don't remember anything dealing with your life?" Heero questioned.
"Iie, just empty gaps where memories should be."
~FLASHBACK~
"Hello pilot of ShootingStarr. Or should I say Keli Akutenshi. I know who you are, so don't play any games." Wait a second, Keli thought, I recognize that voice! "Frere," she growled. He had obviously contacted only her so there wouldn't be any interference. She slid the silver visor up, so she could see better.
Her ex stepfather came into view. He was tall, had short black hair and brown eyes, and an evil aura that radiated around him.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
FLASH! Something went through her head quickly, an old memory, one that she had liked to have not remembered. It was back when she was only ten, and her mother and Frere had been having a fight because he didn't want her to go to Colony L5 for a government meeting concerning the Earth Federation and the Colonies, back when they were still fighting against each other.
She could still even remember the argument. "You're not going up there to get killed!"
"I have to, it's my job. And you can't tell the representative of the Americas what she can or cannot do!"
Keli ran over to her mom, not caring about the argument, with Jenn right behind her, both of them grinning from ear-to-ear. "Mommy! Guess what me and Jenn finally did! We finally got into the Microsoft system!" Keli had a Mac when she was little too. Might explain her being hooked to them...
She looked down, "Honey, now isn't the time. Mommy is busy."
Keli glanced at her face, and knew her mom was getting angry, "Mommy, did I do something wrong?"
"No Sweetie, just go on back to your room and Mommy will be up in a minute."
"But Mommy-"
Keli was interrupted by Frere, "Would you just SHUT UP and go back to your room!"
If there's anything Keli hated more than being yelled at she hadn't figured it out yet. And she already had a grudge against Frere. "Don't yell at me!"
He glared at her with a look that could kill, "Be a nice little kid and shut the fuck up, and mind your own business."
Oh yeah, there is something she hated worse than being yelled at. Being called a kid. "I'm not a little child! And you said a bad word!"
Her mother looked down at her, and then back at Frere, "Keli, Jenn, please go back to your rooms now."
Jenn walked back, but Keli shook her head, "I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with you."
Frere walked up to her and slapped her in the face, "Go to your Goddamned room right this instant!"
Oh yeah, she also couldn't stand being hit. Keli balled up her fist, and let it fly into his stomach, having had enough of him yelling at her. She also got that he was mad at her mom, and no one messed with her mom while she was around.
He doubled over for a second, and then grabbed Keli by the overalls. He held her up in the air, in the direction of my mother, "You see what your damned grandfather has pushed off on her?! She acts like she's a boy, and she walks around hitting her parents!" He slapped her face again for good measure. This time a small line of blood appeared where his ring had hit her face.
"LET HER GO NOW!" Keli's mom screamed.
Keli kicked him in the groin when she got the chance. When his grip loosened, she used her other foot to push herself out of his grip and into the air, flipping around once, and to the ground, landing on her feet.
Her mom ran over to her, and gave her a huge hug, "Oh God, Honey!"
*****~*****
She gasped again as she remembered that entire fight. She had almost died then too—not when she was ten—when she was fighting in space, against her stepfather.
"What else did you remember?" Heero prompted quickly.
"A fight. Between me and my stepfather," she replied. "From when I was ten."
"That's good. You're remembering things that happened almost a decade ago," Heero said.
"Not really," she replied, getting slightly mad at him, "It was technically a flashback of a flashback. Before that, I was in a Gundam, ready to fight against…someone."
"I Bet it was—" Duo began. He was interrupted by Heero.
"Don't tell her. She's got to remember all this stuff on her own."
"Why the hell can't she remember anything about her life past the few minutes before she self-detonated? This is annoying as hell!" Duo yelled.
"Gomen nasai," Keli mumbled. The only things she could remember were little things—like names, images, and a few things. She couldn't even remember her emotions or thoughts!
He sighed, "Why the hell are you sorry, anyway?"
She didn't bother to reply, and the ride got a hall-uv-a-lot quieter. Less than five minutes later, Heero pulled the SUV up to the space port.
"Duo and I were planning to part ways after the mission was over," Heero stated simply.
"Where can I go after the two of you split up?" Keli asked slowly, not really caring for an answer. She was useless now and she knew it.
Duo opened his mouth to say something but stopped, and Heero said in his place, "You can come along with me if you want to. I have a few things to explain to you, anyway." He gave Duo a death glare, and the braided boy shut his mouth.
"Umm…arigato." Keli replied meekly. She got out of the SUV after the two boys. Apparently, it was a stolen car, because neither of them seemed to care about locking it, or even rolling up the windows for that matter.
Duo waved to his best friend and the girl he'd thought was dead up until about twenty minutes ago. "Bye guys! I'll see ya later! But I've got no intentions on leaving L-2 for awhile, at least until I'm needed again. Ja-ne!"
Heero just gave him a stoic glare, and Keli waved back. After he'd faded from view, Keli turned to Heero, "Where are you heading, Heero?"
He shrugged, "To L-1, I guess."
She ran in front of him, and began walking backwards, "Heero, what was it that you wanted to tell me? I get the feeling it's important, if you wouldn't tell Duo about it."
"It's not so important that it is personal," he began. Heero sighed, "Keli, do you remember hearing who your father was when Hari was attacking you in the last battle you've been in?"
She thought for a moment, "Hmm…my mom's Naiomi Akutenshi, my stepfather was Frere, my grandfather is Ichemei Akari, and my sis is Jenn. And my father's name was…"
~FLASHBACK~
Hari came onto her screen, "I have the perfect suit now, and you just got the defected one. It'll be easy to get rid of you. And when I've murdered you, I'll go on to kill your friends and family! Just like I killed your father!"
"Father?!" she demanded. "My father died, before I was even born, in a battle!"
He laughed, "Yes, I remember. That was a glorious battle! That as when I murdered the Commander Odin Lowe!"
"No!" she yelled, "I'll kill you! To avenge everyone OZ as ever killed, and to protect my family and friends!" she rushed at the new suit.
*****~*****
She opened her eyes, now knowing that she had shut them. "Yes. His name was Odin Lowe."
Heero gazed at her with his signature apathetic glare. "Will you swear not to tell anyone else this?"
Keli looked up at him, "Huh? What is it, Heero?"
"Will you keep this a secret or not?"
She nodded, "Hai. Your secret's safe with me."
He sighed, "My real name is Odin Lowe. I was named after my uncle."
~FLASHBACK~
She shrugged, "If you know how to...actually it's hack-proof to people with Windows. The security isn't as heavy surrounding Macs."
Duo shook his head. "I am seriously beginning to wonder whether or not you're Heero's twin. You two are both nuts, and too good with computers to be in the human race."
She smiled, "I'm not crazy, I just have fun hacking into different systems. I think of it as a challenge. The skills come in handy now, and they might come in handy later on."
He rolled his eyes, "As I said before, twins."
*****~*****
"I just remembered Duo saying something, awhile back. He said that you and I acted like twins. I guess he hit closer to home with that than he thought," Keli mumbled.
"So you remembered something else?"
"Yup. For some reason, certain things are triggering the memories. Itokosan…"((Cousin, I think. Either that or its just Itoko))
"Don't call me that," Heero quickly responded. "You can't call me your cousin, or Odin. I don't want anyone else to know who I really am."
She nodded, "Alright." She looked up into the artificial sky, "I think I'd forgotten that Heero was a code-name—at least from everything I remember so far." Keli stood up, "Well, aren't we going to go to L-1?"
"Yeah."
******~*****
::Jeopardy music plays::
Keli: Ohayoo, minna! Next time on ShootingStarr 2, we take a look at Earth, and Peace Legacy, as they develop a mission to get rid of a new organization springing up in Russia, known as Revelation. The group has been stealing mobile suits, and is preparing for an all-out attack on the government!
Rachel: We weren't in this one!
John: Yes we were Rach. We just weren't in it a lot.
Keli: Well guys, this next chapter will be about you only! So you get lots of air-time!
Karen: Yippie yahoo!
Emily: BAAAAA!
Jenn: I wasn't in this at all!
Keli: Of course not. But you will be. I'll make you pregnant.
Jenn: NO YOU WON'T! ::Keli and Jenn get into an all-out brawl::
Leigh: ::Stands in front of the two:: We'll see ya next time!
Emily: Ja-ne!