Shin Gundam Tensei: Persona AC

a Persona 4/Gundam Wing crossover-fic

by: Dark Daisuke

Chapter 1

"Welcome... to the Velvet Room."

"Duo! Hey, Duo!" a voice shouted from nearby, causing the boy with long braided hair to shake his head, clearing it from the dream he'd had last night.

"Hey, Duo!" Hilde yelled from the house across the junkyard. "There's someone here to see you, something about a new shipment from Mars!"

"Thanks, Hilde. Be over in a second!" Duo shouted back as he picked up what looked to be a valuable piece of titanium, likely from an old Tragos mobile suit. Since the attempted revolution by the White Fang, Duo had continued his job with the Sweepers group, which worked to clean up the space debris that had collected since before the war had even begun; indeed, much of the trash had collected since space had been penetrated by man and the space age had begun. The Sweepers had been founded by the U.N. when the idea for the space colonies had first been brought up, as many of the Lagrange Points around the Earth had collected much space debris from both passing meteors and space stations. Their continued existence was due to their perseverance, ingenuity, and no small support from the Earth-Sphere Unified Nation, and this is where Duo now found himself, with a new family and someone he could call his own; he had been living with the ex-OZ pilot since the second half of the war, after he rescued her from an eventual death that came from being his opposition, and recently they'd started 'officially' going out, to the delight of Relena Darlian and no surprise from her beau and Duo's brother-in-arms, Heero Yuy.

Now, business was booming as Relena's new project, the Mars terra-forming project, was in its initial planning stage and new resources were being collected from Mars's gravitational field, and Duo was one of the many hands required to sift through it along with the local debris, seeing if any of it was useful. It was a dirty task, but Duo didn't mind it too much since it got his mind to focus on the present a lot; trying to shed his old moniker 'The God of Death' was never easy, and to Hilde's dismay he would let it slip. The other reason was that he got to travel a lot and see his family and friends when their paths crossed.

Duo stood up and wiped the dust off of his hands as he walked to the front of the yard, noting the red in the visitor's outfit. She looks more like a gas-station worker... Duo thought to himself as he looked over the list. Well, it's legitimate, so I guess I have my work cut out for me. "Thanks for delivering the stuff."

"No problem; I'm pretty new to this job, and I almost got lost on my way from the spaceport," the woman said as she chuckled. "Still, I'm glad I got it, especially since I get to meet a real war hero."

Duo sighed as the woman continued. "We really owe you guys more than we could ever repay, y'know? You kept digging through the lies and deceit of the governments to get to the truth of the matter. The truth is very important..." Duo looked up from the paper at the woman in curiosity. The truth, huh... Yeah, I guess we did do that, but what's so important about that? I mean, we just did what we thought was right. He thought this as she finished. "You think the truth is important, right? I mean, without the truth, humanity would destroy itself with its own delusions."

Duo nodded in response. "Yeah, I suppose so. Well, I have to get back to work, so I'll see you around."

"No problem." She held out her hand to shake Duo's. "We'll meet again."

Duo grasped her hand and shook it, noting the surprising power behind the shake before releasing it and returning to the house to file the list, the woman climbing into the truck to tow the debris to the yard. "Yes, 'God of Death'... we'll meet again, and when we do, we'll see how dedicated you are to the truth..." A hearty laugh could be heard were it not for the loud roar of the truck's engine.

A boy stood in a train, watching the scenery pass by as people gossiped behind him, talking about the popular stars and latest scandals. ... Troublesome gossipers... celebrities are people like us, after all. What makes them so desirable?

"*Attention. Passengers headed to Inaba City and Yasoinaba Station please head to the opposite track.*"

Hmm, that's my stop. As the train began slowing, Souji Seta quickly grabbed his luggage from the top storage rack and made his way to the exit and to his connection. Two hours and a five-second nightmare later, he stepped out of the train and into Yasoinaba Station. Quiet... hm, definitely not like the city.

No sooner did he say this that a voice called out from his left. "Hey! Over here!" He looked over and saw a middle-aged adult and a young child beside him. Ah, there's oji-san. Hope he hasn't been waiting too long.

"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo." the man said as they met. "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you. Let's see... I'm your mother's younger brother... and that about sums it up."

Souji smiled, remembering the last time he'd seen his uncle. "It's been a long time."

Ryotaro smiled back. "I'll say. You've really grown. I still remember when you were in diapers..." He then motioned to the girl beside him. "This here's my daughter." He then turned to the girl. "Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."

"..... 'lo." she mumbled, not looking up at the new face, instead running behind her father out of embarrassment, earning a chuckle from him.

"What're you so shy for?" This earned a smack from the child, which brought another chuckle, though with a slight twinge of pain, to the adult. "Well then, let's get going. My car's over there."

With that, the three got into the car and headed for the city. In short order, they arrived, but the gas needle was running low, so they stopped at the gas station in the middle of the shopping center, where an attendant quickly ran out to greet them. "Hi! Welcome to Moel!"

Ryotaro looked back at Nanako as he opened his car door. "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?"

"Uh-huh." Nanako replied, opening her door as well.

The attendant looked back as Nanako walked toward the building. "Do you know where the bathroom is? It's to the left. You know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

Nanako responded with a withering look that looked out of place on the child's face. "I know... geeze..." With that, she disappeared behind the building.

The attendant smiled to herself as she turned to Ryotaro. "You guys headed out on a trip?"

He shook his head in response. "No, just went to the station to pick up this guy. He just moved here from the big city."

"From the city, huh..." the attendant nodded knowingly as she reached for a towel.

"Fill up the gas tank while you're at it. Regular is fine..." Ryotaro said as he walked toward the sidewalk. "Good time as any for a smoke..."

The attendant nodded and started wiping the windshield as she talked to the teenager. "Say, are you a high school student?" She earned a nod in return. "Coming to a totally empty place like this... I'll bet you're surprised, right?"

Souji shook his head, smiling slightly out of courtesy; something about the girl felt odd to him. "Not really; I'm actually enjoying the quiet."

The attendant leaned up from the car and approached him. "You know, I think it's pretty dull here. There isn't much to do here; you'll either be hanging out with your friends or taking on a part-time job." She looked up in thought, then looked back. "Ah, now that I think about it, we're taking on part-time help now, and we don't mind if you're a high school student. Just think about it, okay?" She reached out her hand to shake his, which he took and shook firmly, not noticing the hidden strength in the grip. Remembering her duty, she let go and stepped back. "Ah, I have to get back to work." With that, she disappeared on the other side of the car.

Almost immediately after the attendant left to do her duty, and unconsciously noticing her wicked smile, Nanako walked over, looking at her cousin worriedly. "You don't look so good.. . are you carsick?"

"N-no, I'm fine..." though, despite saying that, he could feel his head spinning a little. Maybe I did... I just got off a high-speed train, after all...

Fortunately, the drive home was uneventful, and the dinner was festive. He'd talked with Nanako a bit after Ryotaro got called in to work and found out that Junes, a popular mega-store that had several stores in each of the major cities, had opened a store in Inaba. Briefly the thought of how it would affect the small town crossed his mind, but he forgot about it as he enjoyed singing with Nanako. Finally, though, it was time for bed. I'll unpack after school tomorrow... man, couldn't my parents have let me come down a few days ago? How troublesome... Sleep was all he could think about at this point as the dizziness returned, and soon he was claimed by the darkness.

"Duo, are you okay? You've been looking sick ever since we got that new shipment in. You're not working yourself too hard again, are you?" Hilde said as she kneeled over Duo, who was laying on the couch. His skin had paled and his eyelids were drooping, but otherwise he didn't seem sick.

"Yeah, I'll be fine; I guess I just need a nap or something... wake me up when dinner's ready, okay?" He chuckled as he turned over, falling asleep almost immediately.

She snorted at the idea, but smiled anyway. "Rest well, Duo..." She placed a kiss on his cheek, then got up to start boiling water for tea.

His eyes fluttered open, but the blank light that filled his vision caused him to rub his eyes as he looked around. However, no matter where he looked, except for down, which was filled with red blocks, the entirety of his vision was shrouded in mist. Just like my dreams over the past several years... Souji thought as he stood up shakily, praying that the red blocks that now supported him did not fall out from underneath him as they had in his previous nightmares. Just as he decided to move forward, however, he heard a shift behind him; this caused him to jump as he whirled around, coming face to face with someone else. The boy's most noticeable feature was his super-long hair, which had been braided, but his eyes... They feel familiar... he thought as he extended his hand toward the teen, almost to see if the figure was indeed real.

Duo awoke with a start, his head snapping around furiously, but as with the boy standing in front of him, the only things he could see were the red tiles and endless white. Is this heaven...? No, why would heaven accept the God of Death...? Quickly he shook his head again, this time to rid himself of his thoughts. No, no, no; Hilde would beat you senseless if she heard you thinking like that again. He stood up, causing the guy in front of him to turn around and lock eyes with him. Grey hair? That doesn't happen to young guys often... but then, platinum blond is rare too, so I guess anything's possible. He took the boy's hand and blinked in surprise when he touched flesh.

Souji looked surprised as well, but it quickly vanished in a friendly smile. "Hey, don't think you would know anything about this place, huh? This is the first time I've had this dream and someone else has been in it."

Duo smiled as he said "Nope, your guess is as good as mine." It vanished as he looked around. "I don't like the looks of this place, though... something ominous about it, y'know?"

Souji nodded in agreement. "Yeah... well, looks like I'm still asleep, so I guess we'll have to start moving along this path... though I can't tell if it turns or ends more than a couple of meters in front of us."

Duo grinned. "No use worrying about it, though. Might as well get it over with. By the way, my name's Duo. Duo Maxwell. 'I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie.' That's me in a nutshell."

Souji laughed as he waved. "I'm Souji Seta... not much to me; I'm just a high-school student, but I never abandon others." This earned a smile and nod from Duo.

With that, the two started out, slowly at first as they kept their guard up, but their stride smoothed out. A couple of times one of them stumbled on the cracks between the blocks, but with the other one there they made good time, though neither had a clue as to what they were meeting... until a horrible screeching sound stopped them in their tracks, making them wince in pain.

"DO YOU SEEK THE TRUTH...?"

"What the hell was that?" Duo shouted as he looked around, his angry expression apparent.

"Don't know..." Silence followed, though, so the two continued onward until the sound returned.

"IF IT'S TRUTH YOU DESIRE, COME AND FIND ME..."

"... Whatever it is, we're getting close to it..." Souji mumbled as he started walking again.

"I hope whoever that voice belongs to is ready for a beating." Duo said as he walked alongside Souji. Shortly, they almost walked into the alternating-red-and-black door... well, Souji almost did; Duo, however, did.

"Ow..." he said as he fell backward. "Damn, that hurt... wait, that hurt? How can I feel pain and not be waking up?" He stood up and looked around. "... You know that bad feeling you get whenever you're in a strange place or situation?"

"Yeah..." Souji responded, not liking where this was going.

"... It just got worse." Duo said, reaching out to the door. "You ready?"

"Yeah..." Souji responded again.

Duo laughed as he moved to open the door. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Not really... but then, most people would seem quiet compared to you." He chuckled, knowing he couldn't resist the light-hearted jab as Duo's face contorted into a fish's expression, followed by a silly grin as the door opened.

"So... you are the ones who are pursuing me..." a figure spoke as they entered the room. "Hmhmhm... Try all you like..." The voice was clearly taunting them.

Souji frowned as he brought his hands up, feeling another new something: the handle of a katana. It weighed almost nothing, yet its feel held surprising power. He heard another voice beside him, this one more familiar.

"What? Why do I have this! I don't remember carrying it before..." Duo looked in shock at what he was carrying; in essence, it was a human-sized version of the Gundam Deathscythe Hell's main weapon: the beam scissors. The dual blades of the scythe carried more overall power, but what shocked him the most was that it almost felt ethereal, as if it didn't exist unless he was in here. "Ah well, guess we gotta fight this guy!" With that, he slashed at the figure in the mist, surprised that while he had made contact, the figure had not fallen on the floor in two pieces.

Souji was right behind Duo, watching as he slashed at the cloaked being, and when he saw Duo back off, he moved in to attack. His attacks were similar in effect, but both of them were surprised by the response.

"Hmmm... It seems that you can see a little, despite the fog..."

Souji frowned and felt a call at the edge of his mind, and before he could realize what it was, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and hit the enemy. Duo saw this, surprised by his friend's movements before he felt a similar call; when he reached out, a figure appeared and slashed down at the figure with its giant axe-like weapon.

"I see... you do indeed possess an interesting quality..." was all they got as a response, as if it was testing them.

Souji growled as he reached out again, this time the shadowed figure swiped at the image with its lance. Duo frowned as he rushed up to the enemy and slashed at it again. However, it was no use as the figure did not crumple, or so much as move.

"But... you will not catch me so easily..." The tone was the same as earlier, as if belittling their actions. "If what you seek is 'truth', then your search will be even harder..."

"So what! I don't care what you say; we'll figure this out no matter what you do!" Duo shouted; Souji for his part nodded in agreement.

"..." A thick shroud of fog then enveloped the figure.

Souji frowned as he tried to attack. "Gah, I can't see him now..."

"Everyone sees what they want to... and the fog only deepens..."

"What the hell does that mean?" Duo shouted as he tried to attack, only to miss as well.

"... Will we meet again...? At a place other than here... Hmhm... I look forward to it..." the voice faded from the room as the figure no longer looked to be there.

"..." Souji grunted as he felt the familiar feeling of losing consciousness. A thump from behind him told him that Duo had succumbed to the similar feeling that was now enveloping him.