****
Gundam Wing is a copyright of TV Asahi, Sunrise, and Sotsu Agency. So please don't sue me! I wrote this for entertainment! You hear that people? E_N_T_E_R_T_A_I_N_M_E_N_T!! And if you do sue me, you won't get much anyway!
****
Gundam Wing: Hard Target
By Virtex
Note: Yes, this an alternate universe fic. Yes, Reservoir Dogs is a real movie. In actuality, I loved every bit of it, but you have to see it to know what the GW boys are talking about.
And the topic for today's alternate universe is.....What if four of the Gundam pilots were hit men? And what if their most difficult assignment was to kill the one and only Quatre Raberba Winner and save Relena Peacecraft from his evil clutches?
Friday
Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang all stood before the desk of Zechs Merquise, head of The Cinq Kingdom's most notorious crime agency.
" Good work on your last assignment, gentlemen." Zechs complemented, laying a thick stack of bills before each of them. " I have a new one for you. Just recently my very own sister Relena Peacecraft, ambassador between the colonies and Earth, was kidnapped by my notorious rival Quatre R. Winner and his Maganac Corps. She is currently being held at the Maganac's desert stronghold. You four are my best associates and the only ones I trust in bringing her out alive. I am offering 55 million credits for her safe return."
The four all exchanged surprised glances. Zechs had never offered a price that high. And since when did he have a sister?
Heero spoke for them all. " We accept."
" Good. I want you to destroy Winner and his Maganacs too. Here are the coordinates for her position:"
Zechs read off a long string of numbers which they understood perfectly, adding, " You have until Monday to bring her back."
Three days. Would that be enough? After all, they were facing the dastardly evil (and filthy rich) Quatre Raberba Winner, president of the Winner Corporation and leader of its real organization, the Maganac Corps. Hopefully it would be enough time to let them go drinking that night.
" Yes sir." With that, the group of well trained hit men left the office of Zechs Merquise, President of the Preventer Crime Syndicate.
" Now what?" Duo asked.
" We'll save the planning for later, let's go buy some beer." Heero replied.
The others agreed and they piled into their AC 193 Star Chief. The Star Chief, to be compared to anything today, was similar to the long red and white convertible hot rods from the 1950s. It held four people exactly, which meant that any other passengers would have to ride in the trunk.
Upon entering the package store, the clerk recognized the four teens all dressed in black suits with black ties immediately.
He sighed. " What will it be this time?"
It was almost clockwork. Heero removed his 10mm pistol and shoved it in the face of the clerk. Duo went to the door to keep anyone from coming in. Trowa headed for the shelves, selecting fine quality beers and wines. Wufei checked the store for any customers.
" So, how you guys doing today?" The clerk inquired, almost bored.
" Not too bad, we just got offered a shit load of money to save Zechs Merquise's long lost sister."
" So, you're probably going to need a lot of beer for tonight, right?"
" Yeah."
" I recommend Heinzeken or Buddywiser. They're some quality beers imported from Lagrange Point 3."
" Sounds good. Thanks. Hey Trowa! Go pick up some Heinzeken and Buddywiser for us!" Heero shouted back to his comrade, gun still on the temple of the clerk.
Trowa came to the front of the store a few minutes later, about 50 credits worth of beer in his hands. Heero took the gun away and holstered it as the others walked out the door.
" Nice doing business with you, Otto."
Loading the beer into the trunk, they drove off for their apartment, deep in downtown Cinq Kingdom. They kicked open the door and headed inside, dumping the packages out on their kitchen table. It was 5:00 PM.
By 6:30 they were all drunk, even the rigid Wufei. They decided to make their plans.
Heero downloaded satellite photos of the stronghold off the Internet. (He also downloaded a few other unmentioned "photos".) Sketching the place on a beer stained napkin, they formulated their messy and doomed to fail plan. Then they drank some more.
By 9:30 they were all sprawled out around the apartment, unconscious.
Saturday
The bright Saturday morning (or afternoon) light shown on Wufei's face as he stretched and yawned from his position on the couch. He cursed himself for getting drunk and hung over. They had many things to do today. They had to decide on some weapons to use, rent a plane, and return that terrible and ancient movie Reservoir Dogs to the video store.
Duo was the next one up. He ran for the bathroom.
Heero slowly came to, realizing he had drunk way too much the night before. He ran out the door to blow his chunks.
Trowa sat up, being the least hung over from their drinking exhibition, next to Wufei. They both discussed the events of the day.
When Duo emerged from the bathroom he joined them after taking some aspirin. Heero came in a few minutes later.
" All right, we have a plan, now all we have to do is gather some weapons and rent a plane, right?" They had all sat down at the table as Heero spoke and jotted down a list of things to do.
" Right." Wufei said.
" Since Duo's the sniper, we're going to need a sniper rifle. The rest of you will probably only need the usual 10mm submachine guns. Or how about a shotgun too? I know a place in town where we can rent or steal a plane, whichever appeals to you. We also need to Xerox the plan for you to study."
" Don't forget that we need to return Reservoir Dogs to the video store. It's three weeks overdue." Trowa added.
" Oh yeah. Damn, that movie sucked so bad. What the hell were people thinking when they made that?" He put it on the list. " What else?"
" Food." Duo said.
They were all hungry, and it would help their hangovers. " Yes, I'm starving. Where should we go?"
" The Taco Shack!"
" Emmy's diner."
" Wong Phong's Noodle Hut!"
" Emmy's is closest to the video store, so we'll go there." Heero decided. Mexican or Chinese did not sit well after being drunk.
" Damn!"
" Damn!"
" Look's like we've got everything planned, so clean up a little and let's get out of here before we waste anymore time."
They didn't take time to shower; they simply opened their closets and threw on another black suit. By 2:30 in the afternoon, half an hour after they woke up, they were in the Star Chief.
They stopped at Emmy's first. The waitress kept her distance when she could, knowing they were respectable hit men and because their breath smelled of alcohol.
" You know, Reservoir Dogs wasn't all that bad." Duo said, triggering an outburst of angry regards.
" What are you talking about? It SUCKED!"
" You've had too much to drink. Just think about it. Mr Pink?! C'mon!"
" It had no meaning! And Mr. Pink ran by the same Ace Hardware store twice!"
" How could you like a movie where some fag named Nice Guy Eddie walks around in a shell suit top?!"
" It didn't even show the big gunfight."
" And what's the deal with Eddie's phone?! It's huge!!"
" What's Mr. Orange's problem?! Is it possible to talk in a voice so annoying?!"
" Okay, okay, so the movie had its flaws..." Duo finally stopped the flying comments. Or so he thought.
" Flaws?! How about the movie sucked!"
" It had its flaws all right! The whole friggin' thing was a flaw!"
" I think it was an exploration of honor amongst thieves. It had a good point."
" BS!!"
Duo gave up on being shouted at and just dug into his smiley-face pancakes.
" There's something familiar about what we're doing right now. Sitting in a diner, eating and arguing over some popular yet ancient article of the media." Wufei noticed. " Just like in the beginning of the movie how they were arguing over the song..."
An ominous silence fell over them.
Heero covered the bill and Wufei, Duo, and Trowa chipped in on the tip. Once again, they piled into the car and drove into the parking lot of the video store.
" Since you liked the movie so much, you can return it." Heero tossed the video in Duo's lap.
Duo mumbled and trudged inside, taking the video to the counter to see what the monstrous late fee would be.
The guy behind the counter was a nerd in its simplest form. Pocket protector, thick framed glasses, a permanently runny nose, and a strange hair cut.
" Oh wow! I didn't think we even had this thing anymore." He exclaimed, taking the video from the hit man and wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve. As he looked it up on the computer, he squinted at Duo. " Do I know you from somewhere?"
" I don't think so..."
" Oh...oh my God! I know who you are!" The nerd snorted. " You're...you're the guy who murdered my brother for screwing up Zechs Merquise's pizza order! You son of a bitch!"
Duo's big eyes only got bigger upon seeing the compact 10mm pistol removed from the nerd's protected pocket. He ducked below the counter, a shot flying over his head.
" Kuso!" Maxwell whipped out his own 10mm from beneath the suit.
The shoppers inside the video store became a panicked mob as they rushed out the door, knocking over cases and displays. Duo would never be able to get this guy from his position. He stood, pointing the gun in the direction of the nerd, who was hiding behind the counter.
Suddenly, the nerd popped up and fired a few rounds. Duo tripped over his feet, the bullets just barely missing him. He scrambled for cover behind a nearby display and fired his gun at the counter a couple times.
The nerd dropped low, coming up a few seconds later to squeeze off several more bullets. Duo shot back, almost hitting the evil video store worker.
Outside, Wufei, Heero, and Trowa all wondered what was going on. How could Duo mess up a job as simple as returning an old video? They removed their 10mms and headed for the door.
Maxwell ejected his clip and slapped another in, rounds from his enemy smashing into the display.
" Duo, what the hell's going on in here?" Questioned Heero.
" Look out!"
The three turned to face the nerd, who was stooped below the counter, reloading. They walked over, raised their guns, and fired six bullets into him each.
" Let's get the hell outta here!" Duo said. The others followed him out the door to the car.
With Trowa driving, Heero crossed off two things on their list. " Now, tell me Duo, what the hell happened in there?"
" I walk in and tell the guy I want to return the video. So he starts to look it up and then he says he recognized me from somewhere. Next thing you know he's screaming about how I murdered his brother for messing up Zechs' pizza order and shooting at me."
Heero stared for a few moments. " Moving on...Trowa, head for the surplus store. I'll get the weapons this time."
Heero stepped inside the camouflage covered surplus store and went straight for the clerk. " I want a Royal with cheese."
The clerk nodded, removing a special pair of keys from his pocket. " Follow me."
He led Heero to a back room, unlocked the door, and let him loose. The entire room, the size of a large walk in closet, was covered wall to wall with guns. He selected a sniper rifle, two 10mm submachine guns, and a shotgun off the racks, wasting no time. He took the goods to the clerk, who rang them up and asked if he wanted ammunition for them.
" Yes. About 125 rounds for each weapon, please."
The clerk didn't question Heero's serious tone and brought him a box full of clips. " There ya go. The total comes to 40,000 credits and 3 cents."
Yuy dumped the money over and collected everything, strolling back out to the Star Chief. He put it all in the trunk and crossed another thing off the list.
" Head for the post office. I have to get the plan Xeroxed."
Trowa drove down the moderately traffic filled streets of the Cinq Kingdom, coming to a halt in the parking lot of a strip mall. Heero jumped out and ran inside. A few minutes later he came out, handing a Xeroxed napkin to everyone.
" Don't lose it. We have everything now, don't we? Time to head for the private airport. We don't need anything else, so I guess we're going to the Middle East. Let's go kill 40 Maganacs, rescue an ambassador, and assassinate one rich cynical bastard."
They pulled up to the private airport at the edge of town in about fifteen minutes. All four got out of the car to speak to the manager, who was in an office at the back of the hangar. The hangar was relatively large, containing many planes, but the main one they were after was the medium sized military plane. After all, the Star Chief was coming with them.
They entered the office, the manager glancing up from his paperwork. " Can I help you?"
" We need to rent a plane to the Middle East." Heero spoke for the group, as usual.
" Which one?"
" The MA64 gray military one out there."
" That thing? I'm sorry, it's only for display."
" What the hell?! How can you have a plane for display?"
" I have no purpose for it, so I just put it on display."
Wufei drew his 10mm, putting it to the manager's forehead. " Listen you weak asshole. You're starting to piss me off, and I have a really bad headache today! We need a plane, and we need one now. Give us that plane, and not only will we let you go with your life, we will pay a worthy rental charge."
A thick bead of sweat ran down the manager's temple. " O...Okay, okay."
They loaded the Star Chief into the cargo hold of the plane, using a ramp. Heero handed the manager a wad of cash, and in return he was given a pair of keys and a pine scented air freshener. The four climbed inside, breaking out the guns to load them up. In minutes they were off. The flight from The Cinq Kingdom to the Middle East would take about three hours.
Wufei and Trowa spent their time playing chess on one of those mini magnetic travel boards, making it a violent and curse filled game. Duo stared at the napkin blankly, trying to memorize the plan, even though all he had to do was make it to a sniping post. Heero, of course, was piloting the plane.
" Checkmate." Wufei declared soundly.
" Damn." Trowa mumbled.
" Rematch?"
" No, thank you. You have any aspirin on you? I still have a headache."
Wufei handed Trowa a bottle of aspirin, clearing the chess pieces off the board. Trowa swallowed two aspirin whole and made his way to the cockpit. Wufei removed the Xerox of the plan from his suit pocket, studying it intently. It was a rather simple plan, yet he wasn't sure whether it would work or not. They had written when they were drunk...
The fortress was fenced in by a square wall, with one gate on each side. In the center of the wall was a gigantic tower: Quatre's quarters. Peacecraft would be somewhere inside there. Next to that stood two large tents, which were the Maganacs' barracks.
On each corner of the wall there were turrets, and in the bottom right one Duo would take his sniping position. From that point, he could see most of the battlefield. While Duo worked on getting to the position, Wufei and Trowa would cover Heero as he ran to secure the front door of the tower. Mind you, this would be at dawn, before any of the Maganacs were awake. As soon as the front door was clear, Wufei would assist Heero in rescuing Relena, while Trowa killed off as many sleeping Maganacs as he could with the support of Duo. When the alarm was sounded, (it would eventually) they would flee with Relena back to the Star Chief, where Duo would pick off any of the pursuing henchmen.
Wufei spent the rest of the trip with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, leaning back in a chair. Duo finally memorized his part in the plan and decided to go in the cargo hold and listen to the radio of the Star Chief. Trowa and Heero discussed quietly in the cockpit.
Heero came on the intercom and announced that they were preparing to land. Outside, the sun was almost completely below the horizon. The plane began to tilt as it descended.
Wufei still stayed with his arms crossed, eyes closed, seat belt unbuckled. The plane tilted a little more. Down in the cargo hold, Duo felt his stomach begin to sink.
In the cockpit, Trowa and Heero suddenly heard a loud thump followed by a string of Chinese cuss words. They turned back to see Wufei lying on the floor in a heap. The plane tilted more as Heero accidentally took his hands off the controls while being distracted by his fellow hit man. Wufei began sliding down the floor of the plane, screaming obscenities.
" Oh shit!" Heero realized the plane was almost in a nose dive and regained control, pulling her up to the landing level. He brought it down to the ground roughly, vibrations rumbling throughout the interior.
Once Wufei had regained his senses and his sanity, he rose and stormed to the cockpit.
" Damn it Yuy! What the fuck's your problem?!"
" I was trying to land the plane, ass hole."
Wufei couldn't believe his ears. Someone had just called him an ass hole. He removed his pistol from the holster and aimed it at Heero. Heero returned the favor. It was a Mexican stand off...with no Mexicans.
" Gentlemen, gentlemen, remember that you're professionals. We don't need this right now." Trowa reasoned.
" Tell him to put his gun away and I'll put mine away." Heero replied coldly.
Wufei was silent. He only glared at Yuy.
Tension was in the air. Trowa tried to get the two calmed down, to no prevail. Both had their itchy fingers on the sensitive triggers. Even an uncontrollable twitch would repaint the cockpit.
Duo hadn't been too bothered by the landing. He did wonder what the weird sliding noise coming from above was, though. He decided to investigate.
" Put the guns away. Remember, we have to rescue Relena or Zechs will have our asses." Trowa tried.
The two non-Mexicans in the stand off stayed silent.
" Hey guys! What was that noise?"
BAM! BAM!
Two bullet holes appeared in the floor below Duo. " Shit..."
" Guys, for God's sake! Sto..."
BAM!
" Oh...shit." Heero murmured.
" You...you shot Trowa in the face!" Duo exclaimed.
Wufei only blinked.
" Which one of you was it?"
" Aw shit. Shit! I can't believe this!" Heero cried.
" It was Heero." Wufei pointed the finger darkly.
" Heero? Did you really shoot Trowa?"
" Yes, now be quiet before I shoot you too. It was an accident. Things were tense, and it didn't help that you had to burst in shouting like that. I almost shot you, and then he started yelling and I automatically reacted to it."
" Great. Now we're short one good man. What will we do with the Maganacs?"
" I guess we'll just have to get in and out as quick as we can and then stick to the plan after extracting Relena. You can handle shooting 40 moving targets with your sniper rifle, can't you?"
" I hope so."
" All right. So we keep the plan. We just need to speed it up. Wufei, you and I will divvy up Trowa's pistol ammo. Duo can take his shot gun as a back up weapon."
" What are we going to about this mess, though?" Wufei asked.
The three turned to face the blood stained side of the cockpit and the practically headless Trowa. There was a simultaneous " I'm not cleaning it up."
" You shot him." Maxwell said.
" It was your fault." Heero retorted.
" How about we all clean it up? Maxwell and I will take the body out while you get to clean up the cockpit. Make sure you get every single piece of skull and brain matter." Wufei ordered.
" Fine." Heero went to get a rag.
" C'mon Maxwell. You take the shoulders, I'll take the legs. That's right. On three, we lift."
" Nasty! He's dripping stuff!"
" Live with it, weakling."
Together, they carried the leaking carcass off the plane and dumped it a few yards away in a sand dune.
" Shouldn't we pay respects, or bury him?"
" You're the God of Death, you tell me."
" Well, I mean, he was our friend and partner. He does deserve some respect." Duo looked down at the dead body, shuddering. " How about a moment of silence?"
Wufei nodded. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Duo bowed his head, also. His eyes could not seem to stay closed. He didn't want to look at the gruesome scene, yet he was curious. After staring for about 10 seconds, he felt as if he was going to puke and said, " Okay, it's been a long enough moment. Let's get out of here."
They found Heero scrubbing vigorously, tossing bits and pieces of...stuff into a bucket. He mumbled about having to clean up his partner's exploded head and continued with the stomach wrenching job.
Wufei split up the pistol ammo evenly and loaded every gun. Then he separated them out into three groups, laying them down inside the trunk of the Star Chief. Now, when they woke up at the crack of dawn they could get in the Star Chief and leave.
Duo climbed into the comfy seats of the car when Wufei was finished and drifted off to sleep. Heero sat in the cockpit, also falling asleep. Wufei sat in one of the chairs of the plane and fell unconscious himself.
Sunday
" Oh shit!" Were the first words that came out of Heero's mouth as he woke up. Bright, bright afternoon sunlight broke through the windshield onto his face. He checked his watch. It was 12:38 PM. If things would've gone according to plan, they would've been done with the mission by that time. He realized the horrible truth. They had slept in.
He adjusted his blood sprayed suit and rushed to wake up Duo and Wufei.
He shook Wufei roughly. " Wake up! It's 12:40!"
Wufei jumped up and followed Heero their car.
" Get up, Duo!" Heero flung open the driver's side door and kicked him. " We're seven hours late!"
Duo came to slowly. In the mean time, Heero pushed him over and started the car as Wufei opened the cargo door. He hopped in the back seat and Yuy drove the Star Chief out of the plane onto the desert sand.
Wufei gave the slow waking Maxwell one good pop to the back of the head. " Maxwell! Get the hell up! We're on the way to the fortress!"
After driving for a mile or so, they came to a dirt road that led directly to the Winner Corporation's desert strong hold. They went down the road until they were about 200 yards from the outer wall.
As suspected, there were two guards standing at the entrance. Unloading the weapons from the back, Heero ordered Duo to take them out.
" Remember, as soon as those two are down run for the entrance as fast as you can. We're going to make this quick. Duo, use the shotgun to clear your way into the nearest turret. Wufei, cover me while I clear the entrance to the tower."
Both nodded. Duo peered into his scope, focusing the crosshairs on the head of the guard on the right. " 1 down, 39 to go." He commented as he squeezed the trigger, a red pulp appearing on the wall behind the guard. The other sentry made a run for the alarm, but he was killed before he could make it.
" Go!"
Duo took the shotgun from his back and slung up the sniper rifle, charging the fortress. Wufei and Heero were far ahead, breaking through the front gates with a crackle of gunfire.
Wufei jumped back into cover, a spray of bullets knocking chunks of limestone off the wall. He turned out, firing off a few quick bursts at the Maganacs stationed around the base without cover. With Heero's help, they took them all out in a matter of seconds.
" I got you covered Yuy!" Wufei shouted. Heero sprinted for the entrance to the massive tower. On all four sides the tower had an extended porch, pillars holding the roof up every few feet. Heero took cover behind one of the pillars and blasted the two sentries into oblivion, kicking the door open.
Duo Maxwell ran past Wufei, sending one shotgun round into a guard on the bottom right turret. One Maganac came running along the wall top from them top right turret, firing his submachine gun. Duo rolled, a stream of rounds kicking up sand behind him, and fired, knocking the man clean off the wall. He skipped two ringlets at a time going up the ladder into the bottom right turret, whipping out the sniper rifle.
From his point in the door way of the tower, Heero motioned for Wufei to come. Wufei made a run from the gate, shooting at the sentry posted in the bottom left turret. Two of the Maganacs came around the right corner of the tower, but they were quickly shot down by Duo. Another two came from the left side, firing. Chang had to lunge forward as bullets zipped by in his trail, landing behind a pillar.
While Wufei was holding those two down, Heero took a quick peek inside the tower. The main floor was a lobby, with tables and chairs and a bar. Maybe he would grab a drink on the way out. In the back of the lobby was the staircase. The large stairs were made of limestone and they appeared to lead all the way up the tower into Quatre's bedroom, or whatever there was up there. It could have been a penthouse, for all he knew.
Duo had the bottom left turret's sentry in his sights. He was firing with a submachine at Wufei, whom was busy enough with the two Maganacs he was in engaged in a fire fight with. One quick squeeze of the trigger put the Maganac in the turret down. He would help out Wufei, but at the angle he was firing from, he couldn't get a clean shot of the men.
Heero leaned out of the doorway and shot, hitting one of the men in the shoulder.
" Go ahead, Yuy! I'll stay here!"
Wufei let out a long round of fire as Heero went inside, slapping in another clip. The lobby was eerily quiet. Heero, as much as he had wanted to, didn't get a drink. He made haste for the stairwell, when four men came rushing down from it. He flipped one of the tables and used it for cover, shooting one of them dead. The three remaining ran for different chairs. At that time the hiding bar tender on his backside decided to join in on the fun with his pistol.
Duo kept his sights trained on the barrack doors, knowing that any second a hell of a lot of Maganacs would come flowing out.
Wufei had managed to kill the wounded enemy, leaving one left. The pillar he was using was withered down 6 inches from the amount of bullets pounded into it. A fine powder lay below his feet, along with a couple big chunks. He popped out, firing once again. The Maganac had just taken his cover. He paused, waiting for him to come out again. Sure enough, the fool jumped out to fire, and Wufei promptly capped him one in the head. He strolled over, scooping up the submachine guns, and headed inside.
Heero's 10mm submachine gun spewed rounds into the three chairs the men were behind, sending stuffing into the air. He ducked as they fired back, a few shots from the bar tender exploding into the table just above his head. Wufei burst in and tossed an extra gun to Heero. Running sideways across the lobby, he opened up with two submachine guns. He dove behind the bar, landing on his shoulder and skidding. He didn't know that the bar tender was back there.
There was a split second of surprise between the two. They stared at each other, shocked. Then Wufei blew the bar tender away, knocking him into the rows and rows of glass bottles.
Heero would thank Wufei later for the spare submachine gun. He shot at the Maganacs with double the firepower now.
Duo let off a round of surprise as the doors of the barracks slammed open. Luckily, that round hit the first man out directly in the heart, causing the others to run back inside. He smiled, thinking, " It's good to be the God of Death."
Heero pegged one of the Maganacs right in the forehead. He ducked, a barrage of fire flying by overhead. Back in the bar, Wufei let out a sigh of relief and reloaded his weapons. He stood, pumping one man full of lead. One left.
Heero nodded to his comrade and Chang pinned down the last guy. Yuy crouched low and attempted to flank the thug. By the time Wufei stopped firing, Heero had a clear view of the Maganac. He stood to fire back at Wufei, and Heero let loose on him with half a clip.
The two hit men made their way up the stairwell. It was long and winding, with no railing. They seemed to be climbing forever. Once, Heero glanced downward. They were 8 stories up. That was a long drop.
Finally, they made it to the top. There was a single door waiting for them. It was closed. They heard faint noises of a girl crying and someone sounding angry.
" Ready?" Heero asked.
Wufei shook his head yes. He dropped the second submachine gun and loaded a new clip into the original.
Heero's voice was a whisper. " One...two...three!!"
They kicked the door over and stormed inside, scanning the room with their weapons. As it was assumed, this was Winner's bedroom. Relena was in front of the window, gagged and tied to a chair. Quatre Raberba Winner was standing next to her, just out of the window's view. Rashid, Quatre's loyal and most trusted thug, was in the corner of the room.
" Don't move ass hole! We got a sniper out there, just waiting to blow your head off!" Heero yelled.
Quatre glared. " And I suppose you think that my army won't come in here and slaughter you two the minute they get a chance?"
Duo was getting nervous. He was running out of ammo, and he had only killed two Maganacs. Sooner or later they were going to make a charge, and at that point he hoped that his fellow hit men had the hostage. They were taking too long as it was.
Suddenly, a gun poked out of the doorway of the barracks and fired at him. He behind one of the embattlements to dodge the rounds, giving a few Maganacs time to escape.
" Awwww shiiiitt."
" We better wrap this up." Wufei said out of the corner of his mouth.
" Hand her over, Winner."
" Why should I? You dumb fuck ups will be dead in a matter of seconds."
Heero gritted his teeth. He didn't like being insulted, but he had to take it in order to preserve the girl. He took a good look at her for the first time. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Inside his tough heart, a soft spot developed for Relena Peacecraft.
" Give me the hostage or you two can kiss your asses goodbye."
" Ha, fuck you!"
That was it. Both Wufei and Heero had had enough. Wufei knew Heero was going for Quatre, so he unloaded his gun on Rashid's upper body. Heero shot Quatre in the knee cap, boiling with rage. He lunged for the crime lord, straddling him and punching him in the face repeatedly.
WAM!WAM!WAM! " Stupid..."WAM! "Fucker!" WAM! " Cynical bastard!" WAM! " Pussy!" WAM!
Quatre's face was reduced to a disfigured lump. The whole time he cussed Heero out through fat lips.
" Yuy! We don't have time for this! We have to get the hell out of this place!"
Heero stopped, removing his 10mm. He put it to Winner's broken nose and pulled the trigger. He was immediately covered in blood.
" Grab the girl."
Heero reached to pick Relena up, but she cringed. " Eew! Go away!"
Wufei sighed and cut Relena loose. He threw her over his shoulder. " We were sent by your brother, so trust us."
Now it was a mad sprint down the stairs. Wufei was slower, carrying Relena, so Heero went ahead. He made it to the bottom of one staircase to be confronted by three angry Maganacs.
BAM!
" Shit! Kuso...kuso..." Wufei heard several stairs below him. He readied his weapon. The sounds of a brief gunfight followed. He tried to hurry, stumbling.
He turned the corner of the next staircase. Heero was lying flat and firing at the three men. A puddle of blood was forming under his foot. He also saw a seeping wound on his butt.
" What kind of bastard shoots someone in the ass?" Heero moaned.
Wufei, who had taken the three by surprise, took them all out with a spray of fire.
" Can you walk?"
" I don't know." Heero attempted to stand and dropped again.
" Ambassador Peacecraft, will you stay with us if I put you down?"
" Yes."
Wufei set her down and helped Heero up. Heero put his arm around Wufei's shoulders to use him as a crutch.
They continued their way down the stairs, with about 4 stories to go.
Duo fired at the group of moving targets, using up the last of his sniper rifle ammo. Two of them still managed to make it inside the tower. Were Heero and Wufei still alive?
The three heard footsteps coming towards them.
" Go up one level, Miss Peacecraft." Wufei ordered. He was on the last clip of his 10mm submachine gun. Relena did as she was told. The two Maganacs raced around the bend of the staircase quickly, guns blazing.
Wufei took a shot in the side, crumpling over. Heero broke away from Wufei, shooting. He lost his balance, though, and started to tumble towards the edge of the stair. He was shot again at the end of the sternum, and that was what did it. He rolled right off the edge.
Wufei screamed out of rage and split the clip up between the two thugs. He then collapsed to the ground. Relena ran down and bent over him.
" Are you okay?"
" What do you think?" He said bitterly, his breath quickening. " I'm going to get you out of here and get my honor. I will not let myself die."
He brought himself to his feet and tossed the submachine gun down the stairwell. He motioned for Relena to keep moving.
They slowly made their way to the bottom, where Heero Yuy's body lay face down. Wufei checked his pulse, found none.
" He was a good man. Little too pissy sometimes."
Duo cursed himself over and over. The Maganacs would realize he was out of ammunition any minute now. He chucked the sniper rifle towards the barracks angrily, taking out the shotgun. And at that precise moment, 20 or so Maganacs burst out into the hot desert. An injured Wufei and Ambassador Relena Peacecraft also appeared, squinting from the bright light. They saw the Maganacs and broke into a sprint, Wufei clutching his side.
Duo fired off a couple rounds into the mob and jumped to the ground, running with Wufei and Relena. Wufei shot blindly at the enraged thugs with his 10mm, limping.
Automatic fire whizzed by them or hit the sand as they ran faster than they ever had. Past the gates, out across the steaming desert sands. The Star Chief wasn't far.
Duo turned and facing backwards, pumping shell after shell at the Maganacs, whom were setting up on the wall. Wufei and Relena accelerated past him, jumping into the Star Chief. Maxwell let off another round before jumping over the door into the driver's seat. He tried starting her up over and over.
" Duck!" Wufei shouted, half a second before the side of the car facing the fortress was turned into Swiss cheese. They lay low, bullets flying by like bees.
Several rounds hit the engine, causing a thin stream of black smoke to drift from the hood. That only made things worse.
" Piece of shit!" Duo shouted, pounding the steering wheel. " It's dead."
Wufei kicked open the back driver's side door, sliding out. Relena went with him, Duo right after. They stood a better chance of living on the other side of the car.
With their backs pressed to the side of the car on either end, Wufei and Duo leaned around the edge and shot at the fortress. Wufei was having trouble breathing, and blood was leaking out all over his suit. He told himself he wasn't going to die.
Duo ran out of shot ammo rather quickly, and he removed his pistol. It was only a matter of time before they ran out of ammunition.
For hours and hours they exchanged fire, reloading over and over. At least 10 Maganacs were dead. Part of the sun dipped into the horizon, spreading colors across the sky. The Star Chief was now the Swiss Chief.
Finally, Wufei dropped his gun. " I'm completely dry." A large, sticky puddle of red was next to him, dripping out of his side.
" Wufei, you okay?"
" I'm okay...Maxwell..." He sounded tired, almost somewhere else. He let out his last breath, head leaned back and staring at Duo. Another man lost.
Duo ran out of ammo 30 minutes later. He was tired and his head hurt.
" You okay Miss Peacecraft?"
" Please, call me Relena..."
" Okay, Relena. You doing okay?"
" I don't know...will we die out here?"
Duo couldn't answer the question. The fire from the fortress had stopped, too. With no sound, he drifted asleep, leaving Relena alone to watch for any signs of movement from the wall. She curled her legs up to her chest, eventually falling asleep herself.
The End?
I know, the ending kinda sucks, but I just felt like killing the GW pilots off for once. But, Duo didn't die...or did he? Anyway, I was saying that I'm sick of having the GW boys always survive, so that's why I did the ending that way. I didn't have the heart to make Duo die, though. It was hard enough killing off Wufei, who is my fav character. Please review and tell me what you think.
~V
Gundam Wing is a copyright of TV Asahi, Sunrise, and Sotsu Agency. So please don't sue me! I wrote this for entertainment! You hear that people? E_N_T_E_R_T_A_I_N_M_E_N_T!! And if you do sue me, you won't get much anyway!
****
Gundam Wing: Hard Target
By Virtex
Note: Yes, this an alternate universe fic. Yes, Reservoir Dogs is a real movie. In actuality, I loved every bit of it, but you have to see it to know what the GW boys are talking about.
And the topic for today's alternate universe is.....What if four of the Gundam pilots were hit men? And what if their most difficult assignment was to kill the one and only Quatre Raberba Winner and save Relena Peacecraft from his evil clutches?
Friday
Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, and Wufei Chang all stood before the desk of Zechs Merquise, head of The Cinq Kingdom's most notorious crime agency.
" Good work on your last assignment, gentlemen." Zechs complemented, laying a thick stack of bills before each of them. " I have a new one for you. Just recently my very own sister Relena Peacecraft, ambassador between the colonies and Earth, was kidnapped by my notorious rival Quatre R. Winner and his Maganac Corps. She is currently being held at the Maganac's desert stronghold. You four are my best associates and the only ones I trust in bringing her out alive. I am offering 55 million credits for her safe return."
The four all exchanged surprised glances. Zechs had never offered a price that high. And since when did he have a sister?
Heero spoke for them all. " We accept."
" Good. I want you to destroy Winner and his Maganacs too. Here are the coordinates for her position:"
Zechs read off a long string of numbers which they understood perfectly, adding, " You have until Monday to bring her back."
Three days. Would that be enough? After all, they were facing the dastardly evil (and filthy rich) Quatre Raberba Winner, president of the Winner Corporation and leader of its real organization, the Maganac Corps. Hopefully it would be enough time to let them go drinking that night.
" Yes sir." With that, the group of well trained hit men left the office of Zechs Merquise, President of the Preventer Crime Syndicate.
" Now what?" Duo asked.
" We'll save the planning for later, let's go buy some beer." Heero replied.
The others agreed and they piled into their AC 193 Star Chief. The Star Chief, to be compared to anything today, was similar to the long red and white convertible hot rods from the 1950s. It held four people exactly, which meant that any other passengers would have to ride in the trunk.
Upon entering the package store, the clerk recognized the four teens all dressed in black suits with black ties immediately.
He sighed. " What will it be this time?"
It was almost clockwork. Heero removed his 10mm pistol and shoved it in the face of the clerk. Duo went to the door to keep anyone from coming in. Trowa headed for the shelves, selecting fine quality beers and wines. Wufei checked the store for any customers.
" So, how you guys doing today?" The clerk inquired, almost bored.
" Not too bad, we just got offered a shit load of money to save Zechs Merquise's long lost sister."
" So, you're probably going to need a lot of beer for tonight, right?"
" Yeah."
" I recommend Heinzeken or Buddywiser. They're some quality beers imported from Lagrange Point 3."
" Sounds good. Thanks. Hey Trowa! Go pick up some Heinzeken and Buddywiser for us!" Heero shouted back to his comrade, gun still on the temple of the clerk.
Trowa came to the front of the store a few minutes later, about 50 credits worth of beer in his hands. Heero took the gun away and holstered it as the others walked out the door.
" Nice doing business with you, Otto."
Loading the beer into the trunk, they drove off for their apartment, deep in downtown Cinq Kingdom. They kicked open the door and headed inside, dumping the packages out on their kitchen table. It was 5:00 PM.
By 6:30 they were all drunk, even the rigid Wufei. They decided to make their plans.
Heero downloaded satellite photos of the stronghold off the Internet. (He also downloaded a few other unmentioned "photos".) Sketching the place on a beer stained napkin, they formulated their messy and doomed to fail plan. Then they drank some more.
By 9:30 they were all sprawled out around the apartment, unconscious.
Saturday
The bright Saturday morning (or afternoon) light shown on Wufei's face as he stretched and yawned from his position on the couch. He cursed himself for getting drunk and hung over. They had many things to do today. They had to decide on some weapons to use, rent a plane, and return that terrible and ancient movie Reservoir Dogs to the video store.
Duo was the next one up. He ran for the bathroom.
Heero slowly came to, realizing he had drunk way too much the night before. He ran out the door to blow his chunks.
Trowa sat up, being the least hung over from their drinking exhibition, next to Wufei. They both discussed the events of the day.
When Duo emerged from the bathroom he joined them after taking some aspirin. Heero came in a few minutes later.
" All right, we have a plan, now all we have to do is gather some weapons and rent a plane, right?" They had all sat down at the table as Heero spoke and jotted down a list of things to do.
" Right." Wufei said.
" Since Duo's the sniper, we're going to need a sniper rifle. The rest of you will probably only need the usual 10mm submachine guns. Or how about a shotgun too? I know a place in town where we can rent or steal a plane, whichever appeals to you. We also need to Xerox the plan for you to study."
" Don't forget that we need to return Reservoir Dogs to the video store. It's three weeks overdue." Trowa added.
" Oh yeah. Damn, that movie sucked so bad. What the hell were people thinking when they made that?" He put it on the list. " What else?"
" Food." Duo said.
They were all hungry, and it would help their hangovers. " Yes, I'm starving. Where should we go?"
" The Taco Shack!"
" Emmy's diner."
" Wong Phong's Noodle Hut!"
" Emmy's is closest to the video store, so we'll go there." Heero decided. Mexican or Chinese did not sit well after being drunk.
" Damn!"
" Damn!"
" Look's like we've got everything planned, so clean up a little and let's get out of here before we waste anymore time."
They didn't take time to shower; they simply opened their closets and threw on another black suit. By 2:30 in the afternoon, half an hour after they woke up, they were in the Star Chief.
They stopped at Emmy's first. The waitress kept her distance when she could, knowing they were respectable hit men and because their breath smelled of alcohol.
" You know, Reservoir Dogs wasn't all that bad." Duo said, triggering an outburst of angry regards.
" What are you talking about? It SUCKED!"
" You've had too much to drink. Just think about it. Mr Pink?! C'mon!"
" It had no meaning! And Mr. Pink ran by the same Ace Hardware store twice!"
" How could you like a movie where some fag named Nice Guy Eddie walks around in a shell suit top?!"
" It didn't even show the big gunfight."
" And what's the deal with Eddie's phone?! It's huge!!"
" What's Mr. Orange's problem?! Is it possible to talk in a voice so annoying?!"
" Okay, okay, so the movie had its flaws..." Duo finally stopped the flying comments. Or so he thought.
" Flaws?! How about the movie sucked!"
" It had its flaws all right! The whole friggin' thing was a flaw!"
" I think it was an exploration of honor amongst thieves. It had a good point."
" BS!!"
Duo gave up on being shouted at and just dug into his smiley-face pancakes.
" There's something familiar about what we're doing right now. Sitting in a diner, eating and arguing over some popular yet ancient article of the media." Wufei noticed. " Just like in the beginning of the movie how they were arguing over the song..."
An ominous silence fell over them.
Heero covered the bill and Wufei, Duo, and Trowa chipped in on the tip. Once again, they piled into the car and drove into the parking lot of the video store.
" Since you liked the movie so much, you can return it." Heero tossed the video in Duo's lap.
Duo mumbled and trudged inside, taking the video to the counter to see what the monstrous late fee would be.
The guy behind the counter was a nerd in its simplest form. Pocket protector, thick framed glasses, a permanently runny nose, and a strange hair cut.
" Oh wow! I didn't think we even had this thing anymore." He exclaimed, taking the video from the hit man and wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve. As he looked it up on the computer, he squinted at Duo. " Do I know you from somewhere?"
" I don't think so..."
" Oh...oh my God! I know who you are!" The nerd snorted. " You're...you're the guy who murdered my brother for screwing up Zechs Merquise's pizza order! You son of a bitch!"
Duo's big eyes only got bigger upon seeing the compact 10mm pistol removed from the nerd's protected pocket. He ducked below the counter, a shot flying over his head.
" Kuso!" Maxwell whipped out his own 10mm from beneath the suit.
The shoppers inside the video store became a panicked mob as they rushed out the door, knocking over cases and displays. Duo would never be able to get this guy from his position. He stood, pointing the gun in the direction of the nerd, who was hiding behind the counter.
Suddenly, the nerd popped up and fired a few rounds. Duo tripped over his feet, the bullets just barely missing him. He scrambled for cover behind a nearby display and fired his gun at the counter a couple times.
The nerd dropped low, coming up a few seconds later to squeeze off several more bullets. Duo shot back, almost hitting the evil video store worker.
Outside, Wufei, Heero, and Trowa all wondered what was going on. How could Duo mess up a job as simple as returning an old video? They removed their 10mms and headed for the door.
Maxwell ejected his clip and slapped another in, rounds from his enemy smashing into the display.
" Duo, what the hell's going on in here?" Questioned Heero.
" Look out!"
The three turned to face the nerd, who was stooped below the counter, reloading. They walked over, raised their guns, and fired six bullets into him each.
" Let's get the hell outta here!" Duo said. The others followed him out the door to the car.
With Trowa driving, Heero crossed off two things on their list. " Now, tell me Duo, what the hell happened in there?"
" I walk in and tell the guy I want to return the video. So he starts to look it up and then he says he recognized me from somewhere. Next thing you know he's screaming about how I murdered his brother for messing up Zechs' pizza order and shooting at me."
Heero stared for a few moments. " Moving on...Trowa, head for the surplus store. I'll get the weapons this time."
Heero stepped inside the camouflage covered surplus store and went straight for the clerk. " I want a Royal with cheese."
The clerk nodded, removing a special pair of keys from his pocket. " Follow me."
He led Heero to a back room, unlocked the door, and let him loose. The entire room, the size of a large walk in closet, was covered wall to wall with guns. He selected a sniper rifle, two 10mm submachine guns, and a shotgun off the racks, wasting no time. He took the goods to the clerk, who rang them up and asked if he wanted ammunition for them.
" Yes. About 125 rounds for each weapon, please."
The clerk didn't question Heero's serious tone and brought him a box full of clips. " There ya go. The total comes to 40,000 credits and 3 cents."
Yuy dumped the money over and collected everything, strolling back out to the Star Chief. He put it all in the trunk and crossed another thing off the list.
" Head for the post office. I have to get the plan Xeroxed."
Trowa drove down the moderately traffic filled streets of the Cinq Kingdom, coming to a halt in the parking lot of a strip mall. Heero jumped out and ran inside. A few minutes later he came out, handing a Xeroxed napkin to everyone.
" Don't lose it. We have everything now, don't we? Time to head for the private airport. We don't need anything else, so I guess we're going to the Middle East. Let's go kill 40 Maganacs, rescue an ambassador, and assassinate one rich cynical bastard."
They pulled up to the private airport at the edge of town in about fifteen minutes. All four got out of the car to speak to the manager, who was in an office at the back of the hangar. The hangar was relatively large, containing many planes, but the main one they were after was the medium sized military plane. After all, the Star Chief was coming with them.
They entered the office, the manager glancing up from his paperwork. " Can I help you?"
" We need to rent a plane to the Middle East." Heero spoke for the group, as usual.
" Which one?"
" The MA64 gray military one out there."
" That thing? I'm sorry, it's only for display."
" What the hell?! How can you have a plane for display?"
" I have no purpose for it, so I just put it on display."
Wufei drew his 10mm, putting it to the manager's forehead. " Listen you weak asshole. You're starting to piss me off, and I have a really bad headache today! We need a plane, and we need one now. Give us that plane, and not only will we let you go with your life, we will pay a worthy rental charge."
A thick bead of sweat ran down the manager's temple. " O...Okay, okay."
They loaded the Star Chief into the cargo hold of the plane, using a ramp. Heero handed the manager a wad of cash, and in return he was given a pair of keys and a pine scented air freshener. The four climbed inside, breaking out the guns to load them up. In minutes they were off. The flight from The Cinq Kingdom to the Middle East would take about three hours.
Wufei and Trowa spent their time playing chess on one of those mini magnetic travel boards, making it a violent and curse filled game. Duo stared at the napkin blankly, trying to memorize the plan, even though all he had to do was make it to a sniping post. Heero, of course, was piloting the plane.
" Checkmate." Wufei declared soundly.
" Damn." Trowa mumbled.
" Rematch?"
" No, thank you. You have any aspirin on you? I still have a headache."
Wufei handed Trowa a bottle of aspirin, clearing the chess pieces off the board. Trowa swallowed two aspirin whole and made his way to the cockpit. Wufei removed the Xerox of the plan from his suit pocket, studying it intently. It was a rather simple plan, yet he wasn't sure whether it would work or not. They had written when they were drunk...
The fortress was fenced in by a square wall, with one gate on each side. In the center of the wall was a gigantic tower: Quatre's quarters. Peacecraft would be somewhere inside there. Next to that stood two large tents, which were the Maganacs' barracks.
On each corner of the wall there were turrets, and in the bottom right one Duo would take his sniping position. From that point, he could see most of the battlefield. While Duo worked on getting to the position, Wufei and Trowa would cover Heero as he ran to secure the front door of the tower. Mind you, this would be at dawn, before any of the Maganacs were awake. As soon as the front door was clear, Wufei would assist Heero in rescuing Relena, while Trowa killed off as many sleeping Maganacs as he could with the support of Duo. When the alarm was sounded, (it would eventually) they would flee with Relena back to the Star Chief, where Duo would pick off any of the pursuing henchmen.
Wufei spent the rest of the trip with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, leaning back in a chair. Duo finally memorized his part in the plan and decided to go in the cargo hold and listen to the radio of the Star Chief. Trowa and Heero discussed quietly in the cockpit.
Heero came on the intercom and announced that they were preparing to land. Outside, the sun was almost completely below the horizon. The plane began to tilt as it descended.
Wufei still stayed with his arms crossed, eyes closed, seat belt unbuckled. The plane tilted a little more. Down in the cargo hold, Duo felt his stomach begin to sink.
In the cockpit, Trowa and Heero suddenly heard a loud thump followed by a string of Chinese cuss words. They turned back to see Wufei lying on the floor in a heap. The plane tilted more as Heero accidentally took his hands off the controls while being distracted by his fellow hit man. Wufei began sliding down the floor of the plane, screaming obscenities.
" Oh shit!" Heero realized the plane was almost in a nose dive and regained control, pulling her up to the landing level. He brought it down to the ground roughly, vibrations rumbling throughout the interior.
Once Wufei had regained his senses and his sanity, he rose and stormed to the cockpit.
" Damn it Yuy! What the fuck's your problem?!"
" I was trying to land the plane, ass hole."
Wufei couldn't believe his ears. Someone had just called him an ass hole. He removed his pistol from the holster and aimed it at Heero. Heero returned the favor. It was a Mexican stand off...with no Mexicans.
" Gentlemen, gentlemen, remember that you're professionals. We don't need this right now." Trowa reasoned.
" Tell him to put his gun away and I'll put mine away." Heero replied coldly.
Wufei was silent. He only glared at Yuy.
Tension was in the air. Trowa tried to get the two calmed down, to no prevail. Both had their itchy fingers on the sensitive triggers. Even an uncontrollable twitch would repaint the cockpit.
Duo hadn't been too bothered by the landing. He did wonder what the weird sliding noise coming from above was, though. He decided to investigate.
" Put the guns away. Remember, we have to rescue Relena or Zechs will have our asses." Trowa tried.
The two non-Mexicans in the stand off stayed silent.
" Hey guys! What was that noise?"
BAM! BAM!
Two bullet holes appeared in the floor below Duo. " Shit..."
" Guys, for God's sake! Sto..."
BAM!
" Oh...shit." Heero murmured.
" You...you shot Trowa in the face!" Duo exclaimed.
Wufei only blinked.
" Which one of you was it?"
" Aw shit. Shit! I can't believe this!" Heero cried.
" It was Heero." Wufei pointed the finger darkly.
" Heero? Did you really shoot Trowa?"
" Yes, now be quiet before I shoot you too. It was an accident. Things were tense, and it didn't help that you had to burst in shouting like that. I almost shot you, and then he started yelling and I automatically reacted to it."
" Great. Now we're short one good man. What will we do with the Maganacs?"
" I guess we'll just have to get in and out as quick as we can and then stick to the plan after extracting Relena. You can handle shooting 40 moving targets with your sniper rifle, can't you?"
" I hope so."
" All right. So we keep the plan. We just need to speed it up. Wufei, you and I will divvy up Trowa's pistol ammo. Duo can take his shot gun as a back up weapon."
" What are we going to about this mess, though?" Wufei asked.
The three turned to face the blood stained side of the cockpit and the practically headless Trowa. There was a simultaneous " I'm not cleaning it up."
" You shot him." Maxwell said.
" It was your fault." Heero retorted.
" How about we all clean it up? Maxwell and I will take the body out while you get to clean up the cockpit. Make sure you get every single piece of skull and brain matter." Wufei ordered.
" Fine." Heero went to get a rag.
" C'mon Maxwell. You take the shoulders, I'll take the legs. That's right. On three, we lift."
" Nasty! He's dripping stuff!"
" Live with it, weakling."
Together, they carried the leaking carcass off the plane and dumped it a few yards away in a sand dune.
" Shouldn't we pay respects, or bury him?"
" You're the God of Death, you tell me."
" Well, I mean, he was our friend and partner. He does deserve some respect." Duo looked down at the dead body, shuddering. " How about a moment of silence?"
Wufei nodded. He bowed his head and closed his eyes.
Duo bowed his head, also. His eyes could not seem to stay closed. He didn't want to look at the gruesome scene, yet he was curious. After staring for about 10 seconds, he felt as if he was going to puke and said, " Okay, it's been a long enough moment. Let's get out of here."
They found Heero scrubbing vigorously, tossing bits and pieces of...stuff into a bucket. He mumbled about having to clean up his partner's exploded head and continued with the stomach wrenching job.
Wufei split up the pistol ammo evenly and loaded every gun. Then he separated them out into three groups, laying them down inside the trunk of the Star Chief. Now, when they woke up at the crack of dawn they could get in the Star Chief and leave.
Duo climbed into the comfy seats of the car when Wufei was finished and drifted off to sleep. Heero sat in the cockpit, also falling asleep. Wufei sat in one of the chairs of the plane and fell unconscious himself.
Sunday
" Oh shit!" Were the first words that came out of Heero's mouth as he woke up. Bright, bright afternoon sunlight broke through the windshield onto his face. He checked his watch. It was 12:38 PM. If things would've gone according to plan, they would've been done with the mission by that time. He realized the horrible truth. They had slept in.
He adjusted his blood sprayed suit and rushed to wake up Duo and Wufei.
He shook Wufei roughly. " Wake up! It's 12:40!"
Wufei jumped up and followed Heero their car.
" Get up, Duo!" Heero flung open the driver's side door and kicked him. " We're seven hours late!"
Duo came to slowly. In the mean time, Heero pushed him over and started the car as Wufei opened the cargo door. He hopped in the back seat and Yuy drove the Star Chief out of the plane onto the desert sand.
Wufei gave the slow waking Maxwell one good pop to the back of the head. " Maxwell! Get the hell up! We're on the way to the fortress!"
After driving for a mile or so, they came to a dirt road that led directly to the Winner Corporation's desert strong hold. They went down the road until they were about 200 yards from the outer wall.
As suspected, there were two guards standing at the entrance. Unloading the weapons from the back, Heero ordered Duo to take them out.
" Remember, as soon as those two are down run for the entrance as fast as you can. We're going to make this quick. Duo, use the shotgun to clear your way into the nearest turret. Wufei, cover me while I clear the entrance to the tower."
Both nodded. Duo peered into his scope, focusing the crosshairs on the head of the guard on the right. " 1 down, 39 to go." He commented as he squeezed the trigger, a red pulp appearing on the wall behind the guard. The other sentry made a run for the alarm, but he was killed before he could make it.
" Go!"
Duo took the shotgun from his back and slung up the sniper rifle, charging the fortress. Wufei and Heero were far ahead, breaking through the front gates with a crackle of gunfire.
Wufei jumped back into cover, a spray of bullets knocking chunks of limestone off the wall. He turned out, firing off a few quick bursts at the Maganacs stationed around the base without cover. With Heero's help, they took them all out in a matter of seconds.
" I got you covered Yuy!" Wufei shouted. Heero sprinted for the entrance to the massive tower. On all four sides the tower had an extended porch, pillars holding the roof up every few feet. Heero took cover behind one of the pillars and blasted the two sentries into oblivion, kicking the door open.
Duo Maxwell ran past Wufei, sending one shotgun round into a guard on the bottom right turret. One Maganac came running along the wall top from them top right turret, firing his submachine gun. Duo rolled, a stream of rounds kicking up sand behind him, and fired, knocking the man clean off the wall. He skipped two ringlets at a time going up the ladder into the bottom right turret, whipping out the sniper rifle.
From his point in the door way of the tower, Heero motioned for Wufei to come. Wufei made a run from the gate, shooting at the sentry posted in the bottom left turret. Two of the Maganacs came around the right corner of the tower, but they were quickly shot down by Duo. Another two came from the left side, firing. Chang had to lunge forward as bullets zipped by in his trail, landing behind a pillar.
While Wufei was holding those two down, Heero took a quick peek inside the tower. The main floor was a lobby, with tables and chairs and a bar. Maybe he would grab a drink on the way out. In the back of the lobby was the staircase. The large stairs were made of limestone and they appeared to lead all the way up the tower into Quatre's bedroom, or whatever there was up there. It could have been a penthouse, for all he knew.
Duo had the bottom left turret's sentry in his sights. He was firing with a submachine at Wufei, whom was busy enough with the two Maganacs he was in engaged in a fire fight with. One quick squeeze of the trigger put the Maganac in the turret down. He would help out Wufei, but at the angle he was firing from, he couldn't get a clean shot of the men.
Heero leaned out of the doorway and shot, hitting one of the men in the shoulder.
" Go ahead, Yuy! I'll stay here!"
Wufei let out a long round of fire as Heero went inside, slapping in another clip. The lobby was eerily quiet. Heero, as much as he had wanted to, didn't get a drink. He made haste for the stairwell, when four men came rushing down from it. He flipped one of the tables and used it for cover, shooting one of them dead. The three remaining ran for different chairs. At that time the hiding bar tender on his backside decided to join in on the fun with his pistol.
Duo kept his sights trained on the barrack doors, knowing that any second a hell of a lot of Maganacs would come flowing out.
Wufei had managed to kill the wounded enemy, leaving one left. The pillar he was using was withered down 6 inches from the amount of bullets pounded into it. A fine powder lay below his feet, along with a couple big chunks. He popped out, firing once again. The Maganac had just taken his cover. He paused, waiting for him to come out again. Sure enough, the fool jumped out to fire, and Wufei promptly capped him one in the head. He strolled over, scooping up the submachine guns, and headed inside.
Heero's 10mm submachine gun spewed rounds into the three chairs the men were behind, sending stuffing into the air. He ducked as they fired back, a few shots from the bar tender exploding into the table just above his head. Wufei burst in and tossed an extra gun to Heero. Running sideways across the lobby, he opened up with two submachine guns. He dove behind the bar, landing on his shoulder and skidding. He didn't know that the bar tender was back there.
There was a split second of surprise between the two. They stared at each other, shocked. Then Wufei blew the bar tender away, knocking him into the rows and rows of glass bottles.
Heero would thank Wufei later for the spare submachine gun. He shot at the Maganacs with double the firepower now.
Duo let off a round of surprise as the doors of the barracks slammed open. Luckily, that round hit the first man out directly in the heart, causing the others to run back inside. He smiled, thinking, " It's good to be the God of Death."
Heero pegged one of the Maganacs right in the forehead. He ducked, a barrage of fire flying by overhead. Back in the bar, Wufei let out a sigh of relief and reloaded his weapons. He stood, pumping one man full of lead. One left.
Heero nodded to his comrade and Chang pinned down the last guy. Yuy crouched low and attempted to flank the thug. By the time Wufei stopped firing, Heero had a clear view of the Maganac. He stood to fire back at Wufei, and Heero let loose on him with half a clip.
The two hit men made their way up the stairwell. It was long and winding, with no railing. They seemed to be climbing forever. Once, Heero glanced downward. They were 8 stories up. That was a long drop.
Finally, they made it to the top. There was a single door waiting for them. It was closed. They heard faint noises of a girl crying and someone sounding angry.
" Ready?" Heero asked.
Wufei shook his head yes. He dropped the second submachine gun and loaded a new clip into the original.
Heero's voice was a whisper. " One...two...three!!"
They kicked the door over and stormed inside, scanning the room with their weapons. As it was assumed, this was Winner's bedroom. Relena was in front of the window, gagged and tied to a chair. Quatre Raberba Winner was standing next to her, just out of the window's view. Rashid, Quatre's loyal and most trusted thug, was in the corner of the room.
" Don't move ass hole! We got a sniper out there, just waiting to blow your head off!" Heero yelled.
Quatre glared. " And I suppose you think that my army won't come in here and slaughter you two the minute they get a chance?"
Duo was getting nervous. He was running out of ammo, and he had only killed two Maganacs. Sooner or later they were going to make a charge, and at that point he hoped that his fellow hit men had the hostage. They were taking too long as it was.
Suddenly, a gun poked out of the doorway of the barracks and fired at him. He behind one of the embattlements to dodge the rounds, giving a few Maganacs time to escape.
" Awwww shiiiitt."
" We better wrap this up." Wufei said out of the corner of his mouth.
" Hand her over, Winner."
" Why should I? You dumb fuck ups will be dead in a matter of seconds."
Heero gritted his teeth. He didn't like being insulted, but he had to take it in order to preserve the girl. He took a good look at her for the first time. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Inside his tough heart, a soft spot developed for Relena Peacecraft.
" Give me the hostage or you two can kiss your asses goodbye."
" Ha, fuck you!"
That was it. Both Wufei and Heero had had enough. Wufei knew Heero was going for Quatre, so he unloaded his gun on Rashid's upper body. Heero shot Quatre in the knee cap, boiling with rage. He lunged for the crime lord, straddling him and punching him in the face repeatedly.
WAM!WAM!WAM! " Stupid..."WAM! "Fucker!" WAM! " Cynical bastard!" WAM! " Pussy!" WAM!
Quatre's face was reduced to a disfigured lump. The whole time he cussed Heero out through fat lips.
" Yuy! We don't have time for this! We have to get the hell out of this place!"
Heero stopped, removing his 10mm. He put it to Winner's broken nose and pulled the trigger. He was immediately covered in blood.
" Grab the girl."
Heero reached to pick Relena up, but she cringed. " Eew! Go away!"
Wufei sighed and cut Relena loose. He threw her over his shoulder. " We were sent by your brother, so trust us."
Now it was a mad sprint down the stairs. Wufei was slower, carrying Relena, so Heero went ahead. He made it to the bottom of one staircase to be confronted by three angry Maganacs.
BAM!
" Shit! Kuso...kuso..." Wufei heard several stairs below him. He readied his weapon. The sounds of a brief gunfight followed. He tried to hurry, stumbling.
He turned the corner of the next staircase. Heero was lying flat and firing at the three men. A puddle of blood was forming under his foot. He also saw a seeping wound on his butt.
" What kind of bastard shoots someone in the ass?" Heero moaned.
Wufei, who had taken the three by surprise, took them all out with a spray of fire.
" Can you walk?"
" I don't know." Heero attempted to stand and dropped again.
" Ambassador Peacecraft, will you stay with us if I put you down?"
" Yes."
Wufei set her down and helped Heero up. Heero put his arm around Wufei's shoulders to use him as a crutch.
They continued their way down the stairs, with about 4 stories to go.
Duo fired at the group of moving targets, using up the last of his sniper rifle ammo. Two of them still managed to make it inside the tower. Were Heero and Wufei still alive?
The three heard footsteps coming towards them.
" Go up one level, Miss Peacecraft." Wufei ordered. He was on the last clip of his 10mm submachine gun. Relena did as she was told. The two Maganacs raced around the bend of the staircase quickly, guns blazing.
Wufei took a shot in the side, crumpling over. Heero broke away from Wufei, shooting. He lost his balance, though, and started to tumble towards the edge of the stair. He was shot again at the end of the sternum, and that was what did it. He rolled right off the edge.
Wufei screamed out of rage and split the clip up between the two thugs. He then collapsed to the ground. Relena ran down and bent over him.
" Are you okay?"
" What do you think?" He said bitterly, his breath quickening. " I'm going to get you out of here and get my honor. I will not let myself die."
He brought himself to his feet and tossed the submachine gun down the stairwell. He motioned for Relena to keep moving.
They slowly made their way to the bottom, where Heero Yuy's body lay face down. Wufei checked his pulse, found none.
" He was a good man. Little too pissy sometimes."
Duo cursed himself over and over. The Maganacs would realize he was out of ammunition any minute now. He chucked the sniper rifle towards the barracks angrily, taking out the shotgun. And at that precise moment, 20 or so Maganacs burst out into the hot desert. An injured Wufei and Ambassador Relena Peacecraft also appeared, squinting from the bright light. They saw the Maganacs and broke into a sprint, Wufei clutching his side.
Duo fired off a couple rounds into the mob and jumped to the ground, running with Wufei and Relena. Wufei shot blindly at the enraged thugs with his 10mm, limping.
Automatic fire whizzed by them or hit the sand as they ran faster than they ever had. Past the gates, out across the steaming desert sands. The Star Chief wasn't far.
Duo turned and facing backwards, pumping shell after shell at the Maganacs, whom were setting up on the wall. Wufei and Relena accelerated past him, jumping into the Star Chief. Maxwell let off another round before jumping over the door into the driver's seat. He tried starting her up over and over.
" Duck!" Wufei shouted, half a second before the side of the car facing the fortress was turned into Swiss cheese. They lay low, bullets flying by like bees.
Several rounds hit the engine, causing a thin stream of black smoke to drift from the hood. That only made things worse.
" Piece of shit!" Duo shouted, pounding the steering wheel. " It's dead."
Wufei kicked open the back driver's side door, sliding out. Relena went with him, Duo right after. They stood a better chance of living on the other side of the car.
With their backs pressed to the side of the car on either end, Wufei and Duo leaned around the edge and shot at the fortress. Wufei was having trouble breathing, and blood was leaking out all over his suit. He told himself he wasn't going to die.
Duo ran out of shot ammo rather quickly, and he removed his pistol. It was only a matter of time before they ran out of ammunition.
For hours and hours they exchanged fire, reloading over and over. At least 10 Maganacs were dead. Part of the sun dipped into the horizon, spreading colors across the sky. The Star Chief was now the Swiss Chief.
Finally, Wufei dropped his gun. " I'm completely dry." A large, sticky puddle of red was next to him, dripping out of his side.
" Wufei, you okay?"
" I'm okay...Maxwell..." He sounded tired, almost somewhere else. He let out his last breath, head leaned back and staring at Duo. Another man lost.
Duo ran out of ammo 30 minutes later. He was tired and his head hurt.
" You okay Miss Peacecraft?"
" Please, call me Relena..."
" Okay, Relena. You doing okay?"
" I don't know...will we die out here?"
Duo couldn't answer the question. The fire from the fortress had stopped, too. With no sound, he drifted asleep, leaving Relena alone to watch for any signs of movement from the wall. She curled her legs up to her chest, eventually falling asleep herself.
The End?
I know, the ending kinda sucks, but I just felt like killing the GW pilots off for once. But, Duo didn't die...or did he? Anyway, I was saying that I'm sick of having the GW boys always survive, so that's why I did the ending that way. I didn't have the heart to make Duo die, though. It was hard enough killing off Wufei, who is my fav character. Please review and tell me what you think.
~V