The Test: Surprise!

Lena and Dorothy began to laugh as the elevator made its way down.

"The look on his face was a keeper," Lena stated as she laughed. Dorothy laughed along with her as the elevator reached the floor they were headed. They exited and sent the elevator back up to allow the boys to come after them.

The boys were surprised to see the elevator door open. They were thoroughly confused. Duo asked why they didn't need to input a code. No one knew the answer. Wu-Fei heard all the commotion and met up with them. They entered the elevator. At the bottom, they saw the girls run off. Duo took off after them and his face met another elevator door, which had just closed. But soon after, they found it return and open for them. They followed and walked the same route they did before to the arena. The guys saw Lena standing in the middle as if she were waiting for something.

Ara ran back to the mansion. She figured the guys had followed her cousin and looked at a clock on the wall. She was late and had to get down there in time. She used the elevator and ran to where she was supposed to be, taking a few different hallways and doors.

The boys all stared at Lena. She then started to walk away from them to another door.

"Is this a trap?" asked Trowa.

"It seems like it," Duo put in. Lena stopped in front of the doors and turned to look at them. She waved them over. Heero went first and then followed by his friends. They were halfway across the arena when she entered the doors. The boys all stopped and the arena lit up. Heero looked to where Lena had disappeared and saw a large window 50' feet above the doors. He saw not only Lena and Dorothy, but also Milliardo, Noin, Pagan, and Prof. S. Milliardo held a microphone and began to talk.

"I'm glad that my sister was able to make you guys follow her down here," he said.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Duo asked. Milliardo laughed.

"No, this is a test," he replied. To the left of the boys, a huge garage-like door opened revealing a gundam. The boys were shocked. "This is Gundam Phoenix. I need to see how you fight with your gundams." To their right, their new gundams, the customs, stood waiting to be operated. Duo got excited. He ran to his gundam and got in the cockpit.

"Hey old buddy," he sighed, "Long time no see." He booted his gundam up. The others were a bit hesitant, but also accepted their gundams. With all gundams ignited, the pilots made them step forward. The Phoenix gundam, eyes glowed a bright red and moved forward.

"Quatre, you will fight Pilot 01X first," came Lena's voice. Quatre stared at the gundam. He then advanced towards it with his twin scythes. Pilot 01X pulled out its beam sword. They fought for a bit. Quatre studied the pilot's movements and found them to be quite advanced. Quatre couldn't keep up with the pilot. 01X used its double beam cannon and shot Sandrock into the wall. Wu-Fei was next. He tried to beat down his opponent as hard as he could. He was able to land a few hits on the gundam, but nothing harmful. Wu-Fei was getting frustrated and found his self thrown opposite of Quatre. With Trowa, he used all his ammunition and caused some damage. He then brought out his own beam sword and fought. A few minutes later, Pilot 01X slashed off Heavyarms' arms, knock it to the ground, and pushed aside. Duo was next and failed as well taking many beatings from the beam cannon.

Heero was last. He pulled out his beam sword. He stood there hoping that the pilot will attack first. They did. This fight lasted for a long time. Heero thought he should use the Zero system. He entered a code hoping the Zero system was installed. It was. When the system came into effect, Heero began to abuse the other gundam. 01X was caught off guard and was soon beaten to the ground. Wing Zero backed away and waited for something to happen. The others had already emerged from their gundams. Pilot 01X came out as well. The pilot was dressed in a black suit and wore a helmet with a tinted visor. The pilot stood. Heero came out and stared. All the guys could see from the build of the person that it was a female.

"A woman!" Wu-Fei exclaimed. Lena and Dorothy smirked.

"I would like all of you to meet Gundam Pilot 01X," Milliardo announced, "Let's see how you boys spar with her." All the guys looked at the pilot in front of them. Duo, on the other hand, was eyeing her up and down. He smiled and cracked his knuckles.

"I'll go first," Duo announced, "And I will go easy on you because you're a girl." He then walked a little ways toward the pilot and stopped a few metres away from her. "Ladies first," he said as he bowed courteously. 'Big mistake,' thought the pilot. Before Duo could react, 01X ran into him with her knee ambushing his gut. Duo was so shocked that he couldn't move and was given a couple of punches and kicks. 01X let him fall to the ground, gasping for air and holding his stomach.

Thinking he could surprise her, Wu-Fei put her into a headlock and pinned her down.

"Women are weak," he stated. But the arrogant Chinese pilot soon found himself flipped forward as 01X held a steady grip on his arm. She then kept her hold on Wu-Fei and threw him against the wall. When Wu-Fei stood on his feet, he glared at 01X and jump-kicked her in the face, causing her to fall backwards. As Wu-Fei approached the pilot, she swung her leg at his to make him fall, quickly stood up, and tossed him on top of Duo. 01x turned around and faced the other guys. No one moved for a few minutes.

"Either Quatre or Trowa are up next," came Noin's voice. Quatre was quite hesitant and backed away. Trowa stepped up and waited for 01X to make the first move. She got the hint and the two began. Trowa gave 01X a better challenge. Although, Trowa was getting frustrated at the fact that the female pilot was wearing a helmet. Trowa had to figure out a way to get it off so that he would be at a greater advantage. The opportunity came when he kicked upward at her chin and sent the headgear in the air and landing right beside 01X. All the guys looked at the hidden features of their opponent.

Ara wasn't prepared for Trowa's kick. When the helmet was discarded, her hair now hung loose to her waist. All of the GW pilots stared at her in shock, especially Duo. He had recognised her as the "bartender" at the club. Taking the upper hand of the situation, Ara continued her attacks on Trowa. Caught off guard, Trowa found his self thrown 150' across the arena landing hard. Trowa grunted in pain and couldn't get up. Ara turned to the last two pilots. Quatre was still attempting to back away. But Zechs' voice told him to start.

Feeling impatient, Ara ran toward Quatre and started giving him punches and kicks. All Quatre did was block most of her moves.

"Is this all you can do?" Ara asked as she continued to fight him.

"I find it disrespectful to hit a lady," Quatre replied, "I'm sorry." Ara nodded. This was obviously not going anywhere and she was really looking forward to fighting the legendary Perfect Soldier. Ara faked a kick and grabbed one of Quatre's legs. Holding him in a tight grip, she threw him in the direction where Trowa was.

Ara turned around and faced Heero. To be honest with herself, no matter how much Milliardo told her she was better than the Perfect Soldier, she still doubted her abilities and felt slightly intimidated by Heero. Everything she read in the past and was told by her cousins about Heero had fascinated her. She didn't have the guts to set her own bones back in place or attempt suicide like he did. In a way, Ara admired the Wing pilot.

Heero just stared at her. 'Pilot 01X', repeated itself over and over in his head. He didn't know exactly what this was all about. But he did remember a long time ago when he stumbled upon a file of Dr. J's when he was training with him. But the file was a half burned piece of paper. Dr. J was probably trying to get rid of it. All Heero could make out of what was left over of the paper was something about an experiment that included genetics and another gundam. To hell if he knew what that meant.

The two stood there challenging each other without saying anything. Ara figured that Heero was going to wait for her to strike first. She would give him that. Ara ran toward him. Before meeting him head on, she sharply leaped to his left and sent a kick to the side of his face. The maneuver seemed like a good idea. But Heero was somewhat prepared for whatever Ara was going to throw at him. He may have blocked her kick, but didn't keep all his balance since the force was quite strong, even for him. Heero stepped away and gave a punch. Ara grabbed his fist and spun him around to place him in a chest lock. Before anything else, Heero held a rough grip on her forearms and flipped her over. Ara flew a little ways and landed on her feet. Heero's eyes slightly widened. This opponent was definitely serving as a challenge. This time, both ran towards each other and began their attempts of abusing each other.

Ara was actually finding this quite fun. She had never experienced a fight like this. No one came in comparison to the Perfect Soldier. At certain points, both seemed to be equal. As the fight dragged on, everyone wondered as to how much longer the two would continue. Heero was obviously showing signs of exhaustion. Ara was slightly tiring out. Heero figured that he had better bring her down soon or she would be the one to come out on top. And he'd be damned to be defeated by a girl. With one final attempt, Heero faked a punch. As Ara dodged it, Heero ducked and grabbed her right leg and arm, then swung her into a nearby wall. Ara's from smacked into it, hard. As she recovered from the attack and turned around, she found Heero's fist in her abdomen. This caused Ara to lurch forward. Heero then elbowed her into the ground. The force was just as intense as hitting the wall. Ara may have experienced pain before, but this was new and harsher than the past. The shock left her on the ground barely able to move.

By now, everyone had surrounded them. Prof. S, Lena, and Dorothy were kneeling on both sides of Ara and waited for her to find the strength to heave herself up.

"Holy shit," Duo sighed, "Did that take forever for you to take her down or what?" If Heero had anymore energy, he would have glared at the braided idiot.

"Is she going to be alright?" Quatre asked.

"No doubt about it," Dorothy assured. Ara finally made an effort to move. At first she raised herself on all fours, and then stood. Turning around, she faced Heero. She then extended her hand and smiled.

"For the first time, someone worthy has defeated me." Heero glanced at her hand. He extended his own and the two participants shook in respect. "I congratulate you Heero Yuy. I should introduce myself." Heero gave a small smile, and then spoke.

"Ara Peacecraft."