New Mobile Report Gundam Wing © Bandai
Neon Genesis Evangelion © Hideaki Anno, Gainax

Major updates on the first two chapters will be made very soon. Sorry if I happen to flood anybody's e-mails while doing this.

Chapter 04

Location: Escort out of NERV HQ

"Hey Heero! I can give you a ride around town if you need a little help on this task. I mean, I'm also in charge of tracking down the same guys you are. We might as well help each other out, whad'ya say?" Misato exclaimed while sticking her head out of a car window. She seemed to sound more vivacious in her tone of voice, now, unlike her rather bossy attitude Heero had witnessed from earlier.

"I'll do better on foot, thank you." Heero replied disdainfully without turning his head to her or moving a limb. Misato seemed a little disgusted by the way he answered her, and instantly stuck her tongue at him before moving back into the car.

They were on that same escalator again, only going upward. In a state of dismay, Heero kept silent on the way back up to the surface. Misato followed him, only she was in a car - looking rather old and beat-up - rather than standing. He kept thinking about Duo, the Gundams, and even his own obligation to this duty he didn't necessarily agree to, but was rather forced upon. The only hint of his awareness of the world was when he looked back at the Geofront. The buildings no longer hung from the ceiling of this massive sphere, and immediately guessed they had already arisen above the ground level.

The escalator then came to a complete stop. Where Heero found the two of them in looked like an enormous garage, assumingly for the transport of vehicles from the upper world down to the trench. Ahead of them, they could now see the fresh radiance of the sunlight, with no massive layers of soil or metal lying in between. Misato stuck her head out of the car window once again.

"It sure is a bright morning, isn't it Heero?" Misato remarked happily, trying to give Heero a smile. "Nothing sure beats a high of seventy-nine and blue skies, huh?"

Heero didn't answer and only stared straight forward at the city. He slanted his eyes in her direction and found her looking very irritated. He then noticed her sigh heavily in disgust, and she sunk right back into the driver's seat of the car.

"Right." Heero murmured and looked back straight in front of him.

"So what exactly did the Commander assign you to do, anyway?" Misato asked hastily while looking opposite of Heero.

"I was dispatched by another member of your staff, actually. I was only told to search the city in case I find any other traces of the attackers."

"Sounds like a pretty easy job, don't ya think? You get to tour the all-new city while you're undercover!" Misato remarked enthusiastically. She grinned over at Heero at one more attempt to get a cheerful reaction from him.

"No. Nothing will distract me from this...mission." Heero hesitated to even call this a mission. What the hell will I accomplish by just investigating the city? He thought.

Misato shook her head in mild animosity, and slowly closed her car window. "You'll see me around, okay? Don't get yourself in too much trouble and let me know of anything you might find interesting. For now, you can call this a patrol mission." Misato asserted, completely departing from her more cheerful tone she had just a minute ago.

Misato drove out of this garage-like area and began heading towards the city. Heero then began to walk forward, slowly into the sunlight. He gazed upward, noticing the astounding skyline of New Tokyo-3. The view was almost as fantastic as it was back down in the Geofront, but it wasn't the beauty of the sight that amazed him. Heero felt this had been the first time he hadn't seen a civilization like this in ruins. The brief images of the war back in After Colony 196[1] seemed to only had happened yesterday.

The thought of AC 196 struck Heero once again! He felt a sudden burst in agony to his head, trembling in his thoughts of the events. There's just something about that I keep forgetting. What the hell could that be? Heero found himself with his palms attached to his head. He took a mild breath, and shook his head a little, "I can't think about that right now... Gotta stay on task..." Heero began walking forward once more, eventually out of the NERV territory and onto the grounds of Tokyo-3.

He immediately began scanning every trace of the city around him. There was a clock, reading 8:08. The day was going by slowly, he felt. To his left, there was what seemed to be a park, where some elderly people were walking their pets. Ahead of him was a bus stop with what looked to be school students waiting for the bus. A bell suddenly chimed nearby him, and he turned towards the sound. Heero spotted a mini-bookstore hence the keeper was adding several new newspapers into a rack reading "This Just In!" Dozens of people, even some of the students, flooded over the rack and immediately began reading it. Out of curiosity, Heero picked up one for his own and began reading it.

The headline read in big bold characters, "Four Days Since Disaster Leaves Behind Only Optimism!"[2] Heero was confused upon reading this. Normally, he thought, it would take days for a city like this to recover from an attack. He went on and began reading the front-page article of the paper:

What spectators thought to be a catastrophe turned out be a child's bruise after a soccer practice. After the unknown ambush took place three nights ago, NERV and the rest of Tokyo-3's residents have been nothing but accepting of this incident. Casualty count was rather low, which is possibly a factor to our carefree reaction. While the most of NERV seem to be gravely concerned for the events occurring days ago, the citizens responded to the attack with a simple brush off the shoulder.

"It's not much of a big deal at all. The angels did way worse things to us. Nature only threw a hand grenade at us while the angels were like those giant N2 mines." Kensuke Aida[3], a student and once a victim of an angel comments. This is precisely the answer to why much of Tokyo-3 does not display an overwhelming reaction to such events.

Even NERV has shown great displays of optimism, as well. Contrary to the controversy arousing around Gendo Ikari, NERV has been sponsoring a great deal of support programs for Tokyo-3. Ever since the destruction months ago from an angel attack, Tokyo-3 has nearly fully recovered from the disaster. As NERV finds solutions to all of the threats instigating the world, a normal lifestyle is now possible for every person. Harmony can now return to…

Heero felt a rush of rage rolling down his veins. He stopped reading the paper and crushed it in his hand.

"This is an atrocity..." Heero whispered to himself as he crumpled the paper in sheer anger and threw it towards the road. "How can these people act so ecstatic in a time like this?" He clenched his fist a bit and stared towards the ground. Sure, he thought, the worst may have long past but what they don't know is that there may be, just may be, have something far worst dawning over them.

AC 196. Heero's mind clashed with the thought once more! That image - a very familiar image - of a house, a forest, and a mountain burning to the whole ground! It flashed at him in an instant, and slowly his head began crumbling apart. At any moment, he could give up on his legs and collapse. He couldn't help himself anymore. He had to think. He had to remember. What was it I forgot? How did-? He dropped his train of thought as Heero was suddenly bumped into from behind him!

"Oh! I'm, uh... Sorry." A boy from behind him said in a naive tone.

The boy leaned down to pick up the books he just dropped upon accidentally bumping into Heero. Meanwhile, Heero observed this kid for a moment. This boy was about an inch shorter than he, and wore a white dress shirt and black trousers - just like all of the other male students waiting at the bus stop. The boy had chestnut brown hair and looked rather skinny, too. He also had headphones on and was holding a cassette player in his left hand.

Heero spotted a book lying on the ground. He leaned down to give it to the boy, but then noticed something odd above the bar code, reading "Property of NERV." Before he could reach to give it to him, the boy swiped it off of the ground and held it nearby his waist.

"Sorry about that. I-I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The boy said timidly, fidgeting a little.

"Take it easy." Heero demanded in an assertive voice, but then asked, "You work for NERV?" He jerked his head towards the book he was holding.

"No, what are you talking about?" The boy humbly whispered. Heero noticed a sweat rolling down the boy's cheek.

"That book you're holding right now." Heero murmured.

The boy sighed silently to himself. They both noticed that the bus had begun to pull in at the bus stop, and the students began to load on. He slowly started for the bus with some money in his hand, but promptly turned to Heero before entering.

"Just about everyone in this city works for NERV, in case you haven't noticed. They're all stupid, all the same..." The boy mumbled silently before stepping into the transportation. Heero stood in front of the news stand, watching as the bus moved slowly away from the stop, towards the next block, and until it was no longer within his sight.

There was more to see, Heero remembered. He started around the crowded blocks of the city. Traffic lay at every corner this morning. Workers and businessmen were walking in and out of their buildings, and students were flooding the streets and boarding buses to get to school. They were definitely right in that headliner when they said that these people were ready to adopt a normal lifestyle again.

He spent more time searching, then found himself at a four-way intersection surrounded by buildings holding billboards and electronic advertisements. Heero witnessed the same usual thing wherever he looked. A digital clock hanging on one of the buildings – stationed next to several televised advertisements – read 9:02. He had spent almost an hour searching and only found the typical. He looked down and walked across the street in silence, while everyone else around him was talking and chattering. From then on, he kept his head down, feeling like he's just wondering aimlessly though a thick forest.

Suddenly, he heard some chanting by several people ahead of him. Is that where they attacked? It's the exact site on the paper from a couple of days ago. Wow, this is a huge mess. Heero slanted his head upward and found a small group of people staring straight at one direction. He immediately looked in their direction, and found a medium-sized building lying a block away…with something that finally caught Heero's full attention! The building had a wide fracture on the side, indicating some form of destruction took place there. On the ground, there lay a huge pile of debris, with several investigators and even NERV staff examining it. Heero dashed across the street – pushing through and avoiding all the cars along the way – to get to this scene. Upon arriving, he heard someone call out to him demandingly. He was suddenly halted by a woman with short black hair and wearing a beige uniform, assumingly another NERV staff member.

"Hey, kid! Sorry but I can't allow you to go any further than here. We're cleaning up this place and we need all civilians to keep their distance for now. Okay?" The woman said kindly.

"Cleaning up? Not investigating?" Heero asked.

"Nope. We were ordered just to begin dusting off this part of town before anyone else witnesses it or gets hurt."

"You're only cleaning it up? So you're basically trying to dispose of the evidence?" Heero replied grimly.

"Hey, I can't argue with that. But, as you know, orders are orders." The woman sighed in response.

"In that case, why don't you just halt this clean-up?"

"It's the decision of the Commander, kid." The woman said, then turned towards the scene, "Until that boy whom he said would go out and solve the mystery on his own, NERV won't be taking any big actions involving-"

"That 'boy' happens to be I." Heero said. At the same time, he thought about the Commander. This was all ordered by the same Commander of NERV. Heero didn't know the whole story about what's happening, but he knows that the Commander's first surprising move, according to that paper, was taking a lot of efforts into reconstructing the city. Now he's cleaning up a mess that he hasn't even figured out who or what made it.

"You're the boy? Are you the one they said was, um… Heero Yuy?"

"Yes."

The lady paused for a moment and scratched her chin. She glanced back at the scene, then towards Heero. She leaned towards him for a brief moment to whisper:

"Listen, Heero. Fuyutsuki permitted specific personnel, and only that personnel, to take charge of this area. Nobody else, not even Misato, is authorized to come near here. They only want this scene to be cleaned up pronto without any hesitation. I'll let you in on this scene for five minutes, and only five minutes, okay?"

"Roger that. It's all I need, anyway."

"Okay. My name is Maya[4], by the way. Maya Ibuki. It's nice to meet you." She smiled and stood up straight again, turning back to towards the scene. Heero then advanced slowly towards the site and murmured silently:

"Thank you, Maya."

He realized the heap of rubble on the ground was much higher than it looked from afar. The NERV staff seemed to be more heavily concentrated on the opposite side of the debris where he was standing. He realized that NERV was already shooing them away, as what Maya told him they didn't want any more trespassers near this site. He went to work right away, and began scanning through the large pile of rocks. He began moving a few stones of cinderblock and concrete aside just to search even further. He chucked every stone aside and over his shoulder, and with each stone he had hoped to find something significant. After a few minutes of searching, he found nothing.

"Heero, I let you stay long enough. I-I'm sorry but for your own safety, I'll have to ask you to leave this site before you get caught." Maya nervously told Heero as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Alright…" Heero grumbled bitterly as he slowly rose to his feet.

"The longer you stay here, the more trouble I might get into. Please understand." Maya said softly with sympathy.

"It's fine. I couldn't find anything, anyway." Heero made his way out of the site. Suddenly, he had tripped and fallen over! He regained his posture immediately, but he turned to find what he tripped on – a large scrap piece of metal.

He turned back around away from the site, but he glanced at this piece of metal again. It looked dull and severely bent, but the overall shape of this scrap looked odd, almost in the shape of a bullet. It was a shell. Heero picked up this shell and observed it even more. He probably confused this for another rock, he thought. This peculiar shell…It was big, almost the size of a watermelon. It could only have come out of a cannon or a large machinegun. Heero tried to observe its maker on the rear of the shell, but the text on it was too faded away from all the dust and ash collected from the debris. He dropped the shell, and went into deep thought once more.

"Heero, I don't want to have to force you out of here. Um... Please go, now." Maya exclaimed.

Without responding, Heero walked away from the rubble until he was completely out of the scene's range. Walking past several people along the way, he tried to think. That shell, the size, the possibility, the answer? All of these ideas were rushing through Heero's mind right now. He found himself in the family park within moments, traipsing towards an elderly woman sitting on a bench and feeding pigeons. Heero collapsed onto the bench on the opposite end of her, placing his left palm on his forehead, immediately plunging into deep thought.

"So this shell I just found… Unless those attackers had cannons of some sort, could this shell have come from them," Heero said to himself under his breath, "It's just so familiar, though."

Heero molded brief yet solid images in his head. He tried to remember such huge shells, and what weapons possibly use such ammunition. The striking recall of the Aries[5] and Heavyarms[6] stimulated his thoughts…Heavyarms?

"Trowa[7]… Could he be?" Heero straightened himself on the bench as he pictured Trowa standing right in front of him. In his imagination alone, he saw a taller young man in front of him with hair in the shape of a huge bang. Heero formulated in his own mind of Trowa piloting his Gundam, but rather than fighting a war he is only ransacking a city. This image faded away from him in moments, and Heero whispered, "No, that would be impossible. He just couldn't do something so horrid."

Heero tilted his head downward once more, spending several more minutes simply thinking of possibilities. Out of sheer disappointment, he slapped his knee.

"I give up. I really won't accomplish anything by investigating within the city grounds." Heero grunted and stood up.

A woman's voice suddenly shouted from behind him, "Then why don't you come with me along the outskirts of Tokyo-3, then?"

Heero turned around and found the woman to be Misato. She was now wearing sunglasses, a red uniform bonnet on her head, and holding up a cup of coffee. She seemed to be pleased, in a casual way. Misato fixed her sunglasses and walked right up behind Heero.

"Oh, it's just you, Misato…" Heero murmured, "So, shall we start searching outside the city limits, now?"

"I've been hoping you'd say that a while ago. Heh." Misato rejoiced and took the vacant spot on the bench, crossing her long legs.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Misato. What's so amusing about this morning?" Heero murmured as he turned his head away a little.

"Well, can't a girl enjoy her Friday morning? I'm sure you had a ton of fun, too! Going around the city all by yourself, huh? Meet any cool people or any good-looking girls, Heero?" She said happily.

"Um, no." Heero replied hastily, "On that note, did you even do a little searching of your own?"

Irritated, Misato pulled off her sunglasses and looked towards Heero.

"Well, of course, kid. I'm just as focused on this mission as you are, alright?" Misato said and stood up. She took a breath and exclaimed, "Listen, I already checked the primary site of the attack, which I think you already visited. Seeing that that's the only piece of evidence we have around Tokyo-3, I might as well give you a decent road trip a little outside of Tokyo-3's boundaries. Does that sound like a plan?"

"That sounds just fine to me." Heero stood up from the bench and turned towards Misato.

"Come along, now." Misato said as she signaled him with a swift movement of her hand to follow her.

They walked out of the park and to the side of the street, where Misato's car lay. She pulled out her keys, pressed a little button on it, and the car beeped. She got into the driver's seat while Heero took the other side. She turned on the ignition – which made a tremendously loud noise – after they had both shut their doors and buckled up.

"Sorry about that. I really should've gotten this car fixed when I had the chance to." Misato said with embarrassment. Heero didn't respond and just looked forward as she began driving.

They pulled out away from the park and back onto the main road of the city. It seemed later, now, and there were more cars roaming the streets. Heero got a glimpse of more of the city, now. He found there were train stations high above the ground, with many people boarding these trains above him. Many of the buildings comprised of automatic sliding doors and touch screens, a technology not present or very rarely seen back home in AC 196. The buildings around him slowly began to grow taller, as it seemed. Heero could tell he was now in a more commercial and downtown area of the city, although the city, itself, wasn't that big in terms of area.

"Y'know, Heero, not all of this was around before. It only took two months to make all this possible, thanks to the rebuilding project by the Commander, funded by the UN. Hey, it could be some form of retaliation of the Angels. You never know." Misato explained.

"I figured." Heero replied calmly. His head had been facing out the window this entire time, being completely uninterested in what Misato was saying. He had thought more about the shell he had found, and how much it strongly linked to a potential mobile suit. Heavyarms? The question rang through his head consistently. He finally felt the urge to ask Misato, as she knew more about this world than he did.

"Misato?" Heero murmured in question.

"Yeah? What's up?" Misato replied as she fixed her sunglasses on her face again.

"Tell me. Has this city ever been under fire by solid ammunition? Aside from these Angels you frequently refer to, have you ever been attacked by other human beings?" Heero explained turned towards Misato in his stern expression.

"Not that I know of, no. Tokyo-3 surely hasn't been the target for any terrorist activity, as far as I'm concerned. For the past couple years, in general, we've been keeping our cool by fighting the Angels over other humans." Misato remarked. She slowly moved her hands up the steering wheel, driving comfortably with her palms. "These are times where humans really shouldn't be fighting each other. There hasn't been a single war or conflict for a while since we've practically all banded together to retaliate against those monsters."

Under Misato's dark, black glasses, Heero could see a hint of anger on her face. He turned his attention back to outside of the car, now thinking about these Angels. Heero imagined that they weren't an enemy to be reckoned with. He wanted to know more right now, but felt he shouldn't ask Misato, in particular.

Heero noticed after a couple of moments of staring outside that the buildings, lights, and signs slowly began to fade away. Slowly the city began to gain a more residential look. There were houses and apartment complexes in various corners, now. They were all neat and fine-looking homes, inhabited by joyous people. Heero especially noticed the middle-aged woman at one apartment happily hanging garments on a clothesline. They were soon out of this more suburban area, now. There were more trees surrounding them, now. They were on a highway, leaving Tokyo-3. The environment now seemed to be a mixture of both desolate wasteland and heavily forested areas. It was still quite bright outside, however, and there was nothing but blue skies above them. He glanced back inside of the car, checking if Misato had a clock or something to tell him the time. The clock resided right above what appeared to be a radio, reading 10:31.

Right under that clock, however, he found a picture. Out of curiosity, he peeked at it. In this picture, Misato was standing tall in the far back of a group of kids, smiling and holding up a badge of some kind. Amongst the kids were a girl with long red-orange hair in the same school uniform, a tan boy with a sports jacket and sweat pants, another boy in a school uniform wearing glasses, and another boy wearing a school uniform wearing headphones of some kind. Headphones? Heero thought this seemed rather familiar to him. This looked just like the same boy he encountered earlier at the bus stop, and it was. He turned to Misato immediately.

"Do you know this boy, Misato?" Heero asked as he took the picture, sliding his thumb across boy's face.

"Him? That fella?" Misato said with a brief smile, "That's Shinji!"

"Shinji...?"

"That's the Commander's kid, Shinji Ikari." Misato happily remarked. "Just another shy little fellow around these parts. I'm sure you'll like him if you ever get to meet him!"

"The Commander's son?" Heero murmured as he placed the picture back on top of the radio, still staring at it, "So that boy from earlier was none other then the Commander's own kid."

"You got that r-!" Misato jumped from her seat and glanced at Heero in shock, "Wait, what did you say?"

"I bumped into the same boy earlier, exactly how he looked in this picture. I found him holding a book labeled as NERV property, but he denied even being apart of the agency."

Misato nervously tilted her head, slowly turning her attention back to the road. "Right... He's been...Let's just say under the heat, lately." She was completely silent afterwards. Her eyes were glued onto the road, and she had not bothered laying another look at Heero now.

Heero returned staring out the window. He had no clue what to think about now. It was as if his mind were cluttered with questions he was desperate for answers for. He wondered a little on why that boy, Shinji, would deny that he's apart of NERV. That led back to Misato, and he wondered if she was hiding anything. His eyes veered in her direction, and she was just driving calmly and in cool fashion. He looked back outside, now looking at some kind of forested area. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping to rest a bit. He had no clue where Misato would be taking him right now, probably to just keep driving until she sees something interesting.

Suddenly, an outburst struck Heero's mind! He saw an immense figure soaring just above the woods! Judging by the size and what it was possibly holding, it was a mobile suit! He couldn't identify it, only barely in this dream. Heero immediately woke up and slammed his head on the back of the chair.

"Stop the car!" Heero bellowed. Misato gasped and slammed the breaks. She took a deep breath then glared at him.

"You could've just asked me politely, y'know! What the hell was that for?" Misato paused and cleared her throat, speaking again, "What is it? You better have a decent reason why you shouted like that." Misato said bitterly.

Heero looked back towards the woods. The flying unit was gone, but it couldn't have landed anywhere nearby. It disappeared. He unlocked his door and stepped out, staring towards the mountain where he had assumed it landed.

"Come with me. I think we'll cover the rest of this search by foot, now." Heero muttered. Misato shook her head as she parked the car, removed her keys and stepped out to follow.

"You must've seen something really big, huh kid? Was it a ghost?" Misato mocked.

"It was big. A ghost? Far from it." Heero said as he walked slowly into the forests of the mountain. Misato followed him with discontent. She grumbled with every step she followed him with.

They were a few feet into the forest, now. The trees were lustrous upon the radiance of the shining sun. Even Heero could feel the aroma emitted by these gifts of nature - a bliss he hadn't felt for such a long time. He took a brief moment to observe the greatness of this place, and continued walking forward with Misato - still grumpy - following him. Heero instantly assumed she wasn't pleased with his being right now. He simply felt nothing but pity for her that moment on.

"You know, Heero... It's hard to keep up with you if all I know is we're walking into a giant pit hole..." Misato complained.

"Shut up, please." Heero bluntly replied.

"Excuse me?" Misato barked. She shook her head violently and looked downward, "Forget it. Just keep going already."

They stayed on that path, the path that Heero apparently established. He tried to trace where exactly that figure would land in this area, (thanks to his on-field training sklls in forested areas like this.) He closely observed for any clues around the area, too. The ground, the trees, and even the wind blowing would give him an idea of where this colossus could have landed. Misato just looked at him puzzled the whole time. Heero remained focus and tried to pay no attention to her.

He suddenly felt another strange feeling come to him, then. Just like back at Misato's car, there was some kind of entity calling him forward. Much like that girl, he thought, the same ambience aroused Heero. He turned his head eastward, away from the sun, where the call was coming from.

"Let's keep going." Heero started dashing straight into the depths of the forest. Misato moaned.

"Wait up!" Misato rushed after him, saying under her breath, "That is one stubborn kid…"

Heero kept running forward. Past the many trees and soft ground, he knew he was getting closer to where he was being called. The forest around him slowly began to get darker, indicating that they were already so deep. The leaves from the trees above him thickened, and less and less sunlight shimmered upon him.

At last, ahead of him, he saw a place a little brighter. The path had finally ended here, and he found himself standing upon the edge of a high, rocky ledge. There was to his left, a huge waterfall crashing down onto a rapid, streaming mightily straight below him. The feeling, Heero felt, ended here. He no longer felt that sensation of being summoned minutes ago. He turned back behind him, noticing Misato. She was panting heavily, trying to keep up with him this whole time. Misato stumbled onto a tree, leaning on it and trying to relax.

"Now, y-you…" Misato sighed deeply, "Y-you better have something good on why we had to come this far!"

"I think we're right here." Heero said as he turned towards the river.

"You've reached a dead end, Heero. There's nothing in front of you but rocks and rapids! Whatever your brilliant idea was wasted a chunk of our time!" Misato scolded.

"I know what I'm doing, Misato." Heero asserted. He furiously turned back to her, and she returned to him a bitter look.

"Of all the places in the world, it had to be just a random mountain outside of Tokyo-3! You better give me a reason why you brought us out here, or I'll have to report you to the authorities of NERV. You got that, kid? Speak up, now!" Misato demanded as she rose to her feet, now standing in a perfectly authoritarian posture.

Heero turned completely to her and began speaking, "You didn't see it, did you? I noticed something much similar to the Gundam just fly here now. It was a strange consciousness that struck me back on the highway. It was calling me to this location, but that feeling has faded by now."

"It's gone?" Misato drawled in utter disappointment, "You really did lead us to a dead end… I can't believe I trusted you coming all the way here!" Misato angrily pulled her hat off and threw it to the ground, then turned back to Heero, "I hate to have to do this to you, Heero, but I'm afraid you'll be referred again to the much higher authorities of NERV staff. They'll decide what to do with you from there."

"So be it." Heero promptly replied, "I didn't make any agreement to collaborate with NERV. I'm acting on this on my own and for the sake of my friend. You had blackmailed me and my friend, and I-…"

"It was only a direct order of the Commander, Heero!" Misato interrupted abruptly.

Heero paused and stared directly into Misato's eyes for a minute. He was indefinitely furious, perhaps beyond that. He hadn't even known this man whom she called the Commander and he already had a grudge building for him. He clenched his fist, closed his eyes, and turned directly towards the rapid.

"Take me…" Heero whispered, "Take me to this 'Commander' once my business is done here."

"Sure… I'll let you know you're not gonna love it, at all." Misato replied mockingly and turned around, ready to head back towards the highway.

Heero looked straight down towards the water. He wondered now his next move. The spot where he should be could possibly be behind this brook, he thought.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremor! Heero jumped in shock, looking around his environment. Misato was still behind him, a little farther, but she was gazing towards him in fright. They both felt the shaking under their feet! The power of this tremor was only mild, however. In moments, the shaking stopped.

"D-did you feel that?" Misato asked nervously.

All of a sudden, Heero felt the ground collapse under him! He trembled through the hard stones falling down against the ledge, then crashed into the heavy flowing water! He fell rather deep, but immediately he swam upward and flung his head out of the water. He found Misato, frightfully staring at him. She held her hand out towards him, but of course, she was far out of reach. Even he knew that she couldn't help him.

"Heero!" Misato screamed at the top of her voice. Heero couldn't reply and cry to her for help. He was helpless.

The velocity of the rapids forced him down the river. Heero could barely move his body, nor swim in attempt to escape this raging river. He couldn't pay attention to where exactly he was going, for he had to focus on enduring this horror. Ahead of him, a very large boulder assumingly attached to the floor of the water lay. Heero tried to swim away from it, but the rapid was too strong and he crashed into it with great force. The collision knocked him down, and he lost all consciousness.

[1] After Colony 196 (AC 196) is a year in the timeline of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. After Colony 195 (AC 195), the preceding year, marked the event of the Eve Wars, a massive conflict between the colonies, the Organization of Zodiac, and the White Fang. AC 196 marks the year beginning peace between Earth and the colonies.

[2] Heads-up: Do keep in mind that every text read by a character in this story will very likely not be read in English. As the setting takes place in Tokyo-3, Japan, you will be expected to know every written or read content will be written in Kanji, etc.

[3] Kensuke Aida is a supporting character in Neon Genesis Evangelion. He is a friend of protagonist Shinji Ikari, and is classified by his desire to become an Eva pilot as well as his curious behavior.

[4] Maya Ibuki is a supporting character in Neon Genesis Evangelion. She works under the technical branch at NERV and is one of the three main computer technicians. She is also classified by her optimistic and innocent personality throughout the show.

[5] The Aries (OZ-07AMS) is a mobile suit from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. It's a common aerial grunt unit used by OZ (Organization of Zodiac) and is classified by its excellent flight capability and maneuverability.

[6] Heavyarms (XXXG-01H Gundam Heavyarms) is a mobile suit and one of the five main Gundams from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. The unit is piloted by Trowa Barton. It is classified by its heavy ammunition and firepower, and is capable of combating fleets of enemy mobile suits. It is later upgraded into the Heavyarms Kai (XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai) and is capable of even more destruction.

[7] Trowa Barton is one of the five main characters and Gundam pilots from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Like Heero Yuy, he is rather stoic in demeanor and shows little to no personality (to a lesser extent.) He pilots the Gundam Heavyarms and Heavyarms Kai. His appearance is noted as a tall boy with long, brown hair in a shape of a huge bang.