When she got back to the base, she went straight to the kitchen. She was
starving. Inside, Heero was sipping a cup of coffee with his back to the
door. Sam gathered some food out of the refrigerator and sat down across
from him. Sam quickly searched his eyes. He looked up at her and stared
into her eyes in the same fashion. They understood each other perfectly
without any words. The rest of the time Sam spent in there was in silence.
When she did leave she went back to her room. She stepped up to her bunk
then came crashing to sleep.
Sam awoke when Aenne stepped into the room, "Hiya Sam."
"Hi Aenne. How was your time at the beach?" Sam asked.
"It was great!" Aenne exclaimed. "I had so much fun!"
"That's good." Sam paused. "What time is it?"
"The clock says eight-thirty." Aenne replied.
"Oh no!" Sam yelled getting out of bed. She ran out of the room down the hall to the docking day to see Heero just board his gundam.
"We're leaving." He said in monotone. Sam took no notice and boarded her Gundam. She quickly powered up the engine and followed Heero.
They left in silence, well if you consider the engines roaring and the bay doors shutting securely quiet. The stars twinkled while the moonbeams peered down on the base. Aenne sat alone on her bunk; it had been about fifteen minutes since Sam had rushed out. She figured that Sam had forgotten something but it took too long. Aenne did not want to disturb anything so she decided she would wait a while longer, until Sam came back. She sighed as she laid her head on her nice feather pillow.
Another half an hour passed before Aenne got extremely lonely and worried. "Sam where are you!?" She pondered to herself as she got up from the bed. "You just couldn't of disappeared like that!" Aenne opened the steel door and strolled down the hall. "Maybe she got lost.." The blonde giggled as the thought of Sam wandering throughout the base came into play. "No, she's not that stupid." Aenne then decided to go ask the guys; possibly they knew some information on the whereabouts of her buddy. Before long she reached the men's quarters. The first metal door owned a panel that read 'Quatre and Trowa'. Aenne skipped this door 'cause Trowa scared her. The second room held one person, Chang Wufei. She was about to bang on the door, when she recalled Sam's words. Again her face turned red and she moved to the last section, Duo's and Heero's. "DUO!" She thought excitedly. "Duo was talking with Sam right before she left the beach.he could know something." Aenne politely knocked on the door as she felt like Sam was never coming back.
Duo, who had "sacked out" for the night, quietly flipped through a book on his bed. He heard the knock and jumped up. "Coming!" He gently opened the door and saw Aenne standing there. Her eyes swelled up with water, but she held back the tears. "Aenne.."
"Do you know where Sam is?" She sniffled.
"I might.." He confessed.
"Really!?! Where!? Where is she!?" Joy restored her voice and her face. "You havta tell me!! Please!"
"Well.She went shopping." Duo lied, but he promised Sam. And Duo never ever broke his promises.
"Shopping?" Aenne queried, perplexed. "What for? Why would Sam go shopping? She does not shop unless she needs something. But then she would have been back by now. And why WOULD Sam need to go anywhere? Everything is either here..or in my suitcases." Aenne babbled trying to explain to herself why Sam was missing. "Maybe..Maybe someone kidnapped her while she was shopping!! What if that happened? Then I'd never see her again, and we'd havta put up Missing signs all over the base, with money rewards! And I'm not rich!!" Aenne cried. And of course all of this was said at a record of 6.4 seconds.in other words.really really fast!
"Aenne." Duo interrupted. Aenne stopped chatting and blankly looked up at him. "Ok, so Sam's not shopping."
"Oh." An expression of relief mixed with fear came over Aenne.
"I promised not to tell.."
"Tell me!! I won't tell Sam you told me! And if she finds out tell her I beat it out of you!! With a shovel!"
"Ok.but don't say a word."
"Boy scouts' honor!" Aenne pledged.
Duo leaned over and whispered in Aenne's ear. "She's planning a party for you." He had to cheer up his friend.
"Huh? A party? For me?" Aenne stated, shocked. "Why?"
"I dunno. But she looked real busy when she left." Duo confirmed his idea. "I betcha it's gonna be huge!!"
"Ha!! Sam's a sly one!! Trying to keep a secret party like that from me! HAHA!!" Aenne fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. It was probably for the best though; knowing that Sam was somewhere dangerous would just make her all gloomy and depressed. "Duo? When is Sam gonna come back?"
"She told me not for a few hours. I'd give anything to be you right now. Lucky!" Duo chimed.
"Don't be so glum, chum! Hehe that rhymes! I'll let you come to my party! And I'll even let you hit the piñata! This is a piñata, right?"
"Yep!" Duo grinned. "Sam told me there would be three of them."
"I'm so excited!! I can't wait!!" She jumped up and down in anticipation. "We have to do something to pass the time. But what.." Aenne brooded over the many options of things to do at a time like this. 'Strip poker!' Aenne thought but quickly disregarded it. "I got it!"
"What?" Duo asked, wanting to know.
"We could play bored games! I brought a ton of them! Stay here!" Aenne rushed out of his room, ran down the hall, went to her room, grabbed a bunch of different games, dashed back to Duo's room, and plopped the games down on the floor. "Look! I have checkers, cards, jenga, (you member jenga!) Jurassic Park the game, monopoly, clue-"
"Clue!! That's the bestest! It was Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the kitchen!"
"Speaking of the kitchen.." Aenne grinned sneakily. "I be back!" Again Aenne dashed down the hall, only to the kitchen this time, picked up a whole bunch of candy and soda and ran back. "Sugar!" Duo smirked in return. Just by the sound of it, Duo, Aenne, and sugar could create a vortex to hell.
********
Heero and Sam arrived at a base. Sam knew what to do. She powered her Gundam down to nothing but a small light in the cockpit, and the intercom system. Then, she waited, in complete silence.
Within minutes, the she heard the blast. In her Gundam Heero image flashed up and she heard the words, "Mission complete." The alarm went off and in a scurry the command officer foolishly sent Mobile Suits out to capture there would be terrorist.
"Your suites will not survive," a masked man said quietly. "This is the work of the Gundams. You are going to be destroyed."
"Can't you do anything?" a man randomly yelled.
"I'll go out on the Tallgeese." The man masked man said again.
"I've destroyed all the suits." Sam said to Heero.
"Return to base." He said. Sam just turned her back when she saw a new enemy. A target flashed across the screen. She pulled out her beam sword and faced her enemy.
'The suit Tallgeese.' She said to herself. 'I never thought I would have to fight that.'
'A new suit,' the masked pilot thought. 'I was hoping for a new challenge.'
Sam didn't want to make the mistake for making the first move, so she stood defensively until he made the first move. He thrust his beam sword at Sam. She dodged upwards, then forced her way down, beam sword first. He blocked her, and they stopped there at a standstill.
'This pilot is quick.' He thought.
'He's strong.' Sam thought. Then she drew back and faced her like before. This time, she attacked first. Her shot was blocked with ease and counter-attacked.
"No!" Sam screamed caught off-guard. She barely blocked it. "He's too strong!" She swung her sword frantically trying to keep the Tallgeese away. The pilot of the Tallgeese took advantage to Sam's mistake. His sword almost caught her in a deathblow. He stopped short on purpose.
Sam stared in fear, sweat dripping down her brow. She powered down and stepped out of her Gundam.
'What?!' The pilot of the opposing gundam thought in surprise. 'A woman?'
"I surrender." Sam said tiredly.
"Get out of here." The other pilot said stepping out. Sam looked at the man in surprise taken back by his command. Sam didn't think twice about what she was doing. She got back in her Gundam and flew away, fear still running down her neck.
********
The fun and games extended well into the night. A couple times, Chang came and yelled at them for being way to noisy. "Maxwell!!! Schumann!! Shut up!!!" Trowa also implied that the two were causing an unwanted ruckus. Around one in the morning Aenne came to the conclusion that one very silent pessimistic pilot was not there.
"Hey Duo, where's Mr. Heero? He hasn't been in his room all night."
"Uhh." Duo afraid that Aenne was catching on, averted the subject. "He's probably typing away on that computer, so what do you want to do next?"
Aenne looked up at him very innocently. "Tell me a story."
"A story?"
"Mm!" She nodded in agreement and journeyed to Duo's bed and placed herself on it. "A happy one, where nothing bad happens." Aenne stole his blanket and wrapped it around her self.
"I dunno." He scratched his head. "I've never been good at telling stories."
"I don't care. A story is a story."
Convinced, Duo started. " A happy story...Well let's see..Once, long ago, there lived the God of Death, who by far was the most prodigious....."
By the time Duo had finished, Aenne had fallen asleep and was snoring quietly on his bed. 'Great! What about me!? What about Duo?' He thought. 'I guess I'll just sleep on Heero's bunk, he won't be back for a while.'
Suddenly, the bay door opened and the two gundams flew down into the base. Heero leaped from WingZero and quietly walked off. Sam, on the other hand, sat a while in hers before climbing down. She stumbled into her room, it had been a long, stressful night, and poor Sam had not gotten a wink of sleep. Aenne had left her buddy a huge note in pink marker. 'I'm at Duo's! Go there! NOW!!!' Even though Sam could barely stand up she felt like she had to go see her buddy. She staggered to Duo's room and noiselessly opened the door.
Aenne, and her sixth sense, could tell that Sam was back. "SAM!!" She opened her eyes and pounced on her friend. "You're back!!"
"Yes.Yes I am." She rubbed her eyes. "But now it's time for sleep."
"Sleep?" Aenne questioned. "What about the fiesta?"
"Fiesta?"
"Ya, you know, the huge party you were planning for me."
"Party!?" Sam glared at Duo. "What DID you tell her?"
Following Sam, Heero walked through the door. "Mr. Heero?" Aenne glared at him in confusion. "What are you doing in Duo's room?" There came a pause. "Oh right you two share a room!" Heero just looked at Aenne, emotionless. "So where is he?" Aenne repeated.
"I don't know." He closed the door in her face.
"Hey!!" Aenne started pounding on the door. "You let me back in!!! Right now!! Stop keeping Duo to yourself!!" The door did not open. "Sadness.." Aenne turned around, her head hanging low. "How am I supposed to go back home with out Duo?"
"What about me?" Duo stood in front of Aenne. He had a towel dropped over his head. By the looks of it, he had just finished taking a shower.
"YEAH!" Aenne jumped up in enjoyment. "It's Duo!!"
"The one and only!" He grinned.
"So, Duo.I was wonderin'.actually Sam and I was wonderin' if ya wanna come home with us? Just for a vacation. 'Cause I'm sure our friends are missing us and it would total spiffiness if you could come." Aenne explained the plan.
"I dunno.." Duo scratched his head, thinking. "Please!!" Aenne begged. "You just havta come! If you won't I'll be miserable forever!" Aenne started to pout cutely. She crossed her arms and looked like a sad puppy.or at least tried to.
"Geez." He sighed. "I'll come."
"JOY!" Aenne ran back to Sam to tell her the bestest news. "Sam! Sam! Sam!" She shouted.
"What? What? What?" Sam answered.
"Duo's coming! He's gonna come home with us!" Aenne trotted over to her suitcases and started to repack.
"Don't pack everything!" Sam warned. "We'll be coming back."
"I know that!" The blonde stated proudly, as she continued to pack. Soon she looked in interest up at her friend. "Say Sam..How was that mission of yours? I mean what happened? Anything explode like this..KABOOM!!" Aenne made little motions of her hands to signify a mushroom cloud.
"Nothing special.." Her words faded.
"Nothing special!?" Aenne shot back. "Waddaya mean? I think it's oh so special to go on a mission all by yourself!"
"Heero came too." Sam said in a gloomy mode. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. It's done."
"Well to me it's a huge deal! What if something would have happened?" Aenne worried.
"Well nothing did happen!"
Aenne dropped it. There was no use fighting with Sam, she did not want to talk about it. And Aenne would not bring it back up. "We get to go home!! Everyone will praise me and worship me!!" She said changing the subject to a happier theme. Sam just stood; in silence she contemplated about the past battle. She had a burning desire to find out who the strange man was.
"You about done?" She asked her buddy.
"Done!" Aenne chirped. "You get Duo! I'll carry my stuff to the gundams. Meetcha there!"
Sam stepped down the long corridor, her mission to find and 'kidnap Duo'. She gladly accepted. She kindly knocked on Duo's and Heero's door. "Come in!" Duo shouted.
"Hey Duo! We are leaving in a little bit. You ready?"
"Yep Yep!" Duo grabbed his black cap and placed it securely on his head. "Let us be off!!" The two traveled to the docking bay. They met Aenne, who was sitting on the foot of Troublewind. Once she saw her friends, the blonde jumped into her gundam and buckled up.
"Hurry up you guys!" She shouted to them.
"I'm coming!" Sam shouted back.
The two other prodigious pilots booted up their gundams and within seconds all three were flying high in the sky. Upon endless hours and hours of flying, they made it home, all in one piece. The landed their Gundams in a forested area, like the rest of Portland, hiding them from the rest of the world (see! Nowhere near any city/airport). They quickly leaped from the mechas and met on the ground.
"Wait a sec." Aenne contemplated, confused. "Why are we out in the middle of a forest?" Aenne questioned.
"'Cause," Sam explained, "OZ is trying to kill us."
"We havta keep it on the D-low!" Duo added.
"Ok." The blonde paused. "So how far are we from civilization?"
"About an hour's walk." Sam responded.
"Let's head on out!" Aenne clinged to Duo as their journey began and Sam on the other side. Aenne hummed some incomprehensible tune, while Duo leaned over to Sam.
"She's very 'clingy', isn't she?" He said, referring to Aenne. Duo did not really mind, he was just wondering.
"Yeh," Sam agreed. "But you get used to it."
They walked the walk and talked the talk for nearly the entire hour; most of it was Aenne's random squabble 'cause she does it a lot. But they survived it (including the random duck attack..but I won't go there.). They had reached intelligent sings of life aka civilization.
"FREE!!!" Aenne shouted at the top of her lungs. "We're free at last!!"
"Well Duo," Sam said spreading her arms, "This is home. It's not much, but it's what we got. The first thing we need to do is steal a car." Sam said looking around.
"Or," Aenne said with infliction, "We could call my dad and he could pick us up in the Van."
"That isn't any fun." Sam said crossing her arms. "Despite what we do, we need to be careful. There are Oz soldiers here. Don't be fools. If my dad caught wind, I'm not sure I could convince him to spare us. Especially you, Duo."
"What does that mean?" Duo asked.
"My parental unit in a retired general of Oz, but he still has influence. I think that is why I was chosen. He taught me all about the 'dangers' of Gundams, I know your weaknesses better then you know do." Sam said looking away.
"Then what is my weakness.?" Duo asked critically.
"Your cloaking system over heats your main power drive," Sam started solemnly, "in cloak mode, a shot to the engine would disable you."
"I don't believe it." Duo said astonished. "What about Heero?"
"His Twin buster rifle overheats to quickly, limits him to a beam sword, and it is possible to defeat him. You should know this by now. Did you even wonder why in out first battle they defeated us? They don't know the weaknesses of Troublewind and HellfireDevil."
"But how would they know that?" Duo asked.
"That's just it." Sam said. "That information would have had to come from my dad ..." Sam stopped completely.
"Come on! We have a car to steal!" Aenne shouted.
"What about you calling your dad?" Sam asked.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo shouted.
"I thought you wanted your dad to pick you up." Sam continued.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo whined.
"I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that." Aenne retorted.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo said again.
"Okay Duo! You are sure about this?" Sam asked Aenne. The rev of an engine stopped their intercourse. Duo sat in the front seat of a jeep smiling, proud of his work.
"Looks like he got to it before us." Sam said to Aenne.
"That didn't take him long at all." Aenne said, "I wonder if he'll teach me to do that?"
"Just ask." Sam kinda whispered, "I get shotgun!"
"Nuh-hu! I do." Aenne shouted.
"No I called it!" Sam yelled back. She ran up to the jeep and put her hand on the car door. Aenne came next to her and pushed her out of the way. Sam retaliated and pushed back.
"No fair!" Aenne yelled. "I get to sit next to Duo!" "No, I called it!" Sam said pushing against Aenne with all her might. The fight elapsed for several moments. Aenne won in the end. She sat joyously in the front, scaring Duo half to death when she screamed whenever an 18- wheeler came thundering by. Sam was in the back seat, staring at the window. Up front, between screams, Aenne was telling Duo all about home. Sometimes she would point out the window and say something like, "That's where Sam and I went cow tipping." Duo would nod, then continue on, until a very good question came to mind.
"Where are we going?" Duo asked.
"To school so we can say hi to our brain bud." Aenne shouted.
"What's a brain bud?" Duo asked.
"Well you see, Sam and I share a brain, but we also share with Cary. That's why we always know how to get around the west hills." Aenne explained.
"Okay." Duo responded.
"Look at it this way," Sam intervened, "We are taking you to an all girls school. Five-hundred girls just looking for someone to pounce on."
"You guys went to an all girls school?" Duo asked with intrigue.
"Yes, it's the bestest except for the devil class!" Aenne yelled.
"Devil class?"
"Yeah" Sam said, "The evil class of Mrs. McCarthy." Aenne shuddered at the mention of the evil teachers name. Sam was untouched as if she were in another place. Surely enough, they reached the steps of the small school.
"School!!" Aenne said happily but soon realized the sadness of it all. "Oh.school.not more of it!" She looked back at Duo. "How are we going to get him in?" She asked Sam.
"We could dress him up!" Sam stated..a little too joyful about that.
"Uhhh.." By Duo's groaning, it was confirmed no.
"Well, we could go find Cary and then steal her away from the school and then leave." Sam suggested.
"But we can't leave him all alone!" Aenne concerned. "What if they attack him? Someone needs to protect him!!" Aenne said, trying to be all manly by putting her hands on her hips with her nose sticking high into the air (all I need now is a cape!).
"Good idea." Sam agreed, putting her hand on Aenne's shoulder. "You go find Cary and I'll wait with Duo."
"But.but.but." Aenne stammered. Sam just motioned for her to 'go on'. She hung her head down low and stepped inside the school.
There was something odd in the air, something bitter and dishonest. Or maybe she was standing too close to the bathrooms. She moved on, sliding against the walls, singing the theme song from mission impossible. She wandered down the hall and by mistake ran into Sr. Pat.
"Anne (she calls me that)." Sr. Pat beckoned. 'Uh-oh! I'm in trouble! I don't like being in trouble! Sam!! Help me!!" But, seeing as how Sam could not read minds, she did not help Aenne. She followed the nun back to her office and silently stepped through the doorway. "Yes?"
"Come. Deliver these for me." She handed Aenne about five of six sheets of paper. "Thank you." Aenne was shooed out of the office and sent off doing secretary work. Meanwhile..out in front of St. Mary's..
"Geez..your school is..really small!" Duo exclaimed.
"Yeh, well that's what you get when you go to an all girls catholic high school!"
"Is it fun or anything?"
"Not really, I mean no exciting missions.unless you consider surviving Mr. Jones' class a mission."
"Mr. Jones?" Duo looked very baffled.
"Nothing, forget I said anything!" Sam paused. "What is Aenne doing!? She's taking so long!"
"Talking to friends?" Duo questioned. "Eating?"
"Oh-no!" Sam whispered.
"What?" Duo queried on confusion and unease.
"We have Pepsi in the cafeteria!! She better not be buyi---" Sam was cut off by a huge BOOM!
"What was that?"
"I dunno Duo, but if it's what I think it is..we need to leave right away!" The two hopped back into the stolen car, and started up the engine. "Hurry up Aenne!" Sam murmured.
Aenne had just finished delivering the last note. 'I can't even read that woman's handwriting!' She sighed. 'Now to find Cary!' With a whoosh, Aenne darted off to the Spanish classrooms to find the third part of her brain. She trotted up to G3 and opened the door. "Hola!" She spoke her third language (English and Japanese being the first two..no comment.) Cary instantly saw her buddy and waved; Aenne waved back. "Sr. Pat nesicitas Cary por un minuto, por favor! *Sr. Pat needs Cary for a min. thanx*" She told the teacher.
"Si." And the teacher continued to teach the wonderful Spanish.
"Cary!" Aenne shouted when the door closed.
"Aenne! I'm so glad to see you!"
"I have a present for you!!"
"Really!? Really!? What is it?"
"Sam!!! Come on we gots to go!" She dragged Cary down the hall and over to the escape door (the one that never goes off). In front of the door stood two burly looking men. They wore OZ uniforms and their guns aimed at the girls' heads.
Sam awoke when Aenne stepped into the room, "Hiya Sam."
"Hi Aenne. How was your time at the beach?" Sam asked.
"It was great!" Aenne exclaimed. "I had so much fun!"
"That's good." Sam paused. "What time is it?"
"The clock says eight-thirty." Aenne replied.
"Oh no!" Sam yelled getting out of bed. She ran out of the room down the hall to the docking day to see Heero just board his gundam.
"We're leaving." He said in monotone. Sam took no notice and boarded her Gundam. She quickly powered up the engine and followed Heero.
They left in silence, well if you consider the engines roaring and the bay doors shutting securely quiet. The stars twinkled while the moonbeams peered down on the base. Aenne sat alone on her bunk; it had been about fifteen minutes since Sam had rushed out. She figured that Sam had forgotten something but it took too long. Aenne did not want to disturb anything so she decided she would wait a while longer, until Sam came back. She sighed as she laid her head on her nice feather pillow.
Another half an hour passed before Aenne got extremely lonely and worried. "Sam where are you!?" She pondered to herself as she got up from the bed. "You just couldn't of disappeared like that!" Aenne opened the steel door and strolled down the hall. "Maybe she got lost.." The blonde giggled as the thought of Sam wandering throughout the base came into play. "No, she's not that stupid." Aenne then decided to go ask the guys; possibly they knew some information on the whereabouts of her buddy. Before long she reached the men's quarters. The first metal door owned a panel that read 'Quatre and Trowa'. Aenne skipped this door 'cause Trowa scared her. The second room held one person, Chang Wufei. She was about to bang on the door, when she recalled Sam's words. Again her face turned red and she moved to the last section, Duo's and Heero's. "DUO!" She thought excitedly. "Duo was talking with Sam right before she left the beach.he could know something." Aenne politely knocked on the door as she felt like Sam was never coming back.
Duo, who had "sacked out" for the night, quietly flipped through a book on his bed. He heard the knock and jumped up. "Coming!" He gently opened the door and saw Aenne standing there. Her eyes swelled up with water, but she held back the tears. "Aenne.."
"Do you know where Sam is?" She sniffled.
"I might.." He confessed.
"Really!?! Where!? Where is she!?" Joy restored her voice and her face. "You havta tell me!! Please!"
"Well.She went shopping." Duo lied, but he promised Sam. And Duo never ever broke his promises.
"Shopping?" Aenne queried, perplexed. "What for? Why would Sam go shopping? She does not shop unless she needs something. But then she would have been back by now. And why WOULD Sam need to go anywhere? Everything is either here..or in my suitcases." Aenne babbled trying to explain to herself why Sam was missing. "Maybe..Maybe someone kidnapped her while she was shopping!! What if that happened? Then I'd never see her again, and we'd havta put up Missing signs all over the base, with money rewards! And I'm not rich!!" Aenne cried. And of course all of this was said at a record of 6.4 seconds.in other words.really really fast!
"Aenne." Duo interrupted. Aenne stopped chatting and blankly looked up at him. "Ok, so Sam's not shopping."
"Oh." An expression of relief mixed with fear came over Aenne.
"I promised not to tell.."
"Tell me!! I won't tell Sam you told me! And if she finds out tell her I beat it out of you!! With a shovel!"
"Ok.but don't say a word."
"Boy scouts' honor!" Aenne pledged.
Duo leaned over and whispered in Aenne's ear. "She's planning a party for you." He had to cheer up his friend.
"Huh? A party? For me?" Aenne stated, shocked. "Why?"
"I dunno. But she looked real busy when she left." Duo confirmed his idea. "I betcha it's gonna be huge!!"
"Ha!! Sam's a sly one!! Trying to keep a secret party like that from me! HAHA!!" Aenne fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. It was probably for the best though; knowing that Sam was somewhere dangerous would just make her all gloomy and depressed. "Duo? When is Sam gonna come back?"
"She told me not for a few hours. I'd give anything to be you right now. Lucky!" Duo chimed.
"Don't be so glum, chum! Hehe that rhymes! I'll let you come to my party! And I'll even let you hit the piñata! This is a piñata, right?"
"Yep!" Duo grinned. "Sam told me there would be three of them."
"I'm so excited!! I can't wait!!" She jumped up and down in anticipation. "We have to do something to pass the time. But what.." Aenne brooded over the many options of things to do at a time like this. 'Strip poker!' Aenne thought but quickly disregarded it. "I got it!"
"What?" Duo asked, wanting to know.
"We could play bored games! I brought a ton of them! Stay here!" Aenne rushed out of his room, ran down the hall, went to her room, grabbed a bunch of different games, dashed back to Duo's room, and plopped the games down on the floor. "Look! I have checkers, cards, jenga, (you member jenga!) Jurassic Park the game, monopoly, clue-"
"Clue!! That's the bestest! It was Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the kitchen!"
"Speaking of the kitchen.." Aenne grinned sneakily. "I be back!" Again Aenne dashed down the hall, only to the kitchen this time, picked up a whole bunch of candy and soda and ran back. "Sugar!" Duo smirked in return. Just by the sound of it, Duo, Aenne, and sugar could create a vortex to hell.
********
Heero and Sam arrived at a base. Sam knew what to do. She powered her Gundam down to nothing but a small light in the cockpit, and the intercom system. Then, she waited, in complete silence.
Within minutes, the she heard the blast. In her Gundam Heero image flashed up and she heard the words, "Mission complete." The alarm went off and in a scurry the command officer foolishly sent Mobile Suits out to capture there would be terrorist.
"Your suites will not survive," a masked man said quietly. "This is the work of the Gundams. You are going to be destroyed."
"Can't you do anything?" a man randomly yelled.
"I'll go out on the Tallgeese." The man masked man said again.
"I've destroyed all the suits." Sam said to Heero.
"Return to base." He said. Sam just turned her back when she saw a new enemy. A target flashed across the screen. She pulled out her beam sword and faced her enemy.
'The suit Tallgeese.' She said to herself. 'I never thought I would have to fight that.'
'A new suit,' the masked pilot thought. 'I was hoping for a new challenge.'
Sam didn't want to make the mistake for making the first move, so she stood defensively until he made the first move. He thrust his beam sword at Sam. She dodged upwards, then forced her way down, beam sword first. He blocked her, and they stopped there at a standstill.
'This pilot is quick.' He thought.
'He's strong.' Sam thought. Then she drew back and faced her like before. This time, she attacked first. Her shot was blocked with ease and counter-attacked.
"No!" Sam screamed caught off-guard. She barely blocked it. "He's too strong!" She swung her sword frantically trying to keep the Tallgeese away. The pilot of the Tallgeese took advantage to Sam's mistake. His sword almost caught her in a deathblow. He stopped short on purpose.
Sam stared in fear, sweat dripping down her brow. She powered down and stepped out of her Gundam.
'What?!' The pilot of the opposing gundam thought in surprise. 'A woman?'
"I surrender." Sam said tiredly.
"Get out of here." The other pilot said stepping out. Sam looked at the man in surprise taken back by his command. Sam didn't think twice about what she was doing. She got back in her Gundam and flew away, fear still running down her neck.
********
The fun and games extended well into the night. A couple times, Chang came and yelled at them for being way to noisy. "Maxwell!!! Schumann!! Shut up!!!" Trowa also implied that the two were causing an unwanted ruckus. Around one in the morning Aenne came to the conclusion that one very silent pessimistic pilot was not there.
"Hey Duo, where's Mr. Heero? He hasn't been in his room all night."
"Uhh." Duo afraid that Aenne was catching on, averted the subject. "He's probably typing away on that computer, so what do you want to do next?"
Aenne looked up at him very innocently. "Tell me a story."
"A story?"
"Mm!" She nodded in agreement and journeyed to Duo's bed and placed herself on it. "A happy one, where nothing bad happens." Aenne stole his blanket and wrapped it around her self.
"I dunno." He scratched his head. "I've never been good at telling stories."
"I don't care. A story is a story."
Convinced, Duo started. " A happy story...Well let's see..Once, long ago, there lived the God of Death, who by far was the most prodigious....."
By the time Duo had finished, Aenne had fallen asleep and was snoring quietly on his bed. 'Great! What about me!? What about Duo?' He thought. 'I guess I'll just sleep on Heero's bunk, he won't be back for a while.'
Suddenly, the bay door opened and the two gundams flew down into the base. Heero leaped from WingZero and quietly walked off. Sam, on the other hand, sat a while in hers before climbing down. She stumbled into her room, it had been a long, stressful night, and poor Sam had not gotten a wink of sleep. Aenne had left her buddy a huge note in pink marker. 'I'm at Duo's! Go there! NOW!!!' Even though Sam could barely stand up she felt like she had to go see her buddy. She staggered to Duo's room and noiselessly opened the door.
Aenne, and her sixth sense, could tell that Sam was back. "SAM!!" She opened her eyes and pounced on her friend. "You're back!!"
"Yes.Yes I am." She rubbed her eyes. "But now it's time for sleep."
"Sleep?" Aenne questioned. "What about the fiesta?"
"Fiesta?"
"Ya, you know, the huge party you were planning for me."
"Party!?" Sam glared at Duo. "What DID you tell her?"
Following Sam, Heero walked through the door. "Mr. Heero?" Aenne glared at him in confusion. "What are you doing in Duo's room?" There came a pause. "Oh right you two share a room!" Heero just looked at Aenne, emotionless. "So where is he?" Aenne repeated.
"I don't know." He closed the door in her face.
"Hey!!" Aenne started pounding on the door. "You let me back in!!! Right now!! Stop keeping Duo to yourself!!" The door did not open. "Sadness.." Aenne turned around, her head hanging low. "How am I supposed to go back home with out Duo?"
"What about me?" Duo stood in front of Aenne. He had a towel dropped over his head. By the looks of it, he had just finished taking a shower.
"YEAH!" Aenne jumped up in enjoyment. "It's Duo!!"
"The one and only!" He grinned.
"So, Duo.I was wonderin'.actually Sam and I was wonderin' if ya wanna come home with us? Just for a vacation. 'Cause I'm sure our friends are missing us and it would total spiffiness if you could come." Aenne explained the plan.
"I dunno.." Duo scratched his head, thinking. "Please!!" Aenne begged. "You just havta come! If you won't I'll be miserable forever!" Aenne started to pout cutely. She crossed her arms and looked like a sad puppy.or at least tried to.
"Geez." He sighed. "I'll come."
"JOY!" Aenne ran back to Sam to tell her the bestest news. "Sam! Sam! Sam!" She shouted.
"What? What? What?" Sam answered.
"Duo's coming! He's gonna come home with us!" Aenne trotted over to her suitcases and started to repack.
"Don't pack everything!" Sam warned. "We'll be coming back."
"I know that!" The blonde stated proudly, as she continued to pack. Soon she looked in interest up at her friend. "Say Sam..How was that mission of yours? I mean what happened? Anything explode like this..KABOOM!!" Aenne made little motions of her hands to signify a mushroom cloud.
"Nothing special.." Her words faded.
"Nothing special!?" Aenne shot back. "Waddaya mean? I think it's oh so special to go on a mission all by yourself!"
"Heero came too." Sam said in a gloomy mode. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. It's done."
"Well to me it's a huge deal! What if something would have happened?" Aenne worried.
"Well nothing did happen!"
Aenne dropped it. There was no use fighting with Sam, she did not want to talk about it. And Aenne would not bring it back up. "We get to go home!! Everyone will praise me and worship me!!" She said changing the subject to a happier theme. Sam just stood; in silence she contemplated about the past battle. She had a burning desire to find out who the strange man was.
"You about done?" She asked her buddy.
"Done!" Aenne chirped. "You get Duo! I'll carry my stuff to the gundams. Meetcha there!"
Sam stepped down the long corridor, her mission to find and 'kidnap Duo'. She gladly accepted. She kindly knocked on Duo's and Heero's door. "Come in!" Duo shouted.
"Hey Duo! We are leaving in a little bit. You ready?"
"Yep Yep!" Duo grabbed his black cap and placed it securely on his head. "Let us be off!!" The two traveled to the docking bay. They met Aenne, who was sitting on the foot of Troublewind. Once she saw her friends, the blonde jumped into her gundam and buckled up.
"Hurry up you guys!" She shouted to them.
"I'm coming!" Sam shouted back.
The two other prodigious pilots booted up their gundams and within seconds all three were flying high in the sky. Upon endless hours and hours of flying, they made it home, all in one piece. The landed their Gundams in a forested area, like the rest of Portland, hiding them from the rest of the world (see! Nowhere near any city/airport). They quickly leaped from the mechas and met on the ground.
"Wait a sec." Aenne contemplated, confused. "Why are we out in the middle of a forest?" Aenne questioned.
"'Cause," Sam explained, "OZ is trying to kill us."
"We havta keep it on the D-low!" Duo added.
"Ok." The blonde paused. "So how far are we from civilization?"
"About an hour's walk." Sam responded.
"Let's head on out!" Aenne clinged to Duo as their journey began and Sam on the other side. Aenne hummed some incomprehensible tune, while Duo leaned over to Sam.
"She's very 'clingy', isn't she?" He said, referring to Aenne. Duo did not really mind, he was just wondering.
"Yeh," Sam agreed. "But you get used to it."
They walked the walk and talked the talk for nearly the entire hour; most of it was Aenne's random squabble 'cause she does it a lot. But they survived it (including the random duck attack..but I won't go there.). They had reached intelligent sings of life aka civilization.
"FREE!!!" Aenne shouted at the top of her lungs. "We're free at last!!"
"Well Duo," Sam said spreading her arms, "This is home. It's not much, but it's what we got. The first thing we need to do is steal a car." Sam said looking around.
"Or," Aenne said with infliction, "We could call my dad and he could pick us up in the Van."
"That isn't any fun." Sam said crossing her arms. "Despite what we do, we need to be careful. There are Oz soldiers here. Don't be fools. If my dad caught wind, I'm not sure I could convince him to spare us. Especially you, Duo."
"What does that mean?" Duo asked.
"My parental unit in a retired general of Oz, but he still has influence. I think that is why I was chosen. He taught me all about the 'dangers' of Gundams, I know your weaknesses better then you know do." Sam said looking away.
"Then what is my weakness.?" Duo asked critically.
"Your cloaking system over heats your main power drive," Sam started solemnly, "in cloak mode, a shot to the engine would disable you."
"I don't believe it." Duo said astonished. "What about Heero?"
"His Twin buster rifle overheats to quickly, limits him to a beam sword, and it is possible to defeat him. You should know this by now. Did you even wonder why in out first battle they defeated us? They don't know the weaknesses of Troublewind and HellfireDevil."
"But how would they know that?" Duo asked.
"That's just it." Sam said. "That information would have had to come from my dad ..." Sam stopped completely.
"Come on! We have a car to steal!" Aenne shouted.
"What about you calling your dad?" Sam asked.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo shouted.
"I thought you wanted your dad to pick you up." Sam continued.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo whined.
"I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that." Aenne retorted.
"I want to steal a car!" Duo said again.
"Okay Duo! You are sure about this?" Sam asked Aenne. The rev of an engine stopped their intercourse. Duo sat in the front seat of a jeep smiling, proud of his work.
"Looks like he got to it before us." Sam said to Aenne.
"That didn't take him long at all." Aenne said, "I wonder if he'll teach me to do that?"
"Just ask." Sam kinda whispered, "I get shotgun!"
"Nuh-hu! I do." Aenne shouted.
"No I called it!" Sam yelled back. She ran up to the jeep and put her hand on the car door. Aenne came next to her and pushed her out of the way. Sam retaliated and pushed back.
"No fair!" Aenne yelled. "I get to sit next to Duo!" "No, I called it!" Sam said pushing against Aenne with all her might. The fight elapsed for several moments. Aenne won in the end. She sat joyously in the front, scaring Duo half to death when she screamed whenever an 18- wheeler came thundering by. Sam was in the back seat, staring at the window. Up front, between screams, Aenne was telling Duo all about home. Sometimes she would point out the window and say something like, "That's where Sam and I went cow tipping." Duo would nod, then continue on, until a very good question came to mind.
"Where are we going?" Duo asked.
"To school so we can say hi to our brain bud." Aenne shouted.
"What's a brain bud?" Duo asked.
"Well you see, Sam and I share a brain, but we also share with Cary. That's why we always know how to get around the west hills." Aenne explained.
"Okay." Duo responded.
"Look at it this way," Sam intervened, "We are taking you to an all girls school. Five-hundred girls just looking for someone to pounce on."
"You guys went to an all girls school?" Duo asked with intrigue.
"Yes, it's the bestest except for the devil class!" Aenne yelled.
"Devil class?"
"Yeah" Sam said, "The evil class of Mrs. McCarthy." Aenne shuddered at the mention of the evil teachers name. Sam was untouched as if she were in another place. Surely enough, they reached the steps of the small school.
"School!!" Aenne said happily but soon realized the sadness of it all. "Oh.school.not more of it!" She looked back at Duo. "How are we going to get him in?" She asked Sam.
"We could dress him up!" Sam stated..a little too joyful about that.
"Uhhh.." By Duo's groaning, it was confirmed no.
"Well, we could go find Cary and then steal her away from the school and then leave." Sam suggested.
"But we can't leave him all alone!" Aenne concerned. "What if they attack him? Someone needs to protect him!!" Aenne said, trying to be all manly by putting her hands on her hips with her nose sticking high into the air (all I need now is a cape!).
"Good idea." Sam agreed, putting her hand on Aenne's shoulder. "You go find Cary and I'll wait with Duo."
"But.but.but." Aenne stammered. Sam just motioned for her to 'go on'. She hung her head down low and stepped inside the school.
There was something odd in the air, something bitter and dishonest. Or maybe she was standing too close to the bathrooms. She moved on, sliding against the walls, singing the theme song from mission impossible. She wandered down the hall and by mistake ran into Sr. Pat.
"Anne (she calls me that)." Sr. Pat beckoned. 'Uh-oh! I'm in trouble! I don't like being in trouble! Sam!! Help me!!" But, seeing as how Sam could not read minds, she did not help Aenne. She followed the nun back to her office and silently stepped through the doorway. "Yes?"
"Come. Deliver these for me." She handed Aenne about five of six sheets of paper. "Thank you." Aenne was shooed out of the office and sent off doing secretary work. Meanwhile..out in front of St. Mary's..
"Geez..your school is..really small!" Duo exclaimed.
"Yeh, well that's what you get when you go to an all girls catholic high school!"
"Is it fun or anything?"
"Not really, I mean no exciting missions.unless you consider surviving Mr. Jones' class a mission."
"Mr. Jones?" Duo looked very baffled.
"Nothing, forget I said anything!" Sam paused. "What is Aenne doing!? She's taking so long!"
"Talking to friends?" Duo questioned. "Eating?"
"Oh-no!" Sam whispered.
"What?" Duo queried on confusion and unease.
"We have Pepsi in the cafeteria!! She better not be buyi---" Sam was cut off by a huge BOOM!
"What was that?"
"I dunno Duo, but if it's what I think it is..we need to leave right away!" The two hopped back into the stolen car, and started up the engine. "Hurry up Aenne!" Sam murmured.
Aenne had just finished delivering the last note. 'I can't even read that woman's handwriting!' She sighed. 'Now to find Cary!' With a whoosh, Aenne darted off to the Spanish classrooms to find the third part of her brain. She trotted up to G3 and opened the door. "Hola!" She spoke her third language (English and Japanese being the first two..no comment.) Cary instantly saw her buddy and waved; Aenne waved back. "Sr. Pat nesicitas Cary por un minuto, por favor! *Sr. Pat needs Cary for a min. thanx*" She told the teacher.
"Si." And the teacher continued to teach the wonderful Spanish.
"Cary!" Aenne shouted when the door closed.
"Aenne! I'm so glad to see you!"
"I have a present for you!!"
"Really!? Really!? What is it?"
"Sam!!! Come on we gots to go!" She dragged Cary down the hall and over to the escape door (the one that never goes off). In front of the door stood two burly looking men. They wore OZ uniforms and their guns aimed at the girls' heads.
