Author's Note: AV and I both love reviews and would love to see them every now and then. Don't be shy to tell us if you see any mistakes, it gives us something to work on.

Disclaimer: We do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, graphic violence, death…okay, okay, a lot of death, hence the name of this chapter.

Massacre

Solo groaned as he pushed himself up, his body sore from his abrupt flight. Even he wasn't completely immune to the effects of a force spell and he swore to throttle the asshole that had the gall to hit him with one. Seemed like Adrian's insistence on building up his physical body was coming in handy as he knew that had he been the old, thin streetrat from before, he would have most likely broken something.

However, just because his body was complaining at him didn't mean he was heedless to his surroundings. He swore when he didn't see hide nor hair of his braided charge and also took it as a bad sign that their pursuers were conspicuously absent as well.

A distant but shrill sound caused him to perk up and it took him a minute to recognize the sound of sirens. Judging by how they were getting louder, he knew that he didn't have much time to get out of here before the cops got to him first.

Spying the abandoned motorcycle, he scrambled towards it and pulled it back up into an upright position. Getting on, he took a moment to search for the helmet before figuring out that he was still wearing it and rolling his eyes at himself. He was mildly curious that the thing was still running and had gas in it but nonetheless he pushed that thought to a side and revved the engine up.

---

The four pilots were among the first to arrive at the scene which was mainly due to the fact that Heero was the one driving. Trowa, Wufei and Quatre made a silent pact to one another not to let their stoic friend get behind the wheel of a car for the rest of this case since all three of them still had their self-preservation instincts intact.

Heero, still in "mission mode" as it had been termed by the others, was the first out of the car and was making his way towards the department store. The front entrance was literally just a hole and pieces of the building littered the area around it. Whatever had caused that was powerful but it was just one more detail that Heero took into consideration and filed away as he drew his gun.

However, he hadn't yet reached the building when he heard a mechanical roar which was soon followed by the source of the sound bursting out into the open and nearly running him over.

Heero threw himself out of the way, surprised by the unexpected incident but still in the frame of mind to fire a shot off at the motorcyclist, almost hitting a tire but missing just the same.

The cyclist merely increased his speed, rushing past the other pilots in a blur, his blond ponytail flapping in the wind as the escapee took a sharp left and sped in front of a nearby bystander who was coming to investigate what was going on.

Still going, the motorcyclist ran in front of an incoming Preventers' vehicle, forcing the driver to put on the brakes sharply so that he wouldn't ram into the heedless cyclist.

It didn't escape Heero's attention when the bystander began shouting and chasing after the motorcycle, demanding that it be returned to him. The former pilot narrowed his eyes and began making his way towards the bystander, only one thought on his mind.

He had found their lead.

---

The oppressive weight of spell after spell laid on him was taking its toll on the braided one. It was really neat how once you had a lot of something shoved into your face; you begin to see it as real.

Since Wolf and his cronies were putting binding spell after binding spell on him, Duo was really starting to take this magic stuff seriously In fact, his thoughts were beginning to reflect this so it would be safe to say that whatever Solo had spouted off before about it was only now being taken at face value.

And to be totally honest, the amount of spells placed on him really made it hard to talk, one of his more basic tools when it came to antagonizing his captors.

"You think this is enough, Wolf?" Big Bad Willy asked his leader, the dumb lout not even looking down at the restrained Duo.

"You can't be too sure," Wolf said lightly. "Plus he's very precious cargo. We lose him now, we lose our heads. Ciliars will make sure of that personally."

Stupid fucks, they just gave him their boss's name! Unfortunately…Ciliars did not ring a bell with Duo. He had never even heard of it until now! Still, when he got loose, he'd be sure to put it in a database and find all corresponding hits. Now was that Ciliars or was it Ciliers? Sillers?

He choked as the pressure that was holding him paralyzed increased in intensity. Dear Shinigami, it felt like his bones were going to be crushed at this rate!

"Well, well, well, if this isn't a surprise?" Wolf commented, looking down at the braided one predatorily. "Nearly thirty spells and you're still conscious? Most don't get past seventeen!"

It took a lot of effort but Duo was able to contort his facial features into a glaring scowl. Wolf merely chuckled at Duo's response, resting a hand down on his chest and giving Duo a good angle to see the sharpened fingernails on the other's hand.

What sort of freaks and weirdoes did he get captured by this time?!

"Transport shouldn't be too long now," Wolf continued to speak, talking at Duo as if he was just holding a normal, everyday conversation with him. "Once they get you, the rest will be a breeze. I wonder how the bossmen are going to take this? The rewards will be humungous I bet. Money, power, anything we want. All of that just for turning you in too. We've got it made boys."

Glad to know you think so highly of me, Duo thought to himself, eyes narrowing. Didn't these idiots have any brain cells? Only third rate, B-movie villains talked like this.

Running footsteps diverted Wolf's attention towards one of his lackeys. The guy was red in the face, huffing and puffing as if he had just run a marathon. "We got company Wolf!" he cried out. "That guy on the motorcycle, he's back!"

"Stall him," Wolf ordered, growling ferally. "The transport should be able to crush him when they get here!"

"That's the problem," the guy gasped. "They already showed up and he took them out like they were nothing!"

Wolf's growls turned into snarls. "How perfect!" he snarled sarcastically. "This guy's turning out to be a regular pain in the ass, ain't he? Pull everybody back and have them come here. When our knight in shining armor shows up, we'll give him everything we've got. Now even he couldn't survive something like that!"

"What about him?" Billy spoke up, motioning to Duo.

Looking back at the braided one, Wolf had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmm, maybe that's not a bad idea," he said to himself, a gleam twinkling in his eye. "I've got an idea. Let's see how many more spells he can take before he goes unconscious. Our pain in the ass should be distracted by seeing him dead from the neck up, eh?"

"But won't more spells kill him?" Billy asked, not sure about the idea. Duo found himself sharing similar sentiments with the lug.

"Nonsense," Wolf said carelessly. "We could put a hundred on him and it wouldn't kill him. Have you forgotten what he is?"

"Oh yeah," Billy said, the proverbial light bulb lighting up in his head.

What I…am? Duo frowned. What the fuck are they talking about?

Towering over him, Wolf once again gave Duo the impression of his namesake. With a clawed fingernail, he dragged it lazily across the braided one's forehead, scoring the skin. "I think a blood spell ought to do the trick," Wolf said cheekily. "He won't get close enough to see it for anything other than."

There was an intensifying of the pressure all around his head and that was what it took to make the ex-pilot finally succumb to the darkness.

The key word there being darkness, not unconsciousness.

A velvety warm sensation enveloped him and for some reason, Duo felt calm, relaxed in it. It was as if he was reuniting with an old friend again, and from what he could feel, this "friend" was one that he wasn't too far removed from.

Trouble, my little friend? A smooth, syrupy voice whispered into his ear, a chuckle following. You've always have had a magnetism for it.

Finding that he couldn't speak, Duo searched through the darkness that had ensnared his vision, inevitably finding nothing. He shouldn't have been too surprised at that but hey, not every habit from the wars had left him. Still, what he wouldn't give to be able to use his voice and demand to know just what the hell was going on.

Apparently, the voice whispering in his ear was a mind reader.

Do we forget so soon? The voice jested. No worries, though. Our bond is too strong for something as insignificant as memory to ruin. Think harder, think really hard. I bet you'll figure it out.

What the hell was this voice talking about? For some reason, he was really getting lulled by it and he found that he really did want to identify who this voice was. Odd, really, since he usually could care less about anyone holding him against his will. Then again, it didn't feel like he was being held against his will despite having a ton of those binding spells on him.

Trust, yes, you can always trust me, the voice spoke lightheartedly. For so long I have protected you, not just from those around you but from yourself as well. You who are my favorite, my special little friend, the one who has my blessing and the only one who does and lives. Despite all the tragedy that you have had to endure, all the painful losses that would drive any mortal to suicide, you have survived and thrived, truly becoming strong. Do you feel it? Do you remember?

No way. It wasn't possible. He had always believed but…no, this was starting to become too much. This had to be a dream, just had to be. He was just stressed out from the day and probably ate something bad and he was just going to wake up now with the need to vomit in a toilet. All he needed to do was wake up first.

Denial does not suit you, my little friend.

Hey, who said he was in denial? He denied being in denial!

Stop fooling yourself with such things. I know you've realized but you have yet to recognize. You once took my title, why so resistant to acknowledging me, your old friend? The shadow who has trailed you since your introduction into this world?

Damn this thing was persistent. Wait, was he losing his mind? Wouldn't be the first time that happened…

So amusing. I guess it's a bit much to say that I can help you again? Just like all the other times before? Open yourself up, allow me in, and recognize me as your partner, your friend, your equal.

The voice was still a whisper yet he could feel it all over his body now, not just in his ear. And still, he was not frightened nor was he terrified. Yet what was being asked of him, that wasn't something he could do on a whim, you know? It had taken years to build the defenses that made Duo Maxwell who he was and to allow this foreign source access into what hadn't been allowed to the four pilots who might as well be his blood brothers was quite overwhelming.

Nonetheless, he found himself dropping his guard and opening himself, something he would never had contemplated after the Maxwell Church Massacre. But he found himself trusting this voice on some basic level…

Now was that so hard? The voice chuckled before diving into him.

And then he remembered.

---

The shadows hissed angrily about Solo as he barreled his way into the abandoned medical clinic. He had arrived just in time too; these goons had been expecting company and they came with a large van. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were trying to make a getaway out of the city.

So, after making sure Duo was not inside the oversized tin can, he summoned his shadows to tear the thing apart and take out anyone close to it.

His plan, though it was being made up on the spot, was simple: cut off the escape route of these assholes and make them pay for taking his best friend away from him. Now that he was just using his specialty elemental magic and not any of the general magic that most were accustomed to, it was easy for him to block off any escape options with shadows just begging to burn into anyone who happened to have raised its master's ire.

From there, he busted down the door to the front entrance and let his shadows devour the first idiot that got in his way. He noticed immediately that the goons were pulling back and he set out to follow them, toying with the idea of letting them lead him to where Duo was being held.

Determining that to be his course of action, that didn't stop him from making playful swipes at his prey. He had to keep them on their toes and not let them think he was getting soft on them now.

He was led to a storage room, one that the blond assumed once held supplies and whatnot. With barely a flick of his fingers, he sent the command for his shadows to tear the door off and from there he threw himself into the room, casting a shield spell around him simultaneously.

There were a couple surprised looks on their faces as he came rushing in, as if they had been expecting him to come in later and maybe make less of an entrance. His eyes narrowed as he saw Duo lying on a table and he could feel the binding spells that had been placed on him, even all the way on the other side of the room.

Those bastards…

He could see the one called Wolf standing over his friend, his hand jerking away from Duo's head as he too was caught off guard by how fast it had taken the blond to reach them. Wolf's surprise soon morphed into a smug sneer and he whipped his hand out, lashing with a slash of blood magic that nearly tore the blond's shield apart.

After that, he was suddenly bombarded by all sorts of magic spells and attacks, his barrier weakening under the barrage at an incredible rate. He pulled his shadows close to him, trying to concentrate all his power around him so that he could at least try and weather this storm of attacks blasting out at him.

"Keep casting!" Wolf roared over the noise. "Don't let up! Not until he's a bloody corpse!"

Then his barrier broke down and shattered but if it weren't for the shadows that he used to surround himself, he would be the first to admit that he'd be a goner. However, the shadows could only shield him from the magical components of the spells. That meant each blow was felt physically, though dulled down somewhat.

The very second that the attacks stopped, Solo fell to his knees, his control over the shadows dissipating and leaving him completely defenseless. Well shit.

Wolf seemed just as surprised at this development as he was. "Like a fucking cockroach. Why aren't you dead already?!"

Panting, Solo threw the other a look of complete loathing. Seeing as how this was the only thing the blond could do, Wolf managed to catch on to that and a wide smirk parted his lips.

"Last dreg, huh? Alright boys, lets do this again and this time, don't let up until there's nothing!" Wolf crowed, silver eyes dancing in delight.

That vicious look was suddenly replaced by that of shock as he was struck from behind by a heavy weight, that weight being nothing than that of the body of his dull-witted crony. However, even Solo was repulsed at the sight of the swollen features of the guy as well as the pus and blood that was gushing out of his body as well as the jagged ends of bones stabbing out from beneath his skin.

"What the fuck?" Wolf gasped, voicing the collective thought of everyone in the room before slowing turning around at the sudden presence of something…unfriendly.

What he found was Duo's still body and it took him a moment to pick up something odd about it. It was his braid, the chestnut rope of hair hovering over the prone body and if you looked closely, you could swear there were two eyes peeking out from the end of it.

In the next instant, the end of the braid let loose an animalistic shriek as a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and fangs split the end of it in half. Without warning, every single binding spell placed on Duo shattered and the shockwave from that amount of spells being broken at the same time crushed everyone against the nearest flat surface.

An oppressive weight of magical energy held them all down and Solo found that he could see the purplish aura of it surrounding his friend's body just as purple flames engulfed Duo. As if from a horror movie, Duo sat up ramrod straight and slowly turned his head to face them all, revealing not his handsome visage but that of a skull, a purple light radiating out from empty eye sockets that took in every single living being.

"What is that thing?!" one of Wolf's goons cried out and if Solo had taken a look at the speaker, he would have found the guy had pissed himself.

"No!" Wolf screamed. "It's too soon! You can't do this!"

The feral young man unleashed a roar as he threw himself at the transformed Duo, his sharpened fingernails begging to be immersed in blood and flesh. Unfortunately for Wolf, Duo's braid intercepted him with lightning quick speed and stabbed right into his chest. Wolf shrieked in pain, grabbed onto the braid and tried to tug it off him but to no avail.

Ghastly eyes turning towards Wolf, Duo spoke in a deep voice, one that sent chills down everyone's spines, speaking only a single word in the language of magic but that everyone universally understood.

"Die."

Wolf's shriek became almost inhuman as blood spouted out from every orifice on his body which was shriveling up right before it exploded into a mess of organs and bodily fluids. Solo counted his blessings that he was too far away to be splattered by any of it but as Duo stood up, he tried to shrink in on himself.

There was something really terrifying about this specter…

"Foolish mortals," Duo's unearthly voice bellowed. "You dare to confine me and my chosen and believe that you, you who are mere footnotes in the story of humanity, can wield my might to do your every whim? Your trespasses will not be tolerated by me." Then the voice picked up and Solo shivered as Duo's normal baritone hissed, "It's time to keep your dates with your makers."

The bangs that once hung over the nightmarish face pulled away as the visible jawbone opened inhumanly wide. The power of death itself oozed out slowly from the enlarged mouth like a mist but only when it reached a certain distance away from Duo did it shoot off at rocket speeds to strike each of Wolf's goons.

Then the massacre began.

The first to be struck screamed in agony as his skin and bodily tissues melted off his bones while another's skeleton was crushed to dust within him, his organs being squeezed along with it. One tried to defend himself with a shield but it was of no use as the power of death itself corroded the spell and forced the energy back into the caster, tearing him to shreds.

Other various reactions occurred, some thugs trying to fight back unsuccessfully and others trying to escape and failing miserably, never reaching the exit. Solo found that he had to shut his eyes and clamp his hands over his ears and try to block out the horror that was happening before him yet he wasn't able to block everything out as screams managed to get into his ears.

Only after the last gurgle did the blond slowly take in the scene. In the midst of the carnage stood Duo in all his demonic glory, the skull-like face horrible to look at yet the blond found he could not look away from it.

He was scared shitless, he'd be the first to admit it. When he had come in here with the intention of rescuing his friend, he hadn't expected anything close to this…

It was needless to say that he was terrified that Duo hadn't gotten his rage out and if he made the wrong move, he feared that he would experience death all over again. That was something that he was fully determined not to go through again, especially after all the trouble he had gone through hunting Duo down.

Knowing what he was about to do was probably the stupidest thing he had ever done, he steeled his nerves as he called out tentatively, "Duo?"

Those purple filled eye sockets snapped towards him and Solo had the impression that Duo was grinning at him. However, when Duo began to speak, it wasn't with that deeper streetrat mouth of his but that dark, inhuman one.

"Glad to know you're still alive Solo," the voice spoke to him. "I wouldn't know what our mutual friend would do if he was to see you dead again."

Solo narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

"My do you have a quick mind," the not-Duo jested, chuckling. "Good to know that I'm leaving my chosen in good hands then."

Solo's eyebrow twitched. "Will you answer the fucking question?" he snarled, forgetting all about his fear for the moment.

"You already know me," the not-Duo replied lightheartedly. "We've met before, seen one another, and then Adrian snatched you away before you could make yourself at home. Now that I think about it, that was perhaps for the best."

Okay, now he was officially creeped out. He recalled telling Duo about Adrian last night so he shouldn't be surprised that this…thing knew about it. Yet it was the way it talked about Adrian, as if he knew…more.

"Remember what Adrian told you," the not-Duo suddenly intoned, all humor vanishing. Then in a perfect mimic, he said, "…protect that…which is closest…to your heart…" That struck Solo straight to the core. It sounded just like Adrian had right then in there, the pain, the battle for breath, everything!

And then he understood.

"You waved at me," he whispered. "When I…died…you were there!"

"As I always have been," not-Duo said, "and as I always will be. However, I can only do so much in this realm, boy. Search within yourself and do not blind yourself from what your heart has known for years. Protect my chosen from those who wish to use him else I'll have to pay you a very special visit."

Solo swallowed. "O-of course…Death…"

"Until we meet again Solo," Death said, "and we will. All meet with me at some point or another."

What happened next was probably just as weird as everything else yet this time Solo couldn't pull his attention away as he watched in morbid fascination. The purple light dimed as pale skin, muscle, and tissue spread out from beneath Duo's clothing and hairline, the skull gradually fading away until it was as if it had never been. Duo's face regained its color gradually, a pinkish blush coloring his cheeks and expressing the life and vitality that had returned.

Daringly, after a long moment had passed, Solo ventured to break it by asking out loud, "Kid?"

Slowly, eyelids peeled back to reveal not cobalt blue eyes but pure violet irises, pupils dilating and retracting as they slowly grew used to the dim lighting. It seemed as if Duo had no more energy left in his body as he began to pitch forward, Solo racing to catch him in his strong arms and support him.

For the next few minutes, there was nothing but silence between the former streetrats, only harsh breathing disturbing it but nothing more. Then Duo slowly looked upwards to look Solo dead in the eyes, fear expressing itself from his changed eyes.

"Solo?" Duo asked fearfully, his voice so quiet that Solo had to strain his ears to hear him. "What's happening to me?"

Solo wished he could answer him but knew he couldn't.

He hadn't a good idea either.