Chapter 11
By Tenshi no Mugen & Moonlightchic
Previously-
"Stop being an over-protective asshole, Jerome! So what if I'm with Heero? I'm not a little kid anymore and I think you need to recognize that!"
"No," began Jerome, "I think you need to come back to reality. This isn't some perfect little world where you can blow the school and go home with your sweetheart. This is war. And we all need to start acting like it."
Finally, the rest of the gang showed up. Duo hugged Kimaru from behind. "So, what'd I just miss?"
O.o--- (say what?)
One very tense cab ride and walk later, the ten of them walked warily up the stairs to the North Entrance. Unfortunately, Rhody was indisposed by the time they wanted to leave so they had to make do with someone else. A certain someone else who was going to die horribly for dumping them on the side of the road. Apparently Heero and Jerome trying to kill each other was dangerous in a car.
"Okay, that was fucked up. Just because your idiot brother and your retarded boyfriend are at each others throats doesn't mean he had to throw us all out of the car," Rebecca complained, shooting a dirty look at the two boys.
The trouble had started off with Heero kissing Yuriko on the cheek in the cab, which resulted in Jerome making a rude comment. That resulted in Heero glaring at Jerome, who in turn glared at Yuriko. To spite him she hugged Heero close to her, who ended up groping her. Needless to say Jerome didn't take that to well. He damn near leaped across Trowa, Duo, and Yuriko to get to him.
After the fight started, the driver decided he wouldn't get paid enough for this and dumped them on the closest corner. It was lucky for them that they weren't that far from the school, otherwise another fight would have undoubtedly broken out.
"Feel free to beat them up whenever you want. I'm tanning their hides after the mission tomorrow," Yuriko replied, her voice conveying her annoyance.
Finally, the group reached the top of the stairs, but before they could fan out to their rooms Kimaru stopped them. "Can we get in some last minute planning before the mission tomorrow? I don't want to send Yuriko and Heero into the core with a bomb and a headphone Jerome controls knowing he's mad at the both of them."
Heero, Yuriko, and Jerome turned to glare at her, but behind their backs Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Rebecca, and even Wufei were nodding, almost frantically. Adam, on the other hand, just stood there looking dumb. Emboldened by her silent backers, Kimaru crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at the three firmly. "Don't make me turn it into an 'Assassins Anonymous' meeting," she threatened. Jerome and Yuriko actually cracked a smile at the comment, though Heero looked as unmovable as always.
"You are quite welcome to use our room as neutral ground to discuss this, but we do need to get out of the hall," Quatre offered. With that everyone was ushered inside.
"About this 'meeting', are you sure it's not a 'Hoe's Anonymous' thing?" Jerome muttered sarcastically, taking a seat at the spinning desk chair.
Yuriko punched a pillow on Trowa's bed where she had just sat down and glared at her brother. "You have gone too far, bro!" she screamed, and then launched herself at Jerome, only to be held back by Wufei and Trowa.
Jerome rolled his eyes, but scooted back none the less. "Um, excuse me, but I wasn't the one letting some guy feel all over my privates." Yuriko growled at him. "Yeah, you let some girl do it to you instead!"
A long and uncomfortable silence filled the room. Adam suddenly chuckled. "Hey, so why don't you guy's kiss and make up?" he snickered. "Shut up, Adam!" They both yelled in unison.
Kimaru snorted, half out of disgust, half out of humor. "That'd be incest." Duo made a face. "No, not incest. Twincest!" The rest of the room began to look a little green at that thought.
"Hmmm… Twincest. That sounds like the name of a porno!" Adam laughed, sitting down next to Quatre on his bed. "Shut up, Adam!" everyone yelled.
Rebecca sighed. "This isn't accomplishing anything. Since Quatre's too nice to say it and Trowa never says anything, allow me to say what their thinking. Everybody, get the hell out! We all need sleep before tomorrow, so we'll talk about this then."
"Uh, the making up thing may not be working, but we really need to go over our plan for tomorrow," Yuriko paused for a moment to look at the clock, "scratch that, today." Everyone else followed her gaze to the clock. Indeed it was past one o'clock.
Kimaru shrugged. "So what? We're gonna attack later this afternoon anyways. If we sleep now we can go on as planned.
Everyone except Yuriko agreed. "Something just doesn't seem right," she mumbled. Wufei snarled at her. "You're being paranoid, woman!" Yuriko glared at him. "I am not being paranoid… but I know you think I am."
After hearing that, the rest of the group chuckled, said goodnight, and headed to their separate rooms. Jerome and Adam used the Arena to get to their rooms so as not to alert the cameras of their presence.
The pair of friends walked on in silence until Jerome finally exploded. "I don't want her doing this mission! Especially not with him," he exclaimed vehemently. Adam quirked an eyebrow. "Why not?"
Jerome looked at him incredulously. "You want to do this mission with them? I don't trust them anymore than I can beat all 5 of them in a mech battle single handedly!"
Adam gave him a knowing look. "I think you mean you don't trust him. Like, uh, why don't you like Heero?" Jerome looked straight ahead. "Cause he is probably gonna be like every other man in the universe and break her heart."
"That's normal. It's bound to happen sooner or later," then he chuckled. "Twincest. He he he!" Jerome rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Yeah right, man. I still say there's some funky shit going on up in here."
-----o.O ----- Yuriko and Kimaru's room ----- O.o -----
For once everyone was holed up in their own rooms. Kimaru for example was asleep the second her head hit the pillow. Yuriko snorted and rolled her eyes at her roommate and (dare I say it?) friend. After taking a shower, she sat down at her desk and booted up her PC.
"I don't trust Oz for a second. If we wait for that window of opportunity, who knows what will happen?" she muttered to herself as she began to check the Oz databases.
After hacking into the mainframe, she browsed around for a while, almost lulled to sleep by the gentle whirring of her machine.
All of a sudden her eyes opened wide and she gasped at what she read. "Holy shittin' kittens!" she cursed, printing of the previously encrypted info. "Kima, wake up! Get up, right now! It's an emergency," she yelled, shaking Kimaru violently.
Kimaru mumbled something and then rolled over on her side. Yuriko caught a faint whiff of alcohol on her breath and cursed all the more. Deciding to forget her she scrambled out of the room and headed straight for Heero and Duo's room. "Wake up!" she shouted.
Heero and Duo both bolted upright in bed. Heero had his gun trained on her head as well. "What is it? Who died?" Duo asked rubbing his eyes sleepily. Yuriko waved the papers furiously. "You guys need to get out of here, now!"
Heero snatched the papers out of her hands and quickly read them, his face becoming harder. He looked at Yuriko and nodded. He turned to Duo and handed him the papers. "Pack your things. We're leaving." He then turned and went to wake the others.
After reading the papers, Duo raised his eyebrows. "Well, guess they've caught on to us," he said lightly. "I can't believe it took them this long to figure out we're not girls. Heh!" he laughed. "Oz is stupid. So they are ordered to kill the five of us and relocate the five of you."
Yuriko nodded dejectedly to him. "Yeah. We'll do all in our power to help you guys though. We'll be kind of like spies or double agents or something." She watched Duo throw all of his clothes in a duffle bag. Just as he finished Heero, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei come in, all looking gravely serious.
"Heero explained it to us. Thanks for the warning," Quatre said softly. "How do we get out of here?" Heero asked. Yuriko walked over to the closet and pressed a panel of the wall. It opened to reveal a flight of stairs.
"Keep going down until you reach the outside which will take you to the garden. You can find your way from there," Yuriko said.
Wufei turned to Yuriko. "It's been a pleasure to work with the five of you. Give Rebecca my regards." He turned a walked down the stairs, his bag over one shoulder.
Quatre smiled a little. "We'll see you again, hopefully soon, Riko. Say bye to Kima for me," he requested, giving her a hug. Trowa gave her a brief nod and a small smirk before following his lover.
Duo smiled widely and chuckled. "Never thought. It would end like this, ya know?" he handed her a silver cross on a necklace. "Give this to Maru, would ya?" With that he left.
She was finally alone with him. "Heero," she said softly. He stepped up to her and gave her a brief kiss. "I'll come back for you," he said before leaving as well.
Yuriko watched as he seemed to melt into the shadows and disappear. When she could no longer see him, she sank to her knees, trembling from the sobs she was trying to hold back.
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-------(Nah, can't do that to ya!)-------
"Riko?" Kimaru's voice echoed through the room. Twenty minutes after Yuriko had left the room, she had pulled herself together enough to check the PC. "What the hell was she yelling about now?" she grumbled. After she read the unencrypted version of the message she started searching for Yuriko immediately.
The sound of sobs coming from the closet alerted Kimaru to Yuriko's location. Kimaru slipped into the closet to find Yuriko curled up on the floor in front of the passage out to the gardens. A cross of pure silver on a long link chain was laying next to her, but it's purity was nothing compared to the crystalline tears that dotted Yuriko's face.
Kimaru knelt before her, slowly gathering the distraught girl into her arms. "Shh! Hush, my friend. Don't worry about the boys. It'll be okay. Everything is gonna work out alright," she whispered, rocking Yuriko back and forth in her arms.
As Yuriko's tears ceased, Kimaru reached over and closed the passage. Yuriko, though still trembling slightly, picked up the cross and stood with Kimaru's help. "Duo said to give this to you," Yuriko said handing the necklace to her. Kima slipped the necklace over head. The cross hung near her bellybutton because the chain was so long. "Heero… said that he'd (sniffle) come back for me," she whispered. "Then he will," Kimaru stated with conviction. The two went back to there room to sleep off their sorrows.
----- O.o ----- ----- O.O ----- ----- o.O ----- -----
O.o--- (say what?)
"The mother fucker that runs this maggot infested hell hole is gonna get the shit beat out of him when I get my hands on him!" Jerome yelled. The five neo-pilots were currently on a shuttle that was transferring them from the Earth Sphere, which had been their home for three years, to a special institution on L1 made for kids like them to train and specialize in war tactics and piloting mobile suits. Unfortunately they didn't know which one or even where on L1 it was.
"It's just like the fuckers to just ship us off like this without so much as a warning!" he continued to rant, rattling the chains on his wrists as he spoke. All five of them had been restrained 'for their own safety'. It was more like for the safety of the shuttle crew.
"Well, at least they, like, let us pack our equipment and stuff…" said Adam, who was chained between Jerome and Rebecca. "And they didn't strip search us like they did for Los Angeles." Everyone stared at him for a minute. "What?" he asked.
Kimaru and Rebecca broke up laughing. "You (giggle) were strip searched? (snort!)" Kimaru gasped out, wiping tears from her eyes. "I always knew you were queer, Adam," Rebecca said.
The doors in front of them that led to the cockpit hissed open, revealing a pale woman with short dark hair and a tall man with long white blonde hair. "Sorry for the abrupt change in location. You were in danger at the boarding school. The Gundam Pilots had been spotted in the area, albeit in disguise. One of our contacts at the airport informed us of the possibility yesterday," the man said airily.
"And where are we being moved to? Sir," asked Yuriko, adding the 'sir' as an afterthought. "A secure location. We will arrive in 15 minutes." With that said the two went back into the cockpit.
"Allow me to be the first to say," began Kimaru, "this whole setup sucks major ass!" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. The room lapsed into silence as everyone pondered what might happen. That is, until Jerome decided to speak up.
"I propose a bet. The terms should be that the person and/or persons who get highest up in ranks before we are pulled out gets one thing from each of the losers. Winners choice, of course," Jerome smirked confidently.
"But for you that could be translated as sexual favors. I think we should ban that unless the loser agrees," protested Kimaru. Rebecca and Yuriko nodded their agreement, fervently.
Adam grinned, "Alright, I'm in!" Rebecca rolled her eyes and gave him a look. "I plan on getting you back for that virgin comment a few days ago," Adam said, unperturbed by the glare his cousin was giving him.
Rebecca smirked at Adam. "Fine, I'll do it. But only 'cause I'm going to prove I'm better than you, oh mighty brainless one," she conceded. Kimaru nudged Rebecca and laughed. "Yeah, I'm in, too. It'll be worth seeing the boys' faces when one of the babes wins!" she said. Both girls snickered and high-fived.
Jerome turned to Yuriko. "Well, baby sis? Are you up for it?" Yuriko grinned. "You guys already know I'm gonna beat you. You're just wasting your time trying."
Kimaru pumped her fist in the air as far as the chain would allow. "This is gonna be so cool! The guys would love this if they were here!"
At the mention of the guys, Rebecca and Yuriko became somber. "I miss Wufei," Rebecca whispered. "Wufei was a pompous pig," Adam said cheerfully.
"I miss Heero. He was the first person to ever know me – intimately," Yuriko said softly. Jerome rolled his eyes. "He's the only one who will know you intimately. I can't believe you allowed him do that to you." Jerome tried to do a Confucius imitation. "Virginity is like a bubble. One prick, all gone!" "Well, why don't you stop being a prick and shut up!" Yuriko exclaimed.
It was at this point that the blonde haired man walked back into the room. He raised his eyebrow and gave each of them a warning glance. His gaze settled on Yuriko and Jerome. "You're the twins, I presume?" he asked. Jerome gave him a weird look. "No, we just look alike," he said sarcastically.
"Who're you?" Rebecca asked. The man flipped his hair casually over his shoulder and crossed his arms. "I am Zechs Marquise." An unnerving silence filled the shuttle as the five of them digested this information with much confusion.
"Sex! Your name is sex!" Jerome yelled. The five friends burst out laughing. Adam snickered. "Sex. You sick freak."
A twitch began in Zechs' left eye. "No, my name is Zechs. Zechs with a 'z'." Adam looked at him incredulously. "So your name is Zex? It sounds like a Russian trying to say sex. Are you Russian?"
Zechs' eye twitch was slowly getting worse. "My nationality is none of your concern. What should be your concern is who I am."
"But you already told us your name is Zechs Marquise," Jerome pointed out. "And forgive me for saying, but that's not very intimidating yet."
Zechs' elegantly arched his eyebrow, having caught the amendment of his statement. "For all of your rude comments you are rather astute," he observed.
Jerome preened, for the first time making eye contact with the girls. To his surprise, he could see the thinly veiled fear in Rebecca's eyes, his sisters' tense body, and Kimaru's clenching and unclenching fists. The signs of a major player in the fucked up war for peace were evident in their body language. Otherwise their masks would never have slipped.
Jerome turned back to face Marquise, his preening look never wavering. On the inside though he was hurriedly thinking of where he had heard Zechs' name before. "I try."
Zechs' took a step closer to Jerome, staying just out of reach of the chains. "Then perhaps you will find yourself compelled to try harder?"
At this, Jerome remembered one of St. Benedictine's retarded training videos. The one with a certain general named Marquise. "Yes, sir. I believe I will, sir," his cocky attitude still in place, but his language becoming more precise.
"Hahahaha!" Zechs laughed, "It's about time we had a recruit with balls! I will have to keep an eye on all of you, especially after the reports that came from your headmaster and teachers." Kimaru looked suspicious. "Reports?"
Zechs nodded. "Yes. Since I am now your commanding officer, I needed your reports to know more about you five." The neo-pilots glanced at one another. Apparently the charade was still on as he hadn't noticed their previous tension. Their masks were now firmly back in place.
"Under my command the five of you will train extensively to reach our goals," Zechs continued. "Do you know what our goal is?" he asked.
Yuriko grinned. "Victory!" "Over violence!" Jerome continued, smirking. Adam laughed and made a victory over violence sign with his fingers.
At which point Rebecca smacked him upside the head. "You know what that really looks like, right?" Adam's knowing grin assured her that he did. Yuriko gagged loudly at the same time as Kimaru giggle-snorted.
Zechs stared at the laughing, violent, and all-around fully laid back teens. It was a complete turn around in emotion in a matter of minutes.
Then he was hit in the head with a paper airplane, which stubbornly decided to stick in his hair. Zechs sighed in frustration, wondering where the paper came from in the first place. "Atten-HUT!" he barked, giving up on talking to the soldiers in a civilian setting. The teens immediately sat straight backed, chin up, eyes level and blank of all emotion.
Zechs instantly fell into his upper class general mode. "While victory may be one of OZ's many goals it is not the only goal. You 5 are to be given special training above your basics for one of the most important missions OZ has to offer."
Yuriko quickly saluted to Zechs to get his attention. "Sir, permission to speak freely, sir?"
Zechs nodded in approval. "Permission granted."
"Sir, we may have only had basic training at the hands of the instructors, but my team has extensive training in most other areas of combat, including the piloting of a mobile suit."
Zechs hid his surprise. "You mean to tell me that you five taught yourselves how to pilot Mobile suits?"
Yuriko nodded. "Yes, sir."
Zechs gave her a skeptical look. "When have you found the time and the programs to accomplish that?" he asked.
"Cadet Jerome is an adept computer engineer, and as for time," she hesitated for a moment, "We get bored very easily, sir."
Zechs looked thoughtful. "The five of you will be tested once we arrive at the Academy," he informed them. Then, having said all he needed to, he returned to the cockpit. Sitting in his seat, he turned to his companion.
Noin brushed a lock of her short purple hair out of her face as she looked up at Zechs. "Are they going to cooperate with us?"
Zechs looked out of the small window beside Noin's head. "They'll cooperate," he smiled. "In fact, I think they'll be the key to winning this war."
----- O.o ----- ----- O.O ----- ----- o.O -----
Original Chapter 21 Authoress' notes
I am putting an end to this chapter here. I got a laptop for my graduation and I haven't seen the light of day in hours 'cause I've been doing stuff on it and with my grad money.
On a different note, I'm getting to have quite a few chapters and MLC and I were wondering if we should condense them so there are two chapters per link. Review to tell me what you think.
Tenshi no Mugen
Original Chapter 22 Authoress' notes
Sorry it took so long, but I was kidnapped and held hostage in Tampa by my mother. I'm not kidding! I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing, my car, and my purse. I only got back this Monday and I had to make contact with the world so that my friends knew that I wasn't dead.
Anyways, next chapter I'm going to be answering reviews again, so if you have anything to say, SAY IT! Then I can answer, comment, and joke about it and make you people happy, got me? Cool, then I'll update again next Friday, hopefully.
Tenshi no Mugen