Author's Note: We're getting to the final stretch. A couple of loose ends are tied up here but we're not at the end quite yet. How much longer to go is for you guys to find out. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: We do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: language, violence, death

Rematch

Solo was in bliss, no really, he was. It had been completely unexpected and it hadn't taken him long to get into the kiss that Duo had oh so willingly, and surprisingly, given to him.

In fact, he had begun to forget just where they were except that something shook the castle they were on and he found himself pulling away from the kiss, inwardly sobbing at the loss. He caught himself staring into those inviting violet eyes and was about to just say, "fuck it" and continue from where they had left off.

But he had to will himself away from doing it; this was not the time and definitely not the place to try and bone Duo. It would have to be later, when they had more privacy and were in a much safer environment.

"Later," he panted to Duo. "Escape, now."

Duo nodded, the lust fading from those violet eyes as he went into what the pilots had called "mission mode." Much as he didn't like to see it, he knew they were going to need it in order to get out of here in one piece; the getting in had been the easier part, now it was time to get out and he doubted anyone would just let them walk out the front door.

"Get some clothes on," he ordered Duo, falling back into a role he hadn't taken up since he had once lived on the streets. "We need ta move fast and quickly."

"Isn't that a little redundant?" Duo asked, straightening out his pants and zipping them up.

"Well, I figured that we need ta be both fast and quick," he shrugged. "Wouldn't that make it twice as fast instead of just fast?"

"I don't know where you learned your grammar but I think you need another remedial course," Duo replied as he started buttoning up his shirt, stopping around the collar that still gripped his neck. "Before we leave, I'm gonna want to ditch this fucking thing first."

"Haven't seen magic like that before," Solo admitted as he began heading away from the bed and towards the door. "We might need to see some experts 'bout it."

"Whatever," Duo rolled his eyes as he followed after, already sensing the loss of the weapons he usually kept on his person at all times. No knives, no guns, no nothing. Sure he had magic but he much preferred to rely on something that was reliable in the past.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Solo demanded as he peeked his head out the doorway. Travis was nowhere in sight; damn it, were they ditched? He knew he shouldn't have believed that story of being a spy for blondie. Either he was being paranoid, and rightfully so, or he was being petty, he didn't know which at the moment and he didn't care.

"What are you talking about?" he heard Duo ask from behind him and he could feel the frown being aimed at him.

"Found some guy who led me here," he answered quickly. "Now he's gone, probably lied his ass off ta me 'cept he led me straight ta you so I don't know what ta fuckin' think 'bout it."

"Then think no more of it, let's get the fuck out of here," Duo said, also peeking his head out and scanning the hallway.

"Right. Well, we're probably gonna have ta find a hole in da wall somewhere. Da Mobile Suits out there have really been laying in ta this place."

"Wait, Mobile Suits?" Duo snapped his head to look at him in shock. The shock was soon replaced with determination as he demanded, "Alright, you're going to have to tell me everything that's been fucking going on here."

"Later," he promised. "Let's get outta here alive first so I can tell ya."

Darting out into the hallway, he just started to trace his way here backwards when the building trembled unnoticeably. What was noticeable was that he felt the castle move and something blocking the way in front of him and the way out.

"What da fuck?" he demanded.

"Oh, this place does that," Duo said from behind, not in the least surprised. "Something Xavien said about this place always changing. There's something special about this castle that the building is always moving around and changing. I don't think it's magical for some reason, though."

"Well, this sucks," Solo said, summing up the situation neatly.

Quatre was not a manipulator like some people were; he didn't have control over an element that would be at his beck and call, waiting to do his bidding. But he was never a person that was to let something like that keep him from getting skilled at a task.

He just focused more on his general magic abilities, his empathy notwithstanding, and had beefed up his skills in that area. So yes, he was a more "all around" kind of magic user. Only an absolute, complete idiot would just give up if they couldn't specialize in a type of magic; hell, most of the superiors of The Collective didn't specialize in anything.

It was all the matter of refining specific spells that it looked like you were more powerful than you were.

None of that, though, made any difference as he took on the mercenary Pike Verso head-to-head in unarmed combat. This is probably also where he had a bit of an advantage; as a Gundam pilot, you needed to learn to be able to fight with your bare hands in case you were unarmed. Add into that the swordplay his father had forced onto him and he was a pretty decent fighter though the other pilots were better skilled at physical fighting than he was.

So yes, he could read his opponents movements as they moved and could then plan his counter in the split second of time that he had to do so. Magic could be wielded here but since he had fought the mercenary before, he had a better idea of what the other could and could not do.

He would not be defeated this time, not when there were others that were counting on him.

He dodged the kick that Pike threw at him, throwing himself to a side and ducking under the fist that came after. Quatre flared a magical aura around himself, attempting to and succeeding at stunning Pike for a moment where he was able to smash his arm upward into the inside of the elbow of Pike's outstretched arm, causing it bend. Quatre then spun on his heel to land a low kick into the back of his knee.

The armor helped pad against the blows, blocking the pain to a degree, but it didn't prevent him from losing control of one arm and his balance, the mercenary falling to the floor but rolling forward to put some distance between him and the blond.

Quatre was already up on his feet, though and was powering up two orbs of light in his hands, making them emit a sizzling sound before blasting them at the mercenary with the intent of trying to melt some of that armor off.

Pike managed to twist his body enough that he was able to raise an arm up and summon a shield just as the blasts neared him and he gritted his teeth at each impact of the blasts. The blond wasn't holding back anything this time around.

Pike peered at Quatre, his eyes narrowed as he tried to see through the shimmering air, caused by the heat from the two orbs, only seeing the other's silhouette. He fisted his other hand, forming a spell in preparation to tear the other apart.

Meanwhile, Quatre had teleported behind the mercenary, an afterimage or mirage as the Arabs would call it left behind due to the heat of his concentrated magic around, another orb of magic in his hands and ready to be fired. He wasted no time in doing so, blasting the attack right into Pike's back, causing the mercenary to cry out in pain and lose hold of the spell he had been forming.

Marble dust diminished around the impact sight, revealing to Quatre Pike's open back, his pale back slightly visible and scorched. However, Quatre delayed too long as Pike was already spinning around and throwing his arm out.

Any magic user knew that when such a gesture was thrown at you that a spell was coming straight at you. That and Quatre felt the sudden influx of magical power gathering near Pike was shooting straight out from Pike and directly towards him.

Instinct and reflex had him moving just as a lump in the floor lunged at him but not soon enough as something sharp nearly grazed against his jacket, ripping it easily. He took a second to take in the fact that there was a large, marble spike jutting out from the floor and had he not moved in time, would have been impaled on it.

He then cursed as he felt several influxes of magical energy occurring in Pike's vicinity and was throwing himself out of the way of another spike, rolling underneath a second spike that shot out from nearby and leapt over a third one that was shooting out from underneath him. That third one cut up the back of his commando jacket, nearly piercing his skin, sending a tinge of pain up the blond's spine.

He nearly lost his balance as he slammed one foot in the floor but managed to retain it long enough so that he could continue using his momentum to throw out his other foot and start a jerky sprint that became more controlled with every step that he took.

But Pike was also getting more and more accurate as he spikes drew closer and closer, tearing into his outfit and in no time practically leaving him in rags. Quatre could feel Pike was running out of steam though but he had to act quickly just as one spike jutted out right in his path, aimed straight at his heart.

He threw his hands out and grabbed hold of the pointy end of the spike pushing up with his arms and jumping with his legs in a move that an acrobat might envy, might being the key word. His muscles groaned and burned at the unexpected maneuver and Quatre found himself falling forward, or backwards depending on your perspective, with his back slamming right into the rounded, dulled surface of the spike.

"Not bad," he heard Pike call out to him. "Let's see you try and out run this!"

Quatre's eyes darted over to Pike's visage and saw to his horror a spectral entity forming before the mercenary. It was grotesque, an obvious parody of an artwork that Pike must have adored. He couldn't pinpoint which artwork it was but he found he didn't have enough time to do so as Pike fired the spell at him.

Not many were capable of being able to access a forbidden spell and few of those who did were capable of mastering just one. This forbidden spell, the spectral projection blast as it was termed, most likely by some rookie who wanted to name it something cool or had seen one too many Japanese anime, was one of the lower leveled spells but because it was forbidden, it meant that it could do a lot of damage.

And the damn thing was fast, so that didn't give him a lot of time to act. A basic and ordinary spell would not work here so he was going to have to use a spell that he was still learning, having stopped doing so right before the wars, but it was the only one he could think of that gave him a slim chance of survival.

He held his hands just in front of his chest, focusing as much power as he could in a short amount of time and weaving the spell in such a way that it appeared translucent.

Time was suddenly up and he held the spell in front of him, just as the specter intercepted him.

"I should have known you were green enough not to have a walkie-talkie on you," Duo grumbled as he followed after Solo at a run. "Now we can't tell the guys outside to lighten up."

"Hey, you think I thought about that shit?" Solo scowled back at him, turning his head around just enough so that the braided one could see it. "I ain't a fuckin' soldier man!"

"Obviously," Duo muttered, rolling his eyes, skidding to a stop as the two came upon another intersection. "Okay, Sherlock, which way now?"

"Who da fuck is Sherlock?" Solo demanded, glaring at him.

Before Duo could give him a look, a voice from down one of the hallways bellowed, "NO!"

The two L2 natives snapped their heads around to see the figure of Xavien, his trenchcoat whipping behind him like cape. The bastard looked absolutely pissed and seeing how one of his hands was being enveloped in a dark green light.

This was not going to be pretty.

Then before Xavien could blast them to kingdom come, they felt the castle shift and the bastard was blocked from view by a solid wall. Never before had the two been thankful enough that whatever insane bastard had built this place had given them a bit of breathing room.

"This way!" Duo exclaimed, running down the only hallway that was left to them, that is if you didn't count the one they had just come from.

"What makes you so sure it's this way?" Solo demanded as he ran after him.

"I'm not!" Duo called back to him, a manic grin on his face. "You rather wait for that asshole to catch up with us?"

Solo said nothing to that, seemingly agreeing with Duo's point. At least that was what Duo assumed and he was sticking to that.

The castle shifted again and Duo spied an opening just now becoming revealed. He smirked and readied himself for a sharp turn but tried to stop as soon as he could as his eyes bulged and his arms windmilled, trying to prevent himself from falling over into a sudden drop.

Unfortunately, Solo had as much warning as he did and like in a fucking cartoon, slammed right into him and causing both of them to fall forward into an empty expanse. The drop was short but the sudden stop at the end was discomforting, especially since Solo landed on top of him, practically squishing the life out of him.

Without thinking of the other, he rudely shoved the blond off him and groaned pitifully to himself as he pushed himself up. That's when he got a good look at the large, circular room they were in.

The ceiling was high in here, so high that he couldn't see it but the floor was what shocked the shit out of him. It was glass, completely made of glass; it was surprising that it hadn't shattered beneath them. If he looked closely enough, he could swear he saw movement in the darkness just under the glass yet he couldn't make out just what…

"Mesmerized? I admit, I had the same reaction when I first saw it, streetrats."

His head snapped up and he nearly pissed himself as he saw Xavien standing on the other side of the room, staring straight at them with condescension.

"How da fuck you get here so fast?" Solo yelled out, glaring at the asshole.

"I think it would be obvious enough, even for guttertrash like you two," Xavien smirked. "The castle is constantly moving, shifting; by chance I happened to arrive here just as you two fell in. I could only wish that you cracked opened your skulls but what can you do?"

"You know, I'm really getting sick of that," Duo spat at him. "What we ever do to you?"

"Exist," Xavien said simply.

"Well fuck you too!" Solo snarled as he summoned up a multitude of shadows to tear the asshole apart.

Xavien, however, only snorted. "Ah yes, you're a manipulator. Stupid streetrat, just because you're a manipulator doesn't mean you're invincible." Small bolts of magical energy flickered around Xavien before he released a shout and blasted a wave of power from his body, tearing the shadows to shreds easily. "Anything else?" he asked casually. "No? Then I guess it's my turn then."

The two of them only had a short warning, that of Xavien suddenly becoming enveloped in a dark green flash, to move as a powerful blast of magical power thundered past them. The very power in that one attack was more than enough to have Duo trembling; he had never felt that amount of magic condensed in such a way before.

It was obvious that Xavien was attacking to kill.

"What's wrong?" Xavien mocked, the tiny bolts of dark green colored magic crackling all over him. "Lost your confidence? Good."

"Fuck you asshole!" Solo yelled, blasting two golden orbs at the man, the two balls of light orbiting around each other and at such a speed that they resembled a disk.

Xavien merely rolled his eyes and raised a finger, blasting out a continuous bolt of magic and tore the attack apart and continued to move towards the blond. Duo raised a shield up in front of Solo but the barrier detonated as Xavien's attack struck it, the shockwave throwing both of them backwards and into the wall.

"Is that it?" Xavien inquired, looking disappointed before sneering at them. "You're out of your league, streetrats."

"Oh yeah?" Solo snarled back, gathering shadows around himself. "Eat this!"

The shadows coalesced before him, transmuting from insubstantial darkness into a large, black and purple ball of energy that flared as it was launched at the villain. Xavien's eyes widened at the attack and vanished from sight at the explosion that resulted. Duo felt himself being pounded by the wind and he gritted his teeth as he positively felt he was being flattened against the wall he was against.

Soon, all that was left where Xavien stood was a large cloud of smoke and if he looked hard enough, he could see cracks in the glass floor. Had Solo done it?

"How'd ya like that?" Solo crowed.

However, the blond's jubilation was cut short as he screamed out in pain, Duo jerking his eyes towards his friend and seeing the other's body covered in little, dark green bolts. Once the attack stopped, Solo fell to his knees then onto his stomach, revealing Xavien to be standing right behind him, not a scratch on his person and smirking wickedly.

"Pathetic," he commented, his right hand becoming covered in dark green magic. "Did you really think a spell like that would defeat me?"

Oh hell no! Duo thought to himself as he cried out, "Kuolemasäde!" and narrow beam of death energy shot from his hand and straight at the asshole who was intending on harming Solo.

Xavien saw the spell coming and he redirected his own spell, a continuous bolt of magic blasting out to intercept Duo's spell. It was a standstill, Duo gritting his teeth as he poured more power into his spell, determined to put an end to the bastard. Xavien also seemed to be straining as he fought to counterattack.

They were pelted with winds and the castle walls themselves sung with all the magical energy being emitted. Solo's body slid against the glass floor, the winds moving him away from the only two beings who hadn't moved an inch, each trying to triumph over the other.

Finally, the two spells that warred against each other become unstable enough that they detonated where they met and the resulting explosion was deafening. Duo winced and covered his ears, hoping to spare any hearing he might have left and thus didn't notice the arching bolt of magic sneak over to him and strike him.

It felt like all his nerves were on fire and his mouth opened in a silent scream. He hadn't felt this much pain ever as an electrical current ran throughout his body and he found himself praying for the first time in years for the torment to end.

And then it was over and he dropped to the floor bonelessly.

"That death magic, truly it is magnificent," Xavien said. "To think that a streetrat like you would have it. Well, I'll just remedy that soon."

Those words, combined with his stubbornness, was enough to have Duo summon up enough energy to form a violet orb of light in his hand yet he knew sending it out at Xavien would be useless. Instead, he smashed it into the glass floor, the whole room erupting into glass shards and the three of them plunging into the darkness below.

The chaos was tumultuous and Quatre felt as if he had died a couple times but finally it died down, taking a large portion of his energy along with it. But he was still alive and that was what counted.

"How…how the hell can you know that spell?" he heard Pike demanded at him.

He could only smirk as he wearily answered, "The same way you could know how to do that spectral projection." While he let Pike mull over his answer, his mind was providing him with dozens of options he had and none of them he really liked. That reversal spell he had done always took as much energy from him as it took from the attacking spell, no matter how much he tried to hold back. If the attacking spell would damage him twenty percent, then the reversal spell required twenty percent of his physical energy in exchange.

It was a big reason why few ever tried to master it.

But right now that wasn't the issue; what was is that he was drained and had a mercenary ready to kill him. He needed to act fast but as much as he didn't want to use this next spell, the immediate benefits were outweighing the later liabilities. He would be bone tired later, yes, but the energy he would get now would definitely help him out.

"Kasvu!" he cried out, magical energy flaring around him, giving him his energy back as well as some excess. He could feel his muscles bulge with the power but he didn't let the heady feeling get to him. It was definitely an addictive spell, to say the least, but he needed a clear head more than anything.

"Arabipuku!" he called out and he was enveloped up in white light, his torn up clothes being replaced with white silk infused with magic and styled in an Arabian fashion. He heard Pike whistle; impressed at his display but now was time to implement his strategy.

He covered his hands in an extremely thin film of magic that was nearly transparent and blended in with his garb. Next, he teleported himself to within a few feet of Pike, reveling slightly in the other's eyes widening, and growled, "Let's finish this."

He started off with a flurry a punches that he was pleased to see Pike scramble to parry and block, unable to get them all as the boosting spell's effects were working in his favor, powering him up so that he was faster than usual.

Then he fell back and let Pike take the lead, block and parry easily, the power boost accelerating his thinking to the point that he felt like he was back in the Zero system.

…Oh please, dear God, do not let him fall into "Zero mode" as the other pilots had termed it. He did not want to go insane again and destroy another Colony.

His thoughts distracted him enough that Pike managed to land a blow on him and the pain brought him back to the present moment. He ducked slightly under Pike's next punch, the mercenary's arm going over his shoulder. He raised an arm and flattened his hand, slamming his palm into Pike's elbow, knocking the arm away so that he could land some uppercut's into Pike's gut, falling back so that he could spin around and land a roundhouse kick to Pike's side and fling the mercenary to the side.

Pike gasped as he felt pain, real actual pain. How could that be? His armor should be protecting him! Then he was able to get a good look at said armor and found himself with a problem.

Large pieces of it were missing from all over his arms, his ribs, and a good amount of his torso. Now that he thought about it, those were the general areas in which the blond had struck him. His eyes snapped up and he got a good look at the blond's hands; it was barely noticeable and you had to be looking really hard but he could just make out the radiance of magic on those slender hands.

"Very clever," he snarled out, cursing himself for letting that out and letting the blond know that he had caught on. Well, he had one last spell to use, one that would put an end to this fight.

It was a binding spell that could kill, one that resembled his own modified version but instead of just freezing the afflicted, they would crumble into pieces. It was a shame that he had to resort to it; the blond would have made a nice addition to his collection…

With the boosting spell still powering him up, Quatre could see that Pike was preparing another spell but he could see a lot of difference with this one. It had the makings of a binding spell, his sped-up mind told him, yet there were additions and replacements in the spell that made it look nonsensical.

One thing that he knew, he couldn't let himself get hit by it.

He could see Pike contain the spell in his left hand, using the limb as a medium to focus the spell and he adjusted his body just so in response. As backup, he began forming the reversal spell, willing to use it as a last resort in case he needed it.

"It's over," Pike stated, a malicious light in his eyes. He then charged at the blond, Quatre ready to intercept him and take him down. While he knew Pike was right handed, the fact that he was wielding his left hand adeptly caught him by surprise, so much so that he reflexively used his reversal spell as Pike's left fist swung at him.

He found his boosting spell get canceled out as the reversal spell drained him but he got a good look at Pike's horrified face as his own spell backlashed against him and flung him a few feet away.

The mercenary clutched at his left arm in supposed agony and Quatre could see a pale white creep over the rest of the left arm and spread around his body. Then Pike's eyes connected with his and the mercenary said, "Not bad. Not bad at all."

Then he was covered in marble, becoming a victim of his own binding spell. Then to the blond's surprise, the statue of Pike began crumbling, falling into tiny miniscule pieces until it was a nice, powdery pile on the floor.

He had been right; he hadn't wanted to get hit by that spell.