Hi everyone! I know, long time no post, but I've been working on other things lately. Anyway, I'm accepting the fanfic challenge from Elf's story A Shade Darker that was posted along time ago. I was rereading it and saw the challenge and said to my self, "Self, this is the perfect time for you to start a new story." I'd been toying with this idea for a while and on a whim, decided to do it. I'm putting the challenge here incase anyone reading decides to accept it to. Enjoy the story and if you haven't read A shade darker, then read it! It's very good.
Fanfic Challenge!
Since you like reading A Shade Darker, then you'll understand what I'm saying when I say I WANT A GUNDAM WING VAMPIRE STORY TO READ!! I mean, I'm writing this, having a blast, but not having any to read myself, except for Space Vixen X's Alternate Sins. (Which is an awesome story by the way, so go read it!)
So, I'm issuing a challenge to all of you Gundam Wing fan fiction writers out there reading this story. I want a Gundam Wing vampire story and here's the challenge requirements:
Duo cannot be a vampire, he has to be in the story, but he cannot be a vampire. You can change any of the other pilots to your heart's content, just not Duo.
The Gundams still exist, they're still pilots, so no "the Gundams don't exist" AUs.
No Duo yaoi. Not that I'm against it, it's just that when anyone writes a GW Vampire fic, Duo's always gay. Besides, what is the chance that all of the pilots (except Wufei) are gay? Slim and none. Two, yeah, three, pushing it, four, nope, unbelievable.
No Duo as the bad guy. (Yeah, I'm a big Duo fan, sue me.)
Basically, that's all the challenge. So get to a writing! Please! And if you need any help with vampire stuff, e-mail me at
Thanks,
Elf
Duo: The Vampire Slayer
By: Shinigami-chan
'I need someone to break the silence
that's screaming in my head
and in my soul.'
"Why" by Stabbing Westward
Prologue
A.C. 190
"Sister Helen! What happened? Are you ok?! Please talk to me!!" a young Duo yelled tearfully as he cradled the nun's head in his lap.
"Duo...I'm so glad...you're ok..." Sister Helen whispered hoarsely as she smiled up at the boy leaning over her, tears falling freely from his eyes.
"What happened?!"
"We...were attacked...by vampire...soldiers. They killed...Father Maxwell...and the others...made us all drink... You must put a piece of wood through...all of our...hearts. It's...the only way... to make sure...we don't come back as vampires...too." She managed to say between gasps for breath and he gasped in shock.
"Sister Helen?! What do you mean?!" he shouted. He had listened to the nun with growing horror and disbelief, refusing to even consider doing what she had said, putting a stake through their hearts.
"You know what...I mean...duo. You... have to...keep us from...rising again...as vampires. You... are...the...chosen...one..." she trailed off as her soul silently left her body.
"Sister Helen? Sister Helen!!" he screamed as he shook her in a futile attempt to wake her up.
"It's to late." A voice said from behind him. He turned around to see a tall, thin man wearing a black duster standing a few feet behind him.
"What?" Duo sniffled.
"If they made them drink vampire blood like she said, it's to late for them. We have to stake them." The man said calmly.
"No!"
"Yes." The man said as he crouched down next to Duo. "She was right, you
are the chosen one."
"The chosen one?"
"Yes. Every generation, one is chosen to stand against vampires, demons and the forces of darkness. And it just so happens to be you this generation. It is you destiny to seek out the monsters of the world and destroy them, just as they have destroyed these people." The man said as he gestured around at the still bodies lying around on the ground in the ruins of the church.
"I...I don't want..." Duo stopped for a moment to draw in a deep breath before continuing. "I don't wa...want to k...kill anybody...but..."
"You want those monsters to get away with this?" the man demanded coldly.
"No. I want them to pay, but...I don't want...to...kill any...anybody..." Duo said slowly as he looked down at the woman still in his arms.
"They deserve to die." The man said calmly and Duo's head snapped up in protest.
"But..."
"No. Now we must hurry. They will be rising soon, so we must stake all of them through the heart before they do." The man said as he pulled out a couple of stakes from his backpack.
"No..."
"Yes. Now get started. We only have a few minutes left before they rise. Because this is artificial sunlight, they'll be able to move during the day." The man said and tossed a stake to the boy.
"But..."
"Do it now or put that stake through your own heart. If you let them rise it will amount to the same thing. But if you don't do it now, then there are going to be over a dozen new vampires to kill on this colony. It's your choice; them or everyone else on this colony."
Duo was silent for a moment before he said in a tiny voice, "Ok. I'll do it." Taking a deep breath, he picked up the stake and after a moment's hesitation, plunged it into Sister Helen's, the only person he had ever thought of as his mother due to her kindness to him and the other orphans, caring heart. Pulling it away, he watched in silence as she exploded into dust.
"Wise decision. Now, lets finish up with the rest of them and then we will begin your training." The man said calmly as he plunged his stake into a little girl's chest, not even bothering to watch as she exploded before turning to a little boy about six.
"Who are you?" Duo asked in an empty voice as he stood up and headed for another of his friends.
"My name is Joe Black and I am your Watcher."
VVVVVVV
A.C. 194
"Good, Duo, but you almost let that one vampire get you." Joe Black said as Duo approached him, dusting his black clothes off from where the vampires had exploded on him.
"Stop complaining. It's not my fault that I had to use a pencil because my stake got kicked into the sewer." Duo snapped as he shook his braid in an attempt to get rid of the ash coating it, making the dust billow up around them for a moment before beginning to settle on the ground.
"Yes it is your fault, for two reasons, young man. Number one: you forgot your weapons. Your 'stake' was a picket from that fence. Number two: you also let your guard down trying to do homework when you were supposed to be patrolling." Joe said as he stood up from where he was leaning on a brick wall.
"What is your problem, Joe?! You're always on my back for something or other and I'm really getting tired of it." Duo exclaimed as he glared at the older man. This was not the same boy who had once lived at the Maxwell Church orphanage. That Duo had been a happy kid who had always been smiling at something or another and who couldn't hurt anyone or anything if his life depended on it.
This Duo was a hard eyed teenager who wouldn't take any shit from any body and who, quiet frequently, killed demons and monsters on a daily basis.
"My problem is that your carelessness is going to get you killed one of these days and I'm going to be held responsible." Joe snapped. "You never follow the orders the counsel sends and in fact, usually don't even listen to me half the time. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't your watcher!"
Joe regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Duo froze in the act of taking off his black leather duster he had been wearing to shake some dust off of it, and stared at him in shock. He could clearly see the pain, anger, shock and a vulnerability that he hadn't seen in those amethyst depths since he had first found him when he had been just ten years old, and already had to begin his duty as a slayer by staking the people he had viewed as his family. It was only a brief flash, and then all those emotions were hidden as his eyes became as hard as gundanium, that revealed nothing.
Shrugging back into the long coat, Duo said in a cold voice, "Fine, wish granted. You are no longer my watched. If you change your mind, don't bother coming after me." Turning, he stalking away from the man in the direction of the apartment that he shared with Joe, leaving the man starring after him.
'What have I done?' Joe thought to himself.
VVVVVVV
Duo stomped into the apartment and stormed into his room. "That Bastard! How could he do that, say that to me?!" he snarled to himself as he grabbed a bag out of his closet and threw it on the bed. He grabbed his meager positions and stuffed them in first before he added his store of money and fake ids before zipping it closed. Putting it to the side, he started grabbing his weapons.
A knife slipped into the top of each calf high boot and a third, this one with a string looped from the handle was hung around his neck to rest between his shoulder blades. Two stake launchers were slipped onto his wrists and loaded with deadly sharp stakes. When he moved his wrists in a certain way, they would extend, popping a stake into his hands at a moment's notice. More weapons disappeared into his clothes, a small mountain of artillery to fight the monsters of the world, including even a gun with silver bullets, lethal to many demons that roamed the earth at the small of his back in the waistband of his black jeans. He even had a set of lock picks in his braid, something that had come in handy a few times before.
The last weapon he hid was his scythe. It was a beautiful weapon that was perfectly suited for his small frame. The blade was dipped in silver and it had a wooden handle about three feet long that had a satiny finish that came only from the long time he had hand sanded and polished it during the last four years. He slipped it under his coat the blade over his shoulders and it seemed to melt into him, leaving no trace to the outside world that it was even there. No one was sure how he did it, but no one had managed to detect it when he was carrying it, a good thing as he carried almost everywhere, even to school a few times.
Within ten minutes of entering the apartment, Duo Maxwell, the Slayer, left as quickly as he had come, leaving nothing of his behind, not even a note to his watcher telling him here he had gone.
VVVVVVV
Duo snuck on board the sweeper ship just before it launched towards the hidden base in a nearby asteroid. He hid in the hold of the ship until they were nearing their destination before he showed himself to the others.
Deciding it was time to show himself, he slipped through the deserted halls of the ship to the bridge, his big boots making not one sound on the metal floor. Pausing at the door, he slipped the two daggers from his boots and readied himself before he slid open the door.
The two men in the pilot's and co-pilot's chairs started to turn in surprise at the unexpected opening of the door on a supposedly deserted ship, but before they could turn completely, Duo was there holding a dagger to each of their necks.
"Don't move." he said quietly.
"And who are you?" the man with the huge bowl shaped hairstyle as he looked at Duo out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't really see him because he was partially in shadow and the only thing he could make out under the brim of Duo's black baseball cap, where two bright violet eyes that were as hard as the gundanium they were transporting.
"Call me Shinigami."
"'God of Death'? Interesting name." The other man, this one with only a fringe of hair and wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, said as he concentrated on piloting the ship. "Is there something you wanted or are you doing this for fun?" he added.
"I hear that you guys are trying to start a war with the Alliance." Duo purred in Bowl haired guy's ear.
"Excuse me?"
"Operation Meteor ring any bells?" Duo chuckled at the looks of shock that crossed the two men's faces. "Don't worry about how I found out. I just want to be apart of it."
"What?!" both men exclaimed, completely shocked.
"You heard me."
"And what can you do?" big haired guy asked in his gravely voice.
"I'm a fair mechanic, can operate or pilot any thing and am good at computer hacking." Duo said as he withdrew his daggers and put them away, back in his boots.
"And why would we let you help us?" shade guy said as he finished docking with the asteroid.
"Because I could kill you with no problem or I could go tell all your enemies exactly what you guys are doing and where." Duo said with a crazy grin that was just two steps away from belonging on some insane guy's face.
"Good argument." Bowl hair said with a small grin. "So what else are you called besides Shinigami?"
"Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you, and what are your names?" he asked as he arched an eyebrow at them as they finally turned around to fully look him over.
What they saw was a young man about 14 with amethyst eyes and chestnut hair that went to his but in a thick braid. He was wearing a long black leather duster that swirled around his calves over his black priest outfit with a black baseball cap pulled low over his forehead. The dangerous grin was still on his face but his eyes were as hard as stone, not revealing anything.
"Name's Howard." The bald one said as he pushed his sunglasses higher up on his nose. "He's Professor G, the one in charge."
"Cool, tell me everything." Duo said with another smirk.
AC 195
For the last year, Duo, Howard, and Professor G, along with a few other people, worked on building the Deathscythe Gundam. During that time, Duo gradually learned to hide his true face behind a laughing jokester mask.
Duo became on the outside a fun loving, never take anything serious teen that he had never got the chance to be since Sister Helen, Father Maxwell, and all his friends at the orphanage were killed by vampires only to be brought back as the same, just so that he could kill them himself.
He had everyone fooled.
"Duo! How many times do I have to tell you not to program the screen savers?!" Howard shouted as he pointed to his computer screen, which was showing a miniature, super-deformed Deathscythe in a chorus line, doing high kicks with Howard, Prof. G, and Duo, all also in SD. Everyone was wearing the big ruffled skirt, fishnet stockings and high heels, with a yellow feather in their hair or armor, except Duo who was in his normal outfit laughing his head off.
Duo looked at Howard's red face, then at the other crewmembers that were trying to hide their smiles, then said with a charming smile, "What makes you think it was me?"
"Only you are crazy enough to do something like this and besides, I can't get it to go away! I can't get back to the program I was working on!" Howard shouted angrily as Duo finally burst out laughing.
"Fix it now!!"
"Ok, ok, I'll fix it!"
VVVVVVV
Barely a month later, Duo stood beside Howard and Prof. G as they received the orders to begin Project Meteor. "Hah! As if I would follow these orders." G said as he shut off the screen displaying the orders.
Turning to Duo, he said, "I want you to take Deathscythe and follow your own judgment fighting the Alliance. Ok, Duo?"
"You want me to go to earth with Deathscythe?" Duo said in surprise.
"Yes. Do you have any questions?"
"When do I leave?" Duo asked with a manic grin.
"As soon as you get packed. I'll be heading down my self to set up a floating base for you." Howard said as he adjusted his bright shirt.
"Cool! I'll be ready in 10 minutes!" Duo shouted, rushing off in the direction of his room. As soon as he was alone, he let the smiling face disappear. A grim smile flitted across his face as he started packing his belongings.
All his clothes went into one bag while his collection of ancient rock music went in a second. He had found he liked the music after it was introduced to him by one of the technicians and he had amassed quiet a collection.
In the last bag he packed most of his weapons. He had stopped carrying most of them after he had almost killed one of the workers after he had surprised him in a dark corridor. He had also stopped wearing his duster except for his infrequent trips to various colonies for supplies or down time. Then he would wear it and hunt the various demons terrorizing that colony.
The only two weapons, besides his boot knives, that he didn't pack were his two scythes. The first one was the one he had brought with him when he had left Joe. It was encased in leather with steel reinforcing the blade part. While the first one had a wooden blade and a regular steel blade, the second one was different.
The second scythe was one he had made in his spare time during the past year. It was made of Gundanium. While they had been melting and casting the armor for the mobile suit he had taken a small amount of the metal and cast it into the blade and the handle of the scythe. For over a month each, he had smoothed and polished the pieces until they were as smooth as silk. After wielding them together, he put the finishing touches on his new razor edged instrument of death. He carved bat wings on the blade close to where it joined the handle and underneath he carved Shinigami in English while on the back he repeated the design with the Japanese kanji for Shinigami underneath it. He also carved protection runes on the blade and handle. He had to do the carving with a hand held laser rather than normal means because it was so hard to do because of the gundanium. As the last thing he did to finish his work on the scythe, he had coated the blade in a layer of silver, to make it even more lethal to the demons that are weak against the said metal. Now, he lovingly caressed it before he slipped it into it's own sheath.
"Well, then, I guess it's time to get going to earth and while I'm there, I guess I'll finally be able to get back to my war against the forces of darkness. If those monsters that killed everyone at the Maxwell Church are there, then I will kill every demon on earth until I get every last one of them." He vowed quietly to himself as he scooped up all three of his bags and his scythes and headed out the door.
He pasted on a crazy grin as he reached the hanger where Deathscythe was about to be encased in the reentry capsule.
"Duo, we need you to pilot the Gundam to get it into the capsule, so hurry up and get your stuff loaded." Professor G said when he spotted Duo hurrying towards them. Then he got a closer look at the two leather and steel wrapped scythes. "What on earth are those?" he asked, gaining Howard's attention.
"What?" he asked as he turned away from the worker he was talking to.
"These?" Duo said with an arched eyebrow as he held up the leather cases.
"Yes those. What are they?" G snapped irritably.
"My scythes, of course."
" 'Of course'? Where did you get them?" G snapped, holding out a hand for them. When Duo held them away, he reached for them impatiently.
Suddenly he found a knife pressed against his throat, courtesy of a hard eyed, cold-faced Duo.
"Nobody touches my scythes except me and the demons I kill. Understand?" Duo snarled and the two men started at him in shock. He had moved so fast, dropping his bags and the smaller scythe, and pulling the knife from his boot to hold against the older man's neck, all the while retaining his hold on the larger wrapped scythe.
"What?!" Both men finally exclaimed. "What do you mean?" Howard asked as Duo put the knife away and opened the sheath at lightening speed.
"What I mean is that no one touches it but me and Shinigami's victims. That is all you need to know." Duo said coldly. Slipping the leather off, he held up the silvery scythe for the men to see.
They gapped at the magnificent weapon for a minute before turning stunned eyes towards Duo. "Where...?" Howard started to say but trailed off as he stared at the boy he had thought he knew, but this hard eyed teenager was not the familiar joking boy he had known for the last year.
"Just who are you Duo?" he asked finally.
Duo looked briefly startled, but then the cold, mask settled back over his face. "Let's just say that I fight what most don't even believe in."
"The slayer..." Howard whispered, wide eyed, gaining surprised looks from the others
"What do you know about the slayer and where did you hear about it?" Duo demanded, holding the scythe ready to lop off Howard's head at a moment's notice.
"Let's just say that me and my family had a bad run in with a bunch of leeches about 40 years ago. I survived, no one else did, vamp or otherwise."
"Sorry. Leaches get a lot of us." Duo said as he withdrew the blade and a grabbed the sheath off the ground.
"You too?"
"Yeah, Father Maxwell and everyone living at the orphanage that I was staying at. Then I had to stake them." Duo said darkly as he swiped the rest of his things off the ground and stalked towards his Gundam.
"That poor boy." Howard muttered as he watched him go.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Professor G demanded, completely lost.
"I'll tell you another time, let's just get this ball rolling." Howard said as they watched Deathscythe power up and walked over to the reentry capsule.
VVVVVVV
'Well, I'm on my way.' Duo thought as the capsule headed towards earth. Entering the atmosphere, he piloted it towards the area he had been told to avoid, Japan. The biggest area populated by the most demons besides Sunnydale and LA in California, USA.
For the next year, Duo Maxwell, the Vampire Slayer, lead a triple life; Gundam pilot, high school student, and demon hunter, all the while sharing safe houses with the other four pilots. They never knew.
And neither did he...
TBC...
A/N
This is a reposting as I hated the format had put it in when I originally poster, along with dividers and changing it from Pof. H to G. I can't believe I made that mistake! I decided to fix this and start working on the next chapter since people are still reading this and I have to admit, I loved this story from the get go. Hopefully, I'll remember what I originally wrote. I lost the notebook that it was in years ago.
Oh well, we'll see!
Ja ne, Shinigami-chan