As the figure stepped out, everyones reactions were different. Heero gasped out loud and staggered back, all the girls thought one word "HOT", Quatre, Duo, and Wufei narrowed their eyes, while Trowa only tensed up. Millardo seemed unaffected. Millardo strode toward the man, shouting a hello.

The figure turned his attention to him. Raising his head, with one hand he pulled off the mirror shades he had on. His face was darkened because he had the last rays of sunlight behind him. Millardo stepped back a bit, the intense green orbs seemed so familiar… just like Heero… The figure nodded a respectful greeting, turning his attention toward Heero who looked shocked.

The green-eyed man smirked, "What, Yuy? Not happy to see me?"

That snapped everyone out of his or her reverie. Relena looked from the handsome man to Heero. Everyone turned to Heero with puzzled faces. Heero regained his composure and strode toward him.

He spoke out, "Zhang, it's been too long, how have you been?"

Zhang replied, "Here and there doing what I do best."

Millardo interrupted, "Heero, you know him?"

Zhang turned toward him, "Mr. Peacecraft, my name is Talos Zhang, better known as The Solitary Dragon, or the Green Solitaire. Now where is my objective?"

Trowa finally couldn't hold it and spoke quietly, "The Solitary Dragon, Shadow Fighter Champion for the past 7 years, the most lethal man in the universe. The one responsible for the operation the Alliance called Operation Silence."

Catherine looked quizzically at her brother and asked, "You know him, Trowa?"

Talos chuckled at this, "So you now go under Trowa, heh?"

Trowa looked unfazed, and continued, "Operation Silence, the most horrific act performed on mankind… The utter destruction of total bases of Alliance, no traces, only rumors, no witnesses, only the charred air. The Alliance did not admit if there were any problems. Total annihilation, almost 100 bases wiped out with no trace, death toll of over 2 million people……….. All done by one man, The Solitary Dragon, the man responsible for the deaths of more people than anyone could care to count."

Everyone gasped at this revelation, and turned toward Talos. He returned their gazes unflinchingly, but they all saw the sadness in his eyes, the tears which would not flow from a man who had been hardened by the horrors of war. Relena immediately felt pity for the battle-scarred man. He's just like Heero she thought.

She spoke softly,as to console the broken soul, "I'm Relena, I guess your objective is me, why don't we go inside and talk its getting windy."

Talos looked at her, she saw him blink, and the sadness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by the intense green orbs of mystery any women could drown in if not careful. Exactly like Heero she thought.

He grasped her hand gently, kissing the back of her hand ever so gently, smiling, "Miz Peacecraft, it is an honor. I must say you are so much more beautiful in person. The media do you no justice. And thank you, lets all go in."

Relena blushed at these compliments. She then noticed that his voice was quite low, it made him sound so mysterious. She thought maybe she could get over Heero with Talos.

"Please call me Relena."

They made their way through the mansion, stopping at the massive living room. As they entered, Relena finally got a full glimpse of Talos. Tall, at least 6 feet 3 with hair that was gelled slightly so that his bangs hung down in thin strands over his face with the rest of his hair spiked up. He wore a dark shirt under a black leather jacket, which had numerous pockets. The jacket was short not reaching his waist showing the electronics that were hung there. His pants were loose, baggy pants. The most distinguishable feature that made him stand out was the meter long sword that was slung in a sling behind him that hung from the back of his belt. The girls had ceased to look at the sword, they had other things to look at, his muscles were well defined, his body slim yet he moved with a cat like fluidity. His face was angular with a slightly pointed chin, and the eyes, which wore the intense look of a predator. The boys' attention was solely focused on the sword. Wufei seemed to recognize the blade type, but wasn't sure of himself.

Heero broke the silence by asking, "How's Sheila, Talos?"

Talos heartily replied, "Driving me up the wall, but I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world. I love her too much to care for anything else."

Catherine and Relena felt slightly disappointed, because they had seen a potential boyfriend in him. What Talos said next caught a Relena's attention making her head snap back.

Talos asked, "How's your love life going heh, Heero? Still the ladies man? You did put that interesting little tidbit in your last e-mail, what was her name?"

Duo replied for Heero, "Yea right. Since I ever met him, he hasn't looked at a girl, nevertheless love one, right Heero!?!?"

Heero just glared back at the braided God of Death.

Sighing loudly, Talos said in a hushed tone, "You still haven't gotten past Steph, have you?"

Everyone snapped their sleepy heads up at this question. They all looked at Heero, waiting for an answer.

Duo spoke first, "Who's Steph. She your honey?"

The look Heero threw at Duo was a look no one except Talos had seen. It was distorted to demonic proportions, but the eyes they seemed to light on fire. Duo saw this and threw himself behind the sofa cryiong out 'sorry's. Relena looked deeply into Heero's eyes and saw the pain that was hidden behind the eyes of the Perfect Soldier. Heero whipped out his gun within a blink of an eye pointing it at the semi-hidden form of Duo……….and fired. The boom carried out through the house. Everyone jumped. The girls screamed. The boys looked shocked. Out of nowhere, a flash of green snaked out. Sparks sparked from the middle of the room.

Everyone just stood there, jaws hanging.

There stood a surreal sight. Heero stood with his gun pointed at Duo's huddled form. But what captured everyone's attention was the green blade that hovered a foot away from the muzzle of the gun. Talos stood firmly holding the sword. He had pulled it out from a sitting position to block the bullet. No one had seen anything. Duo slowly got up and patted himself down, making sure all his body parts were still there.

Talos just pointed at the ceiling above him, and said, "I'll pay for the damages."

The bullet had been lodged into the ceiling.

Wufei sputtered, "Impossible, I did not even see that."

Trowa answered, "Nothing is impossible for The Solitary Dragon."

Everyone sat down, but the tension was incredible.

Talos turned to Heero, "I guess you haven't told them yet. Want me to? They're gonna be the pestering you for it, especially the braid guy."

Heero, "It hurts too much, you tell it."

Heero walked out, and Talos began, "All of you have probably wondered what happened to Heero, and now, maybe even me. What I'm about to tell you will be the most confidential story you will ever hear, if it leaks out I kill you, NO questions asked, think this out if you want to hear this."

No one budged.

"All right, I'll begin---------It was me, my brother Jin, Heero, Dameo, and 3 others. We were the best of friends. We stole, scammed, and survived in the streets of L1. Me and Jin had come from wealthy families in L5, but that's another story. We worked hard to survive in the streets. We had all been buddies for about 2 years. Then DJ came."

Duo blurted, "DJ?"

Talos replied, "Dr. J--------He saw our uncanny fighting abilities, and teamwork and asked us if we wished to be soldiers. As tough, brash young men we said yes. Stupid choice? Maybe. He took us to his underground lab, and we began our training. It began as regular training, basic discipline and techniques. Then the Gundams were introduced to us. Me and Jin failed the mobile suit testing then, so we were not given our own Gundams. We were given vacation for 2 weeks. Me and Jin went home. You might wonder where I got this sword from."

The light gleamed off the perfectly smooth surface of the blade. Talos laid the sword on the table.

He pointed at the blade, "It's called the Green Solitaire. My bother has the other sword. It's made by a metal far superior to gundanium. Stories tell of its creation along with another years before mankind was born. It has the capability to slice through anything. The scabbard is only a light leather material, which old China folk say it was enchanted by the Ancients. I don't know but it serves me well. Back to the story---------Me and Jin went home to find a hostile welcome. We fled for the Earth where we were attacked my mobile suits and crashed into the Himalayas. There an old prophet told us were the Twin Dragons, we were here to fulfill our destinies. He led us to old volcano. There in the center stood a huge column. It was not natural. He told us to swim to it. We thought he was crazy. Two of his men pushed us off the volcano edge. We splashed into the magma expecting to be very dead. Instead we bobbed back up. We swam to the column. The rest is an ancient secret. We obtained the Dragonblades, the Green and Blue Solitaire from that adventure. We then spent 15 years at Wudan Mountain training. Amazing. The time we trained at Wudan was a mere fraction of what really was time. We emerged from the mists of Wudan 2 days after we crashed. With our newfound abilities, we hijacked a spaceship and returned to L1."

Trowa took this moment to break in, "The Solitary Dragon, invincible, untouchable. The Shadow Colony's Ultimate Fighter. Any truth in that?"

Talos smirked and replied, "Yes, all true. Basically by obtaining the Green Solitaire, I had opened the Green Dragon's eternal soul into me. Now with the Green Dragon flowing through me and my Wudan training and DJ's training, I have become the Ultimate Fighter."

Cathering inquired, "Trowa, why do you keep referring to this Shadow Colony? I've never heard of it."

Trowa smirked slightly, replying, "The Shadow Colony, home to the most ruthless mercenaries, assassins, and other assorted killers. The colony was created when a smaller colony of L5 spun out of orbit and supposedly blew up. It never did. The people trained themselves. The place is the best example of survival. Honor is a code that all Shadow Fighters live by. The darkness is their weapon. That is the Shadow Colony."

Talos finished off for Trowa, "The Shadow Colony is where one goes to find the best for any job. I entered when I was14. I quickly rose in the ranks. Then the tournament was held. I entered, Trowa entered under a different alias, so did I. I bet Trowa wanted to make a name. The point of the tournament is to win fame. Me and Jin tore through the competition. Killing all our opponents. We fought with just our swords. The fights ranged from close combat to mobile suit vs. hand. I fought mobile suits with just my sword. Trowa advanced quickly too. He was very good. He liked to fight in mobile suits or hand to hand. The Final Four came. It was me against Trowa. I saw his potential and decided to let him live."

Trowa cut in, "Yea, that wasn't even a fight. I got hammered out of nowhere and just blacked out. Lucky I wasn't dead."

Talos continued, "I preceded to the Finals and defeated my brother, and I have held the title for the last 7 years……. Now we continue with what happened after I got back from Earth…….."