Disclaimer

The Schbieker Chronicles
By Shadow@ngel
superpinay@hotmail.com

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nope. Nothing at all…Nothing is mine. Everything belongs to everyone but me…

Great. Now I'm just depressed.

Hehe. Neither do I own the explosions that ripped up this chapter. Heh. Wait til' you see what I did to Quatre. Its a small part, but hehe… I had a fun writing it. Oh well, I hope you enjoy the story!

This is respectively from the Point Of View of Hile and Duo. (And if u don't know what that means… *sweat droplet* it means that it switches back and forth from Hilde's and Duo's point of view.

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Part 3:

Uneasy. That's how I felt that morning. I hadn't known Lady Une that much (actually…not at all), but I was in such a hype about making a good impression. I was all in a fritz about it, and I wasn't even sure why. God! Why did I feel so…I mean… I can't describe it, but it was like I had known her in my past life or something. It was almost as if she had been a significant part of my life when I was a kid. It was like that, but the thing was that I had never even met her before! It was driving me insane trying to sort all my thoughts and emotions out.

It had been an hour since I woke up and I was all ready, so I took the time to let my mind wonder off into a daydream. I was dressed, bathed and prepared to see her.

I stared out the balcony and watched the sand batter up against the glass. There was a sandstorm going on outside. It was as if it was knocking on the window, awaiting an invitation to come in. Just like I invited Duo to stay in my apartment about a year ago.

"Dammit. I miss you," I placed my palm against the smooth surface of the glass. I could feel the surface shaking a bit from the force of all that wind. It was almost like me. I was ready to burst through that glass pane of fear and rush home to my place. To my place where I hoped Duo was still waiting for me.

"Um. Excuse me, Hilde. Are you ready?" asked a voice behind me. I jumped. I hadn't felt him come into my room. I hadn't even heard him open the door. I guess I must have been so into my thoughts that I didn't pay attention to what was around me. I was going to have to stop doing that, otherwise something might catch me off guard that might end my career permanently.

"Hoi!" I yelped in surprise. "Erm- sorry! Eheh…Yeah. I'm ready." He turned around and headed down the hall.

The red carpeting was beautiful against the contrast of the pale hallway. Its brilliance practically radiating from the floor. I stopped a brief moment to stare at the deep shade of red. And for a brief second, as I raised my eyes to the end of the hall, the carpet almost seemed like a pool of blood leading me forward. I shivered.

"What?" I asked.

" I said," he walked up to me, "Are you all right?" I recovered quickly and I waved my hands in a defensive gesture towards him.

"Oh I'm fine. I just tend to zone out every now and then. I've got a lot on my mind." He ate that up real quick, to my relief. But either he ate it up, or he just wasn't showing anything. A lot of people that came and left my life… almost all of them have just about the same qualities of Heero and Trowa. Mostly common sense, and the ability to somehow trick me into thinking everything was okay.

Everything was not okay. I was surprised I was even bothering to stay and see what was going on. I mean, I could easily go back home with no trouble at all. Without a word, note, anything. I could be free again. They may come back after me, but the authorities would probably be able to help me.

A lot of important factors could be considered. Whoever was in charge could be charged with kidnapping and …various other things.

There were so many reason to leave. One of the major ones was that I had no idea of what to do. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know anyone there, let alone know their names. I didn't know what was going on. And I wasn't sure I wanted to know. From the look of things, I knew I had to stay there for a while. And I didn't like it.

I didn't like it one bit.

"Hilde. We're here. Straighten up your collar. I won't have you making a fool of yourself in font of her," he said. I felt my collar and I immediately wished there was a mirror I could use.

He gave a little impatient grunt and reached out to fix it himself. I found myself blushing like mad, because he had to unbutton part of my shirt to fix it right. It seemed I was so immersed in my thoughts in my room earlier that I had whipped up a retarded collar. I smiled internally.

He finished up by brushing aside some stray bangs from my face. I relaxed. I felt calm under the feel and the warmth of his touch against my cold forehead.

"Hilde?" My eyes opened on their own. I hadn't known I had even closed them. Whoops.

"Um. Yeah?" I breathed. Something was wrong with my voice. It had just gone out on me. It felt like I couldn't speak, almost as if someone had stuffed a brick down my throat.

"What are you waiting for. We don't want to keep Lady Une sitting there waiting for you, no do we?" he asked. I shook my head and he led me to a giant set of double-doors. He stepped in front of me and opened them with ease, watching me as I treaded into the room.

Well, it wasn't actually a room. It…was a like through the entryway. What I found in front of me was a small, naturally lit room. There were long windows littering the walls, and doors were on every side. In the middle of the room sat a table with two chairs. Lady Une was sitting in one of them.

I stepped toward the chair and I seated myself in front of her. She turned her head a bit, and the sunlight that was flooding the room hid her eyes behind a glare.

"Welcome Hilde. Did you have a good night's rest?" Her inquiry surprised me. I noticed the tone of her voice and I knew she was beating around the Bush. Hm. If she wanted to play the part, so would I. Have it her way.

"I had a very good nights sleep. Thank you. And you?" I said.

"Very good." She said. She shifted her gaze towards me. Or rather, behind me. She wasn't looking me. I may not have seen her eyes behind the glare of her glasses, but I knew she wasn't making eye contact with me.

She was hiding something from me. Probably something she knew I couldn't hear.

After her words, she seemed to change her posture. She flicked her wrist and a soldier came right away, shuffling from a side door. He stopped beside her and he anxiously awaited his orders.

"I think we're ready to eat now. Ms. Schbieker?" I nodded and shortly after, the soldier left the room. Obviously he was going to get our food.

Lady Une raised her hands and grasped her glasses. They slid off her face with ease. I was almost taken back by her eyes.

I had never seen any like hers. They held a touch of fear along with a touch of anger. But they were blank. I couldn't explain it. There was something behind the emotions that was just blank. It was the kind of blankness that told you that they had survived something they wished they didn't. It was …almost if she was telling me she had committed suicide.

But how can you commit suicide. And survive?

"Miss Schbieker. You're probably wondering what's behind the wall I cast in front of me."

"Lady Une?" Her mouth opened to say something to me, but one of the doors opened. My head turned for me, and I saw who it was that had entered the room. It was the solder Lady Une had sent to get our food. I felt a little disappointed. I had almost expected it to be Duo rushing in to get me and to free me from this prison of place.

The thought nearly sent my hope crashing down in flames. But I knew better. I wouldn't let my hope die. Not yet. Not while Duo was still out there looking. I know he was looking for me because I could feel him. Well, it wasn't a feel… but it was more of a… something. I don't know. 'Feel' wasn't the right word.

I glanced back at Lady Une. Her glasses were resting delicately on her face again.

"Thank you, Alan. That's all for now." she said, as the soldier placed a plate and a cup down in front of me. He quickly placed Lady's food in front of her as well before leaving the room in a rush. I looked over the food and decided I couldn't eat.

My stomach couldn't take it, so I simply reached out for the wine glass. She began to speak as the glass reached my lips.

"Once I tell you what I'm going to say, I hope you understand you won't be able to back out." Lady Une didn't touch her lunch. It simply sat there before her. I was guessing she wasn't hungry either.

She had suddenly changed again. The 'wall' comment had rendered her soft and a little open. But now all of a sudden, she was hard and diplomatic. The contrast between the transitions threw me off course. I had to tread a little before I was finally underway.

"I understand," I said as I place the glass back down on the table. She kept silent. She knew I still had something important to ask. So I did. "But will I ever be able to go back?" My words left my mouth in what was little more than a whisper.

"Do you recall the war? Just about a year ago, before Mariemaea?" she said. "Of course you do. I hope you never forget it. Because if we don't act now, another one may just be ready to break out."

(Another war? Oh Jesus) I had just thought it was a stupid kidnapping. I hadn't known it was so serious. Had I actually known this beforehand, I'd have gladly come. The last thing the world needed was another war. We had had enough of that already.

"We're dealing with terrorists here. We've BEEN dealing with their threats since the war. I'm surprised we've been able to keep all of this under wraps even now. The media will stop at nothing for a good story. And I just know that one of my men will break and let it loose any day now."

"What are they aiming for?" I asked. "The terrorists, I mean? Where did they come from? Why are they even trying to spark up a war? You have to give me more to rely on. You can't just leave me hanging like this. Especially if you want me to fight for you."

"Hilde, that is all we have to give you." I just snapped right then and there. I was sick of them holding back.

"All you have to give me? Lady Une just what are-," She quieted me with a gesture of her hand. It surprised me a little of how easily she got me to shut up. I guess there was something about her that made people want to follow her. The Gundam pilots had a different was of things. They ran on their own. They were solitary and the only reason people followed because they believed in them. They were symbols of hope. But Lady Une was different. People followed her because… they… they just felt that they owed it to her, I guess. That's how I felt, anyway.

"You can't back out of this now. The only means you will be able to escape this is to fight. And still, you have the choice of dying in vain, or coming out victorious. Its your choice."

I didn't know what to say, so I just said the first thing that came to my mind. I regretted it the moment the words left me.

"..Yes. I'll fight."

I stood in the center of a room where several machines sat all around me. Lady Une stepped in front of me and outstretched her hand, motioning to one a desk to my right. There were two people behind the desk.

One was the soldier who had been tending to me that morning, I learned his name was Rolin, and the other was a blonde female. I glanced at her pretty face, and I got a little jealous. The only thing that kept me from wishing I had a face like hers was the fact that she had 'bitch' written all over it. The smug look, the narrowed eyes, the puffy lips. How much more can you say about a person than that? Not to mention her clothing was so tight it might as well have been painted on. I didn't mean to take her in that way. It just that my heart started hating her on its own.

I internally scoffed at her and I directed my attention back to lady Une.

"This is the simulator room. The two people over there are Rolin and Fala." I couldn't help notice that her name meant 'crow' in Native American. I guess listening in school had its little quirks. "They'll be determining which system you will be working with during battle. The new age technology allowed us to create updated systems. Each one adapted for each soldier. You will be classified by individually, so you don't have to worry about having to adjust from system to system.

"And if you look all around you, all these machines are for training. Not real battles, of course, but they are as close as you'll ever get to the real thing. I'll leave you here with those two. I have some other work to attend to. Good luck."

I nodded and proceeded to the desk where the two were speaking about something. Une glanced briefly at her watch and left the room. It didn't seem all to important, but I guess it must've been much more important to me because it was a while before they noticed me standing there. And it was no surprise that it was Rolin who noticed me first.

"Hi Hilde. So you're going to be training her today, am I right?" he asked me. I nodded.

"Well, this will be where you'll be training for a few weeks. Then after that you'll start physical training. You probably want to be prepared because lemme tell you that physical training isn't a vacation."

"You should probably take it slow if you can't handle it," Fala joined in. "And by the way. Just call me Fay." She turned her chair back around and began tending to something on the small monitor in front of her.

"Um.. okay… yeah, sure." I muttered. "Rolin?" I didn't exactly know what to do because I had never been in anything like this. This was a first for me. It was a good thing Rolin got the drift. I heard some clacking behind the desk. Computer keys. There were a few small beeps.

"Okay. I've pulled up your stats just now." he said. (My stats?) "Your birthday, your current age, your marriage status, everything we need to know." It was almost as if he read my mind.

I was a little surprised that they knew that much about me. It was also a little scary. Your life was open to anyone these days. Especially a hacker. Believe me, I know. I was one. I still am, but I don't really want to get too involved in that business. Hackers these days, if they didn't have the right skills, would be caught in three days flat. Literally.

I've never been caught before, so I didn't really know what happened to them. I probably didn't want to know anyway.

"And nooow…. This'll compute your system match. Your perfect match. So perfect, in fact that you supposedly supposed to be one with your mobile suit. At least that's what they say," He said, a smile reaching across his face. I didn't react. I just waited for the results. "..Okay. Its done. This one says your system is.. is…" He blinked. His smile disappeared and is was replaced with a concerned frown. He turned to Fay.

"Fay. Take a look. This can't be right, can it???" Fay rolled over beside Rolin in her chair. She stared at the screen, her eyes darting back and forth, scanning over the screen. The same expression came onto her face as well. She shifted her gaze to me, then to Rolin, and finally ending with a cold, but confused stare at me again.

By then, their little game of look -back-and-forth was getting on my nerves.

"What?" I asked, my annoyance a little obvious by then. Rolin cleared his throat and quickly regained his composure just as Fay's jaw finally lifted itself from the floor. Not literally, but I think you get what I'm trying to put across.

"The cpu says you're system is the Mindshift." My lack of response told him just how clueless I was.

I started drifting off and staring off into space when Fay snapped her fingers in front of my face. I pushed away her hand and I followed after Rolin who was already walking ahead of us. He had a clipboard and he was marking off several things on it.

He walked up beside a large machine, and he opened a small door on it. I hesitated as he motioned for me to slip inside. I stared at it a moment and obeyed.

I wasn't ready for what I was going to see next. I was surprised to find that inside of it was exactly like a mobile suit cockpit. I glanced outside at Rolin who was staring right back at me. He read my eyes and nodded.

"I told you it was the simulation room. Don't worry about it. Just slip the visor to your left on. I'll start it up in a few moments." He said. He stepped back out and closed the door. I grabbed the visor he was talking about. It was lying beside me.

I slowly slipped it on, and it was only after I noticed there were wires coming from the sides of the visor, did the screen in front of me light up. The simulation began and I was now in front of a whole line of mobile dolls instead of a stupid screen. The funny thing was… the moment the simulation started, I forgot just how much I missed Duo.

********

"Don't you DARE tell me how to fix this, Dammit! I'M THE MECHANIC HERE! SO shaddup and just let me frikkn' work!!" I yelled. The man stumbled back and tripped. Luckily, there was the chair behind him, so he didn't just plop down on the floor. The lucky bastard looked scared as hell. At least he had stopped pestering me about the little details.

Janine glanced once at me before she crossed her arms.

"Duo! Darn it, stop badgering the customer! He was just saying that you might want to put in a few more screws in that thing!" she said. Janine was one of my co-workers here at the little salvage group I was working for. She was a feisty little girl. And she had the biggest crush on me. If was fairly obvious though. I mean, even the manager thought so.

But I learned a long time not to assume something like that. Especially if that certain something has to do with a girl's affections.

I glared at Janine and gave a little grunt of anger and turned to the little project I was working on.

"And he's right, Duo. If you don't, that thing will fall apart the next time you even try to flip the damn ON switch!!" I grabbed the stupid contraption and shoved it into her hands. She gave me a surprised look as I turned and walked away. I wasn't going to take anything today. There was enough I had to worry about. I didn't need to add my paycheck to my list of problems.

"Hey! Where the heck are you going?" Janine asked, jogging after me. I ignored her and kept walking straight for the door. I was halfway out when she grabbed me shoulder and turned me around. I was kind of shocked because she never used to do anything like that. She was kind of shorter than me, so she never really got in over her head.

"I SAID, Where are you going? Your shift's not over yet!" she said in a haughty voice. She wasn't going to leave me alone. She was a pesky little girl, I'll tell ya that!

"I'm going home. I've got something important to do!"

"Like what!?"

"None of your business. All you need to know is that working here instead of looking for …it…isn't worth it!" Janine, like I thought, kept on. She was on my back all the time about the littlest things. I swear to God, one of these days I would smack her.

"No, Duo. You ain't leaving me here to do all this shit alone. Not this time! This time, you're staying here! Besides, what the hell is more important than helping me here, huh!?" At that point in time, I had hoped to keep everything that was going on a secret. I thought the Gundam pilots and the few other friends and I could handle it. Just us, no one else. Unfortunately Janine had gotten on my bad side right then, because I suddenly blurted it out. So loud in fact that there was a little crashing noise in the back where the manager was working on some paperwork.

"Like looking for my missing girlfriend!" I cried. Her eyes went wide and I looked up at the ceiling. (Great. Now look what you've done. You've shocked her into silence. Great job, Maxwell) I thought to myself. The manager came stumbling out of his office with a bunch of papers falling from his hands.

"What's going on?" He asked. I slapped my forehead. (WHYYYY!) Janine looked pissed, the manager looked surprised… and the guy sitting on the seat in the corner was still scared out of his wits from his first encounter with me.

I almost laughed. Almost.

"Duo's got-," Janine started. Oh no, she didn't. I wasn't going to let her blurt it out just like that. If she was going to, I wanted to be out of the room.

"-To go home. I don't feel so good," I interrupted her. At that, I spun around and stalked out the door without so much a sound except the bell on the door. I sighed in relief as I didn't hear them come out after me. I didn't think I'd be able to explain anything else. I had enough of that kind of junk already. Who could have thought so many bad things could've happened in one day. I laughed at myself. It couldn't get any worse.

You know in those cliché movies where something bad happens and somebody goes, 'It can't get any worse! Cheer up!'? Well news flash, buddy. IT ALWAYS WILL. And you'd think I would learn it by now!

I was laying down on the couch, flipping through all channels, looking for something to keep my mind off all the stress I had been having that week. It was midnight. I couldn't sleep, and it didn't make sense to go looking for her when we had no idea where to look. She was just gone. Poof! Just like that. And I got discouraged even further when the search party came back with no leads, no smiles, and no Hilde.

Well, that night I had found not Hilde, but something that might have been worse. It was a news channel and some woman reporter was ranting on about an explosion that had suddenly gone off behind her. To think, the girl had been doing a story on one of the most hectic and dangerous streets in District C. Heh. And she was talking about traffic.

"What have we got here," I muttered to myself and watched the screen. I glanced past the lady and into the area of the explosion. A lot of smoke was going up and it looked like a fire was starting. Dust was flying up everywhere.

Then, I sat up abruptly as I saw a glint somewhere behind the veil of smoke. A bright glint of something metal. Like a mobile suit. I leaned forward and waited for something to happen. I strained to listen for anything that would tip something off about what it was. My 'sixth sense' you could say, had kicked in.

Just like I had thought, the mobile suit suddenly emerged, the reporter screaming her lungs out. Then, I guess somebody had run into the cameraman because the camera swerved around, its last picture of a lightly cloudy blue sky, before it suddenly ended with a round of static.

Crap. I didn't get a good glance at the mobile suit before the camera went blank. I said a silent prayer that Hilde was nowhere near there and ran to the phone. Before I got a chance to pick it up and start dialing, the phone rang. I picked it up, assuming it was one of the pilots.

It was Relena.

"Duo? Are you seeing this?" her disturbingly calm voice said. I muttered an 'Uh-huh' before she continued. I couldn't really hear her, because I could hear someone screaming in the background. I blinked and realized just where she was. She was at a pay phone near the scene.

"Shit!" I said. "Relena get out of there!"

"Duo! WAIT!" she cried. I suddenly wondered why she was calling me, and not Mr. Yui.

"What!? Forget it! It can wait! Whatever it is you can tell me after you get out of the-,"

"Shut your mouth and listen! I saw her! I saw Hilde!"

********

Yeah. I should have run once I saw Relena. I should have run once we made eye contact. I should have run once I saw the mobile suit. But thank God I had the sense to run when it slammed into the building behind me.

I lost sight of Relelna the moment Rolin and Fay grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

The whole reason I was there in the first place was the fact that we were going on a routine check of one of our subjects. Her name was Annie. She was suspected to be Relena's other sister. It wasn't for sure, but we couldn't take any chances. And those chances could be that she would be next in line to rule the world, seeing as Relena had stepped down. If Annie, otherwise known as Mary Anne Peacecraft, was manipulated into assuming the rank of queen, she could be used to start another world war.

It not soon before I had left, that I had learned that the organization I had been 'chosen' to work with was an inner faction of the Preventers. And from the looks of it, I didn't think that Noin or Sally knew about it.

"Hilde, Fay: Head for the storage building. You know that big old building down in the south part of this District? That's where the our Gundams are hidden." I nearly fell over.

"Gundams?" I asked. I thought only the scientists knew the technology to build a Gundam. And they were practically impossible to find. Not to mention, the only Gundams that had existed beforehand were the ones they had self-destructed after the war with Mariemaea.

"Yes. Gundams, now go! I have to get Annie out of here!" He abruptly turned around and made his way across the street. He was having the hardest time because evidently, the raving mob of screaming civilians was going in the opposite direction.

"Hilde! Quit day-dreaming and let's go!" She hissed. I resented her, I really did.

I just started running at an even pace when I was suddenly jerked back. I automatically reached back, pulled my gun, and pointed it at the unsuspecting person who had grabbed my hand. I was shocked to find myself looking the eyes of none other than Relena Peacecraft. Her eyes went wide when she realized I had her at gunpoint.

"Hilde!" she started. "What are you doing!? You have an oblig-," Fay had finally noticed my predicament and she had run up beside me.

"Vice Foreign Minister…" her voice started in a whisper. She then followed my lead and pulled out her own gun. "Miss, you'd better let my partner go. You don't want to get involved in this." No doubt she knew exactly who Relena was.

"What are you doing, Hilde… Explain to me why exactly you ran aw-," I couldn't let her go on.

"Miss! You are in over your head! Just turn around or I will shoot you. I swear to Kami himself that I will. Don't make me repeat myself." My voice was loud and commanding. If I was Relena, I wouldn't have known it was me at all… But I had to. I didn't want anyone else involved in this other than me. Not even Duo. I know he can take care of himself, but…

"Hilde?" I guess she had finally noticed how deep in it she was, because she looked scared now. "Why are you doing this!? What is wrong with you!?" I cocked the gun.

"Just go get the Gundam. I'll deal with her." Fay said to me. I hesitated a moment before she screamed, "GO!"

"Who are you! What've you done with Hilde!?" That was the last thing I heard from Relena. My heart stopped as there was a loud shot. (Relena…!?) Did Fay just…? Did Fay just shoot her? I kept on running, my legs taking me farther and farther away. I gained the courage to turn around when another series of shots were fired.

It was Heero Yui.

********

I stood behind him and I watched as he aimed his gun and fired once. Then after a few moments time, let loose a whole round of ammunition. My eyes followed his gun to where a blonde-haired young woman was standing over a girl. She was lying on the ground and her head was bleeding.

"Relena!" I yelled. She didn't move. I looked at Heero and he seemed all too calm about everything, so I asked. I sighed in relief when he gave me the answer.

"She's not dead. Just unconscious. Go after the girl. I'll go tend to Relena." I would have smirked had I not had my mind firmly on something else. The one thing that was on my mind? I think you have a pretty good idea what that was.

"Heero, I got nothin' to go after her wi-," I said.

"Here." He tossed me a gun and I nodded. I reached in my pocket and I was surprised to find that I had some bullets in there. I guess those last few months of paranoia had paid off. I raced after the girl who had already began to turn.

As I ran, I began to wonder why Heero hadn't shot the girl. Sure he fired at her, but he never actually hit her. Heero never had missed his mark. I was sure of it. There must've been a reason behind it. I bet he knew something I didn't.

"Hey you! Stop right there!" I yelled. The girl simply gave me a glance and kept running. I growled at myself for even trying. This was what they got when they ignored a Gundam Pilot. I pointed, I fired. She cried out once the bullet ripped through her arm.

She raised her good arm and it wasn't long after that I saw the gun in her hand. I dove behind a car and felt the bullet whiz by.

"That was close," I muttered and I stood up to return fire. I ducked back down again. The glass of the Shop window behind me exploded when the girl's bullets hit it. And it didn't help at all when the shop turned out to be selling porcelain figures that week. I cursed when one of the pieces of glass managed to cut my hand as it flew by.

"Fay!?" Another girl cried. "You've been shot!"

"Forget it, you idiot!" I heard Fay yell. I poked my head out and I watched as she pointed to a deserted storage facility. "I'm fine! Just go get your damn Gundam!" She was facing a young girl in a Navy Blue uniform, a uniform that matched the color of her hair. The other girl nodded and she ran off. I take this time to shoot the other girl.

"Holy Shit!" the second girl cried as I just miss her leg. I froze. (That sounded just like..! – Duo! Snap out it! That's not Hilde!) I was still thinking about her damnit!

I had to duck back down again once they both started firing at me. The hood of the car looked massacred. I felt real sorry for whomever had owned the thing. There was another explosion to my left. And it wasn't from one of the girls I had been chasing. It was near the site where the explosion had gone off in the first place. It was the mobile suit and it was still wreaking havoc while I was chasing those girls.

It was a Serpent. One of those mobile suits that they has used in the last war. That hour, that second! Was the only time I regretted self destructing our Gundams. What I would have done for a chance to battle that thing in my old buddy, Deathscythe.

********

I was sweating. The guy nearly shot me in the leg. Whoever it was, I'd guess they were almost as good as a Gundam Pilot. But that was insane. The only Gundam Pilot I actually saw there was Heero, and he was helping to get Relena out of there. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was praying that the guy who was firing at me was Duo. Okay, so maybe I was praying with my whole mind. But as you can tell, it was stupid and I quickly pushed away the thought.

It wasn't long before I reached the storage warehouse where Rolin had said our Gundams were. The entrance was in the back, so it didn't exactly help. I was tired of running. I didn't want to run anymore. I had run too much in the past.

As I reached the doors, I pushed them open. I pushed harder, but they wouldn't budge. It was locked from the inside.

"Doggonnit!!" I yelled. I pulled out my gun again, but I paused. I might have needed to use my gun again later. I placed it back inside of the holster and I kicked at the door. I yelped when a pain jolted through my ankle. I guess it only worked well in movies…

I tried again. It was on the third try that the doors swung open. It was dark inside, and then I was hit with the cold air that was in there as well. I suddenly wondered how they had gotten the Gundams in there in the first place. My train of thought was interrupted.

"Well, it would've helped if you asked me for the key…" Muttered a voice. Fay was behind me. She was looking at the lock that hung from the bar. My ankle throbbed a little bit once I laid my eyes on the snobby prick. Pardon. Fay was starting to get on my nerves.

"You had a key!?" I yelled. She looked offended and shrugged.

"Yeah. Shaddup and get into your Gundam. We've got a mobile suit to stop." She commanded me. I seethed as I jogged over to the two suits that knelt down before me. Fay pointed to the one to my left. I looked over my Gundam for a few seconds. (So this Gundam now belongs to me, eh?) It was small and streamlined. The mobile suit itself was designed for speed. Its armor was blue, like the uniform I was wearing. And the rest of it was white, save for the red shoulders. It looked real feminine.

"Hilde!" Fay suddenly yelled from her cockpit. Her sharp cry ripped me from the image of my Gundam.

"All right, all right! I'm going!" I said, detesting the look she was giving me. I muttered a few things under my breath as I grabbed the cable that pulled me up.

I looked around the unfamiliar controls and I started to panic a little bit. (Just like the simulator. Just like the simulator.. Just like the simulator…)

Like a shock wave, light spread over the controls as the system turned on. Instantly, I forgot I was Hilde.

I thought I had asked myself who I was right after. I couldn't really remember. It was all a blur. All I knew was that my reply was, ' It didn't matter anymore.'

********

I saw them turn the corner and I decided that was enough. I waited behind another car in front of the building and strained my ears for a sign of something. The warehouse was silent. But it was only a few seconds more before something came crashing out of the roof. I found myself in a shower of glass as the skylights of the roof shattered above me.

I stood there, not even three feet away from it, and watched as I recognized that thing as none other than a mobile suit. More specifically- a Gundam. I was shocked. My expression remained neutral of course, but my heart started thumping in my chest again.

I knew there was going to be another war if we didn't do anything about it. But what could we do? There was nothing we could do without our Gundams. There was nothing we could do to stop this. Damn it all.

My eyes shot toward Heero. He was already facing my direction. We briefly made eye-contact before I took off running. I knew better than to hang around there. I'd be looking like a pancake by the end of the day.

As a third explosion was heard, I knew there was not just one Gundam but actually two.

"Duo!" someone cried. The roar of a motorcycle came up right behind me and slowed to a stop a few yards ahead. The familiar voice rang a small bell in my head. For a moment, confusion was flooding my mind.

"Duo get on!" The boy on the motorcycle removed his helmet to reveal his blonde hair and innocent face. It was Quatre! I didn't believe it for a moment. He was on a bike, and the sight of him in all black leather was a first. Quatre didn't look sixteen at all. He looked more like nineteen!

"Where the did you learn to ride a motorcycle?" I screamed above the motor. He revved up the motor and we shot forward.

"I didn't!" He screamed back. I frowned and thought a moment. He was riding something he didn't even know how to…

"Oh Jeeessuuuusss!!!" I caught myself crying loudly when the front of the bike shot up into the air. It was bad enough Hilde was missing AND Serpent Mobile Suits were attacking the city. And it was bad enough that Gundams just came crashing out from the inside of an abandoned warehouse and now Quatre was popping a wheelie on the bike -while I was on it! Oh man. When everything was over and we were out of there, I had to remind myself to hurt the boy. In the mean time, I was busy clutching his jacket, hanging on for dear life.

His steering was a little jerky, but I got used to it. I had to. What was I going to do? Hop off while we were doing near 70 miles per hour? I don't think so. I may have self-destructed once in the past, but jumping off was just being stupid. (And blowing yourself up is not?) I smirked.

The earth beneath us shook, and Quatre nearly veered off to the side. Evidently, one of the Gundams had leaped above us and landed in front of us. It was a dark-blue tinted Gundam. At first, I thought it was going to pick us up from the ground and reenact a scene from King Kong. But thankfully, it flipped around and started toward the Serpent. There was still another Gundam coming up from behind us. The dark-blue one in front of us was slimmer and more agile while the purple one to our rear was bulky and more for firepower than anything. The larger one passed by us as well, sending tremors throughout the streets around it.

More debris started streaming all over the place, and there was even more fighting as we rode on. Somehow I ignored the fact that I could have been killed moments before and I stare at the battling suits. I watched how they moved, how efficiently they finished the job. I began to wish it was me up there in that mobile suit. Fighting. Just for a moment, so I could lose myself, with my pathetic past, and become the God of Death once again.

Then, Quatre jerked his head up. I noticed this and I looked up ahead as well. The Serpent's cavalry was coming. More mobile suits were coming from the left, straight at us. They fired and an explosion went off dangerously close to us and both me and Quatre went flying. I hit the ground with only seconds more of consciousness. And with those last few seconds I thought of the Navy-blue Gundam and how much it reminded me of Hilde.

Heh. Sorry. That chapter really sucked. .

Anyway, i hope u guys liked it. hehe. Take care, watch anime, steal some manga. And most important of all...

REVIEW!!!!!!

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