Gundanium
Millennium
Part 2: Friends
and Foes
Disclaimer:
I could write a dozen more GW/SM crossovers, but I'll still never own either of
them.
"Duo's missing," Ami repeated sadly.
"Maybe he just went to work," Mina said.
"No, I stopped by there and they told me he didn't even show up," Ami whispered.
"Was he planning on quitting?" Lita asked.
"No. He's in trouble." Ami fumed, "I found Duo's cross but he was no where around. He never takes it off. It's too special to him."
"It probably just fell off," Raye suggested.
"Look at it!" Ami cried, "It couldn't have just fallen off. Some of the links are broken. It had to have come off in a struggle!"
"Calm down, Ami," Serena commanded, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Duo's a tough guy."
"Yeah," Quatre added, "he always gets himself out of these kinds of things."
"Why aren't you worried?" Ami demanded, "It could be you out there!"
"I-I'm sorry."
Ami sighed, "I'm going to look for him."
"Well, I would help you Ami," Raye said, "but we have to go to a performance."
"We'll help you, Ami!" Lita declared, hooking her arm through Wufei's, "right, Wufei?"
"Um, sure," he mumbled.
"Thank you, Lita," Ami said. "But I feel this is something I should do on my own."
"We can't let you go," Serena said, "what if something happens to you too?"
"I'll be fine," Ami told her. "Maybe you should all stay here in case he comes back. It's possible that there's a killer on the loose and we're his targets. You'll be safe her."
"Just be careful, Ami," Serena ordered.
"Don't worry about me," Ami said, "you should be more concerned about Duo."
To cover more ground, Wufei and Lita searched for Duo together and Ami went off by herself with just a photo of Duo and his cross. No one said they knew him, which surprised her given by how friendly Duo was. Then it dawned on her.
Duo had a girlfriend.
"She'd help me," Ami whispered to herself. "What was her name?" she stopped at a payphone and looked through a phone book. "It was German. Let's see, Heidi, Hirdie, Hilde? Yeah, Hilde…um, Shbooker? Schbeiker! Yeah! It was Hilde Schbeiker!" She ripped out the page and went to find Hilde's home and thought that no one would have to use that page.
Hilde sat in her nice apartment and looked around. It wasn't always clean and quiet when Duo was around. "Man, it's so quiet here." She commented.
There was a knock at the door.
"Who could that be?" she asked herself and opened the door to see a girl about her size and even around the same length of hair. "Can I help you?"
Ami gasped, 'it's the other angel I saw,' she thought, 'the death angel.' Her voice was stuck in her throat and she had some trouble saying what she wanted to say, "Hil-Hilde Sheeebeeekeeer?"
"IT'S SCHBEIKER!" Hilde snapped. {Why are German names so hard to spell?}
Ami swallowed, "Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry to disturbe you but I need your help. My name is Ami Mizuno and--"
"Wait," Hilde said, remembering something Duo said to her.
I'm going to kick your Shinigami little ass!
Hey, go ahead, Ami knows first aid.
"Your name is Ami?"
"Yeah."
"You're Duo's new flame, aren't you?" she hissed.
"Flame?" Ami blushed, "no, I wouldn't say that, we're just really good friends."
"What do you want?"
"Duo's missing and I need your help."
"Listen, if Duo's gone then chances are you probably won't see him again," Hilde muttered, "but if you want to go and look for him, fine but you're on your own. Now go away, I'm busy." She started to close the door and something flared up in Ami.
There was no way she would let someone slam a door in her face when she was desperate to find Duo any way she could.
"No!" Ami screamed, pushing the door back and stepping into the apartment, "Listen, I don't know what your problem is and I really don't care," Ami felt anger build up inside her, "but Duo is missing and I wouldn't doubt he's in trouble. Duo is my friend and I will not let him get hurt! Now you are going to help me find him whether you like it or not! Besides, if he was your friend, if you ever did care for Duo, you would help me!" She marched up to Hilde, shaking her finger, "Aren't you worried about Duo at all? He'd help you if you were in trouble! Don't you know how important friends are?" {There's something I've always wanted to hear Ami say. Or at least something like it.}
"Whoa," Hilde gasped in surprise, "Duo's very important to you, huh?"
"Of course he is!" she snarled. "I never knew anyone like him. Well, are you going to help me are not? It doesn't really matter because I'll drag you behind me anyway until we find him! I need your help, Hilde! You know this guy and you know this place. I'm not from around here. I'll probably get lost trying to find him!"
"Okay, okay," Hilde said, remembering the time Duo came to her rescue when she took data from Libra. He was indeed her friend and she wouldn't want him to get hurt, even though what they had was over. "I'll help you."
"Good," Ami mumbled.
"I'll be right back."
Hilde walked off to a room and came back with some weapons.
"What's all this for?"
"Well, if I know Duo," Hilde said, loading a gun, "he's probably gotten himself in a huge mess of trouble." She tossed one to Ami, "Duo's thinks he's tougher than he really is. I guess that's why he's always gets himself caught."
'Yeah, poor guy," Ami thought. "Do you have any idea where he could be? Did anything strange happen lately?"
Hilde furrowed her brow in concentration, "well, a couple of weeks ago this girl offered me to become her partner. She was a spy for this group from outer space and they could make people who they really are."
"Stronger?"
"Something like that," Hilde said, "but it sounded strange to me, like out of this world. It was the way she said outer space. I don't think it had anything to do with the colonies." Hilde laughed, "sounded like aliens or something so I told her thanks, but no thanks."
"Did you get her name?"
"Yeah," Hilde replied, "It was Midii…Midii Une."
**************************************************************
"'Bout time you guys got here!" Cathy roared.
"Sorry, Cathy," Raye mumbled.
"The show hasn't started yet, has it?" Trowa asked.
"No," Catherine replied. "You made it in just the nick of time. You'd better go and get ready."
"We'll be done in just a jiffy!" Raye promised and they scurried off to the dressing rooms.
The show was going really well so far. Raye got over her fear of heights after being with the circus for 6 months and Trowa wasn't so afraid of the flaming daggers, much.
The trapeze stunt came up and Raye started to have a nagging feeling when Trowa climbed up onto the platform.
"Isn't my brother great?" Catherine asked.
"He's awesome," Raye said.
Trowa took the swing and something told Raye to take her brown eyes off the gorgeous dude for a short second and raise them up to the rope. It was ripping apart. 'What the?' she thought and then as she looked farther up, she got a glimpse of somebody's back. She looked back down at Trowa. "TROWA! WATCH OUT!" She screamed warningly.
"Huh?" Trowa mumbled and he looked up at the rope. It broke and started to fall.
"Trowa!" Catherine shouted, "Oh, I can't look!" she turned around and covered her eyes.
Trowa, being the agile acrobat he was, swung off the swing, pushed up against the side of the platform and landed on his feet without a bruise. The fallen swing lay right behind him.
"He's okay!" Raye shouted, "Catherine, Catherine, Trowa's all right!" she turned around and started to shake her, "look, see?"
"Oh, thank God!" Catherine cried and hurried down the ladder to see her brother.
The crowd stood up and started clapping and screaming like crazy. They thought Trowa did it on purpose, as if it was all part of the act.
"That young man there is magnificent!" Trowa heard someone say through the crowd. Trowa smiled and did what he only could do. Bow. Trowa almost burst out laughing because he couldn't believe how close he got there, even if he was a gundam pilot and he cheated death so many times.
'The crowd is loving it,' he thought, 'I'm a star!'
"Trowa, Trowa!" Catherine yelled and threw her arms around him, "are you all right?"
"Of course I am," he said.
"I was so worried!" she wailed.
"It's okay, Cathy," Trowa whispered, "I'll be fine."
Raye saw again the same person leaving the tent, "Hey, wait a second," she whispered to herself. She went down the ladder and ran across the stage.
"Hey, Raye, I'm," she ran right past him like he wasn't even there, "all right?"
He and his sister exchanged glances.
"Hey, you, stop!" Raye shouted. She ran out of the tent and she didn't see anyone that looked like the person she just saw. It was a girl with blond hair, but Raye wasn't able to see her face. "Hey, come back here! You can't hide!"
But there was someone, or something, out there, hiding and watching Raye. Raye finally gave up and went back inside, "Darn it!"
"Are you all right, young man?" The manager asked Trowa.
"Yeah, it was just an accident," Trowa replied.
"No it wasn't," Raye corrected coolly.
"What do you mean?" Catherine questioned.
Raye picked up the fallen swing and pointed to the rope. "It was cut. I saw someone leaving the tent. This was no accident." She found the next sentence hard to say but she somehow found the courage to say it. "Trowa, someone wants you dead."
Catherine burst out into tears and Trowa reached out and held her.
"Did you get a good look on the person?" the manager asked.
"No sir," Raye replied regretfully, "I just saw the back of a woman with blond hair."
Trowa blinked and swallowed. Raye noted this. She knew that he knew, or at least had a good idea who was after him. {Who do you guys think it is?}
"The show's over," the manager informed, "you kids go on home." He walked to the front and thanked the crowd for coming over.
"We'd better tell the others about this," Raye said and took Trowa's hand.
"Do you know who would do this to you?" Catherine asked.
"I am a gundam pilot," Trowa muttered. "Maybe someone just found out who I was and was angry at me for something."
Raye tugged on Trowa's hand, "Let's go. Coming, Catherine?"
"I should stay and help clean up." She said. "You two go on ahead."
************************************************************
"If you were Duo," Lita asked Wufei, "where would you be?"
"Well, I don't really know him all that well," Wufei admitted.
"You don't know any of the guys very well, do you?" she demanded.
Wufei shook his head and Lita smacked his arm, "what was that for?"
"I can't believe you don't even know your own team!" Lita snapped, "They're supposed to be your friends!"
Wufei groaned, "they are my friends…I just don't talk to them very often, that's all."
"Wufei, you don't talk to anyone very often." She walked ahead of him and smelt the crisp air of the forest. "I don't think Duo would be out here though. I'm guessing he's somewhere in the city."
Wufei heard something and he lowered his eyes to a hissing snake right at Lita's feet, "Lita," he said calmly, "don't move."
"What's the matter, Wufei?" she made a mistake and did move, right on the snake. It bit her right in the ankle, "a snake! It bit me!" She hopped back and grabbed it. "Wufei, why didn't you tell me there was a snake?"
"You were standing right next to it," he growled and pulled out his sword to chop its head off. "I can't believe you didn't even notice! I told you not to move, woman!"
"My foot feels all numb," she mumbled, "I'll just walk it off."
"No, don't!" he turned around and grabbed her arm. "You can't move after a snake bite! You have to keep your self still! Didn't you learn anything from Sally when she taught us first aid?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot!" She laughed, "I'll be sure to remember next time!"
"It's not funny, Lita," he barked, "That snake was poisonous! How could you laugh at something like this?"
"I feel fine, really," she mumbled, trying to walk and she fell to her knees.
Wufei leaned over her and for a split second, saw Merian take the place of Lita, "Oh no, not again."
"What?" Lita whispered.
He hooked his left arm underneath her knees and his right arm behind her back, "Just hold on, Lita," he pleaded, "I'll get you back to the Preventer base soon." He stood up and began walking. "Don't die. You're too important to me."
"Don't worry, Wufei," she moaned wearily, "I'm not going any---" she fainted in his arms.
"Lita?" He picked up his pace and got to the base as fast as he possibly could.
She didn't die but she did have a dream. It was a bit hazy but she could make out that she was in a field of beautiful flowers. The sweet aroma filled the air and Lita plucked a flower up from the ground.
"It's so beautiful here," Lita whispered, "Just where am I? How did I get here? Am I dreaming?"
Lita heard a sound something like an airplane and looked up in the air to see two mobile suits flying down to land in the field of flowers.
"Mobile suits," she noted. "What're they doing here? One of those look like Wufei's."
Two teenagers, a guy and a girl, exited from the mobile suits. The teenage boy picked up the girl and carried her. Lita recognized the boy.
"Wufei!" she shouted.
But he did not reply.
She stepped closer, "He can't see me." She crouched down beside them, "Hey, hello?"
"Are you all right, Merian?" Wufei asked.
Merian smiled, "Of course. I'll be fine." {I don't know exactly what they talked about because the Episode Zero of Wufei's past isn't translated yet.}
"You are one pretty strong woman," he admitted, "that was very dangerous."
"No, Wufei," she said, "you're stronger. You're the real Nataku."
"Me?" he mumbled.
But before she could answer him, Merian died in his arms. He had a look of shock on his face and let out a sorrowful groan.
Lita looked at her, "hey, isn't she your wife?" She noticed the pain in Wufei's face, "Wufei? Oh, Wufei, I'm so sorry. I'm still here for you. Hey, look at me."
But Wufei did not see her.
"I think she's coming around," Wufei said, watching Lita blink her eyes. "Lita, how do you feel?"
She felt him grasp her hand, "Wufei?"
"Yes, Lita?"
"I had the weirdest dream," she said and pointed at him tieredly, "And you were there and," she started to point around the room and then pointed at Wufei again, "Y-You were the only one there, Wufei."
Wufei grinned, "Dreaming about me again, huh?"
"You should be fine with some rest, Lita," Sally informed, "Good thing I had enough anti-venom here."
"You had a snake bite, remember?" Wufei reminded.
"Y-yeah," Lita groaned.
"I'll go get you something to eat," Sally said.
Lita sat up and started to push her covers, "I can make me something."
"Lita, lie back down!" Wufei pushed her down, "you can still be infected! Get some rest!"
"I feel fine!" she snapped, "Really, I love to cook. Don't be so insensitive!"
"I'm not insensitive!"
"Yes you are, Wufei," Sally teased as she left the room.
Lita laughed, "See, Sally agrees with me."
"You need to get some rest," Wufei told her. "I don't think you slept long enough."
"How long did I sleep?"
"Just about 15 minutes." He looked at the door, "I'll be right back, and don't you dare get up!" He left the room and walked down the hall, following Sally, "Hey, Sally?"
"Yes, Wufei?" she turned around.
Wufei's lip trembled slightly and he walked up to embrace her, "Sally, I want to thank you for treating Lita. She's very important to me. I've already lost someone special to me before and I wouldn't be able to take it if I've lost someone again."
Sally was very deeply moved. She pushed him back gently and smiled, "You really care for her, don't you?"
Wufei nodded, "I know I sometimes don't show it, but I really do care for her. A lot."
"I'll go get her some soup," Sally said, "that should give her some strength and then she'll need some more rest. You'll have to watch her for a while, incase the anti-venom didn't work."
"Sure," Wufei said, "Thanks, Sally."
"You're welcome," she turned and went to the cafeteria.
Wufei went back inside Lita's room and found her getting out of the bed. "Lita, get back in bed! Are you crazy?"
"I feel fine," she said, "I need to stretch my legs."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the bed, "What you really need is some rest! You're going to strain yourself!"
"No I'm not!" she hissed, sitting back up.
"Yes you are!" he pushed her back down, "Get some sleep!"
"But I'm not sleepy!" she insisted and she resisted his push.
"I'm not buying it!" he muttered, "I see bags underneath your eyes! How many hours of sleep have you been getting each night? Three?"
"Well you look like you haven't been sleeping much either!"
He took his hands off her and crossed his arms, "Well, I guess we've both been working a bit too hard for the Preventers."
"I rest my case," Lita sighed.
"Just get some rest, Lita," he ordered. "I carried you all the way over here and it wasn't very easy for me---"
"Are you saying I'm fat?" she demanded.
"No, no!" he crisscrossed his arms, "What I meant was I just felt scared that you wouldn't make it."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," he said, "and…I have weak arms."
"Oh, okay," she lied back down.
Wufei turned around and looked out the window.
"Hey, Wufei?" Lita asked.
"Yes, Lita?"
She sat up, "Tell me about your wife."
He looked over his shoulder at her and then out to the window. "I never told anyone about Merian."
"Merian? That was her name?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds really pretty."
"Thanks."
"You don't really have to tell me about her," Lita compromised, "but I'd like to know. What was she like?"
"She was like you," Wufei said, "Strong, noble, independent."
"Did you love her?"
"That's not why we were married," Wufei explained, "It was an arranged marriage."
"Arranged?" Lita asked, appalled, "You mean, someone picked you two to get married?"
"Yes."
"Well, I think that's wrong!" Lita growled, "People can't tell you to marry someone you don't love. Did you even know her before then?"
"Not really," he turned around and leaned against the wall. "We didn't get along very well."
"Well, if I was in arranged marriage, I'll be kind of angry too!"
Wufei smiled, "I did end up caring for her after some time, just before she died."
Lita frowned, "That's not fair. When you two started to like each other, she was killed."
Wufei titled his head, "How did you know she was killed? I didn't tell you how she died."
Lita blushed, "well, I saw you with a woman in my dream. I could only guess it was Merian. She looked kinda beat up but I could tell she was healthy so she couldn't have gotten sick."
"You dreamed about Merian?"
"Yes. I thought she was pretty."
"She was," Wufei said, "but I never told her." He turned back to the window. "After she died, I decided to become a gundam pilot. I had my gundam for a while but I never used it. The first time I piloted it was the time I went to rescue Merian. I didn't use my gundam very often, though. After fighting OZ, I went back to my home colony to hide. But my clan and family were in trouble. I left but everyone stayed." His voice started to become soft, "Master Long had the colony self destruct and I could do nothing but watch. My home was destroyed."
There was silence and then Wufei heard Lita's shuffling feet.
"Lita, get back in bed," he ordered but she threw her arms around him.
"Oh, Wufei," she murmured, "Everyone important to you was lost, no wonder you push people away! That's the saddest story," her voice broke, "I ever heard!" she started sobbing into his shoulder, "That's terrible, Wufei!"
"Hey," he said, "I'll be okay."
"I can't even imagine what that must've been like for you!"
"Then don't," he pushed her back, "that's in the past. You're all that matters to me now."
Lita smiled, "you mean it?"
"You're very special to me," Wufei admitted, "though I never tell you."
"Wufei," she sighed and leaned forward to kiss him, just as Sally walks in with a tray.
"Ah-hem."
"Oh, hi Sally!" Lita said, hopping back into bed. She took a big whiff, "Mmm, smells great. Can I get the recipe?"
"Sure," Sally put the tray over her lap; "I'll give it to you later. Just eat this and get some rest." She left the room.
"This soup needs salt," Lita said.
"You haven't even eaten some of it yet," Wufei said.
She stirred it around, "I don't have to taste it. I can tell just by looking at it. Oh, man, where are the crackers? You can't have soup without crackers!"
Wufei chuckled, "I'll get you some."
"And some salt too! Some salt!"
"Whatever you say," he winked at her and left the room.
*********************************************************
"Hey, Quatre," Mina said, peaking her head into the room, "safe to come in?"
"Sure," he responded.
"Listen, I want to apologize," Mina said, "I was just shocked that the first pilot of the Wing Zero."
"I did some very bad things," Quatre admitted, "I had the gundam made and I was going to destroy outer space. I already destroyed one colony and I would've kept going if Trowa and Heero didn't stop me."
"You destroyed a colony all by yourself?" Mina asked, surprised.
"I felt so bad," Quatre said, "and I almost killed my friends."
"The ZERO system can make you do weird things, huh?" Mina asked.
"I should've have done those things," Quatre admitted, "When my father died, I just snapped."
"It must be tough losing a family member."
"We never really saw eye to eye on some things," Quatre said, "but still, he was my father."
"Listen, there's no point in dwelling in the past," Mina said, "It was only a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, even the greatest of us makes mistakes."
"You still think I'm great?" Quatre asked.
"Quatre," Mina leaned forward, "you blew up a colony all by yourself, that's not great, that's awesome!"
"But thousands of people lost their lives because of me."
"That's not the awesome part," Mina said, "People were afraid of you! You stood up for yourself, I feel bad for those people that died, but people will learn not to cross you!"
Quatre smiled, "I'll keep that in mind."
"I understand that you still feel sorry for those things you did," Mina said, "but you made up for it. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Mina, what did you mean when you said that Serena's gundam was more cursed than you?" Quatre asked.
"Oh, you heard that?" she blushed.
"Yeah."
"Well, someone put a curse on me," she explained.
"What kind of curse?" he questioned.
"I would never be in a happy relationship," she replied.
"And you believe that?"
"I was never in a happy relationship with anybody," she told him.
"There is no such thing as a curse," Quatre said. "I never heard of anything cursed and I'm Arabic."
"There's no Arabic curses?"
"Well, if there is," he said, "I never heard of them. I'm too busy studying other things."
"Maybe I will find a happy relationship with someone," Mina smiled.
"It's possible," he told her.
"Hey, I hear Serena's going to swordfight with all the girls, want to go see?"
"No," Quatre replied. "The last duel I was in ended kind of badly. I don't think I could even watch one."
"Okay, I'll just tell you about it later!"
**********************************************************
"Why hello, Heero Yuy," Dorothy said, "thought you'd never see me again, did you?"
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I want another duel with you," Dorothy said.
"Hi everybody," Serena said to her new classmates.
"Hello, Miss Serena," they said.
Serena looked over and saw Dorothy talking to Heero, "You!" she screamed and ran to them, "what do you think you're still doing here? Do I have to escort you out? Leave!"
"Not until I have one more duel," Dorothy muttered.
"Well fine," Serena said, "but it's with me and not Heero. I already heard the story of how close he came to poking your eye out and now it's my turn!"
"Serena," Heero began.
"Go, Heero," Serena urged, "Why don't you go see Relena for a minute? I don't really want you to see this."
Heero shrugged, "okay. I have to upgrade my gundam anyway."
"Again?" Serena mumbled as he walked out.
"You want to duel with me?" Dorothy asked, "Are you any good?"
"You'll see," Serena smiled and lunged forward, nicking her shoulder. "You know, Dorothy, you shouldn't have come back here. You caused a big problem. You didn't come all the way here just to visit my cousin, did you?"
"What are you getting at?" Dorothy demanded, clanging her sword against hers to get her, but Serena seemed too fast for her.
"Who sent you?" Serena questioned, "Why are you really here, Dorothy Catolonia? What is it that you want? My cousin worked hard to get peace and you come to ruin it!"
"War is everywhere!" Dorothy snapped, "She can't hide from it!"
"Duo Maxwell is missing," Serena informed, "and I know you're behind it! Who are you working for, Dorothy? Who is next? Are you after all the gundam pilots, hmmm? Are you going to kidnap Quatre or Heero next?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" She lunged and Serena twirled away.
"Oh, don't you?" Serena growled, "Who sent you?" She pulled off her fencing helmet off and tossed into Dorothy's gut, "Why are you kidnapping the gundam pilots?"
Dorothy fell back, "I had nothing to do with Duo's disappearance!" She pulled off her own helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"The hell you aren't!" Serena leaned over her with her sword, the tip of it touching Dorothy's chin. "Who's next on your list, Dorothy?"
"Whoa!" Mina came in, "what's going on here!" She stepped next to Serena, "Hey, I don't like her either but you can't kill her, Serena!"
"I know she kidnapped Duo," Serena said, "and for all I know, Quatre could be next!"
"But I just spoke to Quatre," Mina said.
"Why would I want to kidnap Quatre?" Dorothy demanded, "He is nothing but a worthless pacifist!"
"Hey!" Mina snapped, "he was nothing but kind to you and all you do is shove it back into his face!" She looked at Serena, "go on Serena, kill her!"
"If I did kill her Relena would have us leave," Serena said, "I want answers, not war."
"You'll have to fight for them," Dorothy said.
"Believe me, I will!" Serena pulled her sword back and made four quick movements of her arm. Dorothy screamed and closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she looked down and looked at her chest to see four diagonal marks: \/\/ which was really: /\/\. The letter 'M'
"Stay away from Heero," Serena grunted.
"Is that a threat?" Dorothy demanded.
"Oh no," Serena said, "I'm just warning you. Don't be afraid of what I'll do to you, Dorothy, you should be concerned about Heero."
"Hey, Serena, can I see that for a sec?" Mina asked, reaching for her sword.
"Sure."
"Thanks," Mina made two slashes: \/ and formed the letter V "Stay away from Quatre too!" she handed the sword back to Serena. "If you want a war, then you'll get one! But remember, war isn't all that beautiful!"
"How would you know about what is beautiful?" Dorothy demanded.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Mina laughed, "I am, Miss Dorothy Catolonia, a soldier of love and beauty and trust me, I know beautiful things when I see them! People fight for love. The only thing I love about war is that people fight for what they believe in! It's not so beautiful when people lie around dead and their friends and family are in sorrow because of it! War is a game without a reset button. War is a video without an eject button. It's not all glory! People die in war; people lose their loved ones. There's nothing beautiful about that!"
"I get excited about war," Dorothy said.
"Oh yeah," Mina muttered, "Well I'll bet you won't be so excited about the next one! Come on, Serena." With those words, the two girls left.
************************************************
"You know who tried to kill you," Raye said, "Who was it, Trowa?"
"I'm not sure," he lied.
"Don't give me that!" she growled, "I saw that look in your eyes when I told you I saw someone leave the tent. Now who was it, Trowa?"
"I can't be sure."
"But you do have an idea," she said, "If you don't tell me I'll go to the nearest fireplace and find out myself! You know I can!"
"All right, all right," he walked closer to her and took her hand, "I think it was…Midii."
"Midii?" she asked. "That girl you met when you were a kid?"
"Yeah, she had blond hair," Trowa said, "and she almost got me killed. That's probably what she wanted."
"But why would she want you dead," Raye asked.
"She's jealous of me."
Raye giggled, "jealous of you? What do you have to make her jealous?"
Trowa frowned and looked a bit hurt.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Raye said, noticing his expression, "I just met that you don't have a lot to make her jealous. You're just a circus performer. Why would she try to kill you for that? If she wanted to be in the circus she would just--"
"That is not why she's jealous of me," he dropped her hand and folded his arms, "I didn't have anything when I met her. I didn't even have a name. She had too much in her life. I was empty and she hated me for it. She wanted to be empty too."
"You're not empty," Raye insisted.
"I used to be," Trowa said. "I didn't really have anything. She just wanted a carefree life."
"What she expected to get from killing you was," Raye began, "nothing?"
"Yeah, she'll get nothing." Trowa agreed. "And that's just what she wants. Maybe the only thing she would get is guilt."
"I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered.
"I get tired of hearing you say that," Trowa groaned.
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
"You say it all the time!"
"I do not!" she snarled, "and I mean it this time, Trowa! Duo's missing and you were almost killed! Maybe there is someone after you and the other gundam pilots!"
"There's nothing to be worried about," Trowa said.
"I wonder how she was able to get into the tent without us knowing," Raye said.
"She's a spy," Trowa said, "She has her ways."
*****************************************************************
Ami and Hilde began the search for Duo. "I wonder where he could be," Ami said sadly. "What if we don't find him in time?"
"Don't worry, Ami," Hilde said hopefully, "we'll find him."
Some unknown scary place
Duo woke up and groaned. "Man, where am I?" He felt like someone knocked the living daylights out of him. He studied his surroundings. The bed he laid on felt more like an operation table and looked like one too. Tight straps of an itchy material bound him down by the wrists and ankles. "These things are itching me!" He noted his chest was bare and his cross was missing. "My cross…where is my cross?"
"The specimen is awake, Mistress18." He heard someone say in an almost inhuman voice.
"Specimen? Who you callin' a specimen?" Duo demanded, "And what kind of name is Mistress18?"
A short gnome-like creature entered the room followed by a tall, thin and rather sexy woman. Her hair was long and silvery-white and her dress was red. On her forehead was a black lightning bolt.
"You sleep long," she said, with a smile, "that is good. Now you're all rested for the procedure."
"Procedure?" Duo mumbled.
"Dug," she said, waving her hand to the gnome-creature, "leave us be."
"But Mistress--" he began.
"Do what I say!" she snarled, "I can do this on my own. Go and work on the other experiments."
"Experiments?" Duo muttered.
"Yes, Mistress18," and it left.
"I hear you put up a fight with my slaves," she said, "It took 7 of them to get you down. Rather impressive."
"Can you let me go?" Duo inquired, "I'm late for work!"
"Oh, I can't let you go," she said, "You're my guest." She turned her back on him for a few minutes and walked to a counter, mixing some weird looking chemicals together.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"You're not on Earth," she replied.
"Well, what kind of colony is this?"
"Not a colony either."
"Well, what else is there?" he demanded with a sigh. He closed his eyes and opened them, "Oh my god, I'm on another planet, aren't I? And you're an alien!"
"You're very perceptive, human," she said and turned around, holding a syringe.
"What are you doing to do with that?" he asked, his voice heavy with fear. "I already had all my shots!"
"Don't be afraid," she crooned, coming closer to him. "This will make you feel so good."
"I don't do drugs!" he shouted, starting to squirm, "Let me outta here! I'm the God of Death! I'm warning you!"
"God of Death, hmmm?" her eyes sparkled with anxiousness, "I cannot wait until the serum starts to work!" She placed her hand on his chest and inserted the needle in his arm. The black serum exited from the needle and into Duo's vein. He cringed and closed his eyes.
"What is this supposed to do to me?" Duo demanded with his eyes still shut.
"Why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself?" She smiled and her voice sounded so excited. "It's incredible."
He opened his eyes and looked at his hand. What he saw made him scream. It was disgusting. The flesh started to rot away, followed by his muscles. His veins turned black and his body felt so numb and cold. The transformation was painful for him. "No!" Duo screamed, "It hurts! It hurts!" He watched, as his body literally became a skeleton. "Make it stop! Please! Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!"
"I'm sorry, darling," Mistress18 whispered, placing a silver collar around his neck, and watched in delight as Duo's medium brown hair changed into ghostly white, his handsome face into a grotesque skull and finally, his cobalt blue eyes into blood red ones, "but death does hurt."
TBC
Next Chapter: Where Is Everyone?
Oh
no, what's going to happen to Duo? Sorry I picked on him, but there's a reason for that. I'm sure you can figure why…