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Lord of the Flies Act III
Written by Shinimegami & Sarit
Standard disclaimers apply; all Gundam Wing characters and GW references are copy right of their respected artists. Also, any other general references belong to whoever made them. Also, any other general references belong to whoever made them. Additionally, the original novel, Lord of the Flies is the intellectual property and copyright of William Golding.

"I'm covered in cat slobber again!!" Was the first thing Duo dared to utter. As much as his diction was characteristic...there was something distinctly off about how he spoke...almost too calm and detached.

Quatre blinked. "Duo...are you okay?" He felt something was wrong. Now, not only did he feel this way about Trowa, now the feeling was coming from Duo too. He bit his lip, keeping an arm around Duo. "Come on. Let's go before they find us. Ne?"

"It's fine if you two upstarts leave with the dissident, but...under one condition are you allowed to depart..." Heero's icy eyes flashed with a possessive power. His tone was stone cold and ridged. He gazed and tone never changed. "Duo hands over his cross."

Looking up, Quatre was surprised to see Heero. Though he shouldn't be. He narrowed his eyes. "Why? What difference does that make?" He made sure to keep Duo behind him. He would protect his friend. He didn't trust Heero.

"Key to the fire and smoke signal," Heero blatantly explained.

Narrowing his eyes, Trowa stepped between Heero and the other two pilots. "Fine...take mine." With that, he dropped a chain into the Wing pilot's hand and in an uncharacteristic, aggressive move, shoved the smaller pilot stumbling back.

"Trowa!"

Quatre pulled Trowa away from Heero. Something was definitely off about them. Trowa would never have done such a thing before.

Turning his gaze to Heero, he kept his friends behind him. "You have a cross for the 'fire'. Now let us go peacefully."

The group of three pilots and the loyal lynx plodded through the thick of the darken amazon woods. They didn't stop until they had reached a small secluded space where there was overgrowth, hanging vines with small flower sprouts. There was much in the way of exits, but it proved to be a decent spot to set up camp. About a few dozen yards away, the distinct sound of a rushing river could be heard.

Quatre looked around the lush area, filled with many different kinds of flowers. It was beautiful. Not something he was used to seeing in the desert. He reached out, touching the petals of a flower. It was so soft. He looked around him once again. The beach had been nice. Especially with the ocean. But this was breathtakingly beautiful.

Duo appeared bluntly indifferent to the tranquil serene surroundings, as he didn't outwardly react as he might have...in the recent past. His detachment was anything but normal. He hadn't forcibly recluse into his own body, using it as a shell to shelter himself from the reign of Heero...no...it was something more. It was something along the lines of an unconscious change to his mannerisms causing him to lose his cheerful exterior. In fact, he had also stripped him of his other less known, yet sometimes seen side. His more morose side had also been stripped from him. He was naked...indifferent.

Quatre turned from the scene. He looked to his friends. His eyes inevitably went to Duo. His brow creased in worry. Duo was so silent. He was acting more like Trowa than himself. He was afraid...afraid of what this meant. He sighed. 'Maybe...maybe being away from Heero will help him...'

The other two pilots sat, saying nothing.

The solace of the silence didn't bother Trowa who rather found Duo's lack thereof vocalisation refreshing. So, he thought nothing of it, merely guessing that the braided Shinigami had finally learned to shut-up and sit down instead of talking for no necessary reason.

Duo on the other hand, yes, it was true he had found no need to talk, but it was more than just an in-grown, learnt thing. At first it was protection from punishment from the oppressive Heero Yuy. Slowly however, it had evolved into something more. Some more dangerous. His body had used the new silence to find a serene solace. However, a white world of insanity subtly had gently began to embrace the braided pilot.

Quatre watched his two friends silently. He was worried. More worried than he'd ever been. No OZ forces could compare with this fear. He wanted to take his friends away from here. Away from this place. Trowa was acting...strange. He couldn't place his finger on it, but it was almost as if his friend had discarded all his social skills. As if he had been reduced to an animal. It would explain Trowa's behaviour a couple weeks ago.

Then there was Duo. So silent, so quiet. Saying nothing. This was not his friend. Duo's vocalisations were irritating, sometimes. But they defined who he was. His jovial spirit had helped Quatre through a great deal. But now...now he was...disconcerted. This Duo was...foreign. Unknown. He feared for his friends. More so then when he was with Heero.

The hazy white hell of insanity that Duo had submerged his body into willingly at first, he could no longer willingly escape. Nothing could free the once jovially sane braided American. Even the coaxing of Quatre failed successfully, especially due to the lack thereof help from the other silent pilot, Trowa.

The whirling white vortex of fiery blazing hell that consumed Duo seemed comforting, but in the end it would only cause him his own death. It was a death row pardon...that would come two minutes too late. He would never leave it. Slowly, with precise calculations the mind of the Deathscythe pilot was warped, twisted and manipulated to meet the aroused needs of the insanity that gripped him so seemingly lovingly.

The one dead give-away clue that there was more to Duo's silence than first meets the ear is if the one silent pilots talks more than the one that was known for his trademark big-mouth.

Quatre sat against a tree, watching his friends. The silence was nerve-wracking. Normally he didn't mind the quiet. The silence could be reassuring. Peaceful. But this silence...was oppressive. There was nothing good about it. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the tree. Not for the first time he wished to leave. To take his friends and escape this hellish place. The beauty no longer tantalised him. He felt a wave of despair fill him, but he pushed it away. He had to be strong for his friends.

On the other side of the island was a reasonable size hill that would do as a lookout point for the two pilots remaining part of the original camp. On that top they had set-up a fire to act as a smoke signal. It would draw the attention of anyone, even OZ.

At the foot of the hill was two torches that lit up the entranceway to the hell that Heero had created, becoming nothing short of Satan himself. He had his followers...the fallen...Wufei.

In addition to the torches, there was something else. Something that was rather disturbing. On a stake was the head of a boar. It signified the first catch that would help for their survival. For them, that was it. For anyone else, the alluding symbolism was clear. The camp was run by primitive oppressive savages who had cast off their humanity for the desire to survive.

The head of the boar, brutally shoved on the stake, was crusted with dark dried scarlet red plasmic blood. It's mouth was partially opened and the eyes had glassed over. Now what remained of the eyes was nothing but vacant sockets. The flesh was rotting and around the head swarmed flies that hungrily devoured at the rotting corpse.

That was one of many heads. Over the island...as a claim, the would leave such horrific markings, hoping to drive the other three pilots either into utter insanity, sicken them or drive them enough off the edge that they would surrender and give into oppression.

There was one located in the middle of a rather nice clearing.

During a mission to gather some fruit, with his loyal cat-friend at his side, ready to pounce on any meat, the leading dissident came upon the grotesque, deteriorating head. He swallowed, feeling a rising burst of acidic bile in his throat.

Turning away in disgust, Trowa didn't know what to make of such a sight. He brought a hand to cover his mouth for the moment, his insides writhing in utter disgust at such a horrific sight.

'They're that sick?! Sick enough to do such a....'

His thoughts trailed off, when a branch snapped.

The lynx growled at the noise, turning, trying to find the source.

Quatre sat with Duo at the camp. He was worried. Trowa should have been back long ago. He hadn't want him to leave by himself. He had wanted to go with him. But someone had to stay with Duo. He sat next to his friend, trying in a vain effort to get him to say something. He gave up, feeling useless. His friend was slowly dying...and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

He felt utterly useless. Completely. Trowa was out there alone. Granted, he had Lynx with him, but what protection is a cat against a killer like Heero? He bit his lip, worry filling him.

From the shadows on either side of lynx and its master, emerged two pilots. One was equipped with a sword, the other with a revolver. No weapon had yet been drawn. They had no intentions to kill anyone...yet.

"Disgusted, ne?!" The Japanese pilot inquired with a twisted sneer to his features.

The green-eyed one shrugged. "Maybe."

"Yes or no...answer the question, kisama!" The Chinese pilot growled, ready to take the other by the throat.

"And if I don't?" Trowa challenged, directly fixing his sights on Wufei, unaware of the hand that rested on the butt of the sword.

"We'll be happy to sent the remains of your carcass to your fellow dissidents." Wufei shot back, starting to subtly draw the sword from the sheath. He didn't move yet, just remained static.

"Hn."

"That's all you have to say?! You know...it's your fault that everything fell apart."

"Hn."

Wufei was nearly snarling in frustration at this point. The pilot he was dealing with could be the most stubborn, uncooperative person of any he knew.

Heero stepped in. "Just comply and no one dies."

"Doesn't seem like your style, now that you're a sadistic totalitarian dictator," Trowa countered, his expression hidden by the dark shadows. But nonetheless it wasn't unreadable. In fact, it was uncharacteristically twisted in a nasty, challenging smirk. The only thing that didn't match his desire to fight was his tone, which was as cool and detached as it had always been.

"You're saying that people are going to die?!" Heero inquired. It had been meant as a question, but came out as nothing short of a barking demand. He too smirked. "Very well then...."

Fidgeting, Quatre looked to Duo. "Duo...are you going to be okay if I go find Trowa?"

Gazing upwards, his eyes glassed over from being in the state of a comforting trance, Duo sighed. He spoke in a flat voice, very monotone. "Hai..." He sighed. "No don't...it won't help...someone's going to die no matter what..."

"Duo!" Quatre knelt next to Duo, taking him in his arms. He held him close, rocking him. "It'll be okay! Don't say that! We'll be all right. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"It's not me...don't be worried about me..." Duo's warning was somewhat past ominous. His eyes blankly, with a total hypnotic glassy appearance, stared down at Quatre. He brought a hand to his friend's face. "Quatre...it won't be fine...."

Quatre swallowed. He placed his hand over Duo's. "Of course I'll worry about you. You're my best friend. Don't leave me, Duo. I can't deal with this on my own. Please. Stay with me." He brushed his friend's bangs from his eyes. "Do you want to come with me?"

"No." Duo bluntly replied. He sighed...staring off into space

The blade that was being drawn from the sheath made itself known. The finely crafted metallic blade scraped dangerously as it was swiftly drawn from the holding. Pointing the tip at the dissident's back, Wufei, who was the bearer of the classic duelling weapon, growled in a mocking sneer, "any last words before I send you to hell for your lack of compliance to the way of the democratic world?"

"Hn. Such cowardice, to take the easy way out and kill me. Pity that you lack creativity." Trowa calmly replied. His tone was gently laced with sarcasm as he spoke the last of his words to this pair. Though per say they weren't his last, they were to the ears of the two pilots that didn't accept his choice.

He shut his eyes. He would've dodged out of the way of the pointed blade that was gently pressed against his bare flesh, except for the minor detail of the revolver that was being generally aimed in his direction. He swallowed. He failed to notice the unchecked fine line of the thin tear that escaped from his eye. 'Gomen Quatre...gomen Duo....'

There was one fire...but it missed him, hitting the tree.

The lynx had interfered and attacked Heero, but did no more, as the sound of tearing flesh rang loudly through the general area. Around where the open wound had been purposely and intently inflicted, a small then large rush of deep scarlet red plasmic liquid escaped, dripping in what seemed to be a river to the ground, as the dying green-eyed pilot fell forward, dropping to the ground, off the blade that had been ruthlessly driven into his body.

With his eyes shut and his breathing rapidly slowing coupled with the forming puddle of blood that surrounded him, his attackers seem satisfied and left their victim to slowly die an anguishing, painful death.

The lynx pressed its nose under its master's fallen form, forcing him on its back. With his master on its back, it tried to find its way back to the camp where they had come from.

Quatre stood, looking sadly at Duo. It hurt him deeply to see his friend like this. He was about to leave when he heard a noise. Pulling out his knife, he turned to face the intruder.

Before completely emerging from the shadows, the Lynx gave a distinct meow to announce its arrival. There was nothing else that followed except for the sound of a faint, waning moan.

Quatre replaced the knife in its sheath. He went forward towards the cat. "Hey, Lynx...what's wrong?" He stopped, seeing the cat's burden. "TROWA!!!"

Quatre knelt next to his fallen friend, tears in his eyes. "Oh, Trowa..." He looked over his friend. A large gaping wound could be seen, blood flowing from it. He took his shirt off, bundling it. He pressed it over the wound to try and staunch the blood flow. "Its okay, Trowa. You're safe now. I'll take care of you. I promise." He kissed his friend on the lips. He turned his head. "Duo! Come quickly! I need your help! Please!"

Having now seen too much in his cationic state of white hellish insanity, Duo was rendered useless in the way of helping anyone. He was incapable of assisting himself, so the thought of him helping another at a time like this wasn't going to fly-over, since he plunged deeper into his blissful white hell. His mind swirled in the ecstasy of the blank whiteness that embraced him. He no longer was capable of coming to consciousness as he slipped fully into the stupor of his mental instability.

He leaned forward, part of his body, shaking, shivering. He was unable to process what was happening....

Raising a hand to Quatre's face, Trowa spoke, virtually without sound. His whisper was next to just a breath. "Quatre..." He grunted, leaning against his friend.

Quatre looked for Duo back to Trowa. He pulled Trowa against him, holding him tightly. "Its okay, Trowa. You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you." He brushed his friend's hair away from his face, gazing into his eyes. "I'll take care of you. I promise. I have to get you closer to the camp. It might hurt a little. Gomen nasai."

Giving his friend a last kiss on the lips, he pulled Trowa towards the camp. Once they were there, he tried to place Trowa in a comfortable position. He took his now blood soaked shirt away from the wound. He bit his lip, but said nothing as he began to clean the wound.

Nothing would help the deeply carved wound in the back that had been ruthlessly torn open by Wufei under the mind-numbing absolute control of Heero. Giving in completely to his intense anguishing suffering, Trowa let out a small, but distinct pained groan, something he wouldn't have done under any circumstances.

Reaching up, he again rested a hand on Quatre's face, this time, only his hand was shivering far more worse than it had before. It was forced to be held up in the midst of gripping pain. "Quatre...no...don't...it hurts..." His speech was broken, as he gasped puny breaths between words.

Before completely passing out into the pleasure of utter escape from hell, he managed to lightly brush his lips over Quatre's...

'With a kiss...I die....'

"NO! TROWA!!!" Quatre held onto his friend tightly, tears filling his eyes. He let them fall, feeling anguish, pain and despair fill him. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't! Trowa was going to be okay...he'd wake up any minute now.

Quatre buried his face in his friend's neck sobbing uncontrollably. 'Why does everything I care about die? Why?!'

The limp form that was being clutched by the highly distraught Quatre, began the slow shift from the soft rag-doll state into rigor mortis. The last of the blood that was to drip freely from the wound halted to a timed slow ticking trickle. Around where the impaled wound had been brutally inflicted from utter possession on the part of Wufei, a thin layer of dried deep scarlet red blood changed shades, becoming somewhat lighter, but not any less grotesque. The aroma that rose from the rotting, deteriorating blood penetrated the nostrils of both Quatre and Duo...

After many long minutes, Quatre finally looked up. He gazed down at the still form of his friend and love. He bit his lip, trying to keep the tears at bay. He brushed the hair from Trowa's face, gazing at his features. "You're safe now, Trowa. Nothing can hurt you anymore. Sleep well, my friend."

Finally looking up, he looked for Duo and Lynx.

Duo was over where he had been, but had taken on a more foetal position. This was all unconscious. This was because of the immuring, self-consuming hell that he had fallen into in order to escape the wrath of Heero Yuy and his loyal faceless minion, Chang Wufei. In the end, this heaven was no better than hell, as it had driven into a state of utter helplessness. He couldn't fully function as himself, he had been reduced to a vulnerable teenage boy.

His eyes were wild with fear and his breathing had rapidly increased. Finally, the wrath he had fallen into, released him for a moment, allowing him to sit up. Still, his expression was stunned, his immaculately tied braid was loose in wildly flying strands and his eyes were wild with glassy fear, an almost animal state of fear.

His senses kicked back in.

"God...is there one??!! If there is...why is there such a hell?" That was the most he had said or uttered in such a long while. His voice was low and huskily raspy. He could only stare at the ground, as he remained hunched over.

Quatre stood, rushing over to Duo. He took his friend in his arms. "Shhh...Duo...its okay. I know...its hard. But I'm here. I don't know why Allah has done this to us. But we'll survive. You and me. We're in this together. I won't leave you, I swear."

"Ali---aligatou..." Duo rested his head against Quatre's shoulder. "I shouldn't think like this...demo...I think there's a chance another one of us'll die..." His voice was chillingly haunted with voidness as he spoke. It was also barely above a whisper.

Quatre shook his head, holding his friend closer. "If one of us does, it won't be you or me. It'll be them. I won't let you die, Duo. I promise." He leaned his head against Duo's, brushing the stray locks away. "We're best friends...we won't let anything happen to the other. I'll keep you safe, Duo."

Wrapping his arms around Quatre, finding security in the arms of his best friend, Duo just fell asleep, hoping that what had just unfolded over the course of the last few moments had been nothing more than a nightmare and his immure state of being was just an illusion waiting to be shattered.

Quatre shook his head, holding his friend closer. "If one of us does, it won't be you or me. It'll be them. I won't let you die, Duo. I promise." He leaned his head against Duo's, brushing the stray locks away. "We're best friends...we won't let anything happen to the other. I'll keep you safe, Duo."

Wrapping his arms around Quatre, finding security in the arms of his best friend, Duo just fell asleep, hoping that what had just unfolded over the course of the last few moments had been nothing more than a nightmare and his immure state of being was just an illusion waiting to be shattered.

Quatre wrapped his arms around Duo, keeping him safe. He sighed. He wished someone could do the same for him. What was to keep Heero and Wufei from coming after them?

Sighing, he looked around. He would wait until Duo was deep asleep. Then he'd have to...bury Trowa. He bit his lip, pushing back the tears. He held out his hand to Lynx. "It's just us now, Lynx. Gomen nasai. I tried to save him." He bowed his head.

The lynx slumped faithfully at Quatre's feet and stared up with piercing intent, it's golden yellow eyes full of curiousity. Nuzzling the hand that Quatre had held out, the hand that had once been brutally swatted away, untrusted. It purred sadly, not knowing or fully understanding what happened. As it was just a wild feline...no, a tame feline...felinus domesticatus....it blinked. Not comprehending that its master was dead, it tried to nuzzled the hand, but received no response. In full resignation it turned to the blond and curled at the feet of its new master.

Quatre smiled sadly at Lynx. He got some comfort from its presence. He smiled sadly. He looked to Duo. The young man was fast asleep. He gently laid him down on the ground. He quickly brushed his tears away. He looked to Lynx and smiled. "Come on. Let's find someplace that Trowa can rest."

With the perfect timing of Quatre's momentary disappearance, Wufei was able to stealthily slip into the boundaries of the camp. With a swift move, he had the braided pilot under hand and a note written in blood attached to a tree with a long dagger jammed into the bark and trunk of a tree. This was all from following the order of the order of his master.

Once arriving at the top of the small hill and cliff, he dropped the unconscious/sleeping Duo on the ground.

Nodding, Heero request that the braided pilot be tied up...

Quatre returned a few hours later, after he and Lynx had buried Trowa. It still hurt, but he was able to push his hurt away for the time being. Returning, he scratched his head. Duo was gone. 'I wonder where he...' That was when he saw the note. Pulling it from the tree, he grimaced in disgust. It was obviously written in blood. The red ink was unmistakable. His eyes widened as he read the words. 'No...DUO!!!'

He pulled the knife from its sheath. He gazed at it. It was blood and dirt encrusted. Trowa's blood. He gazed down at Lynx. "Come on. We have to go save Duo. I won't let them hurt him like they did Trowa."

The lynx instinctively tugged on Quatre's pant leg, trying to drag the blond in the direction it assumed the scent of the trail to be. Once it got its new master to comply willingly, it kept a steady trot in the lead, occasionally stopping to pick up the scent of the trail.

Quatre followed the lynx, his hand on his knife. He was scared almost witless. He shivered, knowing this was fear of his former friends. To think that they would do such things...it appalled him. He was still in mild shock over Trowa's death.

Arriving at the foot of the hill, the lynx coiled back in fear, growling at the dead animal carcasses that lay about, each in different states of rot and deterioration. In particular, it hissed loathing at the two boar heads that were impaled with carefully fashioned stakes, driven into the earth, each with a torch to the side of it.

Quatre recoiled from the sight before him. He put his sleeve to his mouth, trying to keep from gagging. This was just pure grotesque. "Come on, Lynx." Quatre went forward, trying his best to ignore the gruesome markers.

At the peak of the hill, Heero sat on a rock, carefully fashioning a rock into a spearhead. Shards of stone flew. His face displayed his intense concentration. Sweat formed and dripped down, turning his war paint into smudges. He paid no mind to it...his only concern, making this tool, the perfect tool for the perfect soldier.

Meanwhile, Duo hung by his hands, or rather wrists from a pair of barren trees, his torso bloodied from a severe beating because of the mild fight he had put up. The gashes on his body were anything from mere scratches to deeply impaled slashes that drew blood from his battered, abused body. His head hung humbly, or rather down in despair. He tried to pray, but found no solace, just an empty void of no responses.

Wufei, who had acted off orders from Heero, sat to the side holding a thin yet strong bamboo switch.

Quatre stopped in midstride, staring at the horror before him. His eyes travelled to the bruised and battered Duo. He bit his lip, turning to Wufei and Heero. He threw the bloodied note to the ground. His eyes gazed at his two former friends coldly. "You want something?"

"Full compliance." Wufei bluntly replied, stepping forward, as his master was far too engrossed in the carving and fashioning of the spearhead to pay any mind to the visiting dissident. Brandishing the switch, he touched it to Quatre's neck. "Now either you and Duo both shut-up and agree or you wind up like him..." He pointed the switch at the poor mangled braided pilot.

Quatre stared coldly at Wufei. "What makes you think I'll do anything a lapdog like you would say?" He smacked Wufei's arm away from him. Pulling up his knife, he severed the bamboo stick in half. "Don't fuck with me, Wufei. I'm here for Duo and that's it. You two can play king of the hill or whatever the hell you want. I want no part of it."

Wufei snorted and drew his long sword, the katana from the sheath. He turned in Quatre's direction, but then a sneer overcame his features and he flew in the other direction and sliced the bindings of the braided pilot. He had a true intrinsic motivation for such a thing. It wasn't because he was going with Quatre's request. No, the reason was dark...the secret intention was nothing short of sadistically sinister. He had purposely located the American pilot at the cliff. Thus, when the bindings were release, the limp form of Duo fell backwards, dropping off the cliff and hitting the jagged rocks below.

His head was the first to hit the rocky bottom. From the force of the impact, his skull cracked open, pussy liquids seeping out eagerly. Coupled with that was the rush of blood that seeped from the nose and mouth of the braided pilot. Finally, after that one short instance of intense suffering, his body shut itself off and fell from the rock.

Duo sunk to his death after getting killed from the deadly blow to his head.

His body didn't float back up...only the cross that he always carried. When it broke the surface of the darkened, bloodied water, it became filthy with the plasmic fluids and puss that had spilt from the split skull of the late Shinigami.

"DUO!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!"

Quatre rushed to the edge of the cliff, looking down. His tears fell from his eyes, seeing his friend's demise. "Gomen nasai, Duo-chan...I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

Standing, he looked to Wufei and Heero. "Are you happy now?! You've killed two of us. Two! They were our friends, and you murdered them. I will NEVER forgive you for this."

"I don't want it, Winner...I mean, loser." Wufei turned, pointing the tip of his katana at Quatre's throat. He didn't step forward, only moved it horizontally, leaving a small yet visible scratch from which a tiny trickling creek of blood seeped. "Now leave or I will impale you as I did with your late friend..." he threatened scathingly. He brought his sword down and started to advance on the blond Arab pilot.

Heero put a hand up. "Stop..." A smirk quirked over his features. "Let him leave...then....we pursue him."

Quatre stared at Heero incredulously. "You have got to be kidding! That's...that's...barbaric! Animalistic! You've both become savages!"

"What difference does it make...you're also one of us." The Wing pilot replied with an air of indifference that next to chillingly empty without human emotion. He rose up from his rock and face Quatre with a certain intention to his eyes. "Say what you will, but you can't deny what you truly are. No human is perfect, we're all barbarians."

"Yes, but I don't kill my friends. I don't shove a sword through my friend's back! I don't push my friend down a cliff! I don't butcher animals in a grotesque manner!" Quatre glared at Heero, his anger rising. "And I'll never be one of you. Never. I'd sooner die first. That's the only good out of Trowa and Duo's deaths. You can't hurt them anymore."

"I never did any of what you said. I'm innocent of your claims, Quatre," Heero coldly replied. His statement was all entirely true. In fact, he had never consented to having Wufei murder the two pilots. He had merely wished to have utter control but not at the cost of lives, but he didn't say anything.

Remember, appearances can be deceiving...

Quatre glared. "Fine. You're so innocent. But you did drive Duo insane. He could barely speak at the end. That /was/ your doing! But it doesn't matter. None of it. I'm through with both of you."

Heero smirked. "I never brought about Duo's immure insanity. I will admit I did threaten him if he didn't shut-up, but his chatter had been getting quite old. But I never pushed him into his shell that he wrapped around himself." He took a step towards Quatre, placing down the revolver and the spearhead. "The lack thereof him speaking...his transformation was purely all his will that was barely manipulated."

The two pilots were unaware of Wufei's eyes and the position in which he held his sword. He knew he could easily clear Heero's name. But did anyone ever clear Treize's name when it came to the rising of status in OZ? No...so...why would such a circumstance as this be any different. He patiently waited...

Quatre gritted his teeth. "I don't care. I'm done with both of you. For good. I want nothing to do with either of you." Quatre backed up, watching them as he did so. He held out his hand for Lynx. They would leave together. Just as they had come. He swallowed at the thought of Duo. If he could, he would find his friend's body. He deserved a proper burial at the least.

Without warning, Heero's body arched in a writhed spasm, his eyes wide with pure shock. Out of his chest from the back stuck a silver object laced heavily with fresh and dried blood. The impaled Japanese pilot coughed up a mouth of blood before falling off the sword that had been brutally jammed into his back, robbing him of his life. Upon collapsing to the ground, he briefly gazed up Quatre, his cobalt blue eyes still filled with amazement at what just happened. "Sayanora..." His eyes rolled back in his head and he too joined the other two late pilots.

The body of the late Wing pilot bathed in a pool of freshly spilt deep burgundy scarlet blood that slowly mixed with the dirt of the ground. The open wound of the late pilot became crusted over with dirt and drying blood that gave off an odoriferous stench. The expression that was bore in death was anything but cold...it was calmly serene with shock.

Behind the fallen Wing pilot stood the Shenlong pilot, his katana dripping with fresh blood. "Both of us no longer had a need for him..." he looked up, his eyes wild with fiery possession. "As I no longer have a need for you!"

Quatre stared in utter horror. His eyes turned to the pilot of Shenlong. "Wufei..." He kept his knife out, knowing it was a pour excuse of a weapon against the others katana. He backed up from the crazed pilot. Turning, he fled down the way he had come. He didn't dare look back. He hoped that Lynx was following. But he couldn't spare the time to look. He headed for the grotto that Trowa had first taken him and Duo to.

Replacing the katana in the sheath, Wufei took off from the cliff side, a dragon like possession to everything that was part of him. As he ran from the exit or rather entrance, in his carelessness he knocked over a torch that caught on the rotting corpse. The flame triggered an outbreaking fire that would soon consume the paradise, leaving nothing but an utter path of destruction, something far worse than what the five Gundam pilots brought.

Having not noticed the roaring, growing blaze behind him, the Chinese pilot was hot on the trail of the Arab pilot, which was being trailed loyally by the lynx.

Quatre stopped at the entrance to the grotto. He looked around. His eyes widened when he looked behind him. A large plume of smoke could be seen. 'Oh no...the forest is on fire...' Turning, entered the pond, heading for the cave behind the waterfall. He looked back, making sure that the lynx was following him.

Once inside, he waited.

It had been sometime before the licking flames had consumed the forest, destroying everything in its path before a calming thunderstorm rolled through, extinguishing the dragon blaze. It was only afterwards once the smouldering embers were still alit did Quatre hear strange voices.

Outside the cave, actually on the land at the pond were five soldiers and a superior officer gathered.

"Report." She asked.

"Lieutenant Noin, we've found the signs of four bodies, or at least remains. There is no sign of the fifth." The junior officer saluted his superior.

"And the transport?!" Noin inquired.

"Destroyed."

Quatre heard voices. He was about to stay back in the cave when he heard a familiar voice. Laying a hand on the lynx's head, he led them out of the safety of the cave. He moved through the waterfall, staring in disbelief. "Lieutenant Noin?"

She was about to further press her inquires when she turned to face the one surviving pilot. "Quatre." She nodded and turned back to her officers. "What do preliminary reports indicate?"

"There was a failure with the transmission of the transport. We checked the blackbox and from what we can decipher, it was sudden." The junior officer explained.

Satisfied with the report, Noin stepped over to the pond, waiting for Quatre and the lynx to come to shore.

Quatre swallowed. Leading Lynx, he moved through the water silently. Once on shore, he looked at her sadly. "The others are dead."

Noin nodded. "That was the first thing that was indicated the first draft of the reports for the Sank Kingdom. Relena-san grew worried about the fact that the mission that all five of you had been sent on was taking longer than anticipated. She requested that a search crew be sent out." She sighed, her tone laced with a blatant melancholic edge.

Quatre simply nodded. "Hai...I only wish you had arrived sooner. Perhaps then..." He let his voice trail off. "I want to find Duo before I leave. I owe him that much."

"His remains were truly grotesque. My officers have done the standard procedures for handling the dead that were of the enemy. His body was returned to L-2 and will be buried where our record indicate he must be from." Noin explained, holding out a hand to help Quatre up out of the water. She smiled sadly, eyeing the creature that was with him. "Nice lynx, yours?"

Quatre smiled sadly. "He is now." He bent down, rubbing Lynx behind its ears. "And I don't want them buried there. Take them to L4. I'll bury them myself. With my family. They were the only family I had left."

Select Your Destination Act I Act II Act III