Pheonix Rising
Hi, minna! Here's part
2! I'd like to thank ShadowHawk for allowing me to use his character Id
in my story! I was totally shocked that someone would actually want to
help me with one of my fics! Thank you, ShadowHawk for your assistance
with Id and plot ideas for the fic!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pheonix Rising
by Ratha
Part Two: Defection
"Heero? HEERO!"
Duo shouted into the comm.
No response.
"Oh shit," Duo muttered
as the fun drained out of the situation and he began slicing a path through
the mobile suits furiously. "Shit shit shit shit shit..."
The girl was silent
behind him, watching the screen intently as he cleared a rather large cluster
of Leos blocking his way with a single blow. The Wing ZERO was revealed.
Duo felt his chest tighten with dread and the girl gasped softly in shock.
Wing ZERO was badly damaged; the motions were jerky, the beam sword flickering
in and out of existence. With agonizing slowness, the huge head turned
toward the Deathscythe. Duo smiled slightly in relief. Of course Heero
was still fighting. Of course. Nothing stopped him.
Another wave of dizziness
washed over Duo, but he ruthlessly fought it off. No time for that now.
Gripping the controls a bit tighter, he thrust toward the Wing ZERO, cutting
down Leos along the way. "I'm comin', I'm comin'," he muttered as he approached.
"Just hang on a little longer-"
It was in vain. A Leo
performed a kamikaze on the damaged gundam. With the slow responses of
his gundam, Heero didn't get the beam sword around fast enough, and the
Leo crashed into the chest of the much larger Wing, exploding on impact.
The Wing was flung backwards...and did nothing.
"NOOOOO!" Duo
screamed when the Wing ZERO remained motionless. But before he could do
anything, something hit the back of his head forcefully and darkness engulfed
him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girl grabbed the
comm and shouted, "This is soldier 1934! Stop your attack at once!"
The Leos immediately
stopped.
"I have immobilized
the pilot of this gundam. Maintain your positions until further orders."
"Yes, Commander," one
of the Leo pilots replied. It was the only red Leo in the group.
The girl winced. Id.
Damn! How am I going to avoid him? She closed the comm-link. "OZ is
so gullible," she muttered, then dragged the unconscious Duo out of his
seat. She strapped him into the seat she'd been in, then took the pilot's
seat. Gripping the controls, she turned the gundam toward the Leos and
reopened the comm-link. "Id, tell Lieutenant Zechs I have a message for
him: I QUIT!" She gunned the thrusters and shot toward the startled Leos,
slicing them down before they could react, leaving only the red Leo untouched.
"Now get out of here, Id. I don't want to have to kill you, too."
"This is treason, Commander,"
the pilot growled. "You WILL face death for this."
"No shit, Id. Now get
lost before I make you leave!"
The Leo suit silently
turned and jetted away.
The girl nodded curtly
and turned toward the downed gundam, briefly noting the warning lights
on the Deathscythe's controls.
"Damn, a fuel leak,"
she muttered. "He's gonna kill me if it's not fixed." Her eyes abruptly
glowed an unnatural blue-green and the warning lights turned green one
by one.
"Uhhhn...Didja
get the number of that MS that hit me?" Duo groaned.
"Just in time, boy,"
she said smoothly. "You can help get your friend out of his gundam before
Zechs gets my resignation."
"Your what? What are
you talking about, lady? Who are you?"
"My name's Eiko Ryushi.
Codename: the Pheonix."
Duo paled in shocked
horror. "You're the Pheonix?" he squeaked. "But you're a girl!"
"Did I just stutter?"
she asked, turning to face him with an exasperated look. "I'll explain
later unless you want your friend to die or the both of you to be captured."
"Can I trust you?"
"I'm trusting you,
aren't I? Look, if you don't trust me, just shoot me now."
Duo was startled when
his gun floated to his hands.
"I'm ready to die if
it means you and Heero will live. It might be better if you put me out
of my misery. As powerful as I am, I can barely control it. Any of it.
I'm lucky I'm still sane and not a babbling idiot in a mental institution."
He looked from his
gun to her and back. She was serious, he could read it in her eyes. "Man,
I hate these tough decisions," he complained. "I'm gonna go against my
common sense again and trust you, though. Let's go get Heero."
She smiled faintly
and stepped back to let him get back into his seat.
"So can you tell if
he's alive, Eiko?"
She looked briefly
startled. "Alive, but unconscious. YOU might not want to see what he looks
like at the moment."
"Then you can get him."
She nodded and climbed
from the Deathscythe's cockpit to the Wing ZERO's. It was a few minutes
before she returned with Heero. As soon as Duo saw him, he felt slightly
sick. The unconscious boy was covered with cuts and bruises. One arm was
splinted with a spare antennae and both legs were splinted with thick sticks.
Eiko had grabbed a First Aid kit, emergency rations, and the Wing ZERO's
self-detonation device.
"We've gotta jet fast,"
she said. "OZ is not gonna be happy to lose me and Zechs has already discovered
my double-cross. He's sending two keeps of Leos and a Taurus squad to either
stop me or destroy me."
"And the fun continues,"
Duo said sarcastically. "Hurry up so we can get outta here."
She nodded and strapped
the unconscious Heero into the spare seat, then stood behind Duo's seat.
"Ready," she said shortly.
"Prepare for turbulence!"
the braided pilot grinned, leaning over the controls. "There's nothing
we can do for the ZERO, Eiko, so as soon as we're out of blast range, activate
the ZERO's self-detonation."
Eiko was silent and
to Duo's shock, Heero's gundam began to move.
"What the hell?" Duo
gasped and looked over his shoulder at Eiko.
The girl's eyes were
closed and a thin sheen of sweat covered her skin in intense concentration.
Her hands were gripped tightly on the back of his seat. She was trembling
slightly from great effort.
Duo turned back to
stare, slack-jawed, as the Wing ZERO rose fluidly. "Oh my God..." he whispered
in awe, glancing briefly at Eiko. "Heero wasn't kidding. Can...Are you
sure you can handle it, Eiko?"
"Yeah," she grunted
through gritted teeth. "Try not to distract me, okay? Now get going! It's
hard to control it as it is!"
"Gotcha." Duo maneuvered
his gundam into the air, not startled now to see the Wing ZERO following.
"Just hang onto it as long as you can, Eiko!"
There was no response.
Then Eiko's image appeared on the screen. "The Wing ZERO is fully operational
now. Temporary pilot: Eiko Ryushi. Codename: Pheonix. Preparing to activate
ZERO system."
"What the-? Eiko, no!
You can't handle the ZERO system!" Duo yelled.
Her eyes flickered,
then began glowing. "I was raised in a ZERO system," she said emotionlessly,
sounding like Heero. Then she grinned. "Let's go! I don't wanna go back
to OZ!"
"Sounds like a plan.
I'm not even gonna ask how you got over there."
"Later. Lead on, Shinigami!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Id Kushrenada walked
silently down the OZ' base hallway to Lieutenant Zechs' quarters, his long
red hair flowing like fire down his back and his red eyes hard with slight
fury. He disliked speaking with the masked man, but his father had ordered
him to report all events concerning the Pheonix to Zechs. The young pilot
knocked on the door.
"Come in," called Zechs'
voice from inside.
Id opened the door
and stepped inside. "Lieutenant Zechs, I have a report and a message from
the Pheonix."
Zechs looked up in
sudden fear at Id's voice. "Lord Id!" he said, jumping to his feet and
bowing to the younger man. "I didn't know it was you. You have a message
from the Pheonix?"
"Yes. She said to tell
you she quits. She has joined the gundam pilots."
Zechs stared at him
in shock.. "She what?"
Id nodded curtly. "Yes,
Lieutenant Zechs. She used one of the gundams to destroy the rest of my
platoon. She said to tell you she quits, and she helped the two gundam
pilots escape."
"Could you identify
the two gundams?"
"They were the Wing
ZERO and the Deathscythe Hell, Lieutenant."
Zechs nodded curtly
and turned to the door. "Thank you for reporting this to me, Lord Id."
"My father ordered
it," Id said shortly, preceding Zechs out of the room.
Zechs walked to the
control room. "Assemble as many keeps as possible of Leos, Aries, and Taurus
suits immediately!" he barked at a nearby soldier.
"Yes, Lieutenant!"
was the reply.
Id stood silently in
the hall, looking out a window toward space. "Eiko..." he whispered, then
turned and went to find his father to ask if the two special mobile suits
were ready to be used.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Eiko! We're almost
back to base!" Duo announced. "how ya holding up?"
"Fine. How's Heero?"
Eiko replied.
"Still out like a light."
"Good. You know, I
know his name, but not yours."
"Really?" he asked
in surprise. "Can't you read my mind?"
"I've tried twice,
but both times I hit an instinctive shield. It's like hitting a brick wall
at sixty miles an hour."
"Ouch. Wufei would
say it's because I don't have a single thought in my head," Duo grinned.
"Well, I'm Duo Maxwell. The Shinigami. Or Bakagami, as Heero and Wufei
call me."
She was silent a second.
"Did-Did you say Wufei?" she asked hesitantly. "As in Chang Wufei?"
"Yeah, why? Do you
know him?"
She grinned wickedly.
"Do I know that arrogant baka? Of course, I do. I'll explain later, though."
"Okay. Hey, what time
is it?"
"One minute to 500
hours. Why?"
"I gotta radio in.
Hang on." Duo opened the link to base. "Yo, Quatre! Mission accomplished
and then some!"
"That's good to hear,
Duo," the blonde pilot smiled.
"What do you mean 'and
then some'?" Trowa asked.
"Our dynamic duo has
become a terrific trio! Not only did we destroy the OZ base and get the
info on the Pheonix, but Heero picked up a boatload of injuries and I picked
up something better!"
"What? A girl?" Quatre
teased.
"I've got the Pheonix."
Duo grinned at their shock. "If it weren't for the Pheonix, Heero and I
would be either dead or captured."
"Are you sure it's
safe to trust him, Duo?" Quatre asked worriedly.
Duo tried not to laugh.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Seeya when we get to base! Duo out." Duo grinned at Eiko's
image on the screen. "They think the Pheonix is a guy!"
"So did you," she pointed
out with a wry smile. "Let's go."
They arrived at base
and docked the two gundams, closing the docking bay doors before exiting
the gundams. Duo told Eiko to wait in the Wing ZERO's cockpit until his
signal. She agreed with a giggle as he jumped down from the Deathscythe
Hell's cockpit.
"Hey Quatre! Get some
of those Maganacs to help me with Heero! I got him in the Deathscythe!"
"Then who's piloting
the Wing ZERO?" Quatre asked, craning his neck around to look at Heero's
gundam, but he couldn't see inside its cockpit.
Duo grinned mischievously
and turned toward the white gundam, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Yo, Pheonix! Give them a face to go with your codename!" he yelled.
Trowa and Quatre looked
at each other, then up at the cockpit. Needless to say, the were shocked
when Eiko came out.
"Hello!" she called
brightly as she hopped down. "I'm Eiko Ryushi, the Pheonix. I'm pleased
to meet you." She bowed respectfully in greeting.
"You're the Pheonix?"
Quatre gaped. "You don't look that dangerous..."
"Neither do you, Quatre,"
Trowa pointed out.
Quatre grinned shyly
at the comment. "Yeah. Good point." He looked at the unconscious Heero
as the Maganacs carried the injured pilot past and the blonde pilot shuddered
involuntarily. "What happened to him?"
"Some damn fool Leo
pilot did a kamikaze on him," Duo scowled. "The Wing ZERO is pretty bad,
too."
"I don't see how it
could have even functioned in its current state," Trowa murmured.
Duo frowned at the
normally silent boy, then abruptly rounded on Eiko. "Stop that! You're
freaking me out!"
She grinned sheepishly
and put a hand behind her head. "Sorry, but after being with you, Mr. Brick-wall-for-a-mental-shield,
it's like-"
"Okay, okay! I get
the point! Just stop making Trowa a jabber jaw! It's not him!"
Quatre looked at them
in confusion. "What's going on?"
"Eiko's a telepath.
She was manipulating Trowa to make him talk." Duo glared a mock threat
at her. "And don't start on Quatre, either!"
She shook her head.
"Never. He's too sweet."
Quatre blushed as the
others laughed.
"You're not going to
warn her not to manipulate Heero and Wufei?" Trowa asked with a faint smile.
"Naw, I'm counting
on her to keep them from trying to kill me."
"I'm more worried about
Heero trying to kill ME," she replied with a grin. Then she grimaced. "I
don't want to be a bother, but could I borrow some clothes? I don't want
to wear this lab coat I borrowed forever."
"I think there's some
clothes you can borrow, Miss Eiko," Quatre said shyly. "At least until
you can get some more."
"Could you show me,
please?"
The blonde pilot blinked.
"Uh...sure. Come on."
"Thanks, Quatre."
"So what's your opinion
of her, Trowa?" Duo asked after they'd gone. "I think she's nice enough."
"'Nice' doesn't equal
'trustworthy', Duo," Trowa replied quietly. "I don't trust her totally.
She not only can use her powers to manipulate people, but she can also
say just the right thing to people she can't mentally control to get them
to do what she wants. I would suggest being careful what you say around
her. For all we know, this could be an OZ trap."
"That's what I figured.
That's where this little baby comes in!" Duo grinned as he held up a small
metal box that had a small screen with a blinking light. "It'll tell us
where she is at all times."
"But how can it stop
her from contacting OZ mentally?"
"Eh, good point. I
dunno."
"Then that's a chance
we'll have to take at the moment."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Id!" squealed Mariemaia
as her brother entered the room. She happily ran toward him and he picked
her up, smiling at her.
"Hello, Mariemaia,"
he smiled. "Where's Father?"
"He's in there." Mariemaia
pointed toward Treize Kushrenada's office. "Where's Miss Ryushi?"
Id didn't answer her,
only walking to knock on the door of his father's office. Not waiting for
an answer, he entered. "Father? I have unpleasant news."
Treize turned away
from the window. "Oh? What is it, Id?"
"The Pheonix has defected
OZ and joined the gundam pilots. I request permission to take one of the
prototypes out to bring her back."
Treize frowned slightly.
"Are you sure she defected and wasn't kidnapped?"
"I'm sure of it. At
one point she was controlling one of the gundams and used it to destroy
the rest of my platoon."
"Very well." Treize
moved to sit at his desk. "But don't take your Leo or the new Aries prototypes.
I have something much better that has just been finished being repaired.
A mobile suit was found several months ago in an abandoned colony. A very
unique mobile suit, yet made from gundanium alloy." He picked up a stack
of papers and a photograph and handed them to Id. "The files call it the
Gundam Versago."
Id briefly glanced
over the information on the gundam and his eyebrows lifted in surprise
at one piece of information. "It has a ZERO system? Similar to..."
"The Wing ZERO and
the Epyon. Yes. If you wish to use it, I'll have it delivered here at once.
It will be yours, and yours alone."
Id looked at the picture
of the gundam, then nodded curtly. "I'll take it."
Treize smiled. "Very
well. Call in Lieutenant Zechs in and I'll have him retrieve it."
Id nodded. His very
own gundam...He would teach those upstart pilots to regret ever crossing
OZ!