Chapter Nine



Back to where the meeting was taking place.

"What I don't understand is why those WAKS weren't Mobile Dolls!" Duo exclaimed, confused.

Heero's eyes narrowed, "This has to be a trap. It's got to be. Why would that battle have been so easy?"

"Well, whatever they're thinking, we have to take action soon if we are going to stop them," Trowa added.

"I am only going to say this once, " Noin turned to Relena and Duette, "You two have got to get out of here. It's not safe,"

Duette frowned, "But I want to help!! I'm not going to just sit around and watch as Duo might risk his life, again."

Everyone was looking at them.

"Duette, please. I don't want you to get hurt! Don't you understand?!" Duo was getting frustrated now.

Duette stood up from her seat, "Yes! That's it! I want to help all of you! I don't want to just stay away and wait for you to come back!! I promise, I'll do all I can to help!"

"But how can you help? Tell me that!" Yuki asked, her voice slightly edged.

"We can't just sit here, going through every little disagreement. Let's just go along with Duette. Duo, we'll all watch over her, ok?" Quatre said as he put a hand on Duo's shoulder.

Duo shook his head, "But.someone like Duette, well, she doesn't know how to watch all that's going on! Something could happen to her when we're all busy fighting!"

Yoshi was leaned against a wall, along with Kaoru, with Trowa not far away from them.

"Duo." Kaoru said simply.

"Nani? What do you think, Kaoru?" Duo asked as he turned to her.

She closed her eyes, "Just let her go with one of us, she'll be okay,"

"Come on, minna. Let's not argue over this! Duo! Let her.just let her come with us!" Yoshi tried to fix things. She too wanted to get out of this boring excuse for a base.

Relena hugged Heero, "But.I can't bring peace like I did before.it's gone way out of my hands! Heero, can I stay too?"

Kimi piped up into the conversation, "Relena can stay with me, Duette can go with.I don't know! Anybody else want Duette?"

Quatre was quick to say, "No!", along with Trowa.

Then a thought hit him, "Matte!! Where's Wufei?? And Hibishi?"

Yoshi raised an eyebrow, and smirked, "Hmm....."

And to everyone's surprise, it was Kaoru who shouted, very loudly: "WUFEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIBISHI!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU??!?!?!?!!?"

Everyone was a little shaken by the sudden shriek for two of the Gundam Pilots. Quatre looked down, he'd never heard anyone scream like that. But it was kind of different since Kaoru was the one who yelled for them. Her voice echoed out into the MS dome, to where Wufei and Hibishi were looking at eachother's Gundams, quite oblivious to anyone else.

"Nani yo? Why is Kaoru screaming like that for?! Geez," Hibishi demanded.

Wufei shrugged, then blushed slightly with a sort of bemused expression as they ran to the source of the echo.

As they went to the meeting room, Wufei yelled, "What was that for?! By that shout, I'm guessing you wanted us, NE?"

He then was then the center attention. Of the faces of his Gundam Pilot friends, and of the new ones.

Duo couldn't help himself, "So, Wufei! Where have you been?"

Yuki frowned, "Hibishi? What were you doing?"

Hibishi had a look of denial, "Well! We were.just trying to form a decent plan without the noise!"

"Get real," Trowa mouthed the words to Wufei.

Relena started to say something, but Heero covered her mouth.

Duette wasn't on restraints though, "Wufei!!! What were you two REALLY doing? Come on! It can't be as bad as what I do to-"

She was cut off by a yank of both her braids.

"YOW!!" Duette whined and wimpered.

Yuki, Kimi, Kaoru, and Yoshi took Hibishi to another room. The five original pilots, plus Relena and Duette, realized it was just them in the room.

"Nani? Why'd they go?" Quatre asked as he put his emotional shields down, since Kaoru was gone.

Wufei sighed heavily and turned away, "Who cares? We never asked for help."

Heero had it all worked out, as far as those other pilots anyway, "Wufei, do what you like, just don't get distracted from what we're doing here, understood?"

Duo didn't think that was something only Wufei should concern, "Well, Heero, can you really say that?"

Heero delivered a death glare, "What are you saying now, Duo? Relena knows damn well not to get in the way."

"That goes for everyone else, ne?" Trowa asked.

"Oh-ho, Trowa that includes you too!" Duo said as he nudged him.

Trowa gave him a strange look and just shook his head.

"I think your toy is getting bored." Quatre said, monotone, as he motioned towards Duette, who was writing in the dirt on the floor with her finger.

When Duo saw what she had written, he very quickly swiped it away with his foot, embarrassed and a bit mad.

"Duette! Why can't you just stay serious for once!" he yelled, even though he knew that nothing he was saying was getting through to her.

She giggled then put on a mock-serious face, "Sorry Duo! Let's got kick some BAK ass!"

Relena seconded that, "Yeah! There's no one that the Gundam Pilots can't defeat!"

Noin had gone to speak with Yuki and the others. She returned with the five of them, and she sure as hell was ready to attack. Her old lieutenant habits would have set in, but they were Gundam Pilots and obviously didn't need orders. As Noin led everyone, she wasn't completely confident, but nevertheless tried to think positive. As they skimmed the trees, it was a very odd sight to see so many Gundams, and mobile suits in general in a group like that. Duette had managed to squeeze in the small cockpit of Duo's Gundam, and Relena, not wanting to risk trying to pilot a Taurus, went in Noin's.

Normally there would have been some sort of mild conversation, but not this time. Not with all these new faces. Heero was sure that their fighting style had to be different in some way, but he didn't worry too much on it. Since those female pilots had been trained at the same tender age as the rest of them, there had to be most likely a related factor at the base of their training.

"Duo!" came the sudden but expected wail from the Deathscythe.

"What does that girl want now?" Kimi sighed. She felt uneasy about Duette being in Duo's cockpit, that she should know how to pilot a mobile suit if she's gonna be this guys 'lover'. And she barely knew any of these guys, but always got a bit red in the face when the braided pilot was around.

Heero, Wufei, Trowa, Noin, and Quatre didn't even bother to find out what Duette had started. Duo was getting really annoyed with her. Not in any serious way, though.

"Jeez, Duo! Why are you so moody?" she asked with a meek smile, than just stared out the window, no longer bearing that smile.

Duo was a bit antsy, "Duette, don't.okay I might be moody, but god help me we're about to fight a serious battle!"

"I hope you don't expect Duo to let you grope him if that's all that's on your mind," came a comment from the Sandrock.

Yuki kept a low but steady conversation with Kaoru, Yoshi, and Hibishi, possibly discussing a battle plan.

"If you've got something to say, we all want to hear it. We're all in this battle, remember?" Noin encouraged.

Yoshi looked sheepish, "Oh no it's not that.well.it's not of your concern,"

"I would hope not," said a somewhat disgruntled Wufei.

All of them did have a lot on their minds, but not as much as Quatre. He knew now that he liked Kaoru very much, and was in fact attracted to her. He sensed that Duo knew this, but maybe Duette would get wind of it, although he didn't really like the idea, and she would just go all out for Duo and finally leave him in peace. Hmph, yeah right...he thought dimly. But it was something he had gotten used to living with. Quatre had pretty much been silent, embedded in his own thoughts. He'd never really felt love before, so it was all just rushing in on him. Trowa was acting funny, and it was a bit easy to tell how he felt about Yoshi, since he expressed very little feelings. Now Wufei.man, Quatre saw through him in a flash. He had been taken aback quite a bit on how quickly the strict and uptight Wufei could fall so quickly for that blonde Hibishi.

Once again, Quatre couldn't continue his thoughts, for they were approaching the base and BAK's defenses were bound to come any second.

"Oi, crazy woman," Wufei suddenly spoke up, referring to none other than Duette.

All of the sudden, a scream could be heard, belonging to Duo. It sounded like he was pleading for his life. Both Trowa and Quatre heaved a sigh of annoyance. They knew what was really going on. Heero started to twitch mentally, and he really wished that girl was not with them.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kimi shouted.

"Eeeep! K-kisama!!" Duo yelped once more.

Then, Duette appeared on everyone's screen. Her face took up the whole thing, and she had a look of pure triumph on her face, her bright blue eyes shining. Yoshi gagged.

Quatre groaned, "Well? Finally get what you wanted, eh Duette?"

She then gave him what had to be a sensual look that said, "Watch out, or you'll be next."

He cringed at that.

Yuki was a bit disturbed, not as much as Kimi. She sat there, gaping, her mouth wide open. Kaoru had a completely baffled expression. Trowa had a hopeless look playing on his features, and he shook his head.

Heero's Wing Zero Custom smacked the Deathscythe Custom with it's arm. "Stop it. Now."

His voice had gotten icy, and it made even Duette retreat back to her corner of the cockpit. She did so reluctantly, though. Duo then regained his position. Duette was going to pay dearly for this. Especially in front of strangers, in this situation!

"Huh? What was that all about?" Kaoru wrinkled her nose, "That was annoying."

Noin coughed, "Don't mind her. Just focus on the upcoming battle, ok?"

Wufei brow was furrowed, and he frowned, "Hmph, if you thought THAT was annoying..."

No one had time to reply to that, because the base was in full view. But no WAKS, at least not yet. Quatre inputted Z-E-R-O into his Gundam, ready to go. Heero had already done this awhile ago.

Duo straightened up his shirt, and had a very pissed look on his face. He had to have looked bad in front of everyone, including Noin. He couldn't suppress a growl, as he wanted badly for Duette to just disappear right now. She kept silent.

"Here they come," Trowa announced, as the WAKS flooded out of the huge base.