Of course, don't own, yak yak yak, Bandai sucks, grouse grouse, rant rant, implied yaoi, none shown, etc.
Gundam Wing Nova: The Next Generation of Gundam Wing
Book One
Part One: Quatre's Night Out
The L1 colony cluster, main colony, Friday March 8th, 5:30 p.m.
Quatre Rebarba Winner looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his collar. He grimaced as he thought about what Duo was forcing him into. "I'm gonna kill him."
Duo, during a prank calling session, had set him up on a date with Dorothy Catalonia. They had been good friends as he searched for his boyfriend Trowa Barton during his stay at the Sanq Kingdom with Heero... However, when he went back out to space to battle the White Fang, she joined the enemy, culminating in her running him through with a fencing epee.
Quatre touched the place where she had penetrated gingerly. Even now, in the middle of After Colony 197, it still hurt to think about it. He looked to the bright side, and wondered if this could be an opportunity to make up with her. He began to leave the room.
Of course, maybe she'll gut me again... He raced back and retrieved his twin 9mm pistols and tucked them into their holsters.
" Just in case."
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Dorothy looked at herself in the mirror and pulled on her black gloves that went with her black dress. This dress has seen a lot, she mused. From Ms. Relena becoming queen, to her near assassinations not long after. Only fitting that I should wear it to yet another momentous event in my life. She smiled, thinking of what could happen that night. Come to me, my dear Quatre Rebarba Winner...
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Duo Maxwell watched as Quatre's black convertible backed out of the driveway and drove off. "Well, I'll be damned."
Wufei Chang smiled slightly, leaning against the refrigerator. "What else is new Maxwell?"
Either Duo didn't notice or didn't care, since he went right on talking. "I can't believe that crazy son of a gun is actually gonna do it."
Heero Yuy sipped his coffee silently. "Quatre always finishes what he starts."
"Unlike some people," groaned Wufei Chang, pulling out a half jelly donut from the fridge. "Is this yours Duo?"
"Hey!" Duo dashed over and snatched the donut. " I was saving that for a special occasion! Now where's the other half?"
Wufei merely rolled his eyes. Heero stood up. "C'mon Duo. We've got a mission."
Duo raised an eyebrow. "Mission? What mission?"
"Saving Quatre from Dorothy. I've got a sinking feeling that something is going to happen tonight, and I want to make sure I'm there to see it."
Duo shrugged as Heero stalked out the door, leaving the Solitary Dragon solitary. He looked out the window, only to realize that they had taken his car. "What the?! INJUSTICE!"
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Sally Po heard knock on her door. It was late at night, and she had stayed after to finish up some paperwork, so who could be here at this hour? Better safe than sorry... She slid her Preventors .38 Special out of her desk drawer and snuck over beside the door.
"Come in." The door swung outward and she clocked the first figure that entered with the butt of her gun. The figure fell to the floor, long white-blond hair trailing behind like a cape. The only person she knew with long hair that color was...
"Zechs?!"
A throaty groan was her only reply. She suddenly felt very guilty as her heart sank into the stomach. She was almost afraid to turn around, but she did anyway. Ahead of her was none other than Lucrezia Noin, standing slack-jawed at her fiancee lying on the ground in a heap.
"Uh, oops?"
"Oops?" Noin came out of her state of shock and looked at Sally incredulously. "You knock my fiancee out with a Preventors Special and all you've got to say is OOPS?! That's a hell of a greeting!"
"Ok, hi, Noin. How's everything?" Sally tried again, a little annoyance showing through her voice.
Noin rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long night.
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Duo picked up his cell phone, very rapidly, since he knew Heero hated the song that played when it rang. "This is the God of Death speaking. Go."
"Hi, Duo. It's been a while," spoke a familiar voice.
"Hey, Ms. Noin! Haven't seen you since the Eve Wars 3 months ago!"
"It's been too long Duo."
"Wait a minute, I thought you were off terraforming Venus or something."
"Mars, Duo, Mars."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Well, regardless, what are you doing here?"
There was a pause. "Must be a bad connection, Duo. I didn't catch that."
"Don't worry. It's not particularly important. We're going to save Quatre from Dorothy."
"Dorothy Catalonia?"
"The same."
"Good luck."
"Thanks." He turned the phone off. "We're gonna need it."
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Dorothy answered the door, and Quatre smiled politely. "Ready to go Dorothy?" Before she could answer, however, a bullet slammed the door frame, sending splinters flying. Quatre looked to the frame and tackled Dorothy as a spray of 7.62mm slugs whizzed overhead. He whipped out his own pistol and returned fire.
"Dorothy, let's get out of here!" Dorothy was off and running, ducked to avoid any flak. She reached the car and started it up. Quatre zigged and zagged, with plenty of near hits. One bullet caught him in the arm, and he yelled involuntarily. Red blood spattered on the asphalt, and Quatre dove to one side to avoid another volley. He got to the car and hopped over the door. He slammed the accelerator and they shot off.
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Duo and Heero arrived a while later. Duo ran to the door and saw the splintered door frame. He looked around inside quickly and called in for Quatre or Dorothy. Receiving no answer, he yelled back to Heero. Heero quickly scanned around, suddenly pulled his gun, and shot right at Duo. Duo didn't have time to react and flinched. Someone grunted loudly and Duo turned around to see a man in head to toe black, with a stylized lion on his shoulder fall to the ground.
"Heero, do you see what I see?"
"I see it."
"OZ," they noted in unison.
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Quatre looked in the rear-view mirror and swore quietly. There was a black van with the OZ lion on the front barreling down on them. He took out his other pistol and looked to Dorothy. "Ever used one of these?"
"I shot you in the hand with one, remember?"
"Forgive my memory for being fuzzy. You did STAB me after all," he snapped
"You're not still bitter, are you?" Dorothy asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
A bullet dropping in through the windshield cut the conversation short. Quatre swerved and straightened out putting himself behind the van. "Blast the tires, Dorothy!"
"Why?!"
"Blast the tires!"
Dorothy squeezed and heard three deafening cracks, and three dings, signaling that her accuracy obviously wasn't what it used to be. "Uh, time for Plan B."
"You haven't been practicing have you?" Quatre snipped. He drove up beside the van and took aim at the driver. The side hatches of the van opened up and OZ troops harnessed in to the inside of the van opened fire. Dorothy shot four of them in the first 2 seconds. "Forget what I said about practice," Quatre noted.
Quatre fired at the driver, shattering the window and showering the interior with gore. The truck swerved as the empty skull of the driver hit the dashboard and his hands suddenly went limp. Quatre barely had time to breathe before the van slammed into his convertible. The laws of physics, unbending as they are, snapped into effect as a two ton convertible rammed into a three ton van. Thanks to the slope of the colony, the car flipped over the van, sailed through the air and Quatre and Dorothy unbuckled. Landing on the ground, the two watched in horror as the car sailed further and further. It finally hit the mooncrete. It bounced.
"Did that car just bounce?"
The car stood on end for about a minute, then fell backwards with a thump. There wasn't a dent, ding, or scratch on it.
"What the hell kinda shocks did you put of that thing?!" Dorothy exclaimed in sheer awe.
A bullet narrowly missing again snapped them out of their astonished reverie.
Quatre unloaded his gun into the closest OZ trooper and grabbed the MP8 submachine gun that was dropped. He mowed the troops down with a quick burst of automatic fire, and cranked the hammer, ejecting the now empty magazine.
"Now you got me all worked up," Dorothy said. "Do all your dates go like this?"
"I wouldn't know. This is kinda my first one," Quatre replied sheepishly. Between piloting and working for peace, then piloting again, he hadn't had any time for relationships, save for Dorothy, and that... That was up in the air. He walked over to the dead OZ soldiers and apologized. After grabbing a few clips, he reloaded the MP8 and went back to the car. "Stick this in the glove box."
"Must be an awfully big glove box..." Dorothy noted. As she opened it, she saw that it was indeed a large glove box. She pushed out mostly small items, such as Tums and Altoids, but ran into a half of a jelly donut and an old issue of Playboy. She looked at Quatre inquisitively.
"Those are Duo's. Blast it, I told him not to use the car! Hold on Dorothy, I need to make a call."
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Zechs picked up the phone. "Preventor HQ. This is Preventor Wind speaking."
"Zechs? What are you doing back?"
"Just stopped in for a while."
"It's not like you to just stop in for a visit. I thought you were off terraforming Mars."
Again, there was a pause. "I didn't catch that Quatre."
"Never mind. You won't guess what happened."
Zechs sipped his coffee. "I'm listening."
"OZ is back."
Zechs' eyes went wide and he choked on his coffee, then spit it out. After looking up from coughing and sputtering, he saw his dear Lucrezia Noin almost bright red, coffee dripping off her nose and purple hair. "This had better mean the fate of the universe or I'm gonna..."
"OZ is back."
"What?!" She snatched the phone from Zechs' hand. "Quatre? You there?"
"Yeah, what happened Ms. Noin?"
"Zechs can't hold his coffee. Heero and Duo are running cover for you. Make sure they're following you."
"Don't worry, I can protect Dorothy just fine. We'll be at La Extorqueur, that French restaurant. Make sure they know."
"Wait-!" Quatre hung up. Noin turned to her partner. "Well, I never expected Quatre and Dorothy to get together..."
"Viva la amour," said Zechs, grinning.
"Didn't know you spoke French. Come on."
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Heero grimaced as he looked around at the van and bodies scattered about. "Hmm... Can't be Quatre. Too much carnage."
"Well, you've seen him when he gets into one of those moods, man. He goes nuts."
Heero's features turned yet harder, remembering that fateful battle with the Mobile Suit he would call his own soon after, the Wing Gundam ZERO. "Yeah... You've seen him do that?"
"No, but I've heard," joked Duo. "Hey, anything's possible tonight though," he noted somberly.
-----------
At about the same time, Quatre and Dorothy pulled into the restaurant
"Well, geez, Mister Winner, you sure know how to treat a girl right!" Dorothy said in her best Southern Belle voice. Quatre couldn't help but smile at this.
"Well, I try, m'dear," he said grinning. Oh crap, I just called her dear...
Dorothy laughed, thinking, He called me dear! Oh wonderful! My dear Quatre, we'll be together soon!
They entered and the maitre'd showed them to their seats. It was a cozy little place with candles, a strolling minstrel and a velvet tablecloth, the works, if of course it hadn't been the completely wrong atmosphere for what Quatre had to say.
Quatre flinched as he heard a few wrong notes and scribbled something on a napkin with his pen. He slid it under the table to Dorothy. She giggled as the waiter came and they ordered drinks.
After getting their drinks, Quatre took a deep breath and prepared to drop the bomb on Dorothy. "Dorothy... you're really nice and pretty and all that good stuff but I'm-" A bullet slicing off two bangs interrupted him and he sat bolt upright as the candles blew out. About to be shot...
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The sniper swore as he reloaded from the next building over, but sensed someone behind him. A man in a green tanktop and black shorts leapt onto the roof. He fired once but took a bullet in the chest for his trouble.
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Duo walked into the restaurant and quickly scanned around for Heero. The maitre'd looked at his peculiar attire and Duo flashed his Preventors badge. The maitre'd nodded and was about to show him in when a black suited man fell from the roof. When he landed, his head shattered like a ripe melon. Duo gulped and looked at the maitre'd with sorry eyes. "Sorry about the mess, saright?"
"S'okay."
"Is Quatre Reba-Rebara-Quatre Winner here?" The maitre'd pointed to their direction. "Thanks pal," Duo said, walking off.
Heero entered, flecks of viscera and other gross particles scattered randomly about his person.
"He's with me!" Duo called from the other side of the restaurant. The poor bedraggled maitre'd cocked a thumb towards the area Duo presently occupied. Heero kept on walking, not noticing the stares he got because of his ribald apparel.
"Not making too many friends today huh, Mista Winna!" Quatre heard a familiar voice say.
"Duo!" Quatre greeted. Dorothy greeted Duo with a fake grin.
"Listen, I'd love to chat with you and the cockroach in the black dress, but this is a business call."
As Duo related the events at lightning fast speed, one thought raced through Quatre's mind. Did he just call Dorothy a cockroach?
"So in short, OZ is back and wants to kill us five and anyone else close to us."
"You know you could've just said that," Dorothy noted, if not merely to spite Duo.
"Ah, shut yer trap," Duo scoffed. "Well, just watch your back tonight."
"Will do, Duo."
"Well, gotta be going, see ya 'round, buddy-boy," finished Duo, who turned and walked over to Heero. One look at Duo betrayed exactly what he was thinking, namely about Quatre and Dorothy.
"Get your mind out of the gutter Duo," Heero stated flatly, then added, "Let's leave them be."
A small black object streaked past Heero's head and he spun, following the object's course. Time seemed to slow for Heero as he grabbed a plate and flung it at the object. It hit its mark and the object ricocheted into the ceiling, where it promptly exploded.
OZ is getting desperate. They're using rocket launchers in a civilian area, Heero thought grimly. "Quatre! Get out of here!" The yell was rather unnecessary as Quatre and Dorothy were halfway to the exit already.
However, such a quick exit was not in store for our heroes, as several OZ special forces troops crashed in through the windows. Three hit the ground, dead courtesy of Heero and Duo, but the other four landed unscathed. They leveled their machine guns and opened fire. Dorothy had made it out but Quatre ran afoul of the troops. Seriously outgunned, he found only one choice open to him. He withdrew his pistols and strafed right as smoke, glass, hot lead, and shredded tablecloths flew through the air. He fired blindly as he finally reached the door and dove through it, slamming head first into the car door.
"Quatre!" Dorothy shouted as she realized what the thump was. She dragged him into the car and peeled out.
Heero and Duo stood up from behind the table they had tipped. The restaurant was a wreck. A shred of tablecloth landed on Duo's nose. He wiggled his nose and sniffed to get it off.
"Let's get out of here, Duo," Heero's monotone voice broke the silence. Duo continued to sniff and shake his head as they left. The maitre'd looked around in horror at the decimated interior. He saw a note on the floor. There scrawled on the paper were the words "Send us the bill. Preventors."
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"Ow..."
"Are you all right Quatre?"
"I'll be fine... after about a week of rest..." Quatre replied numbly. He patted his skull gingerly. "I hope this isn't ruining the mood..."
"I'm having a wonderful time, Quatre!" Quatre stared slack jawed at the girl driving. "No seriously! I love this action! It's invigorating!" Dorothy threw her hands into the air as she said the last sentence, and Quatre pounced on the steering wheel.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!"
Dorothy looked at the teenage millionaire now sprawled across her lap. "Well if you wanted to drive so badly you could've asked." He turned into a parking lot and stepped her foot on the brake.
"Ok... let's talk this out..." he gasped exasperated. He rolled over and noticed immediately his precarious position. He opened the door and slid out, then stood up and leaned over. "Dorothy... You're crazy."
"Oh but that's why you love me, isn't it?" she smiled. Quatre gulped. Love? Hold on a sec... He didn't remember saying anything about love, but she was beautiful... and charming and... Whoa, whoa, whoa... there's that whole sexuality thing here. I thought... but she... and him... and...
"I think I need to sit down..." he moaned. "My head hurts..." He went around, slumped into the seat and put his hand over his eyes.
"Is it that bump you took?"
"Uh...yeah."
Dorothy stretched out and threw her arms over Quatre's shoulders. "Want me to kiss it and make it better?" she whispered in his ear.
Oh my God, she's coming on to me!
Boy if this doesn't get him, nothing will.
Mercifully, the phone rang. Quatre grabbed the phone, maybe a little too quickly. "Yeah?!"
"Quatre," a rough voice instructed, "meet Noin and I at the Ace's Hole."
"Sure thing, Zechs," Quatre agreed. "Wait, is that a..."
"It's a dance club," Dorothy noted in a sing-song voice. "It's also right over there."
"Thanks, Dorothy. We'll be there, Zechs." He saw Zechs look out the window to the parking lot across from them. "Small colony, huh?"
Zechs laughed slightly. "Wind, over and out."
What a night... "Well this isn't going quite according to plan..."
"Are you kidding?! I LOVE THIS!"
Well, this just took a turn for the weird... "You're nuts..."
"I think we already got into this," Dorothy reminded him.
"Oh yeah," Quatre noted. "Let's go." This is going to Hell in a hand-basket that's for sure...Did I just think that? I must be hanging around Duo too much...
But the entire time, something in the back of his head kept telling him "Go for it! GO FOR IT!" As the night wore on, the telling became more of a direct order, and even more like a fat man in an overcoat bellowing at him. They pulled in to the club.
The atmosphere smelled of pot, booze and manufactured fog and the strobe lights set Quatre's pupils to dilating like a camera lens. He wasn't feeling comfortable, to say the least. This is worse than the time Duo dragged me to one of his "specialty stores."
"Quatre! Dorothy! Over here!" a female voice called to them. They turned to see one Lucrezia Noin waving them over to the table where Heero, Duo, and Zechs were also situated.
"Why Commander Milliardo, how pleasant to see you again," Dorothy mused.
"Can it Dorothy," the former White Fang leader warned.
Ignoring the two former comrades in arms, Noin began to fill Quatre in on the background she had. "Sally informed me that former OZ and White Fang troops are gathering in great numbers. We've seen first hand what they're capable of, with apparently no leadership. We have to be extra careful from now on."
"Tell us something we didn't know," Duo sniffed.
"Do all your friends follow you like this?" Dorothy asked
Quatre shrugged and said, "These guys are nothing, you should see the Maganac Corps."
"Why don't you guys go dance?" Noin suggested. Quatre's heart dropped into his stomach for maybe the fifth time. WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!
"Come on Quatre!" Dorothy said, grabbing his arm and yanking him onto the dance floor. The music had turned slow and the vents had sucked out most of the pot. It was perfect for romance, but, as many other things had been that night, completely wrong.
"Well to say the least, they're a cute couple," Noin smirked, trying to back a giggle.
"Only one problem," Heero corrected. "Quatre's gay." It was about this time that three jaws dropped.
"Wait a minute, how'd YOU find out?!" Duo half-screamed, half-interrogated. His face dropped again as he wondered.
Brainless pervert, Heero thought. "I asked him once. I had some suspicions and I asked him."
"Well, we might be witnessing history in the making, Heero-pal."
"Dorothy... I've got something that I have to say before we go any further..."
Dorothy's mind raced. What could he possibly have to say that would hold this up?
On the other side of the room, one of the club hoppers opened his briefcase and unloaded the contents. After some quick movements, he leveled the reassembled 7.62mm rifle at Dorothy.
"I..." A rifle? he thought, cutting himself off. He looked up again to confirm. No! They're going to go through Dorothy to get to me! He spun Dorothy, faking a twirl. A shot rang out, and Quatre stiffened in Dorothy's arms. She felt a warm liquid on her hands as Quatre collapsed on her. She knelt to the ground with him and saw the red blotch forming on the back of his vest.
"Oh...no... Ms. Noin! He's been shot!" Everything froze before the music started up again now to a point where the rhythm was the only thing audible. Duo smirked, "Perfect music for a fight." Heero dashed past him and kicked the undercover sniper in the back, sending him flying into the wall.
"Come on Duo, this is no time to joke."
"How could I forget?" Duo went out the door and stopped short. "Uh...Preventors. Freeze?" The three Virgos face sensors flashed and they turned to him. "Why me?"
Three feet came flying through the Mobile Dolls and collided with Duo's face and chest. He flew backward into the club and skidded into the turntables.
"That was easy," said one of the ninjas as he followed up to finish the job. "But what about his support?"
"You mean me?" The Ninja turned around to see a fist connect with his head followed by a foot spinning around and turning his vision black. "You all right, Duo?"
"Five more minutes..." Duo moaned. "What about those Virgos outside?!"
Heero searched the unconscious Ninja and found a small remote, no bigger than the one Trowa had slipped Wufei and Duo while they were locked up in the moon. He hit the button, creating a Virgo in thin air. Heero shot Duo a look.
"I thought it was real..."
Heero shook his head and ran towards the door. Kicking it open, he rolled out of the way as two ninjas kicked at him. The feet missed Heero but collided with Duo, who again hit the floor.
"Alright, I've had enough of this hand to hand bullshit..." he muttered, drawing his gun and shooting the two ninjas. Heero dodged a punch and returned the favor with a left. He shook his head at the braided boy as he caught a kick, but paid for it as the other leg of the Ninja struck the back of his head.
Zechs had joined the fray after making sure the paramedics were on the way, and just missed a hammer blow, receiving a kick to the head for it. He stumbled back and leaned on a crate. The Ninja came charging in and Zechs thrust his foot out, hitting him squarely in the jaw. There was a satisfying snap of bone and ligament, and Zechs regained balance, drew, and fired in one fluid motion. "Still got it."
"Quatre, say something! Come on!"
"Ooooowwww..." Quatre groaned. Dorothy launched herself on top of him.
"You're alive! Oh, Quatre! Why'd you do something like that?" she said, letting up.
"I just knew I had to protect you.."
"Oh Quatre! You really do love me!" she launched on him again.
Oh the hell with it, why am I fooling myself? "Of course, Dorothy."
"Hey lovebirds! The sniper is ready to talk," called Duo. Quatre stood up rather painfully, and removed his vest. The bullet clattered to the ground as Quatre rubbed his back.
"That rifle shot just managed to pierce the vest... Ow..." He commented.
"You're a lucky man, Quatre...why'd you have a bulletproof vest on anyway?" Dorothy asked.
"To be honest, I was afraid you would stab me again."
"Gee thanks."
Quatre walked over to the sniper. "Alright, why are you trying to kill us?"
"I'm not telling you anything. I--AGH!" There was a sickening crunch as Heero snapped the man's arm in two.
"Talk or I'll break more," he snarled.
"Ok, ok! OZ has been rebuilding for a while now, so we can get back on top. H-he told me to kill that one!" he stammered pointing at Quatre.
"Who's he?" Quatre returned.
"I don't know, he's just a shadow on a viewscreen! I--Uh!" the man collapsed as Heero elbowed him in the base of the skull.
"He won't be telling us anything more."
Noin piped up. "Why don't you two get lost and enjoy yourselves? We'll clean up here." Quatre and Dorothy looked to each other and dashed out the door. "I hope he's got a good excuse for poor Trowa."
"You think you know a guy..." Duo groaned. He looked out to interior of the room, blood glass, debris, bodies strewn about. "What a mess."
After gripping the steering wheel as tightly as possible, Quatre's hands were nearly bleeding. Dorothy had been sitting on her hands, in a valiant attempt to keep them off Quatre while he was driving, and vise versa. They dashed out of the car and Dorothy pounced on him the minute they got inside, kissing him wildly in a whirlwind of pent-up emotions. He returned the favor but then stopped her.
"How far is this going to go, Dorothy?" She got a look in her eye that told clearly, how far it was going to go. He smiled back. "That's what I thought."
End Part 1