Half A Chance – At Innocence
Disclaimer: Me? Own Gundam Wing? You're crazy!
Notes: Apologies. I have been on holiday in Cornwall. I like Cornwall! I took my computer with me so I could write in my spare time, and I had a bit of time, it rained for a while. But I've been surfing, and I've been on the beach, and I've been in the sea, and the sea is always a great inspiration to me! Holidays are good, but I had a killer headache most the time… and I've gotten really ill now… poor Minako! Never mind, I almost always have a headache, and tend to be ill most the time, so I go on my computer to help it! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, I think I do, but I'm not all that sure… oh, and GO HIIRO! Read this and you might get that…
Dedication: This is for all of you who may be reading, or even reviewing! No Internet access for two weeks has caused me to not see if anyone is reviewing. Also, I'd like to dedicate it to Melara-san, because she is a very good authoress and a nice person! So is Kattie-san! You should go and read their fics, Duo is Sick by Melara is very interesting, and Stars Gaze is very good too!
One more thing – I don't have Support Services, and I have heard you can get hit ratings with it. I can't get hit ratings; therefore I don't know how many people are reading this! Please review me, so I can see! Anything welcome, constructive criticism, flames, even 'good' or 'bad' will do! PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE REVIEW ME PLEASE? *Puppy-dog eyes* Please? My muses are trying to leave me again… meet Myuzu Kyuka, my muse!
Myuzu: Hey, I'm currently trying to leave for the South Pole!
Also, meet my other muse, Kichigaijimita, who messes with my head and tries to write humor. I don't think I'm good at humor. Leita does, which surprises me.
Kichi: I mess with Minako's head! That's why the AN are always long and weird!!!
I have been writing this chapter in the car… so bears with me. I recently edited a bunch of Ground Zero scans as a weird birthday card for Leita, but it's weird… anyway Leita, if you are reading this, I really am working on it! You'll see! I didn't get Leita a present from my holiday, because I couldn't remember if she liked rock or fudge… so, would all of you do me a HUGE favor? I try and write more if you do! The favor is to find Leita Motomiya the author, and review something of hers!
"For reasons beyond me, Gennai is interested in those two, Taichi," Izzy spoke without trying to keep the curiosity out of his tone.
Taichi sighed. One week, it had been one week, and after the odd conversation on the Tuesday, they had gotten nothing more from the two pilots. Hiiro seemed to be silently telling them to get off the subject and leave it alone. Taichi was happy with that after learning that Hiiro did have a gun, and had no qualms about using it. Izzy wasn't worried by the gun at all, and had become convinced that Hiiro wasn't the killing type, even after hearing all they did. That didn't mean he asked questions to Hiiro's face. It was obvious he just wasn't going to talk about it. Now, Gennai wanted the CCs to take them to the Digital World. They weren't about to refuse Gennai, but it still seemed a little weird.
"And what Gennai says goes Izzy, you know that better than I do."
"But it still seems a little strange, don't you agree?"
"Izzy… everything about our lives would probably seem more than a little strange to anyone who isn't us. Think of it as just another edition to the weird things we know."
"Maybe you are right Taichi, but it still seems weird that we now know two people from a completely different timeline, it seems. And I would like to know more-"
"But you are not going to ask any questions, understand? I don't exactly want a bullet anywhere near me at the moment, got it?"
"I still think that gun isn't loaded Taichi, you're just being paranoid."
"And I'm the leader Koushiro, and I say that I checked the gun and it IS loaded. And I probably became close to korosu-ed just to check that one for you, okay? I don't fancy any bullets near you either; you're the brains of the team, got it? I don't want the brains of the team becoming the brains on the wall…" Taichi started giggling in the childish fashion he reserved for jokes he made to Izzy.
"Taichi, you can be so much more than annoying at times."
"I whole-heartedly agree with Izzy, Tai. You need to grow up a bit!" Sora smiled in the doorway, and tried to get a grip on the conversation. "So, what are you guys talking about? All I got was Tai making a lame joke about guns or something. There is a gun somewhere?" Oh yeah. Taichi and Izzy had kept this to themselves.
"Oh, only how I nearly got myself killed by Death-Glare Boy again! That guy can't take a joke."
"Taichi, if you know someone's name, you CAN use it, you know?"
"I know!"
"What did you do this time?"
"I looked at his gun. It's loaded I tell you, loaded!"
"I think you are imagining this gun, you talk about it so much to us."
Izzy's decision to cut in was probably not the best idea. "Oh no Sora, the gun is quite real. Taichi had a lovely time having it pointed at him."
"…Oh."
Taichi made a strange sort of signal to Izzy, and then decided to launch into a proper conversation. "So, you know Glare Boy? He's from another dimension!"
Sora looked at him like she was about to send him to the mental institute when he started defending himself.
"Honestly, Glare Boy is from another dimension! And Gennai wants us to take him and his friend to the Digital World! Gennai won't tell us why though. And we had a conversation last week where he gave us a bunch on interesting hints, and then would tell us what he was talking about! And Izzy keeps asking him question, but I don't think he should because Izzy will get shot because Glare Boy is totally crazy! And there is something going on with that other kid, I mean he is really depressing and wont tell us anything!"
"Calm down Taichi. So those two really are from another dimension?"
Izzy decided that he needed to make up for confirming the authenticity of the gun. "Wherever it is they came from, there is a war going on, and from what I can gather they fight."
"Izzy, what do you mean 'From what I can gather'?"
"Well, they aren't exactly telling."
"Oh… well, maybe we should all go on the Saturday then? I might be able to get something out of them,"
"But Sora, you'll get korosu-ed!" Taichi exclaimed with the Cheshire Cat grin plastered on his features.
"Ah, but Taichi, I'm Sora and I can find things out that other people could never!" The temptation of the statement was all but too much for Sora and she went ^__^V
So, it was Saturday, and the CCs were gathered with the two pilots at the ever-so popular school. (I don't like that school all that much) Naturally, when introducing themselves there was an odd moment between Daisuke and Taichi about who the leader was. It ended with them agreeing that Taichi was the overall leader, but Daisuke was like second in command and leader of the second group. But in true Daisuke-fashion he crossed arms and pouted for a while before deciding that Hiiro was standing too close to Hikari and should be reprimanded. Lets just say that one ended up with Daisuke being lucky and Hiiro not aiming anyway. After the pilots introduced themselves and said… well… nothing about themselves, the decided now was as good a time as any to go to the Digital World (oh you just know this is gonna be fun)
Once they were there, they found themselves in Primary Village (yay! I like Primary Village!) to be greeted by Elecmon, Piximon, and Wizardmon. (For those who don't know, Piximon and Wizardmon are actually supposed to be long dead… but it's DM we're talking, they could be re-formatted!)
"Hello again my friends!" Elecmon quipped merrily, "If you're looking for Gennai I'm sure he's around he somewhere!"
"Uh… thanks Elecmon!" Daisuke replied with the Daisuke-Grin he's so well known for. Piximon was holding up that annoying little stick and poking Hiiro with it, an action sure to cause trouble. Hiiro was just standing there, ignoring, until Piximon started whacking him upside the head with it. Have you ever seen those tension marks on anime? You know, the four corners facing in on each other? Well, Hiiro was slowly getting one of those on his head, and finally after a particularly hard whack, gave Piximon the Death Glare to the nth degree. Piximon wasn't fazed and kept whacking him until Hiiro grabbed the stick with ease and threatened to snap it. Piximon was all about stopping then (smart dude) As an afterthought, Taichi mentioned that Hiiro liked to carry a gun. So Piximon decided he had a reason for hitting Hiiro so much.
"It was a test of strength, stamina, speed, agility, resilience, and I don't know you so I haven't tried yet. What's your name kid?"
Hiiro, with the traditional 'Yui-is-pissed' look, shot back. "Hiiro Yui." There was so little behind it that someone could get a computer to have a more emotion-filled voice. But Yui is capable of that… at times… Wizardmon was busy talking to Kari and Gatomon (catching up I guess) but had that look in his eye that said 'I'm paying attention to something all the more interesting' blatantly. However, just what that was wasn't apparent. So, they went and had a look around, and found a note from Gennai saying he'd meet them at the soup place where they make that lovely Stone Soup. So, having nothing better to do, our rather large group of um… 13 strong went off in search of soup.
Arriving at the soup restaurant, they found a young Gennai sitting at a large table with Ken (yay! Things just get better and better! Where I'm concerned, Ken has a bizarre and twisted version of empathy!) So the pilots had to introduce themselves AGAIN (though everyone is more interested in Hiiro… Cat is just blending into the shadows at the mo) Ken had that lovely rare smile thing going (I love that) and also the 'I know something you don't know' superiority as they approached the conversation.
"Greetings and Salutations my friends. I'm sure you would like to know what the situation at current is, and why we have two new friends. Well, to put it into simple terms, the Digital World is not so much a shadow world to just where the Chosen come from, it is also a Shadow World to just about every dimension. It just so happens that the world the Chosen come from has a direct link with this one. I am what known as a 'Dimensional Guardian' or DG for short. My job is to look after the dimensional portals, control who comes and goes and the like."
"So," Taichi began, "You brought these two straight through here to our world?"
"Quite the contrary Taichi, someone else brought them here."
"But who?"
"Ah, this is where the story gets more interesting. A man came to see me only a day ago, talking to me about the dimensional portals. I don't know how he got here, but I do know for sure he isn't from any other dimension. He asked me if anyone had come from D-1 recently."
"D-1?"
"Dimension-1, the term used for the dimension the pilots come from. Your dimension is D-2, and there are many, many other dimensions as well. There is two more that link to this world, which you know as the Digital World, but is also known as the Digital Plane."
"So what did this guy say?"
"The man I spoke to introduced himself as Loster Clay, and I've no doubt he is a DG much like myself. He asked me about the portals from D-1, and I said yes, two people recently came through. He said that there must be a reason for it, and he'd like to find out, and left."
"Well that sure was interesting!"
"Fascinating… simply fascinating…" Izzy stated in his thoughtful trance-like state. He pulled out his laptop and typed the new information in, and the screen lit up for a while, before returning to the DOS screen from before, for no apparent reason. "AH! This is so annoying! This kind of thing never used to happen! What did you do to my computer?" Izzy spoke to Hiiro with that crazy 'You messed with my computer' look in his eyes. It's safe to say that he's none too happy. Hiiro shrugged, in a definite 'Don't care' way. Knowing that the gun was somewhere, he went for the safer (well, maybe not…) option, and spoke this time to Quatre (who's gone unnoticed for such a long time now) "Are you sure you won't give us those codes? I think we really need them!"
"I'm sure… I'm sure because those codes are complex and hard to crack when surrounded by others. On their own they are fairly simple. Most of the codes for the program are common programming codes and algorithms any novice could work out, and if they did, and we gave them those three codes, you don't know the problems it could possess."
"It's a system to be used for tactical use right? And it feeds information to the brain? Then easily over-exposure could kill, and that would get rid of the problem!"
"You don't understand! If one person has three codes, then many other people do too! It's not difficult, but the codes aren't something most people could work using pen and paper method and be done quick enough. They would use a computer, and a lot of people hack databases for that kind of information. OZ probably has the ZERO by now, and if they knew the protocols they could easily duplicate it, and there aren't many people skilled enough to work all the codes together. The only people who can are against OZ anyway!"
"Wouldn't that problem crop up when writing the program itself anyway? How could you write a program with such complex codes if you weren't using a computer?"
"I told you. It was a mixture of basic program knowledge, some very complex codes and codes from blueprints. I didn't need a computer to write the codes, I did it on paper and programmed it into ZERO. No one is about to try and hack into computer systems on an MS, that's just stupid! I'm telling you I can't give the codes, and there is no way you'll be able to make me! It's bad enough the system exists, I can't let anyone find out how to replicate it!"
"Then why did you build the system in the first place? If no one can use it and you think it's so bad, why in the hell did you create it? Why-"
"That's enough!"
The conversation was cut short by the loud voice of Hiiro. It seemed he was the only other person who truly understood the situation, and Izzy had a good idea, but everyone else seemed fairly in the dark.
"Izumi, just shut up. This has nothing to do with you, with any of you."
"It has everything to do with us now!" Taichi's voice carried the commanding tone he used only in dire situations. "We've told you everything and you should return the favor! It seems we're going to have to work together so we' re going to have to understand each other, and the only way I know how to do that is to talk!"
If Hiiro's current Death-Glare record could be beaten, it was at that moment. Taichi, however, had found himself in his role of leader, sticking up for the members of his team, and unafraid. He didn't get the crest of Courage for nothing. After a short while, Hiiro broke the silence. "There are some things you do not need to know at the moment, if ever. You may have a point, but you don't understand and I don't think any of you could. This is, if anything, the worst time to talk. You need to apologize, now." However, Taichi's role of leader included stubbornness unmatched, and Izzy's was the only thing closest to it at that moment. And Hiiro was getting angry. There was a long silence, which was finally broken by Quatre.
"Hiiro… Koushiro is right, I had no reason to build the ZERO, create the system, and I have to take responsibility for that. It was my fault, mine alone."
"No. This wasn't your fault. You didn't come up with the concept, and you didn't know any better. Do you understand?"
"Then who's fault was it, Hiiro? IN the end it was down to me. I perfected the system, I built ZERO, I destroyed the colonies… it was my fault…"
"No." The exchange was fast becoming confusing for the CCs. There was too much conflicting information now. "No Quatre, you can't keep blaming yourself. You weren't yourself when you even started, and the system was controlling you. You weren't in control of your actions."
"Stop it! Why are you doing this? You act like you're trying to help but why? I tried to kill you! And I would have, but I killed Trowa instead! You should have killed me when you had the chance!"
"No. You have to stop thinking about that now. It's not something you can fix now, you should fix it when you do have the chance and you need to forget about it now, and understand that it wasn't your fault."
"I can't forget it… they won't let me Hiiro, and you shouldn't either. It happened and I can't just say it doesn't matter when it does!"
The restaurant seemed to leave, and then, without any real reason, there they all were, on a beach, where all the colors seemed grayed. Ken and Kari were the first to notice it and said at almost identical times, "Why are we at the Dark Ocean?"
TO BE CONTINUED
