Author's Notes: Shin's Voice ready to go. Wow, I've re-read my own fic and
yes, it's kind of creepy. Well, guess that was the purpose after all.
Thanks, guys, you're the greatest! We're about to reach the 100 reviews!!!
(wipes tears away) I'm so happy you stay with me.
Thanks to everyone who review. Alliyah, Dalamar, Lichan, Chibisora, Hellcat, Destrocat, Nueva Yui Maxwell, Catchfire, Ryoko-onne and everyone else. Next new moon you'll receive a Duo plushie in your dreams, courtesy of this grateful writer.
So, lets get started. Man, we've finally arrived to the most interesting part! I got a surprise for you here.........
"Beyond Life and Death"
by Shinigami's Voice
-chapter ten-
In front of them, Duo's eyes, Duo's face, Duo's honey hair locks, Duo's figure stayed, real, completely real.
And Duo's figure smiled.......
The smile turned into a smirk, the lavender eyes shining with a wicked gleam.
"How......how....." -Quatre was the only one who dared to talk, though his voice was just a trembling whisper- "How is.....this ......possible.......how......"
"What's wrong? You don't seem all that happy to see me....." -Duo's figure cut 04's words, the same diabolic glimmer in his eyes.
"Is.....is...it really.....you?" -Wufei heard his own voice ask between deep breaths.
The soft laughter coming from the black clad figure sounded with a creepy echo around the empty room. The four pilots stared at him still totally stunned.
"Good question" -Duo's silhouette answered after a few seconds- "Why can't you tell for yourself? Hmmmm? Do I look any different?" -he replied with another question.
The four boys remained silent. They didn't know what to say. They were still trying to regain their bearings from the vision in front of them.
It had to be a vision.
But the silence only seemed to turn the spirit's light mood into an angry one.
"What?!" -the figure protested a while after- "Don't recognize me anymore, Chang Wufei?!" -and slowly, the spirit gave another step ahead. The smile was gone- "Or do I need to be covered in blood for you to snap back at the fact that I'm here!!??"
The Gundam pilots stopped breathing at the angry hiss. Wufei's expression was a mixture of dread and pain.
"Maybe that way you'll believe, ne? What do you need? The cuts in my face?" -the figure advanced two steps more, his expression serious, his eyes narrowed- "Or the broken hands?" -and he lifted his hands in front of him.
The other youngsters didn't reply, they were frozen in the spot. In front of them, an angel wrapped in wrath. The angel of the wrath is here.......
The violet eyes were fixed on the wide blue ones of 01.
"Or do you, Heero Yuy, need the bullet wound?" -Duo's figure tilted his face, arching his eyebrows in a somehow petulant gesture.
Ignoring how was he able to do it, Quatre slowly came to his feet. He could barely control the trembling of his body as he stood some meters in front of Duo's spirit, who was still on the other side of the room, his face regaining the mischievous smile.
"But, Duo....how.....how can you...say such things.....we ......don't want that......" -the Neo-Arabic murmured, his aquamarine eyes shinning painfully.
"Oh, Quatre" -Duo's figure sighed, trying to smile sadly. But the smile was still wicked- "Always so sweet" -he said, but at the same time, he rapidly extended his left hand against the blonde boy.
And Quatre went flying across the room, hitting hard against the wall.
Trowa, Wufei and Heero's eyes followed the movement with stupor. Quatre let out a moan of pain, and slowly turned his terrified face to Duo's figure in the front, at the time one of his delicate hands lifted to his left cheek.
A long, deep slash crossed his querubic face, blood already oozing from the wound.
"D-.....D-......Duo" -Trowa finally whispered, his voice reveling his horror at what had just happened.
The blue-violet eyes turned a more intense shadow of purple as he fixed his gaze upon the 03 pilot.
"Hai?" -the figure answered, the smile never faltering.
"But......but how.......how could you......." -the European murmured, looking around in total disbelief.
The answer from Duo's spirit was a delicate quirked eyebrow, a second before his outstretched arm turned against Trowa.
A silent whist of wind hit the tall pilot, like an invisible slap to his face. The red droplets falling from the cut on his face stained his blue sweater and gray pants.
Before anyone could say something, the icy eyes of the spirit were trained on Wufei, who could only stare in pure shock at him.
The Chinese pilot strangled a cry in his throat as he felt how his right hand was stabbed by some non-visible sharp object. He wrapped his other hand over the wound, trying to stop the blood streaming down his skin.
"Won't you look at me, Heero Yuy?" -Duo's voice said after some minutes of silence.
The other three pilots couldn't take his eyes away from Duo's dangerous spirit, but Heero....Heero had his eyes down, his glance on the floor.
"And this is supposed to be the 'Perfect Soldier'." -the irony of the comment was insulting- "Nothing but a coward, after all....." -Duo's voice murmured.
Duo's figure didn't even move his hand towards him. He just kept his stony eyes trained on him. Out of nowhere, two slashes cut across Heero's face, the blood contrasting against the paleness of the skin.
"Why........why......." -Quatre's couldn't disguise the sorrow in his voice as he contemplated the actions of the spirit.
This time, the amethyst eyes widened at the question.
"And you......and you still ask 'why'?" -Duo's figure repeated, and his perplexed expression turned into a lopsided grin- " I thought I had made myself clear......or don't you understand yet?....... I've been calling you.....didn't you hear me in your sleep?......didn't you feel me around every single room you were?.......I've been warning you.......haven't I, Heero Yuy?" -the spirit's glance rested in Heero's bowed face again.
Wufei breathed deeply, still pressing his wounded hand. He remembered well, the lifeless eyes staring at him from every window. The nightmares that never ceased. He remembered well.
Trowa swallowed and pressed his lips together. So, it was true. It wasn't a vision. Duo's spirit had returned......to haunt them. Just as his nightmares.
Quatre shook his head desperately. He could feel it....he could feel it vibrating against his skin. The rage of the spirit was so intense, his fury so incredible tangible, even if Duo's ghost was trying to mask it. Quatre could feel it.
And Heero.......Heero was devastated. Completely broken apart. He knew what the spirit was seeking..........and he also knew he deserved it.
"I've even left you messages......." -the slender figure spoke again, as he walked to the side- "Haven't you found them?.....I think you have......." -and as he walked, he gracefully took the gloves off his hands, letting the black pieces drop onto the floor. The pale hands lifted in order the others were able to see them. And slowly, his left hand touched the wall.
And as the figure walked, his hand graced the metallic surface.........letting a red track behind........the blood forming words.........
VENGEANCE ........TRAITORS WILL PAY.......
"......We?......" -Trowa's voice squeaked at the terrifying scene.
The figure stopped, but did not look up at them. Instead, Duo's spirit stared down at his own, bloody hands.
"Who else?" -a soft voice replied- "The scientists? Sure, they'll pay too......but you...." -and the purple eyes were tore from the hands and fixed on the four boys in the room. And not only anger was stirring in their depths, but sadness too.
Though it seemed that anger was more powerful than anything else for the spirit. The glance turned hard and cold.
"But you first.......you have no other name....but traitors....." -a sensation of hatred filled the room- "The scientists meant nothing to me.......they always were bastards........they didn't make me a promise....." -and an accusing, bleeding hand lifted against the four pilots- "But you........you betrayed me........lied to me.......abandoned me........you.." -and Duo's voice trembled with suppressed rage- "All of you left me to die the most horrible, painful way.......alone......prisoner........while I ......I waited......and waited.........and waited.......for people who never came.......for my 'friends' who promised me........promised and never came........"
A single tear ran down Duo's face. But it was not a tear of sorrow. It was a tear of burning, consuming anger.
Quatre, Trowa and Wufei bowed their heads, accepting the spirit's words.
They have left him, they have betrayed him, they have broken the promise. Slowly, day after day, they have pulled the trigger against him. Until they have killed him.
"And you ask why?" - Duo's figure repeated- "Because I've come back from Hell to fulfill my own promise" -the spirit started walking towards them again- "And I'm not going, until you, my four traitors...... my four killers, come down with me"
In middle way, the black boots halted suddenly. The amethyst eyes looked down, at the object interrupting his way.
The silver cross.
"I guess...it never meant nothing to you, ne?......." -Duo's ghost addressed the silent Heero- "It was all bullshit. All that crap about returning for me. All that stupid words about never leaving me behind. After all, I never was more that the useless, meaningless street rat. But......you are so wrong......you will never understand how valuable this life was........what a horrible sin you and the others placed on your backs....."
The figure was still in the spot. As if Duo's spirit couldn't go near the silver object.
Heero hadn't uttered a word. He hadn't even lifted his eyes. He couldn't. His greatest fear was in front of him, ready to strike and took his life away.
And Heero wouldn't do anything to stop it, or defend himself. He was engulfed in guilt.
"The pain the cross inflicted you, Heero....that pain was just the most minimal sample of what I went through.......and you couldn't bare with it....not even if it was my cross......" -the spirit murmured, raising his hand towards the immobile pilot.
"You, the worst of the traitors, deserve to be killed first......" -the cold voice pronounced the sentence- "It's my duty......."
03, 04 and 05 lowered their glances, silent tears streaming down their skin. They were doomed to Hell.
Among sobs, Quatre lifted his hand to his heart, which pounded faster and faster every minute.
The room that seconds ago seemed to vibrate with the heat of vengeance and hatred was suddenly hit with a faint, cool breeze.
Out of nowhere, a soothing sensation filled the air.
In that exact moment, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei looked up, their glances taking in the horrifying scene.
"It's my duty" -the whisper repeated, as 02's figure was about to direct his hand and destructive power against Heero.
"Stop!!!"
The voice echoed everywhere.
"Stop all this!!"
Everyone was taken aback at the words.
Everyone, even Heero, turned to look behind, at the back wall of the room, where the sound had emanated.
There, standing in front of the four pilots and the dark spirit...............Duo.
Duo Maxwell.
Blue eyes widened first, and then everyone else's.
The boy was clad in his usual priest outfit. His long, chestnut braid hung behind him. And his amethyst eyes were fixed on his replica, on the dark spirit in the front.
"Stop all this" -Duo repeated, his voice calm and serious as he addressed himself in the other side.
Quatre stared at Duo, and then at Duo's coated figure, then at Duo again, then at the Duo's dark spirit.
And Quatre finally understood.
"You're not Duo" -he suddenly murmured, standing from his kneeling position and addressing the figure clad in the enormous black gabardine.
"You...." -and the blond pilot cleared his throat, in order to make his voice sound louder- "You are not Duo......You deceived us. You are not Duo!!" -he screamed.
Gentle souls always hid the strongest forces. Just as Quatre. The gentle pilot had always been very strong.
And now, was the first one to gather the courage to face the dark spirit.
The other three pilots stared still confused at both Duo. They looked the same. But, yes.......yes, one of them was not the real Duo.
Quatre whirled on his heels, his tear-stained face suddenly softened by a small smile while he contemplated, almost as in ecstasy, the real Duo.
"It's really you, isn't it, Duo? It's you!" -he said, his trembling feet steeping towards him.
Amethyst eyes were taken away from the other violet ones, but Duo didn't turn to look at Quatre. He just stared at the floor.
"Hai. It's me"
The voice was just a whisper, but it was filled with sincerity. And a tint of sadness too.
"Then.....who..." -Wufei, his expression completely lost, tried to form a coherent question.
"You shouldn't be here. You mustn't be here" -the dark spirit suddenly scowled, looking directly at Duo.
"I am here to stop all this madness. Stop all this........Shinigami" -Duo replied, his voice firm, his eyes sparkling.
The four pilots turned their wide eyes at the dark spirit in the front.
And the figure smiled, with that diabolic aura around him.
The amethyst eyes that the dark spirit resembled suddenly started to glitter, and within seconds, the lavender shadows melted, and the eyes turned completely black.
Gracefully, the figure extended his arms and bent, as if making a bow. And as he straightened, his black, void glance was set on the pilots, the eerie voice cutting the air.
"I am the God of Death"
To Be Continued.......
A/N: Ha! You didn't see that coming, ne? Shinigami has always been the assassin. And Duo has finally arrived.
But, how will Duo save the pilots from the merciless hands of the God of Death?
Please R&R! You gotta leave me a comment so I can hurry up and type the next chapter. I can just tell you, that for the ones who like friends' fondness, the next part is for you!!
Thanks to everyone who review. Alliyah, Dalamar, Lichan, Chibisora, Hellcat, Destrocat, Nueva Yui Maxwell, Catchfire, Ryoko-onne and everyone else. Next new moon you'll receive a Duo plushie in your dreams, courtesy of this grateful writer.
So, lets get started. Man, we've finally arrived to the most interesting part! I got a surprise for you here.........
"Beyond Life and Death"
by Shinigami's Voice
-chapter ten-
In front of them, Duo's eyes, Duo's face, Duo's honey hair locks, Duo's figure stayed, real, completely real.
And Duo's figure smiled.......
The smile turned into a smirk, the lavender eyes shining with a wicked gleam.
"How......how....." -Quatre was the only one who dared to talk, though his voice was just a trembling whisper- "How is.....this ......possible.......how......"
"What's wrong? You don't seem all that happy to see me....." -Duo's figure cut 04's words, the same diabolic glimmer in his eyes.
"Is.....is...it really.....you?" -Wufei heard his own voice ask between deep breaths.
The soft laughter coming from the black clad figure sounded with a creepy echo around the empty room. The four pilots stared at him still totally stunned.
"Good question" -Duo's silhouette answered after a few seconds- "Why can't you tell for yourself? Hmmmm? Do I look any different?" -he replied with another question.
The four boys remained silent. They didn't know what to say. They were still trying to regain their bearings from the vision in front of them.
It had to be a vision.
But the silence only seemed to turn the spirit's light mood into an angry one.
"What?!" -the figure protested a while after- "Don't recognize me anymore, Chang Wufei?!" -and slowly, the spirit gave another step ahead. The smile was gone- "Or do I need to be covered in blood for you to snap back at the fact that I'm here!!??"
The Gundam pilots stopped breathing at the angry hiss. Wufei's expression was a mixture of dread and pain.
"Maybe that way you'll believe, ne? What do you need? The cuts in my face?" -the figure advanced two steps more, his expression serious, his eyes narrowed- "Or the broken hands?" -and he lifted his hands in front of him.
The other youngsters didn't reply, they were frozen in the spot. In front of them, an angel wrapped in wrath. The angel of the wrath is here.......
The violet eyes were fixed on the wide blue ones of 01.
"Or do you, Heero Yuy, need the bullet wound?" -Duo's figure tilted his face, arching his eyebrows in a somehow petulant gesture.
Ignoring how was he able to do it, Quatre slowly came to his feet. He could barely control the trembling of his body as he stood some meters in front of Duo's spirit, who was still on the other side of the room, his face regaining the mischievous smile.
"But, Duo....how.....how can you...say such things.....we ......don't want that......" -the Neo-Arabic murmured, his aquamarine eyes shinning painfully.
"Oh, Quatre" -Duo's figure sighed, trying to smile sadly. But the smile was still wicked- "Always so sweet" -he said, but at the same time, he rapidly extended his left hand against the blonde boy.
And Quatre went flying across the room, hitting hard against the wall.
Trowa, Wufei and Heero's eyes followed the movement with stupor. Quatre let out a moan of pain, and slowly turned his terrified face to Duo's figure in the front, at the time one of his delicate hands lifted to his left cheek.
A long, deep slash crossed his querubic face, blood already oozing from the wound.
"D-.....D-......Duo" -Trowa finally whispered, his voice reveling his horror at what had just happened.
The blue-violet eyes turned a more intense shadow of purple as he fixed his gaze upon the 03 pilot.
"Hai?" -the figure answered, the smile never faltering.
"But......but how.......how could you......." -the European murmured, looking around in total disbelief.
The answer from Duo's spirit was a delicate quirked eyebrow, a second before his outstretched arm turned against Trowa.
A silent whist of wind hit the tall pilot, like an invisible slap to his face. The red droplets falling from the cut on his face stained his blue sweater and gray pants.
Before anyone could say something, the icy eyes of the spirit were trained on Wufei, who could only stare in pure shock at him.
The Chinese pilot strangled a cry in his throat as he felt how his right hand was stabbed by some non-visible sharp object. He wrapped his other hand over the wound, trying to stop the blood streaming down his skin.
"Won't you look at me, Heero Yuy?" -Duo's voice said after some minutes of silence.
The other three pilots couldn't take his eyes away from Duo's dangerous spirit, but Heero....Heero had his eyes down, his glance on the floor.
"And this is supposed to be the 'Perfect Soldier'." -the irony of the comment was insulting- "Nothing but a coward, after all....." -Duo's voice murmured.
Duo's figure didn't even move his hand towards him. He just kept his stony eyes trained on him. Out of nowhere, two slashes cut across Heero's face, the blood contrasting against the paleness of the skin.
"Why........why......." -Quatre's couldn't disguise the sorrow in his voice as he contemplated the actions of the spirit.
This time, the amethyst eyes widened at the question.
"And you......and you still ask 'why'?" -Duo's figure repeated, and his perplexed expression turned into a lopsided grin- " I thought I had made myself clear......or don't you understand yet?....... I've been calling you.....didn't you hear me in your sleep?......didn't you feel me around every single room you were?.......I've been warning you.......haven't I, Heero Yuy?" -the spirit's glance rested in Heero's bowed face again.
Wufei breathed deeply, still pressing his wounded hand. He remembered well, the lifeless eyes staring at him from every window. The nightmares that never ceased. He remembered well.
Trowa swallowed and pressed his lips together. So, it was true. It wasn't a vision. Duo's spirit had returned......to haunt them. Just as his nightmares.
Quatre shook his head desperately. He could feel it....he could feel it vibrating against his skin. The rage of the spirit was so intense, his fury so incredible tangible, even if Duo's ghost was trying to mask it. Quatre could feel it.
And Heero.......Heero was devastated. Completely broken apart. He knew what the spirit was seeking..........and he also knew he deserved it.
"I've even left you messages......." -the slender figure spoke again, as he walked to the side- "Haven't you found them?.....I think you have......." -and as he walked, he gracefully took the gloves off his hands, letting the black pieces drop onto the floor. The pale hands lifted in order the others were able to see them. And slowly, his left hand touched the wall.
And as the figure walked, his hand graced the metallic surface.........letting a red track behind........the blood forming words.........
VENGEANCE ........TRAITORS WILL PAY.......
"......We?......" -Trowa's voice squeaked at the terrifying scene.
The figure stopped, but did not look up at them. Instead, Duo's spirit stared down at his own, bloody hands.
"Who else?" -a soft voice replied- "The scientists? Sure, they'll pay too......but you...." -and the purple eyes were tore from the hands and fixed on the four boys in the room. And not only anger was stirring in their depths, but sadness too.
Though it seemed that anger was more powerful than anything else for the spirit. The glance turned hard and cold.
"But you first.......you have no other name....but traitors....." -a sensation of hatred filled the room- "The scientists meant nothing to me.......they always were bastards........they didn't make me a promise....." -and an accusing, bleeding hand lifted against the four pilots- "But you........you betrayed me........lied to me.......abandoned me........you.." -and Duo's voice trembled with suppressed rage- "All of you left me to die the most horrible, painful way.......alone......prisoner........while I ......I waited......and waited.........and waited.......for people who never came.......for my 'friends' who promised me........promised and never came........"
A single tear ran down Duo's face. But it was not a tear of sorrow. It was a tear of burning, consuming anger.
Quatre, Trowa and Wufei bowed their heads, accepting the spirit's words.
They have left him, they have betrayed him, they have broken the promise. Slowly, day after day, they have pulled the trigger against him. Until they have killed him.
"And you ask why?" - Duo's figure repeated- "Because I've come back from Hell to fulfill my own promise" -the spirit started walking towards them again- "And I'm not going, until you, my four traitors...... my four killers, come down with me"
In middle way, the black boots halted suddenly. The amethyst eyes looked down, at the object interrupting his way.
The silver cross.
"I guess...it never meant nothing to you, ne?......." -Duo's ghost addressed the silent Heero- "It was all bullshit. All that crap about returning for me. All that stupid words about never leaving me behind. After all, I never was more that the useless, meaningless street rat. But......you are so wrong......you will never understand how valuable this life was........what a horrible sin you and the others placed on your backs....."
The figure was still in the spot. As if Duo's spirit couldn't go near the silver object.
Heero hadn't uttered a word. He hadn't even lifted his eyes. He couldn't. His greatest fear was in front of him, ready to strike and took his life away.
And Heero wouldn't do anything to stop it, or defend himself. He was engulfed in guilt.
"The pain the cross inflicted you, Heero....that pain was just the most minimal sample of what I went through.......and you couldn't bare with it....not even if it was my cross......" -the spirit murmured, raising his hand towards the immobile pilot.
"You, the worst of the traitors, deserve to be killed first......" -the cold voice pronounced the sentence- "It's my duty......."
03, 04 and 05 lowered their glances, silent tears streaming down their skin. They were doomed to Hell.
Among sobs, Quatre lifted his hand to his heart, which pounded faster and faster every minute.
The room that seconds ago seemed to vibrate with the heat of vengeance and hatred was suddenly hit with a faint, cool breeze.
Out of nowhere, a soothing sensation filled the air.
In that exact moment, Quatre, Trowa and Wufei looked up, their glances taking in the horrifying scene.
"It's my duty" -the whisper repeated, as 02's figure was about to direct his hand and destructive power against Heero.
"Stop!!!"
The voice echoed everywhere.
"Stop all this!!"
Everyone was taken aback at the words.
Everyone, even Heero, turned to look behind, at the back wall of the room, where the sound had emanated.
There, standing in front of the four pilots and the dark spirit...............Duo.
Duo Maxwell.
Blue eyes widened first, and then everyone else's.
The boy was clad in his usual priest outfit. His long, chestnut braid hung behind him. And his amethyst eyes were fixed on his replica, on the dark spirit in the front.
"Stop all this" -Duo repeated, his voice calm and serious as he addressed himself in the other side.
Quatre stared at Duo, and then at Duo's coated figure, then at Duo again, then at the Duo's dark spirit.
And Quatre finally understood.
"You're not Duo" -he suddenly murmured, standing from his kneeling position and addressing the figure clad in the enormous black gabardine.
"You...." -and the blond pilot cleared his throat, in order to make his voice sound louder- "You are not Duo......You deceived us. You are not Duo!!" -he screamed.
Gentle souls always hid the strongest forces. Just as Quatre. The gentle pilot had always been very strong.
And now, was the first one to gather the courage to face the dark spirit.
The other three pilots stared still confused at both Duo. They looked the same. But, yes.......yes, one of them was not the real Duo.
Quatre whirled on his heels, his tear-stained face suddenly softened by a small smile while he contemplated, almost as in ecstasy, the real Duo.
"It's really you, isn't it, Duo? It's you!" -he said, his trembling feet steeping towards him.
Amethyst eyes were taken away from the other violet ones, but Duo didn't turn to look at Quatre. He just stared at the floor.
"Hai. It's me"
The voice was just a whisper, but it was filled with sincerity. And a tint of sadness too.
"Then.....who..." -Wufei, his expression completely lost, tried to form a coherent question.
"You shouldn't be here. You mustn't be here" -the dark spirit suddenly scowled, looking directly at Duo.
"I am here to stop all this madness. Stop all this........Shinigami" -Duo replied, his voice firm, his eyes sparkling.
The four pilots turned their wide eyes at the dark spirit in the front.
And the figure smiled, with that diabolic aura around him.
The amethyst eyes that the dark spirit resembled suddenly started to glitter, and within seconds, the lavender shadows melted, and the eyes turned completely black.
Gracefully, the figure extended his arms and bent, as if making a bow. And as he straightened, his black, void glance was set on the pilots, the eerie voice cutting the air.
"I am the God of Death"
To Be Continued.......
A/N: Ha! You didn't see that coming, ne? Shinigami has always been the assassin. And Duo has finally arrived.
But, how will Duo save the pilots from the merciless hands of the God of Death?
Please R&R! You gotta leave me a comment so I can hurry up and type the next chapter. I can just tell you, that for the ones who like friends' fondness, the next part is for you!!