Whew!!! SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER!!! We're goin for an Epilogue after this! Yep :o) Hope you all enjoy it. I know it's a lot longer but there is so much happening that it's very hard to make it short, and I wasn't intending to split it into two parts because this all basically ties in together. Yay for you.
Anyway, enjoy!
========================
Duo had never been outside his prison before, so seeing path through the fortress was a new experience for him. He decided to just follow his friends, but following them did not stop him from aggressivly attacking anyone else who crossed his path. If he was getting out of here, he mine as well do as much damage as possible and there was one man he wanted to pay back most of all. He wanted Shinji.
"Heero! Wufei!"
All three stopped and turned around as Quatre ran up, to greet them. Heero spoke. "How did you get through?"
"It's mad. Everyone is going nuts all the doors are open and everyone is trying to evacuate. I lost Xander in the confusion."
Heero nodded. "We don't need him anymore. We found Duo."
Quatre seemed to just now notice his friend, slowing down enough to pay attention to the well muscled braided boy standing right in front of him. "Duo!"
"last time I checked."
"Nice to know I've been missed."
"We're glad you're back."
Duo smiled. "Well, that's good to know too. But let's hold the celebration til later. I got a little payback to deliver, courtosy of the God of Death. What are we waiting for Heero? Let's get this travelling circus on the road."
Wufei approached Duo. "You know you can't just swear vengence on these people. A dishonorble kill no matter how justified is still dishonerable."
Duo bowed his head and smiled. "Maybe so Wufei, but some people just don't deserve to live. Call it a mercy killing, mercy for all those people who died in these games and the minds of those who will never recover."
"You cannot justify these deaths."
"I don't have to. Heero, give me a gun."
Heero pulled another gun out and handed it over to Duo without question. He then glanced at Quatre and Wufei, then turned around and continued on.
***********************************
Trowa overode the locks on the prisoner doors before moving on. The colosseum had developed into mass confusion as people had begun to evacuate. Prisoners, spectators and even guards were scattered. Some hurried to the battle arena, others hurried to escape. Trowa himself encountered little resistence in his own position. Apparently the cooridors around the arena were as unknown to the prisoners as they were to the spectators and he only needed to take out a few guards here and there. There was no need to release the cells, someone had already done that. Who was still a mystery and Trowa didn't care to question it at the moment.
"Shinji will be pleased with this added bonus."
Trowa turned around just in time to see a Hawaian woman kick him in the head. The heels of the woman's shoes, the force of the blow and the element of surprise all succeeded in knocking the heavyarms pilot down and take the wind out of him for a precious few seconds. Kalua kicked Trowa down again the minute he began to get up. "This is pathetic, I've taken down men more skilled then you."
She kicked him again in the face, succeeding in sliding him across the floor and into the wall. Finally the woman drew a gun. "Shinji would not want you further harmed. I'll just put you out of your misery."
As she loaded the gun with a dart Trowa's hands closed on his own gun. Kalua lowered her gun to stop Trowa but the boy was faster and in one quick movement he grabbed his gun and fired three times into the woman's chest, sending the dart gun and the woman flying to the floor, Kalua's still shocked face staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, well, well. What a pity. I rather did like her."
The voice seemed to have anticipated Trowa's next move as he heard the slow click of a gun. "Now this may seem quite old, but would you drop the gun and turn around for me? I would so hate for this weapon to go off and make a hole in you."
Trowa complied, raising his hands above hishead as he faced the man in the business suit. "You're Shinji."
"My arn't you clever. Yes, I'm afraid you are correct. I must thank you, the little stunt you pulled today will sell millions with the footage collected. Although I havn't quite decided just how to market it." He smiled, caressing Trowa's cheek. "Well, in any case, future matches shall be boundless in entertainment."
Trowa reacted on the movemnt and ducked, sweeping his leg under Shinji's feet and forcing him down. He grabbed his gun and stood, pointing the gun down at Shinji. The man only smiled, appearing delighted.
"Come now, you wouldn't risk the life of your friend, just for me would you?" He smiled, revealing a small detonation device in his hand, ready to press down any minute with his thumb. "I've taken the liberty of installing a small explosive in your friend. A pity losing such a marvelous fighter but some losses cannot be avoided I suppose. That is, unless you are willing to concede?"
Trowa took a breath and seemed to consider a moment, his arm lowered slightly but then went back to Shinji with more resolve then ever. "I do not believe he would choose captivity over death."
Those were the last words Trowa said before he felt a sharp sting in his leg, suddenly becoming drowsy. He dropped his gun and colapsed on his knees, unable to stand with his full strength. Shinji tossed the gun aside and stood smiling. "I must commend you on calling my bluff 03. Very few would be so willing to take such risks. Still, I am afraid tranquelizers, even as mild sedatives, are still very effective."
He then picked Trowa up the rest of the way and half carried him further down the hall.
As Duo rounded the corner he began to notice familiar sights he hat come upon before. The hospital room, the holding cell. Then that meant...Shinji. He stopped and turned into the next room, sure enough Shinji was there, sitting behind his desk. What he hadn't counted on was seeing Trowa right next to the very man he despised, half asleep.
"You bastard! What have you done?"
Shinji looked down at Trowa and smiled. "Oh he's quite alright, although I had to sedate him. I believe congradulations are in order. You've all managed to breech my security and it seems you Duo, have succeeded in breaking the control of my chip. Still, I can't help but wonder that, perhaps it was not you. I'm sure it must bother you to wonder that. Did it just malfunction? Did you really overide it? Or maybe, I just turned it off. Still how silly of me, why would I deactivate one of my favorite devices." He reached on the desk and picked up the remote. "Let's find out shall we? I'm sure we are all curious to know."
Heero pulled out his gun and shot the remote out of Shinji's hand, broken pieces of the device shattering against the wall. Shinji frowned slightly. "Pity, now we'll never know the truth shall we?"
Duo roared as he can at Shinji, jumping over the table and knocking him over. He continued to hover over the man as he began punching him, finally pulling his gun out and bringing it to Shinji's head.
"Duo NO!" Quatre cried.
"I said I would kill you. Do you remember that Shinji?"
Shinji smiled. "Go on then Duo. Go ahead and send me to hell."
Duo clutched the gun, his hand shaking in anger. "You kidnapped me, you forced me to fight, kill. You murdered David, you messed with my head! You nearly DROVE ME INSANE!"
He pressed the gun harder against Shinji's skull, shaking violently, his face contorted in anger. "I should kill you now." He released the pressure of the gun, pushing Shinji down. "But I'm through killing. I'm not like YOU. No, I'm not going to kill you."
He let go of the gun and looked on Shinji's desk, retrieving the injection device he remembered from before. "You hurt my friends, thanks to you I have all new nightmares, scars that will never go away. I'm going to let you experience your little invention first hand."
He punched Shinji once again in the face, succeeding in knocking the man out before he set the device and inserted it through Shinji's ear. Finally Duo dropped the Injector and bowed his head in exaustion. He leaned against the desk, breathing heavily as if a burden had been lifted. Heero put away his weapon and walked up to Duo. "Let's go."
Duo nodded and stood up, being supported by Heero. Quatre picked up Trowa and despite his rejections, Wufei in turn took Shinji as they continued on out of the Collosseum.
**********************
Duo looked up and felt the morning sun on him for the first time in three months. He slowly pushed Heero off him and continued the rest of the way on his own. He looked out at the preventers, who were now rounding up those who left the building, making arrests, and he saw Sally Po, offering aid to the injured. Une was heading the operation, but they all looked up when they saw Duo come out. Sally began walking quickly towards the former pilots, but it was Hilde that drew the majority of Duo's attention as she moved out of the crowd and stared at him.
Her eyes filled up with tears and it looked for a moment like she would start crying. Finally she just ran towards Duo and embraced him, just holding on as she forced back her own tears. "Don't ever leave again."
Duo held the girl, trying to comfort Hilde. "I'm here right? I'm not going anywhere. It's over. It's okay it's over."
Anyway, enjoy!
========================
Duo had never been outside his prison before, so seeing path through the fortress was a new experience for him. He decided to just follow his friends, but following them did not stop him from aggressivly attacking anyone else who crossed his path. If he was getting out of here, he mine as well do as much damage as possible and there was one man he wanted to pay back most of all. He wanted Shinji.
"Heero! Wufei!"
All three stopped and turned around as Quatre ran up, to greet them. Heero spoke. "How did you get through?"
"It's mad. Everyone is going nuts all the doors are open and everyone is trying to evacuate. I lost Xander in the confusion."
Heero nodded. "We don't need him anymore. We found Duo."
Quatre seemed to just now notice his friend, slowing down enough to pay attention to the well muscled braided boy standing right in front of him. "Duo!"
"last time I checked."
"Nice to know I've been missed."
"We're glad you're back."
Duo smiled. "Well, that's good to know too. But let's hold the celebration til later. I got a little payback to deliver, courtosy of the God of Death. What are we waiting for Heero? Let's get this travelling circus on the road."
Wufei approached Duo. "You know you can't just swear vengence on these people. A dishonorble kill no matter how justified is still dishonerable."
Duo bowed his head and smiled. "Maybe so Wufei, but some people just don't deserve to live. Call it a mercy killing, mercy for all those people who died in these games and the minds of those who will never recover."
"You cannot justify these deaths."
"I don't have to. Heero, give me a gun."
Heero pulled another gun out and handed it over to Duo without question. He then glanced at Quatre and Wufei, then turned around and continued on.
***********************************
Trowa overode the locks on the prisoner doors before moving on. The colosseum had developed into mass confusion as people had begun to evacuate. Prisoners, spectators and even guards were scattered. Some hurried to the battle arena, others hurried to escape. Trowa himself encountered little resistence in his own position. Apparently the cooridors around the arena were as unknown to the prisoners as they were to the spectators and he only needed to take out a few guards here and there. There was no need to release the cells, someone had already done that. Who was still a mystery and Trowa didn't care to question it at the moment.
"Shinji will be pleased with this added bonus."
Trowa turned around just in time to see a Hawaian woman kick him in the head. The heels of the woman's shoes, the force of the blow and the element of surprise all succeeded in knocking the heavyarms pilot down and take the wind out of him for a precious few seconds. Kalua kicked Trowa down again the minute he began to get up. "This is pathetic, I've taken down men more skilled then you."
She kicked him again in the face, succeeding in sliding him across the floor and into the wall. Finally the woman drew a gun. "Shinji would not want you further harmed. I'll just put you out of your misery."
As she loaded the gun with a dart Trowa's hands closed on his own gun. Kalua lowered her gun to stop Trowa but the boy was faster and in one quick movement he grabbed his gun and fired three times into the woman's chest, sending the dart gun and the woman flying to the floor, Kalua's still shocked face staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, well, well. What a pity. I rather did like her."
The voice seemed to have anticipated Trowa's next move as he heard the slow click of a gun. "Now this may seem quite old, but would you drop the gun and turn around for me? I would so hate for this weapon to go off and make a hole in you."
Trowa complied, raising his hands above hishead as he faced the man in the business suit. "You're Shinji."
"My arn't you clever. Yes, I'm afraid you are correct. I must thank you, the little stunt you pulled today will sell millions with the footage collected. Although I havn't quite decided just how to market it." He smiled, caressing Trowa's cheek. "Well, in any case, future matches shall be boundless in entertainment."
Trowa reacted on the movemnt and ducked, sweeping his leg under Shinji's feet and forcing him down. He grabbed his gun and stood, pointing the gun down at Shinji. The man only smiled, appearing delighted.
"Come now, you wouldn't risk the life of your friend, just for me would you?" He smiled, revealing a small detonation device in his hand, ready to press down any minute with his thumb. "I've taken the liberty of installing a small explosive in your friend. A pity losing such a marvelous fighter but some losses cannot be avoided I suppose. That is, unless you are willing to concede?"
Trowa took a breath and seemed to consider a moment, his arm lowered slightly but then went back to Shinji with more resolve then ever. "I do not believe he would choose captivity over death."
Those were the last words Trowa said before he felt a sharp sting in his leg, suddenly becoming drowsy. He dropped his gun and colapsed on his knees, unable to stand with his full strength. Shinji tossed the gun aside and stood smiling. "I must commend you on calling my bluff 03. Very few would be so willing to take such risks. Still, I am afraid tranquelizers, even as mild sedatives, are still very effective."
He then picked Trowa up the rest of the way and half carried him further down the hall.
As Duo rounded the corner he began to notice familiar sights he hat come upon before. The hospital room, the holding cell. Then that meant...Shinji. He stopped and turned into the next room, sure enough Shinji was there, sitting behind his desk. What he hadn't counted on was seeing Trowa right next to the very man he despised, half asleep.
"You bastard! What have you done?"
Shinji looked down at Trowa and smiled. "Oh he's quite alright, although I had to sedate him. I believe congradulations are in order. You've all managed to breech my security and it seems you Duo, have succeeded in breaking the control of my chip. Still, I can't help but wonder that, perhaps it was not you. I'm sure it must bother you to wonder that. Did it just malfunction? Did you really overide it? Or maybe, I just turned it off. Still how silly of me, why would I deactivate one of my favorite devices." He reached on the desk and picked up the remote. "Let's find out shall we? I'm sure we are all curious to know."
Heero pulled out his gun and shot the remote out of Shinji's hand, broken pieces of the device shattering against the wall. Shinji frowned slightly. "Pity, now we'll never know the truth shall we?"
Duo roared as he can at Shinji, jumping over the table and knocking him over. He continued to hover over the man as he began punching him, finally pulling his gun out and bringing it to Shinji's head.
"Duo NO!" Quatre cried.
"I said I would kill you. Do you remember that Shinji?"
Shinji smiled. "Go on then Duo. Go ahead and send me to hell."
Duo clutched the gun, his hand shaking in anger. "You kidnapped me, you forced me to fight, kill. You murdered David, you messed with my head! You nearly DROVE ME INSANE!"
He pressed the gun harder against Shinji's skull, shaking violently, his face contorted in anger. "I should kill you now." He released the pressure of the gun, pushing Shinji down. "But I'm through killing. I'm not like YOU. No, I'm not going to kill you."
He let go of the gun and looked on Shinji's desk, retrieving the injection device he remembered from before. "You hurt my friends, thanks to you I have all new nightmares, scars that will never go away. I'm going to let you experience your little invention first hand."
He punched Shinji once again in the face, succeeding in knocking the man out before he set the device and inserted it through Shinji's ear. Finally Duo dropped the Injector and bowed his head in exaustion. He leaned against the desk, breathing heavily as if a burden had been lifted. Heero put away his weapon and walked up to Duo. "Let's go."
Duo nodded and stood up, being supported by Heero. Quatre picked up Trowa and despite his rejections, Wufei in turn took Shinji as they continued on out of the Collosseum.
**********************
Duo looked up and felt the morning sun on him for the first time in three months. He slowly pushed Heero off him and continued the rest of the way on his own. He looked out at the preventers, who were now rounding up those who left the building, making arrests, and he saw Sally Po, offering aid to the injured. Une was heading the operation, but they all looked up when they saw Duo come out. Sally began walking quickly towards the former pilots, but it was Hilde that drew the majority of Duo's attention as she moved out of the crowd and stared at him.
Her eyes filled up with tears and it looked for a moment like she would start crying. Finally she just ran towards Duo and embraced him, just holding on as she forced back her own tears. "Don't ever leave again."
Duo held the girl, trying to comfort Hilde. "I'm here right? I'm not going anywhere. It's over. It's okay it's over."
