Chapter 13
Hinoko opened her eyes to the dim artificial light of the colony. Looking at her watch, she saw it was only 6:00 am. She tried fruitlessly to fall back to sleep, but after ten minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up. Dragging her tired body out of the warm sheets, she decided to check her E- mail while waiting for the others to wake up. Nothing new. Bored, Hinoko decided she wanted to write her grandfather a report. In said report, she informed him that they might be a few days late due to Serena's incompetence. Satisfied with herself, Hinoko stood up and stretched. The light was getting pretty bright, 6:38 am. Time to wake the others up.
"Oi! Wake up!" The blond beauty bellowed.
Dominique and Shimei, being light sleepers leaped out of bed. Elizabeth stirred and slowly forced open her sleepy eyes while Serena slept on soundly.
Hinoko mumbled something as she tried to shake Serena up. The raven-haired girl merely turned over in bed and continued to sleep on. "Bakayaro! WAKE UP!" Hinoko yelled into the girl's ear.
"Hey! Quiet! How is anyone to get some rest if you yell loud enough to wake the dead?" Serena mumbled sleepily as she put her pillow on top of her head to drown out the noise Hinoko was making.
The other three girls giggled. Serena REALLY wasn't a morning person.
"Well, I wouldn't be yelling if you would just get up! It's already 6:45!" Hinoko screamed at the pathetic excuse for a pilot.
That got Serena's attention. "6:45!!!! It's ONLY 6:45 AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONAL?!?!?!?!" Serena sat up and screamed at the other girl.
"Well, looks like you're up!" Hinoko said smiling.
"Shimatte! Tricked by the baka!" Serena sighed as she climbed out of bed.
"Well, you shouldn't be so gullible!" Hinoko smiled slyly. Then, turning to the others, she announced, "I think it would best if we disguised ourselves as guys today."
The others, with the exception of Shimei, stared at her in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?" Dominique was the first to recover from the initial shock.
"NO WAY am I gonna cut my hair!" Serena wailed, gripping her dark, silky braid.
Elizabeth blinked a few times and giggled, "Sere-chan, you're so silly! Just leave it to me!"
Serena shot the gentle girl a skeptical look, "And how, pray tell, are you to take care of it?"
Elizabeth smiled, her eyes twinkling, "I'm a master of disguises if I do say so myself!"
Dominique snorted, "Yeah, you're modest too!" The comment brought her a pillow in her face.
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Elizabeth laughed as she continued to pound Dominique with the pillow.
"Cool it! I was just joking!" Dominique quickly grabbed her pillow to counterattack. Soon, the two girls were engaged in a massive pillow fight.
"Well, Elizabeth, when you're finished with your pillow fight, tell me if there's anything you need. I have flour, make-up, hair extensions, colored contacts, and a lot of different styles of clothing," Shimei said as she searched her luggage for some things.
"Flour?" Serena and Dominique wondered aloud. The pillow fight was forgotten.
"Never mind," Elizabeth said quickly to the perplexed girls. Then, turning to Shimei, said, "No, we're no gonna do anything complex.... unless Miss Perfect Soldier wants us to completely change our features..." She glared at Hinoko, daring the blond to tell her they needed to do more than she wanted. Hinoko simply ignored her.
"Ok, so just some hair and eye color changes, right?" Shimei asked.
"Perfect."
Shimei grabbed a small bag from her suitcase, opened it and tossed Elizabeth a few packets, "See if these would do. I'm gonna change now, so you can see what I can do without changing my natural features. Tell me what you think, K?"
"Ok," Elizabeth said.
"Fine with me, but hurry up! I don't have all day to wait! It's almost 7:00!" Hinoko replied also in her cold, emotionless tone.
"Ok..." Shimei said, sounding a bit hurt.
The blond ignored her and mumbling something, started to clean up the room. She then grabbed some things from her bag and started to change.
The other three pilots chattered about disguises as they waited for Shimei.
"So, what should I wear?" Serena asked Elizabeth as she eyed her reflection in the mirror.
"Hm..." Elizabeth looked at the Chinese descendant. "Chinese style clothing would be nice... maybe you could get something from Wufei!" Elizabeth giggled.
"NO WAY! I don't wanna wear ANY of that jerk's clothes!" Serena said.
"Well, looks like we'll haveta see what Mei-chan can do!" Elizabeth told her.
"What about me?" Dominique asked eagerly. This was fun, almost like fortune telling!
"Hm..." Elizabeth said thoughtfully, "You could always try to do your hair like Trowa! That'll be fun!"
Dominique looked at Elizabeth oddly, "You're kidding, right?"
Elizabeth nodded her head and laughed, "What, did you think I'd be serious?"
"Well, can we try to be serious?" Dominique asked.
"Sure, why not? Ok, you could do what I like to do: wear a hat to hide the long hair," Elizabeth told Dominique. "Your hair would be pretty easy since it's so short and with some make-up and the right clothes, you'd look like a bishonen instead of a bishoujo!"
"Cool!" Serena cut in. "Could you do the same for me?"
"Why not?" Elizabeth laughed as she went over to her stuff to find the make- up.
Just then, Hinoko announced, "How does this look?" She was wearing VERY baggy jeans and an old, baggy T-shirt under an army green Hawaiian shirt. Her long hair was piled up on the top of her head and hidden by a fisherman's hat made of old jean material. If it weren't for her eyes, people would think she was a boy.
"What about your eyes?" Elizabeth pointed out.
"Simple!" Hinoko responded as she put on some really cool sunglasses.
"Show off!" Serena mumbled under her breath. "She just HAD to do it perfectly!"
"Not really," Elizabeth said.
"What did I do wrong?" Hinoko looked at the other girl.
"You could've changed your eye color and hair color so no one would recognize you and you could've given yourself different bangs," Elizabeth stated.
"No thanks, that gets too complicated," Hinoko said as she closed her suitcase and walked out the door. "I'm gonna go find us a ride!" She yelled, 1/2 way down the hall.
The other girls stared at the door way as it closed. They sat in silence. Hinoko would be a great friend... if only she could open up more.
The opening of the bathroom door startled everyone. Turning around, they saw Shimei, dressed and looking very much like Wufei with long hair. She was wearing white, silky pants very similar to that of Wufei's and also a white silk shirt with a black sash. Her long ebony hair was braided into a tight braid and Serena swore her hair seemed to be longer. To hide her bangs, Shimei wore a dome-shaped hat on her head. The sword she had was strapped on her back and she looked like a true fighter.
"Wow! You look great Mei-chan!" Elizabeth said. Then the gentle girl looked at her friend's eyes. They had become a deep shade of purple, "I see you used your contacts too!"
Shimei blushed, "Hai, I wanted to change as many features as possible without changing the fact that I'm Asian."
"Well, you certainly look like a bishounen!" Elizabeth said laughing.
"Hai! Mei-chan, could you do something for me? Maybe we could wear the same clothes!" Serena piped in.
"Sure, why not! But I hope you don't mind black and red. That's all I have left!"
"No, that'll be perfect!" Serena leaped up and hugged Shimei.
"Well, come on! I'll show you how it's done," Shimei lead Serena to her suitcase.
"Well, looks like you and I will have to work together, ne?" Elizabeth said to Dominique.
"Hai, and I have a feeling we could do really well too!" Dominique smiled.
For the next 1/2 an hour, the girls worked out their disguises and put them on. Serena got extensions for her braid so that it was as long as Shimei's. She also wore a dome shaped hat, and Shimei gave her a red Chinese style silk shirt and black pants of the same material. Dominique's disguise was not very different from Hinoko's. She had on a baseball cap along with the baggy jeans and T-shirt. Her hair was also hidden under the hat. As for Elizabeth, she wore Quatre-like clothing and hid her hair under a hat.
The girls looked at each other and smiled. This was really funny looking at each other cross dress. Then, to make sure Hinoko wouldn't get mad at them, they packed their bags and headed over to the boys room. When they got there, the boys were already packed and they were locking the door.
"Oi, Duo!" Serena called.
Duo turned at her voice and was surprised to see two boys very much like Wufei, one dressed in 21st century clothes and another dressed like Quatre. "Who are you?"
"Well, that depends! Who do you think we are?" Dominique asked, giggling.
"..." Duo was speechless. Who were these weird boys that sounded like girls?
"Is that you, Shimei?" Wufei asked his cousin.
Shimei simply smiled and pulled out her sword, "What do you think?"
"You look like a boy!" Wufei told her the obvious.
"So?"
"You're a girl!"
"Well, Hua Mulan dressed as a boy!"
"But that doesn't matter! You DON'T HAVE TO PROVE YOU CAN FIGHT!" Wufei yelled angrily.
The others stared at them.
"Maybe they should take this inside?" Serena whispered to Duo.
"Not a bad idea!" Duo told her as he opened the door and pulled Wufei inside. The others quickly followed.
"Wu-man! You can't start criticizing her whenever you see her! Especially since she's dressed up like a boy!" Duo told his friend as soon as they got inside.
"If she acted like a woman instead of a warrior I wouldn't tell her what to do!" Wufei retorted.
"I've never known how else to act. I was a warrior, a doctor, and a woman. I have my duties and I am fulfilling them. I don't care what you think for you are not my parents. If they were still alive, I trust they would agree with me!" Shimei told her cousin with determination. No way was she gonna back down this time!
"Fine, do as you wish, but don't come to me when you get hurt or expect me to save you when you get into trouble!" The solitary dragon told his cousin.
"Don't worry! I won't burden you!" Shimei told him coldly as she bolted out the door with her luggage.
"Mei-chan!" Serena yelled chasing after her friend. Wufei was gonna die! He had to right to say things like that to Shimei. She couldn't stand how rude and arrogant Wufei was getting, especially since Shimei had defeated him.
"Mei-chan!" Shimei heard Serena running up to her. Turning around, she noticed her vision had blurred.
"Mei-chan... are you OK? Don't let him get to you," Serena tried to console her friend.
"I'm Ok... just confused. My mind is so lost. I tried so hard to finally find him, and when I finally do, he hates me! I defeated him in battle, so he hates me! What am I supposed to do? I'm so confused!" Shimei dropped her luggage and wept on her friend's shoulder while she cried and told Serena everything in Chinese.
"Is there anything I can do?" Serena asked the trembling girl.
"No, not unless you have complete domination over his mind."
That was when the others had caught up. Wufei was trailing behind and stayed as far as possible from Shimei. The boys paid for the stay and they walked outside. There they waited for Hinoko. After 15 minutes, they heard a honk, and a bus appeared. The door opened and Hinoko jumped out in her disguise.
"Well, everyone, get on! This is the perfect bus! The driver agreed to drive us to our destination if we paid in advance."
"Have you paid yet?" Serena asked.
"No, I was hoping we would cover the costs together."
"I don't have any money!" Hiiro stated.
"Neither do I!" Duo, Wufei, Elizabeth, Dominique, Trowa and Shimei chimed in.
"I have money, but it's on L4... I can't go get it now..." Quatre said sadly.
Hinoko turned to look at Serena. Sighing, Serena asked, "How much?"
"$400. You have the cash, pay. If you don't get off!" the bus driver said.
"Don't worry, I have it!" Serena said as she grabbed her bag and pulled out her diaries. Opening the back of the first one, she pulled out four 100- dollar bills. "Here, now please drive us to our destination!" She said as she handed the money to the driver.
"Wow! Where'd you get the cash?" Duo gaped at the Chinese girl.
"It was left for me from my parents. I just took some out of the bank to save for emergency purposes!" Serena smiled and said. Grabbing her bags, she followed the girls on the bus. "Oh, by the way, you five boys each owe me forty dollars or a favor!"
"Why is that?" Duo asked.
"It was MY money!" Serena told the others. "I don't like throwing away $200 dollars!"
"What about the girl's share?"
"The girls and I are a team! They need my help right now, so I offered the money. When I need help, I know they'll give it to me," Serena stated simply.
"Well, aren't the TEN of us a team?" Duo asked.
"Well, I don't know! Are we? You BOYS don't seem to think so! Especially not Wufei and Hiiro!"
"Well, I think Quatre and I think the ten of us are a team! Don't you Quatre?" Duo said as he pulled Quatre next to him.
"What?" Quatre asked, slightly confused.
"Don't you think the ten of us are a team?" Duo filled him in.
"Well, why not? I mean isn't that what the scientists wanted?" Quatre told Duo.
"You see!" Duo announced to Serena.
"Yeah, but you still owe me!" Serena said.
"Ok. I'll pay you back when we get to my place," Quatre agreed.
"Duo, you could learn a few things about manners from him," Serena teased the braided boy.
"Hmph! It's not like I need you or anything!" Duo said as he turned around.
"Oi! Could you write me an 'I owe you'?" Serena asked.
"Fine! Anything to get you off my back!" Duo said as he got a piece of paper and scribbled a few words on it. Then he signed it with "Shinigami". Handing the piece of paper to Serena, he asked, "Is this good?"
"Perfect!" Serena took it and walked over to Trowa, Wufei, and Hiiro. Trowa and Hiiro quickly wrote an 'I owe you' but Wufei refused to act.
"Why should I do that for you Onna?" He asked rudely.
"Hiiro, Duo and Trowa did it! And Quatre promised to pay me back!" Serena told him.
"I know. But why should I be obligated to do it?" Wufei asked.
"You're on this bus right? And I paid for it! So, if you want me to kick you off, feel free to NOT write me one!"
"Onna, let me get this straight! You do us ONE LITTLE FAVOR and YOU want ME to owe you something?" Wufei asked angrily. He had never seen anyone who was more of a penny pincher.
"Yeah! You do owe me forty dollars!" Serena replied with the same intensity. How could Wufei be so rude?
They're argument continued for 15 minutes until the other finally calmed them down. Wufei finally agreed to write the note and everything was quiet for a while. Everyone found something to do and a few hours passed by rather quickly. The scenery changed also from barren land to forests. Suddenly, the sky darkened and they heard a voice over the intercom saying, "Stop the bus right now or we will shoot! If you value your life, don't fight back!"
"W-wh-what sh-should I d-do?" The bus driver stuttered.
"KEEP ON DRIVING!" Hinoko yelled at him.
"Are you sure?" the man asked.
"Yeah, unless you want to get killed!" Hinoko told him.
The bus driver drove on. Hiiro looked up and saw 40 mobile suits chasing after them. "Leos!" He spat out.
"How many?" Serena asked.
"Forty."
"That shouldn't be too hard!" Dominique said.
"As long as they follow us to the lair!" Elizabeth reminded them.
"Hn." Hiiro responded with a grunt. Directing his attention at the driver, he asked, "How long?"
"About 15 more minutes to your destination. Are you sure this is the right place? It's weird for a buncha teens to come here!"
"Don't worry! It's just a simple camping trip," Elizabeth quickly said.
"With kids of SO varied cultural background? It doesn't take a genius to figure out something's fishy!" The bus driver said.
"Well, we're from earth," Serena made something up as the others pretended this was not new to them.
"Well, hopefully you kids will be careful!" The man told them.
"We will! Don't worry!" The said in unison.
That was when the Leo's spoke again, "This is your last warning! Stop the bus or we will be forced to fire!"
"I don't think their joking kids!" The bus driver said.
"JUST KEEP ON DRIVING!" Hiiro yelled at him.
"Ok..."
Suddenly there was a loud boom and the bus was knocked off the road. Elizabeth and Serena screamed. The bus swerved and hit a tree. When the ten pilots realized what had happened, they quickly got their luggage and jumped off the bus. Shimei was the last in line, and when she looked at the bus driver, she saw he was unconscious and bleeding.
"I think he needs help!" the girl called out to the others.
"Check him for breathing and a pulse. If it's ok, he'll be fine!" Hinoko told her.
"Ok." Shimei followed her instruction and then got off the bus.
Bullets flew everywhere as the Leo's attacked the bus and its occupants. The ten teens followed Hinoko into the forest and disappeared from view.
"That was a close one!" Duo puffed.
"Hai!" The others agreed as they all sat down next to a tree. Serena and Elizabeth were pretty shaken up considering they had never been on a battlefield before and Shimei was weeping.
"Mei-chan, what's wrong?" Dominique was the first to notice.
Shimei just continued to weep. Serena got up and sat down next to her friend. Then she put her arm around Shimei and whispered in Chinese, "What's wrong?"
Shimei turned to Serena with tears in her eyes and replied in the same language, "That was so much like how mother died. She was shot when she tried to save me and father killed himself because he didn't want to leave her."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Serena held Shimei in her arms and allowed the small girl to cry her heart out.
"Serena, it's great that you want Shimei to feel better, but we've got a battle to fight! So, either you two get up or you're on your own!" Hinoko barked out her orders.
"Hn."Serena replied absent mindedly and motioned for Shimei to stand up. For once she though Hinoko was right. Shimei got up and the group followed Hinoko into the woods.
"I know this place! Come on! We can get our Gundams!" Hinoko called out to the others.
"Right! Let's get our Gundams and kick some ASS!" Duo yelled enthusiastically.
The group moved quickly and soon reached the hangar. They set their things down and got into their suits.
"Is everyone ready?" Hinoko cried out.
"Hai!" answered 8 of the voices.
"Hn," answered the other.
The ten suits: Wing Zero, Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Altron, Talon, Spritefire, Megami, Desertflower, and Xianfeng charged out the hanger and into the battle field.
"Gundams! Attack!" One of the Leos shouted, but he was quickly cut in half by Duo's energy scythe.
Serena used her buster rifle to blow one of the Leos also. The other pilots also did quite well with their Gundams. The boys, being more experienced, quickly annihilated their Leos. When they were about to help the girls, they were surprised to find the girls were doing quite well. Shimei's style was similar to Wufei's as she used her Martial Art skills to destroy her enemies. Serena wielded her twin katanas with skill and the others were also managing. In less than 2 minutes, the 40 Leos were destroyed and the ten Gundams stood in the forest. Their shiny metal glistened in the setting sun. The ten pilots got out of their Gundams. They stared at each other, and marveled at the magnificent Gundams. Wind blew through the trees and toyed with Shimei and Serena's braids but that was all -- everything else was silent and still.
"Well, let's head back!" Dominique broke the silence. The others returned to their Gundams and they slowly trudged back to the lair where the scientists were waiting for them to give them their new mission.
Hinoko opened her eyes to the dim artificial light of the colony. Looking at her watch, she saw it was only 6:00 am. She tried fruitlessly to fall back to sleep, but after ten minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up. Dragging her tired body out of the warm sheets, she decided to check her E- mail while waiting for the others to wake up. Nothing new. Bored, Hinoko decided she wanted to write her grandfather a report. In said report, she informed him that they might be a few days late due to Serena's incompetence. Satisfied with herself, Hinoko stood up and stretched. The light was getting pretty bright, 6:38 am. Time to wake the others up.
"Oi! Wake up!" The blond beauty bellowed.
Dominique and Shimei, being light sleepers leaped out of bed. Elizabeth stirred and slowly forced open her sleepy eyes while Serena slept on soundly.
Hinoko mumbled something as she tried to shake Serena up. The raven-haired girl merely turned over in bed and continued to sleep on. "Bakayaro! WAKE UP!" Hinoko yelled into the girl's ear.
"Hey! Quiet! How is anyone to get some rest if you yell loud enough to wake the dead?" Serena mumbled sleepily as she put her pillow on top of her head to drown out the noise Hinoko was making.
The other three girls giggled. Serena REALLY wasn't a morning person.
"Well, I wouldn't be yelling if you would just get up! It's already 6:45!" Hinoko screamed at the pathetic excuse for a pilot.
That got Serena's attention. "6:45!!!! It's ONLY 6:45 AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONAL?!?!?!?!" Serena sat up and screamed at the other girl.
"Well, looks like you're up!" Hinoko said smiling.
"Shimatte! Tricked by the baka!" Serena sighed as she climbed out of bed.
"Well, you shouldn't be so gullible!" Hinoko smiled slyly. Then, turning to the others, she announced, "I think it would best if we disguised ourselves as guys today."
The others, with the exception of Shimei, stared at her in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?" Dominique was the first to recover from the initial shock.
"NO WAY am I gonna cut my hair!" Serena wailed, gripping her dark, silky braid.
Elizabeth blinked a few times and giggled, "Sere-chan, you're so silly! Just leave it to me!"
Serena shot the gentle girl a skeptical look, "And how, pray tell, are you to take care of it?"
Elizabeth smiled, her eyes twinkling, "I'm a master of disguises if I do say so myself!"
Dominique snorted, "Yeah, you're modest too!" The comment brought her a pillow in her face.
"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Elizabeth laughed as she continued to pound Dominique with the pillow.
"Cool it! I was just joking!" Dominique quickly grabbed her pillow to counterattack. Soon, the two girls were engaged in a massive pillow fight.
"Well, Elizabeth, when you're finished with your pillow fight, tell me if there's anything you need. I have flour, make-up, hair extensions, colored contacts, and a lot of different styles of clothing," Shimei said as she searched her luggage for some things.
"Flour?" Serena and Dominique wondered aloud. The pillow fight was forgotten.
"Never mind," Elizabeth said quickly to the perplexed girls. Then, turning to Shimei, said, "No, we're no gonna do anything complex.... unless Miss Perfect Soldier wants us to completely change our features..." She glared at Hinoko, daring the blond to tell her they needed to do more than she wanted. Hinoko simply ignored her.
"Ok, so just some hair and eye color changes, right?" Shimei asked.
"Perfect."
Shimei grabbed a small bag from her suitcase, opened it and tossed Elizabeth a few packets, "See if these would do. I'm gonna change now, so you can see what I can do without changing my natural features. Tell me what you think, K?"
"Ok," Elizabeth said.
"Fine with me, but hurry up! I don't have all day to wait! It's almost 7:00!" Hinoko replied also in her cold, emotionless tone.
"Ok..." Shimei said, sounding a bit hurt.
The blond ignored her and mumbling something, started to clean up the room. She then grabbed some things from her bag and started to change.
The other three pilots chattered about disguises as they waited for Shimei.
"So, what should I wear?" Serena asked Elizabeth as she eyed her reflection in the mirror.
"Hm..." Elizabeth looked at the Chinese descendant. "Chinese style clothing would be nice... maybe you could get something from Wufei!" Elizabeth giggled.
"NO WAY! I don't wanna wear ANY of that jerk's clothes!" Serena said.
"Well, looks like we'll haveta see what Mei-chan can do!" Elizabeth told her.
"What about me?" Dominique asked eagerly. This was fun, almost like fortune telling!
"Hm..." Elizabeth said thoughtfully, "You could always try to do your hair like Trowa! That'll be fun!"
Dominique looked at Elizabeth oddly, "You're kidding, right?"
Elizabeth nodded her head and laughed, "What, did you think I'd be serious?"
"Well, can we try to be serious?" Dominique asked.
"Sure, why not? Ok, you could do what I like to do: wear a hat to hide the long hair," Elizabeth told Dominique. "Your hair would be pretty easy since it's so short and with some make-up and the right clothes, you'd look like a bishonen instead of a bishoujo!"
"Cool!" Serena cut in. "Could you do the same for me?"
"Why not?" Elizabeth laughed as she went over to her stuff to find the make- up.
Just then, Hinoko announced, "How does this look?" She was wearing VERY baggy jeans and an old, baggy T-shirt under an army green Hawaiian shirt. Her long hair was piled up on the top of her head and hidden by a fisherman's hat made of old jean material. If it weren't for her eyes, people would think she was a boy.
"What about your eyes?" Elizabeth pointed out.
"Simple!" Hinoko responded as she put on some really cool sunglasses.
"Show off!" Serena mumbled under her breath. "She just HAD to do it perfectly!"
"Not really," Elizabeth said.
"What did I do wrong?" Hinoko looked at the other girl.
"You could've changed your eye color and hair color so no one would recognize you and you could've given yourself different bangs," Elizabeth stated.
"No thanks, that gets too complicated," Hinoko said as she closed her suitcase and walked out the door. "I'm gonna go find us a ride!" She yelled, 1/2 way down the hall.
The other girls stared at the door way as it closed. They sat in silence. Hinoko would be a great friend... if only she could open up more.
The opening of the bathroom door startled everyone. Turning around, they saw Shimei, dressed and looking very much like Wufei with long hair. She was wearing white, silky pants very similar to that of Wufei's and also a white silk shirt with a black sash. Her long ebony hair was braided into a tight braid and Serena swore her hair seemed to be longer. To hide her bangs, Shimei wore a dome-shaped hat on her head. The sword she had was strapped on her back and she looked like a true fighter.
"Wow! You look great Mei-chan!" Elizabeth said. Then the gentle girl looked at her friend's eyes. They had become a deep shade of purple, "I see you used your contacts too!"
Shimei blushed, "Hai, I wanted to change as many features as possible without changing the fact that I'm Asian."
"Well, you certainly look like a bishounen!" Elizabeth said laughing.
"Hai! Mei-chan, could you do something for me? Maybe we could wear the same clothes!" Serena piped in.
"Sure, why not! But I hope you don't mind black and red. That's all I have left!"
"No, that'll be perfect!" Serena leaped up and hugged Shimei.
"Well, come on! I'll show you how it's done," Shimei lead Serena to her suitcase.
"Well, looks like you and I will have to work together, ne?" Elizabeth said to Dominique.
"Hai, and I have a feeling we could do really well too!" Dominique smiled.
For the next 1/2 an hour, the girls worked out their disguises and put them on. Serena got extensions for her braid so that it was as long as Shimei's. She also wore a dome shaped hat, and Shimei gave her a red Chinese style silk shirt and black pants of the same material. Dominique's disguise was not very different from Hinoko's. She had on a baseball cap along with the baggy jeans and T-shirt. Her hair was also hidden under the hat. As for Elizabeth, she wore Quatre-like clothing and hid her hair under a hat.
The girls looked at each other and smiled. This was really funny looking at each other cross dress. Then, to make sure Hinoko wouldn't get mad at them, they packed their bags and headed over to the boys room. When they got there, the boys were already packed and they were locking the door.
"Oi, Duo!" Serena called.
Duo turned at her voice and was surprised to see two boys very much like Wufei, one dressed in 21st century clothes and another dressed like Quatre. "Who are you?"
"Well, that depends! Who do you think we are?" Dominique asked, giggling.
"..." Duo was speechless. Who were these weird boys that sounded like girls?
"Is that you, Shimei?" Wufei asked his cousin.
Shimei simply smiled and pulled out her sword, "What do you think?"
"You look like a boy!" Wufei told her the obvious.
"So?"
"You're a girl!"
"Well, Hua Mulan dressed as a boy!"
"But that doesn't matter! You DON'T HAVE TO PROVE YOU CAN FIGHT!" Wufei yelled angrily.
The others stared at them.
"Maybe they should take this inside?" Serena whispered to Duo.
"Not a bad idea!" Duo told her as he opened the door and pulled Wufei inside. The others quickly followed.
"Wu-man! You can't start criticizing her whenever you see her! Especially since she's dressed up like a boy!" Duo told his friend as soon as they got inside.
"If she acted like a woman instead of a warrior I wouldn't tell her what to do!" Wufei retorted.
"I've never known how else to act. I was a warrior, a doctor, and a woman. I have my duties and I am fulfilling them. I don't care what you think for you are not my parents. If they were still alive, I trust they would agree with me!" Shimei told her cousin with determination. No way was she gonna back down this time!
"Fine, do as you wish, but don't come to me when you get hurt or expect me to save you when you get into trouble!" The solitary dragon told his cousin.
"Don't worry! I won't burden you!" Shimei told him coldly as she bolted out the door with her luggage.
"Mei-chan!" Serena yelled chasing after her friend. Wufei was gonna die! He had to right to say things like that to Shimei. She couldn't stand how rude and arrogant Wufei was getting, especially since Shimei had defeated him.
"Mei-chan!" Shimei heard Serena running up to her. Turning around, she noticed her vision had blurred.
"Mei-chan... are you OK? Don't let him get to you," Serena tried to console her friend.
"I'm Ok... just confused. My mind is so lost. I tried so hard to finally find him, and when I finally do, he hates me! I defeated him in battle, so he hates me! What am I supposed to do? I'm so confused!" Shimei dropped her luggage and wept on her friend's shoulder while she cried and told Serena everything in Chinese.
"Is there anything I can do?" Serena asked the trembling girl.
"No, not unless you have complete domination over his mind."
That was when the others had caught up. Wufei was trailing behind and stayed as far as possible from Shimei. The boys paid for the stay and they walked outside. There they waited for Hinoko. After 15 minutes, they heard a honk, and a bus appeared. The door opened and Hinoko jumped out in her disguise.
"Well, everyone, get on! This is the perfect bus! The driver agreed to drive us to our destination if we paid in advance."
"Have you paid yet?" Serena asked.
"No, I was hoping we would cover the costs together."
"I don't have any money!" Hiiro stated.
"Neither do I!" Duo, Wufei, Elizabeth, Dominique, Trowa and Shimei chimed in.
"I have money, but it's on L4... I can't go get it now..." Quatre said sadly.
Hinoko turned to look at Serena. Sighing, Serena asked, "How much?"
"$400. You have the cash, pay. If you don't get off!" the bus driver said.
"Don't worry, I have it!" Serena said as she grabbed her bag and pulled out her diaries. Opening the back of the first one, she pulled out four 100- dollar bills. "Here, now please drive us to our destination!" She said as she handed the money to the driver.
"Wow! Where'd you get the cash?" Duo gaped at the Chinese girl.
"It was left for me from my parents. I just took some out of the bank to save for emergency purposes!" Serena smiled and said. Grabbing her bags, she followed the girls on the bus. "Oh, by the way, you five boys each owe me forty dollars or a favor!"
"Why is that?" Duo asked.
"It was MY money!" Serena told the others. "I don't like throwing away $200 dollars!"
"What about the girl's share?"
"The girls and I are a team! They need my help right now, so I offered the money. When I need help, I know they'll give it to me," Serena stated simply.
"Well, aren't the TEN of us a team?" Duo asked.
"Well, I don't know! Are we? You BOYS don't seem to think so! Especially not Wufei and Hiiro!"
"Well, I think Quatre and I think the ten of us are a team! Don't you Quatre?" Duo said as he pulled Quatre next to him.
"What?" Quatre asked, slightly confused.
"Don't you think the ten of us are a team?" Duo filled him in.
"Well, why not? I mean isn't that what the scientists wanted?" Quatre told Duo.
"You see!" Duo announced to Serena.
"Yeah, but you still owe me!" Serena said.
"Ok. I'll pay you back when we get to my place," Quatre agreed.
"Duo, you could learn a few things about manners from him," Serena teased the braided boy.
"Hmph! It's not like I need you or anything!" Duo said as he turned around.
"Oi! Could you write me an 'I owe you'?" Serena asked.
"Fine! Anything to get you off my back!" Duo said as he got a piece of paper and scribbled a few words on it. Then he signed it with "Shinigami". Handing the piece of paper to Serena, he asked, "Is this good?"
"Perfect!" Serena took it and walked over to Trowa, Wufei, and Hiiro. Trowa and Hiiro quickly wrote an 'I owe you' but Wufei refused to act.
"Why should I do that for you Onna?" He asked rudely.
"Hiiro, Duo and Trowa did it! And Quatre promised to pay me back!" Serena told him.
"I know. But why should I be obligated to do it?" Wufei asked.
"You're on this bus right? And I paid for it! So, if you want me to kick you off, feel free to NOT write me one!"
"Onna, let me get this straight! You do us ONE LITTLE FAVOR and YOU want ME to owe you something?" Wufei asked angrily. He had never seen anyone who was more of a penny pincher.
"Yeah! You do owe me forty dollars!" Serena replied with the same intensity. How could Wufei be so rude?
They're argument continued for 15 minutes until the other finally calmed them down. Wufei finally agreed to write the note and everything was quiet for a while. Everyone found something to do and a few hours passed by rather quickly. The scenery changed also from barren land to forests. Suddenly, the sky darkened and they heard a voice over the intercom saying, "Stop the bus right now or we will shoot! If you value your life, don't fight back!"
"W-wh-what sh-should I d-do?" The bus driver stuttered.
"KEEP ON DRIVING!" Hinoko yelled at him.
"Are you sure?" the man asked.
"Yeah, unless you want to get killed!" Hinoko told him.
The bus driver drove on. Hiiro looked up and saw 40 mobile suits chasing after them. "Leos!" He spat out.
"How many?" Serena asked.
"Forty."
"That shouldn't be too hard!" Dominique said.
"As long as they follow us to the lair!" Elizabeth reminded them.
"Hn." Hiiro responded with a grunt. Directing his attention at the driver, he asked, "How long?"
"About 15 more minutes to your destination. Are you sure this is the right place? It's weird for a buncha teens to come here!"
"Don't worry! It's just a simple camping trip," Elizabeth quickly said.
"With kids of SO varied cultural background? It doesn't take a genius to figure out something's fishy!" The bus driver said.
"Well, we're from earth," Serena made something up as the others pretended this was not new to them.
"Well, hopefully you kids will be careful!" The man told them.
"We will! Don't worry!" The said in unison.
That was when the Leo's spoke again, "This is your last warning! Stop the bus or we will be forced to fire!"
"I don't think their joking kids!" The bus driver said.
"JUST KEEP ON DRIVING!" Hiiro yelled at him.
"Ok..."
Suddenly there was a loud boom and the bus was knocked off the road. Elizabeth and Serena screamed. The bus swerved and hit a tree. When the ten pilots realized what had happened, they quickly got their luggage and jumped off the bus. Shimei was the last in line, and when she looked at the bus driver, she saw he was unconscious and bleeding.
"I think he needs help!" the girl called out to the others.
"Check him for breathing and a pulse. If it's ok, he'll be fine!" Hinoko told her.
"Ok." Shimei followed her instruction and then got off the bus.
Bullets flew everywhere as the Leo's attacked the bus and its occupants. The ten teens followed Hinoko into the forest and disappeared from view.
"That was a close one!" Duo puffed.
"Hai!" The others agreed as they all sat down next to a tree. Serena and Elizabeth were pretty shaken up considering they had never been on a battlefield before and Shimei was weeping.
"Mei-chan, what's wrong?" Dominique was the first to notice.
Shimei just continued to weep. Serena got up and sat down next to her friend. Then she put her arm around Shimei and whispered in Chinese, "What's wrong?"
Shimei turned to Serena with tears in her eyes and replied in the same language, "That was so much like how mother died. She was shot when she tried to save me and father killed himself because he didn't want to leave her."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Serena held Shimei in her arms and allowed the small girl to cry her heart out.
"Serena, it's great that you want Shimei to feel better, but we've got a battle to fight! So, either you two get up or you're on your own!" Hinoko barked out her orders.
"Hn."Serena replied absent mindedly and motioned for Shimei to stand up. For once she though Hinoko was right. Shimei got up and the group followed Hinoko into the woods.
"I know this place! Come on! We can get our Gundams!" Hinoko called out to the others.
"Right! Let's get our Gundams and kick some ASS!" Duo yelled enthusiastically.
The group moved quickly and soon reached the hangar. They set their things down and got into their suits.
"Is everyone ready?" Hinoko cried out.
"Hai!" answered 8 of the voices.
"Hn," answered the other.
The ten suits: Wing Zero, Deathscythe Hell, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Altron, Talon, Spritefire, Megami, Desertflower, and Xianfeng charged out the hanger and into the battle field.
"Gundams! Attack!" One of the Leos shouted, but he was quickly cut in half by Duo's energy scythe.
Serena used her buster rifle to blow one of the Leos also. The other pilots also did quite well with their Gundams. The boys, being more experienced, quickly annihilated their Leos. When they were about to help the girls, they were surprised to find the girls were doing quite well. Shimei's style was similar to Wufei's as she used her Martial Art skills to destroy her enemies. Serena wielded her twin katanas with skill and the others were also managing. In less than 2 minutes, the 40 Leos were destroyed and the ten Gundams stood in the forest. Their shiny metal glistened in the setting sun. The ten pilots got out of their Gundams. They stared at each other, and marveled at the magnificent Gundams. Wind blew through the trees and toyed with Shimei and Serena's braids but that was all -- everything else was silent and still.
"Well, let's head back!" Dominique broke the silence. The others returned to their Gundams and they slowly trudged back to the lair where the scientists were waiting for them to give them their new mission.