Disclaimer: Usagi doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, Luna doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, Hiiro doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Stay tuned until next chapter to learn whether or not I own Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon. (I think people are suspicious because I keep refraining from saying that I don't own the two animes … check back and see. ^^)
Ea-dee-tours! Welcome onto the bandwagon, Serenity-Moon! Thanks to UsagiAsiaMaxwell and Serenity-Moon (a.k.a. Lady Artemis). Apologies to DevilsDarling, AutumnHime, and SerenityMoon for not waiting for your replies. I'm just not sure if I'll get another chance to update anytime soon … again, sorry.
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The braided pilot's eyes would have skittered skittishly across Hiiro's briskly darkening features if they weren't glued to the silver luster of metal outside scattering birds and cart-wheeling in rapture, a thrilling sight for anyone.
The spell was pulverized inelegantly and simultaneously by all five pilots - Hiiro's hiss of rage, Wufei's snort, Trowa's crescendoing laughter, Quatre's choked gulp, and Duo's peals of giggles.
Of course, Usagi didn't know she had acquired an audience and was, at present, echoing Duo's giggles delightedly, pressing down more buttons but steering clear of the sections she knew to be weaponry related. Scaring the birds is one thing; machine gunning them is another.
Duo's snickers abruptly melted away, but since it was obscured in the others' guffawing, it went by unheeded. Until…
"Uh-oh…"
An 'uh-oh' from Duo was never shoved into the background. Millions were paid as the consequence. All pilots broke off, even Hiiro (though his left eye was still twitching fiercely) and leveled gazes onto the braided pilot. His eyes, however, were again aimed at the window.
Quatre reflexes kicked in first, and he followed Duo's stare.
"Uh-oh…"
The remaining trio turned as well and again, jaws plunged to perilously low levels. All three faltered under the impulse to ejaculate the notorious 'uh-oh' as well. And did.
………………….
Outside, a correlating comprehension was dawning. Once she had shook the giddiness from her head, her vision cleared. What were those? Ah yes, she remembered now. Her eyes grew wide. This wasn't supposed to go this far! A recurring phrase splintered the serene whining of Wing.
"Uh-oh…"
……………………
Before anybody could process the information, Duo was at his Gundam, clambering up nimbly and bellowing at the rest to snap out of it.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Of all the days!" he yelped piercingly, and for once, Quatre wasn't there to offer a lecture.
Hiiro's legs carried him to the nearest Gundam, Deathscythe, as quickly as thought, and he grabbed a hold of Duo's collar.
"You stay behind!"
"Hiiro!" came the boyish whine. "This is my Gundam, you know! Assigned to me by Usagi, our designer, or whatever she is."
Eyeing the enlarging flares in the sky as disquiet clogged up his throat, he eventually nodded curtly. "Take this," he instructed and thrust a communicator into Duo's fumbling hands before leaping back down to the ground.
"I give directions to you, you relay to her."
Not long after, an electric green scythe joined the battle against the flocking Leos, thoughtlessly shielding Gundam 01.
.................................
"Any news yet, Motoki?"
A head stranded with silver looked up and then shook dolefully as the owner picked at the scrambled eggs.
"If you want news, there is plenty," Shingo grunted scorchingly, dropping another small mountain of newspapers onto the table.
Headlines read: Tsukino Usagi's Disappearance: An Interview With Bewildered Cab Driver.
"They know about the accident?" Kenji asked, alarmed, glancing up and back at his son.
"Well, now they do." His eyes pursued Motoki as the man stood up, excused himself and walked back down the hall to the guest room.
.…………………….
"Any news yet, Luna?" he spoke in an undertone into the telephone, pulling on a jacket while doing so.
"No, not at all. What happened, Art? You were supposed to repel danger from her!"
"Not my fault I was suffocating in the duffel bag."
The violet-curled woman sighed. A jittery silence followed while both walked towards their respective windows and looked out at a pastoral scene before them.
"I have found a possible route to where she has gone. However ... things just aren't the same without Ami on our side."
His burnished silver eyes glowed gently at this. "A possible route?"
"Yes."
.....................
"Press A 16!" he shouted to her over the intercom, past the fragments of static, conveying Hiiro's order.
"Go away! I can handle this on my own!" she yelled back, frustratedly sweeping her hands over the buttons, realizing that the control panel was similar to that of the video game she had helped fashion.
"Go away! I can handle this on my own!" he echoed back to Hiiro, not paying attention to what he was saying.
"What the hell?! I'm helping you here!" the true pilot of 01 shot back hotly.
Again, Duo repeated the message over the intercom, swinging a deadly flash of green, concentrating on the conflict of Wufei's current location with his.
"I don't need any help!" was the reply before the intercom was shut down.
The message was reiterated and accepted not all too happily.
"That no-good-" was all he could manage before Duo shut down the communicator as well. Apparently, he was attentive.
Hiiro began to seethe.
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"How do we find that specific type of metal in a junkyard like this?!" he demanded, eyes encompassing the wreckage that littered the dump.
"Gundanium is silver in color and resistant to damages. If we're lucky, it should be the only thing gleaming brightly in the sun for miles," Luna muttered, typing continuously at her laptop, comfortably located in the leather seat of her Mercedes.
Hey, publishing pays well.
"I see it! Drive over there!" the platinum-haired man cried breathlessly, shaking Luna on the shoulder.
"I'm not driving over that garbage! Get out and walk!"
But apparently it didn't pay that well.
.....................
Yes, she's got this. The buttons were genuinely identical to those of the video game, and she was having a blast. She avoided being hit as often as possible, but when an attack did befall her, the Gundanium metal shrugged it off casually.
"Thank you!" she whispered exaggeratedly to the deity of her inspiration -- the one who gave her Hiiro, Gundanium, and now, her life.
.............................
Oh my god, she's got this. He stared assessingly out of the window, fettering blinds now completely lifted and the whole five, wide panes of window unveiled, giving him a perfect, front row seat to the extravagant show outside.
The girl acted as if she had piloted a gundam for her whole life! Okay, maybe not, but for the majority of her life at least. Other than a few accidental or overlapping moves, like when one hand reached out to knock an enemy aside, and the left leg made a movement as if it were about to kick a football, she was piloting like a pro.
Of course, by laymen's eyes, these gestures could be seen as expert. The leg that moved? It knocked out another Mobile Suit.
Sandrock threw off another MS, and it hurtled towards the mansion. Okay, standing with your nose pressed to the window as a Leo fell closer and closer was not smart. He rolled away and ducked expertly as the chunk of metal collided with the wall, shattering the windows, and leaving a nice souvenir for Quatre.
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"Hiiro, Hiiro! Did you see her?! She was awesome!" the pilot of Deathscythe scrambled off of his Gundam and fairly skipped over to the stoic pilot, who had just run down five flights of stairs to reach the ground floor and storm through the doors.
Disregarding Duo's elated ramblings, he focused his eyes straight ahead, into the eyes of one Tsukino Usagi.
Sky blue clashed midnight as their gazes locked, each color battling for control.
.................................
"Usagi? Usa-chan?" Minako called out into the studio halls, dragging Hotaru with her.
"Yes? How may I help you?" a young woman dressed in a dirtied apron asked distractedly, examining her graphite-smeared hand.
"Where's Usagi?"
"Ah yes, Miss Aino," she acknowledged evenly, now used to the appearances of the stylish star. "Usagi hasn't been around for the last week or so. What do you need?"
"If she isn't around, what are you all doing here?" Hotaru spoke up, inquisitively.
The assistant shrugged cheerily. "We still keep on inking and perfecting her drawings! She left Book Eight with us."
Another poked her head out from inside the room. "Setsuna-san? Mako is doing it again!" the pink-eyed girl muttered despairingly.
"Again?" The woman they had been talking to groaned. "Tell her that I command her to stop wasting her time writing alternate chapters that do not follow Usagi's plan."
"Hai, hai," the short girl mumbled unenthusiastically before ambling back into the room, piercingly calling out, "Makoto!"
..........................
"I'm going to have to remove that self destruct button when I get back. It gets in the way," she broke the gaze unexpectedly.
He didn't answer.
"How did you know how to pilot Wing?" Trowa asked incredulously.
A wide grin covered her face. "Well, I created it, you know! I should know!" Ah yes, now the case was definitely won and closed with a loud, sharp bang.
"Hiiro! You're going to be losing your job if Usagi pilots Wing anymore!" Duo commented slyly, nudging him happily.
"Really?" he retorted nonchalantly. Duo took the remark seriously.
"What, didn't you watch the whole battle?"
"I was hit by a fallen Leo," he supplied dryly.
Wufei turned to the surreally smiling Quatre. "Aren't you worried about your house?"
The blonde jerked out of his reverie and smiled serenely in response. "I've learned to get insurance. With Duo and all."
"Aren't you going to kill me now, Hiiro?" she teased, glancing up smugly at him.
Instead, he turned until his back was towards her. "I think I'll wait until a better time presents itself," he stated eerily, casting her a smirk over his shoulder before walking off towards the mansion again.
The bubble of silence that resulted was burst by Usagi's squeak. "He's not serious, is he?"
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Ah yes, Usagi is going to die. Or whatever you guys think. But for the sake of the story, we shall postpone it, ne? ^^ Writing this chapter was tedious ... I ran out of ideas. Darn it. : P Ah yes, turning point coming up soon! ^^ *snicker* Review please!
***Note: I am currently focusing on this fic in particular because I want to finish something for once. Note that I have not finished any of my series. This is so embarrassing … but anyhow. For those of you who like this fic, yay! For those who are anticipating others … sorry. I'm trying to focus what time I have into this one and then once (if) I finish, I'll move on to the next and then the next, etc. PLUS, I really want to write the last chapter for this! And you'll probably think I'm wacko when you read it… *smile*