MS: Booyah! Looky looky, it's the 10th chapter, already! And it's coming out so soon! It's not the last chap yet, but it's coming to a close! ~sniff~
Peach: But don't worry, we have more coming on the way! It's just all these ideas build up in her head, and she never has the time to write them all out. It's either lessons, or relatives, or a wedding....
MS: But those really are the reasons! Like my finals, and school, and--
Peach: And moving? Ha!
MS: But I really DID move!! I have the boxes and arm muscle to prove it!! Trust me!!
Peach: Whatever. ~rolls eyes~
MS: They aren't lies!! Believe meeee!
"Dammit, Duo, get over to the south end of town, now!" Trowa's voice rang out. "They sent a fake to your location to lure us all over there! They're bringing out mobile suits to the other two. The fire starters are over here, and they're going to escape if you don't stop them!"
"SHIT!" Duo shouted. He snatched up Heero's radio counterpart. "Heero! Get back here, NOW! You're going after a fake!!"
"What!? What are you talking about, Duo!?"
"Get over here, and I'll explain on the way! Hurry, we're wasting time!!" Duo started the gundam up again, and sped over the ground to Heero's location. The cockpit door swung open and Heero burst in. "We're going!" Duo yelled, and put on a burst of speed toward the south end of town. "It's a fake! They're over here, and they brought in mobile suits! The other two are in danger, while Trowa is preoccupied doing something. He's not in his gundam, so I don't know what he's doing."
"Over there!" Heero called unnecessarily, pointing to a rupture of flames in the distance that arced the sky. "They've brought in hundreds of mobile suits! We can't take care of all those in time! Especially in this weather—can't we turn it off!?"
"Don't you see? If we did, then this fire would spread to ever house within minutes! If we're impaired by this rain, it means they are, too...." He trailed off as a surprised look slipped across his face. "Heero, I have an idea...."
Duo swerved to the left suddenly. "What the hell are you doing!?" Heero screamed as he flew to the side. "The battle's over there; are you blind!?"
Duo's intentions became clearer as they approached a soaking reddish object. "We need all the pilots we can get, so get ready to jump, Heero!" Duo gave a sharp turn , leaning almost sideways, and cracked open the cockpit door enough to let a person out.
Heero stayed still. "NO, Duo! I'm not—" Duo shoved Heero into the cockpit door as they passed over the red object. He closed the door.
"Sorry, man." Duo said, and sped off to the battle.
Heero turned around, and with cat-like reflexes, managed to land feet first on the wet metal. He slipped, but was able to grab hold onto one of the metal parts. He opened the hatch to the cockpit, and scrambled into the gundam Heavyarms. "He is SO going to kill me for this...." Heero told himself as he clambered into the pilot seat and flipped the power switches. "Trowa is going to KILL me!" He said again, and sped off after his own gundam.
"Get in alright, I see?" Duo asked over the video link.
Heero glared at him. "Why couldn't YOU have piloted Heavyarms??"
Duo smirked. "Time is of the essence." He flicked the power boost switch and hastened to his fellow companions, and Heero followed.
"03, are you there?" Heero spoke to the intercom. "03, under some certain circumstances, I have needed to borrow your gundam temporarily." He cringed, readying to bear what came next.
"You WHAT!?" Came the reply. "Dammit, Yuy, what the HELL were you thinking!? GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW WITH MY GUNDAM!!!" He screamed.
Heero turned off the intercom, heaving a sigh. "The shit's really hit the fan now...."
"Oh my god, Heero! You and Duo need to help us! There are so many mobile suits, and we're trying our best not to kill these people!" Quatre's voice rang out as his video link hooked up. "Please help!"
Duo came zooming out of the smoky air, knocking a mobile suit off Quatre's back. "How are we supposed to get rid of these AND catch these people!? We don't even know where they are!"
"They haven't left the town yet. We've been monitoring the ground and village the entire time!"
Duo growled loudly. "I don't have time to play your stupid games!" He shouted to the mobile suits attacking him. He ripped at the suits before him.
"Sacrifices must be made! Some of these people are going to die!" Wufei called out to the others. "We have no chance to win otherwise!"
Duo remembered his conversation with Shar. "Why do you kill?" She had asked him. "No sacrifices shall be MADE!" He screamed with such a fury, and attacked the mobile suits, avoiding the cockpit. "WE SHALL NOT KILL!" Adrenaline pumping throughout his body, giving him energy beyond possible in his state, Duo began to destroy the heads of the suits.
"Duo's right!" Quatre yelled. "We must not kill unless absolutely necessary!"
"That is fool's talk! We are in a war! There is no such thing as a battle without casualties! Put aside your precious fantasies and start living in the real world! We are soldiers created to end this war!"
"NO!" Duo shrieked. "We are soldiers created to bring peace! You have to believe in the things you have in order to with anything in life! You need to believe in your ideas of a peaceful and perfect world to make it!"
"Peace can only come after war! And with war comes death! Look at yourselves! You know just as well as these people here what death from a meaningless war means. In order to stop more people from dying, you need to end the lives that cause it! Your dreams are nothing on a battlefield. They will only get you killed!"
"OUR WORLD IS BUILT ON DREAMS!!" Duo called back to Wufei.
"Stop it, now! We are a team, not animals! We shouldn't be fighting over ideals for our future, but instead, taking on what's at hand! We are a team, and that's how we must fight! That's the only way we can defeat anything!" Quatre yelled, attempting to end the row.
Duo and Wufei's silence rang throughout the com link system, symbolizing their apologies as Quatre's words sank in.
Slowly, Duo raised his head and looked at Wufei. "Sorry, man. Let's fight about our future together later."
Wufei looked appalled. "Saying it in such a manner is unnecessary, Maxwell!" But he smiled anyway.
"Alright, we have one pilot missing from action, but that shouldn't affect us a lot. We shall spare as many lives as possible, but we need to move quickly. We can move through their ranks more quickly, while catching them by surprise." Heero spoke up finally.
The four worked seamlessly as the battle raged on. The soldier's lightening fast reflexes emerged within them, as their spirits rose above all, working to their common goal. They were put here for a reason—to end this war.
"Pilots!" A fizzy voice called out. "Pilots! You need to be careful! Try to stay away from any sparks that flash out!" Trowa urged. "You could be in a lot of danger as—" The radio grew too fuzzy to hear any words coming through. "Gorge—south—ligh---" The static finally stopped completely, along with the words.
"Dammit!" Duo shouted, hitting the soundboard. "He's been cut off! Something's blocking his signal!" He thrashed around at his adversaries.
"I get it!" Heero called. "The sparks will mix with the rain, and can electrocute our system!"
"The rain leaks in into the gundam parts, making it easier to power up the shock!" Quatre finished.
"Wait...." Wufei paused momentarily, giving the enemy a chance to pounce upon him. Duo mauled them over quickly. "A gorge! We need to head over to that gorge over there. If we can knock these guys in the pit and start a spark, then the mobile suits will stop working completely!"
"Since the suits have a proofed up cockpit, these people won't get hurt. It's a perfect plan!" Heero said distractedly.
A small silence echoed out as Duo, Quatre, and Wufei exchanged glances. "Heero, we all know you're a walking war dictionary, but the enemy suits as well...?" Duo questioned.
Heero smiled. "While I was cracking that base's information, I found a full sketch of the current mobile suits. I had to think about something while I was crawling through that vent."
Quatre and Wufei remained puzzled, but didn't say anything. "To the gorge!" Wufei shouted after the awkward silence.
Simultaneously, each pilot jetted their engines and took off. The mobile suits followed quickly.
"Wait!" Duo called. "How are we supposed to catch those people if we're down here?!"
Nobody answered. "Right now we have to worry about the people! Something catches fire, falls onto the city, anything like that, these things can happen, so we need to make sure it doesn't."
"Humph, babysitting!" Duo whispered loudly to himself, letting the others hear. I can't let these people escape!! He thought to himself. These people left Shar to die, they've killed one of their own relentlessly. I cannot forgive such an act! There is no way I am letting something like this happen once again. I've been placed here to bring justice to those who cannot receive it by our stupid laws, and I never plan to let down my promises. "I'm going to bring up the rear!" Duo said loudly. "To make sure none of them attack the city or fall behind or something."
Without waiting for a response, Duo took off with Wing, heading into the mass of mobile suits coming his way. He whipped through the easy targets before him, and the rest left him alone, going for the other three suits ahead. Duo arrived at the previous, charred battleground. He knew no suits would be here. There was no reason to attack the city, but he didn't care. The other pilots needed him in their battle at all times, so he needed to hurry.
"Come out, you stinkin' cowards!" He yelled. "Where are you, scum? Or are you too afraid to even show hide or hair because of your shameful loyalty? I bet you are realizing that you did a pretty low thing back there, killing off your own commander to save your own skin for a take in power. You dirty bastards. You know what Shinigami does to people like you? Shinigami has to patience for those who's fidelity is only with themselves. He has no mercy for those who work only out of greed and spitefulness! Shinigami will never take compassion to your retched souls! You have sunk so low, not even the devil takes pride in you!!" Duo huffed, smirking evilly. His breathe showed white in the cool night. "Now, do one good thing before you die, and show yourselves to the god of Death!"
No answer came. No reply sprouted fourth, no response, no nothing but silence.
"Dammit! Bring your filthy hides out here now! I do not have the time to play hide and seek with such slime as yourselves!" He knew they were here, he could feel it as the blood of hate flowed freely through his streams. "AHA!" He screamed, almost maniacally as he spotted a pile of unsmouldering dirt in a pile of black. "Clever, very clever. Freshly dug dirt does not burn well, does it?"
The fingers on Wing Zero dug into the small hideout underground, and pulled out two men. "Is this all?" He dug around in the dirt until satisfied there was no one left. "Hmm, I guess if you aren't total defuses, you two could probably pull some big escapade like this off. Well well well, we aren't as dumb as we look, are we?" He poked at the old man provokingly. "You are coming to meet some well-deserved justice, my little slimebags."
Duo took a good grasp around the two men and sped back off to the heat of the battle. Crashing through the hoards of mobile suits, he made his way to the other three safely.
"What the hell was that, Maxwell!?" Wufei questioned. His back was to a cliff, where he was consistently throwing the mobile suits after ripping at their propeller packs.
Duo followed suit. "Duo, the easiest way to get them off is by grabbing the packs at the rim." Heero rang in. Duo nodded.
"Why, may I ask?"
"We think what Trowa was trying to say was to lead these guys to the gorge, and then he will make the weather control center strike lightening in there. If we rip off these packs, they can't fly out, and if we get this done quickly enough, we won't have climbers getting out of there." Quatre explained. "Okay, we're almost through here, so we need to make this fast. The storm is already starting to brew!"
They hastened their efforts. The last one approached Quatre at a blinding speed, but the young blonde was too fast. He ripped at the jets and threw him over his back, and over Duo's head, into the pit.
"That's it!" He exclaimed. "Now, let's get out of here, fast!"
A screamed echoed out into the air about them. "Help, help! I'm slipping!"
They whipped around to find Wing Zero barely hanging onto the cliff, hands searching for something to clutch. "It's got a hold on me! The mobile suit! Help!!"
The ground began to crack as Heavyarms rushed forward. Heero fell to the ground at the edge, reaching for the gundam's extended hand.
Duo slipped a little more. "He's trying to bring me down! He's pulling on my legs!!"
Heero lunged at Duo's extended hand once again, frantic, while the others dashed around, trying to help.
"DUO! Grab my hand!" Heero screamed. The ground began to sink, and where the two machines where leaning on began to crack off. Heero grabbed the tips of Wing's fingers.
"Help us!!" He called to the others, and they rushed forward. The unstable ground shook from their weight and gave away as Wing's fingers slipped through Heavyarms' in the falling rain.
"OH MY GOD!! DUO!!!!" Heero screamed out.
As if the time between the two lovers slowed down, Duo looked Heero in the face with an expression of pain and fear so great, it shook the stone soldier's heart. As Duo fell backward into the blackened abyss, lightening flashed above, striking down below at the piles of metal and water. Tears streamed from both faces.
"DUOOOOO!!!!" Heero cried out as the braided boy faded from sight into the hell below.
MS: O_O;; Man, I'm spiteful for doing this, you know. A three-part finale.
Peach: Yes, you do all have the right to kill her. I can provide the knife, if you want.
MS: ;; But hey! It's up on Monday, like I said it'd be! Congratulations! ~claps for self~ Uh, yeah.... ~cough~ Expect another part soo~oon! *^_^*
