Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights to Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz, Lupin the Third, any movies, books, or any songs that are used in this story. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
Notice to Readers: To understand certain parts of this story, you'll have to read the other stories before this one. It is recommended by not required.
Gundam Wing and Lupin the Third
The Wizards Glass
Chapter 2: Tumbling Down
*
Preventer Report:
Officer: Heero Yuy
Code-name: The Perfect Soldier
Date: February 9, A.C. 216
Report: It has been a little over a year after the office of Preventer has taken a serious attack by an enemy armed with mobile suits. Since then the office has expanded itself, thanks to a little increase in Government funding, more personnel have been hired to patrol the Earth as well as Space, and offices have been set up on the Colonies and across the Earth. Preventer has grown into a full blown Federal Organization in which there are the patrollers, the reporters, and us the enforcers who pilot the only mobile suits in existence.
On a personal note, our children, the children of the Gundam pilots, have been transferred from their original high school to the Sank Kingdom St. Gabriella institute. There they will be prepared for college as well as groomed for whatever responsibilities lie before them.
In the line of duty here at Preventer, we're on the trail of a man who we suspect is producing mobile suits to be sold to small organizations. Basically an arms dealer to militants, we believe that we can catch him now that we know where he's producing them.
* * *
The pink glow that had consumed Lupin, his friends, and Zenigata had vanished. All five of them had found themselves in strange yet familiar surroundings. It was a hotel room, very much like the one that they had rented back in Washington D.C., but what had just happened.
The ever-persistent Zenigata didn't care; he came back to his senses after the vanishing of the pink haze. His eyes were set upon Lupin as it always was in the past. He pointed out his finger at the master thief, "Your all under arrest!" He proclaimed
Lupin hearing the gruff voice of Zenigata had been snapped back to the reality of the situation he was in, "Uh-oh." He said, "Let's blow this joint."
"How?" Jigen asked as he reached into his pocket for his favorite weapon.
Lupin kept looking around the room and knew that the door that Zenigata stood in was the only way out…or was it. His head turned for the window, despite the fact he didn't have a good idea of where he was or even what floor of the hotel he was on he dashed for the window with the Wizards glass in his hands. The others got the hint and followed behind. Lupin curled into a ball with his arms covering his eyes and his hand gripped tightly on the Wizards glass as he threw his body against the window and shattered it into pieces that fell to the ground below like Rain. That was when Lupin opened his eyes and saw how high up he was. The cars and the people down below looked like ants, at least they did until the force of gravity began to act upon him and his friends. Soon those ants down below were drawing closer like the first drop of a high roller coaster. Seeing that there was no chance of being saved in sight, Lupin screamed.
"Oh geez, oh mommy, this is it!"
He closed his eyes and the only thing that could cross his mind was what could have been. He could have been shacking up with Fujiko who was impressed with the Wizards Glass in itself, now because of this he was going to die. It was another one of those times when he thought to himself why didn't I ever listen to Jigen?
SLAM!
Lupin felt something smack against his face, almost as hard as a woman slapping him would feel, but it was harder. It was colder. He opened his eyes and it was met with white, pure white. Even stranger he felt wind gushing against his face, like those times when he would drive in his Mercedes with the hood down and feel the wind against his forehead. This felt harder than that, it felt colder…like…like metal. He opened his eyes and looked underneath himself and found white…white metal. He tapped it a couple of times to make sure that it was metal, then something else set in, the wind, the fast wind blowing against him. He looked around and saw his teammates clinging for dear life to the white metal, while Goemon was just crouching down on the metal with the Zantetsuken in his hand. Beyond them he saw everything moving in a fast blur like looking out the window of a moving train.
Suddenly, the whole craft that Lupin and his friends were riding upon took a sharp left and continued straight upon its course. As Lupin kept trying to hold onto the surface of whatever he landed upon, he heard a voice call out to him.
"LUPIN!"
The voice was gruff, unfriendly, and Lupin recognized it immediately. Feeling the whip against his face, he turned his head to where the voice was coming from. The wind was then whipping against the back of his head while his fingers were growing raw from clinging on for his own life. In the direction where that gruff voice came from, Lupin saw the most unusual sight of his entire existence. In the past, he had been involved in chases in all kinds of vehicles, cars, planes, boats, motorcycles, even on the back of a Giraffe, and a surfboard, but nothing like this. In direction where he heard the voice, he saw…a robot. Yes, a robot, but he had to blink twice just to make sure that all of this wasn't just some big hallucination. He saw a dark blue painted robot flying over the streets like some kind of airplane with an enormous cannon in its right arm. Yet, what surprised Lupin even further was the fact that clinging onto the neck of this humanoid robot was Pops, Inspector Zenigata.
"LUPIN!" Zenigata shouted, "GET BACK HERE!"
Lupin tried to answer back, "I WOULD IF I COULD!"
* * *
The mission to Heero Yuy, who sat inside the Wing Zero, had gone smoothly. At least until he was coming back to the rendezvous point. It all had gone so well, like a flawless operation. He managed to get at least one Virgo mobile doll to follow him like a fly willingly walking into a spider trap.
That's when it happened…he had felt a thump coming down upon him. At least that's what he felt when some unknown force pushed down the Wing Zero. That was when he looked in his rear-view screen and saw something come down on the Virgo mobile doll. He couldn't see it at first, but he zoomed in upon it and saw that it was a man in a tan trench coat. Then he heard the man say something…
"LUPIN! GET BACK HERE!"
Heero reached down for his COM button to call out to his friends waiting for him at the rendezvous point.
"This is Preventer Perfect Soldier…" He said somewhat grimly, "We have a problem…change of plans."
* * *
On top of the Wing Zero, Lupin and his gang continued to hang on for dear life. That was with the exception of Goemon who was just crouching down ready to take on whatever was going to happen next.
"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!" Jigen shouted to Lupin
Lupin the Third, a man who was said to get out of the worst situations imaginable. Then again, the whole situation that he landed into defies even the greatest of imaginations (his included). So, Lupin acting like his usual calm self simply smiled at Jigen, who was desperately trying to hold onto the hull of the Wing Zero with one hand and keeping his fedora on his head with the other.
"I'M WORKING ON IT!" He shouted out
In giving his answer, the Wing Zero beneath them took another sharp turn. This time Lupin and his gang saw something up ahead…Robots…they saw giant robots…two of them. Each was lined up like toy soldiers stacked on a store shelf while standing upon what looked like a grassy hill. As each of the group stared they suddenly felt movement from the thing that they were riding upon. It was a very sharp tilt that sent Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon down to the side of the grassy hill.
Zenigata who was coming up the grassy hill saw what was going on and jumped down from the robot that he was riding upon. With his jump he came down to the side of the grassy hill just a few feet from Lupin and his gang. He saw all of them were lying flat down on their stomachs like combat soldiers hiding in the foliage.
"Caught you Lupin!" He smirked as he pulled his handcuffs from his trench coat and started to crawl over to the master thief.
"SHH!" Lupin ordered the inspector to be quite as he then turned his vision to the robots.
Zenigata was confused…but he went along with it. He turned his attention quickly to the robots. He witnessed one of them that was shaped and flew much like a bird. It then transformed…it transformed right in front of Zenigata as well as Lupin and the others. They couldn't believe what was taking place as the metallic bird then became a robot like the other six that stood on the top of the grassy hill. It was all so frightening as well as fascinating at the same time. None of them took their eyes off the robots as they watched what happened next.
The blue robot (The Virgo Mobile Doll) that Zenigata had ridden for God knows how many blocks came up to the line of robots. The one robot that had just transformed went to its side as if it was about to draw a sword. At least that's what they assumed since they had seen Goemon do it countless times. Their assumptions were correct as that robot drew a sword…but it wasn't a sword. It held only the hilt of what could be a sword, but there was no blade.
Until something sprouted from that hilt. It was indeed…a blade…but a blade of light. The blade had a color that made most of them think of ripe limes or at least the color of a great Margarita. That unbelievable machine took its blade of green light and plunged it into the blue robot where it ripped through the metal like a fork through a cheap pastry. It all just seemed so easy to whatever was controlling that mechanical Golem. It was also done with such prevision like an expert diamond cutter.
As Zenigata, Lupin, and his crew had witnessed that unusual event…one of the robots turned its head. It spooked everyone in the group, because the robot was looking in their direction. Despite its lifeless eyes it still looked as if that metal body contained some sinister kind of soul. Then they flashed those once gray lifeless glassy eyes flashed a sickeningly pale green color. That was how the fear set in for all of them, but when the robot took its first giant step towards them…fear had broken into panic in the same shuddering feeling that the robot gave when its foot shook the ground beneath them.
Thus Lupin and his crew ran…they ran…and ran until they found an open top car. It was one of those candy apple red sports cars that young men use to "pick up chicks" or that old men buy because of their mid-life crisis. It seemed too convenient when Lupin found the keys still in the ignition, but it didn't matter at the time. He turned the key, hearing the loud roar of the engine as he shifted into first gear with all of his crew in their seats. They sped off, none of them looking back. Why would they want to look? Unfortunately for Lupin, being the driver saw what was behind them in the rear-view mirror. He didn't find a giant robot chasing them. Instead he found Zenigata chasing them in what Lupin assumed as stolen, Jeep looking kind of car.
"Come back here, Lupin!" Zenigata demanded
Lupin only smiled and whispered, "No can do, Pops."
* * *
Back at the grassy hill, the Preventer Gundams that had been brought in upon this operation had assessed what has just happened. They knew that the operation that Heero had just finished went as smoothly as clean ice in a skating ring. Until Heero had reported to Duo and Quatre that he had picked up some unexpected passengers.
At the time Heero came to the grassy hill, he tried to drop them off as smoothly as he could. After the defeat of the Mobile Doll, Quatre in his Sandrock had found the unexpected passengers that Heero was talking about. He looked down at them from the Sandrock to where they landed. A group of four men and one woman, Quatre had noticed that when all of them looked up at him, or at least until Sandrock looked down at them, they seemed to react with fear. Quatre knew this when he saw them run away. It seemed so unusual that they would react with such fear since everyone on Earth and in Space knows of Preventer as well as the Gundams that they have. So, why did they run away?
"Don't leave." Quatre said
"Quatre." Heero called out, "Go get them, we have to bring them in for questioning."
"Why is that, Heero?" Duo asked, "For all we know they're just ordinary colony citizens that didn't hear the warning to evacuate."
"Or they could be working for the man that we're trying to catch." Heero counter-answered, "Catch them Quatre, Duo and I will take the Mobile Doll to the Preventer Station."
"Got it."
Quatre didn't want to try and chase those people in his Sandrock, so he controlled the Gundam to kneel down as he jumped out of the cockpit. As he ran down the grassy hill with the "suspects" fleeing several questions ran through his head. Who are they? The computer couldn't identify them. It was true, in recent years Preventer had been given a new type of identification system that could identify anything from buildings, mobile suits, space craft, and even people. When this system would identify people, it would simply bring up things like drivers' licenses and so on, the kind of thing a police force would need to see. Yet, when the computer tried to identify those people, there was nothing.
Quatre came down and decided that he had to take one of the cars. He quickly dashed from one to the other searching for one that was unlocked and had the keys in them. He did find one, it was just the kind of car that would be needed for such a high speed chase, a sports car. Specifically a green Mustang, after finding it Quatre did say one thing to himself as he started it up.
"Forgive me for this." As if the driver of the car he picked. He quickly stepped on the gas and followed the suspects.
* * *
In the empty streets, Lupin and his crew were speeding along in the candy-apple red sports car. Lupin tried to rationalize what was going on, he began to run through what had happened in what seemed to be an eternity but it was only a space of a half-hour. At the beginning of that half-hour, he was back in that hotel in Washington D.C. celebrating the theft of the Wizards Glass. Then as events sped up like someone hitting the fast-forward button, he was riding upon a metallic bird that transformed into a giant robot, and then racing a candy-apple red sports car through empty streets.
"I tell you this whole thing gives me the freakin' creeps." Jigen stated his opinion and then took one good look around the city, "Where in the hell are the people?"
"I know." Lupin agreed; "None of this makes sense."
Goemon, being the most sensible of the group offered his pearls of wisdom, "They say that the Universe has a mind of its own and we may not exactly understand what its intentions are."
Lupin looked over his shoulder to the Jeep that was chasing them.
"At least with Pops here," Lupin smiled, "It's sure to be a fun ride."
As Lupin was reminiscing about his chases with Inspector Zenigata, Jigen noticed something in the passenger side-view mirror. It wasn't the Jeep that was chasing them, he saw another car coming up to the rear of the Jeep. He saw a slick looking Mustang coming up awfully fast, even faster than the ride that they were in.
"Lupin…" Jigen said to his partner in crime, "We've got someone following us."
"Yeah, I know that Jigen." Lupin said in a very teenage sort of tone
"I don't mean Zenigata." Jigen shook his head
"What?" Lupin asked, but before he asked a great green blur passed up right in front of them. Lupin was still trying to adjust to the fact of the reality that he was in but that blur snapped him back to the current situation of the chase. He looked ahead and saw the back of a green car suddenly make a sharp turn in the road as it became a veritable barricade against the sports car that Lupin was driving.
"Oh mommy." Lupin uttered as his foot slammed down on the brakes. With the brake pads screeching against the axles, Lupin closed his eyes in the hopes that he wouldn't crash. The red sports car that he picked up slid from left to right as it burned its tire tracks into the blacktop. Then came the jerk backward and Lupin opened his eyes to find out that he didn't crash. Instead, the bumper of the car he stole was only a fraction of an inch away from crashing into the passenger-side door of the green Mustang. Lupin breathed a sigh of relief and that's when the driver came out.
"Freeze, Preventer!" The voice shouted out as a very handsome blonde man pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at the Lupin. He looked out at the blonde man and was impressed in how he was cornered so quickly. Most of the time people have a hard time just keeping up with him. He as well as Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko saw something in his eyes. It was a mixture of determination as well as hope. Hope of something good that would come out.
Inside the car, Jigen was going for his M19 Combat Cannon, Goemon had his sword (the Zantetsuken) ready to perform its art of iai (katana fast draw), Fujiko had her hand on her Browning M1910 that sat in its thigh-holster, but Lupin just kept his hands on the steering wheel.
"Hold it right there!" That gruff voice of Zenigata boomed out as the Jeep squealed to a halt. Lupin heard him get out of the car and dash up to the side of their car, he seemed grateful to the blonde man. "Thank you very much sir for apprehending these criminals."
"Your all under arrest!" The blonde man said, "By the authority of the office of Preventer."
"Preventer?" Lupin asked himself
"Please, don't make me kill any of you."
"Who do you think you are, sonny?" Zenigata asked
"I am Quatre Raberba Winner of Preventer."
* * *
Colony L-4: Preventer Headquarters
Indeed…Preventer had arrested Lupin, Zenigata, Fujiko, Goemon, and Jigen, they never knew why they never put up a fight. Perhaps it was the fear that had come over them when they had seen the battles fought with those great machines. They were unlike anything that any of them had set their eyes upon. Despite the fact that all of them had seen some very unusual and exciting things, but how could anything that they experienced in their won world prepare them for this?
They were taken to a place that they no doubt knew was the headquarters for Preventer. It was just like any police building that Lupin and the others had been to, a gray concrete building, with a very legible sign outside that read:
Preventer Office Headquarters
Colony L-4
"Colony L-4?" Lupin had thought to himself. This whole place…wherever it was…continued to make as little sense as anything that Lupin had encountered in his adult life. He suddenly had a very good idea of what it must feel like to be Alice tumbling down that long, long rabbit hole into Wonderland, as he and the others were taken inside neither he nor his teammates protested. At least no one except for Zenigata, for as he was brought to the holding areas within the Preventer Headquarters.
"I'm Inspector Zenigata of Interpol!" He shouted as he was led down the halls, "I want to speak to the man in charge of this establishment! Call the Interpol offices and they'll verify that I'm after this master thief, Lupin!"
Despite all the protesting that Zenigata had done he was thrown into the same cell as Lupin and the others. But before they were thrown in, all their weapons were confiscated. Jigen gave his gun, so did Lupin, and Goemon gave over his sword. Though Fujiko didn't want to face a full body search, so she gave over her gun to the blonde man, who identified himself as Quatre Raberba Winner.
As Quatre took their weapons he whispered to them, "Sorry." As he left them in their cell.
Though from what Lupin could see, it was actually a very nice cell as far as he knew. There were about four bunk beds in the cell, even though there were five of them. Only Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata were put into that cell. Fujiko had the cell across the hall from them. Still they were quite nice, it wasn't like any normal cell that they had ever been in. Instead of old iron bars, there was only plate glass with holes drilled in them. The walls were painted white, so was the floor and ceiling. Even the beds were very comfortable.
Fujiko, in the cell across from the boy's just lied down on her bed, while in the cell across from her, Zenigata just stood at the door hoping someone would come back and straighten out the mess. Goemon sat on the top bunk with his legs crossed in a meditative Lotus position. Jigen and Lupin sat across from each other thinking over what's happened.
"I tell you Lupin, this whole situation is getting to me." He said as he reached in and took out a cigarette.
"It doesn't make any sense to me either, Jigen." Lupin said as he felt around his pockets. Then something hit him, it was the very same feeling when a memory comes back in a singular flash. Similar to that of having an important appointment, then remembering when it was and realizing that your fifteen minutes late.
"Oh, no." Lupin said as he searched his pockets and patted himself down as if he was trying to find a weapon. "Oh, no." He said as he began to panic.
Fujiko heard him as she rolled over in her bed, "What's wrong, Lupin?"
"No!" He said as he laid his head against the glass
"What's with you, Lupin?" Zenigata asked
"The Wizard's Glass…" Lupin answered
"What about it?" Jigen asked as he drew in a drag on his cigarette
Lupin took in a good breath and delivered the very bad news, "It's gone…" he said grimly, "The Wizard's Glass is gone…."
To be continued…