CHAPTER II

PENALTY OF DEATH

"What happened?" thought Heero. He pulled the trigger and nothing happened. He then reached to the ground to grab his gun (which he dropped), and he realized that the crowd was gone. "How is that possible? They can't just leave like that!" He then looked around and saw that he was the only living soul in the park at the time. "That can't be- there were dozens of people here when I came". Then he saw an approaching car and ran up to it.

"SIR!" yelled Heero. "SIR, I NEED YOUR HELP!" Since the car wouldn't stop, Heero just ran in front of it and hopped it would stop. The car then zoomed right through Heero, and Heero was left standing there without a scratch. "What the hell?" He then saw another car coming at him and he jumped on top of it. He then stayed on until the car reached its destination, which turned out to be a graveyard. He then saw that there was a crowd of people and that they were watching a guy saying something about a deceased girl.

".. Helped us in our times of trouble", continued the man. "I will miss her. Long live Relina Peacecraft!"

"Long live Relina Peacecraft!" responded the crowd. Relina! It was her! But it couldn't be, and Heero knew that. He then ran up to the body and uncovered the cloth that was thrown around her. He then saw a bloody Relina with bullet holes all over her body. He then covered it up and ran out of the way.

"This can't be possible!" yelled Heero. "Why is she dead? Why can't the people notice me? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!" He then heard a sound that seemed all to familiar to him- the sound of a Gundam. He turned around and saw Deathscythe and Heavyarms approach the group. Then Duo stepped out of the cockpit and stepped down to talk to the speaker.

"You better get out of here", said Duo. "An army of Imperials marching towards the city and they're armed and dangerous."

"Let me guess", said the speaker. "Wufei is leading them".

"No", said Duo. "Wufei AND Miliardo."

"Oh shit", said the speaker. Then several explosions from off into the distance could be heard.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" yelled Duo, who got back into Deathscythe. "Trowa, try to throw the Imperials off for just a little bit. I have to help the idiots evacuate."

"Okay", said Trowa. Duo then took off in Deathscythe while the people followed him. Trowa, on the other hand, went off to face the enemy. There were about 50 Taurus' that were all marching towards him. Trowa then started firing at them with his machine cannon, homing missiles, and his chest gatlings. Since they were unprepared, many of the Taurus' were destroyed. However, once they were aware of the attacker, the Taurus' grabbed their beam cannons and started firing at Trowa. Trowa was used to this, so he predicted where the shots would go, how to avoid them and how to get the best shot at them. But, like in every battle, numbers matter. And now, Trowa was outnumbered, especially since he was getting more and more fatigued. After a while, Heero couldn't watch it any more. He needed answers. But how?

"Bingo", said Heero after turning around. There was a newspaper factory right behind him. The factories always had databases that contained old issues. That was his only way of knowing what happened. He then ran strait to the factory and zoomed through its walls. He then ran up the stairs looking at each computer, and there was a big black one in the middle entitled "database". Heero sat down and accessed the files. It said he needed a password.

"I'm good at this", thought Heero. He just tried to remember how to hack in. He typed in several obvious codes, but none of them worked. He tried doing it again. No results. "How the hell do I do this?" He then just slammed his fist onto the computer, and the computer crunched at his punch.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", yelled Heero. He then heard a loud boom and then a crash that shook the whole place. "What the hell?" He then looked out the window and saw that Heavyarms had fallen on its back. Heero ran outside and saw Duo getting out of Deathscythe and grabbing Trowa out of the cockpit.

"Don't die on me damn you!" yelled Duo.

"Just let me die in peace", said Trowa. "Admit it- you're the last of the Gundam pilots."

"But I can't be! I'm not that great of a leader!"

"You can be if you put your mind into it".

"What kind of an answer is that? I can't do this! Most of the rebels are gone, the customs have been destroyed, and." A bullet shot was then heard. Duo looked down and saw a bullet hole in Trowa's forehead. Then Miliardo (in the Epyon) and Wufei (in the Nataku) got out of their Gundams and pointed their guns and Duo.

"No!" yelled Heero. "This can't be happening!"

"Yes it can", said a voice. He turned around and saw a pale white Relina. "You caused this to happen."

"Remember?" said another voice. Then a pale Quatre walked up to him. "That bullet you stuck in your head?"

"Because of that", said Trowa. "Your legacy never existed. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Then he heard the sound of another Gundam. Heero turned around and saw that it was Wing Gundam, but it was pure white. Then the cockpit opened and a young kid came out. Heero assumed that this was the pilot that took his place in Operation Meteor.

"Look", said the kid sarcastically. "Another one joins us". Heero then turned around and saw Miliardo and Wufei put a bullet in Duo's head at the same time. Then a pale white Duo came out of the deceased body and held Heero by the throat.

"Remember", said Duo as he chocked the life out of Heero.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled Heero. "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!" Then, his wish miraculously became true.