13: Zero Hour (part two)
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Duo and Heero traveled down what seemed to be a never ending stairway with an uneasy feeling turning in their stomachs as they rounded yet another corner. Duo was beginning to loose his breath as he fought to keep up with his Japanese partner who seemed to be running on an endless reservoir of energy.
Duo whipped his brow tiredly as he slid down the railing of the stairway after Heero believing it was the fastest way to catch up to the foreign Gundam pilot. "Oi Heero, stop for a moment!" Duo huffed catching the Japanese teenager's attention. Heero stopped halfway down the stairs amazed that he had even caught up to Duo who had gotten a head start on him after kicking the door open.
Heero watched as the American leaped off the railing stumbling down the stairs with a worn expression on his face, Duo stopped at the end of the stairs with his hands gripping the railing for support. Heero stepped back from the stairs making his way toward the wall proceeding to lean up against it. His Prussian blue eyes wandered around the small gray area thoughtfully before he caught Duo sitting himself down on the stairs.
His braid remained in the front of him over his shoulder shining in the dull track lighting above them. Heero watched him for a good while trying to figure out what was behind the worn expression on his face that Duo desperately wanted to keep hidden when he was in the presence everyone he knew unless he was alone, much like himself. With a difference; Duo was full of emotions while he was piratically devoid of them. The humane feeling of kindness is unnecessary for our weapon ... now retrain him at once...... Heero sighed as the haunting dream voice echoed through his mind.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he and the 02 pilot were practically brothers he saw fighting in the toy shops while on the lunar base. Bringing himself out his train of thought he opened his mouth to speak. "Duo," He mumbled quietly. Duo looked up from fiddling with the end of his braid arching an eyebrow in response. "Why do you trust Jin?" Heero asked.
Duo scoffed humorously as he began to dig through his mind for the answer to the inquiring Heero's question. "I don't think it had anything to do with trusting-trusting him Hee-man," Duo replied unaware he had called his friend by the nickname Heero hated the most. "I think it was more of a need to trust him if you know what I mean. He looked as though he had been through hell more times than an 11-year-old should even experience." There was a look in Duo's eyes that Heero had never seen before.
"Jin lost the ability to trust because of his parents supposed abandonment and the betrayal of his former friend Tomeki and the gang he hung out with. Before you found me and the kid I happened to stumble upon a fight between the leader Tomeki and Jin. It was an unfair fight to be honest; Jin was on the ground defenseless against the kicks Tomeki was delivering and I dunno... I sorta snapped and attacked the leader in the kid's defense. But of course I got jumped the entire gang..... It's how I met him and how I the stuffing beat out of me."
Duo paused to check if Heero was listening to him. Heero nodded urging Duo to continue with an intrigued expression. Duo continued. "After you fixed me up and he was awake I wanted to show him that he could trust us without expecting us to betray him anytime soon. But then you told me he was helping the rebels and I felt like I had been stabbed through the heart. I felt the same when the colonies believed Oz's lies and hoped we were defeated in the battle Quatre and I were in while trying to get to outerspace. I wanted to put a smile on the kid's face again, but I guess it was foolish of me to think that he could ever smile again or that he wasn't involved in the stuff happening now huh?" Duo chuckled cynically with a sigh.
Heero blinked at his friend wondering how long they have been here talking about Duo's point of view on Jin, the tall eleven year old terror. Sighing the Japanese teenager stood up on his feet backing away from the wall with an almost sympathetic look on his face before he heard the rusting screeching of the rooftop door above them.
Duo's head turned toward the noise just as footsteps came into sound range. Gathering their wits and new found strength Duo and Heero bolted from their places rushing down the stairs catching a glimpse two small figures happening to men peering over the railing of the stairs with their eyes on their retreating bodies. "This isn't good," Heero grumbled turning his head behind him at the sound of the rebel's shouting threats. "Halt or we'll shoot!" One shouted.
Duo chuckled in mock-humor as they continued down the stairs searching franticly for an exit door although it wasn't likely they were going to find one in this maze of stairs, Duo figured it was at the very bottom much to his dismay. "We're gonna have to cause some kind of accident they're getting a bit too close for my liking," Duo informed.
Heero nodded searching his jacket for something useful but came up empty handed, he gave a the braided preventer an empty sort of expression indicating he was telling him he had no sort of bomb what so ever to use. Duo almost let out a groan of defeat when he spotted a doorway at the end of the stair way.
"Heero, a door!" He cried in joy picking up his pace. Heero gave the door a quick scanning to make sure there wasn't anything out of place the door as he watched Duo leap off the second stair to the last grabbing the door knob with such enthusiasm. Heero jumped off the third to the last stair just to show off and skid to a halt beside Duo who appeared to be struggling with the door.
Heero listened to the men's quickening footsteps then turned to Duo with an inquiring look about him. "What's wrong?" He asked annoyed. Duo stopped struggling long enough to kick the door out of anger before answering His question. "The door's locked tight," Duo replied briskly backing off.
Heero looked down at the door knob noticing that it was a few feet away from the locking mechanism itself, his eyebrows narrowed in suspicion as he gripped the door knob. "Hn...," Heero's eyes narrowed when he noticed the door wasn't unlocking. Duo listened out for the two rebels they happened to be spotted by, he could hear their footsteps rapidly changing down the stairs like madmen but thankfully they were a good ways from catching up to them.
However that did nothing to ease the uneasy feeling churning in Duo's stomach as he turned around to check on Heero's progress when he noticed a box object hanging above Heero's head nailed on the wall below the exit sign. Duo looked down at his wrist watch; it read 6:45PM then he looked up at the supposed clock on the wall it read 6:00---5:59--5:58. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Strange why would anybody put a digital clock up on the wall when its obviously not keeping the right time? Duo wondered cupping his chin arching an eyebrow in a pondering sort of way.
He wracked his brain for an answer. "Duo let's get going, the door's not gonna open anytime soon," Heero grumbled under his breath obviously annoyed by this fact. Duo snapped himself out of his pondering state staring at his friend in question, Heero bolted off at top speed and Duo ran after him. "Why's that?" He asked curious. Heero turned his head halfway toward his braided comrade with an irritated expression.
Duo patiently awaited his answer while they continued running down the stairs. Heero paused for a moment peering over the railing while managing to keep up his running pace; he spotted the bottom of the maze of the stairs. Duo rounded the corner with the Japanese preventer with the unsettling feeling that they were near the end of the stairs. "Heero?" Duo spoke up.
Heero grunted a 'hmm?' in response instead speaking a sentence to the braided-shinigami, he wasn't in the mood for talking at the moment. "How far are we from the bottom?" He finished with a short-lived yawn. Heero peered over the railing again with a relieved expression. "Two flights of stairs away," Heero responded reluctantly. Duo nodded in response rounding another corner ready to climb down the last two flight of stairs when a shrill sound went off above them echoing through the surrounding area long enough to halt their footsteps.
Both teenagers wondered what the noise was as they resumed their running down the stairs with a more quickened pace. Just as they reached the last flight of stairs an explosion sounded off above them engulfing the entire area in a burst of fire feeding on the oxygen in the small area. Duo and Heero were knocked off their feet and was sent tumbling down the stair way with no control of where their bodies stop as fire and debris raced down to meet them at the bottom.
Heero fell on the ground feet-first rolling forward and slamming into the wall in front of him. Duo fell onto the ground on his side kidding to halt his head met the wall only halfway. Climbing to his aching legs Heero hurried to his half-conscious partner and lifted him off the ground, Duo was barely aware of Heero's presence; his head was pounding like a dum being beaten on relentlessly and he couldn't see straight.
"C'mon Duo I need you to stand up straight, I can't drag you to the door on my own," Heero struggled to drag the heavy braided American toward the door. Duo nodded and tried to move himself along the ground with his aching legs. They barely seemed to be responding to him but he tried with all the strength he had left in him helping Heero walk backward toward the door.
Pulling his sleeve over his hand while he managed to keep Duo up on his legs with his other arm, Heero grabbed a hold of the door knob and rammed his shoulder against the door. The two men went sprawling into the other room, the door shut behind them with a slam. Heero looked up from the ground scanning the surrounding area, all he could tell was the room was dark, there was hardly any light at all except for the dull shine from the moonlight above them coming through a skylight.
The 16-year-old looked around him realizing Duo was nowhere in sight! Nani? Where'd he go? Heero climbed on all fours looking all over the entire area with widened eyes wondering the braided-baka had gone off to in the state he was currently in. "Lookin' for me?" Came a groggy voice from behind him. Heero turned his head to the side noticing a figure shrouded in the shadows he had never seen while he was searching for his friend.
He recognized the voice as Duo's and climbed to his feet to meet the braided shinigami who resided in a small corner against a metal shelf. He could now see why Duo said he was best when it came to stealth operations and hiding, he could blend in perfectly with the dark. Maybe that's why he wears all the black clothing all the time. Or he could just like the color black Heero thought to himself scratching the back of his neck.
He placed himself in front of Duo knowing their was no space the small corner Duo miraculously put himself into despite his current state with a semi-amused look. "You okay?" Heero asked. Duo sighed looking himself over for a second time in the pass five minutes and nodded wearily. "Everything's fine, I'm just waiting for the world to stop spinning," Duo grumbled. Heero scoffed with a smirk as he looked out into the dim room wondering if there was anything inside the room besides them.
Sighing young man slumped against the wall resting his arm upon his knee. "We'll move as you as you are ready to go," Heero mumbled. This was really biting into the limited amount of time they had to destroy the MS factory. "Gotcha," Was Duo's only reply.
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Dorothy and Quatre peered through a bush at one of the many entrances of the factory they were supposed to be invading. Dorothy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out just how they were going to get inside the building without being noticed or maybe they should try a different approach to the entire infiltration scenario.
She wasn't sure what to do, especially when she was around someone who outwitted her during the Eve-wars, but she wasn't going let him know that. Quatre watched Dorothy curiously wondering if she had ever done this sort of thing before. One thing he was sure was that she was thinking awfully hard on whatever matter she was concerning herself with.
Sighing the Arab teenager retuned his gaze toward the two men guarding the entrance. "Quatre," Dorothy's voice almost made him jump. The blonde turned his gaze toward the semi-short haired woman in front of him with an almost curious gaze arching an eyebrow at her. Dorothy swallowed wincing mentally at the dryness of her throat before she started to scoot over to the 16-year-old without dirtying her pants up too much, Quatre scooted back a bit to give her room just as she stopped about two inches away from him.
Dorothy stared him in a troublesome way with those pale gray eyes of hers giving Quatre an unsettling feeling. "Uhh, Dorothy?" He asked uncertain of her motives. Dorothy leaned over toward him with a smile. "I have an idea, but you mustn't ask me about it when I act. Just trust me all right? You trust me don't you Quatre?" Dorothy asked sweetly.
Quatre began to wonder if he did trust this beautiful young woman in front of him, he was still a bit shaky on the subject when it came to Dorothy Catalonia. Undecided on this matter he nodded yes to her question anyway. Dorothy gave him one her genuine smiles before she leaped onto him knocking the wind out of him along with leaving him in a dazed state of mind. She turned him onto his stomach pulling his arms behind him and resting them on the lower part of his back.
Quatre didn't bother to struggle although he was frightened wondering what her intentions toward him would be. He just hopped she wouldn't stab him again. Dorothy tied his hands tightly behind his back before lifting him off the ground, she noticed he had opened his mouth and was ready blurt a question. "Shush," She hissed clamping a hand over his mouth. "You said you trusted me. So start with trusting, and ask questions later!"
Quatre stared at her wide eyed but nodded quickly not wanting to anger her further. Dorothy shoved Quatre through the bushes across the dusty concrete ground with her hand firm on his wrist with a semi-confident expression on her face noticing the two guards had spotted her approach. They raised their guns at the two apporachers ready to fire if they got any close to them. "Halt! stop right where you are!" One said.
Dorothy halted in mid-step wondering if she hadn't already lost Quatre's trust. "Let me pass, I have a Gundam pilot," She said sounding as demanding as she could. The two men looked at eachother then at the two intruders in front of them before grinning back at eachother. "Is that so? And who might you be little lady?" The second one asked. Dorothy frowned realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as she hoped it would be.
Sighing the semi-short haired blonde opened her mouth to speak. "My name is Dorothy Catalonia, you leader's older sister," She replied hoping she had her sister's position of power correct. Both men laughed out loud at her bold statement before returning their attention to the two in front of them. "Really? Well, we'll see about that," The first one grumbled pulling out a two way radio from his shirt pocket.
Quatre watched nervously as the man began to report all of the information that received from Dorothy, he stared at the other man who kept his gun aimed right at them wondering if Dorothy's plan (whatever it was) was going to work. After a while the man put his radio back into his shirt pocket then turned his attention back to Dorothy and Quatre. He jerked his thumb toward door he stood in front of with a look of disgust and disappointment. "Our leader wants to see the two of you," He grumbled angrily turning toward the door.
Dorothy watched him kick the door open before stepping back giving her room to walk through, unsure whether she should trust them she shoved Quatre forward through the door way once she got there. The first man followed them through the door way not to far-behind them. Quatre concentrated all of his energy on keeping his emotions in check and his nerves at ease as his female comrade lead him through the dark corridor with the rebel soldier behind them giving them the directions as to where they were supposed to be going. He was not feeling so safe in his current position and he knew Dorothy wasn't either.
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Jin watched the soldiers scatter in all directions shouting orders and demands as they searched for him with such determination it almost scared him. Jin sighed as he tightened the torn piece of fabric of his gray shleveless shirt around his bullet-wounded arm, he grunted at the pressure he applied to the arm to make sure it wouldn't bleed any more than it had before looking down at his arm streaked with lines of blood.
He never expected this would happen to him; he always figured he would be injured but never like this! A gunshot wound had to the worst thing he had ever experienced since he landed on earth. His onyx blue eyes glanced upward at what he could see of Gundam's head and dull lifeless green eyes.
Jin blinked curiously wondering which of the two mobile suit's were Wing Zero and which one was Wing Gundam. They were different he was aware of that but he was unsure which one was Wing Zero or Wing Gundam. He hated making choices when it came to mobile suits he didn't know how to label correctly by name.
Just follow your heart Jin, it'll tell you which one you should pilot.... I mean, steal.... His conscience piped up. Jin rolled his eyes at the mental response before rising from his kneeling position behind the wing Gundam massive leg. Jin was surprised to say the least that the rebels didn't come and look in this area, it was an obvious hiding place to be blunt.
Shrugging Jin made sure no one was around before coming out from behind the Gundam's leg looking upward at its chest curiously wondering how he was going to climb up when he noticed two differences on the mobile suit's he had never noticed before. Wing Gundam had only two objects that appeared to be wings on it's back while the Wing Zero had a larger pair of wings like looked more like a birds wings than the Wing Gundam did.
Jin jogged over to the left stopping in front of the Wing Zero grabbing a handle attached to a thick cord and pressed a small button on the inside of the handle. Immediately the cord began to react upward taking the 11-year-old up with it. This startled Jin slightly but he held on tight with both hands as he continued to rise higher off the ground then he would have liked toward the open hangar door of the Gundam just as he heard more footsteps heading his general direction. Jin's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the footfalls approaching. He began yanking at the cord demanding it to go faster then it was before he was caught.
Sweat began to trickle down his face as he caught a glimpse of several men entering the mobile suit hangar with their guns in hand. "Crap, they just keep coming," Jin mumbled as he pressed his feet against the side of Wing Zero. There was only one thing left to do and that was to climb up the massive mobile suit. Swallowing his fears of falling to his death Jin gripped the thick wire cord and began to ascend toward the cockpit which wasn't too far away from his point, as he continued upward the sound men shouting for him to come down from the Gundam finally reached his ears.
A chill ran down his spine, Jin pulled himself up faster ignoring the constant aching in his arms until he reached the cockpit area and hung in patience as he waited for the door to open. "Get down from there now kid!" One rebel shouted angrily. Jin ignored him as he began to swing over to the front of Wing Zero's chest praying he would trigger some sort of sensor that would cause the door to open. The rebels below him soon began to shooting in his general direction while trying not to hit him.
Jin swung over in front of Zero's chest; his foot hit the side of it's chest where the huge green-emerald object resided and to his suprise the cockpit door opened up. Now I gotta do is make it to the platform. He thought swinging over the cockpit door and releasing his grip from the rope. The 11-year-old's body crashed onto the cockpit door back first, his body slid over to the edge but he prevented his plummet to an untimely death by grabbing the rough surface. His nails dug into the grooves of the door and Jin pulled himself up barely noticing the fresh blood seeping through his amateur bandage.
Jin crawled into the cockpit falling into the pilots seat in a sideways manner franticly searching for the mechanism that would shut the door when he caught a glimpse of blinking light on his left side. Turning his head toward the blinking light he noticed one small word written in bold letters that said "cockpit door." Sighing a huge sigh of relief he reached out and pressed down on the button, no sooner than he did the inner door began to close along with the outer cockpit door.
The sounds of gunfire rang in the onyx-blue eyed boy's ears as he made himself comfortable in the seat, his feet pressed against the pedal's of the mobile suit as he heard the machine coming to life all on its' own. Jin watched fearfully as three dimensioned screen came down in front of him, carefully the 11-year-old reached his arm down between his legs and picked up part of the seat-belt while the other grabbed the other part that was flung over the back of the seat.
He fastened both parts of the belt together before making sure it was on tight. The screens in front of him came to life Jin placed his hands onto the joystick controls of the machine at the same exact same time he pressed his feet against the pedals. Outside Wing Zero's eyes came to life in a faint glint of green, the mobile suit's arms jerked to life while his fingers flexed as it began to move forward toward the rebels. Jin watched the cowards cease their pointless shooting and make a run for the door shouting for assistance. A grin appeared on the fearful Jin's face as he pressed his thumb against the button on the side of the joystick.
The Machine gun's on Zero's shoulders activated and began to fire on the rebels. With a slightly heavy heart the young man watched as the ground behind the rebels exploded in a blaze of fire engulfing their helpless lives. Jin aimed the Wing's machine gun's toward wall and fired creating an exit big enough for the Gundam to escape through. "Now if I remember this correctly, I may be able to get this thing into its' flight mode," Jin muttered excitedly as he removed his hand from the right joystick control and gripped the handle above his head pushing it forward and pressing down on the pedals.
Automatically, Wing Zero transformed into its bird mode blasting forward toward the gaping hole in the wall. Jin was barely able to contain his excitement as he watched the world below him zoom right passed his eyes. Wing Zero's speed baffled him to no end, but this was not why he stole this machine. He knew for a fact that this weapon was only thing that could've destroyed his home, the colony; but he just didn't know who did it. That's what he had to find out. And he would.
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Elsewhere, Phareil Catalonia stood inside the communications room inside the Corsica base with a scowl. How could she be alive after all the rumors she had heard about her death on Libra? It just wasn't possible that she was alive.... it just wasn't! She brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face just as Stanley entered the room with a nervous look about him. Phareil gave him an inquiring expression which wasn't helping his attempts to calm himself down after encounter with a certain someone.
"Yes, what is it, Stanley?" Phareil grumbled as she leant up against the cold metallic wall of the room. Stanley swallowed his fear as he tried to hide his trembling. "The Dorothy person has arrived and is standing outside the door," He announced in a quivering voice. Phareil sighed rolling her eyes, with a wave her hand Stanley exited the room and Dorothy and a hand-bound Quatre entered the room no sooner than he had left. Phareil looked up at her sister with a scowl while Dorothy greeted her with a polite smile.
"Hello again sister," Dorothy spoke calmly with a hint of resentment in her voice. Phareil grunted in response removing herself from against the wall. "I can't say the same to you," She replied angrily. Quatre felt as though he was in the middle of a sibbling dispute he and his many sisters would have from time to time. Dorothy rested her chin on Quatre's shoulder with a childish sort of sigh blowing into her hair. "Is that anyway to greet a sister you haven't seen in 18-years?" Dorothy mock-pouted cocking an eyebrow at Phareil. The leader of the rebels sneered at the blonde duo in front of her before regaining control of her feelings. "I suppose not," She grumbled making her way over to them.
"I see you've captured yourself a gundam pilot." Dorothy glanced at Quatre briefly before returning her gaze toward sister again. "Isn't obvious?" She asked bluntly. Phareil frowned at her remark but managed to hold the spiteful words she had in store for little-sister in her mouth. "Why did you bring him to me? What use could have possibly have for him?" Phareil asked blandly. Dorothy shrugged leaning her head against Quatre's cheek causing the 16-year-old to blush. He was feeling uncomfortable in his current state.
"Why you could execute him in front of the whole world on the day of your announcement! It would be a splendid day for you and your rebel army!" Dorothy said in a grand voice. Quatre cringed at the thought of being killed as he listened on to the sister's conversation. Pahreil placed her hand upon her chin with a considering expression her face. Her eyes glanced down at Quatre causing the blonde teen to jump in surprise and look away. Phareil reached over into Quatre's jacket and pulled out his gun with a look of mock-surprise on her face.
"I'll have to think about that, in the meantime I would very much like to talk to you," Phareil replied dryly peering over her sister's shoulder. "Stanley! Would you come here and escort Mr. Winner to Miss Relena and Hilde's holding place?" A few moment's later, the man know as Stanley came walking into the room and removed Quatre from Dorothy's grasp before shoving the Arab teenager out of the room shutting the door behind him.
Phareil shrugged her shoulder's playfully with the gun in her hand Dorothy watched her sister curiously as she followed the short-haired blonde across the room toward the communications area. "So what is it you want to talk to me about dear sister?" Dorothy asked. Phareil spun around to face her sister with the gun aimed right at her chest. "How could you sister? How could you do that to our father?!!" She shouted in pure rage. Dorothy's pale blue eyes widened in fear as she watched her sister pull the trigger.
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Trowa and Wufei, who had broke away from the large conversing group of rebel-soldiers traveled down what seemed to be a never ending corridor as they searched for a way to get inside the mobile suit hangar without being detected. There were far too many enemies around the meeting place where Phareil had given her speak so they went off to find another way in hoping they wouldn't be followed.
"Tell me again why we're going this way again Barton?" Wufei muttered in annoyance arching an eyebrow at his comrade. Trowa turned to his partner with a serious look in his green eyes, which did not phase the Chinese pilot to say the least. "We're trying to find a way to the Gundam's, Wufei," Trowa replied in annoyance. "Try to keep that in mind." Wufei smirked in satisfaction at the Latin American's reaction to his question and nodded.
"Will do," He replied. But sooner they rounded the corner a loud explosion brought them to hands and knees, the lights above them flickered on and off as small parts of the ceiling began to fall. This might be harder than I originally thought, Trowa thought to himself as he and Wufei climbed to their feet. They rushed down the hall way fighting to stay on their feet as another explosion rocked the building. Wufei watched Trowa rush pass a door that might of been a way in to the Gundams.
Skidding to a halt the Chinese preventer slowly pulled out his gun and kicked the door open. Wufei stepped into the room with his gun grasped in both hands. Trowa came up from behind him ready to pull out his gun expecting to be greeted by rebel-soldiers but instead the two preventers were greeted by the next best thing; Relena and Hilde. All four were in a frozen state of surprise and joy unaware of the approaching Stanley and Quatre.
TBC*
Review and sorry for the delay!