14: Past recovered: Puzzle completed
Duo was rudely shaken from his slumber by the rough hand of Heero Yuy, he groaned shrugging his comrade's hand off of his shoulder rolling his eyes underneath his eyelids. Heero frowned at the lazy Duo and returned to watching the area for any trouble, while he tried to ignore the mutters of the American that were rapidly becoming louder with each passing minute.
Groaning Heero rose from his sitting position and made his way over to the end of the shelf covered with contents off that hid them along with assistance from the dark. Duo climbed onto his feet massaging the back his neck to relieve it of the pain that he suffered when he fell down the stairs. "What's up Heero?" Duo whispered stretching his limbs. Heero turned to meet the inquiring face of Duo Maxwell with his usual expressionless face.
"We've wasted enough time, let's get going," Heero replied turning the corner. Duo sighed not bothering to retort to the stoic x-soldier's sarcasm and followed after him with very little excitement bubbling inside him, he was more or less worried about getting the mission done and over with so he could search for Hilde. The thought of her being in trouble unsettled him to no end.
Running his hands through his hair Duo picked up his pace to catch up with Heero who was a good ways ahead of him despite his walking pace. He still amazes me even now with the war over. Your really quite the guy Heero, Duo thought smiling to himself as he began to jog. Heero was a good way a head of him and he hated to be left behind in a place full of hostile people armed to the teeth. "Heero wait up!" Duo said now running. Heero stopped in mid-step in front of a huge door that managed to arouse his curiosity long enough for the American preventer to catch up to him.
He brought himself out of his thoughts shifting his Prussian blue eyes toward the short of breath Duo before resuming his walking, except this time he headed toward the door that caught his attention. Duo huffed in despair following after his stoic comrade through the automatic doors, he watched the Japanese preventer with interest as Heero placed himself in front of a huge computer. "Oi-oi Heero, can't you stay away from the computer for one day? I mean we do have a mobile suit factory to destroy you know," Duo grumbled walking up to his side.
Heero turned and gave his friend a sideways glance before returning his attention back to the screen before him. As far he could tell the computer held all the data on the rebels and mobile suits stationed inside the building, which for their sake was a sort of relief. It gave them more a sense of whom it was they were up against. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the disk he had taken from Jin. He placed the disk inside the drive in front of him and began uploading all the data on the screen before him. Duo's coalbolt eyes managed to follow Heero's line of sight and found himself intrigued by the information that appeared on the screen. "Hmmm," He heard Heero mumble. "What is it?" Duo asked.
Heero pointed to the screen as he pulled up an old colony news article that had never been printed for the public to read. "Listen to this," Heero began obviously intrigued by the contents of news article. "A.C. 194 march 10th, Professor Rei Toshinio of a world renowned Korean/Japanese Military organization & her husband Taku Toshinio, dies in a fatal Colony accident concerning a new mobile suit model created by the formerly well-know scientists associated with the Romafeller foundation. There were no survivors found, the colony was completely demolished; reduced to nothing but scrap; the weapon or cause of this tragedy was never found." Heero peered at Duo who was beginning to figure out where this article was going. He continued.
"A.C. 194 March 12th, 8-year-old boy found floating in outer space barely alive with very little oxygen left in his space-suit by space explorers. He was taken to a colony in the L1 area where he was treated in the St. McNeil hospital for server head injuries, space dementia, temporary paralysis and amnesia. He was then released 8 months later after mental and physical therapy and was sent to earth on a shuttle to an Orphanage. However the child vanished soon after the shuttle landed on earth. Authorities pronounced him dead after searching the surrounding area knowing it was unlikely he would survive on his own," Heero finished reading the article and closed it.
Both young men gave eachother looks of realization before opening another window. What they saw shocked them to no end. Upon the screen before them was a huge image of schematics and color images of Wing Gundam and Wing Zero, along with a list of pilots who had piloted the machines. But the one thing that had disturbed them was Dorothy Catalonia, Phareil Catalonia and Duke Dermail as well the Romafeller foundation's name were all underlined in red bold lines. "If I didn't know any better, Jin was that eight year old boy floating in outer space....." Duo trailed off afraid to even drawn a line to a conclusion.
"And he plans on killing Dorothy, and this Phareil character for the death of his parents whom abandoned him. Which means whomever is behind this is going meet an untimely death at the hands our little friend," Heero finished. Duo pointed to the screen catching the Japanese teenager's attention. "And get this, somebody's went and rebuilt your two Gundams! And I'm guessing, it's this Phareil person, and Jin's gonna use one of them to kill her and Dorothy," Duo added.
Heero ejected the disk placing back into his jacket, he rose from his seat quickly and made his way toward the door. Duo followed after him out of the room with newfound strength. They had to stop Jin from making the biggest mistake of his life before it was too late, which meant they had to find the Gundams before he did.
Relena and Hilde's heads shot toward the door of their temporary prison as it was kicked opened with such a strength that dazzled them. First there was a pair of hands holding a gun out in front of whomever the hands belong to and then there was a body and a face which they knew belong to none other than the honor-bound Chinese preventer known of Wufei.
His onyx eyes shifted toward them, his mouth dropped open in surprise his stern intimidating expression changed into that of a surprised one. A face Hilde rarely saw when he scarcely came over to visit Duo. "Wufei," Was all that uttered from the German girl's mouth. The sound of approaching footfalls coming from behind Wufei, Relena shifted her sights to the empty space behind the Chinese preventer and spotted Trowa's figure coming to an abrupt stop, he appeared to be out of breath indicating that he was running.
Trowa's green eyes locked themselves onto Relena his worn out expression changed to a surprised one. From what both women could tell they weren't expecting to find them inside the room; they were searching for something else. "Relena.... Hilde? What are you doing here?" Trowa's voice was full of obvious bewilderment and confusion. Hilde frowned upon his sudden question she folded her arms across her chest her anger was evident. "Well, we could ask you the same thing," Hilde retorted. Relena smiled nervously waving her hand at her short-haired friend.
"Calm down Hilde," Relena advised making her way over to the preventer-duo. Wufei straightened his posture the moment Relena stopped in front of him. "Its' good to you see you both again. I only wish it was on better terms," She said. Trowa nodded in agreement as he stepped into the room placing his gun back into it carrier. He then grasped Relena's wrist in his hand and began to pull her out of the room pulling her in the direction he and Wufei were headed before. Hilde reluctantly followed the stoic ex-soldier out of the room with Wufei trailing behind. They were finally getting out of this hellhole of a base! Hilde was overwhelmed with joy and happiness at the thought of escaping the Headquarters of the rebel solider that she never noticed Stanley and Quatre coming around the corner from behind.
Stanley stopped in his tracks at the sight of Relena Darlian and Hilde Schbeiker heading down the hall accompanied by what appeared to be two of miss Phareil's soldiers. He stared down at Quatre who was overcome with fear for his friends then quickly shoved him aside, Quatre's warning cry was stopped before he could even form words in his mouth he stumbled on his own feet and slammed against the metallic wall. Through doubled vision he watched the man in the black suit pull out a pistol and aimed for the nearest target he could find.
Despite the splitting headache and the double vision Quatre mustered all the strength he could to get his attention off the pain coursing through his being and shouted his warning a second too late. "Look out!" He shouted as loud as he could. All heads turned in the direction the scream came from just as Stanley pulled the trigger. Hilde threw her hands up in front of her with the distinct knowledge that the madman had aimed for her.
Acting on automatic Wufei grabbed Hilde by the waist and pulled her down onto the ground with him, Trowa on the other hand yanked Relena toward him pressing his back against the wall and slid down in on swift movement as he felt the bullet ricochet off the wall in front of them. Stanley cursed realizing that was the only bullet he had in his chamber, Wufei released a trembling Hilde from his grip and changed the huge man with all his might and knocked him onto the ground.
Stanley crashed to the ground head last before he felt a horrible sensation that resembled the feeling of breaking someone's arm then everything went black around him. Wufei looked down at the man with a suspicious gleam in his eyes before placing two fingers on the side of his neck to make sure there was still a pulse. Once he felt the surge of blood pulsating under the skin of the man's neck Wufei breathed a huge sigh of relief he was unaware of holding. Climbing to his feet he proceeded to brush himself off not thinking twice to congratulate himself.
"Are you injured?" Wufei asked turning his gaze toward the stunned girl on the ground. Hilde looked up at himself in bewilderment shaking her head fervently before climbing to her feet. "I'm fine, I own you Wufei," Hilde said nervously. Wufei gave her a smile he would only wear during battle and nodded in agreement. Trowa released Relena from his grasp rising to his feet, Relena climbed to her feet as well and rushed toward her friend. Hilde turned to meet Relena's worried gaze with a relieved expression, Relena placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked. Hilde nodded in response.
Trowa made his way past the others and kneeled down in front the daze-induced Quatre. Quatre looked up at his friend with a wry smile as he watched the silent young man proceed to untie his hands. "How did this happen, Quatre and where's Dorothy?" He asked; the concern evident in his voice. Quatre shook his head unsure how to explain everything that had happened. "I'm not sure," He grunted as he positioned his arm in front of him flexing his fingers. "To be honest, she's the one to tied me up. It's how we got inside. One of the rebel's lead to their leader. A woman named Phareil, Dorothy's sister. They exchanged a few words before Phareil ordered one of her bodyguard's to take me to where Hilde and Relena were. I'm not sure what happened next. I just hope Dorothy is all right."
Trowa sighed; Quatre's a bit too trusting sometimes, but not without good reason, Trowa thought tiredly. He turned to Wufei who was waiting patiently for the Latin American to make his move, Trowa nodded to Wufei before he opened his mouth to speak. "Let's go, we don't have much time before hour 42 hour limit is up," Trowa ordered in a stern voice. Wufei gave him a short nod before following after his partner with Hilde and Relena trailing close behind. Quatre wondered if they had forgotten his presence completely, climbing to his feet he raced after the trio hoping they would be reunited with Duo and Heero soon before things got out of hand. "Guy's wait up for me!" He called after them rounding the corner.
Hysterical laughing was all that she heard. It surrounded her like a house of mirrors, Dororhy's eyes were completely blank. Empty of all emotions except one; and that was fear. Phareil laughing had quieted down as she regained her composure after realizing she had not been shot. "Did I scare you?" Phareil chuckled shifting the gun sideways. Dorothy's shallow breathing soon returned to normal as she fixed her gaze on her sister.
Phareil shook her head at her sister and tossed the gun across the room. The weapon hit the ground with a loud clang. Dorothy fought to keep her temper in check her hands balled into fists. Phareil turned her back to her sister before laughing with a shake of head. Dorothy was still trying to calm herself down while a thousands of angry thoughts raced through her mind and her fists became red from the pressure. "I never took you for crazy, Phareil," Dorothy retorted frowning.
Phareil's small frame stiffened never expecting that from her sister. She turned to meet her face to face slowly an impassive expression replaced the cheerful one. "Is that so?" Phareil quipped. Dorothy smirked placing a finger on her chin with a thoughtful look about her. "If I didn't know any better sister, I'd say you were crazy." Dorothy almost laughed at the remark but managed to keep that laughter bubbling up inside her concealed.
Returning her attention to her attention back to the screen behind her switching it to the cameras outside the base with her remote and gazed upon the glorious machine known as Wing Zero slice through army of Aries and Leo mobile suits as they came at it. Phareil's face brightened at the sheer sight of it. Dorothy stared at the screen dumbfounded. But how? I thought the Gundam pilots destroyed their mobile suits?!! How it is that Wing Zero is here now?!! Dorothy thought in horror as her heart rate began to quicken in its pace.
Phareil turned to her sister with a wry grin on her face. "You looked surprised Dorothy. Don't be, this is all a part of my plan to destroy the earth sphere unified nation and the Vice foreign ministers ban on weapons!" Phareil declared proudly. Dorothy shifted her gaze from the screen to her sister whose face was the one of a pain stricken and crazed child she had never seen in her life. Phareil Catalonia was no longer her sister. "But why?!" Dorothy cried. "Why go through all of this and disrupt the peace the soldiers and peacekeepers have worked so hard to achieve---?"
"BECAUSE!" Phareil snapped in an outrage. "Those responsible must pay for my----- our father's death! Because of Queen Relena, Romafeller's leader Duke Dermail died a horrible death in space! Her presence destroyed all that he was and she will pay for it! I swear to the Gods themselves she will pay for this!" At that very moment, tears blurred Dorothy's vision for the first time since two years had past, she could understand the pain and anguish that tortured her sister's very soul and she hated it. She hated the fact that in some way Phareil was right---- Relena, her friend was responsible for the death of their father and it hurt her to see her younger sister try to fight back the raging hurt inside her.
Dorothy began to approach her sister but Phareil would have none of it; she pulled out a spare gun from her jacket and aimed for Dorothy's heart. "Don't you dare come near me! It's that very kindness that makes you weak.... Its what made you forgive Relena Darlain for her crime! So you stay away from me!" Phareil snarled. Dorothy raised her hands in defeat and stepped back from her sister in fear that she would do something she'd regret for the rest of her life. Phareil managed to wipe her tear soaked face dry while at the same time regaining her composure.
Turning to the screen behind her, Phareil bent over and picked up a two radio from the control panel bringing up to her lips. "All rebel units advance on the Wing Zero and capture it at once! Do not destroy it, I repeat; do not destroy it!" Sighing the semi-short haired blonde placed the two way radio back on the control panel. Dorothy looked up at the screen and watched the legendary machine fight its way through the horde of standard mobile suits that came at it. Heero if that's you inside that machine, don't loose to them. Please ... stop my sister before any harm come out of this. Dorothy closed her eyes and lowered herself onto the ground. Pulling her knees up to her chest she lowered her head on them with a sigh.
Duo and Heero traveled down what seemed to be yet another endless corridor as they fought to reach the mobile suit hangar where the two Gundams would be stationed, or so they thought. Heero fought to keep up with the Braided American as he rushed down the halls at top speed fueled by the desire to reach Jin before something horrible. Duo's lungs begged for the breath that left it's airways in such a quick pace they felt like they were actually on fire.
However, Duo did his best to ignore this sensation in that soon traveled down to his legs which were beginning to develop a dull ache. His bangs stuck to his forehead as if they were glued onto it, his coalbolt blue eyes ached with the desire to block at the air that traveled toward them making them teary. On the other hand his temper was reaching its peak; he was fed up having to travel down all these hallways and corridors. It was like running through a maze that never ended. Just as he was about to express his emotions he caught a glimpse of Heero turning through a doorway he had obviously missed.
Skidding to a halt the American preventer turned around and headed toward the doorway. Duo jumped through the entrance just as the door was about to close. He rolled across the ground halting his body with his feet and hands. "Phew!" He breathed before turning his attention toward his Asian friend. "Heero you've gotta learn to signal me when you find something I missed!" He climbed onto his feet while dusting his jacket off.
Heero snorted in amusement. "It's not my fault you didn't notice the door. You should try paying attention to the walls around you instead of looking straight in front of you all the time," He replied dryly. Duo cocked an eyebrow at his friend and shrugged making his way toward the Japanese preventer. Heero nodded his head toward the massive figure across of them, Duo followed his line of sight and almost stopped breathing completely. Wing Gundam stood before them in all its glory wielding its shield on its left arm and gripping its beam saber in its hand on the right.
Both young men were lost in an ocean of awe at the mere sight of the rebuilt machine. But the one thing that bothered them was that the Wing Zero was missing and there was significant damage done to the mobile suit hangar's floor and wall. "It looks like to me like Jin's already out and about with the Wing Zero," Heero grumbled blandly. The two could hear the commotion of battle outside the mobile suit hangar, and the screams of dying rebels.
Something they had thought they would never would never hear for a long time. Duo was transfixed on the Wing Gundam; he felt as though it was beckoning him to come forward and pilot it. The Gundam's green eyes reflected in the bright headlights. Closing his eyes Duo swallowed his nervousness and prepared for what would happen next. "Heero-san," He said seriously. Heero turned his attention away from the battle outside and looked toward his friend in question. "I need you to find Trowa, Wufei and the others for me."
Heero arched an eyebrow at his braided friend. "What for?" Heero asked. Duo looked up at the Mobile suit once more with a grim look on his face. "There's something I have to do, Heero," He replied quietly. Heero glanced briefly at what was once his mobile suit and immediately knew what was going through his friends mind. He grabbed Duo's shoulders forcing him to come face to face with him. "I know what your thinking Duo, and its not a good idea. You've never piloted the Wing Gundam before and if anyone is going to stop Jin it will be me. You've got Hilde to look after and a life to forward to---."
Duo smiled at his friend and raised his hand pausing Heero halfway through his speech. "So do you Heero. I've piloted Wing Zero once when I was in space--- not willingly mind you but I piloted it. Wing Gundam isn't that much different from the that machine....." He chuckled. "Besides you've got Relena to protect. And so much of life you haven't even experienced yet. Not to mention that---- umm-- I would lose in a punching contest, so I'm asking you to let me pilot that machine and stop Jin before causes any harm."
Heero was not having any of it; If there was going to be someone with a death wish it should be him, life came cheap in his opinion. Especially his life and there was no way he was going to let his friend pilot Wing Gundam. Duo had another thing coming to him if he thought for one minute he was going to let him jump into the cockpit of wing Gundam. Quickly he balled his hand into a fist, drawing back his arm he prepared to punch Duo Square in the gut. Duo caught sight of Heero's oncoming fist and dodged it the moment Heero thrust his arm out.
Heero was shocked beyond belief, Duo had dodged his punch! But the shock did not last long no sooner than Heero's arm relaxed the American preventer kneed him in the stomach, Heero's eyes bulged in surprise and humiliation; Duo had managed to land an attack that was surely cause him to lose consciousness. The last thing Heero saw before he reeled over was the determined and apologetic expression on his friend's face before he fell unconscious onto Duo's arms.
The 16-year-old stumbled across the ground as he struggled to balance Heero's dead weight, he lifted the Japanese up from the ground and over his shoulder. His coalbolt eyes searched franticly for a place to put Heero when he spotted an open elevator door, rushing across the hangar floor Duo made his way toward the elevator. I hope you'll be able to forgive Heero, I'm just doing this for your own good. Stepping into the elevator he kneeled down and placed Heero up against the wall. The Japanese teenager's limp body slid sideways halting in the corner. Rising from his kneeling position, Duo grabbed a broken piece of a railing and placed it between the doors to make sure the elevator could not function.
"Jin needs someone he can relate too Heero. I'm not saying your life was a bed of roses. He and I share common tragedies concerning people we love. His mother and father, Solo, Sister Helen, and Father Maxwell. I think I might be able to get through to him before he can reach Dorothy and the others," With one last look at his friend, Duo took off toward the machine his mind totally focused on his objective.
[TBC] Sorry of the wait! My computer broke down!