Kitty-chan1: Hi! Sorry about the brief disclaimer last time. But, it's our second to last chapter everyone!
Kitty-chans 2-7: AWWW!
Duo: Thank God.
Kitty-chans: GRRRRR!
Duo; Yipe!
Kitty-chan 1: Ready everyone!
Kitty-chans 2-7: YAY!
Kitty-chan 1: We do...
Kitty-chan 2: ... not own...
Kitty-chan 3: ... any of...
Kitty-chan 4: ... the Gundam...
Kitty-chan 5: ... Wing characters...
Kitty-chan 6: ... They are...
Kitty-chan 7: ... not ours.
Kitty-chans: YAYYAYYYYYYAYYYYYYAYYY!
"Katome-sama! Suuchin-sama!" an officer cried, running to catch up with the two security guarded men.
"What is it, Kaman?" Suuchin turned fully to face him, his normal arrogant air settling about him.
The officer caught his breath and saluted. Suuchin saluted back, as did Katome and the officer continued. "The three remaining pilots were not at the reported residence, sir."
"That is fine." Katome said quickly, stepping on anything Suuchin had to say on the matter. "Carry on."
The officer saluted once again and walked away. Suuchin waited until Katome had waved the group of personal security guards awaybefore rounding on his partner. "Sankan! How can you be so calm? We're nearing our deadline, and if we don't capture the other pilots within that deadline, we won't be given the chance to punish them our own way!"
"Calm down, Akun. We are driving them to Yamagata. They will soon come to us. We have what they want, after all." The two approached a barred cell door, and Katome motioned to the two creatures inside.
A dark blue haired girl knelt next to a man lying on the cold stone floor of the cell. He wore dark, worn ripped clothes, and his hair was long and tangled. The girl touched his shoulder, having to use both hands since her wrists were bound, then motioned to the approaching men. The boy turned slowly onto his side, having trouble due to his beaten body and his bound hands. He winced, but sent an icy glare up at the two politicians. The glare belonged to one Duo Maxwell. The girl slid her bound hands over the boy's head to wrap her arms around Duo's shoulders. "Why won't you leave him alone already? Don't you think you've done enough?"
"Oh, not nearly enough, my dear. There is still much to come." Katome answered, a purring tint in his voice.
Hilde's grip on Duo tightened. Duo moved away so that Hilde was forced to release him. "Stop, Hilde. There's no point in wasting your breath on them." Duo looked briefly over at the wall, and smirked.
Katome put a smirk of his own on his arrogent lips. "Hello, Mr. Maxwell. How are we doing today?"
"Fine and dandy, you bastard." Duo answered roughly, smirking. He sighed. It figures that the one time they get ordered not to beat me, they do. But, I guess that's the story of my life. "If you think beating me will get you answers, you're dead wrong."
"Don't you worry. You'll break soon enough." Suuchin stated, carelessly leaning against the wall.
"How about if I put it this way. If you kill me, I'll give you all the information you want." Duo said, sitting up.
Suuchin raised an eyebrow and leaned on the bars of the cell, a power-lusting air about him now. "Keep that attitude up, and you won't last long."
"I just told you to kill me. You really think I want to?"
"None of you will last much longer. Your friends are headed here. It won't be long before we have all five of you at the mercy of our whips. You will all die, one way or the other." Katome stated cooly.
"You will die even if we have to kill you ourselves. We will get revenge for Oz."
"And White Fang. You won't get away with what you've done." Katome growled.
"You boys are, by far, the most bitter old geezers I've ever had the displeasure to meet, huh?" Duo purred, sticking his tongue out at them.
"You little brat." Katome began, his voice dangerously even. "Watch your mouth or I'll be sure you're the first to die. You'll get the electric chair if I have to bribe the judge."
Exactly what I wanted to hear. Duo smiled weakly. Just a bit more information. "I just have one question. Why blame us for the war?" Suuchin and Katome both hesitated. Duo's mouth became a tight thin line. Come on, you guys are gonna kill me, right? No need to worry about me telling anyone else!
The two men seemed to simultaneously decide that it was safe enough to speak. Suuchin was the one who spoke. "Starting the war is the only thing serious enough to blame you for that is obvious to everyone, and worthy of the death penalty."
"So, you admit that we didn't start the war, then?" Duo smirked.
"Any idiot can see that." Katome snapped. "We're just lucky that the people in power will let anyone influence their ideals. People of earth are weak. Why do you think Master Milliardo was so intent on ridding the universe of it? A noble cause indeed."
"So, you admit that the whole thing was started by OZ and Dekim Barton of the Barton foundation when they put Operation Meteor into action?" Duo demanded, growling now.
"OZ and Dekim Barton may have begun the war, but our cause was noble. We were simply trying to save the earth from itself. If OZ or Master Milliardo ruled the ESUN, then there would be no more wars. There would be total pacifism. OZ would overtake the earth!"
"And rule it and the colonies as a monarchy." Duo completed Suuchin's thought.
"A monarchy is better than anarchy. And anarchy is just what you caused for OZ. Now you're going to pay for what you pilots have done." Katome growled, whistling for a soldier to enter. As soon as the soldier saluted, the politician motioned toward the exit. "Get Maxwell out here. He needs to be taught a lesson. As for the rest of the troops, I want everyone out of the building and watching for approaching enemies. When one is sighted, inform me immediately!"
"Yessir!"
Duo closed his eyes in submission. He knew what type of beating lie ahead of him for his arrogance. It was worth it, though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"No!" Relena cried. "We're coming!" She set her hands to her hips, as did Catherine.
"You'll endanger the mission." Heero insisted.
"Listen, we came along to help, and that's exactly what we're going to do!" Catherine argued, tapping her foot.
Quatre stood. "Trowa, Heero, swallow your pride and admit that they can help us. I don't know about you but I've learned that it's not easy to dissuade these two from anything. But, I want you to swear to us that you'll get out if things get serious." Quatre rounded on the two and pointed purposefully at them. The two girls nodded in agreement. "There. Now let's stop fiddling around here and go." Trowa and Heero begrudgingly agreed and they headed toward the building.
Heero pulled a small metal cube from his black bag and stuck it to that wall, where it stayed. The group, not noticing him, continued and he immediately caught up with them. The prison they had reached, Heero insisted, was where Suuchin and Katome were currently hiding at. It was just on the outskirts of Yamagata, and it actually looked pretty nice. It didn't look like anything but a normal building save for the fact that there were no windows, and seemingly no doors. They got to what was supposed to be the front, but the only thing Relena saw was a flat wall. Catherine crossed her arms. "Now what? There's no way in."
Heero turned and glared at her. "Shut up." He whispered. "You want to let them know we're paying them a visit?" He looked down either side of the building. There were a group of guards stationed at each corner of the building, hoping to increase their surveilance to make up for the small number of soldiers that worked here. However, when they made it to the wall supposedly the front door, there was sufficient space for the girls to conceal themselves while Heero worked. He approached the side, and began tapping around. After a few minutes, a small control pannel appeared. He fiddled with the buttons for a minute before the doors lumbered open. Catherine blushed and laughed quietly. The other four ran into the building and Heero placed a small metal cube on the control pannel before darting in. The hall was quiet and almost pitch black. Heero's voice was quiet, but they could all hear him. "Relena and Catherine stay back." He commanded. The three boys headed foreward, and the girls soon followed. They found no one in the halls. Probably because the entire force is outside watching for us to enter.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Duo moaned as he attempted to sit up. Hilde pushed him back down, tears falling down her cheeks. "Please, Duo, stay still. You'll hurt yourself more."
Duo growled at Suuchin and obeyed Hilde's command. "When I get out of this... you're going to pay. You're going to pay... dearly."
"I would be scared if I didn't know that you're not making it out of here alive, Gundam pilot." Katome answered arrogantly.
"If you kill me, you'll get a lotta hell from the ESUN hardliners." Duo smirked at his arrogance and began to fiddle with his shackles. The energy it had taken to sustain sentence itself had taken a lot out of him, and he now sank back to the ground, Hilde hunching down next to him.
"Do you realize how easy it would be to make it look like a suicide?" Suuchin inquired, smirking.
Duo smiled ruefully from his prostrate position. "I'm really in a fix now, eh, Hilde?" Hilde could make herself respond to his comment.
The brief silence was shattered as the door burst open and a black-haired man stood in the doorway, a gun gripped firmly in his hand. "Preventors! Freeze!" A girl dressed in the same uniform as the man followed, a gun also present in her palm. She seemed hesitant. We don't have a warrant for this. I hope Wufei knows what he's doing.
"What is the meaning of this?" Suuchin yelled.
"Don't play innocent! I'm Wufei Chang of the Preventors!" the officer cried. "Hands up!"
The two men slowly obeyed, Katome's hand brushing against a red button on the way up. Red lights flashed through the building, wailing sirens echoing down the halls. Within minutes, thousands of footsteps were heard approaching the room. Confused, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Relena, and Catherine appeared in the doorway. Heero surveyed the room. He wasn't sure what the sirens were for, but he did know one thing; his enemy was right in front of him. His hand flashed and suddenly his gun was aimed at Katome's head, the safety already disabled. For now, a single gunshot was fired, but Heero's gun was not the source. Heero dropped his gun, holding his bleeding hand. He looked to the only other door in the room to see many security guards flooding into the room, one with a gun aimed straight at him. Heero and the other two boys dashed behind the doorway, pulling the girls with them. Heero shoved Relena away with his good hand. "Go now!" he cried, pulling a daggar from his belt.
"Go where?"
"You know where to go! Go get Duo and Hilde out!" He demanded. Relena nodded and she and Catherine ran down the hall to search for the cell doors. As soon as the Perfect soldier was sure the two girls were out of danger, he threw himself into the fight, knocking down Security guards left and right. He kept his icy eyes on his destination in the back. Suuchin and Katome.
Trowa also began fighting the guards. He kicked one man in the temple, then struck another one's gut. He hip-tossed another only to find himself face to face with the barrel of a gun. He stood up straight, panting. "Bye, kid." The guard purred.
Good-bye, Catherine. A gunshot rattled the eardrums of everyone there.
"TROWA!"
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"I hope everyone will beokay." Relena sighed and continued running. "Is it just me or do we seem to be turning left a lot?"
"It's not you." Catherine sweatdropped, but then halted as a room they were passing caught her gray eyes. "Relena, come look at this!"
The girls walked in and found themselves in a control room of somesort. The far wall was lined with metal doors, all without doorknobs. Relena put herself behind the controling desk and looked it over. There were a few labels there, which she recognized to be cell numbers. She pointed at the light above the middle door. "Catherine! I think they're in that cell!" The red light was turned on, while all the others remained off. Catherine nodded and pulled the lever that sat beside the door. Hilde turned as the door to her cell opened and her eyes brightened at the sight of Relena in the background.
"Hey! It's you!" She cried, smiling.
Relena darted into the cell and began to help Duo to his feet. Her movement halted, as did everyone elses' as they caught sight of the halted action outside the cell immediately following the gunshot.
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Trowa fell backwards toward the floor. But… he didn't feel any pain. Wha… am I dying? Then reality hit him in the form of the hard stone floor. He wasn't the one hit. A limp body landed on his own, mere seconds after he hit the ground. Another shot was heard and Trowa's assailant dropped to the ground. Heero stood behind him, a smikong gun in his hand, and almost a sympathetic look in his steely eyes. Trowa sat up, looking around. Attention seemed to be focused on the creature lying on his lap. He was afraid to do it, but he looked down. No…
Two sparkling, blue eyes smiled up at him from a familiar pale face. A gentle smile graced his lips, tormenting him in the midst of sacrifice. "Q- Quatre!" Trowa cried. Herolled the arabian boy fully onto his back and rested him on his knee.
"Hi, Trowa." Quatre forced out. The pain in his back was becoming unbearable, but he knew he wouldn't feel it much longer.
"Quatre, you… you… you moron! Why'd you…?
"You saved me… you saved… my soul… Trowa. Now… it's my turn… to save you."
"Quatre, you bastard." Trowa cried quietly. Quatre smiled slightly at his curse. "I'm not worth your friggin life!"
"Believe me, you are… my friend. I have nothing… left here… You have your sister to live for… but my family has gone." Quatre closed his eyes slowly.
Trowa shook his head. "What about the Maguanacs? They need you!"
"They… were executed a while… ago, Trowa." Trowa looked briefly to Heero for an explination.
Heero bobbed his head. "They rioted and got themselves killed."
Trowa turned back to to dying man. "But… your…?"
"My sisters?" Quatre interrupted. "Most of them… thought I died a while ago… They'll never know… I'll finally be with… my father… and Rasid. I'll wait… for you… Trowa."
"Quatre?... QUATRE!"
Catherine stared at the two men and sank to her knees. Quatre… rest in peace my brother. No amount of yelling would help now. Quatre Rebaba Winner was dead. She could see the sparkle of tears on her remaining family's face, and knew that the guards were about to be in major trouble.
"T-Trowa… Quatre…" Duo managed, still attempting to stand. "Quatre…" Relena, Hilde, and Catherine guided Duo into the back room and closed the cell door. Just as they were about to walk out of the control room, Duo planted his feet. "Wait… gotta get it."
"Get what, Duo?" Hilde wondered gently.
Duo pulled her and the others over to one of the control desks. He fiddled with the buttons for a few minutes before pulling a small black object from a machine and slipping it into his tattered jacket. Only then did he allow himself to be taken from the room.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Trowa turned his tear-streaked face on the group of gurards. He slid Quatre's body off his knee, and stood. Despite the tears trickling down the soft skin of his face, his eyes betrayed nothing. Sadness, anger and fear were absent. Rage guided his actions as the fight ensued once again. The room exploded with sound and motion as everyone in the room began fighting again.
Catherine, Relena and Hilde soon arrived to set Duo down on the floor in the corner. Relena crawled away a bit to find Heero while Catherine made her way to check on Quatre's body. Hilde checked Duo up and down. She smiled. "You're gonna be alright, won't you Duo?" Duo's eyes had closed gently, but they slowly cracked open to give her a bleary-eyed look.
"I'm the... God of Death. I don't... go down... so easily."
She smiled again in relief, but thenfroze as the sound of a gun click was heard behind her. She shoved Duo back a bit, covering him with her body. Duo's eyes widened as he realized who and what was behind her. The girl cringed, but did not move. I'll protect you, Duo. I love you, and I don't want you to get hurt. She braced herself for the feeling of the bullet in her back, but none came. Instead, she heard a voice come from further behind than the agent was.
"Hey, Moron! Back here!"
Duo pushed Hilde off to the side and got to his knees to stand, but doubled over as his injured stomach wounds loudly protested. "Wufei! Don't! You'll get yourself killed!"
Then it's a satisfaction that Treize's battle couldn't give me. "Over here! You wanna real challenge, you cowardly weakling?"
The guard took the goad and charged, aiming the gun at the chinese pilot's head. Wufei spun around and threw his leg out, kicking the gun from his hand and twisting the man's wrist to the side. The agent yelled, but dropped onto his good hand and swung his legs around, sweeping Wufei's legs out from under him. Wufei landed hard on his back. The guard jumped up to plunge his foot into Wufei's belly, but the pilot was a bit quicker than that. He swung his legs up and, catching the man by his chest, threw him behind him, and into the far wall. Wufei shot energetically to his feet and faced his opponent as he struggeld to stand.
"WUFEI, BEHIND YOU!"
Wufei's scream of agony filled the room and motion seemed to once again slow to a stop as another infamous Gundam pilot fell. Wufei's body crumpled to the ground, blood already working on soaking his immaculate uniform. "WUFEI!" Sally screamed. She rushed to her partner's side. She lifted him into a reclined postion and urged him to open his eyes.
Wufei slowly complied and focused on the other preventor, but mainly on her tears. "Why are you crying… weak onna."
At that moment, Sally would've given anything on earth to hear him say that over and over again, if it would keep him with her. "Don't go, Wufei. You're a Gundam Pilot! You're too strong to be killed by a bullet!" She yelled angrily, tears continuing to fall down her face.
"Wufei... you... you... I told you!" Duo yelled from the corner. "I told you! I told you to stay away!"
Wufei smiled weakly at their angry words, knowing that they only spoke so because they cared. There was a warm feeling that festered in his chest, standing out amidst the icy feeling that was consuming the rest of his body. "I told you... I was weak."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Sally yelled, shaking her head. She was silent for a minute, lying her head down on his chest. "Please, Wufei, hang on long enough for us to get a doctor."
Wufei's glazed eyes narrowed. "No. No... doctors... This is exactly... how it should be. Treize couldn't.. finish me off. I guess this bastard... did what he couldn't." He smiled, motioning to his assailant with his eyes.
"What am I supposed to say to that, you coward!" Sally demanded.
Wufei rolledhis eyes. "Good-bye… would be… appropriate." He managed to give a bearly visible smile.
There was a long silence as Sally debated wheather or not to comply with his odd request. "Good-bye... Wufei."She complied, the tears coming heavier now. But Wufei was already gone, his gentle smile frozen on his cold lips. Sally lowered her head to rest on her falled comrade's chest again. Rest in peace, my friend. She heavved a burdened sighe, and quickly snatched up Wufei's dropped gun, leveled the barrel with a heart, and fired, avenging her partner's death. Wufei's murderer dropped lifelessly to the floor, and Heero and Trowa faced off against the last two of Katome and Suuchin's troops.
Heero smirked at one of the agents. He darted foreward and solidly planted his fist in the man's gut, then downed him with a lightning kick to the temple. Trowa was similarly occupied. He slammed his foot into the man's lower back, then jumped and rotated his hips to smack the top of his foot into his face. The circus performer landed with the gracefulness of a cat, and stood, glaring daggers at Suuchin and Katome. Heero picked his gun off the ground and held it up. "Don't move." He commanded evenly to the two enemy politicians. The men had no choice but to obey."Trowa, Take the girls and Maxwell out to the car and get going. I'll… catch up to you later."
Trowa took note of the hesitation in his voice, but sensed that he was in no way going to talk about it. He nodded and hoisted Duo onto his back before leading them out. For around twenty minutes, no one said or did anything. Silence remained thick between the two politicians and the murderous pilot. Suuchin finally sighed and held up his hands. "If you're going to shoot us, please just do it." He said dully. "The suspense is killing me."
Heero shook his head, not taking his eyes off of them. "Iie. That would be too kind of a death for bastards like you." Two pairs of eyes widened, but could do nothing lest the bullet of Heero's gun halt them. It was a while later when Relena's voice came through on the communicator. "Heero, come on! What are you doing?" she yelled frantically.
Heero held up a small metal object, closing his eyes. Only if I was to live… "Getting rid of Them."
-Click-
BOOOOOOOM!
The current residents of the small Toyota covered their ears as the prison they had only just recently left exploded in a burst of flame. Relena jumped in her seat, and Trowa sqealed the car to a stop. The blonde jumped out of the car, and anxiously waited for Heero to arrive on his motorcycle. He would be here any minute, riding quickly up to tell her that it was all over. No such reassurance came. They waited for a full twenty minutes more, but Heero Yuy did not return. Relena sank to her knees, tears threatening her eyes. Only one thing could remain in her mind for more than a few seconds. Heero… how could you…?
Kitty-chan 1: Yesh, I know. Sad, isn't it? Sorry about the character deaths! I warned you!
Kitty-chans:cry:
Heero: Just read and review onegaishimasu.
