Disclaimer: Here it is! Chapter 7! I have so many ideas that are just cramped up in my head just waiting to get out... literally!

Idea #4: Stop Pushing!

Idea #245: That wasn't me!

Idea #5637: Something smells...

Idea #67: Sorry...

Idea #784: Gross.

Idea #9456: Zzzz..Zzzz..Zzzzz

The Lost Pilot

Chapter 7

Duo and the others ran to their Gundams. "We must fly fast if we want to get there before they leave," Trowa said.

"Prepare to blast off in ten seconds," Heero ordered.

Duo locked himself in Deathscythe. He grabbed the joint stick as he listened to Heero count down, ".... six, five, four, three, two one... GO!"

All five pilots pushed into the air at the same time and were off. "How long will it be until we get there, Heero?" asked Quatre..

"Judging by the coordinates I was able to receive and our speed, I'd say about ten minutes."

"Then I guess that means we better move faster!" yelled Duo as he sped past the others. They laughed and went to catch up with him.

Anni stared at her so-called 'uncle'. She didn't know how... or what to answer. The hatred was still in her heart because Duo killed her father, but was she ready to wipe them all out? She did feel guilty about being mad at Duo, but the more she thought, the madder she became. Anni was being ripped in two. One side kept telling her that they were her friends. Think back to the good times, it said. Remember when the table flipped over, and Duo got you away in time from cleaning it up? Remember how happy you were as you fought against Wufei? Remember!! She smiled at those memories. But there was another side; a darker side. You're father was a proud leader of Oz! Don't throw it all away because of love and friends! Plus, what kind of friends are they? One even killed your father! You should get back at them with every ounce of power you have left in your body. Lead Oz once more, like your father did. They are your friends now!

Anni remembered back in one of her dreams, that her mother told her to make them proud. Did she mean to join Oz once more, or to fight them? The answer she would give Rasam would change her life forever. So what should it be...

The unfortunate Oz soldier screamed as the bullet pierced his skin. The other two were kicked in the stomach, just barely alive. Duo grabbed one of them by his shirt collar and shook him hard. "Tell me where she is and I'll ease your pain."

The man coughed up blood and looked into the colbat colored eyes. "She's... she's..

A bullet stopped him from going on. Duo spun to see that it was Heero who fired. "Why did you mill him? He was about to tell me where they were keeping Anni!"

"He was about to stab you with his knife in his sock, Duo. Try to be more careful and not let your emotions get in the way of fighting and concentration. I won't always be there, you know."

He grinned and dropped the lifeless body. Wufei ran up to them. "The other guy said that they were keeping her in the 2nd chamber. But then he died, so that's all I got."

"Where the hell is the 2nd chamber?" cursed Trowa.

"Maybe you should say 'What is the 2nd chamber?'" Quatre said uneasy.

Rasam sat next to her once again, and stared at her. "So what's it going to be, my dear niece?" A spit in the face was his answer. "I have decided to neither help you nor the Pilots, you scumbag."

He brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the spittle away. "As I expected," he mumbled. "Those Gundam Pilots have lead you to believe that there is actually something called 'True Peace' when that is just a dream. It's time to change you into the person you should be."

With a snap of his fingers, a henchman placed a silver, metallic tiara in his open palm. Several wires were connected to it, and Anni feared what it was for. Though she had a pretty good idea..

"You can thank your father for this little contraption. We have never tested it before, but we might as well start now."

Gingerly, he placed it around her head. "What does it do?" she asked as she tried to shake it off. He pressed a button, and clamps pressed onto her forehead, keeping the crown in place.

"Many of these machines were destroyed. People only think of them now as a myth; something that is only found in stories, but they're quite real. This is the last one, and it's called a BrainWasher."

She gasped. Anni had heard stories of them, but from whom she did not know. They change the person being controlled. Their free will is gone, leaving them like a puppet on strings, doing only as their master commands. Rasam would be her controller; Rasam would be the one plucking the strings. She shook even harder to get it off, but the more she tried, the more it tightened. A single bloodline fell down her face; from where the clamps had tore the skin. With his handkerchief, he wiped it away. While he was doing that, she bit down hard on his hand. He yelped and snatched it back. "That is one of the reasons why we must put you in the BrainWasher," he snapped as he rubbed his hand.

Rasam left the room and entered another. The window was clear, so she could see every move they made. She couldn't read lips very well, but she knew that he said, "Turn it on."

Bolts of electricity shot through her brain. Biting her lip to keep back the screams, she just sat there. Her eyes were clamped down shut, and her hands were in fists. Again, the bolts kept coming until she couldn't take it anymore. Letting out her screams, she watched as horrible visions filled her mind. Fire was all around her, and she saw people. People that were running away from someone. That someone shot down every single person he saw. She screamed to the people to move faster, but her words were silent. She couldn't speak! She yelled and yelled as she saw different kinds of people fall. Men, woman, elderly, and children. But that didn't hurt as much as what she saw next. The person stepped out of the shadows, and into the light to reveal his face. Or her face. Anni was holding the gun, Anni was the one killing, and Anni was the one who was enjoying it...

"NOOOOO!!!!" she screamed as the final bolt of energy went into her mind. They filled all the nerves, and stopped once they reached their real target; her brain.

The body that was once shaking stopped, becoming perfectly still. Anni was gone, and a horrible monster filled the vacant body....

Heero heard Anni's cry and ran down the hall. The others followed him and stopped when they saw her. Through the window, they could see everything. Rasam's smiling face, the metal tiara, and Anni. She sat in the chair; silent and calm, but eyes wide open with hatred and anger. Heero and Duo shot at the window together, shattering the glass. All of them jumped through. The metal cuffs that once restrained her were gone, but the BrainWasher remained. Duo tried to pull it off, but he got shocked with 10,000 watts of electricity. Any normal teen would have died at the spot, but because of Duo's training and determination, he lived. "There's no use in saving her, 02. She's ours now, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"YOU'RE WRONG!!" he yelled, and tried to take it off again. Same result. Rasam laughed a hearty laugh. "You don't believe me? Well see this!"

His gaze turned to Anni. "Come, Taaria. Show 02 what you can really do."

She locked her fingers around Duo's throat, allowing no air to pass through. "Anni," he whispered with the last of his breath. Wufei punched her in the face. She let go of Duo, but still remained still. The punch didn't even affect her. Wufei stumbled back, as he watched in amaze. "It.. it didn't even hurt her?"

Anni's hand flew up into the air, and grabbed the gun thrown by Rasam. "Tell me, dear niece," he asked her. "What, pray tell, are you going to do with that pistol?"

She aimed it at Duo. "For father," she said and fired.

Duo saw his life flash before his eyes. He was at the church, talking to Solo. He was at L2 Colony, looking up proudly at Deathscythe. He was in the mansion, messing up Heero's laptop. Then he was in his lovely Jaguar, looking next to him and seeing a smiling Anni laughing with him. What happened to her? he asked himself. Pain shot from the top corner of his shoulder. The images disappeared, leaving blood in his view. Duo yelled in pain. Reality came back, and he clutched his right shoulder. The bullet missed him, but it skimmed the top of his shoulder. She missed me? She had a clear shot of my head or heart and she missed me?

Anni dropped the gun and clutched her head screaming. The two voices in her head were fighting. One good, and one evil. It left her in pain, and she was helpless. Heero took advantage of that. He grabbed her and slung the screaming body over his shoulder. "LET'S MOVE!!" he yelled to the others as he jumped out the busted window. They followed, and Rasam shouted. "There's nothing you can do! She is mine forever, and you will never get her back!"

His words rung in Duo's mind as he ran. I still believe you're wrong. We WILL get her back. Trowa opened up a door. Quatre began to barricade it with anything he could find. Wufei and Heero ran to the computer to find a way out. Duo was placed against the wall on the floor because of his condition. Anni was placed next to him. With his good arm, he pulled her over and gave he a hug. "She's still in there," he whispered.

"What did you say Maxwell?" asked Wufei.

"I said she's still in there or else I'd be dead. Not even the worst shot in the world could miss that shot. She fought this damn contraption, and won. But only for a second."

Quatre held his body against the door. Soldiers on the other side were trying to get through. "Are you saying that there's a battle going on in her mind right now?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Q-man," he answered gloomily.

Anni's screamed had stopped, and so did her body. He brushed back one of her silver bangs. "Anni?" Duo asked. He shook her lightly, despite the pain in his arm. "Anni?!" This time he slapped her, but no result.

Everyone turned to her. "Oh no," whispered Trowa. "Don't let her die. Not when she had so much to live for."

Duo felt his eyes water. "Anni."

A white light surrounded Anni. She shielded her eyes, until they got used to it. "Hello?" she called, but the only answer she got was her echo. "HELLO!!!!" she called again.

Everywhere around her was white. It seemed like she walked for an eternity, trying to find a way out. Every now and then, she called once more, getting the same thing every time. Anni began to panic. Even though there were no walls, she still felt Closter phobic. There were only two things that she truly feared. They were being trapped in a cage, and being controlled. Both of them were happening all at once, and she didn't like it.

Anni sat down and placed her head into her legs to cry. Where am I? Why am I here? Why did this have to happen to me? "WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?!" she screamed out. As much as she tried to stop, she couldn't.

Footsteps in the distance brought her head up. A woman with long black hair, in a pure white gown appeared in front of her. Her skin was pale and soft, and her smile could light up even the darkest rooms. Maybe that's why that place was white.

Anni felt like she knew this person, and then again, she felt like she didn't. A white veil fell behind the back of her head, revealing deep blue eyes, just like Anni ad before. What am I thinking? I never had blue eyes! she thought about Rasam's words. Or did I? Her thoughts wandered onto the dreams/memories. The woman stayed silent, but she next moved her gaze from Anni. They stared at each other for a while, but for Anni, it was an eternity.

She wished the woman would speak. Or do something. The silence was annoying, and her neck was getting whiplash from staring up. "Who are you?"

The woman remained silent. Anni sighed and got up. She dusted off her pants, as she thought a little. Where had she seen her eyes before? Her face.. her smile.... her eyes. Those eyes were familiar, but from where? "Before you go asking anymore questions sweetie," she started, "you might want to learn a little more about the past."

The woman raised a hand, and Anni fell to the ground.

The little girl bit her knuckle, hesitant at first to answer. Maude placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's ok," she said calmly. "You can tell him."

Taaria looked up at her, and than to Bob. "If you would please, sir, can you change my hair to black w/ silver streaks. And my eyes; I would like them to be green. I will be very grateful if you did."

He was about to ask her why strange colors for hair, but a gesture from Maude kept him. Bob nodded and stretched out his hand. Taaria took it, and all three of them walked into the door behind the register. They seemed to enter a whole new store than a back room. She looked, awestruck, around the room. She stopped as soon as she saw a big metal chair. A scary thought produced in her mind. "Will this hurt?" she asked anyone who heard.

Bob smiled and patted her bouncing curls. "Don't worry about that. You won't feel a thing." She gave him a disbelieving look. "No, really! I'll just put you to sleep, and nothing will feel like I was even changing you."

Taaria shrugged and hopped onto the chair. She still didn't believe him that she wouldn't feel a thing, but was easily mistaken. He placed a plastic mouthpiece over her mouth and nose. The gas filled her body, and her eye's dropped. "Sleep tight, Taaria," Maude said sweetly and the girl's eyes shut completely.

When they reopened, Taaria Tanner was gone. Bob handed the girl a mirror. "I hope you like your eyes. What I did was a little hard."
She automatically shifted her view to her eyes. They were green, but they were a light green in the middle, and a dark green outlining them. She could also see a hint of gold...

"I love it," she told him. He smiled proudly.

She had an itch on her head, so she went to scratch it, but stopped once she saw what she was scratching. Her hair was black, with silver highlights over it. With the itch relieved, she brushed her hair, and turned to Bob. "I'm sorry, but could you do one more thing with my hair?"

He shrugged and said he would do anything she wanted. Taaria nodded and sighed. "I would like to have my hair completely short. Having long hair like this reminds me too much of my Mommy and Daddy. "

He gave Maude the scissors. When it came to cutting, no one could beat Maude. As each lock of hair fell, so did each memory. Anni made sure of it. All the good times she had would be lost, and replaced with new and better ones. When Maude finished, she smoothed out the back of it. "I also love this," Taaria said as she fingered a completely silver bang.

Bob swept up the floor, blonde and black. When it was all in a shovel, he tossed it into the fire. "Why did you do that?" she asked.

"We don't want to leave any trails of Taaria Tanner, do we?"

"That reminds me. You should get a new name," said Maude.

"A new name too!"

She nodded. "Bob here can do that for you."

Taaria looked like she was going to cry, and Maude added, "I'll let you keep your last name, just the first one must go."

Bob slid into his computer chair, and hacked into Taaria's file. He deleted everything, and started a new one. "So what's your name gonna be?"

"Well," she started. "The nickname that Mommy and Daddy gave me was Anni. Because I reminded them so much of Annie, you know the redheaded orphan girl. Anyway, san I have that name? A-n-n-i," she spelled for him.

Bob mumbled to himself as he filled in the information. "Hair- black, eyes- green, age- six, mother/father- "

He turned to Maude. "Are you going to be her mom from now on?"

She looked down at Taaria/Anni. "Would that be ok?"

She nodded. "Yes, I will be her mother," Maude replied to him.

"Since you don't really have a last name, Maude, I'm giving you one. Your name is now Maude Tanner."

Sirens were heard coming down the street. "Bob," muttered Maude. "You had best hurry up."

He pressed buttons as fast as humanly possible. When he finished, all of them exited the room. Bob shut everything in the 'storage room' down, and locked the door. "Nobody but me can get through that door," he reassured them.

Police were checking every building. They kicked down the glass door. "These aren't police..." thought Maude.

Each of the men was dressed in blue uniform. They had the words "OZ" on their collars. One man looked toward Taaria. "Who's the girl?" he demanded.

She shuddered because she was scared. Maude saw this and wrapped protective arms around the child. "This is my daughter. I am Maude Tanner, and this is Anni Tanner. We were just shopping for some food, when you barged in here! You sure as hell aren't the police, so if you don't leave, I'll call them!"

"Why you..." he said, hands clenched.

Another man, supposedly the leader, held up his hand. "Leave here," he ordered.

"But Captain Rasam!" he yelled back.

Rasam walked up and slapped the man in the face. "You heard me soldier! Leave or you'll pay with your life!" The man saluted, and left the room hurriedly.

After saying his apologies, Rasam walked up to Taaria. She had green eyes, black hair which was short, and named Anni. "It couldn't be her," he thought.

He left the room and continued to search the other stores. Maude turned to Anni, but she was gone. Bob also looked for her, and he saw her picking the lock to the storage room. The key was on the floor. She smiled at what she accomplished, and her life became whole again. Anni just laughed at Bob's amazed expression. She laughed like a happy little girl.

The dream/memory ended with a flash. Anni looked up at the woman. Her head was full of questions, but nothing came from her lips. All her life, she wanted to know what happened to her parents. And now that she knew, a part of her regretted it. "Was it worth all the pain I am feeling now?" she asked herself.

"Do you understand Taaria?" asked the woman.

"A little," she answered. "But.. but.."

"..you want to a little more that only you're mother could tell you," she finished for Anni. "But before I do, let me ask... do you want to know? Not all secrets are good."

She knew that her answer would scar her for the rest of her life. If she said yes, everything that she was afraid of might be true. And if she said no, than Anni would spend the rest of her life wondering; regretting. Her head ached, and she grasped it with her right hand. Could this woman be my mother? If she is, than why did I feel so nervous when I first saw her? "I.. I don't know," she answered truthfully.

The woman smiled at her. "Do you know who I am?"

Anni ran up to Cameile and gave her a tight hug. "Mom!"

The woman looked startled at first, but then hugged her daughter back. "Oh, Taaria! How I missed you! Are you-- Quiet, sweetie. Everything's ok. Dry those tears. Enough had been spilled."

When she stopped crying, Anni looked up into the blue eyes that her father had fallen in love with. "Do I have to choose whether to learn about my past?"

"No, no you don't. I will always be in your dreams. Whenever you make up your mind, tell me." She looked into the sky. "It is time for you to go Taaria; your friends are waiting for you."

Anni was lifted up into the air. How she was, she would never know, but her mother's final words rang in her mind. "May you have God's blessing.."

Heero and Trowa were holding their bodies against the door. From the other side, Oz soldiers were still trying to get through. "They'll be in here at any moment!" yelled Heero through clenched teeth.

Quatre and Wufei were searching the room for any other way out, and Duo was still holding Anni. "Anni... please don't die," he whispered.

With a loud bang, the door flew open and dozens of Oz soldiers swarmed in. The pilots put up a good fight, but in the end they were all knocked out. Duo was the last. He tried to fight them off as hard as he could, while still protecting Anni. "You are not going to hurt her!" he screamed as he shot a bullet into a soldier's stomach. Then he got hit square on the head.

Anni was removed from his grasp; she was still unconsionce. Rasam walked into the room, with a big smile on his face. "Take the pilots to the prisons. Separate, if you please."

"And what of Lady Taaria?'' asked a soldier.

Rasam stifled a yawn. "Send her to B."

A/N: Did you like? I hope you would since I put so much time into it... I would like to thank all the people who have reviewed. I now have more than Rori. IN YOUR FACE RORI!!!!! Ok... ok I cool. But that doesn't mean to stop reviewing. Oh and by the way.. when Anni's mom says "May you have God's blessing" that is exactly what Sister Helen says to Duo before she dies... he he. I'm sneaky. Bet you didn't see that one.

Also, I would like to say this. Lexi and Nameless Waif. I love you guys, but don't hog up the entire review button! Sheesh! Do you see how many reviews you did for Not More Gundam Wing Songs? Plus... Rori is getting kinda jealous that you're reviewing me and not her. Even though I don't blame you.

Ahhh! Rori! Put that frying pan down! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Loki (who is in critical condition now as Rori walks out of the room proudly) ^_~!!