Disclaimer: IT'S HERE!!!! IT HERE!!!!!!! *parades around the room*
Duo: What's here?
Loki: My BIRTHDAY!!!! I AM 14 NOW!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!
Wufei: Onna...
Loki: Thank you for reviewing my story! I have more than Rori! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU!!! I am tired of saying that I do not own Gundam Wing, so how about this. Since it is my birthday.... I OWN GUNDAM WING!!!!! YES, INCLUDING ALL OF THE CHARACTERS!!! .... just don't tell anybody.... ^-^!!
-Loki
The Lost Pilot
Chapter 8
Anni regained consciousness with a groan and, "Oh! My head..."
She just held her head for awhile until everything stopped spinning. She looked around her to find a cage. I'm a prisoner! she thought. What happened!?
Anni looked for a way out, but couldn't find one. "I see that you are stuck here as well," came a voice from behind her.
Not really caring for who it was, Anni kept her back on them. "Look, I'm not in the mood for a conversation. So just come and kill me. Make it quick."
"Who said I was going to kill you, Taaria."
Anni winced. "Don't call me that."
"Shall I call you Anni?"
She turned to the person. "Just don't call me anything." But when she turned, she was met face-to-face with another woman. She had light blue-green eyes and amazingly long purple hair that fell down past her shoulders. The glasses that she wore, and the long white lab coat, lead Anni to believe that she was either a doctor or a scientist. She also seemed to be outstandingly smart. "Who are you?" Anni finally asked.
The woman cocked a smile, and took off her glasses. As she wiped them off on her black shirt, she answered, "My name is Dr. B. I am a scientist for these... these filthy dogs." Her voice had a pinch of hatred and sorrow in it.
Then Anni realized what happened to her. "You.. you were kidnapped."
"Precisely."
"How long have you been here?"
Dr. B placed her glasses back on and sighed. "Three years."
Anni gasped. She had only been here for a short while, and she already felt like going crazy. "Why?" The woman looked at her. "Why what?"
"Why did they take you?"
"Oh. Because, dear child, I am one out the six most intelligent scientists in the universe. Out of all of them, I am the only female." She sat down to begin her story. "It started in the year AC 180. All six of us: Doctor J, Professor G, Doktor S, Instructor H, Master O, and myself, were talking about the war that Oz was starting. We decided to create weapons to help stop Oz and prevent the on-coming war."
She took out a handkerchief and sneezed in it. Dr. B continued, "but Oz had found out our plans, because of a traitor. He led them here and took over our base. I remember fire and smoke everywhere; it was horrible."
Anni looked down. She too, knew what it felt to be scared and surrounded by destruction. "We, of course, ran to the ships. J knew that if something like this would happen, then we would each go to different colonies and begin out projects. But there was one problem. They cornered us, and attacked. O fought most of them off, but two captured me just as I hit one in the stomach. The others did their best to rescue me, but I told them to continue on... for peace of Earth and the colonies."
A moment of silence passed, and Anni took advantage of this to process what she had just been told. She didn't notice a tear run down the woman's delicate face. After regaining herself, Dr. B went on: "They took me back to their ship, and tortured me. I wouldn't tell though. I was ready to die. The only reasons why I am with them now, is because they want me to make a new weapon for them."
"Why are you helping them?" asked Anni.
"They threatened to shoot a beam cannon at Earth. I couldn't let that happen." She sighed. "And so, for three years, I have been continuing my project. It is nearly complete, but I will not let them have it. As long as I live, I will see it destroy them piece by piece, just like they did to my soul and pride."
Anni thought about it and asked, "What is this weapon that Oz is making you build for them?"
Dr. B smiled a little smile and said one word. "Gundam."
Duo awoke with a killer headache. He had been shot, bruised, knocked out, and thrown in jail. But he was only concentrating on one thing.. the throbbing in his head. He would have rubbed it, but his hands and feet were tied together, leaving him in an uncomfortable position. "Figures.." he murmured.
After much determination, he finally managed to get up straight. Looking at his comrades, he whispered, "Hey."
"Hey yourself," came a gruff answer.
"Heero? Is that you?"
"Who else would it be?" The Perfect Soldier walked up to him, and brought out a knife. Duo let him cut off his ropes, and smiled. "I should have guessed that you would get out of those. Hey is that MY knife?!"
Heero smiled and handed it back to him. "I just borrowed it."
"Humph."
"Even in jail, you two are still fighting," said Quatre. He was in the farthest corner, and grunted. "Do you mind getting these off?"
"Yeah, sure buddy," answered Duo. Heero proceeded to take off Trowa's and Wufei's.
The braided pilot was just about to sit down when he remembered. "Hey! Where's Anni?"
Trowa, who had just woken up, looked around. "She isn't here."
Duo hit his hand against the wall. "Damn." Looking at his friends, he said, "We have to get her back."
"Don't you think we know that already, baka. If they put that BrainWasher-thing on her one more time, the colonies and Earth are in serious trouble," said Wufei.
"Why did this have to happen to her?" asked Quatre. "She has already been through enough when she was little, so why are they making it even harder on her?"
Trowa got up and touched the bars. He pulled his hand back the moment it shocked him. "It's electrocuted, he started.
"Great.." said Duo.
Outside the cell, a door opened up. It was the one person Duo didn't really want to see right now. "Rasam," he warned dangerously. "You better not have hurt her."
Rasam smiled and held us his hands. "Why on earth would I harm my young niece?'
"Niece?!"
He looked at the blonde. "Yes, Taaria is my niece. I was there when she was born, I was there when she smiled, and I was there when her parents died."
His gaze turned to Duo. "Which I might add if your fault.
"WHAT!?"
Rasam just smiled and signaled a guard to come. "Yes, commander?''
"I told to you to put them in separate cells. Do you know what I do to people who don't follow my directions?"
The soldier gulped and backed away. Swiftly taking out his gun, Rasam shot the man down. He had another soldier take the carcass away. "Next time, I won't be so generous," he told the others.
They each saluted as their commander walked out. When he was gone, they opened up the Pilot's prison door. Holding a gun to each of their heads, they ordered them to walk. "What should we do now?"
asked Quatre to Heero quietly.
Heero took his time in answering, "Nothing right now."
"Are you saying that you created the Gundams?!"
Dr. B laughed. "No, no, child. I just created one. We each made one. Last time I heard, J had made Wing Zero, G had Deathscythe Hell, S had Heavy Arms, H had Sandrock, and O had Altron aka Nataku."
"Well, which one are you making?"
"My ultimate masterpiece: Gundam Revelation."
All of them were placed in a room, but in different sections. Instead of ropes, they now had metal cuffs connected to each hand and foot. Duo gave a loud sigh and commented, "Well, this sucks."
"SHUT UP!" everyone else answered.
Duo smiled and reached into his braid. Pulling out six tiny explosives, he tossed them to each pilot. "Don't use 'em yet," he said.
The nodded as an understanding. It was dark in that room, so when someone opened up the door, letting in the bright light, each person squinted. A woman, roughly around the age of fifteen or sixteen, walked in and held a gun to them. She punched in some numbers on the wall with her other hand. The metal cuffs that imprisoned them fell off to the ground. She punched in some more numbers, but the gun never left her other hand.
Duo looked surprised, and walked to the woman. She had short blonde hair and green eyes that he knew he had seen before. "Anni!" he cried and ran up to her.
She placed the gun between herself and him. "Leave here Duo. And never come back, or I'll have to kill you." He looked shocked at her and said, "But Anni.."
"JUST DO IT DUO! I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!!!!"
He sadly nodded and joined the other pilots. She handed Heero a map and pointed to a location on it. "That is where you will find your Gundams. They are in the blue and white colored ship. When you get there, take off immediately. No hesitation."
He nodded, and signaled the others to follow him. Duo was the last to leave. "I'll always be your friend, Anni. No matter what happens."
"Go," she warned him dangerously.
He nodded and ran after the others. She sighed and looked at one of the monitors. The pilots were running down the halls just as she had told them to. But there was one problem. There were about two dozen soldiers following them. "Oh no," said Anni as she ran out the door to follow them.
Ten minutes earlier:
"What are they going to do with the Gundam Pilots?"
Dr. B raised an eyebrow at Anni's question. "Do you want to help them?"
Anni frowned and closed her eyes. "I want nothing to do with them, but I don't want them dead either. Can you just tell me where they are?"
"Yes I can, but before you go on this foolish mission, you might want to have a disguise."
"What do you mean?"
The purple-haired woman walked over to her desk and opened up a drawer. "Hold on," she said. Taking out a yellow container, Dr. B gave Anni a wet cloth. When Anni tried to look at it with the little amount of light coming out of the cell, she pulled her back. "Don't let any of the guards see it," Dr. B ordered.
Anni nodded and said, "Well, what do I do than?"
"This cloth is filled with imodine. This will get out any color overlapping another color."
Her eyes grew big when she heard that. "How did you know I used to have blonde hair?" Dr. B smiled and said, "There is much that I know about you."
Before Anni could ask anymore questions, Dr. B grabbed her head and placed it on her lap. She took the cloth in her left hand. "Hold still," she commanded when Anni struggled.
When Anni listened, she started to rub her head with the imodine vigorously. She watched as little black sheets of dye fell down to the ground. "Are you going to bring back my natural eye color too?" she asked when she remembered that her eyes had also been changed.
"If I were to put this on your eyes, than you would be dead now."
"Oh." Anni twiddled her fingers until the scientists said, "Done."
When Dr. B handed her a mirror, she looked into it. "I rather liked the black, but this is nice I guess." She played with a silver streak. "How come this one didn't come out?"
The doctor shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows." She got up and opened up another drawer. Anni didn't see her, because she was still examining her hair. "Huh."
"Found you!" said Dr. B when she pulled out an outfit from the drawer. She handed it to Anni and said, "Dress in this. I won't watch."
With the woman's back turned, Anni began to put the clothes on. "This looks funny," she commented.
"It's the Oz outfit. Are you done?"
"Hmmm? Oh, yeah."
She turned back around, and made a few minor adjustments. "The red bandanna on your arm has to go on the right one, both your collars must be in and you have to keep your tie tucked in your vest."
Anni just stood there with a weird look on her face. Instead of her black t-shirt and jeans, she now had on brown shirt; covered with a darker brown vest, black boots, a red tie, and a red bandanna that went on her arm. She picked up a hat and put it on. It reminded her of her father's hat. The one with all the medals on it...
"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. You must have a gun with you at all times. I don't have one, so I am hoping you do.''
Anni took out the gun that Duo had given her a long time ago, and placed it in the empty holster. She did a double take in the mirror, but then said, "Now what?"
Dr. B pointed to a venelation shaft on the ceiling. Anni sighed and began to climb through it.
Anni ran down the hall, gun in hand. She hoped that she wasn't too late, and almost passed out when she saw a line of blood go down the hallway.
"Keep running! We're almost there!" yelled Heero as they continued to run towards the garage.
He winced as he ran, because one of the soldiers got a lucky shot and hit him in the arm. Don't concentrate on the pain, he told himself. "Heero! Buddy, are you ok?" called Duo from the rear. He had heard the gun shot, but didn't see who was hit until Heero stumbled a little.
"I'm fine! Just get to the---"
He was stopped by several shots coming from behind them. "Anni!" smiled Duo when he saw her.
"Keep moving, Duo!" she yelled at him, while she continued to shoot the Oz soldiers. Not listening to her, he brought out his own gun and shot some.
"Dammit Duo! GO!!"
He saw the seriousness in her face, and stopped. "Why are you so mad at me?"
When the last of the Oz soldiers had been killed, she turned the gun on him. "You don't know how hard it is to keep me from shooting you. Just go before I actually do."
But he wasn't going anywhere. "Just tell me!"
A bullet just barely scraped the side of his arm. He looked at her. She was crying. "Please Duo. Just go. You bring back painful memories that I DON"T WANT!"
Before he answered back, more soldiers poured into the room. "GO!" she screamed as she began to fire again.
He decided against it, and began to shoot with her. But then more bullets came into the picture. Quatre, Heero, Trowa, and Wufei were each now helping them. Within no time, all were dead. They were about to congratulate themselves, when Anni turned to them sharply. "I want you all to leave. Now."
They looked surprised at her, and Quatre asked, "But Miss Anni, we want you to come with us."
"I can't come with you," she replied. "You five have a reason to live, and I don't."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" yelled Duo. "YOU BETTER THAN ALL OF US HAVE A REASON TO LIVE!"
As an answer she gave him a glare. "You.. don't talk to me."
"But why?"
She opened her mouth to speak, when a shower of bullets launched themselves into her back. She fell down into Duo, who caught her. "Let's move to the ship!" he yelled, throwing her limp body across his shoulder.
"Leave.. me.. Duo.." she whispered before passing out.
"Don't you ever ask me to do that Anni! NEVER!"
When they reached the shuttle, Heero opened it. They all scrambled inside, and he closed the door. Duo placed Anni against the wall. "Quatre!" he yelled. "Take a look at her wounds!"
Duo jumped into the pilot's chair and grabbed the controls. "WE'RE OUTTA HERE!" he called.
Wufei and Trowa jumped into their Gundams to stop any following MS or MD. Heero and Quatre were tending to Anni, and Duo kept flying. When both Nataku and Heavy Arms returned with a completed mission, he set it on autopilot.
Immediately, he went to see Anni. She was lying on a table, wrapped in bandage; mostly her chest and back. "She took in a number of three bullets. But thankfully, they didn't dig into her skin much. Although, she will have scars there for the rest of her life," explained Quatre.
Duo sighed in relief and looked at Heero. "Hey, how's your arm?"
"It's ok," he replied. "It too wasn't hit badly. I just need to lay off it for a couple hours."
Duo nodded and looked back at Anni. She was sleeping soundly, looking fragile and delicate. "You fool," he whispered. "Why did you get hit?"
She opened her eyes slightly and looked around her. Her green eyes were met with big colbat blue eyes. "How ya hangin' Anni?" he asked meekly.
"Duo. Why didn't you leave me? I.."
"Don't try to talk now. You received some wounds from the three bullets in your back. Just try to get some sleep and we'll see how you are in the morning."
Slowly she tried to get up. "I... can't... stay.. here," she managed to say.
"Miss Anni!" cried Quatre. "You mustn't try to move around yet! Please get back down!"
She gasped and fell back onto the bed, out cold. "Quatre, is she ok?" asked a worried Duo.
"Yes. Her body just wasn't ready to move yet so she passed out. Let her use this time to rest up." He smiled at the Pilot of Deathscythe Hell and tried to cheer him up. "Yeah. I guess you're right, Q-man."
Anni opened her eyes again, but didn't see another pair looking at her. She managed to sit up with no problem. Wow. I didn't know I could heal this fast! She looked around to see if anyone was there, and saw Duo. He was sleeping in a chair next to the bed with his arms crossed around his chest. She managed to smile, but stopped when she remembered what he did. "I can never forgive you, Duo."
After getting out of that room ok, she found her Oz uniform. It was folded in a drawer, probably being saved for a disguise or something. Dressed now, Anni ran into the garage to see if Dr. B had put any MS in there and not just the Gundams. There was. The woman had placed five Gundams in there, plus one Oz Leo. Silently thanking her, she jumped on the elevator and into the Suit. Just before she was about to leave, Duo ant the others ran into the garage. "ANNI!" he cried.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WOMAN?" yelled Wufei.
She pressed the intercom button on and answered, "I can't stay with you. My life neither belongs with the Gundam Pilot or Oz. I have to go."
"ANNI, DON'T!!!" Duo cried again.
"Goodbye, Duo," she whispered. "I hope I never meet you again." With that she took off in an instant, never looking back.
A/N: Wow! That was looooooooooooong!!!!! I hope that you really, really liked that, because I stayed up all night long typing it! Even though it was my birthday. *talking to Meaghan, my sister* If I look dead in the morning, it's not your fault. Not today at least...
Please give me a good birthday present AND REVIEW!!!!!!! I'll give you some french fries. *looks hungrily at the french fries* Maybe at least...
Ja ne! ((-sorry I just had to say that even though I don't know what the hell it means.)) ^-^!!
-Loki