Heya! It's been so long! Have you forgotten about me?! I hope not! Because this chapter is gonna be great! Oh yeah, we should never stop worshiping Duo. Even if he turns the evilest of evil, we should still worship him, because evil guys are hot. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Duo cursed. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Melina!" He banged on the hanger door. "Melina, come on out! I'm sorry I did that to you!" He banged on the door again. "Melina!"
"Go away!" cried a muffled voice. "I don't want to talk to you!"
"Melina! I'm sorry!" He rested his head against the door. "I'm sorry I did that to you. I want to talk to you, please."
There was a small sob. "Go away. I don't want to see you right now, all right?"
"You have to come out sometime," he muttered, walking away.
"And when I do, it won't be because of you!" Melina cried.
Duo continued to growl to himself as he walked away from the hanger. "Girls," he muttered. "The world could do without them. "They were a distraction, a nuisance, and only good for cooking him steaks. The doctors were insane when they thought they could use girls to pilot the new Gundams.
"You know you don't mean those things," Heero said. "You're just pissed off. Besides, not every girl can cook."
"Can you read minds?" Duo shouted. "Because there is no way you know what I'm talking about."
Heero glared at him. "The female heart is a hard thing to understand. Somewhere down the line, I learned that."
Duo grinned. "Yeah, after your first date with Relena." He doubled over in pain as Heero's fist slammed into his stomach. "Ouch..." he said meekly.
"I was just trying to help, Maxwell," he muttered.
Duo struggled over to the corner of the hanger. Today is just not my day, he thought. First I get a major hangover, then I get pissed at Melina and hurt her, and now she hates me! And when Heero tries to help me, I piss him off and get punched in the stomach! He banged his head against the door. Arg! Could this day get any worse?

Melina glared at the door, then at her digital watch. In two hours, the candidates would arrive, and she would have to face the world. But it was just enough time to prevent her gundam from the wrong person. A voice activated password system had been installed in the gundams, and only the pilot's name and chosen password could activate the system.
But Melina didn't want just anyone piloting her gundam. Using her skills as a hacker, she had rigged the system to only allow the people she wanted as a pilot.
"Hellspawn," she said. "Only allow these girls access to your system." The visual screen lit up. "Anita Chon, Michelle Bussayabuntoon, Joann Bussayabuntoon, Winona Reagan." The names appeared on screen as she said them. She didn't need to say her name. It was already in the databank she had hacked into a while ago.
The screen beeped: Confirm?
"Yes," she said. "Only those."
The screen beeped again, confirming her actions. Melina smirked and dared anyone else to try to pilot Hellspawn. The gundam would self-destruct if anyone dared to try. She had programmed that too. A screen would appear in the cockpit with a countdown clock in the middle and a devil duckie would walk around the screen. When the clock stopped the duck would quack and all would be over.
"Don't worry kiddo," she told her gundam. "I'm leaving you in good hands."

If Fluffy hadn't stopped her, Anita would have passed the hanger completely. She hadn't paid attention to where she was going, just trusted her feet to take her in the right direction. And they had.
The hanger looked a little more imposing than it had yesterday. Anita decided that it was because she was nervous that things looked a little bigger. No one was there yet either. She checked her watch. Of course no one is here, she thought. It's only eight-thirty. She sighed. It was going to be a depressing day.
"Are you lost?" a kind voice asked. Anita turned around. There was a tall blond boy looking down at her, smiling, a tray full of coffee in one hand and a bag of donuts in the other. An even taller brown haired boy stood next to him carrying another tray of coffee and bag of donuts. She recognized them as boys from the tryouts.
"No, I'm here for the rosters," she said. "But I guess we arrived a little early."
"We?" the brown haired boy asked.
"Oh!" she gasped. "My dog and I."
The blond haired boy smiled at her. "Why don't you wait until the others start showing up?" He directed her inside the yard. "Have a coffee and donut while you wait. Would your dog like some water? He looks a little thirsty."
Fluffy's tail flicked a few times then settled. The blond smiled again as he placed the coffee and donuts on the table and walked off to get some water. The brown haired boy started setting things up.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Anita Chon," she replied. "And this is Fluffy."
The brown haired boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm Trowa Barton," he replied. "The other boy was Quatre Rababa Winner."
"You're the pilots from yesterday," she said.
Trowa nodded, pouring cream and sugar into a cup. He handed it to Anita, who took it gratefully. It tasted much better than Fran's coffee. Quatre came back with a bowl of water for Fluffy, who lapped at it gratefully.
"Did you have to miss school to come here?" he asked.
"Yeah, " she replied, taking a sip of coffee. "But it doesn't matter. I really want to do this."
"If you don't mind me asking, why?"
"Alliance members killed my parents when I was eleven. When the war ended, I hoped that no more orphans like me would be created. If this new organization succeeds, I wonder how many children without a family will be wandering the streets. I don't want another war. The one thing I hate is the killing of the innocent. That's why I tried out. To stop the killing of innocent people."
Quatre looked grave. Then he smiled. "I understand how you feel. I also lost someone very important to me because of the war." He thought back to his father, long dead. "That's a very noble deed, Ms. Chon. I hope the doctors have chosen you as one of our new pilots."
Anita smirked. "You already know, don't you?"
Quatre smiled. "There are a few chairs by the hanger if you want to sit down." He walked away with a small grin on his face.
Fluffy woofed. Anita looked down at him. "A little strange, don't you think?" she asked him. Fluffy woofed in reply. She laughed and walked to the chairs to sit down and drink her coffee.

It was too far to walk to the hanger from her house, but she didn't have enough money for a taxi like yesterday. Her only other options were a bicycle that she had outgrown when she was thirteen and an old pair of rollerblades that lay rotting in the garage. She opted to walk when she found a spider's nest in the left blade. It would be long and tiring, but she had no other choice. It was a beautiful day outside, and it brightened her spirits.
People gave her strange looks as she passed by the opening shops and busy coffeehouses. She didn't wonder why. She was wearing her school uniform and the closest school was in the opposite direction. But she didn't care what they thought. What did they know about her?

The taxi Michelle hailed sped down the street, trying to avoid rush hour traffic. She checked her wallet for the fifth time, making sure she had enough money for fare and tip. She breathed a sigh of relief as the twenty dollars was still tucked into the sleeve. Peering out the window, she watched the passing people shuffling down the street. She was once like them, leading an ordinary life, following the same routine every single day. But if everything went right, she would never be like the people on the street again.
The taxi came to a stop. Michelle turned to the driver. "Why have we stopped?"
"Sorry, Miss," the driver apologized. "Traffic. You won't be charged extra for this."
Michelle didn't reply. She just continued to look at the people walking faster than the slowly moving traffic. One girl in a uniform caught her eye.
"Joann?" she whispered. "I'll be right back," she said to the driver. He turned to protest, but she was already out of the car. "Joann!" she called.
Joann spun around. "Michelle? What are you doing here?"
"Same thing you are doing," she replied. Taking her sister's hand, she started to lead her to the taxi. "I'm sorry what I did back there. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just don't want to lose you."
"If we stick together," Joann said, "then we won't have to be apart."
Michelle smiled as they climbed into the taxi. In a few minutes, they were again speeding towards the hanger.

They arrived to the hanger within minutes of Winona. She had taken her bicycle, like she did every morning. She came to a stop next to the taxi, and watched as Michelle and Joann stepped out.
"You're early," she said to Joann.
"Same as you," Joann replied.
"Is there anyone here yet?" Michelle asked.
Winona shrugged. "Should we go in?"
"Why shouldn't we?" Joann said. "We are expected."
Before Michelle could protest, a loud bark sounded in the still air. It was soon followed by a deep yell and a high-pitched scream. The girls ran in to see what was happening. They recognized Anita immediately and watched as she tried to pull an enormous Rottweiler off a struggling boy.
"Fluffy!" Anita cried. "Stop it Fluffy! He wasn't doing anything!"
There was a ripping noise and a low cry, and Michelle could see that the dog had torn away his shirt and scratched his chest. She went to go help Anita while Joann and Winona went to find one of the pilots. She ran to Anita's side and grabbed the dog's collar and tugged. With the extra weight added onto Fluffy, he began to move off the boy, bits of spit and foam flying onto his face. With one final tug, Fluffy was off and Winona and Joann were back with two other boys. While they helped their friend up, Michelle, Joann and Winona helped Anita restrain Fluffy.
"Are you all right?" the blond asked his friend.
"That dog should be shot!" the boy shouted back.
"Sit down," the black haired boy said, shoving him into a chair.
Anita's arms tightened around Fluffy's thick neck. "If you hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't have attacked!"
The boy growled and tried to stand up, but his friend's held him down. "All I did was ask for my gun back!"
"I did give it back!" she protested. "I gave it to the braided guy so he could give it to you!"
He was speechless for a moment as the blond tied a bandage around his chest. Winona walked up to him.
"Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Could you go get Duo?" the blond asked. "Tell him Quatre needs his help with Heero."
"He's the braided baka," the black haired boy said, seeing her confused face.
"Wufei," Quatre muttered, shooting him a glare.
Winona tried not to smile as she walked away.

Melina could hear the yells from inside the hanger. She checked her watch. It was too early for anyone to be here. She jumped out of Hellspawn and peered out the door. She saw Duo stalking away with Winona, one of the girls from yesterday. Her spirits lifted. Maybe she could talk to her. But Duo was there...She cursed her emotions. They were getting in the way of her ambitions. But despite her current hatred towards Duo, she felt she needed to help, even if it wasn't her problem.
"Hey!" she called out. "Hey Winona! D'you need any help?"
Winona turned around. "Hey! " she greeted. "Could you help us with Heero? He's a little mad."
There was loud cursing on the other side of the building.
Melina arched an eyebrow. "That's the understatement of the year." She sighed. "I'll go help calm him down."
Duo grabbed her shoulder as she walked by. "I knew you would come out of hiding someday."
Melina glared at him and gave him a swift punch in the stomach. "Asshole!" she called, stomping off.
As she rounded the corner, she saw the chaos surrounding Heero. He was in a folding chair, being held down by Wufei and Trowa. Quatre was offering Michelle some coffee while Joann tried to help Anita calm down. And Heero was shouting at them all. Melina didn't even know he could shout. Winona came seconds later with Duo in tow.
"It's about time you came, Maxwell!" Wufei shouted. "Come knock some sense into Yuy!"
"Why do I have to?" Duo yelled back. "I'm not his keeper!"
"Just help Duo!" Trowa yelled at him.
"Get that mutt out of my face!" Heero yelled at Anita. "Do it before I get my hands on him!"
Anita just clung to Fluffy's neck, shaking horribly. Joann was rubbing her back, trying to calm her. Melina could make out small bits of conversation, things like "he won't" and "okay". She crouched next to Anita and rubbed the top of her head. She didn't say anything, figuring Joann had said everything that could be said. Instead, she listened to the boy's bicker and Heero fling nasty comments to Anita. She felt Anita quiver under her touch, and understood that Heero's words were causing her pain.
"Anita," she said. "Just hit him if you want him to shut up. It usually works."
Anita looked up at her. "That's what you do to show dominance over a shark," she said.
Joann shrugged. "Maybe that'll work."
Anita looked doubtful for a moment, and then let go of Fluffy's neck. He pressed himself against her leg and whimpered, but she patted his head as if to tell him she would be fine. He moved away and lay down under the table.
Gathering as much courage as she could, she held her head high and marched to Heero's chair. Trowa and Wufei moved away, while Heero stood up and glared at her. "Don't bother saying 'sorry'. It won't help."
Anita lips curled in a snarl. "Asshole," she growled and kicked him in the groin. Heero let out a loud yelp and sank back into a chair.
Quatre groaned. "Duo, would you go get some ice? Please?"
Wincing at Heero's pain, he obeyed. Ouch... he thought. Mental note, don't piss her off.
Anita walked back to Fluffy with her head held high and a grin on her face. Fluffy wagged his tail and licked her hand in admiration. Joann clapped her hands, impressed by what Anita did and proud that she did something to help herself. Melina stared at her with her jaw dropped.
"I meant to just slap him," she said. "But that worked too. If not better."
The boys didn't say anything. While Heero was cowering in pain, the rest were furiously gulping down cups of coffee to ignore the pain in their groins indirectly given to them. It soothed their nerves, but no amount of comfort could help Heero, whose kick had been delivered hard and accurate. Duo came back with the ice and handed it to Heero, who grabbed it out of his hand and pressed it against his groin. He heaved a deep sigh.
"And what, pray tell, happened to him?" a rough, grouchy voice asked.
Heero craned his neck to look behind him. "Doctor J," he said.
Melina looked over her shoulder. "Yo, Doc," she greeted with a wave.
"Melina," Professor G said gruffly. "What happened here?"
"An accident," she said shortly.
Professor G frowned at her. He turned to Quatre who he deemed to be the pilot with the most sense in his head. "What really happened here?"
Quatre sighed. There was no getting out of it now. "Anita's dog attacked Heero and hurt him. We got the dog off of him and bandaged Heero's wounds, but he started threatening the dog. Anita got upset and kicked Heero in the groin."
"I was hoping you would all get along," Doctor J groaned. "It's not going to help if you all keep getting into fights."
"Help with what?" Anita asked.
"Oh, didn't you know?" Instructor H asked. "You're the new pilots."

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????? BWA-HA-HA!!! Cliffhanger! Now, I'm off to get Final Fantasy X!!!