Hey there, peeps! Here it is, Chapter 4. I know it's long, but it is a great read. Oh, by the way, please read and review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, which is Naoko Takeuchi's property. Also, Gundam Wing is not mine, which belongs to Sunrise TV/Sotsu Agency, Inc. Tre Young/Sailor Universe is mine and so is Pyrone Reigns. So there you have it.
Chapter 4 - The Tragedy
Tre's arrival to his home was a whirlwind of questions and getting to know his siblings that he never knew, or rather, wasn't consciously aware enough to remember them. He met his brothers, which were all goofs with short, sandy blonde dreads and were all into hard rock alternative acts of contemporary and "classical" eras. He was introduced to his sisters, the eldest of which he would immediately form an indestructible bond with over the next few months. The rest of his sisters were glad to see him again were all very taken with how mature he was, but yet how standoffish he was at their antics. His parents were relieved to finally have their youngest son back, and Tre immediately went to his mom, rested her into a hug, and cried with her over his return. He missed his mother for those fourteen long years.
For the next six months, Tre grew accustomed to the odd rules of his new household. He wasn't allowed to play his guitars as much as he liked, and he often butted heads with his mother about his longer dreads. He held her at scissor-point a couple of times; his training had definitely made him quicker than a flash to turn a weapon on its holder. His sisters (the quadruplets) always wanted to know things about the last fourteen years but Nikki just left well enough alone until Tre opened up to her over a car he was working on one day, she helping.
"I wasn't molested or anything, yo," Tre said, fixing the fuel injector heads on the last cylinder.
"I didn't think you were," Nikki confirmed. "I knew from the way you held those scissors to Mom's neck that you were trained in some kind of combat."
"Not just that, Nikki," Tre said. "I am a Gundam pilot now, sworn enemy to all those who oppose freedom of the colonies."
Nikki dropped her tool, looked at Tre in horrified way, and uttered, "Oh, my God; it's true then."
"What?" Tre wondered.
"It was you who destroyed that British mobile suit over our colony?" she gasped.
"No!" Tre said immediately. "I haven't even flown it, yet."
"Oh, thank God!" Nikki breathed. "I almost thought my little brother was a cold-blooded murderer."
He looked at her with a look of sarcasm, and said: "Please."
She laughed, pleased that her acting fooled him, "I know that you are a murdering fuck, being a Gundam pilot and all, so don't worry."
"Cool," Tre said. "Hey, you connected that direct port nitrous injector hose to that cylinder yet?"
"Yeah, I got it," she said. "Why are you putting NOS on a sixteen-cylinder engine?"
"Why not leave a little room for an extra boost?" Tre wondered. "I'm a blow the competition away regardless, but why not rub it in their faces?"
She pondered that for a moment before saying, "Good point."
He wiped some smudges off the shiny chrome engine, stepped back to admire the work, and closed the hood. He climbed in, depressed the clutch and started the engine. It turned a couple of times then it revved to life. He raced the engine some, the deep purr of idle turned into a low, loud roar. He and Nikki both cheered.
Tre started school about three months after he returned home and was enjoying his time there, somewhat. He was always getting into fights with kids who thought they could beat him up, so he had to put them in their place. Of course, they would end up looking like bloody Hell and he wouldn't have a scratch. However, he got most of his subjects pretty easily and was in the top ranks of his class. Not only that, but word had gotten out that Tre was the kidnapped kid of After Colony 180. He got celebrity status overnight, it seemed, and he got himself a girlfriend out of the deal.
Soon, the quadruplets turned eighteen and wanted to go clubbing for their birthday, since they were newly legal. Tre was left alone for a while when he received a call from someone.
"Hello?" he answered.
"I'm looking for a teenage fag boy with brown shitlocks," a deep, Scottish voice said. "Is he there?"
"I don't know," Tre laughed. "If he's being harassed by his adult, black-braided lover, then yeah."
The voice chortled, "Hi, Tre. What's new man?"
"Nothin' Pyrone," Tre yawned. "Just settin' heeah wartchin' a flick."
"Well, I got it on good authority that something big is going to happen to the both of us," Pyrone said. "Like we're going to be famous one day."
Tre tsked, "Not that 'At Home Psychic' shit again, dawg!"
"You and me are Gundam pilots, brah," Pyrone said. "Am I right?"
"Suppose you aren't?" Tre ventured.
"Then I'd be half-right!" Pyrone said confidently.
"OK, Space Dork," Tre said in a mocking voice.
"Hey, watch it!" Pyrone said sarcastically. "I just might come and blow up your house."
"Pyrone, if someone had tapped my line, do you know that YOUR secret could be blown wide open?" Tre theorized.
"So?"
"Well, Gundam pilots should be discreet, yet subtle. Don't let on that you are without dropping subliminal hints!"
"AHA!" Pyrone said loudly. "You are too!"
"FUCKHEAD!!" Tre screamed. "I didn't want you to blow me out, too!"
"Don't worry, I ran an encryption code on the line so no one could hear us anyway," Pyrone laughed. "Besides, you and I could take 'em."
"Yeah, but our families couldn't," Tre reminded. "How's your dad, by the way?"
"He's about to name his new VP sometime today," Pyrone said. "And, he's got your dad's business coming up in the ranks soon. Maybe one day, they'll be sitting side by side on a merger company and doing business with one another in an interlocking directorate."
"So it's true that my dad DID invent a new space fighter," Tre said. "Cool. I just might be a rich brat after all."
"Don't get cocky, dick munch," Pyrone said. "There's only one way to go when you get to the top."
"Yeah," Tre agreed. "But I'm a make sure my daddy stays 'King of the Hill.'"
"Hey, I gotta go," Pyrone said. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"I thought you graduated already," Tre said.
"I'll be there to say hi, dumbass," Pyrone scoffed. "Peace."
"And practice, Fieldy," Tre said. "Don't want Munky spanks, do ya?"
He laughed, "All right. Lata."
"Bye," Tre said, hanging up.
Just as he did that, the front door burst open and two teenage girls flopped lethargically onto the foyer carpet. The rest of the four sisters laughed like uncontrollable hyenas. Tre sighed amusedly, knowing that they got way too drunk on their first night as legal drinkers. Hey, you don't eighteen but once in your life, right? (AN: I figured that future would be a little more lax with the drinking law; at eighteen, you can die for your country, go to clubs and titty bars, vote on the country's leader, but you can't have a drop of alcohol? I figure, once you're named a legal adult, you should be adult enough to have a farking drink!)
Tre said to Julia and Mika, "Man, you guys are trashed!"
"No we aren't!" Julia laughed. "Mom and Dad are! You're just a dirty rat bastard!"
"Tre," Mika crooned. "Why don't you hang in our room tonight?"
"No way in Hell!" Tre said. "You ain't puking on me!"
"Tre, indulge your sisters," Jade said. "It's their birthday."
"Ma, they're gonna keep my ass up all night," Tre complained. "I got school!"
"Please?" the four girls said in unison.
Much to Tre's chagrin, his quadruplet sisters stayed up most the night talking about the night they had, all in a drunken stupor. Tre's ears were about to blow wide open with all the laughing and high-pitched squeals. HE finally had enough and yelled for peace and quiet. They immediately quieted and fell asleep.
Tre was very tired the next morning and almost fell asleep in his pancakes. All 11 members of the Young family sat at the large wooden table in the dining room every morning and evening for breakfast and dinner, respectively. That day would hold two surprises for Tre: one good, one bad. Nikki stood up after downing 10 pancakes (3 times her usual) and announced to everyone very unexpectedly,
"I'm pregnant."
"What!?" Tre's dad sounded aghast.
Everyone looked at her in shock, while she smiled like a five-year-old who gets a double scoop of ice cream.
"What did you just say?" Anthony asked very slowly.
"I said I'm pregnant," Nikki said back, equally as slow.
"Oh-my-God," Julia said.
"What the fu-" Tre's mom started, before being cut off.
"Young lady," Tre's dad yelled. "Get into the study, NOW!"
As he shouted that last part, everyone jumped. Now Nikki was the one who looked aghast. She followed her father into the study and the doors were slammed shut behind Nikki. Then the yelling started. Matt Young's yelling was so intense, his blasting shook the house worse than a drill sergeant whose company wouldn't carry out his orders. His voice carried into the dining room, so everyone heard every word being shouted at their sister.
Once he was done, the doors burst open and Nikki streaked up the stairs, tears falling down her face. Matt's face was set into a very stern scowl when he appeared from the study. He walked around the foyer for a minute, then straightened his business suit and retied his tie. Jade Young walked over to him, high heels clicking on the marble floor tile. She removed her black jacket, revealing a long sleeve white blouse and black knee length skirt. She and her husband had a quiet chat, while the kids had a quiet conversation of their own.
"I bet it's that Darren dude," Jason whispered.
"Oh please, it has to be Congressman Williams' son, Jack," Mika said.
"Reverend Sands' kid, Randy," Derrick offered.
"I heard it might be that dumbass jock from her high school days," Crystal said.
"You're all wrong," Tre spoke up.
All stopped to look at him. 'What could he possibly know', they thought. Tre heard their thoughts, some more displeasing than others, and some that weren't so bad. He told himself to just be a little hard to open up. All the while, his siblings asked him who it was and not getting a word from him. Finally, he told them.
"It's a mobile suit pilot from the Brits."
"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh," Anthony said, shocked.
"No way," Ashley said.
"It can't be," Derrick said.
"Really?" Julia asked.
"You-have-got-to-be-kidding-me," Jason said.
"What's his name?" Mika wondered.
"Is he cute?" Crystal offered.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, no, I don't know, and no," Tre stated.
"Huh?" all said.
"Never mind," Tre laughed.
All of Tre's sisters and brothers, plus mom and dad left earlier than he to get to where they were going. Tre saw this as the perfect opportunity. He grabbed his book bag and ran to the garage to his car. From there, he screamed down the roads to the place where the Gundam was stored, threw on the lights, and ran to the cable hanging from more than 60 feet up. He shrugged on his book bag, then put his foot into the stir-up, and then held onto the handhold. He was immediately hauled up to the cockpit door. He sat down in the chair then closed the door and strapped himself in. The view screens glowed to life, showing him the hangar from the Gundam's point of view.
He made the tall machine walk to the elevator, which raised him up into the colony. He then activated the Hyper Stealth feature, making the Gundam invisible to radar and the naked eye. Tre fired up the Gundam's rockets and flew to the abandoned office building, which was completely hollowed out and a perfect hiding spot for a Gundam. Tre slowed the machine down, adjusting the controls here and there for a nice, soft landing.
One side of the building was a makeshift doorway that opened and closed like a real door. Tre reached the Gundam's hand out and pulled at a spot where a few windows were broken out near the corner of the building. The Gundam pulled the side of the building open and stepped inside, turned around, and pulled the "door" back into place. Tre shut the systems down and opened the door for the cable ride down.
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"Tre Jason Young," a female voice said across the park.
"Yes, Lory Marie Walker," Tre said back, amused.
He looked at a park bench where a beautiful brunette was standing. Standing at 5' 10", she almost reaches Tre's nose. She had long, waist length brown hair set into many cornrows. The long brown braids hung all the way to the small of her back, ending in silky tassels. Her hazel eyes sparkled with the very life of this girl.
She wore a white baby doll shirt with a silver crescent surrounded by a gold ring. Her impressive bustline held the shirt well above her navel, showing her soft, fleshy belly. Just below her navel was a black mini-skirt, which hugged her hips tightly due to her still present baby fat. And finally, she had on a pair of girls black Sketchers platform boots, reaching just below her knees.
"Well," Tre said. "Aren't WE dressed well for their last day of virginity?"
"Can't say much about your outfit," Lory cooed.
She had a point. Tre was only decked in a baggy white T-shirt, baggy black shorts reaching below his knees, and white ankle socks topped by black skateboard shoes. So much for dressing out, huh?
"Umm...well you see," Tre began, blushing.
He was silenced by the finger on his lips. Silver nail polish decorated the perfect nails of his girlfriend.
"You look sexy to me," she whispered in his ear. Her hazel eyes met his Prussian blue eyes. Then, they locked into a deep, passionate kiss. It didn't last very long because Ronald McMann, the class clown, came up to them both and yelled,
"Heeeeeeeeyyyyy, LOVERS! I have a room for rent. It's soundproof and it costs twenty dollars a night."
Tre and Lory had to laugh in spite of themselves. However, Tre still gave Ron a swift kick in the ass. The three walked to school talking about the next Thrash concert they all would attend and when they would meet up at the mall on Thursday next week. They had just reached their first period class when the bell rang.
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Lunch couldn't come any earlier. History was their second period and Tre, Lory, and Ron couldn't wait to get out. The bell rung just as Mr. Echelon was about to tell the class about the Clinton scandal.
Tre ordered the usual: Dragon sashimi, California rolls, with volcano rolls on the side and lots of wasabi with a large soda.
He sat next to Lory and across from Ron. Ron spied his tray, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
"How can you eat that stuff?" Ron asked.
"It's healthy for you," Tre retorted. "Plus, it tastes good."
"Oh yeah, chopped up squid, octopi, and spicy Japanese horseshit-"
"Horseradish," Lory replied calmly.
"Whatever," Ron finished. "The point is this: how can you eat raw fish?"
"Simple," Tre said. "With chopsticks."
With that, he picked a volcano roll (I forget what's in it), rubbed it in wasabi, and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed for a little while, then his eyes started to well up with tears, and he swallowed. He coughed and gulped some soda. He panted for a second, then calmed down.
"WHOA!" Tre exclaimed. "That'll clear out your sinuses."
Everyone at the table grinned. ory began to munch quietly on her Caesar salad, while Ron quickly went through his BLT on a wheat roll. Tre popped the last California roll in his mouth, chugged the rest of his soda, then belched loudly.
"Six-point-six on the Richter scale for California roll number eighteen," Ron said.
"Gross," Lory said in her best California blonde accent.
"Lovely," said a familiar voice behind Tre.
"Pyrone!" Tre shouted. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to check on you," Pyrone said. "Besides, the old man was drivin' me nuts!"
"Hah! So, how's the monkey suit fit?" Tre asked sarcastically.
Pyrone had a gray jacket and matching pants, with a white silk business shirt and shiny black shoes. His twists matched the hairstyle of the long dead guitarist from KoRN known as Brian "Head" Welch. And he had a rough goatee from the middle of his lower lip to well past his chin. Every other part of his face was cleanly shaven.
"It's like being confined in a straightjacket," Pyrone said, pulling on his collar.
"Lucky me, huh?" Tre shot back.
"Yeah, I'll give you lucky you," Pyrone replied.
He pulled out a water pistol and squirted Tre in the face. Then he squirted Lory and Ron next. Tre wrestled the gun out of Pyrone's hand, turned the nozzle on him, and let him have it. Pyrone's white shirt now clung to his hairy chest, exposing his dark hairs. Pyrone gave Tre a glare from his dark brown eyes. Tre returned the look with his own Prussian glare. Pyrone then broke into a lop-sided smirk and asked for his water pistol back. Tre handed it to him, and then Pyrone left.
'To think that we're going to be Gundam pilots,' Tre thought. 'We aren't even serious about fighting, much less anything else.'
Tre was snapped out of his reverie by Lory who tugged lightly on his dreads. He slowly turned, still looking at Pyrone walking down the halls. Finally, Pyrone was out of sight. Tre shook his head as he repeated his thought. e was amazed that the two of them would save the colonies from militaristic rule.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Lory asked.
"I don't know," Tre replied.
"That Pyrone is the problem," Ron said. Then, switching to a nagging, female voice, he said, "That Pyrone Reigns is a bad influence to your young and squishy mind."
Tre, Lory, and Ron all chuckled at this and all their troubles were forgotten.
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School finally let out for the day and the halls were flooded with students opening their lockers and gathering their books for tonight's homework assignments. Some were making out against the lockers, others being slammed into lockers. Tre, Lory, and Ron managed to navigate the sea of humans to exit the building.
"So you guys wanna hang at the base and check the stunts they're practicing?" Tre asked.
"I can't," Ron said dejectedly. "Mom said I have to clean the house today."
"That sucks," Tre and Lory said in unison.
"Yeah, well, see ya guys next Monday," Ron said. He waved and went on his way home.
Tre and Lory interlocked fingers and walked toward the Air Force base. It was a good mile and a half from their school, but they walked slowly and talked about what the universe really was, which came first (the chicken or the egg), and other deep topics of life. They finally came to the fence on the outer perimeter. They heard the roar of a fighter pulling full afterburner, but they couldn't see it. Tre spotted it first. Halfway to the other side of the colony, coming around the huge axle, was an FX-1682 (a variant on the present day F-16 with hover capability, Mach 20, and 50 G max, plus turn/climb/dive on a dime agility). The black painted bird was pulling a 90-degree dive, full afterburner towards the runway.
"Tre," Lory asked nervously. "Is he going to crash?"
"Just watch," Tre said, amazed.
Just before the jet could collide with the runway, it did a sharp pull up, streaking across the tarmac only inches above the surface. Tre and Lory couldn't help but be amazed at the daring of this pilot. Tre was receiving the most rigorous jet fighter training in case he had to use one while on Earth or in the colony. He could fly almost every jet series that hadn't been destroyed already, even the old F-16's and such. He could do crazy stunts like that, but why?
They decided to leave for Tre's house. No one would be there for another four hours. It would be him and the girl he loved, getting it on. Tre felt lucky...then he remembered what Nikki said this morning. He quickly took Lory aside.
"Lory," Tre began. "There's something I have to tell you."
"OK, but I have to tell you something first," Lory said. I have been taking birth control pills for a few months now and I took one a week ago."
"Good," Tre said, relieved. "You read my mind. I forgot to buy rubbers so I didn't have any at home."
"Oh," Lory said. "Well, if you didn't want anything between us, you coulda just said so."
She laughed. Tre even got it after a while. Then a thought struck him.
"Wait on this bench," Tre said. Lory sat down, eyeing him playfully. He took off toward the abandoned office building where he hid his Gundam. He decided to get a kiss real quick, so he ran back, pecked her on the lips, and then sprinted back. Little did he know that would be the last kiss he would get from her...alive.
As soon as Tre got into the building, several mobile suits with the British insignia came down from the colony's main airlock. These suits were Space Leo suits. The large machines stomped their way down the main colony road, sweeping their rifles from side to side. The colonial citizens fled from the machines, seeking shelter in nearby buildings. One of the lead Leos stepped forward and its pilot announced through the loudspeakers,
"All citizens of L2 colony X-66618 are to surrender any information about secret mobile suits known as Gundams if they wish to stay alive."
Lory heard the announcement and stood up to see where it was coming from. She found out as the Leos came around the corner and spied her. They lowered their guns at her, then all the sudden, a beam of golden energy came from an office building, tearing one Leo suit apart. Lory looked behind her to see a most impressive mobile suit.
"Is that...is that a Gundam?" she asked.
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Tre had taken out a Leo already. One down, three to go. He raised the wings on the Gundam's back (think the wings on Wing Gundam) and fired them up. He launched the DreadScythe at the other Leos in a flying tackle. He managed to knock them all down. The DreadScythe pulled out its sword, then its beam scythe, igniting the latter. The curved black blade of energy came to life. DreadScythe swung the energy weapon down onto two of the Leo suits. Both exploded into orange fireballs. DreadScythe swung the sword down toward the third Leo suit, only to have the target roll away and stand up. It raised its rifle and fired. The bullets just bounced off the Gundam and a pile of bullet slugs appeared at the Gundam's boots. What Tre just witnessed then would cause him to be just like the soon-to-be Gundam pilot Heero Yuy. He trained the sword on the Leo and sliced the mobile suit right where the legs connected to the torso. The torso fell to the ground...and the rifle fired one round. Tre saw the bullet fly right through his girlfriend's body.
"OH JESUS! NO!" Tre cried.
He swiftly opened the cockpit door and let the cable take him down as fast as it would allow. Tre ran to the limp, bloody remains of his girlfriend and took her head in his left hand and putting his right hand underneath her butt. The bullet went straight through her chest, leaving a hole the size of a basketball going right through to the crimson-stained ground below. Ragged shreds of flesh and tissue hung to the insides of the enormous hole in her torso.
Hot tears started to flow freely down Tre's face and he started to take in shuddering breaths. Her clothes were all soaked in the deep red fluid. Tre's hands were covered in it as well. And her beautiful face was streaked in the places where Tre had stroked her cheeks from the blood pouring out of her mouth. He was sobbing immensely. He gave her one last kiss, then threw his head back and wailed like a hurt animal. He screamed at the top of his lungs, he cried out for someone to bring her back to life, he let loose every foul word he knew at the British pilots who he hoped where burning in Hell. He started to get hoarse and stopped after about five minutes.
Doctor X arrived shortly after it happened and scolded Tre lightly for taking the Gundam out of the hangar without his permission. Yet, he was grieving for Lory as well. Layla flew the Gundam back to the hangar as Doctor X stayed behind to say: "Now, yeh listen tah me, lad. Yeh two were walking home when them damn soots arrived and shot at yeh both, killing her. Inexplicably, a Gundam showed out of nowhere and downed the suits, aye?"
"Yes," Tre croaked.
With that, the doctor left Tre until the police arrived. The police had arrived almost twenty minutes later, so had Tre's parents and Lory's parents. The EMT's placed Lory's body into a body bag, zipped it up, loaded it into the ambulance, and drove off. Tre was wrapped in the comforting arms of his mother. Then Matt Young announced to the press that his son would not be questioned due to the extreme grief he was now going through. He then walked over to Lory's parents and gave them his condolences, embracing Mrs. Walker and doing the same to Mr. Walker. The former was bawling her eyes out while Mr. Walker just stood there dazed. Matt Young walked to his wife and youngest son.
Matt Young said his apologies and led his wife and son into the waiting stretch limo. Inside were the rest of Tre's siblings. All his sisters were already sniffling and tears leaked out of their eyes, down their cheeks and dropping onto the floor or into their hands which covered the faces of those sisters who didn't want to see their little brother crying. His brothers were welling up, believe it or not, and were comforting their nearby sisters or saying things to Tre that might make him feel better.
"Tre has just lost his girlfriend in a crossfire with some Leos that invaded our colony," Jade Young spoke.
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.
"It would be best if you all left him alone for the next week or two for him to recover as best he can from this tragedy," Matt Young said to his family.
Tre continued to sob into his mother's lap the rest of the trip home.
'I'll never love anyone outside my family again,' Tre thought to himself. 'Especially if I am going to be a Gundam pilot.'
And so we see the famous Tre break into 'Perfect Soldier' mode. I don't want to pressure anyone, but, coughcoughreviewcoughcough!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, which is Naoko Takeuchi's property. Also, Gundam Wing is not mine, which belongs to Sunrise TV/Sotsu Agency, Inc. Tre Young/Sailor Universe is mine and so is Pyrone Reigns. So there you have it.
Chapter 4 - The Tragedy
Tre's arrival to his home was a whirlwind of questions and getting to know his siblings that he never knew, or rather, wasn't consciously aware enough to remember them. He met his brothers, which were all goofs with short, sandy blonde dreads and were all into hard rock alternative acts of contemporary and "classical" eras. He was introduced to his sisters, the eldest of which he would immediately form an indestructible bond with over the next few months. The rest of his sisters were glad to see him again were all very taken with how mature he was, but yet how standoffish he was at their antics. His parents were relieved to finally have their youngest son back, and Tre immediately went to his mom, rested her into a hug, and cried with her over his return. He missed his mother for those fourteen long years.
For the next six months, Tre grew accustomed to the odd rules of his new household. He wasn't allowed to play his guitars as much as he liked, and he often butted heads with his mother about his longer dreads. He held her at scissor-point a couple of times; his training had definitely made him quicker than a flash to turn a weapon on its holder. His sisters (the quadruplets) always wanted to know things about the last fourteen years but Nikki just left well enough alone until Tre opened up to her over a car he was working on one day, she helping.
"I wasn't molested or anything, yo," Tre said, fixing the fuel injector heads on the last cylinder.
"I didn't think you were," Nikki confirmed. "I knew from the way you held those scissors to Mom's neck that you were trained in some kind of combat."
"Not just that, Nikki," Tre said. "I am a Gundam pilot now, sworn enemy to all those who oppose freedom of the colonies."
Nikki dropped her tool, looked at Tre in horrified way, and uttered, "Oh, my God; it's true then."
"What?" Tre wondered.
"It was you who destroyed that British mobile suit over our colony?" she gasped.
"No!" Tre said immediately. "I haven't even flown it, yet."
"Oh, thank God!" Nikki breathed. "I almost thought my little brother was a cold-blooded murderer."
He looked at her with a look of sarcasm, and said: "Please."
She laughed, pleased that her acting fooled him, "I know that you are a murdering fuck, being a Gundam pilot and all, so don't worry."
"Cool," Tre said. "Hey, you connected that direct port nitrous injector hose to that cylinder yet?"
"Yeah, I got it," she said. "Why are you putting NOS on a sixteen-cylinder engine?"
"Why not leave a little room for an extra boost?" Tre wondered. "I'm a blow the competition away regardless, but why not rub it in their faces?"
She pondered that for a moment before saying, "Good point."
He wiped some smudges off the shiny chrome engine, stepped back to admire the work, and closed the hood. He climbed in, depressed the clutch and started the engine. It turned a couple of times then it revved to life. He raced the engine some, the deep purr of idle turned into a low, loud roar. He and Nikki both cheered.
Tre started school about three months after he returned home and was enjoying his time there, somewhat. He was always getting into fights with kids who thought they could beat him up, so he had to put them in their place. Of course, they would end up looking like bloody Hell and he wouldn't have a scratch. However, he got most of his subjects pretty easily and was in the top ranks of his class. Not only that, but word had gotten out that Tre was the kidnapped kid of After Colony 180. He got celebrity status overnight, it seemed, and he got himself a girlfriend out of the deal.
Soon, the quadruplets turned eighteen and wanted to go clubbing for their birthday, since they were newly legal. Tre was left alone for a while when he received a call from someone.
"Hello?" he answered.
"I'm looking for a teenage fag boy with brown shitlocks," a deep, Scottish voice said. "Is he there?"
"I don't know," Tre laughed. "If he's being harassed by his adult, black-braided lover, then yeah."
The voice chortled, "Hi, Tre. What's new man?"
"Nothin' Pyrone," Tre yawned. "Just settin' heeah wartchin' a flick."
"Well, I got it on good authority that something big is going to happen to the both of us," Pyrone said. "Like we're going to be famous one day."
Tre tsked, "Not that 'At Home Psychic' shit again, dawg!"
"You and me are Gundam pilots, brah," Pyrone said. "Am I right?"
"Suppose you aren't?" Tre ventured.
"Then I'd be half-right!" Pyrone said confidently.
"OK, Space Dork," Tre said in a mocking voice.
"Hey, watch it!" Pyrone said sarcastically. "I just might come and blow up your house."
"Pyrone, if someone had tapped my line, do you know that YOUR secret could be blown wide open?" Tre theorized.
"So?"
"Well, Gundam pilots should be discreet, yet subtle. Don't let on that you are without dropping subliminal hints!"
"AHA!" Pyrone said loudly. "You are too!"
"FUCKHEAD!!" Tre screamed. "I didn't want you to blow me out, too!"
"Don't worry, I ran an encryption code on the line so no one could hear us anyway," Pyrone laughed. "Besides, you and I could take 'em."
"Yeah, but our families couldn't," Tre reminded. "How's your dad, by the way?"
"He's about to name his new VP sometime today," Pyrone said. "And, he's got your dad's business coming up in the ranks soon. Maybe one day, they'll be sitting side by side on a merger company and doing business with one another in an interlocking directorate."
"So it's true that my dad DID invent a new space fighter," Tre said. "Cool. I just might be a rich brat after all."
"Don't get cocky, dick munch," Pyrone said. "There's only one way to go when you get to the top."
"Yeah," Tre agreed. "But I'm a make sure my daddy stays 'King of the Hill.'"
"Hey, I gotta go," Pyrone said. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."
"I thought you graduated already," Tre said.
"I'll be there to say hi, dumbass," Pyrone scoffed. "Peace."
"And practice, Fieldy," Tre said. "Don't want Munky spanks, do ya?"
He laughed, "All right. Lata."
"Bye," Tre said, hanging up.
Just as he did that, the front door burst open and two teenage girls flopped lethargically onto the foyer carpet. The rest of the four sisters laughed like uncontrollable hyenas. Tre sighed amusedly, knowing that they got way too drunk on their first night as legal drinkers. Hey, you don't eighteen but once in your life, right? (AN: I figured that future would be a little more lax with the drinking law; at eighteen, you can die for your country, go to clubs and titty bars, vote on the country's leader, but you can't have a drop of alcohol? I figure, once you're named a legal adult, you should be adult enough to have a farking drink!)
Tre said to Julia and Mika, "Man, you guys are trashed!"
"No we aren't!" Julia laughed. "Mom and Dad are! You're just a dirty rat bastard!"
"Tre," Mika crooned. "Why don't you hang in our room tonight?"
"No way in Hell!" Tre said. "You ain't puking on me!"
"Tre, indulge your sisters," Jade said. "It's their birthday."
"Ma, they're gonna keep my ass up all night," Tre complained. "I got school!"
"Please?" the four girls said in unison.
Much to Tre's chagrin, his quadruplet sisters stayed up most the night talking about the night they had, all in a drunken stupor. Tre's ears were about to blow wide open with all the laughing and high-pitched squeals. HE finally had enough and yelled for peace and quiet. They immediately quieted and fell asleep.
Tre was very tired the next morning and almost fell asleep in his pancakes. All 11 members of the Young family sat at the large wooden table in the dining room every morning and evening for breakfast and dinner, respectively. That day would hold two surprises for Tre: one good, one bad. Nikki stood up after downing 10 pancakes (3 times her usual) and announced to everyone very unexpectedly,
"I'm pregnant."
"What!?" Tre's dad sounded aghast.
Everyone looked at her in shock, while she smiled like a five-year-old who gets a double scoop of ice cream.
"What did you just say?" Anthony asked very slowly.
"I said I'm pregnant," Nikki said back, equally as slow.
"Oh-my-God," Julia said.
"What the fu-" Tre's mom started, before being cut off.
"Young lady," Tre's dad yelled. "Get into the study, NOW!"
As he shouted that last part, everyone jumped. Now Nikki was the one who looked aghast. She followed her father into the study and the doors were slammed shut behind Nikki. Then the yelling started. Matt Young's yelling was so intense, his blasting shook the house worse than a drill sergeant whose company wouldn't carry out his orders. His voice carried into the dining room, so everyone heard every word being shouted at their sister.
Once he was done, the doors burst open and Nikki streaked up the stairs, tears falling down her face. Matt's face was set into a very stern scowl when he appeared from the study. He walked around the foyer for a minute, then straightened his business suit and retied his tie. Jade Young walked over to him, high heels clicking on the marble floor tile. She removed her black jacket, revealing a long sleeve white blouse and black knee length skirt. She and her husband had a quiet chat, while the kids had a quiet conversation of their own.
"I bet it's that Darren dude," Jason whispered.
"Oh please, it has to be Congressman Williams' son, Jack," Mika said.
"Reverend Sands' kid, Randy," Derrick offered.
"I heard it might be that dumbass jock from her high school days," Crystal said.
"You're all wrong," Tre spoke up.
All stopped to look at him. 'What could he possibly know', they thought. Tre heard their thoughts, some more displeasing than others, and some that weren't so bad. He told himself to just be a little hard to open up. All the while, his siblings asked him who it was and not getting a word from him. Finally, he told them.
"It's a mobile suit pilot from the Brits."
"Naaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh," Anthony said, shocked.
"No way," Ashley said.
"It can't be," Derrick said.
"Really?" Julia asked.
"You-have-got-to-be-kidding-me," Jason said.
"What's his name?" Mika wondered.
"Is he cute?" Crystal offered.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, no, I don't know, and no," Tre stated.
"Huh?" all said.
"Never mind," Tre laughed.
All of Tre's sisters and brothers, plus mom and dad left earlier than he to get to where they were going. Tre saw this as the perfect opportunity. He grabbed his book bag and ran to the garage to his car. From there, he screamed down the roads to the place where the Gundam was stored, threw on the lights, and ran to the cable hanging from more than 60 feet up. He shrugged on his book bag, then put his foot into the stir-up, and then held onto the handhold. He was immediately hauled up to the cockpit door. He sat down in the chair then closed the door and strapped himself in. The view screens glowed to life, showing him the hangar from the Gundam's point of view.
He made the tall machine walk to the elevator, which raised him up into the colony. He then activated the Hyper Stealth feature, making the Gundam invisible to radar and the naked eye. Tre fired up the Gundam's rockets and flew to the abandoned office building, which was completely hollowed out and a perfect hiding spot for a Gundam. Tre slowed the machine down, adjusting the controls here and there for a nice, soft landing.
One side of the building was a makeshift doorway that opened and closed like a real door. Tre reached the Gundam's hand out and pulled at a spot where a few windows were broken out near the corner of the building. The Gundam pulled the side of the building open and stepped inside, turned around, and pulled the "door" back into place. Tre shut the systems down and opened the door for the cable ride down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tre Jason Young," a female voice said across the park.
"Yes, Lory Marie Walker," Tre said back, amused.
He looked at a park bench where a beautiful brunette was standing. Standing at 5' 10", she almost reaches Tre's nose. She had long, waist length brown hair set into many cornrows. The long brown braids hung all the way to the small of her back, ending in silky tassels. Her hazel eyes sparkled with the very life of this girl.
She wore a white baby doll shirt with a silver crescent surrounded by a gold ring. Her impressive bustline held the shirt well above her navel, showing her soft, fleshy belly. Just below her navel was a black mini-skirt, which hugged her hips tightly due to her still present baby fat. And finally, she had on a pair of girls black Sketchers platform boots, reaching just below her knees.
"Well," Tre said. "Aren't WE dressed well for their last day of virginity?"
"Can't say much about your outfit," Lory cooed.
She had a point. Tre was only decked in a baggy white T-shirt, baggy black shorts reaching below his knees, and white ankle socks topped by black skateboard shoes. So much for dressing out, huh?
"Umm...well you see," Tre began, blushing.
He was silenced by the finger on his lips. Silver nail polish decorated the perfect nails of his girlfriend.
"You look sexy to me," she whispered in his ear. Her hazel eyes met his Prussian blue eyes. Then, they locked into a deep, passionate kiss. It didn't last very long because Ronald McMann, the class clown, came up to them both and yelled,
"Heeeeeeeeyyyyy, LOVERS! I have a room for rent. It's soundproof and it costs twenty dollars a night."
Tre and Lory had to laugh in spite of themselves. However, Tre still gave Ron a swift kick in the ass. The three walked to school talking about the next Thrash concert they all would attend and when they would meet up at the mall on Thursday next week. They had just reached their first period class when the bell rang.
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Lunch couldn't come any earlier. History was their second period and Tre, Lory, and Ron couldn't wait to get out. The bell rung just as Mr. Echelon was about to tell the class about the Clinton scandal.
Tre ordered the usual: Dragon sashimi, California rolls, with volcano rolls on the side and lots of wasabi with a large soda.
He sat next to Lory and across from Ron. Ron spied his tray, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
"How can you eat that stuff?" Ron asked.
"It's healthy for you," Tre retorted. "Plus, it tastes good."
"Oh yeah, chopped up squid, octopi, and spicy Japanese horseshit-"
"Horseradish," Lory replied calmly.
"Whatever," Ron finished. "The point is this: how can you eat raw fish?"
"Simple," Tre said. "With chopsticks."
With that, he picked a volcano roll (I forget what's in it), rubbed it in wasabi, and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed for a little while, then his eyes started to well up with tears, and he swallowed. He coughed and gulped some soda. He panted for a second, then calmed down.
"WHOA!" Tre exclaimed. "That'll clear out your sinuses."
Everyone at the table grinned. ory began to munch quietly on her Caesar salad, while Ron quickly went through his BLT on a wheat roll. Tre popped the last California roll in his mouth, chugged the rest of his soda, then belched loudly.
"Six-point-six on the Richter scale for California roll number eighteen," Ron said.
"Gross," Lory said in her best California blonde accent.
"Lovely," said a familiar voice behind Tre.
"Pyrone!" Tre shouted. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to check on you," Pyrone said. "Besides, the old man was drivin' me nuts!"
"Hah! So, how's the monkey suit fit?" Tre asked sarcastically.
Pyrone had a gray jacket and matching pants, with a white silk business shirt and shiny black shoes. His twists matched the hairstyle of the long dead guitarist from KoRN known as Brian "Head" Welch. And he had a rough goatee from the middle of his lower lip to well past his chin. Every other part of his face was cleanly shaven.
"It's like being confined in a straightjacket," Pyrone said, pulling on his collar.
"Lucky me, huh?" Tre shot back.
"Yeah, I'll give you lucky you," Pyrone replied.
He pulled out a water pistol and squirted Tre in the face. Then he squirted Lory and Ron next. Tre wrestled the gun out of Pyrone's hand, turned the nozzle on him, and let him have it. Pyrone's white shirt now clung to his hairy chest, exposing his dark hairs. Pyrone gave Tre a glare from his dark brown eyes. Tre returned the look with his own Prussian glare. Pyrone then broke into a lop-sided smirk and asked for his water pistol back. Tre handed it to him, and then Pyrone left.
'To think that we're going to be Gundam pilots,' Tre thought. 'We aren't even serious about fighting, much less anything else.'
Tre was snapped out of his reverie by Lory who tugged lightly on his dreads. He slowly turned, still looking at Pyrone walking down the halls. Finally, Pyrone was out of sight. Tre shook his head as he repeated his thought. e was amazed that the two of them would save the colonies from militaristic rule.
"Baby, what's wrong?" Lory asked.
"I don't know," Tre replied.
"That Pyrone is the problem," Ron said. Then, switching to a nagging, female voice, he said, "That Pyrone Reigns is a bad influence to your young and squishy mind."
Tre, Lory, and Ron all chuckled at this and all their troubles were forgotten.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School finally let out for the day and the halls were flooded with students opening their lockers and gathering their books for tonight's homework assignments. Some were making out against the lockers, others being slammed into lockers. Tre, Lory, and Ron managed to navigate the sea of humans to exit the building.
"So you guys wanna hang at the base and check the stunts they're practicing?" Tre asked.
"I can't," Ron said dejectedly. "Mom said I have to clean the house today."
"That sucks," Tre and Lory said in unison.
"Yeah, well, see ya guys next Monday," Ron said. He waved and went on his way home.
Tre and Lory interlocked fingers and walked toward the Air Force base. It was a good mile and a half from their school, but they walked slowly and talked about what the universe really was, which came first (the chicken or the egg), and other deep topics of life. They finally came to the fence on the outer perimeter. They heard the roar of a fighter pulling full afterburner, but they couldn't see it. Tre spotted it first. Halfway to the other side of the colony, coming around the huge axle, was an FX-1682 (a variant on the present day F-16 with hover capability, Mach 20, and 50 G max, plus turn/climb/dive on a dime agility). The black painted bird was pulling a 90-degree dive, full afterburner towards the runway.
"Tre," Lory asked nervously. "Is he going to crash?"
"Just watch," Tre said, amazed.
Just before the jet could collide with the runway, it did a sharp pull up, streaking across the tarmac only inches above the surface. Tre and Lory couldn't help but be amazed at the daring of this pilot. Tre was receiving the most rigorous jet fighter training in case he had to use one while on Earth or in the colony. He could fly almost every jet series that hadn't been destroyed already, even the old F-16's and such. He could do crazy stunts like that, but why?
They decided to leave for Tre's house. No one would be there for another four hours. It would be him and the girl he loved, getting it on. Tre felt lucky...then he remembered what Nikki said this morning. He quickly took Lory aside.
"Lory," Tre began. "There's something I have to tell you."
"OK, but I have to tell you something first," Lory said. I have been taking birth control pills for a few months now and I took one a week ago."
"Good," Tre said, relieved. "You read my mind. I forgot to buy rubbers so I didn't have any at home."
"Oh," Lory said. "Well, if you didn't want anything between us, you coulda just said so."
She laughed. Tre even got it after a while. Then a thought struck him.
"Wait on this bench," Tre said. Lory sat down, eyeing him playfully. He took off toward the abandoned office building where he hid his Gundam. He decided to get a kiss real quick, so he ran back, pecked her on the lips, and then sprinted back. Little did he know that would be the last kiss he would get from her...alive.
As soon as Tre got into the building, several mobile suits with the British insignia came down from the colony's main airlock. These suits were Space Leo suits. The large machines stomped their way down the main colony road, sweeping their rifles from side to side. The colonial citizens fled from the machines, seeking shelter in nearby buildings. One of the lead Leos stepped forward and its pilot announced through the loudspeakers,
"All citizens of L2 colony X-66618 are to surrender any information about secret mobile suits known as Gundams if they wish to stay alive."
Lory heard the announcement and stood up to see where it was coming from. She found out as the Leos came around the corner and spied her. They lowered their guns at her, then all the sudden, a beam of golden energy came from an office building, tearing one Leo suit apart. Lory looked behind her to see a most impressive mobile suit.
"Is that...is that a Gundam?" she asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tre had taken out a Leo already. One down, three to go. He raised the wings on the Gundam's back (think the wings on Wing Gundam) and fired them up. He launched the DreadScythe at the other Leos in a flying tackle. He managed to knock them all down. The DreadScythe pulled out its sword, then its beam scythe, igniting the latter. The curved black blade of energy came to life. DreadScythe swung the energy weapon down onto two of the Leo suits. Both exploded into orange fireballs. DreadScythe swung the sword down toward the third Leo suit, only to have the target roll away and stand up. It raised its rifle and fired. The bullets just bounced off the Gundam and a pile of bullet slugs appeared at the Gundam's boots. What Tre just witnessed then would cause him to be just like the soon-to-be Gundam pilot Heero Yuy. He trained the sword on the Leo and sliced the mobile suit right where the legs connected to the torso. The torso fell to the ground...and the rifle fired one round. Tre saw the bullet fly right through his girlfriend's body.
"OH JESUS! NO!" Tre cried.
He swiftly opened the cockpit door and let the cable take him down as fast as it would allow. Tre ran to the limp, bloody remains of his girlfriend and took her head in his left hand and putting his right hand underneath her butt. The bullet went straight through her chest, leaving a hole the size of a basketball going right through to the crimson-stained ground below. Ragged shreds of flesh and tissue hung to the insides of the enormous hole in her torso.
Hot tears started to flow freely down Tre's face and he started to take in shuddering breaths. Her clothes were all soaked in the deep red fluid. Tre's hands were covered in it as well. And her beautiful face was streaked in the places where Tre had stroked her cheeks from the blood pouring out of her mouth. He was sobbing immensely. He gave her one last kiss, then threw his head back and wailed like a hurt animal. He screamed at the top of his lungs, he cried out for someone to bring her back to life, he let loose every foul word he knew at the British pilots who he hoped where burning in Hell. He started to get hoarse and stopped after about five minutes.
Doctor X arrived shortly after it happened and scolded Tre lightly for taking the Gundam out of the hangar without his permission. Yet, he was grieving for Lory as well. Layla flew the Gundam back to the hangar as Doctor X stayed behind to say: "Now, yeh listen tah me, lad. Yeh two were walking home when them damn soots arrived and shot at yeh both, killing her. Inexplicably, a Gundam showed out of nowhere and downed the suits, aye?"
"Yes," Tre croaked.
With that, the doctor left Tre until the police arrived. The police had arrived almost twenty minutes later, so had Tre's parents and Lory's parents. The EMT's placed Lory's body into a body bag, zipped it up, loaded it into the ambulance, and drove off. Tre was wrapped in the comforting arms of his mother. Then Matt Young announced to the press that his son would not be questioned due to the extreme grief he was now going through. He then walked over to Lory's parents and gave them his condolences, embracing Mrs. Walker and doing the same to Mr. Walker. The former was bawling her eyes out while Mr. Walker just stood there dazed. Matt Young walked to his wife and youngest son.
Matt Young said his apologies and led his wife and son into the waiting stretch limo. Inside were the rest of Tre's siblings. All his sisters were already sniffling and tears leaked out of their eyes, down their cheeks and dropping onto the floor or into their hands which covered the faces of those sisters who didn't want to see their little brother crying. His brothers were welling up, believe it or not, and were comforting their nearby sisters or saying things to Tre that might make him feel better.
"Tre has just lost his girlfriend in a crossfire with some Leos that invaded our colony," Jade Young spoke.
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.
"It would be best if you all left him alone for the next week or two for him to recover as best he can from this tragedy," Matt Young said to his family.
Tre continued to sob into his mother's lap the rest of the trip home.
'I'll never love anyone outside my family again,' Tre thought to himself. 'Especially if I am going to be a Gundam pilot.'
And so we see the famous Tre break into 'Perfect Soldier' mode. I don't want to pressure anyone, but, coughcoughreviewcoughcough!