Shattered Reality Part 23
Frozen Tears
By
Sailor Janus
Heero scanned his surroundings carefully, but still felt a large amount of confusion, wincing at the high-pitched ringing in his ears. Where was he and how did he get into a gundam? He recalled even when using the zero system, his memory wasn't affected. All he knew was that there seemed to be a battle going on and there were a few smoking mobile dolls or suits on the ground around him. From the looks of the interior of the suit he was in, it was definitely not the Wing or the Wing Zero.
Heero shook his head a few times trying to get the ringing out of his ears. The high-pitched sound was giving him a bad headache. Groaning, he reached his arm out to open the escape hatch but frozen as the noise became louder. In pain he hunched over and covered his ears. 'Have… to… get…. out,' the Perfect Soldier numbly thought. Without a second's hesitation he pressed the button and rammed his full body weight towards the door. Both actions however prompted him to fall tumbling out of the Iron Fist Perfect Suit Mobile Suit and crash to the ground. Luckily he rolled upon making contact with the solid earth, avoiding any possible damage to his body. Unfortunately the sound in his ears became so excruciating that Heero curled into a ball, muttering curses under his breath. Suddenly, everything went black.
*~*~*~*
"How dare you, Heero Yuy."
"What?"
"I'm aborting the mission."
"What mission? What is going on? Why can't I remember?"
"I just want it all to stop. The memories of that day. The pain. I want it all to stop now."
"What? What to stop? Why isn't anyone answering me?!"
"Make it stop. Please just make it stop."
"What? I don't understand!"
"You're not going to like what you're going to hear, Yuy. Perfect Soldier, meet the Perfect Weapon."
Suddenly, Heero was greeted by a bright light and a sharp pain in his jaw as the voice faded away.
*~*~*~*
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Heero's face was pulsed as another painful blow made contact with his skin. He groaned at the stinging as he tried to roll over to defend himself, but discovered a moderate amount of weight was forcing him back down.
"I'm going to make you pay, you fucking asshole! I'm going to kill you. You hear me? KILL YOU!"
'What? Who?' He thought, realizing that it was an unfamiliar female voice that was screaming threats at him. He slowly opened his eyes and moved his head just in time before the burgundy haired girl's fist neared his face. He blinked, realizing that she seemed very pissed off and he had no idea why. Things seemed to be getting increasingly aggravating.
"So you're finally awake, huh? Bet you didn't expect me, the pilot of the first gundam you shot down to still be able to beat your ass," she hissed, staring down at him with pure hatred.
Heero opened his mouth, but was met with a slap.
"I'll make you pay."
He struggled to move, but realized he was both still weak and that she seemed to have a rather good hold on him. He tried to move his arms, but found them tied rather painfully, not to mention the fact that the heel of her boot was pressing against his windpipe. "I don't know what you are talking about. I don't even know you."
The girl scoffed. "Then let me fucking introduce myself so you'll know exactly who sent you packing with a first class ticket to hell, economy package; the name is Deidra Robert and you killed my boyfriend. Prepare to die."
Heero stared at her angry face. Her clothes were pretty badly torn and there was a large streak of dried blood across her face. Her thick burgundy hair seemed to be stained with blood as well, as the dark streaks matched those on her shirt. Judging by how she stood, she was still in a lot of pain. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Bull shit. You killed Duo Maxwell, you fucking bastard!" she yelled. Tears
flooded her jade green eyes as her body shook. "YOU KILLED HIM!"
Heero's breath caught at Deidra's very words. 'Killed Duo Maxwell? I killed….' Abruptly images swept through his mind. The brainwashing, the fight in the suits, being kidnapped, the virus, Locked in the cell with Duo, locked in the cell with Hotaru, infiltrating Station Red, Hotaru infected with the virus, Hotaru's breakdown, Relena's death, Hotaru's infiltration of the Preventers, Comforting Hotaru, Kissing Hotaru, Falling asleep with Hotaru, arguing with Hotaru, Fighting along side Hotaru, Rescuing Hotaru. 'Hotaru. She's fighting the others. More deaths will follow, possibly her if not theirs. If Duo's dead….'
"That's it, you're not even listening to me rant. I'm just gonna blow your brains out instead and be done with it," Deidra said as she pulled a gun out of her pocket and flicked the safety off, aiming it at Heero's head.
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"
Deidra looked up in disbelief. That voice. It couldn't be. "Duo?"
"Yeah, it's me, babe. Kinda," He lightly smiled as he slowly limped closer. His face was a filthy from smoke, as were his clothes. Blood stained his face and hands, and he seemed very intent on clutching his left arm which was more than likely broken.
"You're alive?" she choked, focusing her complete attention on him.
"I think so, though I feel like I should be dead. Guess the Shinigami survives another fatality once again," he chuckled then abruptly stumbled, falling painfully to the ground.
Deidra immediately dropped the gun and raced towards him, forgetting completely about Heero. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live. At least I think I will, but why were they trying to kill Heero?"
"Heero?" Deidra blinked in shock at the name. 'Wasn't he supposed to be the brainwashed friend or something?' Carefully she Duo sit up and brushed the loose hair hanging in his face out of the way.
"Heero," Duo nodded gratefully.
"Heero," she repeated then pointed to the pilot who was still on the ground. "He's Heero?"
"He's Heero."
"Heero as in Heero Yuy Heero?"
"Yep, Heero Yuy Heero."
"Heero."
Duo chuckled and ran a hand through Deidra's hair reassuringly. "Yes, babe. You were trying to kill Heero Yuy, Mr. Perfect Soldier himself."
"Heero," she repeated as if it hadn't sunk in. "But I thought he killed you. "
"Me too actually, but I hit the eject button just before Deathscythe Hell blew up…. again." Duo then turned his attention to Heero who was still sprawled on the ground. "Hey Heero? You okay?"
"Um, sorry, Heero," Deidra sheepishly said. "No hard feelings okay?"
Heero stared out at the sky in silence for a moment. The ringing was growing worse in his ears and would have to be silence in order for him to save the others. "Hit me again."
"What?!" Deidra gaped.
"No, Heero. Don't ask her to do that," Duo said recalling the last time Heero told someone to hit him, which resulted in Duo being knocked out and thrown in jail.
"Then you do it," the Perfect Soldier said.
"What?! Why?!"
"Remember the programming Hotaru was under when we first met her? It's a bit different this time around. We need to bust the chip with a blow to my head. Deidra almost dislodged it when she was punching me. I need another one to force it out."
Deidra blinked. "You mean I did a good thing?"
"Yes, now either one or both of you hit me."
Duo and Deidra exchanged glances in speculation the both. Deidra gently helped her boyfriend to his feet and both approached the still down, Perfect Soldier. "You sure about this, buddy?" Duo inquired, still unsure whether or not to follow Heero's orders. Another blow to the head might do more damage than good.
"Shut up and do it," Heero growled.
"Okay, you asked for it," the braided-haired pilot sighed when a split second later, Deidra lashed out and threw a fist hard to Heero's face. Duo blinked and looked in shock at the girl.
Deidra shrugged and rubbed her sore hand. "He nearly killed me and you too not to mention my gundam which I just got is completely totaled. Of course same goes for yours. Okay, I had a little tension I had to get off my chest." She paused for a moment and winced at Heero. "You don't think I hit him too hard do you? I mean I wasn't trying to but, well, another force took over I guess."
"Don't know, babe," Duo winced, waiting for a reaction from his comrade.
Heero then began to cough violent and shook his head hard. Suddenly a crumpled piece of metal fell out of his ear and on to the floor. "Good Job." Without another word he broke free of his bonds and rose to his feet. "Where are the others?"
"Still fighting the dolls and Hotaru who is probably still brainwashed," Duo replied.
Suddenly Deidra screamed as a high pitched noise rang in her left ear. The other two pilots looked at her in warning as she cursed and removed something from her ear. "Son of a bitch that HURT!"
"Deidra?" Duo said in question as to why she had something in her ear. Was he being duped all the long?
Deidra glanced up and realized what they were thinking. "Chill. This links me to Trista, so we can keep track of each other if we need help. Much better than a walkie-talkie if you ask me except for on thing. IT FUCKING HURTS WHEN THE FEED IS LOST AND SOUNDS LIKE A DAMN EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM!"
Duo watched as Deidra paced in circles trying to get the hearing in her left ear to start working again. He felt bad for her but decided she'd be okay. He then turned to Heero who had picked up the ear piece and was now examining it. "So, what now?"
Heero was about to answer when the sound became extremely high pitched before a familiar voice screeched through.
"MAYDAY. WE HAVE HIT CRITICAL," Quatre's voice shouted from the other line.
"Shit. What is going on up there?" Deidra said, her green eyes wide in warning. "What if they…"
Duo took her hand and shook his head. "Shh, don't think like that, Deej. Everything will be okay."
Mutely she nodded, trying to push back her tears.
"Hotaru," Heero softly said. He then glanced at the couple and said, "We need communication with them."
Deidra sighed. "The speaking feature busted in the crash. I'm lucky that's all that did though."
"What are we going to do?" Duo inquired.
Silently Heero turned on his heel and stalked up to the Perfect Gundam. He quickly climbed back inside and began tampering with the intercom and communication grids. There had to be someway to rewire the system so that it would be on the same channel as the other gundam pilots.
"TRISTA DON'T DO IT!" a voice shouted from the ear piece.
Deidra stared at the tiny device in horror. "Trista? What's going on up there?!"
Moments later a light flashed in the sky and an extremely large object crashed to the ground several miles away.
Deidra fell to her knees as the ground shock and gaped in terror realizing that more than likely, it was Timewarp that crashed to the ground. A brief second later an explosion rumbled through the air as a fiery blast emitted from the location of the crash. "No," Deidra whimpered as she began to sob. "Trista…"
Duo looked at her, not knowing what to say. He knew the odds were still against them even with Heero back to his old self. Instead he sat on the ground and wrapped his arms around Deidra, tucking his chin on her head trying to comfort her as they stared at the building fire.
*~*~*~*
Trowa blinked as his eyes began tearing up. He tried to warn her, but Trista wouldn't listen. Instead she was brutally shot down by Hotaru. At this point, he found himself unable to do anything but replay the events in his head over and over.
*~*~*~*
Trowa silently cursed as the low ammunition signal appeared. So far he and Trista were able to keep the pilot in the Perfect Suit from doing any really serious damage. Their main tactic was staying on a very thin line between defensive and offensive as Quatre and Wufei battled the dolls. This was the only real way to be sure that both parties would have even a slim chance of making it out of the battle alive.
"Trowa. Trowa do you read me?"
The Heavyarms pilot blinked then nodded. "Loud and clear."
"The low ammunition button has flashed. What about yours?" Trista questioned.
Trowa sighed. "Same. But there isn't much else we can do."
"Fight until we run out? Then what?"
He didn't want to even consider the results of being out of ammunition completely. "We'll just have to think of something."
Trista nodded then paused for a moment in thought. "What about doing the same thing I did earlier? It might give us the opportunity we need to bring Hotaru back to her senses."
"No, don't even think of it. I've seen her fight and if she realizes what you plan on doing, she won't hesitate to eliminate you," Trowa argued.
"Yes, but given the circumstances, I doubt she would expect it and won't have enough time to react. It's the only way."
"Trista, no. It's suicide, you can't," Trowa said, nearly shouting.
The Timewarp pilot however wouldn't hear any of it. She gave Trowa a tiny smile and began to power up her boasters. "Trowa, I'm a gundam pilot. I have no fear, and it's my duty to risk everything for the better of the world. Don't you see? We have a purpose and it's to make sure that Iron Fist succeeds."
"Trista…"
"Don't try to stop me or I'll be forced to retaliate," she warned him before she turned the boasters on and speed towards Hotaru's suit. At the last second, she pummeled her opponent with the last of her ammunition. Oddly, the other suit did not fight back.
Suddenly, Timewarp was out of all possible options to fight other than its staff. Unfortunately, this was the moment that Hotaru began her attack, showering the gundam with bullets and missiles before turning the beam cannon in its direction.
Trowa watched in horror as the powerful beam struck Trista head on before she could even react. A split second later the gundam lost all power and crashed.
"TRISTA!"
*~*~*~*
Trowa shook his head and glared in the direction of Hotaru's Perfect Suit before he descended to the ground below. Trista was a fool for doing such a dangerous stunt but he had to be certain that she was still alive.
Just as he reached the ground however, a large explosion disrupted his train of thought, prompting his gundam to lurch in the landing process, falling heavily on its back. Nevertheless, Trowa quickly exited his gundam and ran in the direction of the explosion. He had to find her, no matter what.
*~*~*~*
Heero glanced out of the window at the fire and growled, "Fuck." Everything was going very wrong but he refused to let Iron Fist win. He wanted to make them pay for everything they had done to Hotaru, him, everyone. And he would make for certain that they would pay dearly. He quickly turned back to his work and continued rearranging wires. The only way to prevent a blood bath was by making communication with his friends. The sooner, the better.
'This better do it,' he thought, replacing the cover. Taking a seat, he turned the vid. comm. on. "Is anyone reading me?"
"Heero?" Quatre said in bewilderment at the sight of his formally brainwashed comrade. "Is that really you?"
"Yes. Descend immediately. That's an order."
Just then Wufei appeared on the screen and scoffed. "How do we know it's really you?"
Heero glared. "Get. Down. Here. Now."
Wufei snorted. "Welcome back, Yuy. Any reason why?"
"I want to keep the death toll low, now get down here."
"What about Hotaru?" Quatre questioned.
"She'll descend on her own. Of that I am certain. Ignore the dolls. They're meaningless," Heero replied.
"Roger, that. See you soon, Heero, and uh, welcome back," Quatre nodded before turning off his link.
Wufei simply nodded and followed suit.
Heero drew a breath and climbed out of the Perfect Suit. If he could figure out someway to break Hotaru free of the brainwashing, they might have a chance. "She should be here any second."
"Who?" Duo softly asked looking up at Heero. Deidra's finally quieted down, despite the fact that tears continued to run down her cheeks. Duo gently rubbed her back as she buried her face in his chest.
"Hotaru."
"Great, so now we can all die!" Deidra lamented, her voice slightly muffled.
"Shhhh, we're not gonna die, Deej," Duo soothingly said.
Deidra shook her head. "But Trista did!"
"We don't know that. There is a chance that she survived," Heero emotionlessly stated.
"Right! I mean, she is a gundam pilot and for some reason it's pretty hard to kill a gundam pilot so she might still be alive!" Duo cheerfully said.
Deidra smiled lightly. "I suppose you guys could be right."
"We're like the cockroaches of the ant hill!"
Heero smacked Duo upside the head. "Bad analogy."
"VERY bad," Deidra gagged.
Duo chuckled as he rubbed his head. "Yeah, but if that's true then we could survive a nuclear holocaust."
Deidra shivered. "I don't even want to think about that."
"Sorry, babe," Duo softly said as he hugged her.
Heero felt a twang of resentment towards the couple but didn't voice his feelings. Instead he looked at the sky just as a strong wind picked up. "She's here."
Deidra and Duo scrambled to their feet as they took turned their attentions to the sky.
"How do you know that it's her and not Wufei or Quatre?" Deidra inquired as she struggled to keep her long hair from flying in her face.
Heero didn't respond but instead walked towards a clearing. Duo watched him and shrugged, "I guess there are somethings you just know."
"Does that mean you knew when I was coming when you guys first met Trista and I?"
"Not exactly, But you did make me fall head over heels," Duo winked.
Deidra blushed. "Very funny."
Heero cleared his throat as he looked up into the sky. The two L2 teens stood up and followed him, both focusing on the sky as well.
"Um, Heero? Are we still in danger?" Deidra question with a tone of weariness in her voice. "I mean is she still going to try to kill us or is her brainwashing gone too?"
"Yes."
"Yes to what?" the burgundy-haired girl asked , but knew she would shortly receive her answer as a large mobile suit landed in front of them.
"Hotaru," Heero said, focusing his gaze on the suit and Duo and Deidra nervously crept back.
"Target-locked on sight," Hotaru said, taking aim of Duo and Deidra. At that moment Heero stood in front of the couple, shielding them. Hotaru growled. "Perfect Soldier, remove yourself from this vicinity immediately or I'll be forced to execute you."
Heero shook his head. "No."
Duo and Deidra exchanged glances and then looked from the suit to Heero pondering who he was talking to.
"Heero?" Duo said in question.
"Shut up, Duo. I'm speaking to Hotaru through Deidra's communication device."
"But it was broken," Deidra began.
"I fixed it."
Deidra inched closer to Duo. "I don't like this."
"Both of you stay behind me," Heero ordered. The two targets looked at each other in fear, but obeyed.
"I repeat, Yuy. Remove yourself now. That is your last warning. Stanz will not be happy with your treason but I'll see to a light punishment for you. Is that understood?" Hotaru emotionlessly said from the Perfect Suit.
"Then push the button," Heero robotically said.
"WHAT?!" Duo gaped as Deidra huddled closer to him.
Hotaru blinked. "Yuy, it doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to die. You are not my enemy, they are."
"If they are your enemy, then so am I," Heero said without a bat of an eye. "I'm prepared to die if you are willing to grant it."
"We're gonna die," Deidra sobbed, burying her face in Duo's shoulder.
Duo held her closer and rubbed her back. "It'll be okay, Deej… I hope."
"You hope?" Deidra weakly said.
"Well, at least no matter what happens we'll be together."
"Yeah, you're right, "Deidra softly agreed. "But I'd rather it be in life rather than death."
"Me too."
Hotaru stared at Heero with a sense of bewilderment. She didn't understand why but she felt torn between duty and her own heart? She wasn't sure. The more she tried to think, the more her head hurt. "Then this is goodbye," she whispered, pressing her finger down hard on the button which would set off the buster cannon.
Heero deathly nodded. "Do it, Firefly. Kill me now."
Hotaru blinked at the nickname but shook it off. She cleared her throat and focused on the group. "My orders are to… my orders …." She paused and shook her head harder. Something was very wrong. Why was she unable concentrate? "My …. orders…. no…. my orders are…."She gritted her teeth as her head began pounding. "my orders…damnit." Hotaru pounded her other fist against the chair. What was wrong with her? Her breathing increased and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. "Damnit."
"Firefly?" Heero said in question at her sudden confusion. He could only hope that the brainwashing device was malfunctioning.
Hotaru's eyes immediately opened and almost automatically she aimed and fired.
Deidra screamed as she saw the blast head towards their direction and quickly huddled against Duo.
A few seconds later a loud explosion rang through their ears and a very confused L2 girl looked up in speculation. "Why aren't we dead?"
"Hotaru shot a doll that landed behind us," Duo explained with a grin.
"So she's no longer insane?"
"Don't know. Let's hope not," Duo replied, looking up at the Perfect Mobile Suit.
"Shit," Heero said as he quickly tore the ear piece off.
Duo and Deidra looked at him in curiosity. "She's okay right, man?" Duo questioned.
"She's completely pissed. Stay on your toes. There's no telling what she will do with the amount of rage she has now."
"Oh great. Out of the oven and into the fryer," Duo sighed as she eyed the Perfect Mobile Suit.
*~*~*~*
Hotaru's respiration rate increased as her entire body seemed to pulse with electricity. Her violet eyes darkened as she roared with anger and pure hatred over those who had used her. She bowed her head forward as she closed her eyes. This had gone on far too long. Someone had to pay.
"Hotaru?" Heero's voice said in question through her innercom.
Without a single word Hotaru reached over and disconnected the wire. Silence soon filled the entire of the mobile suit. Her head felt light as she trailed her hands to the controls. With a small flick of her wrist, the mobile suit returned to life, it's deathly gaze fastened on the three comrades at its feet.
Deidra's eyes widened in fear as Duo clutched onto her shoulders, both in protection and to stabile himself since walking was still a bit tricky.
Heero growled slightly in annoyance as he pondered just what the hell Hotaru was going to do.
Suddenly the suit flew up and spun around firing several as soared higher. The other three pilots threw themselves to the ground. Just as quickly as the commotion occurred it, the area was peaceful once again.
"Ow. Why oh why did she have to shoot BEFORE reaching the dolls?" Duo groaned as lifted his head from the ground. "Why am I always around all these hotshot people?!"
"Um, Duo? Aren't you a hotshot yourself?" Deidra said, trying to stifle a giggle.
"Yeah, but that's beside the point!" Duo argued back. He his head but frowned when he realized that the Perfect Soldier was nowhere in sight. "Heero? Now where is he?!"
Abruptly the sound of a mobile suit powering up gave the L2 teen his answer.
Duo quickly scrambled to his feet and stared in bewilderment as the suit took off. "Shit! Well, that answers that!"
"Where is he going?" Deidra inquired as she shoved her curls from her face.
"My guess, wherever Hotaru is going."
Suddenly a very large explosion shook the ground as shrapnel rained down upon the two teens.
*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Well closer to being done. Unfortunately this chapter is by my standards is late. I had a Christmas chapter planned for the very last one which was supposed to be out Christmas day but I ended up with the flu which sucked all my energy and concentration out. However, regardless of the fact that the holiday is over, I'm going to write it anyway and you will understand why. So yes, there is only two more chapters left of this story with a sequel to follow later on. Until then….