Disclaimer: I don't own a single Gundam Wing character or Endless Waltz.
Now, on with the story...
Introduction:
With high expectations, human beings left earth to begin a new life in space colonies. However, the United Earth Sphere Alliance gained military powers and seized control of one colony after another in the name of "justice and peace."
"Operation Meteor." In a move to counter the Alliance's Tyranny, rebel colonies planned to bring new weapons to Earth, disguising them as shooting stars...
However, the Alliance headquarters soon caught onto this operation.
Thus, an upscale war started and the Gundams and their legendary pilots shook the foundations of the Alliance, OZ, Romefeller, and then the final enemy of the Eve Wars, White Fang. Peace was obtained and the colonies and Earth coexisted with happiness.
Little did the people know that you have to protect peace. You cannot obtain it and leave it, for there are those who have different ideals. Some even want to rule the world and colonies.
One such person had created a new war, her name was Marie-maia, daughter of Lei Barton and Trieze Khusrenada. Being a pawn for Dekim and his plans...
Endless Serenade
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and naught any of the characters. They are owned by someone else. Or someone elseS! Plural is it?
Chapter One:
"Let me confirm, your shelter shield is activated?" Heero didn't show any emotion in his eyes what so ever.
"What are you planning?" Dekim asked with suspicion in his voice, recognizing the youth from somewhere but couldn't place a finger on it.
"Your shelter is secure, is it?" He repeated only in a different word arrangement. So as not to confuse the shelters occupants.
"Of course it is! Just see yourself how powerless you are!" Marie-maia said with a smile on her face with defiance. There was no way they could get past this barrier. It was, in fact, made for purposes such as this. Not even the Gundam's and their pilots could do anything about it.
"Roger that." Heero said with no emotion, making Dekim look twice at the pilot of the Gundam when he heard that one word, realizing just whom they were up against. After all, he had been the one who had been in charge of the whole project to create the perfect soldier. This was him, only older. He glared at the image as it disappeared.
He fired, an almost direct hit, making the whole building underground shake violently, making its occupants stumble around and be tossed to the ground if you couldn't hold your balance.
"Wh-what a miserable person! He-he's not going to be able to achieve anything!" Relena heard the young red-head say something of that sort. Relena gained her balance, holding her ground.
"Are you afraid?" She questioned fearlessly to the child who glared and snorted, looking away from Relena who gave her full attention to the supposedly "new world leader".
Dekim looked up. "Gather all the serpent troops here to shoot down Wing Zero!" He shouted commands to the soldiers around the room.
Heero Yuy fired a second time, the Serpent Troops firing at him, trying to protect the base after the second fire. Pieces of his Gundam blew up like the arm but he held his ground, not moving from where he was going to fire one more time.
"Sir, the shield is down by fifty percent. Wing Zero's aim is accurate to within a hundredth of a unit. If we take another hit in the same spot this base will be sure to collapse!" A soldier with brunet hair said, looking over the computer before him.
"Stop it! Don't you realize we have Relena Peacecraft with us?!" Dekim shouted, hoping that he would stop because of her.
Heero's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he took no heed, knowing Relena would gladly die if they could stop this from escalating...Then all the sudden the little girl and her dog came back to his mind, the Serpent Troops firing and shooting broken pieces off his Gundam.
His aim faltered and he fired, not making the same hit as the first two. The shelter wouldn't collapse. The after blast was too much for the Wing Gundam though and it blew the Gundam up also, the onlookers and his comrades shocked.
They all saw the explosions from afar and gasped, while in the shelter, the ceiling was collapsing from the blast that went through the gates and shield.
Lady Une, whom was in charge of the Preventers ran towards Relena and Marie-maia, tackling them and using her body as a shield from the blast.
"Are you alright?" She asked, a piece of dry wall sliding to the ground off her back.
Relena nodded her head in affirmation to this, saying she was indeed all right without speaking. Marie-maia looked at the woman with brown hair, asking a simple question. "W-who are you?" She asked, still quite shaken.
"While you may be mistaken, I personally cannot allow His Excellency's daughter to die." She said. Marie-maia looked shocked at this. They all stood up. "While His Excellency fought many loosing battles, he loved people who were not afraid to keep their stance and fight!" She explained, "That is why the people are so able to accept the Gundams and their pilots." She looked at Marie-maia. "It is not the victor that leads the heart of the people."
"How could this have happened?!" Dekim shouted angrily at the stage before everyone. "We, the Barton family, are the true rulers of the Earth Sphere!" He turned away from the large computer screen, facing Marie-maia. "Miss Marie-maia, assume your position as head of the Earth sphere!" He shouted, the dust of cement still falling slightly.
"I am victorious." She repeated to herself loudly still traumatized, staggering up to the podium. "I am carrying out the will of my father." She said to herself as if trying to believe what she was saying.
Lady Une jumped in front of her, surprising her by this action. "Do forgive me." She said, raising her hand to slap some sense into the young girl, but Relena jumped in front, slapping her hard on the cheek to make it red and sting.
"Miss Relena?" Marie-maia asked, shocked.
"I think it's about time you opened your eyes, Marie-maia!" Relena ordered, saying other things to her to try and make her understand about what she was doing. "Now that you realized what true fear is, you can recognize your mistakes." Firmly she said.
"That is enough Miss Peacecraft!" Dekim shouted, pulling out a gun and aiming it at Relena who turned around to face him without fear. "I can't have you brainwashing my Marie-maia!" He said angrily.
"I am prepared to die." She responded courageously.
Dekim snorted at this. "Then know the truth before you die. The public is always expected to follow the victor!" His finger pulled the trigger, firing the bullet heading straight for Relena who showed no fear, probably because of all the death threats she had received from Heero.
Marie-maia gasped and shoved Relena out of the way, the bullet hitting her in the chest as all the soldiers in the room gasped and Dekim looked like his eyes were a bit wider, but they narrowed more.
"Tsk. We can always make another one of her! After all, I created her!" He said, aiming his gun at Relena once again who stood crouched next to the young girl.
"Dekim!" Une shouted, pulling out her gun and was about to fire when a shot rang through the air from neither Une's barrel nor Dekim's. Blood went flying on the stage as Dekim fell to the ground, dead.
"I have executed the Rebel Dekim. I express my sincere apologies for executing his Excellency." A soldier raised his hand in salute and got one from all the other people wearing her uniform.
"Relena...I was mistaken. I'm so sorry.' She whispered, the young Vice Foreign Minister holding her up, her eyes begging forgiveness.
"Hold on Marie-maia!" Relena said urging her to hang onto the most precious thing someone has: life.
Marie-maia passed out, or went into a deep sleep that pain couldn't penetrate. "We can still save her! Bring her to a doctor!" Lady Une said, taking the child.
"Yes miss!" A soldier said, saluting to this order as he help with other soldiers to get her to an infirmary.
"It's all over." Relena whispered to no one in particular, standing in the shelter with other of Marie-maia's soldiers.
The three Gundam pilots Quatre, Duo, and Trowa along with Noin and Zechs made it down to the building to see Lady Une rush off with a doctor who had Marie-maia in his care. Relena stood in the rebel, talking to some soldiers, telling them that they could start a new life with meaning.
"Relena!" Zechs shouted, rushing off to see if his sister was all right. "How are you?" He questioned, partially mad that Zero One had almost killed his dear sister.
"I'm fine." Relena said, smiling a bit. She looked behind her and saw Wufei coming up behind them through the doorway. Zechs nodded, acknowledging this.
"Where is Heero?" She asked, noting the brunet pilot wasn't there. He had been the one who saved the day in a way. If it hadn't been for him, this event would have escalated even more.
Zechs, who was going around with Noin didn't hear the question as they checked some of the conditions of the other soldiers.
A blank look passed over their face and eyes, then realization fell upon them like an anvil. The Gundam pilot's looked shocked at this, their eyes widening a bit.
"Oh God!" Duo shouted, turning on his heel as fast as he can, running out with Trowa while Wufei and Quatre tried to calm down Relena when she realized something was wrong.
Lady Une was outside, Marie-maia safely in the hospital receiving the best care and had bodyguards all around her. She turned when she saw Duo and Trowa run out of the building with a worried expression on their face. "Guys, what is it?" She asked, worry etched into her voice.
"Have you seen Heero?" Quatre asked, fear displayed in his eyes.
"No, I haven't. Why?" She questioned, a growing fear in her gut. "Is something wrong?"
Trowa didn't even have time to explain before Duo went rushing off in the direction where Heero's suit had been destroyed in the air. "Heero! Please be alive! You better not die!" Duo shouted, hoping he would hear this.
"What?!" Une shouted loudly, rushing off with Trowa to follow after Duo.
"Where is Heero?" Relena questioned Quatre, glaring a death threat at him, which made him edge away a little bit from the raging teenager.
"When he fired the twin buster rifle, his Gundam was in really bad shape," He noted the way Wufei lowered his head in a way to show he was ashamed for some reason. "His Gundam exploded from the after-blast from the third shot."
Relena stared at him wide-eyed. His Gundam had destroyed in mid-air?! "Heero!" She cried, as she pushed her way past the pilot's and stopped when Wufei gripped her tightly. "Let me go!" She shouted, or more like screamed in his face.
"No." He said forcefully, but let her go when Quatre put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Fine, but we will all go." He was worried deep down about the fate of the Gundam pilot. It was his entire fault Zero was totaled like that. He was willing to do anything, even fight his own comrade...
They headed off quickly towards the area where they saw Zero explode and ran as fast as their legs could carry them, seeing Duo, Trowa and Lady Une looking around the desolate land,
It was foggy and then Relena slid down the slope, hitting something and stopping. She looked to see what had stopped her about one feet away. She looked down and gasped. It was a metal piece from the wings of Zero One. "Guys!" She shouted, making them all rush around to her, looking at what she found.
"It has to be nearby." Quatre noted, shouting to Duo who hadn't come over, not giving up on looking for the cockpit area.
"I found it!" Duo exclaimed, everyone rushing over o where he was, looking at the totaled torso of the Gundam. It was worse than how the Vayeate looked when the buster rifle had hit Trowa.
The door was open and Duo hopped onto the suit that he thought would break any moment. "Heero!" He shouted, hoping the pilot was conscious. He managed to make his way to the demolished cockpit with the other's following while Une helped Relena up and then herself. They would need all the help they could get to remove Heero from the suit and get him to safety.
They looked into the bashed up pilot's seat and blood smeared everywhere, from the screens that were cracked and blank with electricity crackling, to the pools of blood on the seat and floor. Relena nearly wretched at the site, her face paling. There were bloodied hand marks on the side of the suit and a blotch of blood on the ground, showing he had made it out of the suit and fallen to the ground.
"He must have made it out, but he collapsed on the ground." Trowa noted, jumping from the suit to the spot where the blood was stained into the ground. "Something must have happened to him. There is no way that he would be able to walk around for more than five minutes, even him being himself." He said, turning to face the other's who had gotten off the suit also.
"I'm going to call into headquarters an have an investigation started and bring all the pieces to the building and see what was wrong with it." She removed a cell phone. "How did the suit blow up in the first place! Wing Zero would have to have excessive damage to be destroyed by the after shock."
Wufei lowered his head and looked away, all eyes on him as he answered truthfully. "I tried to make sure that he wouldn't go to earth. We fought in space and entered the atmosphere and he dropped his Gundam into the ocean to get me to stop. He said that he wanted to know how many more times he must loose this little girl and her dog." He told them quietly.
Trowa looked back at the spot and examined it thoroughly. "There are footprints here." He pointed out the imprints in the sand. "There are also drag marks." Trowa said with worry, though he masked it well enough.
"So, someone must have taken him somewhere." Duo said finally as they looked at the marks.
"We have to find him!" Relena said. "He's too injured to be hurt even more!"
"I agree. We have to look into this." Une said, bending down to look at the evidence.
A helicopter appeared and she ordered some people around and all, a special crew of people in black clothing came out. "Research and Evidence sector." She said, explaining who they were as she told them to start looking around for evidence and taking pictures for evidence to examine later before something happened to it.
The men saluted her after they spent about an hour searching over and over again as a tracker for Gundamium alloy was brought in to bring in all the pieces. Many were shattered and the others were struck with the seriousness o the whole ordeal when they saw all the shattered and blown up parts.
"Miss Une, we located something near the scene of the cockpit." A commander said, wearing dark gloves as he brought out a shiny silver article. It was a gun. There were some blood splotches on it, but the whole thing shocked them. Heero never went anywhere without his gun. Even when he was walking home from his school when Duo wanted to talk to him about destroying the Gundam's he had it. Even pointed it at him.
"Is that what I think it is?" Duo questioned.
"Yes, it's Heero's gun." Quatre said, hitting the dart right on the bulls eye.
"This can't be good." Trowa mumbled.
"No, this can't be good at all." Quatre agreed with a dead feeling in his stomach as silence filled the air. Who knew what could have happened during that thirty minutes that they hadn't seen him?
TBC