This is it... the final chapter of the story which took me 7 years to write. To order your own copy and more, please see to the Duo's Child website located on my homepage or posted below. Remember, there are no 'dots' in the address to keep the link from

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Duo's Child

Chapter 32

"Right, but what are we going to tell Heero?" Professor G stuffed both his fists back into the pockets of his lab coat as he followed slowly behind Doctor J. "That there will be far too much to tolerate should he carry through with what he's suggesting?"

"Actually I was thinking of something quite opposite than that—" J froze in spot when he saw three other people in white lab coats setting down heavy equipment in their Government-funded warehouse deep beneath the Earth's surface. "May I help you gentlemen?" J's voice sounded loud and it caused the three new figured to turn around. The intruders were far much younger than assumed and it only put a cold chill down the two experienced spines in that room.

"We are here on account of Synodd's future attack," the voice of the man with shoulder-length blonde hair was higher than it should be and a blue earring glimmered from where he stood. The other two stepped up besides him.

"Synodd has prepared an attack here in short time and we think it best to back the two of you up, considering it appears you have been through enough we don't believe you could handle anything as hard as we are expecting." This man's voice sounded a bit arrogant and his grinning face only proved it more.

"Why you incompetent asshole." G stepped forward. "The only think that would slow us down will be the three new scientists that have just invaded private territory."

"Quite the contrary," the third man stepped up having dark blue hair with black roots. "We highly doubt you old men would be capable of running from one side of the hangar to the next without having a heart attack, assuming you still have hearts considering how old you are and that you're still alive."

"How dare you." J growled. "Fine, do your job and be done with it when Synodd is through, but don't expect neither one of us to help when Synodd finds out your plans and attacks your machines."

"Sorry Grandpa, but unlike Romefeller, Oz, and White Fang, Synodd has prepared their mobile suites with Gundanium Alloy and is ready to carry through with their plans." The arrogant man—who has black hair in a bowl cut—lifted his nose and snorted. "But, if the two of you need any help in case you come down with a sudden case of memory collapse, we will be there to help you." His grin faded into an annoying smile and J turned to glance at the mobile suit standing in the corner of the room.

"I guess you have picked out your own pilots to do your tasks?" G asked through a forced kindness and a fake smile.

"Yes, we have handpicked our very best fighters for the times we figure will be ahead of us." The blond hair scientists replied back with a smile.

"And what do you plan on basing your Mobile Suit off of?" J asked, all known anger out of his voice and only stated with curiosity. G and the other three glanced up at the half-built machine.

"We are basing it off of the Wing-Zero. It has been proven in combat when your pilot maneuvered it that it will be the best machine to copy."

"True," J replied before lowering his voice to a whisper, "that is, unless you want to die fatally in what Synodd has prepared for their wars."

-

"I understand. I will make certain she is ready. Agreeable. Yes." Heero's voice was monotoned. Duo glanced his way as he passed by heading towards Quatre.

"Who's he talking too?" Duo asked. Quatre was leaning on the door frame of the kitchen and biting his lower lip. So much has been going on these past few days that he wasn't sure what was supposed to happen.

"I don't know," shrugged Quatre. His arms were crossed over his chest.

Heero hung up the phone and looked over to Quatre and Duo. Since the death of the Vice Foreign Minister, Heero has been acting the way he had when White Fang was around—very moody and weak hearted, yet his attitude of fighting has returned full out.

"Doctor J stated three new scientists have arrived at their underground hangar and are now building new machines." Heero glanced down to the phone.

"Look's like we're retired after all," Duo rested his fists on his hips and glanced back at Quatre.

"There are three new pilots who are probably in training right now." Quatre sighed. "Uno will be with them."

"Not by the sound of J's voice." Heero spoke up.

"Huh?" Quatre and Duo glanced his way.

"Doctor J stated there will be one more scientist arriving in a few days who will be the mentor of their diversion pilot." Heero stepped around the couch and end table towards the group. "One of the new fighters will be used as an immediate diversion so the others could get their missions finished."

"Well… just as long as they stay away from Uno, that's for damn sure," mumbled Duo. "Besides, if there's going to be four other pilots, aren't they all going to have to team up?"

"Not necessarily." Quatre answered. "But it's all up to Uno."

The three of the remained silent the rest of the conversation.

-

"Uno, you're not giving me your best shot!" Trowa demanded. Uno leapt into the air and sprang her foot at Trowa's head. He just barely dodged and stumbled backwards. His ankle twisted funny and caused him to trip, fall backwards and land in a bas position. He yelped but froze when he saw Uno in the air above him, ready to smash her elbow and kneecap on his awaiting body.

Uno dropped her legs immediately when she saw the look of fear in Trowa's face and paused three inches away from him, her body just barely able to remain standing. Sweat fell from her chin and landed on his chest. Both their lips were parted and both of them were breathing heavy. Trowa had fear in his eyes as Uno had shock and determination in hers.

She stood up and walked away to the benches to get a sip of her water. It was too much and she didn't know how much longer she had to go. Trowa sat up, his heart racing. She could have killed him just then if she didn't stop herself in time. Her elbow would have gone right through his neck and her kneecap would have caught him in the stomach; there would be no way he would be able to live from it.

-

Uno was throwing punches into the kick bag about four and a half hours later when suddenly she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. It stung worse than anything and when the bag swung to the side and she punched the brick wall at full force, she hardly felt the pain.

Instead, the only pain she felt was running through her chest and weakened her legs. She crossed her arms across her chest and felt the tears threatening to fall. Something just happened… something drastic just hit her hard; something evil was coming to life.

-

Trowa walked into the living room that same night. Heero was on the arm chair with the remote control in his hands. Duo and Quatre were sitting on the couch staring at the television. Trowa paused and glanced towards the broadcast. The news lady was standing live in front of one of their buildings while a huge celebration took place behind her.

"It is official, Synodd has now lifted itself off the ground as a small company and is now the largest, leading corporation, ever known since Romefeller—and that has been a long time. We don't yet know, though, if they plan on upgrading our research productions and medical warfare, but they have promised us good news. They-uh-they have agreed to spend over three point five billion dollars in donations across the world to those in need of it, but uh we're not yet sure which ones they have on their list-."

Heero turned off the television.

"It's set then, isn't it?" Trowa spoke up. Heero glanced over at him. "The war has just about to start."

Heero nodded his reply. Trowa sighed heavily and lowered his head. His eyes shut and he slowly shook his head. The telephone rang and he picked it up. Duo and Quatre turned around to look up at him and blinked at the dead look being returned. Trowa nodded and hung up without saying anything the entire time.

"Trowa?" Quatre's voice was soft.

"Noin's dead." He shut his eyes and lowered his head. His fists gripped the back of the couch fiercely. "She was found dead in her car just this evening and her body was so cold it appeared she's been dead for weeks."

"Where was her car located?" Heero's voice crackled.

"Nine miles south of Winner." Heero hung his head at Trowa's reply.

"I think it's starting." Duo mumbled. "We're the last four left who knows anything about the past."

"Where's Zechs?" Quatre looked up at Duo with wondrous eyes.

Duo shrugged. "He hasn't called or shown up in days… he's probably dead too; just we don't know yet."

-

Uno dragged her feet into her bedroom. Getting up the stairs was hard enough, but she managed. When she shut the door behind herself, she took a glance around her bedroom—at the red Grim Reaper lamp besides her bed, the black mini-blinds and heavy red drapes on her windows, and her black bulbs shining from the middle of her ceiling—and felt something inside telling her to memorize the way it looks for this'll be the last time she enters it.

A tear fell besides her nose but it didn't phase her one bit. She knew something was wrong. She just wished she could turn back time to when she was six-years-old and start all over again. She had a normal life then, but just like Duo said, Gundam Pilot's weren't born to lead normal lives; they were born to lead missions.

She pulled herself to her bed and sat down, biting her tongue hard to get herself to stop crying. She managed to pull that off by staring over at the picture sitting on her desk; it consisted of everyone she everyone knew; her family—everyone who was friends from the past—Theresa, herself, and Ricky. Their reunion the photo was taken from was held several years ago right before Theresa was killed and she asked if her two best friends could join. It was the best day of her life and she loved the picture a lot.

Uno sat still and stared into the eyes of her own face, trying to read into the mind of that little child who once had it all so easy.

-

Quatre headed down the hall from the bathroom and back towards the living room when Heero's laptop beeped from on the coffee table. Heero blinked down at it and read through the report.

"What's it say?" Quatre asked as he sat on the arm of the couch besides Duo.

"Come to the hangar for immediate attention." His voice was monotone and he scrolled down to see the blinking 'accept' button at the bottom of the screen.

"Heero, you can't agree to accept the mission," Duo's voice was urgent. "You're out of fit and they need the mission to be done by the best—you're not the best anymore."

"Hrm…" Heero lowered his head, accepting the truth which Duo was saying. He wasn't in shape, he didn't know if he could run as fast as he used to, and above all, he didn't think he could handle the intense trainings again.

A sudden and loud crackle roared through the front door and caused the wood to burst into a million pieces and fly around the hallway. At that exact same time, a bullet flew by the back of Quatre's head so closely he could feel it singe his hair.

The four of them—shock written on all of their faces—leapt from their places and rushed towards the hallway only to see it get invaded at that same time by at least a dozen men in black military suits with armor and weapons surrounding their bodies. Gunshots were fired and the four expilots spread out to take to their own fight.

A soldier grabbed Duo's braid and yanked, causing Duo to fall to the ground on his back. Duo fell but upon hitting the ground brought his foot up to the guy's stomach. Quatre leapt out of the way as another soldier tried to use him as a punching bag and grabbed a vase from a shelf to use as a weapon; the man's head was dosed in blood when the shards fell to the ground.

Trowa and Heero gave the remaining soldiers a pretty good fight but still were having a hard time. All four of them paused when they saw another batch of soldiers charging in through the front door then realized that, in order to stay alive, they had to flee.

"I refuse to fight another losing battle!" Duo screamed out before he slammed his fist into the unsuspecting nose of a soldier.

Heero grabbed the hands of a soldier from behind and threw him over his back to hit the wall roughly, taking down a few others with his fall. Without pausing again, he sprang to his guard and took off out of the living room.

"Heero!" Quatre shouted out after him. He kicked the front of the soldiers' leg that was blocking his way and caused it to break. He took out after his comrade.

"Duo," Trowa shouted out as he just barely dodged the gunfire that was being shot at his head. "We have to get out!"

"What!" Duo threw a soldier down the opposite hallway of the front door and spun around to glare at Trowa. "No!"

"Duo," Trowa ran up to Duo and grabbed his friend's arm tightly. "We have to go." His voice was demanding.

"I am not leaving her!" Duo snared back. Trowa was hit in the back from another soldier but it didn't sting too badly. He spun around and decked the man who had attacked him before pulling Duo through the living room and down the hallway.

"No!" Duo tried to grab hold of the stair case as they passed by but Trowa was pulling way too hard. "No! I can't leave her! No!" Saliva fell out of Duo's mouth as he tried to get free from Trowa's capture.

"No!" Duo's voice crackled when it was used louder than he had ever used it before. Heero ran up to Trowa and helped pull Duo out of the house.

"Come on, Duo!" He lifted Duo off the ground and practically tossed him into the back of the black van the soldiers had arrived on their property with.

The doors shut behind Duo's tumble and the van sped off. Duo shot to his knees and grabbed the handles but only to jiggle them and find them locked. He plastered his hands to the back window and felt the tears burning in his eyes.

Quatre hit as many of the soldiers as he could as he sped away from his home and down the road, to no destination in particular. Bullets hit the van at various points but it didn't hit any of the four people hiding within it.

-

Uno was staring deeply in the eyes of her former self when she heard the front door get broken down. She blinked and tore her gaze away from the photo. She suddenly heard screaming and gunfire and shot to her feet.

Something was wrong again!

Uno charged for the door and as soon as she swung it open, stopped dead in her tracks as a man in black with armor all over him and a semi-automatic rifle in his arms was standing before her as if he was walking down the hall. He stopped and turned to her. The two of them blinked in amazement for a moment before her face turned to a twisted expression and she quickly brought her foot up to his chin in a splitting stretch. His neck snapped and he fell just then. Hearing the screams of Duo had told Uno that they needed help and she picked up the semi-automatic rifle from fallen soldier and prepared to enter the fight.

She stepped lightly towards the staircase and there she saw over a dozen men in her living room. She didn't see Duo or anybody else, but they looked up when they saw her. She flared her lips when she snarled and began racing down the stairs. When she hit the floor and turned to face the soldiers while one of their black vans sped off behind her. They had lifted up their guns and aimed at her face, but she only looked disgusted when she found they were sent from Synodd.

Her right arm was holding the gun securely while her hand left brought out the berretta from behind her back. She began to scream loudly as she pulled the trigger of the semi-automatic rifle and began firing away. Bullets sprayed out through the living room and she used the other gun to fire away at the soldiers creeping up behind her. To no one in particular, she maneuvered the rifle from side to side, taking down everyone and everything that stood in her way.

Soon after, the rifle died and smoke rose from both barrels. She glanced around and found no one else was breathing except for her then heard the soft beeping of Heero's laptop, waiting for an acceptance. She turned and walked towards it, the rifle dangling in her arm while the berretta hanging from her grasp. She blinked at the screen but more in anger than in curiosity.

"Computer—shutdown mode." Uno shouted.

Suddenly, the lights in the mansion died and the only light remaining was the screen still waiting to be accepted. With the thought of accepting her fate, Uno dropped the semi-automatic rifle and hit the button to accept the mission.

The End

Stay tuned... there will be a sequel!