Author's note: Others own the rights to the G-Gundam characters. All other characters are my creations. Please do not use them without my permission.
Shadow Life – Part 3
By: Diane Maher
George de Sand stared incredulously at the masked woman standing in front of him. Indecision shot through him for the first time since the start of the gundam fight. As he was about to reply, an older man came out of the Neo-France transport. George felt a surge of strength as his butler Raymond Bishop approached. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, George said, "I shall consider your request."
Karla demanded, "What?!?!"
"I said that I shall consider your request for a match. The party being challenged has the right to decline, if they so desire." George glanced at his watch. It was still early evening and there was plenty of time to either fight or decline. "Return here in one hour. I shall give you my decision then."
"Humph!" muttered Karla. Her brown eyes narrowed as she continued in a harsh tone, "So be it, Neo-France! I shall return here at the appointed time." She disappeared in front of his eyes.
"Master George, who or what was that?" asked Raymond.
George turned away before Raymond could see the pained expression on his face. "That was the gundam fighter representing Neo-Austria. She challenged me to a duel."
"Did you accept?" asked Raymond.
His shoulders slumped and George replied, "No. Not yet. You heard me tell her to return in an hour."
Looking down at his feet, Raymond quietly commented, "Yes. Is there anything you need, Master George?"
"Another glass of wine, if you would, please." George didn't want Raymond to see how afraid he was. That woman scared him. And I think that I'm a knight? HA!! thought George as he looked at his trembling hands.
When Raymond arrived and placed the glass and the bottle on the table, George went and sat to the table again. After Raymond filled the glass and placed it in front of him, George said, "That is all, Raymond."
Only when Raymond left, did George try to pick up the fluted glass. He was dismayed when he saw the liquid shaking. His other hand steadied the glass long enough for him to drink the wine.
Karla returned to where she had hidden her gundam in the woods not far from the Neo-France campsite. She sat beneath a tree and leaned against it as she considered what she had seen when she spoke with George de Sand. She knew that she didn't like it. But what was it that she didn't like? Was it her attitude or his lack of spirit for the gundam fight?
"You had best worry about your attitude first," a voice said from the trees.
Karla recognized the voice as Schwarz Bruder's. She called, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm keeping my eye on you. If your mind wasn't so preoccupied, you would have heard me approach," responded Schwarz.
Karla knew he was right. After all, according to her teachers, she had been trained in the same ninjitsu school as he had. Schwarz was considered the finest student ever to have gone through the school. She had aspired to be like him but now, having met him, found that she had a long way to go.
"What would you have me do, avoid a fight?" asked Karla.
"No," replied Schwarz. "You do not have to challenge all whose paths you cross."
Karla said smugly, "I didn't challenge you." The moonlight began to lighten up the clearing behind him. Schwarz was as much a shadow to her as she was to him.
"True. However, if you make it to the finals of the gundam fight, I believe that we will meet in combat," commented Schwarz.
"Yes." Karla stood, pulled out a black shuriken and threw it at him. He caught it on the fly. With a sharp intake of breath, she realized that Schwarz was truly a master if he could catch a black shuriken thrown with all her might at him in the darkness of both night and the deep shadows of the trees they stood beneath.
Schwarz came and stood next to her. He turned her to face him and stared into her eyes. She tried to move, but his grip upon her was iron clad. After a few moments, he said, "I believe that until you are able to clear your mind and soul of whatever plagues you, you will not be able to reach your full potential."
"I...I...can hardly face myself. I know that a warrior must be clear of mind and whole in spirit," whispered Karla.
"If you have so little confidence in yourself, how on earth did you get through your training?" asked Schwarz.
"It's not that I've lost confidence in myself," whispered Karla. "In battle, I am fully capable of utilizing my training to defeat my opponents."
"Then what happened?" asked Schwarz.
Closing her eyes, Karla paused before quietly replying, "I...I can't tell you. Not yet. I must face my demons alone."
Schwarz closed his eyes, shook his head in frustration and said, "You sound like Neo-Japan's Domon Kasshu." He released his grip on her and turned away.
Mystified, Karla asked, "Why do you say that?"
"Domon is very stubborn. He insists on being so physical - about trying to solve every problem he faces with force. He is a fool. You on the other hand, are just plain stubborn," replied Schwarz.
"How do you know Domon is so stubborn?" asked Karla. She was glad that he hadn't called her a fool, though sometimes she felt that way.
There was a long silence before Schwarz turned to face her and replied, "His teacher, Master Asia, has betrayed him and yet Domon still clings to him like a lost child."
"And you think I'm being just as foolish by trying to face my inner demons alone?" inquired Karla.
"Foolish? No, at least you acknowledge their existence. Domon is stubbornly refusing to believe that his precious Master Asia could possibly willingly affiliate himself with the Dark Gundam. It is beyond his capacity to understand that Master no longer cares one bit about Domon, his life or his training; even after Master admitted this to his face."
Changing the subject, Karla asked, "What about you, Schwarz? Why do you hide behind a mask?"
"Like so many things in the world around us, this mask is a tool. I use it merely to conceal my true identity, nothing more," replied Schwarz. "You hide your true self behind the mask of your inner demons. When you are able to reveal your true self, you will become more powerful. I don't mean that you must remove your mask; it must become a tool as mine is."
Karla considered what Schwarz was saying. She whispered, "Your teachers were right about you." Then she disappeared and reappeared in her gundam's cockpit.
Schwarz's eyes widened in surprise and he asked, "How...how do you know my teachers?"
Midnight Gundam took off and headed for the Neo-France campsite. Schwarz was no closer to understanding Karla Geist than he had been after their last encounter. What could be troubling her so much that would distract her like this? He managed to keep his secret troubles at bay by trying to help Domon Kasshu in his quest to destroy the Dark Gundam. He decided to help Karla Geist realize her full potential.
Karla's change from confident, he would even say arrogant gundam fighter to the reticent woman he'd seen briefly tonight prompted another question in his mind. Does the Neo-German chancellor have anything to do with her predicament? He recalled her irate reaction to the man. The similarity of their surnames still troubled him.
Hearing the sounds of battle in the distance, Schwarz said to the air, "I am willing to help you achieve your full potential, Karla. Along the way, I may determine what plagues you. However, you are fighting George de Sand now. I will watch your match against him with much interest." He then disappeared and reappeared inside his gundam's cockpit. A few minutes later, he stood invisibly nearby as the two gundams charged one another.
The sound of a gundam approaching startled George. He had finally relaxed from his earlier encounter with the Neo-Austria woman. A quick glance at his watch revealed that the hour was up and the time to decide whether he would fight was now. He was bound by his loyalty to fight for his nation. Pushing down his fears and misgivings, he stood and straightened his clothes.
When the gundam came to a halt standing next to his Gundam Rose, the cockpit door opened and the woman jumped down to the ground. She walked over to where he stood.
"Do you accept my challenge, George de Sand?" she asked.
With a curt nod, George raised his saber in a gesture of acceptance. "I do." She returned to her gundam and he entered his gundam's cockpit.
As George's mobile trace system activated and the suit was drawn tightly over his body, he tried to focus on his opponent. During the hour after her challenge, he had used part of the time to look up information on Neo-Austria's Midnight Gundam and its mysterious masked female pilot. All he found out about the pilot was that her name was Karla Geist. There was no background information on her. Midnight Gundam was an all black machine. It had four Vulcan guns, two Midnight swords, and a beam Manriki Kusari, a Japanese-style spike and chain whip used by Ninja.
George charged at his opponent. At the last instant, she stepped aside and his forward momentum carried him to the ground.
Recovering quickly, George stood. When he didn't attack immediately, the masked face of his opponent filled his screen. "Are you just going to stand there?" she demanded.
He lifted his sword and charged her. Her two swords materialized and she easily blocked his attack. A moment later, he felt a stabbing pain in his left hip.
"AAAHHH!!!" George cried out in pain.
The next thing he knew, she slammed her knee into his stomach and he doubled over in pain. It took him longer to stand this time. He heard her soft chuckle mocking him over the speaker.
Why can't I fight her? George asked himself. He felt the sweat beading on his forehead.
Reaching up and wiping the back of his hand across his forehead, George looked at the face of his opponent's gundam. His vision swam briefly and the image he saw before him was no longer that of Midnight Gundam, but that of the Dark Gundam.
"NOOO!!!!" George screamed.
"What the..?" Karla jumped back in shock. "Are you out of your mind?"
George didn't hear her. His eyes were bulged out in terror. He spread his legs to shoulder width to ensure better footing, raised his clenched fists up to his shoulders and then brought them down to his waist with a yell. This acted like a power-up for his gundam and he charged at his opponent again.
Karla took a defensive stance, activated her Manriki Kusari and started twirling one end of it above her head. As Gundam Rose charged her, she threw that end of the whip and it wrapped around George's legs.
Gundam Rose collapsed to the ground in a heap. It rolled over and sat up on the ground. "Get away from me!!!" shouted George hysterically. "I shall not serve you, Dark Gundam!" George waved his sword in the direction of Midnight Gundam. "I shall not!!!"
She stared at the Gundam Rose. It was swinging its saber much like a child would when not getting their way. Yet this is George de Sand, gundam fighter of Neo-France. Why is he acting this way? Karla wondered. She shook her head in disgust and said, "We shall finish our battle at another time, Neo-France. I will not fight an opponent who is not whole of mind." She then deactivated her whip, turned, activated her thrusters and flew off towards Berlin.
"NOOO!!! I cannot allow you to escape my wrath, Dark Gundam!" George cried out a minute later as he activated his thrusters, and pointed his saber towards Midnight Gundam who was now some distance away.
As the Gundam Rose caught up to Midnight Gundam, Schwarz shouted, "Look out, Karla!!"
He watched in horror as Midnight Gundam started turning back towards a charging Gundam Rose. As she did, George's saber punctured her gundam through the right side of the cockpit.
Gundam Rose wasn't stopping there. Its fists pummeled Midnight Gundam's torso until both machines fell crashing to earth.
Schwarz became visible and swiftly made his way to the battle site. He wasn't sure if Karla was still alive and found that he was truly concerned about her well-being. Upon his arrival, he saw how bad the damage to Midnight Gundam was. "Oh no! Midnight Gundam!"
His eyes widened with fear as he whispered, "Karla!"
Inside the cockpit of Gundam Rose, George de Sand finally expended his rage. As his mind slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, he stopped pounding on Midnight Gundam. His breathing was ragged as his rage passed. He blinked as though he had no idea of where he was and then heard a voice desperately calling his name.
"Master George!! Master George!!" Raymond called over the gundam's speaker.
"What is it, Raymond?" asked George. His eyes then registered what was before him. His saber had pierced the cockpit of his opponent's gundam. Stunned, he couldn't believe his eyes.
Slowly, he pulled his saber from his opponent's damaged gundam and then sheathed it. He opened his gundam's cockpit door, walked out on it, looked inside the other gundam's cockpit and saw the woman's limp body lying on the floor. Her mobile trace system's rings were half destroyed.
A memory of another tragedy suddenly came to his mind. It had been almost one year ago, but his memory of the Marseilles Tragedy was as clear as if it had happened yesterday.
Though he had been chosen as his country's representative in the gundam fight that day, the memory of the flames engulfing the spectators was too much for him to bear. His hands trembled, his vision went black and he fell out of his gundam, unconscious.
