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 18

By:  Diane Maher

          George de Sand wondered what was happening to Midnight Gundam.  He had backed away following their fierce fencing match only to catch his breath.  Despite whatever ailed Karla's gundam, he charged toward her, saber at the ready, intending to finish this match, once and for all.  An instant later, his Gundam Rose was enveloped in a thick, black smoke.  He stopped his charge and considered what Karla would try to do now.  He turned around and swiped his saber behind him, thinking that Midnight Gundam was behind him.  However, he hit nothing.

          He remembered his match in London against the Neo-England fighter, Chapman and how disastrous it had ended.  Lucky for him, he had kept his head.  George pressed some buttons in his cockpit and tried to use his scanners to penetrate the smoke and find Midnight Gundam.  He turned a full circle and saw nothing.

          George considered his situation.  His problem was the smoke.  "If only I could get rid of the smoke somehow," he muttered aloud.

          He then remembered the saber he held in his hand.  If he could spin it fast enough, perhaps he could clear enough of the smoke so he could see Midnight Gundam.  He shrugged and started spinning the arm holding the saber.  After several minutes, the smoke began to dissipate.  In front of him, all he saw was the night sky.  He reactivated his gundam's super mode.

          Karla waited silently as Niklas' nanobot inhibition program worked through the systems of her gundam.  Her external camouflage was active with or without the smoke.  While she waited, she remembered that she felt similar to this during her training with Schwarz in the Guiana Highlands.  There would be little time for her to rest if the smoke dissipated soon.

          Niklas said, "The program is finished and Midnight Gundam's system is clear of all nanobot activity."

          "I must finish the fight now," Karla whispered as the smoke in front of her began to move.

          "I agree.  Do what you must Karla," Niklas said.

          Karla took a deep breath and exhaled as Gundam Rose walked through into the open and turned gold.  She saw the saber stop spinning and knew this would be her best chance to attack George.  She charged toward him and used a similar move to the one she had used to hit Schwarz back in the cave in the Guiana Highlands.  Her left hand blocked Gundam Rose's right hand to prevent the saber from hitting her.  Her right fist slammed into her opponent's stomach and then into his face.

          Stunned, Gundam Rose stumbled.  Karla used this opportunity to get behind him and trip him with her manriki kusari.  As George fell, Karla activated both of her midnight swords and stabbed them through Gundam Rose's shoulders.  His legs were tied up; he couldn't move and his super mode deactivated as the gundam returned to its normal colors.  Karla deactivated her stealth system and was visible once more.

          The smoke finally cleared enough for the spectators and the emcee to see what was going on.  Her ship had circled the area several times.  "It seems like the winner of this match is Midnight Gundam!"

          "I wonder what happened to George," Domon said.  "It's not like him to lose to such a weak opponent."

          "Karla won the match," Schwarz said.  "She is far stronger than most people think."

          "How would you know?" Domon asked.

          "You weren't the only one I was training in the Guiana Highlands," Schwarz replied before he turned and walked away.  He watched as Karla left the ring and headed for the Neo-Austrian hangar and thought, I am looking forward to fighting against you, Karla von Geist.  He headed for the Neo-German embassy.  There were a couple of things left for him to do.

          Schwarz secretly made his way into the Neo-German embassy.  He went to see Wolfgang.  However, as Schwarz stood outside the door leading to Wolfgang's room, he heard the sound of a feminine giggle.  He shrugged and left before he was discovered.  Nothing useful would be gained from the young man tonight.  Instead, he returned to his hangar and made a call.

          Niklas said, "Congratulations on winning your match against Neo-France, Karla."

          "Thanks Niklas.  Now let's see about getting rid of these blasted nanobots in my body," Karla replied.

          Niklas headed back to the hangar.  He would have to examine Karla more thoroughly to determine how to get rid of the nanobots.  When Karla returned to the hangar, he met her and they headed for the room that served as their medical facility.  Karla changed clothes and lay on the examination table.  Niklas set up a scan to determine what kind of nanobots were in her body.

          A scanning instrument moved over her body and then Niklas said, "It's finished, you can get up now."

          Karla got up and went to stand behind Niklas who sat at the computer console looking at the information from the scan.  "Well?" she asked.

          "It seems to be a new type of nanobot.  I think I better get some blood samples from you too, so I can run tests on them to see how to disable and destroy them.  Why don't I call Rain and see if she'll come take the samples for me?"

          Karla nodded silently.  "I'm going to take a nap.  That battle was more tiring than it seemed."

          "I'll wake you when Rain arrives," Niklas said.  He then put a call through to the Neo-Japan team.  An hour later, Rain arrived and Niklas met her at the door.

          "Thanks for coming, Rain," Niklas said.

          "You're not still infected with DG cells, are you?" Rain asked.

          "No.  I need you to take some of Karla's blood for me.  I need to do some analyses."

          "She's not infected with DG cells, is she?" Rain asked.

          "No, I just need the blood to run a few tests.  I saw some anomalies during the battle today and I am concerned," Niklas replied.

          Rain shrugged.  "Okay Niklas."

          As Rain was taking Karla's blood, there was a knock at the door.  Niklas answered it and found and older man standing there.

          "Good evening, Herr Bruder," the man said.  "I am a doctor sent by Schwarz Bruder to assist you with whatever ails your fighter."

          Niklas' brow rose in surprise.  "Come in, I have another doctor tending to our fighter now."

          They went into the room where Rain was just packing up her medical kit.

          "Niklas, will you get some orange juice for Karla since I took the blood from her?" Rain asked.  "Here are the blood samples you wanted."

          "Thank you, Rain," Niklas replied.  "I'll get Karla some orange juice."

          Rain left to return to the Neo-Japan hangar, Niklas went to get some orange juice and the doctor started the task of working out what type of nanobots were in Karla's body and how to deactivate and destroy them without harming Karla.

          When Niklas returned, he handed the glass to Karla who drank it.

          "Thanks Niklas, I'm just going to rest here, if you and the doctor don't need me," Karla said.

          "You rest.  I'm going to help the doctor and we're going to deal with the nanobots once and for all," Niklas replied.

          It was several hours before Niklas and the doctor came up with the answers they sought.  The doctor was able to synthesize a compound that dissolved the nanobots without harming the blood.  He explained that it would take overnight to make enough of the compound to clean out all the nanobots from Karla's body.  Niklas shrugged and decided to go to bed as it was late.  Karla had left some time ago to meditate.  He imagined that she was in bed now.

          An hour later, Niklas and Karla lay in bed, satisfied after their lovemaking.

          "I'm so happy when I'm with you, Niklas," Karla whispered.

          Niklas replied, "I'm glad.  I love you for who you are, not who you were, Karla."

          "I don't have to hide my true self from you and it's wonderful," Karla said.

          "It is.  Perhaps you'll tell me what the Neo-Austrians did to you that made you withdraw into yourself and put on a mask to hide your identity?" Niklas asked.

          Karla turned away from him, closed her eyes and cried into the pillow.

          Niklas said, "I'm sorry if I upset you, Karla.  I didn't mean to.  I only want to help you to come to terms with whatever happened to you."

          "Pick up the remote on the nightstand and press play.  You'll see what I was talking about before," Karla replied.  "What they did to me..."

          Niklas picked up the remote, pressed the play button and a monitor on the wall came to life.  There were two people completely naked and engrossed in making love on the screen.  Nothing of their bodies was hidden from the cameras.  When there was a close up of the woman's face a moment later, he realized that this was Karla.  "This is the recording you were telling me about!"

          A sniffle came from next to him.  "Yes," Karla whispered.  "I am so embarrassed that this footage exists.  I had no knowledge that I was being filmed.  They made sure that I had a copy of this so I wouldn't forget how I got into this situation."

          "The man is Claus," Niklas said.  He watched as Claus reached up and stroked her breasts and then, several men burst into their room, grabbed Karla, yanked her off Claus and pushed her against the wall spread eagle.

          Niklas was horrified as he watched one of the officers sexually assault Karla a few minutes later after everyone else had left.  He saw tears streaming down her face, and when it was all over, Niklas saw the look of utter despair on Karla's face on the screen.  Next to him, he heard Karla weeping.

          Niklas watched as the man then marched a subdued and silent Karla outside where presumably the police van waited to take her to jail.  She was still naked.  They didn't even allow her to get dressed.

          "Mein Gott, how horrible!" Niklas whispered as he pressed the stop button on the remote.  "I'm sorry that he did that to you, Karla."

          Karla lay on her side facing away from him and replied, "It's not your fault, Niklas.  I tried to fight back, but when he pointed the gun at my head and threatened to shoot me, I had little choice in the matter.  I may be a ninja, but when I was stark naked with my hands cuffed behind me, I was as helpless as anyone.  Please don't leave me."

          "Why do you think I would leave you?" Niklas asked.

          "Like my father, you probably think I didn't try hard enough to get away," Karla whispered.  She sat up, but couldn't look at Niklas' face.

          "No, I saw you try to defend yourself.  Your father is a fool if he couldn't see that.  I love you and want to comfort you if I can," Niklas said.  "I won't leave you."

          "Danke, Niklas.  Please hold me!" Karla whispered.

          Niklas took Karla into his arms and held her.  She trembled as he stroked her hair and then her back.

          "Now you see why my father didn't want anything to do with me," Karla whispered.

          "He saw the whole thing that I just watched?" Niklas asked.

          Karla nodded.  "My father thought I looked like a whore.  It was after this incident that he erased my identity."

          "I'm sorry if I upset you by asking about what they did to you and why you hide behind a mask.  I have some understanding of why you feel the way you do."

          "I never told the complete truth to anyone, not even Schwarz," Karla said.

          Niklas wasn't sure what to say to her.  When she turned and looked at him, he saw the relief in her tear-filled eyes.

          "Now you know the whole truth about me.  I'm glad.  I feel better now that you know," Karla whispered.  "I needed to tell someone the truth about myself."

          Niklas wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed her tenderly.  "I'm glad that you feel better for telling me."

          "I don't expect you to pity me," Karla said.  "I brought it on myself by sleeping with Claus in the first place."

          "I'm sorry, Karla.  I don't know what to say to you that won't sound like pity," Niklas said.

          Karla disentangled herself from his arms and lay back on the bed.  Niklas lay next to her, pulled the sheets over both of them and said, "Good night, Karla."

          "Good night, Niklas," Karla replied.  She closed her eyes and fell asleep a few minutes later.

          Niklas looked at Karla as she slept and was amazed at what had been done to her.  He was surprised that she would want to make love with him at all after seeing that footage.  He watched her sleep for a while before he fell asleep.

          When Schwarz went to the Neo-Austrian hangar late that night, he knew that Karla had overcome most of her barriers since he first met her.  He looked in the medical facility and saw the doctor asleep on a cot.  He wanted a fair fight between them when they fought.  Good, the doctor had been able to assist Niklas and Karla.  Schwarz continued on and as he stealthily moved through the hallway, he heard voices coming from the bedroom.

          Schwarz paused outside the room because of the light from a monitor and listened as Karla and presumably Niklas watched something.  He suspected that Niklas had asked Karla about her arrest by the Neo-Austrians.  From the audio, he realized that it was the footage of Karla's arrest by the Neo-Austrians.  When it stopped, Schwarz heard Karla weeping and realized that it wasn't on the footage, it really was Karla.  He now realized that her arrest by the Neo-Austrians must have been a far worse experience than she had told him.  Niklas tried to comfort Karla before they went to sleep.  From what he could tell, Karla apparently bared her soul to Niklas.  If this cleansed her soul of her remaining fears and apprehensions, Karla would be very strong when they met in battle.  He disappeared into the shadows and left.