Disclaimer: sigh Still don't own Gundam Wing or any other anime except for my own creations so. . .don't no one sue me! I do not claim that Quatre is a lazy fat bum hehe and I don't claim that Heero would give a rip if Trowa's mind was fried or not . Warning: Do not try to create a Gundam from lightning, you will only get fried hair and sudden twitches for the rest of your life.
Chapter 9
"I'll be back in 15 minutes." Heero said as he walked away from the group. He walked across the small meadow toward the town they had landed near and disappeared into the forest surrounding it. Rachel spun in a circle and said, "Ah, finally, some peace and happiness! At least for the time being." Duo smiled and said, "So what do you want to do?"
"Hmm, I don't know, let's see. . ." Rachel pondered about something to do as Quatre walked up to them.
"I don't know about you but I have some bottled up energy from sitting around all day." Quatre said, his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, let's race! To that tree and back!" Rachel said cheerfully, pointing to an oak about 50 feet away.
"You'll be eating my dust by the time you get there!" Duo said pridefully.
"We'll see. Hey, Trowa, you wanna join us or just sit there like a bum the whole time?" Rachel called to the sullen looking teen sitting on the ramp. He looked up at them as Duo yelled, "I bet he couldn't run if Heero was chasing him with a gun!" Blinking, Trowa stared at them.
"What are you doing?" Trowa said as he stood up and walked down the ramp.
"We're going to race, care to join us?" Quatre said with a smile.
"I suppose." Trowa responded. They lined up and Rachel said, "Alright, on my mark. . .get set. . .GO!" They took off and raced toward the tree. They rounded it with Trowa in the lead and Quatre in the back. As Trowa tore across the field with ease, Rachel caught up to him and quickly passed him, finishing in first with Trowa, Duo, and Quatre shortly to follow. Panting, Duo said, " Geez, you're fast!"
"I used to race around like a cheetah at my church when I was younger, I got fused out a lot too." Rachel said with a giggle as she caught her breath as well. Slowly slumping over, Quatre sprawled out on the grass and said, "Man, I'm so out of shape! How could I have gotten so lazy!"
"Too much sitting around?" Rachel said. Trowa looked out across the field, not even sweating or panting for air like the rest, and said, "Rachel, when are you going to prove Duo wrong and build that gundam of yours?" She looked up at him and said, "I almost forgot! I'll do that now while Heero's doing whatever." Rachel ran out across the field and stopped a few feet away, distancing herself from the planes to give herself plenty of room.
"Huh? What is she doing?" Quatre said, looking up at his friend.
"Building her gundam." Trowa answered.
"What? With what?" Trowa shrugged and they all watched her. She looked out across the field and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and murmuring, "Verein. . ." Raising her arms slowly, a fierce wind ripped through the meadow, rustling the grass and trees, as well as the boys' clothes. Her arms stopped above her head, hands raised to the sky as if to catch something. Her head tilted back with her arms and suddenly, her eyes snapped open. In a low whisper swept away by the winds, she muttered, "Come to life." Lightning struck her hands from the clear skies and she seemed to gather the electrical current into a blazing concentration of the energy, just before throwing her hands forward and sending the energy exploding across the open field. The light tore through the air, spreading out over the grass, slowly taking shape. Shielding their eyes, the boys watched on in awe and shock. Suddenly with a blinding flash of light, the light vanished and left behind the shimmering golden structure of a mobile suit. Duo's mouth hung open and Trowa said in an awestruck voice, "Gundam. . .Verein." Rachel fell to her knees and weakly smiled at her creation.
"I did it. . ." Rachel whispered, just before falling to the side and passing out. Duo snapped out of his daze and jumped to his feet, racing across the field and collapsed at her side, lifting her head in his hands and saying, "Rachel!"
"She's fine, Duo." Trowa said as he walked up behind Duo. Looking up, Duo said, "How do you know?"
"She seems to pass out every time she overly expends her energy like that. Same as when she rescued me and when she shielded herself from that explosion." Trowa explained. Duo looked down and slowly stroked her hair, saying quietly, "Golden. . .like your beautiful hair. . ."
"It has shoulder guards like my Sandrock." Quatre said as he slowly strode over to them.
"And a chest plate like Deathscythe's." Duo said, admiring the creation.
"And foot straps similar to my Gundam's." Trowa said.
"Fascinating. . ." Quatre looked it over.
"It's suppose to be modeled after all our Gundams, but I don't see anything that resembles Heero's Gundam." Trowa said.
"What about my Gundam?" Heero walked up, looking amazed by the immense battle suit lying on the grass.
"You're back already?" Quatre said, turning to face Heero.
"I couldn't find what I was looking for. Where'd this come from?"
"Rachel made it." Duo said, petting her soft hair.
"You're kidding me." Heero said, looking as if he thought they had all lost it.
"Face it, Heero, she's. . .gifted."
"So she can do anything, from making force fields to creating enormous objects out of nothing."
"Well, that's not entirely true, she used the energy from a bolt of lightning to form its body." Quatre said.
"She's a lightning rod too? Is there anything she can't do?"
"She does have a limited amount of energy to use, or so it appears. If you've noticed, she keeps fainting." Trowa said, pointing out the slumbering girl in Duo's arms. Heero seemed a little dumbfounded by everything, especially the supernaturally powered girl who they happened across a few days ago. He turned away and said, "We need to get going, I have to stop by the next city over to check it out."
"But what about the new Gundam? We don't have room for it!" Duo said over his shoulder. Heero looked back at the planes and said, "While I was in town I didn't see any carriers for sale so. . .does it have fuel?" Heero asked Duo.
"I'll check. . ." Trowa said, running over to the gundam. He jumped up onto it and opened the cockpit door, looking in to find the fuel level meter.
"Well?" Heero called to Trowa.
"I think I have to turn it on to find out." Trowa yelled back. He saw the activation switch and flipped it. The engines roared to life and it started to move.
"What the?" Duo watched as the gundam sat up, throwing Trowa over the edge of the cockpit door where he grabbed on and hung on for his life.
"Trowa! What did you do?" Quatre yelled.
"It's moving on its own!" Trowa yelled back, trying to climb up to get into the cockpit. It had stopped moving so he took the chance to get inside and check the system out. As soon as he sat down in the seat, the cockpit door closed and safety restraints came out and strapped Trowa in. Shocked, he tried to get free but it wouldn't release him. Next a headset wrapped around his head, which he couldn't get off either.
Automated systems? Trowa thought to himself as a picture popped up on the screen. It was a view of the group standing in awe below him. The gundam had taken it upon itself to stand and was looking down at them. Just as he was about to find the shutoff switch, the Gundam surveyed the people below, trying to identify them as friend or foe. It was leaning toward foe and reaching for its weapons when Trowa yelled, "STOP!" The Gundam froze. His heart pounding, he sighed in relief.
Friend or foe?
"What?" Trowa looked around suddenly looking for the source of the voice in his head.
This thing can talk too! Trowa thought as he continued to look around.
I am programmed to respond to any questions and commands you give me. The voice said again.
Huh? It heard my thoughts?
Yes.
"But. . .how?" Trowa said, staring at the screen in shock, not having a clue what to do.
Through your Thought Transfer Device. Trowa touched the headset and said, "This?"
Yes. Just then, Trowa began to think about what this thing could do in battle and the Gundam started to move, confused by his thoughts. Its sabers flew out from two cells on its shoulders and it grabbed them, running toward the planes, moving faster than Trowa had ever imagined a Gundam could.
"No, stop, don't destroy those!" Trowa screamed, his eyes wide and heart pounding.
Your commands are to destroy. The gundam responded as it came up to the planes and raised its sabers.
"STOP!" Trowa yelled as he tried desperately to clear his thoughts. He did just in time as the sabers stopped two inches from destroying their only modes of transportation. His head pounding with the pain of trying to keep his thoughts calm, he said, "Put your sabers away and shutdown."
Shutting down. The gundam responded. It stood up straight and replaced its sabers in their holding cells, then shutdown. The holding restraints and headset released him and the cockpit door opened just as Trowa fell out of the seat and lay half unconscious on the door. The other pilots had run over to the gundam by now and Heero climbed up to the cockpit, looking down at Trowa and turning him over to face him.
"Trowa, what the heck happened?" Heero asked. Looking up with eyes glazed over with pain, Trowa muttered, "G. . .get me. . .away from it. . ." Heero picked him up and grabbed the escape cord, slowly lowering himself and Trowa down to the ground where the other two pilots joined them.
"Is he okay!" Duo asked, looking at Trowa's limp body hanging in Heero's arms. Resting on his knees, Heero let Trowa's body lay on the ground.
"Trowa, can you tell me what happened." Heero asked in a calmer voice. Looking into Heero's eyes with a dead stare, Trowa said, "It's. . alive."
He then passed out, his eyes still slightly open. Heero closed them and said, "This thing is possessed, we should get rid of it."
"No, maybe she just made it so only she could pilot it! Don't get rid of it, she used so much energy just bringing it to life." Duo said pleadingly. Just then Rachel stirred and opened her eyes, looking about in a bit of wonder.
"What happened?" Rachel asked as she sat up.
"You're awake already?" Duo said, helping her up. She wobbled a bit and said, "How did Verein get over here?"
"Verein?" Quatre was confused.
"My gundam." She pointed to the large suit standing over them silently.
"Well, it almost destroyed our planes and Gundams and did something to Trowa." Heero said, looking down at the unconscious boy in his arms. Rachel walked over to Heero and fell to her knees next to Trowa, brushing his bangs back and resting her hand on his forehead. She stared calmly at his eyes and said, "Wake up." Heero was about to make a comment when Trowa's body twitched and his eyes popped open. They darted over to Rachel and she looked sadly at him.
"You tried to pilot Verein, didn't you." Rachel said solemnly. He stared into her eyes and she leaned over, kissing Trowa's forehead. He blinked and struggled to sit up.
"His eyes aren't glazed over anymore, what did you do?" Quatre said, noticing the sharp green color to Trowa's eyes back to normal.
"I figured the controls for Verein were too much for him so I eased his mind. The telepathy of my gundam scrambled your thoughts when you refused to give it any further orders mentally." Rachel said to Trowa. He stood and began to walk away at a quick pace, looking a bit disturbed. She sighed and said, "And now I've made him mad. Can't I do anything right. . ." She looked down at her lap and sniffed, trying to keep from crying in frustration.
"Rachel, it's not your fault." Quatre said, trying to comfort her.
"I can't get you guys to like me. . .I just want everyone to be happy and not hate me." Rachel said sadly. Heero stared at her with a blank expression on his face.
"I don't hate you, and neither does Quatre! So what if Trowa's ticked, that's his problem! You're a great girl!" Duo said, squatting next to Rachel and putting a hand on her back. She sniffed and looked up into Heero's eyes with a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Do you still hate me?" Rachel said to Heero. He blinked and leaned back slightly, not sure what to say as he said, "Hate you?"
"Yes, why else would you hold a gun to me and threaten to kill me? And I said such inappropriate things to you before, I don't blame you if you do hate me." She wouldn't take her eyes off of his and it made him nervous.
"I. . ." He almost looked scared when he swallowed and quickly stood, running off toward his plane.
"Geez, how rude of him!" Duo said after Heero had disappeared.
"No, I shouldn't have confronted him with you two standing around." Rachel said, wiping away her tears.
"Huh? Why not?" Duo said.
"I don't think he wants to let his guard down." Duo still didn't understand, but Quatre did.
"I guess we should go now." Quatre said, walking toward the planes, "I'll make sure Heero's not trying to leave without us."
"But," Duo looked at Rachel, "Your gundam. . ."
"I'll fly it to the next stop we make." She said, standing to grab the escape cord.
"What! You'll never have enough fuel to make it there!" Duo said as he stood with her.
"My Gundam's special, it has different ways of fueling itself." She said with a smile.
"Huh? What's that?" Duo asked.
"That's for me to know and you to ponder about!" Rachel winked and stepped onto the foothold at the end of the escape cord and it pulled her up. Duo watched her and called up, "Are you sure you'll make it?"
"Just go, I'll be fine!" She yelled down and got into the cockpit when she reached the top. The Gundam started to move and Duo ran to his plane, jumping in and starting the engines. The group took off and flew off to the next city in the area.
"Tro-man, you alright?" Duo asked Trowa. Sitting quietly across from Duo, Trowa had been staring out the window blankly. He turned and looked at Duo, saying, "What does it matter."
"Well, Rachel was worried about you."
"Hmph." Trowa crossed his arms and closed his eyes, saying, "I don't feel like talking right now, my head hurts."
Brat. . . Duo thought as he resumed watching the skies.
Quatre seemed to squirm in his seat as if he was itching to do something, and Heero had noticed it about 10 minutes ago. Finally getting fed up with the boy's annoying movements, Heero said, "What's your problem." Quatre faced Heero and said, "Why didn't you just tell Rachel that you don't hate her, she's probably worried to death that you'll come after her some time and kill her because you wouldn't say anything!"
"Been holding that in a while, have you?" Heero commented on Quatre's outburst. Settling down, Quatre pouted like a 4-year-old and said, "You're so mean to her for no good reason."
"I have my reasons for everything I do." Heero said.
"Then why hate her?" Heero didn't respond. Quatre frowned and said, "Do you hate me now, too?"
"I don't hate you but if you don't shutup about that I'll have to get my gun out." Heero said, a muscle twitching in his cheek as he held back a growl.
"You can be so cruel sometimes." Quatre said, and dropped the subject.
