Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Hopefully I won't confuse people with the different languages and slang used in this chapter and future chapters, but I try to explain what it means within the writing, hopefully you can keep up! I used for my Australian slang, just to give them credit. . .I hope that's okay. .
Chapter 47
"Stop, I don't wanna hurt you! AH!" Relena screamed as ammunition rained down on her, her wings flapping desperately as she tried to think of a way to stop them without hurting them. She finally blew up a dust storm to hinder their vision, taking the chance to swoop in on them and blast of their heads with sparks of lightning. They fell one by one until there was only one left. Relena tried to fight it off enough to take it down but it had caught onto her tactics, rocketing away when she tried to move in for the kill. It took a shot at her and clipped her wing, bringing her down to the ground. With a clumsy landing, she wobbled to her feet, holding her left shoulder in pain as her wing bled.
Great. . .now what! Relena thought, lacking the advantage of flight now. She backed away from the Leo, trying to find some footing so she could stand her ground. Before she knew it, the Leo had cornered her in a small stand of rocks. She felt too weak to teleport and was contemplating taking the chance if it meant life or death when out of nowhere, a large object flew at the Leo and knocked it in the head. Distracted for a moment, it looked in the direction the attack originated from and aimed its gun that way.
"No!" Relena shouted, raising her hand and firing a fireball at its head, catching it on fire. It staggered backwards, visuals cut out by the fire, and finally tripped over a rock and fell to the desert sand, sending a puff of dust and sand flying up around it. Relena heaved a sigh of relief and started to walk out of her corner, looking exhausted from the battle.
"I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of stuff. . ." Relena said to herself.
"What's a Sheila like yourself doing bushwalking at this time of day?" Relena turned to see a man staring at her, looking to be in his mid Twenties. He had a five o'clock shadow and blonde hair that came down slightly in his eyes, quite scruffy looking in general but still good looking. A hat commonly seen on Australians hid his eyes in a shadow but didn't hide his broad smile. Relena blinked and said, "Excuse me?" The man had been looking her over, finally noticing her wings and whistling.
"Well now, aren't you a beaut of a bunyip! Or is the Arvo sun just makin' a berk outa me?"
"What?" Relena was confused by his Australian slang, feeling dizzy from overheating and exhaustion. She began to sway and he walked up to her, taking her by the shoulders as she began to collapse.
"You must be bushed, after being out here for so long! Come on, you can crash at my place! It's just a few meters from here, you'll make it!" He said, slinging her arm over his shoulder and helping her back to his home. As they walked up to the front port, a dog greeted them and sniffed Relena.
"Down, ya nong dingo! Don't worry, he's about ready to kark it any day now, he's no bother. . ." The man shouted at the dog and reassured Relena that he wasn't a threat. He kicked open the mesh door and walked in with Relena, heading over to a couch and sitting her down.
"Sorry it's such a brothel, I haven't been around to clean it lately! Would you care for a lolly water?" He said as he walked toward another room. She looked at him in confusion, blinking and still in pain. He laughed and said, "You have no clue what I'm sayin', do ya?" She shook her head and said, "I'm afraid I don't know the native slang here, I'm not from around here."
"I could have guessed on my own! Lolly water is carbonated drink. . ." He said with a smile.
"Soda. . .you mean. . ." Relena eased back and laid down on her side.
"Yeah, that's it. Would you like one?" He said over his shoulder, taking off his hat and setting it down on a desk by the doorway as he walked into the other room.
"Thank you, you're very generous. . ." She said quietly, hoping he heard her.
"Ah, it's the least I could do! You were out there in that barney kicking their dates across the bush! All I did was throw my boomerang at them! Those shonky OZ people have been messin' in these parts for a while, can't tell who's fair dinkum or not anymore. All I have is coke, do you want a water instead?" He walked back into the room carrying two cans of soda and stopped in the doorway, finding Relena asleep on the couch. He noticed her bleeding wing and set down the drinks, hurrying into his bathroom.
"Crud, when did that get there! Where's my med kit. . ." The man grumbled as he rummaged through his sink supplies.
The dragon tore through suit after suit, bringing down the army quickly and without mercy as its owner watched on.
"With these powers I'm unstoppable. . ." Chang mused as his sea serpent knocked down another mobile suit. It's twisting, aquatic body shimmered in the sun, using its reflective surface to blind the enemy before going in for the kill. As the creature fought on, Chang decided to take some action of his own, diving down upon a wandering Leo and slicing its head off with his katana. He jumped off as it fell and landed on a pile of rubble created by the battle, crouching like a tiger lying in wait for its next victim. As he waited, a scream penetrated the air, catching Chang's attention. It wasn't so much a scream of terror as a shout heard in a karate fight and this intrigued Chang into investigating. He dashed over and across buildings to the origin of the scream and found a band of Taurus suits attacking a wrecked building. But it turned out that they were the ones being attacked as a small figure leapt out and attacked one of them, tearing into its armor and ripping out essential circuitry. The figure vanished from sight inside the building just as one of the Taurus took aim and blasted the foundations, causing the structure to lose its stability. Chang's eyes widened and he forced out his hand, holding the building up to prevent its falling and injuring whoever was inside.
Such a brave soul shouldn't be destroyed this way. . .Chang thought to himself, continuing to hold the building as he waited for the fighter to reappear. Soon enough, a missile flew from the building and smashed into one of the suits, blowing it up and knocking it into another suit, taking both of them down. Only three remained and not for long as another missile locked onto a Taurus and took it out. Like a lightning bolt, the figure jumped out and landed on one of the suits, crouching on its head as its partner turned and aimed. The other suit fired and shot off the Taurus' head as the mysterious figure leapt off to avoid being hit and caught the edge of the last Taurus' armor, climbing up to the cockpit door and setting an explosive in the seam. Leaping off, the figure reentered the building as the hatch blew off, revealing the pilot as he abandoned the suit.
"Amazing. . ." Chang said quietly. He finally left his perch and soared down to the building, trying to find who had done so much damage. He landed on the level the fighter had started on and ran inside, searching for the figure. As he descended the dilapidated stairway and stopped on the second level, spotting a figure running toward him. He blinked and strained to see who it was but it was dark in the building. Gaining speed, the figure screamed and flew at him, just barely missing Chang as he leapt from the stairway and did a flip, landing on his feet facing the attacker who immediately came after him, kicking wildly and punching like lightning. Chang had a hard time defending himself and never had a chance to land a blow as finally the figure swung its leg around and kicked him in the head. He fell to the ground and barely rolled over as he got a foot in his chest. Grabbing it, he stared at its owner and finally got a view of who it was. A small amount of light filtered in and played off the long black hair shimmering and loose, causing Chang's eyes to widen in shock.
Running through hall after hall and thumping up stairs, Milliardo chased after the illusive child teasing him on to follow.
Who is this? I thought the Sanc Kingdom was abandoned. . .Milliardo thought. As he turned to continue up the stairs, he paused and stared up to the top, seeing the young boy standing at the top and giggling. A window behind him let some sunrays in, playing off the child's light blonde hair.
"Stop, please! Who are you?" Milliardo called out to him. He merely laughed and darted down the hallway at the top of the staircase. Milliardo quickly dashed up the stairs and took off after the child but stopped halfway down the hall, the child nowhere in sight.
Where'd he go? Milliardo thought, looking down the long hall and seeing nothing but dust, cobwebs, and debris. He began to walk down the hall, testing doorknobs and finding them locked. As he got midway down the long corridor, one door opened and he slowly stepped into the room, his eyes roaming around what looked like a dining hall. Tables stood in formation as left before the attack, some lying on the floor or broken and covered by dust, giving Milliardo an eerie feeling of dejá vú as he thought, This is. . .where we had our balls and fancy dinners. . .it still looks the way I remember it. . .a giggle echoed from the hallway and he turned around, jumping into the corridor to see the child far down the hall waving.
"Hey, wait, stop!" Milliardo called out, his hand stretched out to the boy. With a flourish of blonde hair, the boy ran into one of the rooms and closed the door. Milliardo sighed and ran after him, counting the doors to the one the child had gone through. He grabbed the knob and threw open the door, staring into a grand room, empty and vast in space.
"The old fencing room. . ." Milliardo whispered, walking in. He almost forgot the little boy as he daydreamed about past experiences there until he heard another laugh resonate off the high walls. He ran to the center of the arena and turned, looking in every direction for the boy.
"Where are you? Who are you?" Milliardo called out, searching for any signs of him.
"I am who I am, nothing more. . ." The boy's voice rang out, but he was nowhere in sight.
"I don't understand!" Milliardo shouted, getting frustrated.
"You will. . ." A giggle came from across the room and he looked to see the boy standing by another open door.
The voice. . .sounds vaguely familiar. . .Milliardo thought, running toward the child. The boy quickly turned and ran through the door, disappearing down another hallway.
What. . .happened. . .I've never felt so weak in my life. . .I can't even move my body. Where am I. . .Heero moaned, trying to move but finding it impossible. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up to see a thatch roof over his head, the room dimly lit by light coming in from spaces between the wood. He looked around the room and saw a door cracked open.
"Ugh, what is this place. . ." He muttered. A faint voice echoed into his ear and he listened closely, finding two people arguing outside.
Japanese. . .I wonder if they speak any English. It's. . .a man, in his late 40's. . .and a young man about 18 years old. They sound mad about something. . .tenchi? That's angel. . .they're talking about me. Wait, I remember what happened. . .I was shot down by arrows, most likely the boy. I can't tell whether I'm tied down or not, I can't even feel my body. Someone's coming. Heero looked over at the door and saw the older man enter the hut, the youth following cautiously. The man began to speak, bowing in what Heero guessed was apology.
"I don't speak Japanese very well, do you know any English." Heero moaned dully, trying to wake up.
"Yes, a little. You are. . .tenchi?" The man asked.
"Sort of. . ." The men looked confused. With a sigh, Heero said, "Yes, I am. What happened."
"My son. . .thought you were a bird, he was hunting."
"Why can't I move." Heero groaned, straining to move.
"You were hurt, we numb your body to remove arrows."
"I can't stay here. . ." Heero said, feeling like a cornered animal. The young man peeked around his father and stared at him, mesmerized bit his angelic appearance. Heero looked at them, saying, "When can I move?"
"Not for hours. . ."
"I. . .have to go. . ." Heero said, closing his eyes and using his powers to mentally move his body. He sat up and shocked the men as the boy pointed and shouted, "AKUMA!"
"Yeah, but this demon's gonna save your butts. . ." Heero groaned as he got to his feet and walked toward the door. The man fell to his knees in front of Heero in a bow, followed by the mystified young man.
What. . .the. . .Heero stared at them in confusion as they rambled on in Japanese about something. His head began to spin a little and he shook it, saying, "Whatever's going on, I can't stick around to find out, sayonara." He leapt over them and out the door, quickly flapping open his wings and soaring into the air in search of the group of mobile suits he was stalking earlier.
Where am I anyway! Heero wondered as he flew toward the forest near the village. In the distance he saw smoke billowing up from the trees.
"Oh no. . .that stupid boy. . ." Heero cursed under his breath, speeding toward the cloud forming in the sky.
Trowa finished off the last Leo standing and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as his eyes stared at the ground in shock, the strain of battling with a fever taking a great toll on his physical health.
"I. . .can't. . .fight. . .anymore. . ." Trowa wheezed, his breaths coming in short gasps as his heart pounded wildly in his chest. He tried to desperately shake off the affects of the burning fever and sickness, ignoring the ground as it seemed to spin in circles. Closing his eyes, he focused on catching his breath as he searched for the next gathering of OZ in Germany.
There's. . .only one left. . .I should be able to. . .make it that far. . .but-oh my gosh, it's. . .that city. . .Trowa's eyes flashed open as he gasped out, "Alyssa. . ." He quickly staggered to his feet and swayed, almost losing his balance as he focused on the city and teleported there. Just as he appeared in the street outside the docking bay, a missile exploded behind him, throwing him forward and into a turned over truck. He struggled to his feet again and stared up at a mobile suit stomping through the wrecked building, searching the area for any signs of life. It spotted Trowa and immediately turned to face him, its dober gun locked onto his position. With a gasp, he quickly darted away in time to avoid the barrage of ammunition unleashed on him.
This guy's formidable, I'd better be careful not to slip up. Trowa thought as he tore through the cluttered streets, trying to escape the attacker. Finally gaining enough range from buildings, Trowa turned in mid-flight and unleashed his own attack on the suit, a funnel of wind blasting it back a couple hundred feet as it crashed into a demolished building and shut down. The force of the attack knocked Trowa back farther and he collided with a hard surface, yelling in pain as he fell to the ground and lay trembling in shock. Footsteps approached him quickly and he felt a hand rest on his shoulder as someone pulled him face up.
