12: ZERO's rampage II: Hunted little boys
Ryuusei tugged Trowa outside the locker room across the snow toward an empty cart that used to sell hot chocolate but was replaced by a small store placed a decent distance away from the ice-ring. Trowa had no choice but to follow her if he was ever going to get the girl to talk about what had happened to her he would agree to her having to pick a secret place to talk about it and he would follow. The area near the ice-ring was nearly abandoned but there were a decent amount of people around though. Her grip on his hand was surprisingly strong for someone as small as she was. "Right here," Ryuusei announced stopping.
Trowa looked at his surroundings, they stood beside a decorative Christmas tree put up simply for promotional reasons since it was the holiday season. Trowa averted his eyes back to Ryuusei who had a questioning look in her eyes. "So....," She trailed off fiddling with his fingers. Trowa's eyes widened in realization remembering why she had lead him to this place. "Right---- I don't want to sound eager but are you ready to tell me this? You don't have to if you don't want to," Trowa informed kneeling down to her level.
Ryuusei shook her head still playing his hand that was rested upon his knee. "I'll tell you," She whispered. Trowa nodded commendably for her bravery. Ryuusei paused for a moment looking up at the angel sitting atop the tree before speaking. "I can't remember lots of stuff--- I remember playing on a swing with my mommy, daddy was sittin' on a bench away from me and mommy watching, smiling. We went home after that and mommy made us dinner then put me to bed. She always left the night-light on to keep bad dreams from scarin' away my good dreams. I woke up to the sound of daddy and mommy fighting with somebody, I decided to eavesdrop on what they were talking about.
"I stood at the edge of the stairs and spotted two men with guns and a red haired lady talking to my parents. She was talking about technical stuff--- something' called Str-at-agos and a lady named Too-shin-o, then those men noticed me on the stairs and told the lady about it. I heard my mommy tell me to run, I ran but I heard loud bangs from down stairs and I spotted those mean men coming up the stairs. I tried to run from them but they were much faster and they caught me. The next thing I knew I was in a dark cold place tied up in a chair, they stared asking me all these questions, I told them over and over again I didn't know what they were talkin' about. They never listened.
"They put needles in me, they hurt me and they cut my hair and told me they killed my mommy and daddy. I don't remember nothing after that---- just waking up in a place full of plants, that's where Heero found me," Ryuusei trailed off and began to cry, huge tears spilled from her eyes. Trowa kept his questions concerning the red haired woman at bay. He embraced the girl letting her cry on his jacket. "Don't cry Ryuusei. No one's going to hurt you now, Heero and I will make sure of it," He uttered to her rubbing his hand against her back in a circular motion.
Ryuusei continued to cry until her sobbing was reduced to nothing but hiccups. She pulled herself out of Trowa's embrace revealing her red puffy face and runny nose. Trowa gave her sympathetic smile and whipped her nose with a handy handkerchief, Ryuusei placed her small hands on the one he was using to wipe her nose. Once Trowa was done he hesitantly shoved the handkerchief into his coat pocket. "Feel better now?" He asked. Ryuusei nodded halfheartedly watching him rise to his feet. "C'mon let's head back before you catch a cold," He extended his hand out to the girl, she grabbed it and the two headed back to the locker room. Ryuusei tried her best to keep her spirits up because she didn't want Trowa to worry so she decided to hum a chipper tune.
Trowa's eyes averted to Catherine who was skating alone on the ice looking down, he frowned at her slouched shoulders as she glided slowly across the ice. He was beginning to think showing her his feelings was a bad idea if it affected her this much. Trowa's sullen thought were brought a complete halt when the hair on the back of his neck stood up, he stiffened stopping in mid-step. He looked up just as violent gust of wind came through. Ryuusei looked up at him and wondered why he stopped until she watched his eyes grow wide with fear, a sort of fear she experienced when she learned her parents were dead. His hand was suddenly gone from hers and Ryuusei watched like a statue as Trowa dashed toward the ice-ring. "CATHERINE!!"
Catherine glided across the ice with a look of dismay, she was unable to force the image of Trowa's hurt face from her mind. Part of her wouldn't allow it. How had she been so blind to his feelings until now? It was sheerly impossible for her not to notice, but she hadn't noticed and that's what got to her. Ever since Trowa decided to oblige to Relena's invitation to the ski-trip their friends in the circus would give her sly looks or thumbs up smirking, Catherine found this to be really strange. Trowa was never the talkative type, but to her surprise she found him a day before they left speaking for as long as thirty minutes to the lion about a new act with such enthusiasm he had mentioned her name once or twice in the conversation.
The lion would do nothing but yawn at Trowa who laughed at the creature. That's when she decided to make her presence known and stepped out from behind a stack of creates, she'd happily greet Trowa who stood on his feet quickly and turned to meet her blue-eyed gaze looking quiet flustered. He greeted her as well using her nickname (Cathy) before picking up the bucket making a hasty retreat. Catherine found herself alone with the slumbering lion.
Catherine sighed bringing herself to a complete stop in the middle of the ice ring her hands balled into fists, how could she had lead him to believe she like him more than a brother? It certainty wasn't when he wanted her to grant him death, his mind was on other things. Maybe it was when he working on that preventer's mission he had brought her along on. That had to be it. "I'm so sorry Trowa," She muttered clutching her forearms. Just as she began to move across the ice the wind seemed to take on an almost angry persona.
"What in the world---- oh!" Catherine stumbled backward at the rough gust of wind that swooped down upon the ice-ring carrying with it the faint sound of machine gun fire. Catherine looked up into the sky in question spotting a rapidly falling object growing larger by the second. Catherine could barely make out its bulky outline, she could make out a pair of arms but the rest of the body seemed inhuman more robotic ... her pale blue eyes widened in fear. "Oh my God," Catherine whispered stepping back.
She ordered her legs to obey her command and run but they wouldn't listen, they were as still as the air around her itself. Trowa, please help...... come quick! Once the mobile suit was close enough her legs decided to move, Catherine scrambled across the ice in a desperate attempt to escape the plummeting machine. Wing Zero came down hard onto the ice sending Catherine across the ice, she could hear the ice cracking beneath her.
Catherine climbed to her feet just in time to spot Trowa coming to the edge of the ice ring his face stricken with fear. "Hurry Catherine!" He shouted extending his hand to her. Catherine made a desperate attempt to reach Trowa's hand but the moment her skate's touched a fragile part of the ice it cracked beneath her weight and the last thing the 19-year-old saw was Trowa with tears in his eyes. One of his tears fell into the icy water just she was submerged in it. Catherine knew no more.
Duo and Hilde rushed down the hall with the armored the men behind them, Hilde would knock the occasional object down to slow the oncoming attackers down but it would also slow them down as well. They came barreling through swinging doors rounding a corner surpassing oblivious doctors in the process, Hilde struggled to keep up with Duo's long legs as he pulled her along the corridor with him.
The American turned back just as the men came rounding the corner firing at them again. Hilde screamed as bullets came zooming past them shattering glass hitting suspecting by standers n the process. Damned bastards! Duo hissed pulling Hilde around another corner. "If you do not stop Gundam pilot 02, we will shoot you dead!" One of the armored men shouted angrily. Duo smirked sadistically as he and Hilde went through yet another swinging door, the way he saw it they would shoot if even he stopped running.
He certainty wasn't going to stop because they ordered him to. Hilde almost lost her grip on Duo's hand when she jumped over a fallen trash can but Duo kept his grip on her wrist. "Keep up Hilde," He huffed. Hilde nodded quickly as they came to an opening elevator. He took this as a way to escape their assailants, the moment the doors were open and the doctors were stepping out Duo picked up his pace and the two jumped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.
The men came swarming out of the swinging doors just the elevator's door closed. Hilde exhaled falling against the back elevator wall as it began to move down. Duo panted heavily coughing briefly as he tried to catch his breath. "They're most likely be to be waiting for us at the first floor, Duo," Hilde pointed between breaths. Duo said nothing he simply stared into space as he fought to catch his fleeting breath. Hilde glanced at him worriedly when the elevator came to stop. Duo was on the alert as the door opened up revealing an empty space, the men were nowhere to be found.
Not wanting to stick around Duo pulled Hilde out the elevator and the rushed for the exit of the hospital. "Stop right now, Gundam pilot 02!" Came the enraged cry. The American and German teenagers look back to find the men right behind them thinking they must've taken the stairs to reach them so quickly. "Shit," Duo whispered. The two quickened their pace determined to get to the exit, gun fire erupted behind them causing Hilde to jump in fear Duo pulled her along unable to afford to stop when they were so close. Time seemed to slow as they got closer to the door, the 17-year-old felt something prick his arm but he paid no attention to it as he and Hilde went through the automatic opening doors.
Hilde could feel relief wash over her as they came out through the last door but this relief was dampened when she felt Duo's weight upon her arm. She turned her head just as Duo's knees gave way beneath him, he hit the ground hard. Hilde would have been dragged down with him if he didn't released her wrist, Duo gritted his teeth in pain as he forced himself up; the world began to go out of focus as he struggled to stay conscious.
"Duo...!" He barely heard Hilde calling him. He looked down at his arm and spotted a dart sticking out it, he grinned in distrain before looking up at the German with drooping eyes. Aquamarine met cobalt, Hilde made a move to help him up but the look on his face told her not to. "Duo ... get up, they're coming!" She cried. "Don't worry ... yourself about me..... you run Hilde.... run," Duo's eyes closed and he hit the ground unconscious. Hilde remained where she was. It was only when the armored men came through the last door her legs decided to move, she broke into a mad dash but they brought her down faster than she could pick her feet up. Hilde was pinned down to the ground by two men. She struggled against them in vain barely listening to their threats to shoot her. they pulled her off the ground with one yank.
Their leader watched as one of his men flung the unconscious American over his shoulder and head over to their black van, his eyes glanced toward the young woman that struggled in his men's grasp like a fish out of water. Hilde stopped her struggles for a moment to get a look at the man's wizened face before averting her eyes toward the men that loaded Duo into the back of the van. "What do you want with us?" She sneered pulling her wrist out of the man's grasp.
The leader smirked in amusement before raising his arm to her revealing a dart gun in his hand. Hilde's eyes widened in fear and began to struggle once more to get away from the men. Their leader pulled the trigger and the dart embedded itself into Hilde's neck pricing her skin. She gritted her teeth in pain glaring. "Damn you," She hissed before falling into unconsciousness. The man scoffed at her, the two men dragged Hilde to the van and dumped her inside next to Duo. "We've obtained 02 and the OZ soldier," The leader spoke into his cellphone. "What of the vice foreign minister, 04 and 03?" Came the response. "The rest of our team is still searching for them. We'll find them, don't worry," He said. There was a skeptic grunt at the end of the line before it went dead. The man placed his cell phone into one of the many pockets on his uniform. He headed over to the second truck next to the right preparing to return.
Kill the enemy, kill all those who stand in your way. Nothing can stop you!
Wing Zero dodged another onslaught of bullets from Epyon as it climbed out of the damaged ice-ring, it fired its beam rifle and put only one of the maroon Gundam's Vulcan cannons out of commission. Eypon was unphased by this as he activated his heat rod and slashed out at Zero who effectively moved out of the way of the weapon before firing its own Vulcan cannon's onto its counterpart.
Epyon jumped out of the way of Wing Zero's fire and revealed its beam saber, it came at Zero with lightening speed sending it stumbling backward into the icy waters, Jin was unaffected by the sudden temperature drop inside the cockpit and concentrated only on getting Zero's thrusters back online regardless of the damage it sustained when it was attacked by Mercurius.
Zero pulled itself out of the water on the other side it had no time to recover from the blow, Epyon came at him again only this time with more force behind its attack. Epyon rammed its beam saber into the Gundam's back disabling its rockets, sparks flew in the air inside the cockpit as the warning systems came on full alert, Jin paid no attention to them he continued to devise a plan that would bring Epyon down.
Dropping its beam rifle Zero brought its arms back and grabbed Epyon's wrist. It then began to pull out the beam saber from its back when an explosion from behind both mobile suits sent him hurtling forward. Zero fell to its hands and knees it turned it head expecting to meet the face of Epyon but to its surprise Epyon was no more than a pile of scrap behind it. Jin's eyes brows narrowed in question before looking skyward.
He zoomed the camera in on a mobile suit that reminded him of a white knights armor. The image on the screen changed replaced by a man in what Jin recognized to be a preventers uniform, with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes. "This is preventer Wind Calling, I herby order you to surrender your illegal mobile suit or have it taken by force," Preventer Wind's husky voice made the young man wonder where he had seen him before. Smirking Jin shut of his communicator the image of Preventer wind vanished in a moment.
Destroy him, he's yet another enemy standing in your way. Kill him.Jin's lifeless eyes stared at the Tallgese curiously before bringing Zero back up on its legs. Being unable to fly was a serious disadvantage for him, so if he was going to destroy the Tallgese he was going to have to blow it out of the sky with his beam rifle but that would take a lot of energy and Tallgese had a beam cannon. Jin paused for a moment as the voice came back to him--
Kill-- kill Margaret, she killed your mother....., revenge!! Get rid of him------ Wing Zero would be blown to smitheries before he could fully charge his beam rifle. The irony of it all, he thought. Wing Zero stared up at Tallgese with its Jade eyes as thought it were contemplating Zechs' words before stepping forward into the icy waters. Zechs' blue eyes widened in shock as he watched the Gundam plummet into the water vanishing from sight then reemerging on the other side where the fallen Epyon resided.
Zechs watched the mobile suit in confusion as it headed toward the forest where it had originally been seen when it destroyed Vayeate. I'm not sure what he's up to but I've got to stop him...., Zechs maneuvered Tallgese down after Zero. "Stop right now Wing Zero!" Zechs ordered. There was no response instead Tallgese was met with the end of the Gundam's beam rifle, Zechs was unable to maneuver out of the way of the blast:
Tallgese was hit in the side by the violent blast thrown back onto its injured side. The European grunted in pain as the mobile suit slid across the ground, Jin watched for a moment before resuming Wing Zero's stride into the forest, he was going to finish this once and for all. He was going to stop the woman responsible for his mother and father's death, his lost childhood. If the nightmares were ever going to stop he was going have to do it. Zero began a fast jog into the forest back to the mobile suit hangar where Margaret resided.
"....I was wondering how ended up with Zechs as your partner?" Noin blinked in confusion as her chin lifted up from the back of her hand. She stared at Gabrielle in question, the senator groaned sitting back in her chair, Noin once again was in some far distant world in the middle of their conversation. Noin's dark purple eyes widened in realization just as her hand came running through hair. "I'm sorry," She began. "I spaced out again." Gabrielle forced a smile on her face with a shrug. "Its all right," Gabrielle said with a wave of her hand.
"So How did you end up with Zechs as your partner?" Noin gave her friend a sincere smile that seemed almost bashful. "I asked Une to assign him as my partner. Zechs would kill anyone else if he was paired up with someone other than me, except maybe Wufei," Noin laughed her own comment Gabrielle did not seem amused at all, Zechs was nothing but a pain.
She knew that from first glance. She looked down at her cell phone that had been ringing off the hook for hours on end since she had arrived which was weird for her because she rarely got any calls from anyone except maybe her secretary. Sighing Gabrielle place her phone back into her purse before returning her attention back to Noin but to the woman's dismay her friend was day dreaming again. Rising from her chair she turned and left Noin's office unnoticed.
She traveled down the empty corridor and into a vacant office. Gabrielle searched each corner of the room; there was no a camera in sight. Breathing a sigh of relief the woman pulled out her cell phone then hit speed dial. Throwing back her hair she placed the cell phone against her ear listing in to the distant rings until the 'clicking' sound told her someone had picked up on the other line. "What the hell have you been doing?" Gabrielle spat angrily never letting the other person have a chance to speak.
"What do you think I've been doing? Sipping tea?!"
"Yes! There is too much going at once, why is it that you haven't gotten Darlain or the pilots?!"
"How about this; as large as this mountain area is, it would take a considerable amount of time to find her and those rambunctious pilots. I suggest you stop calling me and my troops."
"I cannot. My campaign is far too important for you to mess up, your vendettas will have to wait! Find those pilots!"
"Just curious but why would you want to knock off the vice foreign minister, then persuade the pilots to join your cause?"
Gabrielle smiled. "Simple, Its the only way I'll be able to take her position as the new Vice foreign Minster of the ESUN and get them to the first of my new army. Do your job right Margaret, or I'll bury you next to my father."
"... Yes sir,"
Gabrielle shut off her phone preventing any other spiteful words from falling from her lips. Just as she turned to leave she found herself confronted with a slim figure in the door way with a look of disappointment on her face. Gabrielle just stood in her place looking slightly peeved at the fact that she was at the door. "I never took you for a criminal Gabrielle, a little crazy at times but never a criminal," Noin whispered darkly. Gabrielle smirked cocking her head to the side. "It just goes to show you; get to know your friends before running off halfcocked for a stupid cause," The senator spat.
Noin watched her walk toward her as though she wasn't going to stop her from leaving the building. "You know I can't let you leave Gabrielle, what your doing is wrong...." Gabrielle cut her off with a sound of disgust before Noin brought her gun up to her face. The raven-haired woman smirked shifting her eyes toward the gun. "You wouldn't shoot me. I'm your friend," She stated emotionlessly. Noin frowned at the comment. "Your no friend of mine senator Shore," Noin sheered removing the safety from the gun.
Gabrielle's jaw shifted before she laced her fingers around the end of the gun smirking wickedly. "That's really a shame, because ... once I rule the ESUN I was gong to appoint your as my most trusted informant," Gabrielle stated yanking the weapon of Noin's grasp. The Mediterranean woman looked surprised but had no time to try to reclaim her gun, Gabrielle sent a kick to her stomach that sent her tumbling out the door way and against the wall. Gabrielle took flight down the corridor as fast as she could. She vanished around the corner with the gun her hand. Noin groaned as she climbed to her feet, to think she believed that woman to be her friend. Exhaling angrily she headed down the down the hall toward Une's office.
Mariemaia stumbled aimlessly through the snow wishing she had jacket with her, her breathing was ragged and uneven as she traveled through the trees searching for the cabin, but to her dismay she was lost without a clue as to where she was. Getting kidnapped was better than being lost, at least she knew where she was. Her eyes darted wildly through the surrounding trees at the sounds of howling in the distance.
Maybe a wolf would put her out of her misery, but then she would have no real idea if Jin was dead or not. Mariemeia collapsed on her knees ignoring the pain from her twisted ankle, she began to beat the at the ground until her fist was red from abuse. "Damnit all!" She shouted loudly clutching the ends of her hair. She wanted to rip it all out in spite of her anger not caring if she was bald afterward, she was lost and no one would ever find her. Mariemaia remained where she sat for the longest time that all became a blur to her. She stared down at the snow numb to the freezing temperatures, that is until the sound of loud footfalls reached her ears.
They made the ground rumble with a sort of strength she recognized but could not remember right off the bat. Looking around her surrounding area she saw nothing but she certainty knew it was close. They became louder with each passing minute until the footfalls shadow loomed over her like an eclipse, looking up she studied its broad chest and antenna. It seemed oblivious to her presence but she couldn't care less, she watched it raise its foot over her and place it behind her. A hiss of air from its feet brought the girl out of her daze. Mariemaia looked up at the damaged back of Wing Zero as it headed off back to the mobile suit hangar.
A smile was brought her face as she climbed to her feet and chased after the mobile suit. It wasn't long before she caught up to the mobile suit, Mariemaia jumped onto its foot then banged on its amor. Wing Zero stopped in mid-step it looked down at it leg spotting Mariemaia on its foot. Jin's eyes softened at the sight of her, knowing she was safe. Mariemeia watched as the cockpit opened up, she jumped at the sound of Wing kneeling while bringing its hand down toward her.
"Get on," Jin's voice made her flinch but she did as she told and climbed aboard Wing Zero's hand, she was then was brought up to the level of the cockpit. Her eyes rested upon Jin's figure as he climbed out of the seat onto the platform. Mariemeia noticed something so different about his eyes, they almost seemed dead. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her onto platform next to him in an almost robotic way. If he was ever going to get anything right, he might as well get things straight with Mariemaia first. "I've got something I need to tell you before I go," He said. Mariemaia arched her eyebrows in question. "Go?" She whispered. Before she knew it Jin pulled her into his embrace wrapping his arms around her.
[TBC] Don't worry it's not the end. Not by a long shot. Sakura123