God vs Master

Chapter 1

The Gathering.

Lighting his cigarette he closed his eyes in bliss. No matter how many times people told him to get rid of the nasty habit, he couldn't. It was the perfect relaxation after an explosive night. After hearing and smelling fire and smoke he could now taste it.

People gave him disapproving looks as he 'sat' sprawled on the bench of the bus stop, his legs stretched out before him. More then once almost causing someone to trip.

But he paid no attention to the complaining pedestrians or the old woman standing next to the bench, to afraid to sit down next to him. He didn't bother, it was just the way he liked it, people should be scared of him. It gave him a feeling of power. Delicious, the one thing better then a smoke on a night like this one.

Duo just stared up ahead, at the building across the street. He had spend the last five minutes counting the floors, it took so long because he kept losing count, but now he got it. 81 floors.

At the entrance stood a bulky man in black tux with red shirt under it, he glared at the people straying a little to close to the hotel. Hell Hotel, said the large blood red neon letters hanging on the third floor. Damn the man for not giving him the number of the room. He could see the long queue at the desk in the lobby. Impatient guests wanting the key to their hellish room.

Since it was a quarter till twelve he got up and crossed the street, cars honked at him as they had to step on their brakes, coming to a dead stop with screeching tires.

He grinned and threw away the stump that was left of his cigarette. Enetering the lobby that screaming expensive with it's marmer floors and pilars and golden statues he looked around for a moment, spotting a sign that said: Conference in room 666, 81the floor, at twelve o'clock. Galen Massimo. 'A conference, so that's how they call it nowadays.' He mumbled softly to himself as he maid his way to the elevator, he scared everyone of with his glare for if his usual 'gangsta' outfit, black pants, black shirt, black trenchcoat, didn't do the job. Now he had the elevator all for himself. He looked at the wall of the lift, that was one giant mirror and he fixed his hair. No, he was not vain!

The elevator gave a ring as it reached it's destination, like the microwave signalling that dinner was ready. The doors opened and the first thing he saw were two more big guys in the same outfit as the one downstairs at the entrance.

'Good evening gentlemen.' He said in his most happy, mocking, tone as he strode past them.

It was just a simple, long hallway, red of course, which led to glass doors that lead to a red room.

He was way to early and coming early was so not cool, but turning back wasn't an option so with his head up high he opened the doors and strode in like he was the emperor of the entire world.

'You are early mister... uh...'

'Maxwell... but you can call me God.'

In the red room stood a long glass table with ten black leather chairs. At the head of the table, furthest (?) away from him sat an old and chubby man in a grey business suit, his greying hair was neatly combed back and he had many gold and silver rings on his fingers.

Massimo, of course.

'Massimo I assume?'

'Yes. Please, sit down.' He vaguely pointed to the chairs and then clapped in his hands. A butler came into the room through another door, carrying a drink.

'Only the finest Port, of course.' Massimo said with a big fat grin like a chesire cat.

'Of course.' Duo was starting to hate the man. He sat down and gulped the port down, surprising Mafia boss.

'If you drink slower you can better appreciate the fine taste of the port.' He said, sounding a bit angry at Duo. Agitated.

'I didn't come all the way over here to enjoy you're Port.'

'Mister Maxwell, of all the invited you live the closest to my hotel.'

Duo snorted. 'You don't know where I live.' The silence that followed his confident remark worried him. Sure he didn't know where he lived! Right?

'I've got people coming all the way from Japan.' Massimo finally said, trying his best to leave an impression.

The fact that he was trying so hard, made the man even more pathetic, but even though Massimo was not an impressive man when sharing a table with you, he was, once, the best assassin of his time. And now, the best assassins of THIS time worked for him.

Duo resisted the urge to whip his head around when he heard the glass doors open with a loud slam, shaking the fragile glass.

'Wow, you weren't lying when you said you were inviting a FEW friends.' A mocking deep voice commented, finishing with a soft, confident, laugh.

'Not all guests have arrived yet.' Galen retorted, defending himself.

Duo finally looked when the seat at the other end of the table was pulled back violently and the second arrival plopped down into it. He eyes the glass of Port, that the butler gave him, suspiciously. The redhead returned Duo's stare with a set of piercing eyes with an undefined colour, a mixture of brown, green and grey.

'Rafe.' He introduced himself.

'Duo Maxwell.' Duo nodded and turned his head. Never show interest in an assassin. It's dangerous.

Two minutes of silence later the door opened again, only soft this time and their was no greeting or comment on the amount of people sitting at the table.

He looked to the side when the chair next to his was pulled back and a lean figure, clad in red leather skirt, that reached till her knees and a tight leather jacket, came to sit next to him. Her black, sleek hair was held in a simple ponytail and she gave Duo a seductive look. The corners of her cherry red lips curling upwards in a smirk.

'Hello hello.'

'Duo, Rafe, meet an old friend of mine: Abyss.' Massimo interrupted, seeking control over what happened at the table and seeking for Abyss' attention.

She turned her head and blew a kiss in Galens direction.

At that moment the doors opened again and Duo watched as a large Indian, long black hair, deep lines in his face and simple clothing came to sit across from him giving them all a grunt as greeting.

Duo shook his head invisibly. Where these the best of the best? Funny Guy, The SM Mistress and... Duo looked at him, then at the white and black feather in his hair. He smirked.

'Wipe that smirk off or I'll cut both your cheeks from lips to ear.' The Indian threatened with a deep voice, rising from his chair.

'Don't go all Wounded Knee on me!' Duo retorted with a smirk, standing up himself.

'Gentlemen! Please! Sit down! We are here to do business!'

'Gimme a drink.' The Indian ordered as he sat down, Duo copying his actions.

The butler placed the port in front of him but the large man requested the entire bottle.

They all watched as he emptied both the glass and bottle in one giant gulp.

The next time the doors opened he heard two sets of footsteps on the soft red carpet. The first to come in his line of sight really was nice to see. A small, Asian, guy, wearing neat black slacks, a black, button-up shirt and a black (tuxedo like) jacket over it. He sat down one chair away from Wounded Knee, running a hand through his messy brown hair. That he even dared to make such a nervous looking gesture proved that he was everything BUT nervous. His blue, cold eyes, glistened with the deadly shine that every good assassin had. All of them at the table had similar looks in their eyes.

The second figure sat down next to the SM-mistress, Abyss, giving her a hungry look before taking the rest in. Strangely, he really wore a business outfit: black slacks, jacket, along with a white button-up and black tie to top it off. He smiled as he noted the long, long, platinum blond hair. He thought he was the only one.

'Well, now we just have to wait for...' Galen looked at a list in front of him 'Ace?'

Rafe, the redhead, laughed and said with a smirk. 'Ace can't make it, he called in... sick, today.'

Massimo motioned the butler, after serving his last guest a drink, to come over to him and told him to search every ally near the hotel.

'I don't want the police to find a body near the hotel of a man they already suspect.' He explained to them with a smile.

Some of them nodded in understanding while Duo was beginning to get impatient. It was half past twelve and still this didn't seem to be worth his while.

'I assume you all haven't met yet, so an introduction is at place.' He motioned to each and every one of them while saying the name he read off the list. 'Zechs Merquise, Abyss, God of...?' He looked up from the list at a smirking Duo and shook his head, like a teacher when a student misbehaved. 'Duo Maxwell,' he corrected, 'Rafe... Just Rafe, Heero Yuy,' strangely Galen looked up a said man for a moment, smiling secretively, 'Harley Tit-... Titame...' he struggled with the name and decided to keep it Harley.

'Can we get the fuck started? Or else I'm gonna need another drink.' Rafe rudely complained and then grabbed the glass away that was in front of Heero. The Asian man didn't even touch it.

Rolling his eyes the Big Boss clapped again and the butler came in. Only this time not with Port, but with papers, laying a closed map in front of all of them.

Curious as always Duo was the first to open the map. A lot of information in small letters, three pages full, between the pages lay a photo of a young man. He was obviously not aware of his picture being taken and the photo was a little blurry. It showed his backside and most of his face as he looked behind him probably searching the dog that was walking behind him.

'This man has something of me, that I want back. It is fitted with a transmitting devise, so finding it is relatively easy. Getting your hands on it however, will prove more diffucult.'

Rafe snorted and closed the map. 'Just tell me where to find this guy and you'll have him in a matter of moment.'

'You don't understand. He is a... master thief. He never sits still for too long, moving between the five houses he owns on different continents. Tracing him, even with the devise, is difficult.'

Duo stood from his chair and prepared to leave, but decided to give the man a piece of his mind. 'We are assassins, you can't just waste our time searching for stolen goods. That's what the police is for!'

Many of the other assassins agreed with him and were also on the verge of leaving. They waited for Massimo to beg them to stay and maybe explain that there was more, but all he said was: 'Believe me, this will be worth your while.'

After a while everyone sat down again, their interests sparked. They were all more then ready to earn a lot of money with an easy job.

'This is what you're after.' He held a photo of a small red box with a golden lock on it. 'In it is something of great value for both me... and the person who gets it first.' He smirked as they all leaned a bit closer to look at the picture.

'Describe it's 'value' in dollars.' Abyss demanded with an accent that sounded vaguely Russian.

'Ten million. And in the end, it will all be for one of you. Now remember, once you have it, bring it back to me and you will get you're money. Don't think you're being smart by stealing it, for then it is useless, as is your life to me.' His voice held a dangerous tone. With a snap of his fingers the butler was replaced by three guards giving each one of the assassins a small computer, no larger then a mobile phone and could detect the signal of the tracking devise. And a crisp white envelope... filled with money.

'The computer is very sophisticated. The red dot is where my precious box is.'

Duo booted it up and got a black three dimensional picture of the world blue lines separated sea from land and different countries. Currently the flashing red dot was busy crossing the Atlantic ocean, slowly, but surely.

'The tracking devise in the box is able to scan the surroundings so if you zoom in you can see that at the moment it is in a plain and you can even tell in which seat it is located.'

He zoomed in and was exited to see that up close you could indeed see everything. You had the blue outlines of the plane and the seats. Too bad it didn't have a heat detector. Humans were invisible to the devise.

Silence reined as everyone was busy playing with their new toy till Massimo made all heads turn his way as he scraped his throat.

'Whoever get's there first, wins.'

They all nodded.

Massimo waited, then smiled. 'Meaning you better get moving!'

Realisation hit them and within second the room was left empty, besides Galen, they stormed through the hall trying to be the first to reach the elevator. The shouting and sounds of footsteps stopped when they had pressed the button and were waiting in silence for the elevator to reach them. Heero was the only one who took his time, slowly walking up to them.

When the ring finally sounded it was pushing, pulling and shouting again, like they were a bunch of hungry chimps trying to get to the food first.

Duo watched his own reflection as they were all cramped together in the small elevator. He took the time to study them all. Abyss was physically the dream of every man. She had the perfect body and a pretty face, but in the position she was now in, he could see there was a gun strapped to the inside of her thighs. That tight skirt really left nothing unseen.

Rafe was tapping his foot on the floor while playing with the newly acquired devise. His red hear was slicked back and Duo now noticed the many piercings in his ear.

Wounded knee... no Harley with-the-unpronounceable-last-name looked like a rapist to him, especially with the looks he was giving the only feminine assassin among them. Among the deep lines in his face from rough life were scars from many fights and his ordinary clothing had bloodstains on it.

Then the blond guy, Zechs, with his cold icy blue eyes. He looked like a vulture, only he dared to bet he was no scavenger. The tie around his neck had been loosened and his hands were dug deep into his pockets while he was staring at the panel of shifting numbers that told them which floor they passed. 29. 28. 27. 26...

His eyes searched his last rival, looking a little lower, for he estimated the Asian at a length of 5.8 or 5.9 feet while he himself stood a good 5.11. When he finally found the man he quickly averted his eyes when he noticed Heero was staring right back at him.

The elevator ringed again and the door opened. They all pushed to get out first and also pushed away other people that were waiting to enter the elevator. They ran through the lobby and on the street. This was useless. If the target was ten feet away, running would be useful. But he was miles and miles away. They had to book a flight and do this sensible. So Duo slowed down and fished the computer out of his pocket. The box was still on the plane.

Stopping he turned back, the others were long gone, in much of a hurry but he saw the retreating black back of his small rival, slowly disappearing between the crowd. His confidence worried him.

'Strange Fellow...' He softly commented, then whistled loudly for a cab. Once inside and on his way to his apartment to grab some things he fished the folded up file out of the large pocket of his trenchcoat and read it carefully. He was one of the few who were smart enough to take the file with him. A useful advantage.

Wow... I finally did it! I finally wrote another chapter! I'm amazing! ... well, okay, not AMAZING but at least I finally did SOMETHING!

It would be a great pleasure to receive reviews once again!

Hugs, kisses and cookies.

C.W.