Warning(s): There shall be oddness, unnatural characters, other stuff eventually, language, Nataku, Sandrock insanity, etc.
Disclaimer: This is the thirteenth chapter so I'm not going to push my luck (ha! Luck, bad puns galore!). Gundam Wing does not belong to me or my affiliates. I would like to stress that it would be cool to own it or to have had anything to do with it so I guess I'll settle with writing fanfiction.
Parabola of Mystery
Chapter Thirteen
BOOM
Duo looked up as he surreptitiously turned a corner, with Quatre close behind. They both stopped in their tracks as the entire building shook from the after effects of the explosion. Duo's hands slid on the slick wall leaving him to smack backwards into the other pilot.
"What do those morons think they're doing? Does any part of this operation call for blowing the place up?" Duo asked.
"We can only hope it was them who initiated the explosion," Quatre said.
They waited for the shaking to stop before they resumed rushing through the white-walled halls. Duo kept a constant eye to the tracer. For some reason, whenever he thought they were getting close the blip would suddenly seem that much farther away. As he watched there was a momentary lapse before it disappeared and was suddenly much farther. He stopped in place, without warning.
"Oof," Quatre cried as he ran into his friend. He luckily had good balance and only took a few staggering steps backward. Duo ignored this and squinted at his tracer before holding it up to the dimming overhead light. The explosion must have made quite an effect on the base itself, the power was on the fritz.
"What is it?" Quatre whispered, rubbing his nose.
"Shh, I'm concentrating."
Duo kept his eyes wide open and stood perfectly still in an unusual show of patience. He literally stared at the tracer, keeping his eyes open though they trembled with the need to blink. The device cleared for half of a half of an instant but Duo saw it. He threw the small item to the floor before smashing it with his foot.
"Damn Cowards. Someone must have caught on to the one I put in Deathscythe. It keeps moving the signal around."
Quatre merely gaped in disbelief. It was more due to the strange amount of competence it would take to find the tracer and then interrupt the signal then anything else.
"So does that mean that we've just run this far in with no way of telling where your Gundam is?"
Duo sighed, "yeah so we're just gonna have to open a shitload of doors."
The Arab pilot decided to join Duo in his sigh. The both stared at each other for half a second in mutual exasperation before they were off without a word. They now had to deal with a combination of hacking locks and breaking down the doors that wouldn't open due to the power situation. All the doors looked the same and there were far too many so it was slow progress. Oddly enough, the base had a surprising number of custodial closets.
"This isn't working," Quatre said as they hacked into yet another door. As it opened, both young men leapt back as a sea of low-level, Cowardly Lion employees spilled out. The other pilot's handiwork, no doubt. Duo slammed the door shut and moved to the next one before answering.
"…I know, but we have to find him…ah screw it." Duo threw his head back and cupped his hands around his mouth to magnify his already nerve gratingly loud voice. "DEATHSCYTHE! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! THE GAME'S OVER."
He stopped as his voice bounced around and back to him, especially enjoying the word 'over'. Quatre was about to say something along the lines of that not being an acceptable strategy when they heard an even louder reply.
"DEATHSCYTHE!" The idiotic, almost childish voice could only mean one thing. Duo smiled and ran down the hallway. He stopped at the next crossroads and yelled around.
"YOU'RE DEATHSCYTHE!"
There was a long pause and "I AM?"
"YES. JUST…SING SOMETHING TILL WE GET THERE."
If it weren't enough that the base echoed everything above a whisper like a ping-pong ball, now everyone else had to do with Deathscythe's rendition of Kookaburra. Even sadder, the Gundam was in such a state that he could only remember the first line so he went with it. Again and again and again and again and…you get the point.
"Wow, I wouldn't have thought it but this is a brilliant strategy," Quatre called, louder then usual as he had his hands blocking his ears. Duo smiled and pressed on in the lead. He would stop at each new divide in the cavernous hallways, listen for half a second, and then choose a direction. They reached the epicenter, where it was loudest, in no time at all.
"I think we're in luck," Duo said as he smashed the panel next to the sliding door. Taking it out allowed the door to open slightly and Duo wedged his hand in the small gap, forcing the door to one side. He and Quatre entered to find themselves in a pitch black room. The blonde pilot brought out his hand flashlight and searched around the door to find a control panel or some sort of light source.
"Here we go," Quatre said victoriously a minute later.
The room lit up with a soft yet eerie green light emitting from tube shaped structures that ran vertically from the ceiling to the floor. The room was only lit halfway, on their side, making it feel like the rest of it faded into black. The pair felt utterly small; it seemed that they had wandered underground as the room itself looked larger then the entire base. There was a large mesh walkway far above the floor where they stood that led off into sections; each one was meant to hold mobile suits from the way they were structured. There were at least one hundred places, if the room were complete the suits would each be framed on either side by the strange lights.
Duo ran out on the walkway. Three spaces to the left his beloved Gundam sagged against the wall. Deathscythe looked even worse framed in green.
"You can stop now," he said easily to get his Gundam to stop singing.
"HELLO DEATHSCYTHE!"
"It's Duo and you can stop yelling too," Duo said.
"YELLING? WHO'S YELLING? I WANTED TO BE QUIET FOR YOU SO WE CAN GET OUT. THESE MEN WERE REALLY MEAN TO ME. THEY PRODDED PLACES I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD."
"Yeah, we really need to get him out of here," Duo said. He had to actually resort to covering his ears along with Quatre.
"How are we going to get Sandrock down here? How did they even get your Gundam here?" Quatre asked.
"I would think that they came in from the other side…" Duo started.
"THEY BROUGHT ME DOWN ON A VELLYATOR."
"What?"
"A vellyator. Sorry you probably couldn't hear me, I was speaking in my small inside voice."
"An elevator. It must be on the other side," Duo translated.
"I WANNA GO HOME. CAN NATA HELP?"
"We're going to help you get home soon, Deathscythe. You just have to wait here while we get Sandrock."
"SANDY?"
"Yes."
Duo smiled and reached over the long balcony to pat his Gundam before he moved to the ladder at the end of Deathscthe's station. Quatre stayed back as he was still looking at the Gundam.
"Quatre, stop stalling we need to get back to Sandrock and I'm sure the others are already done by n…"
Duo's words were rudely interrupted by the metal ladder breaking off from the rest of the catwalk. Quatre heard the squealing of metal on metal and he rushed over to see.
There was a loud clatter as the metal hit the hard concrete floor below but Duo was nowhere in sight. Quatre's eyes searched like mad for his friend they widened as he saw that Duo had managed to leap over to his Gundam. He currently used a twisted piece of Gundanium from the suit's leg as his precarious handhold.
"What the hell, this place looks shiny and new," Duo said through clenched teeth. There was only room for a one-handed grip but he still dangled dangerously far from the ground.
"Duo hold on, I'll help you!" Quatre said. He glanced around all over for a length of rope or some form of help for his fellow pilot.
"IS DEATHSCYTHE OKAY?" Deathscythe asked.
"I'm Duo and I'm not okay. Please stop shouting," Duo said irritably.
"I'M SORRY." It was louder then ever.
"Shit. Stop looking and just be sure to help me out of here in case things don't go well," Duo said with a slight laugh as his fingers slipped.
"Duo!" Quatre called as he moved to gape over the railing.
He fell but close to the Gundam, scraping the leg with the right side of his body before he hit the foot and then fell from there to the ground, face up. Quatre gaped, doubting that his friend was even alive until he saw his head loll to the side. Quatre could barely make out movement but he still breathed. The Arab moved backward from the railing and sighed with relief.
"IS DEATHSCYTHE OKAY?"
"No…but I think Duo is just out…maybe a broken bone or two but that's better then it could be," Quatre answered.
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Quite a while before Duo fell to his unconsciousness, something just as dramatic happened at the top of the base (this is just full of little twists today). The three stared at the soon-to-explode Lion and Trowa and Wufei did the best instinctive reaction of all, they turned tail (pardon the pun) and ran. The two dashed as one out the door and launched themselves down the hall toward the private staircase. It was then they realized that they two were the only ones in the vicinity.
Heero rushed forward and brought out his handgun before firing a few quick shots into the window. He obviously wasn't thinking entirely straight or their enemy knew his nature and the glass was entirely bulletproof.
"Shit," Heero muttered as he turned to make a mad dash for the door. This was about the instant that the other two realized that he wasn't present and the time that the bomb was ready to go off. Heero was thrown clear out of the room and into the corridor as the place blew up with a small shower of fluff.
Wufei and Trowa were readily safe where they took refuge and thus only the plaster in the ceiling shook onto their heads harmlessly. On the other hand, the building sure shook like there was an earthquake.
As things settled down they both finally rose to see what had become of the suicidal member of the group. Wufei kicked the door in and they found that the small corridor leading to the boss's room was no longer a corridor. They could clearly see out the top of the building. It was officially outside; they were surrounded by the night sky. Heero was nowhere in sight.
"Hmmm the blast wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Trowa said. He crossed his arms and further surveyed the damage. Wufei still glanced around the remains of the room for Heero. His eyes settled on a rather large part of wall that had collapsed almost wholly intact. Wufei crouched down and pulled on the other side of the wall. It was slow going but he eventually managed to get it up a couple of feet above the ground. Trowa turned and crouched down to look underneath.
"I'll give him this, he an incredibly lucky bastard," the calculating pilot said as he reached in and dragged Heero out by the strangely strong strap of his green tank. Wufei let out a long breath and dropped the piece of wall when he was fully out.
"I have to agree," Wufei said as he compulsively cleaned his hands on the sides of his pants. Heero was out cold and he was covered in nasty scratches but he was still perfectly whole.
"This mission is as good as failed," Wufei added as he turned and headed toward the door.
They ran down the still steady stairs, though the overhead lights flickered on and off in the aftershock of the blast. Trowa didn't complain that he had the burden of Heero, especially since it was Wufei that the remaining guards targeted since he was in front. Apparently the blast had sent them all running. The men fell one after another in the swift pilot's wake; two or three of them comically ran from him while screaming like little girls.
When they got down to the ground level things were strangely quiet but that was where they had found a number of worker-bee employees. They relaxed but it was a sort of uneasy calm.
"Which way did we go from here?" Wufei asked as they stood at a white-walled passage with three possible routes.
"DEATHSCYTHE! COME ON, I'M NOT EVEN SLEEPING. LALALALAL WAKE UP TIME."
The two started and Wufei turned to the right. They heard, from far off, the unmistakable sound of Deathcythe's voice.
"Somehow I'm not surprised," Wufei said and they continued on to the right. He skidded to a stop as they nearly ran headfirst into Quatre. The blonde pilot was wide-eyed and hurried but he calmed down slightly as he recognized his companions.
"Duo needs our help. He fell from…well he's unconscious. What happened to Heero?"
"Let's just say that the head of the Cowards wasn't in."
"You mean that explosion wasn't on purpose?" Quatre asked.
"No, I'd say it was pretty damn purposeful. We underestimated the enemy after all," Wufei said bitterly.
"Well I need to get Sandrock so we can retrieve Deathscythe but I am a little nervous about just leaving Duo there…" Quatre said.
Wufei regarded him with a deadpan stare. "Then why didn't you bring him with you?"
To this Quatre averted his eyes and clasped his hands together nervously.
"It was due to one of the ladders that he got hurt in the first place and I really couldn't figure out any other way down. I thought that I'd at least get Sandrock first."
Trowa shook his head and he put his free hand on his waist as they continued to talk right in the middle of the enemy base. He carried Heero not unlike the way one does a heavy sack.
"I'll take Heero out and I can even drag Wing with Heavyarms if that's necessary. I'll leave the two of you to take care of Duo," Trowa said and then he was off. The other two watched him move calmly down the hall; though he was hurrying it certainly didn't seem like it.
"So…" Quatre started, suddenly feeling the odd break in conversation.
"I can get Maxwell's Gundam…" Wufei said.
"Oh I thought that I'd get Sandrock since Nataku doesn't like Deathscythe so..much."
The Chinese pilot sighed and crossed his arms. No way was he going to be the one to take the braided wonder in. No way.
Wufei ended up being the one charged with the task of retrieving Duo.
So ends the unluckily numbered chapter. The start of it came quite easily and I apologize that it's not (intentionally) terribly amusing and if it was anyway then…good for me and I promise (wink) it was supposed to be that way. Thanks for reading.