Chapter Three: My Enemy is… Taco Bell!

Relena and Hilde took Wing Zero and Deathscythe Hell into outer space. So far the girls had been handling the Gundams surprisingly well; especially Hilde, who had piloted OZ mobile suits before. Most shocking was the way Relena was flying Wing Zero with ease. However, it was only a matter of time before she would go crazy, like everyone else who had ever tried to handle the Zero System.

Relena and Hilde passed out of the earth's atmosphere and looked around.

"It's so beautiful up here," Hilde breathed. "I'd almost forgotten."

"Yes, it has been a long time," Relena agreed. The two sat for a moment in reverent silence. "Okay, enough time of reflection; let's have some fun!" Relena giggled.

The two began to explore. They passed one of the colonies, and some of the people watching kept saying, "Wow! It's a Gundam! No, it's two Gundams!"

As the girls entered the colony, they caught sight of the city's different features. One thing that stuck out was a large sign for Taco Bell. This made Hilde laugh.

"Well, would you look at that? A sign for Taco Bell, way up here! Isn't that funny, Relena?"

"…" There was no answer from Zero's cockpit.

"Relena? Everything okay?"

"..." Relena started breathing hard. Slowly her eyes went out of focus. Soon, all she could see was that sign for Taco Bell. Her vision was like a kaleidoscope; there were little Taco Bells everywhere.

"Zero's telling me that my enemy is..." Relena panted. "My enemy is..." Her eyes turned red as she screamed, "MY ENEMY IS... TACO BELL!"

Wing Zero raised its buster rifle and zoomed toward Taco Bell.

"Whoa, taking a run for the border, Princess?" Hilde joked weakly. She didn't realize what was happening to Relena inside the Gundam.

Wing Zero opened fire on Taco Bell, and people in the colonies ran around screaming, "It's a Gundam! But why is the Gundam attacking? The war is supposed to be over!"

"Relena! RELENA!" Hilde screamed, lunging Deathscythe at Wing Zero. It was no use; Hilde couldn't stop the impending doom ahead.

After a few seconds of hell, Relena's target was destroyed, but the colony was obliterated in the process. The dust and debris cleared, and there stood Wing Zero, with Relena back to her old self.

"So, Hilde," she said. "What are we gonna do now? Outer space is pretty boring, once you get down to it..."

"RELENA!" Hilde's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of her head. "You just destroyed the Zeon colony!"

Relena looked confused. "Zeon colony? What colony? I don't see anything but dust! They must be really messy..."

Hilde looked exasperated. "I can't believe it. You don't even realize what you did. You must've been possessed or something!"

Relena still looked puzzled. "Hilde… what are you talking about?"

Before Hilde could reply, another mobile suit flew up. It appeared to be an older model than Wing Zero.

"Hey, you! Nice mobile suit!" The pilot called to Relena. "I just wanted to thank you for doing my job for me."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The pilot removed his helmet so that Relena could seehim more clearlyon her vid-screen, andcurly hair tumbled aroundhis face. "My name's Amuro Ray. My mission was to destroy Zeon, but you did it for me! Hurray! I'm free! Woo-hoo!" With that, he flew away.

Still in the dark about the situation, Relena began to follow Hilde back to earth.

In the mean time, Duo and Heero stopped at a hotel for the night. They made sure to find one that hadsatellite TVand were now arguing over which show to watch.

"Come on, Heero. It's been a long day. I want to unwind and watch something funny!"

"Like you need to unwind, Duo. As you recall, I was the one doing all of the driving."

"I know, and you're still not tired! You truly amaze me, Heero... Now give me that remote!"

"Not on your life!" The two wrestled over it, and Heero got it back. Duo complained loudly as Heero changed the channel from Happy Days to MacGyver.

"What's so cool about MacGyver?" Duo griped. "He's just a guy that slaps a bunch of nails and duct tape together and saves the day! I mean, come on, how realistic is that?" (Just like a bunch of teenage boys in big robots equipped with deadly weapons flying around outer space and saving the world from war and devastation is so realistic!)

"MacGyver blows stuff up," Heero answered tonelessly, his eyes glued to the TV screen. "I like watching stuff blow up."

Duo backed off. "O-okay, I'll just let you indulge in your little psycho pleasures, then!"

Suddenly a news broadcast broke in the middle of the show. "Hey, what are they interrupting MacGyver for? It'd better be important!" Heero grunted, annoyed.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a live broadcast fromouter space," said a well-coiffed newswoman, who wasdressed ina pink spacesuit. "We are right where the Zeon colony was once located. Gundam pilot Amuro Ray received help from a mysterious mobile suit earlier this evening. The pilot of this Gundam refuses to comment, but he destroyed the entire colony single-handedly! Amuro had received a mission from White Base to destroy Zeon, but now he doesn't have to! Now that's what I call, Mission: Accomplished." The newswoman chuckled at her own joke. "Back to you, Chuck!"

The camera panned over to a reporter inside a spaceship. "Thank you, Bev! Hi, folks, I'm Chuck Charleston reporting for News Nightly. I'm here on the U.S.S. Teaspoon alongside the brave young pilot Amuro Ray. Amuro, you've successfully completed your mission to destroy Zeon. What do you plan to do now?"

"Frau-Bo, I hope you're out there watching, because we're going to Disney Land! Woooo-hooo!"

"Who is that guy, and why does he sound just like Quatre?" Duo wondered aloud.

Heero shrugged. "What does it matter? As long as he doesn't cross paths with us, there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Duo clasped his hands behind his head and continued to watch the news. Then he and Heero noticed something looming behind the U.S.S. Teaspoon.

"Zero?" Heero muttered in disbelief. "Duo, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Deathscythe, old buddy!"

"We've lost 'em," Heero said with a deep sigh.

Duo clamped his hand on Heero's shoulder. "Don't worry, Heero, we'll get them back!"

"I don't like anyone touching my mobile suit," Heero glowered.

"Come on, He-man!" Duo shot to his feet. "To the Mustang!" The two leapt out of the room and raced to the car.