Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Warning: language, violence, death
The Bastion of Greed and Power
The headquarters of the Romafellor Corporation was a massive skyscraper in the heart of Los Angeles, its distinctive logo of a red "R" and "C" intertwined with one another encased in a thin red circle perched near the top of the building ruled the sky in all its stolidity. The building itself cast a shadow over the metropolis, it's shadow moving around the city like it was a sundial and it was here that the seat of power that was Romafellor resided.
Across from the building itself, a few other buildings had cranes and construction equipment, each vying to reach and surpass the height of the Romafellor Building. That those was slowly being accomplished since the operator of the Romafellor Corporation had made a noise complaint and, because of his clout, the construction had to go slower since the financers of said construction wanted it to continue. Little by little these skyscrapers were reaching for the sky, their metal skeletons open to all who wanted to see them.
Back to the Romafellor building, if one were to enter the lobby through the front main entrance, they would find themselves entering an enormous room that was several stories high and covered with a marble veneer that spoke volumes of the wealth that had been put into it. Various sculptures, artworks, and plants, be they potted or not, decorated about two stories worth of wall and the rest was either inlaid with gold or left plain by veneer. It was needless to say that this one room was more majestic than any wondrous sight one could see in the rest of the world.
High above the ground floor was a dome of glass that was the lobby's ceiling and from there anyone in the offices on the higher floors could look down through it at the lobby and watch the various peoples going to and fro, doing their jobs that made the Romafellor Corporation an international powerhouse.
Standing behind a rail that prevented employees from accidentally falling onto the glass ceiling and falling to their death stood Mr. Romafellor himself, the stern man looking down and watching the ant-sized humans scurrying about in his lobby. Even from all the way up here, Romafellor could admire all the diligence and attentiveness that had been put into his pride and joy; from the large fountain where a marble replica of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius stood at attention above the water and acting as a sentry, watching even single person who entered with blank eyes; to the Hellenistic columns and friezes of Greek mythology that circled lobby and helped to prop up the elaborate staircase that took a person up to the third floor easily.
It was the pinnacle of all his success and he never failed to stop and look down at it all every single day.
As much as he wanted to remain where he was, he had a board meeting to get to, one that was decide what they were to do with their Project Maxwell specimen. Romafellor already knew what he wanted to do, it was just convincing the rest to go along with it and that was easier done than said, fortunately for him. He may be an old man but none could say he had lost his edge yet. Every once in a while, he had to deal with a young upstart that though he/she could do a better job than him and he would tear them down and apart before they even finished what they were saying.
It was never a question if he was in charge or not. He would retain his position for a long time if he had it his way.
It was time to get back to business though and he couldn't keep his board members waiting for him, now could he?
---
Hearing the door handle on the door that led into their prison, Heero and Relena looked up to see who it was that had decided to grace them with their almighty presence. Heero looked on with fury while Relena backed away and tried to make herself smaller as she watched their visitor with no little fear.
It seemed like Tsubarov was paying them a little visit.
"What do you want now?" Heero demanded, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "Is there something we have left that you can't help but want to take too?"
"And here I thought we could have a pleasant conversation," Tsubarov sneered in his deep, throaty baritone as he took a seat in one of the chairs that lined the long board table.
"Last time we had a 'pleasant conversation' with you, you kidnapped the both of us and took me away from my parents," Heero growled, restraining himself from attacking this man. He remembered too well what had happened last time and he was in no mood for a repeat of that.
"It was nothing personal," Tsubarov shrugged. "When you live in the world I live in, you have to take advantage of whatever comes your way."
"Like we would ever do something like that," Heero uttered, his voice full of malice.
"Think what you will, anybody in my shoes would have done the same thing," Tsubarov replied, waving the matter away.
"No one is as much as a bottom feeder as you are," Relena spoke up for the first time, daring to attract the man's ire to her. "What's the real reason why you're here? Your type doesn't do things like this without a good reason."
Tsubarov glared at her but then began to chuckle. "Very perceptive of you," Tsubarov applauded, mock-clapping his hands at her. "Mr. Romafellor ordered me here," he explained.
"What does he want now?" Heero demanded.
"Currently, he's in a meeting, going over what to do with that dead weight of a friend of yours. He's wants me to be with you in case he wants your bright personalities to grace his board of directors," Tsubarov answered snidely.
"Haven't we given enough already?!" Heero snarled. "We've lost our homes, our friends, our families, and now our freedoms! What more do you want, our lives?!"
"Now that you mention it…" Tsubarov trailed off, considering Heero's words.
"You can't keep us here forever," Heero stated furiously.
"I would've thought you'd have learn by now, we can do exactly that," Tsubarov replied, smirking at the teen. "Life ain't fair and only those who have power can have freedom. You don't have any power here and you'll stick around until Mr. Romafellor has no further use for you."
"And when's that going to be?" Heero questioned angrily.
"Who knows?" Tsubarov shrugged. "There are things going on that are even beyond my comprehension but if I can get something out of it, I'll do whatever it takes. If keeping an eye on you gets me in good with Mr. Romafellor, so be it."
"You won't be able to get away with this," Relena said with as much defiance as she could muster. "People will find out about this—"
"And do what?" Tsubarov interrupted. "This company has done far worse in the past and no one's made a big deal of them. Sure, they might be upset but they'll forget as soon as something shiny catches their attention and we'll be off the hook. This is reality, brat. This isn't some crappy story that you could find on the internet. Besides, what kind of moron would even want to read such a thing?"
(Pausing, the three characters peered through the fourth wall and eyed the readers currently reading this fic strangely.)
"This is for keeps," Tsubarov continued, turning to look back at the teens, "and you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Too bad for you but perfect for me."
Growling, Heero raised his fists and took a step towards the ugly businessman, said businessman standing up from his seat and towering over the Japanese youth, anticipating a fight coming his way.
"Don't Heero," Relena spoke quietly from behind. "Please don't…"
Continuing to glare at Tsubarov, Heero stepped down but he never took his eyes off the man. He wanted so much to beat the living shit out of this man but he recalled all too clearly the last time he had taken him on.
"Fucking pussy," Tsubarov taunted. "That little bitch has you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she? Women will do that to you if you let them, the little bloodsuckers."
"Don't you fucking talk about her like that!" Heero snarled.
"What are you going to do about it?" Tsubarov sneered. "Here I am; I'm waiting."
When Heero did nothing, Tsubarov added, "Just what I thought, you little pansy. Like father like son. Shame I couldn't have been there to see your folks get whacked. Would've known if he was a coward then."
Heero's fists clenched even tighter and his body shook with suppressed rage. He wanted nothing more than to kill this bastard right here and there but now wasn't the time, not when Tsubarov had the upper hand.
He'd get his dues, he would make sure of that.
---
"This is it?" Solo whistled as he leaned his head back to get a better look at the gigantic building.
"As best as I can tell, Duo's in there," Trowa replied, just as awed as his compatriot but managing to keep it from showing.
"Romafellor," Dorothy whispered in awe.
"You know about them?" Trowa asked, looking over at the blonde girl.
"They're, like, one of the largest companies in the world!" the girl explained.
"Don't really give a shit," Solo said, cracking his knuckles and getting a few looks from passing-by, well-dressed bystanders. "If they have Duo, then I guess we're gonna have ta pay them a house call."
Without waiting for a reply, the blond stepped out into the street, heading direction for the main entrance. However there was a large bus in the middle of the road when Solo stepped out onto it and it was on a collision course with him. So intent on his mission, Solo didn't acknowledge the large vehicle until after it had slammed into him. Instead of flying off, the blond remained where he was as the front of the bus contorted around him and the vehicle stopped altogether. Behind the bus, the cars that had been following it from behind crashed into it and each other, the sounds of screeching tires audible even over the overbearing city sounds.
Prying himself out of the wreckage, Solo shoved the bus away from him, which had the added effect of pushing the cars behind the bus back, and simultaneous crashing sounds could be heard a ways down the road.
Coming up behind the blond, Trowa said, "Perhaps it would've been better had you looked both ways before you crossed the road."
"Ain't my fault they're bad drivers," Solo replied as he resumed his death march into Romafellor's headquarters.
Shaking his head at the stubborn blond, Trowa followed after, Dorothy on his heels and rubbernecking at the damage that had been caused by Solo just crossing the street.
Solo pushed open the glass doors that blockaded his way into the building and he kept on going, not bothering to slow down as he went through the security's metal detectors. There wasn't a beeping sound so Solo assumed he was in the clear but apparently someone else thought differently.
"Hey! Stop right there!" a security guard commanded, loosening his gun holster visibly to intimidate the blond. It didn't work though Solo did stop moving to turn around and grab the guard by the front of his shirt. Using his strength, he threw the guard back, the helpless man flying through the air until he slammed against his fellow guard who had started to make his way over to the scene.
The commotion that resulted with a group of security guards coming out of the framework, their guns pulled out of their holsters and all aimed at the blond who raised an eyebrow at the sight.
"You guys are fast," he commented, not showing any signs of backing down.
"Get your hands up and drop to your knees!" a guard roared at him, clicking the safety off his gun.
While Solo was ready to bash some skulls open, he didn't get the chance as all the potted plants in the lobby came to life, their roots bursting out of their pots and tangling around the guards' guns and breaking them into pieces. Turning towards Trowa who seemed to look marginally better now that there was some actual green nearby, Solo accused, "Show off." Ignoring the screams of the other people as he turned back to the guards who were becoming entangled in plant roots.
Rolling his eyes, he approached one guard and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, bringing him up to his face so he could see eye to eye with him. "Okay pal," the blond said, "I'm only gonna ask this once: where's Duo?"
"What?" the guard said back, his eyes flicking upwards for a second though his confusion was still noticeable.
Frowning, Solo looked up and whistled at the sight of the glass ceiling that was high above. "Nice," the blond commented before looking back down at the helpless guard. "Is somebody here tryin' ta compensate for something?"
The guard could only shrug helplessly, his eyes latching onto something happening behind the blond. Looking behind, Solo snorted as he saw more guards storming into the room. "Welcomin' committee, huh? Gotta welcome them, I guess."
In the blink of an eye, Solo had launched himself towards the incoming guards, his body leaning down as his shoulder rammed a guard in his gut and sent him flying back to slam against the unforgiving wall. Spinning on the heel of his foot, Solo swung his other leg in ah arch and kicked into another guard who was thrown into the nearby information booth, two women employees' screams crying out as the man landed in their vicinity. Pushing up with his legs, Solo jumped high into the air, flipping backwards and landing on the marble stairs to intercept mob of guards who were thundering down them.
Like a bowling ball hitting bowling pins, Solo rushed into the group, clotheslining them all and causing them to either fall and roll down the stairs or topple off the stairs' side railings and plunge down to the floor below.
Walking up the steps at his own pace, Trowa approached Solo from behind, oblivious to the moaning of the falling guards who hadn't gotten up from their trip down the stairs. Raising an eyebrow, he commented, "You haven't lost your touch."
"These guys are just a bunch of pussies," Solo grumbled back, looking around for others to take out. Amber eyes picking out an elevator door that was opening and letting out more guards, he smirked. "Now that's more like it."
As Solo threw himself at the guards, Trowa sighed to himself. "I guess that means we're going up."
---
The dock foreman, or in this case forewoman, frowned as a large truck back its way towards her, that incredibly annoying beeping sound not ceasing in the slightest until it came to a stop.
It wasn't the fact that there was a truck here, it was the fact that this one wasn't expected. There was a schedule set up and it was strictly kept. She was going to have to identify when it was suppose to arrive and send them away to come back at the predetermined time. Mr. Romafellor was finicky like that but she wasn't about to question the direct orders from the man signing her paycheck. Her frown deepened, though, as she caught sight of the driver, a man she had never seen before as he made his way up onto the docking platform and began to open up the back of the truck trailer.
"Hey!" she called out, powerwalking over to the guy. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"Just delieverin' something," the man said, sliding the door to the trailer open.
"And might that be?" she said. "No one is suppose to be coming right now and we're expecting some specific stuff. If you don't have it, you're just gonna have to leave…"
She trailed off as the sound of calming music reached her ears. She stared ahead at the trailer and watched in astonishment as a small boy of perhaps eleven years of age emerged from the darken metal chamber, playing an odd-looking instrument effortlessly. It took about a minute for her to realize what she was seeing and despite the upturned corners of the boy's mouth which was charming her a bit, she looked up at the truck driver irritably.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she demanded. "Why is there a little boy in there and why would you even not check that he was in there! He could have died!"
Speaking over the music, the boy said innocently, "I'm not hurt at all. It's all right."
Despite the calming music, the woman snapped, "No it's not! This is child maltreatment!"
"I was only keeping my friend company," the boy said, looking up at her with large eyes, his fingers not plucking at the strings to his instrument anymore.
"You mean there's someone else in there?!" she nearly shrieked, starting to attract the attention of her fellow coworkers who were beginning to wander over to see what the commotion was.
"Yeah, he's right in there," the boy confirmed, gesturing towards the opened trailer.
Despite the alarms in her head screaming at her not to, she stomped her way towards the trailer and looked into it, squinting her eyes to try and see better into the darkness. "Are you okay in there?" she called out.
She could here someone moving, someone big. There was the sound of metal clinking together and then silence. Suddenly, an enormous hand shot out and grabbed her entire head, the large palm muffling her screams as she was pulled into the trailer, vanishing into the darkness.
There was a small bit of ruckus before it all went silent inside. Slowly a large form began to emerge, a low growling sound indicating that the creature coming out was ticked off and ready to shed some blood real soon…