Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 142
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
"I fail to see the purpose of holding a game way out in this dark forest." Lacus said, looking around nervously. The trees seemed to be trying to claw the sky into shreds, reaching with dark, leafless branches to form an arch over their heads as they drove along.
"It's a game that requires a proper setting to be fun." Rey called over his shoulder from the guiding cart. "It also requires lots of space. Trust me, it'll be very rewarding."
"I hope so." Lacus sighed, snuggling closer to Kira. Or as close as their armor allowed. She sighed mentally. 'Why did we have to choose to merge with the our Gundams? I can get close to him, but not to the real soft part, the hurt part of him that I know is still in there. His emotional armor still keeps me away, and though it appears as shiny and bright as anything, I know he's still hurting inside, even after all these millenia. I really wish he had worn something like Lexi did, and truly let me into his heart.' A few minutes more and they entered the clearing. A pot of some boiling liquid gave off a moist stench. Rey made sure they were all gathered around the pot.
"Now, don't mind the smell. It's just a prop and you'll soon be far enough away from it. I'll be right back; I need to do some final adjustments." Rey instructed them before slipping off into the woods. Zacharis stood watch over them, fingering his scythe.
"I wonder what the game is?" Athrun said.
"Whatever it is, I hope it does involve some distance from this pot. It smells horrid." Cagalli replied. Miriallia stared at the pot and then clutched Dearka's arm.
"I thought I saw an animal head in there." She explained.
"You know, lets just back up a bit. There's no way it should matter whether we cluster around the carts or around the pot." Dearka decided. Everyone agreed. They turned around and headed back towards the carts. After only a few steps though there was a bright flash of light and a thunderous boom. A shockwave of immense proportions tossed everyone to the ground and even flipped the carts over. Athrun clearly heard shrapnel buzz by just over his head.
"What the hell?" Dearka exclaimed, fingering a bloody graze along one of his shoulders where a piece of invisibly fast metal had cut him.
"They avoided the bomb." Frost said gleefully. Everyone turned to look at him.
"Who the fuck are you! What just happened!" Kira demanded.
"I told you that I'd make you pay, Lacus Clyne." Zacharis intoned.
"Zacharis Frost? What the hell is going on?" Kira snarled, starting to get to his feet.
"I would have thought that would be obvious. This is an assassination." Rey said, stepping out of the trees, submachine gun in hand. Ten Blue Cosmos fanatics, similarly armed and still in costume, fanned out behind him.
"Move Lacus and the girls over here." Zacharis demanded. Rey shrugged. It didn't matter. He gestured with the barrel of his gun. Slowly, the girls separated from the guys and walked over towards the Blue Cosmos people. The guys were a tense bunch, full of pent up anger and energy. Rey made sure that he was covering them himself the entire time.
"Now...for the preservation of our Blue and Pure world...I sentence Lacus Clyne and her companions to death." Rey said wickedly. His finger tightened on the trigger, as did the fingers of his ten fanatics. The clearing exploded with automatic weapons fire. Rey had to give the guys some credit. They managed to avoid the initial barrage by taking cover behind an overturned cart. Suddenly, a pistol barked and one of the fanatics dropped, a single bullet having hit him right between the eyes. Rey quickly dropped and rolled for cover. Having the victims armed wasn't in the plan. How one of them had managed to get a pistol was beyond him. Unless, of course, the guy dressed in the elite Celestial Being uniform had a gun. Could he have been an actual Celestial Being soldier? If so, that was just an added bonus, in Rey's mind.
"So, they want to kill us, do they?" Kira snarled, as the Divinity Gundam's eyes changed from amethyst to blood red and the faceplate split, revealing the machine's tooh-filled mouth. In an instant, Kira was once again on his feet, with hundreds of bullets pinging harmlessly off his armor. "Now's your chance to run for cover." The amethyst-eyed man smirked.
"Keep firing!" Rey called out. Suddenly, what appeared to be nothing more than a blur, but was in fact Zacharis Frost, sped by him, speeding towards Kira. Frost smirked as he swung his scythe horizontally, clearly intending to cleave Kira in half at the waist.
"You people are truly pathetic." Kira chuckled as Frost's scythe uselessly impacted with his side, the blade of the weapon vibrating loudly for a few seconds before actually vibrating so violently that the blade shattered itself into three seperate pieces. "Now it's my turn." The amethyst-eyed man smirked, freeing the crystalline blade known as Soul Calibur, from his back with his right hand, while simultaniously freeing its counterpart, Soul Edge, with his left hand, even as his twin rail guns and plasma cannons clicked into their firing positions, while the twin multi-phase cannons in his chest began to glow with a white light.
A fraction of a second later, all ten of the Blue Cosmos fanatics were suddenly vaporized as the angelic machine opened up with a full-burst from its weapons. As the four energy blasts slowly dissipated into the night, and the rail gun shells lodged themselves in a pair of trees nearly a mile away, the Divinity's eyes went dark as Kira passed out.
Kira awoke with a start. His entire body felt like it was being used like a drum by a pack of insane musicians. Kira closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. Within a few short weeks, Athrun, Dearka, Kira, Shinn and Yzak had mostly recovered from the traumatic experience that they suffered in the forest, although Dearka still ran out of breath after running for more than a mile and Yzak still walked awkwardly from time to time. Asuka, Cagalli, Lacus, Luna, Meyrin, Misato, Murrue, Miriallia and Shiho had all been going to counseling to deal with the recurring nightmares which they had been having. For once, Kira and Athrun had been able to offer advice to the girls, rather than the other way around, since they knew all about recurring nightmares. Hope and Mayu had bounced back rather quickly from the experience, as hale and hearty as ever, and spent as much time as possible with each other, and with Kira.
Athrun and Meyrin were also quickly back to their old activities, wowing their friends with their insatiable desire for each other. Luna had started watching them like a hawk, a fiercely protective, Coordinator hawk, but a hawk nonetheless, which put a crimp on their more outrageous behavior and caused a few shouting matches between Athrun and Luna, mostly about who had initiated what with whom. Dearka and Miriallia continued at their slow and safe pace, learning as much about each other as possible. They learned that they each had a love of nature and frequently took long walks in the countryside, although they avoided forests, having bad experience too recently in one to be comfortable.
Kira, Asuka, Cagalli, Hope, Lacus, Mayu, Misato, Murrue and Shiho, on the other hand, each went through several stressful periods, first with Lacus, and then in a cascade effect, every one of them, becoming severely depressed and moody. However, their complex relationships slowly got back on track, like a gyroscope that had been tipped on one side, only to wobble until it regained its balance. They had several fights amongst themselves, but nothing irrecoverable was ever said and they all managed to work through the squabbles, since all nine of them were extremely patient and gentle people at heart.