Disclaimer:Ok, ya’ll know that I don’t own Gundam Wing or it’s characters yada yada yada!
Without further adu I bring you my very first fanfic: Abduction of a Perfect Soldier!
Summary: A new enemy has risen to the east of the Sanq Kingdom called the Red Fang (sorry if anyone else has used this name. I just couldn’t think of any good one’s off the top of my head). The Preventers have reason to believe they are going to attempt to assassinate (or kidnap) Relena at her anniversary party--or are they? Could Red Fang maybe have someone else in mind?
Well, you can only find out if you read: Abduction of a Perfect Soldier! I hope you’ll enjoy the story because I’ve gone though hell to complete it!
Warning: the first part of this is kinda dull but it get’s better as we roll along! Another thing, this is an extremely looonnnnggg story!!!!! It took me quite a while to write all of it. *shutters as she thinks back to all the nights she stayed up writing* and it is my very first fic so so please don’t flame me! I’m just a beginner here!
Oh, and by the way, I decided to ignore Endless Waltz and so the Gundams still exist.(just thought you should know ^_^) Also, so there will be no confusion, the White Fang, Rommerfeller, and Oz groups have all joined forces under one rule called the Red Fang in my story. Whenever they talk about taking over the Earth and stuff though, they usually refer to it as restoring OZ’S glory even though some of them aren't apart of Oz, I know it doesn’t make much sense but it’s my story so na!
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By:~Daydreamer~
Relena sighed and put her pen down. She was so tired! Weary, she leaned against her chair as an exhausted moan escaped her lips.
A year had gone by - a whole year - since the war. Now, with the new era of peace, and her leadership position over the Peacecraft nation, she had no time to relax for even a single moment.
Relena reached over and took a sip of her cold coffee. Automatically, she glanced at the clock on the edge of her desk. It read 1:30am. Was it really that late? Relena sighed and put her cup back down. She should have already been in bed a long time ago.
There was a soft knock at the door.
Relena looked up to see Lucrezia Noin, wearing a robe tied loosely around her waist, step into her office. She had a worried expression on her face. "Shouldn’t you be in bed, Relena?" she asked while shutting the door behind her quietly.
"Hello Noin. Why are you still up?" Relena asked as she fixed her eyes back on her speech while reaching over to take another sip of her coffee.
"I should be asking you the same question," Noin said sternly, walking over to the princess. "You should have been in bed a long time ago. Have you already forgotten about the party tomorrow?"
"No I haven’t forgotten."
"Then why are you still up?"
"I need to get some things done first," stated Relena, not taking her eyes off her work.
Noin put her hands on her sides. "Worry about those later. A lot of important people will be attending this party tomorrow so it would be in your best interest to get some rest." Noin paused for a second and then added, "You may be pleased to know that I have been informed that Heero Yuy may be attending."
"Heero?" Relena asked suddenly, looking up sharply. Her heart fluttered, as it always did, whenever his named was mentioned.
"We sent an invitation yesterday to him." Noin paused. "We haven’t received an answer yet, though we believe him to be in this area."
Relena’s face fell. "He probably has more important things to do," she said sadly. Her brief excitement disappeared.
"Duo Maxwell will be coming though, as well as the other three gundam pilots."
"And what of my brother, Millardo?"
Noin sighed. "He regretfully can’t make it, although he sends his regards."
Relena put her pen down and got up from her chair. She turned and stared out the window behind her desk as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the blackness and the thoughtful look on her face for a just brief moment.
She frowned and crossed her arms. "Poor Milliardo is as worn down with work as I am." She looked back at the Lieutenant over her shoulder. "What is detaining him this time?"
"There is a new terrorist group that has risen in the country to the east of the Sanq Kingdom," Noin said. "The Preventers have been trying to stop them, but the leader manages to stay one step ahead. Zechs is attempting to pinpoint where their next attack may be. The last time I was in contact with him, he was on an important lead. It’s going to keep him occupied for quite a while."
Relena looked at Noin slightly agitated. "Why wasn’t I informed of all this?"
"Zechs felt it best not to tell you for a while. He didn’t want you to be worried," Noin explained calmly.
"Worried?" Relena asked puzzled. "Worried about what?"
Noin hesitated.
Relena noticed the uncharacteristic pause and swung around sharply to face Noin. "Noin, What is it? I know that there has been something you haven’t been telling me. The guilt is written all over your face. Tell me what’s wrong Noin, what is going on here?"
Noin was silent for a moment. "I suppose I should tell you," she said slowly. "You would have figured it out eventually anyway.
"Is this about the Red Fang?"
"Yes. For what we can tell, the attacks that have been made all seem to be progressing towards the very center of the Sanq Kingdom." She paused for a moment. "They started from the far east but have been working their way west. It has come to our attention that they may be headed straight towards our government headquarters."
"But why haven’t you been able to stop them?"
"The problem is, they have been to quick for us to get a good strike at, and also they seem to have a very impressive array of weaponry, better then any other terrorist group we had had in the past. Relena, we’ve found some evidence that they may be targeting you at the party tomorrow!"
"Hum, So that’s why everyone’s been so edgy recently," Relena said calmly, satisfied that her hunch had been right.
"Now that you know about it, you can understand why Zechs has requested that you have your security increased."
"Oh, I don’t see any reason for that," Relena said quickly. "I have enough as it is already."
"But Relena, you don’t seem to realize exactly how dangerous this really is."
"I quite fully realize it. I just don’t want anymore guards, ok?"
"Heero may not be there to protect you, Relena," Noin said softly.
"I don’t expect him to be," Relena said. "I’m sure that he has more important things to do then watch over the Vice Foreign Minister all the time."
"Hn," Noin pursed her lips together in a thin line. "So there’s nothing I can say that will change your mind?"
"Not a thing."
She stared at Relena long and hard. At last she sighed. "Very well, then." With a yawn, she tightened the tie on her robe. "Inform me when you have decided to go to bed then, ok Relena?" She looked down at the stacks of paper covering her desk. "I gather you may be a while though--"
Relena looked over at the papers with disdain. She gave a slight shutter. "No, I think I’ll go to bed right now, if that’s all right. I’ll never be able get all this done tonight anyhow."
"All right, Relena," Noin said with a faint smile. "I’ll see you in the morning then."
"Good night Ms. Noin."
"Good night Relena." Lucrezia Noin went towards the door but turned back. "You will think about what I said though, won’t you?"
"I will consider it Noin," Relena said softly.
"Very good. Bye, Relena." With that, Noin went out and shut the door behind her.
Relena watched her go with a sad look on her face. Sighing, she reached over to the side of her desk and turned off her lamp. As she gathered some of her papers up, she glanced absentmindedly over at the window once more. At that instant, a great flash of lightning split through the sky, lighting up the whole night for a brief second.
Suddenly, Relena dropped her papers in surprise as something caught her eye near the bushes to the right of the mansion.
’Heero?’
The brief flash of light disappeared, and the room became dark once again. Frantically, she went over to the window and peered outside trying to find where she had last seen him, but it was now too dark to make out anything.
She waited anxiously for a long moment, just in case there was another flash of lightning, but it didn’t come. Finally, after a few more minutes, she grew tired and gave up, thinking that perhaps, it had all been in her imagination.
Still unsure, she picked up her papers off the floor, got up, and then reluctantly left the room.
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Heero watched as the light to Relena’s office faded. He stood there for just a moment longer gazing with his fierce prussian eyes fixed silently at the window.
Suddenly, a flash of lighting split the heavens for a brief second, giving him one more glimpse at the girl’s figure.
At last, it darkened again.
He tightened his coat around himself and turned away. The wind blew harshly, causing Heero’s tangled mass of brown hair to flap wildly in his eyes, but he didn’t care. His mind was on too many things at the moment to even notice it.
Thunder growled in the distance.
He had received an E-mail from Sally Poe telling him that Relena was in danger. It had not come as a surprise to him, for he had known about the situation for a long time now.
Keeping an eye on the activities happening with Oz, he had known before Sally Poe and the Preventers had about the terrorist group, Red Fang - for over five months now. He had spent all his free time hacking into old Oz databases, and had been able to access things that not even the Preventers could get into. He had scoured old files and other remnants of Oz in his searching, and everything he found all pointed to the thing that he had feared the most: they were going to attempt to assassinate Relena at her anniversary party.
Heero frowned. He would stop them. He would stop them no matter what the cost. It was the only way he could ensure the peace of the colonies and earth.
As he thought this, a tiny pang of doubt flickered in him.
He knew that the reason for doing this wasn’t for the safety of the colonies and earth. It was for Relena. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, it kept on returning to him, that strange feeling he got when ever he saw her. He had grown to care for Relena. The thought of losing her was something that not even he could fully grasp.
Angry, Heero buried his head deeper into the collar of his coat while hate boiled inside of him.
He hated all the emotions Relena brought to the surface. He was the Perfect Soldier. Having emotions was nothing but a hindrance in his mission. What he needed was to forget her and let someone else protect her. Then, a wild thought hit him.
He stopped.
‘What if they failed?’
With a frown, he started walking again, but the question kept echoing in his thoughts.
He knew that only he was able to protect her. No one else could do it. He would always have to be there to protect her. He had to be there to ensure peace.
Once more, that mocking doubt kept protruding in his thoughts. To ensure peace. That was what he had always told himself when he had saved her those many times before, but seeing Relena sitting there in her office made him feel something he hadn’t felt before inside his cold dark heart. A feeling that he wanted to forget.
An image of Relena came into his mind. Those piercing hazel eyes seemed to see straight into him - staring at him, mocking him.
He growled again. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?
He tried to concentrate on his objective.
His objective was to stop whomever was sent to destroy Relena. He had a mission and, like always, he planed on seeing it through completely.
He jammed his hands in his coat pockets, not even noticing it was now raining. Drops of cold water dribbled down his face, but he didn’t even flinch. "Relena," he whispered.
The wind howled as a dark masculine figure slowly disappeared into the shadows of the night.
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Lights flashed as the screen loaded up the data. Enemy dolls appeared before him with their weapons up in front of them, ready.
Through clinched teeth, Sarqen gave the command to begin.
Immediately, the gundam lurched forward like a lion unleashed from its prison. With an array of impressive and elaborate moves it rushed forward, sending a rain of bullets on the enemy firing below. Then, with one swift movement, it cut the first mobile doll in half as it swept passed it. Sending out a shower of sparks, the fatally wounded doll fell back and exploded.
Coming from behind, bullets wizzed by the gundam he called Phoenix.
In a split second, Sarqen sent the gundam flying straight up. It soared behind one of the machines, bringing it’s blood red saber down on his enemie's back, slicing it in two from the shoulder down.
With his arms locked, Sarqen fought hard to keep control of the system. He sent the machine down on the third doll, destroying it with a single blow of his saber.
It was starting; the power was intensifying.
Sarqen’s body was now drenched in sweat, and his hands were shaking from effort.
’I will conquer it!--I will!’ he thought to himself with fierce determination. As he told himself this, the screen lit up in a brilliant array of lights and color.
Another doll erupted--then another as the Phoenix grew stronger. The power of the system intensified even more. The minutes went by slowly and Sarqen was losing his strength every second.
The stress on his mind became too great! He could not withstand it! The system was just too strong!
The gundam used its laser gun to destroy three other mobile dolls that had been speeding towards it.
Sarqen could no longer even move. Now that he was totally defenseless, the system wasted no time in completely taking over the battle.
Unable to stop it, explosions erupted in front of Sarqen sending brilliant beams of yellow and red blazing directly into his eyes as the Phoenix took out mobile dolls right and left.
Sarqen tried to block out the hallucinations that were starting to enter his mind but couldn’t.
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The screen died down and went blank.
Sarqen sat there helplessly gasping for breath as images continued to flash before his blood shot, horror-filled eyes. Perspiration trickled down his forehead, blinding his vision.
He wasn’t able to move. He just sat there in the pilots seat panting, trying to breathe normally. With great effort, he licked his parched lips, shaking violently.
Through all his years of battle experience, he had never ever met a machine that came close to the magnificence of this gundam. It’s maneuverable capabilities were none like he had ever seen before, except for that of Wing Zero.
Minutes slipped by gradually. At last, he began to breathe more slowly. His jumbled thoughts began to flood back to him.
As he sat there recovering, a fury of blind rage swept over him. He let out a wrathful cry of anger that echoed through the small cockpit and then slammed his fists violently onto the dashboard.
He had failed again! He had let the Phoenix take control of him!
He lay there for a while with his fists clenched, breathing hard. Gradually, his anger subsided somewhat and gave way to frustration.
He relaxed his arms.
‘If only--If only I could find someone who knew the secret to using it’s power--’ he thought to himself miserably.
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Soldiers in dark red and black uniforms all stopped what they were doing and gave a salute to their leader. Not a sound was made while he walked by, a grave expression on his face.
Burncoff strolled through the silent mobile suit hangar giving a slight occasional nod to the saluting solders. His heels clicking loudly on the hard flat surface of the underground base.
Suddenly, a wrathful yell echoed through the corridor.
Burncoff looked up sharply at the towering gundam that stood in the very center of the spacious room. His lips curled up in a slight, amused smile.
’So Sarqen, it’s looks like you’ve failed once again.’
He walked up the platform that lead to the cockpit entrance.
Sarqen winced as the bright light flooded into the cockpit. He put his hand in front of his eyes to block some of the hurtful rays. Squinting, he gave a grunt of dismay when he saw Burncoff.
Burncoff stuck his head in the cockpit. The place was too small for him to go in completely, so he stood outside.
"Having trouble with your gundam?" He asked in a half-mocking half-serious voice.
Sarqen growled and turned his back on the man. He sat there staring at the blank screen in front of him, his muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Burncoff ignored his insubordination and kneeled down.
"Well, there’s always another time," he said casually. He stared at the still quiet pilot thoughtfully. A minute went by in silence before he dared to speak.
"Aren't you going to say something?" he asked finally.
Sarqen turned to face the man fiercely. "And what is there to say sir? I failed. The Gundam’s still not responding to my commands." His voice was shaky and cracked as he fought to shape the difficult words. "It’s hopeless," he added with a look of defeat.
Burncoff frowned as he looked at the beaten man and sighed. "Perhaps it’s for the best if we just forget this Gundam," he said sadly.
He paused to rub his cold rough hand down the sleek red side of the machine he had dubbed Phoenix.
"Our forces are getting stronger. In a year or so we may even be strong enough to attack the Peacecraft nation in open battle instead of cowering in the shadows like scared little boys," he spat the last sentence out. "I had hoped that we could use this machine--" He stopped.
He didn’t complete his thought.
His eyes narrowed as he mumbled, "I hate to see the earth ruled be such weaklings." He looked down once again at Sarqen and his face softened. "You tried you best," he comforted, getting up. Turning, he straightened and walked back down the ramp slowly.
"In a few years the Peacecraft nation may be too strong to fight against," Sarqen said suddenly from behind him, getting up from his seat with great difficulty.
Burncoff turned back and looked up at him.
"We must attack now, sir. Now is the only time. Strike while the iron's hot, before the Earth Sphere gets any stronger. If we could only use this gundam we would be unstoppable. With one swift stroke from its mighty arms, I know we would win. The Sanq Kingdom would be left in ruins and Oz will be restored to its former glory once again." A new glimmer of determination came into his eyes. "If only I could find someone who knows how to use this system."
"Yes, we could go on all day with ‘if onlys’ on our mind, couldn’t we?" Burncoff said dryly. "But let’s look at this logically. No man, living or dead, could ever fly this monstrosity of a machine, can they?"
Sarqen frowned slightly.
"But I will give you this, Sarqen," Burncoff continued. "The Earth Sphere is getting stronger, but you needn’t worry about the Red Fang. We won’t be hiding in the shadows for long. The great day of Oz’s glory is coming. Sooner, Sarqen, than even you realize."
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Hey, Relena!" Duo shouted, waving like a maniac out of the black limousine window as they all pulled into the driveway of the Peacecraft mansion.
"Get in the car fool," Wufei snapped, yanking hard on Duo’s braid.
Duo let out a yelp of pain and reluctantly stuck his head back into the limousine.
Relena smiled and waved at the merry bunch as they came to a halt at the entrance where she was standing.
Pagan went over to the limo door to open it. Right as he was reaching for the handle, the door suddenly swung open. He dodged out of the way, just in time, as Duo Maxwell leapt out of the car nearly ramming into him.
"Hiya Elena!" he greeted as he went over to the Princess grinning from ear to ear.
"Hello, Duo," Relena greeted as she held out her hand to him politely to shake.
Duo looked down at her out stretched hand in amusement. Then suddenly, without any warning, he caught Relena up in his arms, twirled her around while giving her a great big bear hug.
Wufei came out of the car followed by Trowa, Hildi, and Quatre. He spotted Duo and crinkled his nose in disgust. "Baka," he muttered.
Relena gave a gasp of surprise as Duo continued to happily spin her around in circles.
"Come on! You didn’t really think that I would settle for just shaking hands did you?" he asked with a merry twinkle in his eyes.
Relena tried in vain to keep a straight face. "Duo, put me down this instant!" she commanded sternly although the dizziness she was experiencing made her voice shake a little.
Duo chuckled. "As you wish, Jousan!"
Relena didn’t even have time to catch her breath before Duo suddenly stopped spinning her and let her go. With frightened yelp, she fell back a few steps and landed right into Quatre’s arms, who had been standing close by the whole time.
Not giving her a chance to get up, Quatre put his arms around her and gave her an affectionate hug. "It’s so wonderful to see you again, Ms. Relena. It’s been such a long time," he stated as he embraced the dazed Princess warmly.
Relena struggled to regain her composure. "T-th-thank you Quatre," she managed to say at last. "It’s nice to see you again also."
Right then, as her mind began to focus, she remembered Heero. Breaking away from Quatre, she looked quickly towards the limousine, hopeful.
"Is Heero here too?" she asked, trying to see past Hildi and Trowa who were standing in front of the car door.
Quatre stopped smiling. His light blue eyes saddened slightly.
"No, I’m afraid Heero couldn’t make it," he said with regret. "To tell you the truth, we haven’t even seen Heero for over a year now. He vanished right after the war. Not even Duo knows where he’s went to."
Relena frowned in disappointment. "Oh-- I see," she muttered softly.
"We’re sorry, Relena," Hildi said sympathetically, leaving Trowa’s side and coming up from behind Quatre. "We know how much you wanted to see him. --Are you going to be ok?"
Relena gave her Hildi a weak smile. "Thanks, Hildi. I think I’m going to be just fine," she said.
Duo all of the sudden spoke up. "So are we going to eat or what?" he asked eagerly. "Cause I’m starvin!"
"Duo!" Hildi exclaimed, glaring over her shoulder at Duo displeased. "That was rude! We were having a serious moment here! Why can’t you quit thinking with your stomach and use your brain for once!"
"No, it’s alright," said Relena quickly. "We need to go in and eat anyway. It’s a quarter to one already, and I am a little hungry."
"But--"
"Hey, it’s ok," Relena interrupted, giving Hildi a reassuring glance.
Still displeased, Hildi pursed her lips and glared at Duo fiercely, but her displeasure seemed to be in vain because Duo didn’t seem to even notice his girlfriend’s glares. All that he could think about was one thing. Lunch!
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Relena quickly showed everyone to their rooms so that they could drop off their luggage and then she directed them to the dining room.
Duo was the first to enter the dining room. He sped in and jumped into one of the seats, eagerly. He looked over at the rest who seemed to be going too slowly for him, and started whining for them to hurry up.
No longer mad at her boyfriend, Hildi went over and sat down next to Duo and pulled her seat closer to his. Trowa and Quatre took their seats across from them on the other side of the table.
Then, after they had sat down, Wufei and Relena came in. Wufei’s eyes flashed with annoyance as he saw Relena take the seat in the front of the row, leaving the only one seat left right next to Duo.
Grumbling to himself irately, Wufei reluctantly went over and sat down next to the braided boy who had lost all patience and was now busy piling sandwiches, cookies, and various other foods onto his plate.
Noting Duo’s eagerness to eat, Relena folded her hands and said a quick prayer over the food. After it was over, she smiled and motioned for her friends to eat.
They needed no encouragement since the long trip to her estate had left them feeling famished. They immediately started digging in.
Despite saying she was hungry, Relena didn’t follow their example. She was too disappointed to eat. She stared down at her empty plate in deep silent thought, until suddenly, a strange noise interrupted and caused her to look up, startled.
Everyone at the table had stopped eating and was now staring at Duo with utter disgust written on their faces.
Duo had a good pile of food on his plate that seemed to reach a good half a foot off the table. Not wasting a single moment, Duo had begun to quickly devour his food with such savagery and greed that just watching him made Relena’s stomach churn horribly.
"Slow down Duo!" Trowa cautioned as they watched Duo stuff a whole ham sandwich in his already food crammed mouth. "You’ll choke if you're not careful."
"Awww! You worry to much!" Duo said, with a full mouth, oblivious to the stares of his friends. As he spoke, he sent half chewed sprays of food out of his mouth.
Disgusted, Hildi reached over and hit him hard upside the head.
‘Whack!’
Duo gave a surprised yelp and nearly choked on his food. He swallowed loudly and shot Hildi an angry glance. "What was that for?!" he demanded.
Hildi just glared at him.
"What!?"
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"Where is Dorothy?" Quatre asked as he dished himself out a small portion of kesh. "I thought she would be here."
"Dorothy couldn’t make it," said Relena, trying not to notice the loud chomping sounds coming from Duo’s direction. "But she’ll be here tonight at the party."
Duo quickly gulped down his food and flashed a mischievous smile at Quarte. "Could our Quatre have a crush on a certain blond haired someone?" he asked, grinning evilly.
Quatre's cheeks reddened.
Duo pounced on it. "Is our friend, Quatre, blushing?--Weell, this is interesting." He swung his hands behind his head nearly elbowing Hildi in the face. "After all, it’s not every day someone likes the same person who tried to kill ‘em before."
Now it was Relena’s turn to blush, remembering that Heero had tried to do that very same thing to her not so long ago.
Wufei seemed to notice this and shot Duo a dirty glance. "Shut up Maxwell!" he growled. "You sicken me with your constant babble."
"Hey!" Duo said, holding his hands up while putting on his best innocent expression. "Just teasing! Quatre knows I was only kidd’en. Don’t you Quatre?"
"Of course," Quatre said quickly. "I was only asking about her. I’m sure Duo meant no harm. He was just playing. Everyone knows I don’t care for Ms. Dorothy that way."
"You see Wu-chan. Nothing to get upset over," Duo said with a huge lopsided grin.
"How many times have I told you," growled Wufei as he reached for his katana. "Not to call me that disgraceful name!"
Duo glanced nervously at Wufei, whose hand was clenched tightly to his katana’s handle. Duo let out a gulp and said quickly with a tad bit of uneasiness in his voice, "Sorry ‘bout that Wufei. It was just a slip of the tongue. There’s absolutely nothing to get excited over, right?"
"Wufei, please," Relena said softly, giving Wufei a warning glance.
Wufei looked at her annoyed and let out a growl while mumbling something under his breath that Relena couldn’t make out.
He released his hold on the katana with reluctance.
Duo gave a sigh of relief. He grinned happily at Wufei, who ignored him. "I knew you weren’t being serious Wu-man."
Now once again unafraid, Duo reached for the basket of rolls that was right in front of Wufei. Unfortunately, as he was to busy laughing to himself over his slim escape from Wufei’s katana’s blade, he didn’t see his full glass of water that was in the way of the basket. His arm banged against it sharply and the glass of water tipped over. Water came splashing out right over the side of the table into Wufei’s lap!
Wufei shot up from his seat in an instant letting out a howl as the cold water dribbled onto his lap!
Startled, Duo, who was still leaning over towards the breadbasket, looked over at Wufei. His eyes slowly swept up towards Wufei’s face, which was filled with fury. He then looked down at his side and saw that Wufei’s hand had landed once more onto his katana, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the handle tightly.
"uuuooohhh." Duo’s cobalt eye’s widened.
Wufei glared at him; his eyes narrowed to nothing more then angry slits.
Duo knew exactly what that glare mean! Without a second's hesitation, He throw down his fork and ran!
"You're mine Maxwell!" Wufei yelled throwing himself at Duo, but he was too quick for him.
Duo jumped out of his seat and ran as quickly as he could out of the room to the back near the swimming pool.
Wufei ran after him.
"Come back here, you weakling, justice will be done," he called as he pulled katana out.
Relena, Hildi, Trowa, and Quatre stared at the two boys as they exited the room in a hurry. Each one held a bewildered expression on their face. The room was completely silent for a while.
Finally, Relena broke the quiet. "Dessert anyone?" she asked.
Everyone unanimously agreed.
A few minutes later, when they were all finishing up their cobbler, there was a great splash, --followed by another splash a few seconds later.
All of their heads jerked up towards the sounds.
"This I got to see!" Hildi exclaimed as she got up from her chair and ran out to the back.
The others shrugged and followed.
Hildi went outside and spotted Wufei and Duo in the swimming pool.
"I’ll get you for this Maxwell!" shouted Wufei as he swam after Duo who was swimming like crazy trying to get away from the enraged Chinese boy!
"Hey!--it wasn’t my fault you fell in!" Duo shot back over his shoulder.
"Injustice! You pushed me in!"
"No you pushed me in and then fell in yourself! --Aggg!!"
Wufei reached out, grabbed Duo’s braid, and pulled on it. Duo stopped swimming and held the back of his head in pain, which was all Wufei needed. With a single thrust, he dunked the American under the water and held him there. It was then that he noticed the people around him, who were all laughing hysterically at him and Duo, making no attempts to stop themselves.
Wufei looked up at them furiously. "What are you laughing at you weaklings?" he demanded.
"Oh--Wufei you--you--looked so--funny!" Relena gasped in between giggles.
"How dare you woman!" Wufei hissed, his cheeks growing red. He glared at each of them, furious. Noticing that the only person who wasn’t laughing at him, was Quatre, for Quatre was feeling too sorry for the poor Chinese boy to laugh and even more sorry for Duo who was still being held under water.
But Trowa, on the other hand, was laughing so hard tears began to come into his eyes.
‘Trowa laughing?’
This made Wufei even more angry. "Stop laughing!" he yelled.
Nobody even paid attention to him.
"Quit it or so help me I’ll--"
"Uh Wufei?" Quatre interrupted.
"What?!" Wufei shouted glaring irately at Quatre.
Quatre shrank back scared and mumbled meekly. "I-I think Duo needs to breathe now."
Wufei let out a alarmed gasp! He had forgotten that he was still holding Duo underwater!
Quickly, he let the American go.
Duo shot up from the water with a splash, spraying water every which direction! Gasping and sputtering he gulped in air, not able to speak. Finally, he asked, once he had some what recovered, "hey Wu! What ya tryin to do, kill me?"
Hildi laughed even harder doubling over and holding her sides tightly in pain.
Duo forgot about Wufei for the moment and turned to Hildi.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked hotly.
"Yo--you!" Hildi stated, pointing her shaking finger at the sopping wet gundam pilot.
His cheeks reddened even more. All of the sudden, he let out an evil laugh. "Well, I’ll teach you to laugh at the God of Death!"
At that, he sent a wave of water at the girl standing too close to the side of the pool.
Hildi dodged out of the way!
"Ooh!" Relena shouted, shocked as cold water was thrown into her face and on her dress.
Trowa and Hildi howled with laughter while Quatre looked like he was almost to the point of tears!
Relena glared at Duo who looked at the Princess sheepishly. "Sorry," he apologized.
******************************************************************
Sarqen straightened his shirt and slicked his black hair back before he entered Burncoff’s office. He gave a slight knock on the door and opened it a crack.
"Come in," Burncoff said from inside.
Sarqen quickly entered the room.
"Shut the door and lock it," Burncoff ordered without even looking up from his desk. His steel colored eyes were fixed on a folder that was lying open in front of him.
Sarqen did as he was told.
As he shut the door, he asked nervously," Uh--you wanted to see me sir?"
He closed his eyes and prayed Burncoff wasn’t going to cancel his experimenting on the Phoenix.
Burncoff looked up at him for the first time. He paused for a minute as if to collect his thought. "Oh yes!--I sent for you to ask you if you would like to be sent on your next mission."
Sarqen let out a quiet sigh of relief and relaxed a little. "Of course I would, sir," he said quickly.
"Good. I suppose you have a vague idea what you will be doing?"
"No sir, not really, sir."
"Well then listen up good," Burncoff said, closing the folder. "As you already know, we have been sending small attacks all around the east of the Sanq Kingdom. Inch by inch our troops have snuck deeper into the Sanq Kingdom; positioning themselves for attack--tonight. I want you to destroy the greatest threat that has ever been to Oz."
"You want me to kill the Vice Foreign Minister?" Sarqen guessed.
Burncoff smiled.
"Tonight she will be having a grand party to celebrate the anniversary of her reign upon the earth. That is when we’ll strike."
"But wouldn’t that be the worst time to kill her? The party will be swarming with guards."
Burncoff ignored.
"You may also know, that we have been having some trouble getting to her. It seems that we have a soldier who is very persistent in stopping us. Our sources have determined his name is--" He paused to look in the folder on his desk. "Heero Yuy," he read. "He has succeeded in sabotaging five of our missions to eliminate Relena Peacecraft and I’ve had enough."
He closed the folder again.
"I want you to kill him if he’s there," he ordered. "We have received confirmation that Heero Yuy has been seen in the area. If he is there, you must not allow him to interfere with our plans. This is what we have been waiting for these past five months. Shoot him. We can’t afford to lose. We won’t have another opportunity like this again. With him gone, we will be able to proceed in destroying our primary target, Relena Peacecraft."
For a while, Sarqen was silent, deep in thought.
Finally, he asked, "Sir, I am quite familiar with the Princess, Relena Peacecraft, however, I fail to figure out who this Heero Yuy is. Is he a bodyguard of some sort?"
A chuckle escaped from Burncoff’s lips.
He leaned back in his chair and burst into laughter. The chair let out a screech of protest at the sudden weight strained upon it.
Sarqen looked at the man with amazement, wondering what he had said that was so funny.
After he had settled down, Burncoff answered.
"Heero Yuy is no mere bodyguard! If that were true, my men would have no trouble defeating him." He smiled at Sarqen wickedly. "Perhaps you have heard of the Gundams Wing Zero and Wing Gundam?"
Sarqen looked at the man sharply.
"Yes of course you have," Burncoff said with a smile, not waiting for an answer. "Heero Yuy has piloted both gundams. If you remember correctly, he was the one that lead the assault against the White Fang and succeeded in destroying Libra."
Sarqen stood there in silence. His mind went back to when he was aboard Libra; the time of its demise. He had barely escaped with his life that day.
’So it was Heero Yuy who destroyed the battle station, was it?’ He had always wondered.
"He is reported to be a trained assassin and the perfect soldier," Burncoff continued. "He has never failed a mission." He reached over to another folder to the left of his desk and pulled out a photo.
He handed it to Sarqen.
"This." He pointed at the photo as Sarqen took it, "Is Heero Yuy."
Sarqen looked down at the picture. He couldn’t hide his surprise.
"Why he’s only a boy! he exclaimed in surprise.
The photo was a small worn down picture of a young man of about seventeen with brown hair and deep blue eyes. Though he was too muscular for a boy his age, his face was definitely young. The only thing that wasn’t young was his eyes. His eyes held the experience of a man three times his age. They were the eyes of a soldier: cold, unfeeling, and empty.
Burncoff got up from his chair sharply, a trifle of anger seeped into his voice.
"That BOY has single-handedly been able to stop almost all of our previous attacks on the Sanq Kingdom! Why, he is practically responsible of the collapse of the whole Romafeller foundation! Don’t let his age deceive you," he stated.
Burncoff pointed once again at the picture.
"That boy is a born killer. He will stop at nothing to complete his mission." His voice lowered as he added, "I suggest that you be careful, Sarqen. Don’t under estimate him. If you do you may not make it back here alive."
"I won’t," Sarqen said determined.
"Good man."
Burncoff settled back into his chair. His face resumed its normal casualness. He waved his hand signaling the end of the meeting.
"You're dismissed then," he stated coolly as he turned his chair away from Sarqen.
Sarqen bowed his head and then headed for the door.
"Oh, and one more thing," Burncoff said suddenly behind him. He turned back to Sarqen.
Sarqen looked over at the man once again.
"I forgot to tell you that I won’t be here for a day or so. I am going to a meeting with a few of our allied group leaders. While I’m gone, I leave you in charge, so don’t disappoint me."
Sarqen saluted. "Yes, sir."
******************************************************************
Sarqen typed busily on his computer. His dark brown eyes were fixed on the laptop computer.
He smiled in triumph as images popped up on the screen. He stared intensely at the boy’s picture and then, scanned the information at the bottom of the screen.
"Heero Yuy," he muttered.
He read for a while in silence. His smile broadened as he finished. ’At last, a pilot capable of flying the Phoenix.’
He closed the screen, and got up from his chair.
’All I have to do now is somehow get him here - without killing him.’ He walked out of the room with his laptop tucked under his shoulder, deep in thought.
After looking at the boy’s files, Sarqen knew that the mission Burncoff was sending him on wasn’t going to be an easy one. If he didn’t watch it, he really could wind up dead.
Yes, it certainly was going to be hard, but Sarqen seemed quite up for the challenge....