Hatred burned in Duo�s eyes, an inferno kindled by adrenaline. P.C.�s pilot had unknowingly brushed his darker side and now it hungered for revenge, thirsted for the pilot�s blood. The contestants once again stood on either side of the battlefield. The red-haired girl suddenly giggled, imagining the suits in a deserted town with tumbleweeds rolling slowly by. Freckles bunched on her cheeks as the laughter held out. Her imagination was soon mixing with her strategy, a new idea becoming fresh in her head. Jess opened a free link to all suits close enough and let the words slip from her mouth, to far gone to stop, �This town ain�t big enough for the eight of us, five of us leave.� Heero cocked an eyebrow, but his frown remained, �What the hell are you rambling about?� Only a faint tune returned his question. It was something you�d hear before a showdown on an old western. Duo caught onto her motives and was forced to stifle his laughter. He bit down on his lip to retain the outburst. Dream Chaser turned her back to the rebels and began taking wide steps away from them. She allowed song to continue floating back to them. P.C. took a few paces back, unsure of her ally�s motives, �Red, what are you doing? We still have a battle to fight.� Dream Chaser continued on her path, away from the battlegrounds. Amber glanced again at their enemy, her anxiousness coming to the surface, �Earth to Red! I�m out numbered two to five here!� Jess�s voice became present again, counting down for some unknown reason, �Three, Two, One,� The suit whirled nimbly; a round silver ball clutched in it�s left hand. �Draw pilgrim!� She yelled gleefully. The shining sphere was thrown with deadly accuracy; it struck its target square on. Zero rocked violently from the explosion, shaking Heero out of himself. Shinigami�s laughter could no longer be contained; it rang out to reach the ears of all. Jess grinned; at least someone found her jokes humorous. Heero glared at him only briefly, turning his fury onto 07.
Fang took this as his cue and charged at the nearest suit. He quickly gained Trowa�s undivided attention. The silencer was better prepared for this fight; instead of wasting bullets he began the battle with his blade. HellHound dodged the flashing metal, twisting agilely away from the curved edge. Trowa retracted the blade and sent three of his missiles for the waiting hound. Fang leapt from their path, a metallic growl issued forth as he landed. The ground vibrated under the weight of his landing. The vibrations grew stronger instead of tapering off, as they should. Dream Chaser barreled through the small opening between the hound and his silencer, trailed closely by Wing Zero. Both jetted along not far from the ground, one intent on the other�s destruction. Their pass threw up massive amounts of dust in its wake. Trowa was upon Fang before it had a chance to settle. His blade bit into HellHound�s left flank, tearing the Gundanium to ribbons. Fang tried to sidestep away from him, but the movement was to late. Trowa inserted the barrel of his machine gun in the gapping wound and began filling the suit with lead. Fang let out a whining howl before collapsing in a heap.
Deathscythe stood to the side, watching Nataku dance around P.C. occasionally striking at an opening with his beam-tipped staff. Wufei kept the newly built dragons at his side, not wishing for the same event to be repeated. Duo judged Amber�s reactions, taking note of her movements. This time he would not go in blind, not without some knowledge of her battle skills. A demonic smile slowly spread across his face, no one gets the best of Shinigami. His eyes narrowed, but the wicked grin remained plastered on his face as he continued to watch.
Nataku was slowly getting closer to the dark blue suit with each action. His finishing moves drawing ever nearer. Amber kept a close eye on Nataku, never releasing her gaze. Neither had done much damage. Wing five�s moves had yet to make full connection with P.C. while he had managed to stay out of her beam saber�s reach. Nataku seemed to materialize directly in front of P.C. His staff positioned over his head, ready to come strait down into Amber�s suit. Her buster rifle quickly separated them, the dangerous end pressed against Wufei�s cockpit. He halted, shock and fear constricting his muscles. Both quickly passed, he waited for her to fire. Nothing happened. �Do it!� he yelled at her hesitation. She kept the rifle trained at his cockpit but didn�t pull the trigger. Wufei became angry, �Damn it, kill me! Complete your victory!� P.C. lowered its weapon, contempt filling Amber�s words. �Let it be known, pilot, that you live by my mercy. I pity your weakness and advise that you stay off the battle field.� With those words, she pushed her saber into the dragon Gundam�s shoulder, rendering it useless. The force she put behind it knocked Wufei to the ground, where he stayed. The pilot battling himself internally. Deathscythe Hell activated its stealth mode, rendering him invisible to the naked eye. P.C. turned to face her next enemy, but found the space empty.
Heero�s breath came out heavily, his patience for this fight becoming thin. Why won�t this pilot show any signs of wearing out? He hadn�t been able to get many decent hits on the suit. It had returned his blow for blow, rising to meet his ability with ease. They rebounded off one another, exchanging hits faster than the eye could follow. Zero told Heero nothing he hadn�t already figured out, nothing that his enemy hadn�t already picked up on. Their battle refused to remain in one area. It shot through other skirmishes, lingered in the burned out shell of the Oz base, and traced heat streaks across the sky. Emergency lights screamed at Heero from all sides, telling him that his suit wouldn�t last much longer in this high intensity battle. He ignored the warnings. Jess was receiving many of the same read-outs; she too barely regarded them. Dream Chaser put her feet against Zero and pushed off, breaking the lock of battle. She returned her suit to the ground and watched as Heero did likewise. Zero waited for her to make the next move.
Amber gasped when she saw the wreckage of HellHound, Heavy Arms still tormenting the fallen suit. Her voice came out to high to suggest calmness, �What did you do to my dog?!� The brown-haired girl turned her face away from the main screen only briefly, typing 4A into the side keyboard. The navy sheeting of Heavy Arm�s shoulders caught a beam of sun and held it as silver sheen to mimic his movements. He turned to P.C., one machine gun catching the same beam, �Don�t send a mutt to do his master�s job.�
With one last explosion, Zero crashed to the ground. It slid, screeching, through a cement wall left from the Oz base. The iron-laced ceiling collapsed onto the still form, covering the already battered suit. Jess turned her emerald eyes to the side screen, it flashed it�s message rapidly, �4A�. She quickly turned from her victory to begin battle anew. The Gundam known by the name of Sandrock blocked her attack, no weapon in hand, �Please, we shouldn�t be fighting like this.� The voice hinted the last stages of maturity. Dream Chaser started for the noble suit, an unusual apparatus held loosely in its right hand. Once activated, the clamp hummed to life. Jess brought her suit to a stop an arm�s length from Quatre�s Sandrock, �Sorry, but you�re in my way.� One metallic hand came to rest on 04�s shoulder; the clamp contained within took hold. Dream Chaser pulled away as electricity poured through the suit, blowing out every circuit. Quatre�s scream was cut short as the transistor for his communications erupted. Sandrock fell to the ground, no longer able to operate. Her path to Heavy Arms once again clear, Jess smiled, �Much better.�
Trowa lurched as something slammed itself into the back of his suit. The ground suddenly seemed to move towards him a little to fast. Heavy Arms slammed heavily into the cement runway. Trowa�s harness was unable to lock up quick enough, his head made hard contact with the front controls. Dark green eyes were open only long enough to watch the screen go dead. A small moan escaped his lips as he slipped into darkness. Blood from the tall boy�s temple slowly seeped into the spider-web fracture in the glass.
Dream Chaser regained footing easily; turning to her ally, �Let�s get the hell out of here!� The maroon and navy suit lifted the remnants of HellHound, careful not to make the damage any worse. Both sped away from the grounds. Amber sighed, �Is it me, or is about the same way we left last time. Only then we were in a little better condition.� For a brief moment, silence ruled the other end, �They are becoming more difficult to beat. We need to train if we expect to win.� She nodded quietly in agreement.
The secluded warehouse�s main door yawned open as the three suits approached; shutting again when they�d settled inside. Amber guided P.C. carefully to rest on its back, realizing that putting weight on the suit�s legs was a hopeless option. Dream Chaser shut down as Jess emerged from its cockpit. She watched as pilot six sprinted across the empty floor to where HellHound�s rubble lay. The door to the chest cavity was dented inward, but still responded to simple command. A thin trickle of crimson ran from the hinged edge of the door, flowing down the smooth white Gundanium to puddle on the ground. The large mix-breed was in bad shape, bleeding from a dozen wounds across his massive black and white body. He whimpered weakly as Amber kneeled beside him. She neared the verge of tears, �Jess, get the jeep ready!� The Irish girl quickly registered her tone and words as panic. She leapt into the driver�s seat of the recently stolen vehicle, not bothering with the door. The jeep roared as Jess shifted it into second gear. Amber met her on the ground, the injured dog cradled in her arms. Once the hound and Amber had gotten into the back, the jeep shot from the garage, out onto the deserted street.
The white clad veterinarian reappeared from the back room, his mouth stretched into a satisfied smile, �Well, he�s going to be just fine. Let him stay here a day or two and he should be back on his feet in about a week.� Amber got up when he�d left, rage burning in her eyes, �I�m going to kill that son of a bitch, even if it�s the last thing I do. Triton Bloom will die for what he did to Fang.�
Trowa sneezed and shook his head, �Damn dust.� Duo�s yelling was audible, even though he was at the far end of the g-boys� warehouse. �He melted the front of Deathscythe! He completely fucked the front of my goddamned suit! I�m going to kill that little bastard!� He laid both of his hands on the suit�s cold black Gundanium, his face turned upward to meet Deathscythe�s green glass eyes, �Don�t worry buddy, I�ll fix ya up. You�ll be better than before, you�ll see.� Quatre tried yet again to help Heero with his wounds, �Come on Heero let me just help you out, it�ll go faster that way.� The stubborn pilot pulled away from him again, his broken arm held in one hand as he attempted to reline his humorous, �I can handle it.� The noble of the desert sighed and got to his feet, �Alright, have it your way.� Persistently stubborn, he thought as he approached Trowa. Blood had caked under the long rip across his temple, the wound still being neglected. Quatre frowned deeply as he examined it, �I can�t just butterfly this. It�s going take stitches, about five or six.� The Latino grumbled as he continued work on Heavy Arms, �Great, that�ll leave a mark. That bastard is mine next time.�
Duo looked over at Nataku, curiosity getting the best of him. The suit had yet to move, or open. He knew Wufei was alive. Why isn�t he coming out? Shinigami wondered as he made his way to the still Gundam. �Hey Wufei! You alive!� Duo yelled. He received no answer. It took the dark boy a short while to climb to the cockpit. Once up, he knocked on the outer door, �Hey Wufei, you didn�t croak on us did ya?� A few heavily muffled words made it through the triple-layered door, �I�m not worthy to pilot Nataku. I have failed her.� Duo strained to make sense of the mumbles, �What�d you say?� He hit the control and stepped back as the door snapped open. The solitary dragon remained in his pilot chair, head bowed as he muttered quietly, �The weak shouldn�t fight, I am weak.� Duo slapped his bare palm onto his forehead, �Oh god, please tell me you aren�t going through that phase again. Wufei, you aren�t weak. Everyone gets their ass kicked every once in a while.� Wufei turned his face away; �I live by his mercy alone. He pitied me.� The longhaired boy grabbed hold of the front of the oriental fighter�s jacket, rapidly lashing his hand back and forth across his face. �Snap out of it!� Wufei sat back, giving Duo a shocked look. �Don�t start that crap now, we need your help.� He yanked Wufei from the cockpit and pulled him down to join the others. �But I was defeated by someone superior to me, does that not mean I am weak?� Trowa came to help the argument, his fresh stitches already hidden by light brown hair, �Wufei, if this makes you feel any better, I got my butt kicked by a dog. You�ve got to train harder instead of moping. Besides, you won the first time.� Wufei nodded, �I suppose.� Duo was still staring at Trowa with a look of awe, �It spoke!� The silencer shook his head, �Why do I bother?� He started back for Heavy Arms, Duo trailed him, �You got beat by a dog! You were beat by a prissy, yippy little fluff ball! Wonder what its name was, Muffin? Fluffy maybe? That makes me want to know, you sure your powers work?� Trowa glanced over his shoulder, �Are you sure yours do, shadow walker?� Death of Darkness grinned, �Oh, wait I got it, its Shnookums!� He turned on Duo, �I know what its name was! Try Fuck Off!� The black clad boy stopped, his mind chewing on what Trowa said. �Wait a sec Trowa, maybe its name is Fang.� He turned slowly, �What are you getting at?� Duo held up three fingers, counting them off as he mentioned things, �There are three suits, two human and a dog. I was captured by two girls and a dog and they kept asking me about Gundanium and weapons.� Trowa seemed amused by this, �And you think getting my ass kicked by a dog was bad, you were captured by one. Not only did a dog kidnap you; two girls caught you� and I thought I was pathetic.� Duo stuck his index finger in his face, �Well you didn�t have to deal with that brunette, man that bitch was mean! She ripped off my Band-Aid!� He pointed to his forehead to emphasize his words. �The only thing good about that incident was that redhead was a little hottie, but that�s just my opinion.� Trowa shrugged, �Whatever, I�m going to do a little research.�
