The Demon Gundam
by quicksylver

Standard disclaimers apply...all original characters owned by me.
No unautorised posting allowed.

Chapter 1

Duo Maxwell laughed loudly as his scythe sliced through two more Leos, causing them to burst into giant balls of fire and light. This battle was intense and totally out of control, just the way he liked it. His mirth was quickly cut short as he was jolted against the seatbraces of his gundam; a lone Leo had crept up and had held him from behind.

"Dammit!" he swore, trying to wriggle free of the mobile suit's vice like grip.

"Imagine going out in such an asshole way, boy is Heero ever gonna kill me... that is if I make it out of this alive!" Duo groaned, thinking about the glare that his psychotic partner would give him for being such a baka.

Just then the Deathwcythe rocked back, the first of the Leos had arrived and had begun it's attack. Duo bit his lip in pain as he was thrown roughly against the braces. The strap bit into his flesh again and again as the other Leos arrived and began striking at his gundam.

"Shitshitshitshitshit" Duo yelled at his console, racking his brain frantically for a way out.

By now his scythe had fallen from Deathscythe's hand and lay among the wreckage of the previously destroyed Leos. Duo moaned as he looked at the fallen weapon. On the console; the self-destruct button leered at him; as if mocking him daring him to push it and end it all. He stuck out his tongue at it and blew a raspberry, but it didn?t make him feel any better.

He knew that one day it would come to this but he never thought that it would be this soon. He thought about all the things that he had wanted to say to Heero about how he felt, that what he felt was more than friendship, but had always chickened out at the last minute. Another massive jolt shocked his Gundam causing it to shudder. Ol? Shinigami can?t take too much more of this; Duo thought to himself, glancing again at the self-destruct button.

A flash of gold caught his eye and he looked down. His crucifix bounced against his chest with every blow that Deathscythe received. Time seemed to slow down to a mere trickle and he watched as the gold cross seemed to stop in mid-air in front of his face. He had never proclaimed himself as being a believer but had kept the cross as a reminder of what had happened at the Maxwell Church, a reminder of why he continued to fight. He knew then what he had to do.

" I don't  know whose up there but you gotta admit, I don't ask for much; so if you're listening to me right now I just have one request...GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HEEERREEE!"  Duo screamed at the roof of the cockpit, his hand reaching for the little red button.

"Ryuokai Deathcythe!" a cheerful, laughing voice called over the COM;  "It's not your time to die yet"

"S..s..say  wh..what!" Duo stuttered, dumfounded. He hadn't really expected an answer.

The sound of ripping metal echoed through the air as Duo felt a weight being lifted off of Deathscythe's back. The Leo fell away, limp, then exploded. There were flashes of light as the other Leos were quickly annihilated so quickly that Duo could not see what was destroying them. Finally, when all the smoke cleared, Duo got his first look at his saviour.

"OH MY GOD!!" Duo exhaled, his jaw all but dropping into his lap.

Hovering in midair in front of him was an incredible new type of mobile suit. The sunlight glinted off the golden metal of the suit, reflecting off of the two pairs of slim insect-like wings like shards of yellow glass. It was a bit taller than the Leo Suit with a long golden staff that blazed like the sun at both ends. As Duo stared at the foreign suit it switched off its flaming staff and, much to Duo's fascination, made it contract to about half its size before mounting it neatly between the wings on its back.

"Hey, I know that you got a lotta questions but I don?t think that this is the place to do it."  The same voice from before piped in 
"Looks like we got some company coming in, so I suggest we book it and play twenty questions later, k?"

This brought Duo out of his awestruck state. Huh...Company? , he checked his console quickly, there were mobile suits coming in from the northeast and south. The other pilot was right, there were plenty of them and they were heading this way, fast.

"Well then..." the golden suit pilot laughed, "...are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to pick your weapon up and come with me. Believe me, I'm not for having to save your ass a second time in the same hour man. So what's it gonna be?"

Duo thought carefully, this could be an Oz trap, but even Oz wouldn't kill its own soldiers. I dunno, there's something about him I feel that I can trust. What the hell! Anyone who can move as fast as he can would be a damn good ally, not to mention he did save my life.

"O.K. let's go." he said, picking up his scythe to follow the now moving mobile suit.

"Right on!" the other pilot cheered as they sped off into the west until they were swallowed by the magnificence of the setting sun.

**********

The massive explosion ripped through the mobile suit hanger, throwing the small base into utter chaos. Oz soldiers ran frantically to and fro, trying to out the growing fire as well as save any survivors that may still be alive amidst the blaze that was now gutting the huge hanger. During the commotion a small figure slipped past the guard post and into the main complex.

Clothed in a soldier's uniform the intruder kept to the shadows, remaining unseen and unheard. A few seconds later he stopped at a door, his cobalt blue eyes peering through the darkness at the keypad that controlled the doorlock. The small keypad had been smashed in then ripped out. Someone had beaten him to the target. Dr. J had been very adamant, get that information from Oz at all costs.

"Ninmu kanryou", he remembered saying as he acknowledged the mission. He wasn't going to fail now.

He cocked his gun and opened the door quietly, ready to retrieve the info no matter what. The door hissed open softly and he slid into the room. He looked up and saw that the room's only other occupant had not only already detected him but was aiming a small pistol straight at his forehead. The room was filled with rows of computers with the only source of light being the one computer that was on in the middle of the room. The owner of the gun stood illuminated by the ghoulish light, left arm outstretched, ready to shoot. Heero considered ducking behind the computers for cover in an attempt to kill the other but a young voice stopped him.

"I would not try that if I were you. I don?t want to kill you but I will if you act stupid."

Heero took a closer look at his captor. The other person was young, perhaps even as young as Heero himself. He was wearing a black camouflage suit and skullcap with a small carry sack strapped to his back.

"Look I don't care why you're here but I don't want to kill you. I'm not in the habit of killing those who are not my enemy. Judging from the entrance you made, foolish as it may have been, I'd say that you're not from Oz, neither am I...so I suggest we make a deal. It's got to be quick though, they'll catch on soon that your parlour trick was just a diversion and start searching; and I for one don't want to waste valuable time in a useless scuffle that could get us both killed."

Heero thought it over. "What did you have in mind?"

"We get out of this together and you get a copy of what you want...namely this."  He held up two small disks.

"How can I be sure that you won't skip with the disks when we get outside?"

"The disks will be double locked...pasword from each of us. Deal?"

"Can I trust you?" Heero asked.

"Not really"  came the curt reply.

Hn. Honest.  " Deal."

Ten minutes and twenty unlucky guards later they were both sprinting away from the base towards a small jeep that lay under some cut foliage. Heero admired the other boy's preparedness. He was simply going to improvise his way out as usual. They uncovered the vehicle quickly and the boy started the engine. Heero paused,

"What about the original data?"

The boy smirked familiarly, much to Heero's surprise, and held up a small device.

" I never leave evidence..." he flipped the small switch, " ...never."

Heero looked back in time to see the administrative building where the info had been stored burst into flame; the magnitude of the explosion emitted such a shockwave that it began a chain reaction that soon spread to the other parts of the base, destroying everything. Heero shrugged, got into the car and they were off.

Just over a half of an hour later they were both in a shabby apartment that the boy had taken them too. Heero sat at the laptop that his temporary partner had stored in the bedroom. The boy stood at the curtain free window, looking at the full moon which was now high in the tar black sky. Heero finished retrieving the information and stood to face the room's other occupant, disks in hand. After a while of silence, the subject of his unmasked scrutiny turned toward him, his young face in shadow.

"Still wondering whether to hand them over? For all you know I might be an enemy and you don't want to just give that to an enemy." He chuckled icily. Heero thought about the gun still stuck in his belt, in the small of his back.

" I'm not interested in your business so don't wonder about mine, it's safer that way." The boy said in a flat voice, ';Just know this; in a similar way to how your enemy Oz is hidden inside the ranks of the Earth Sphere Alliance, my enemy is rooted deep within the highest ranks of Oz. In the end it is still Oz that is destroyed."

With those words he walked over and took the disks from Heero, picked up the laptop and quickly wiped away all fingerprints that Heero may have been left in the room since he still sported his black gloves. Putting the tissue in his pocket he exited the room walking silently to the front door. As he was about to leave, he paused and turned to Heero who had followed him out of the bedroom.

"You can stay here if you want, it's rented for three more days under a false name." He then indicated to a small silver key on a nearby hall table, " The key is there plus there's a handy escape route in the back but remember...no evidence."  With those words he was gone.

Heero stood there for five seconds, staring at the open doorway. Why did I let him go? He had his back to me for so long, I could have taken him out at anytime, why didn't I? He could be my enemy. Heero shook his head to clear it; he had work to do, he had to get these disks to Dr. J as soon as possible, that was his mission. He looked at his two disks, briefly fascinated at how they reflected a rainbow in the bright moonlight, then glanced about the room.

Satisfied that he would leave nothing behind he left the apartment, using a paper towel from the kitchen to hold the doorknob. Finding and sprinting down the back staircase was no problem and soon he was out on pavement. He ducked into a nearby alley way with the strange feeling that he was being watched. He hurried on, uncomfortably alert. From a nearby roof top two ruby eyes peered down at him, hungry and dangerous.

**********

Quatre grunted rudely, surprising himself. Well, he did have good cause; his mission was botched thoroughly. Intel had been wrong about the amount of mobile suits that would be at the base; there was almost three times the amount originally predicted. He would have been able to cut his losses and retreat but enemy suits suddenly surrounded him. A close range shot from an Oz beam cannon ripped into the shoulder of his Sandrock and he was down, Sandrock emitting a low metal groan that made Quatre shudder. He tried at the controls but discovered that the left balancer was malfunctioning, he was invalid.

"Oh Trowa..." he sighed, trying vainly to regain full control, "...I wish it didn't have to end like this."

To be killed so foolishly, he thought despairingly, ...without getting a chance to say so many things; our time together was much too short my love.

This is it, he said to himself as the base's last laser cannon was being aimed right at him. He cringed in expectance as the laser powered up and prepared to fire, squeezing his blue eyes tightly shut. He prayed to Allah for forgiveness of his deeds during the war and bowed his head, ready to die.

"Dragon Wing Shield!" a feminine voice bellowed over the comlink.

Quatre looked up in amazement as a dark green mobile suit hovered above him holding a gigantic whip with huge metal scales. To his horror and amazement the huge weapon broke into sections as it was cracked, those sections flying through the air surrounding both the mobile suit and Sandrock. Green light cackled between the parts, looking to Quatre like green electricity. His eyes widened, as the beam that would have surely destroyed him dissipated as it came into contact with the shield. Just then the force of the strike threw him back against the back of his cockpit and he blacked out.

He awoke groggily, thinking about a beautiful garden and wishing that the room would stop spinning. What?...room? he gasped, sitting up suddenly only to be thrown back on to the bed by a wave of dizziness. Quatre groaned, this was too much to think about when it seemed as if two hundred camels were square dancing on his brain. He remembered being in Sandrock's cockpit, Sandrock he thought where am I? For the first time he looked at his surroundings.

He was laying in a massive bed covered in pretty flower patterned linen sheets. The room also sported a floral décor; there were beautiful crystal vases filled daisies and irises on both sides of the bay window overlooking a serene ocean view as well as beautiful if not priceless works of art on the walls, all in conjunction with the floral motif. Quatre was impressed; he had not seen rooms this finely decorated since he left his father's home in the colonies. He was still sitting against the carved headboard, staring at the ocean when he heard a soft giggle.

He spun his head around to see a slim girl about his age standing in the doorway with a food tray in her hands. She smiled and Quatre's heart soared. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Kindness and gentle-heartedness practically shined from her oval face. Her  blonde hair was held in two messy pigtails tied with mis-matched ribbons; her eyes were the colour of zircon in sunlight mixed with violet and gold that swam around her irises like a kaleidoscope. He sat transfixed as she wrinkled her petite nose and sat at the edge of the bed, her pink mouth upturned in a knowing smile.

"I had a feeling that you would be up by now,"she said in a singing voice "...so I brought some food. Hope you like soup! That's a nasty bump you have there, you've been out of it for almost four hours. I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

When he finally gathered his wits about him he spoke.

"Where am I?"

" My place"  she answered simply chuckling at his confused look, " ...in a nut shell it's a remote ranch near the Colorado Rockies. Believe me, it took me some time to haul that gundam way out here but you can thank me later."

Quatre sputtered, "The gundam...how do you know?...how did you?...Who are you?"

"Well...this story is kinda long but since we have the time, I'll tell you ...but you have to eat your soup!"

**********

Trowa's mission was complete. His infiltration of the research centre was almost too easy. They're gettingsloppy with security, he thought to himself as he placed a small explosive at the base of a storage tank containing a highly flammable chemical. It was rumoured that Oz was working on parts of some kind of new weapon here, well not anymore. He slipped out of the window and easily scaled two stories to the roof where he creeped quickly across the loose gravel, crouching everytime a searchlight passed overhead.

Like a skilled acrobat he vaulted off of the building onto the flatbed of a truck below with perfect accuracy. He dismounted quickly and noiselessly only to freeze in position. In front of him, near the door of the truck stood an Oz soldier. The man looked over his uniform with a skeptical eye. He's not sure, Trowa realized, his visible eye narrowing just a little.

Fortunately for Trowa the man became distracted for a few seconds by a garbled message over his comlink but unfortunately for the guard a few seconds were all he needed. Trowa whipped out his gun and fired three quick shots into the man's chest. Then his visible eye opened wide as he gasped:

"'Masaka!?!"

To his astonishment the man looked down at his wounds and then up at Trowa, his full of rage. Th...the bullets did no...nothing! He gasped, unbelieving. There was no blood coming from the wounds as the man stalked up to him. Trowa's surprise hindered him from defending himself and soon he found himself flying backwards from a blow to the side of the head. He shook his head slowly, trying to clear his foggy mind when he heard a soft thud.

He looked up. Before him stood the headless body of the guard. He watched in horror as it teetered in the air for a few seconds before collapsing in a heap near to its decapitated head, which still bore the look of surprise that it had died with. He stared at the body then looked up at the killer. A young dark skinned boy stood in a defensive stance; slightly crouched with feet apart; he was holding a long blue sword that glimmered in the dim light of a nearby bulb. His dark eyes burned into Trowa's, making him extremely uncomfortable. To Trowa's look of utter bewilderment he responded flatly:

" Let's go... there'll be more coming, he wasn't alone"

Trowa felt himself suddenly hoisted to his feet and dragged roughly into a nearby doorway. The boy pushed him up against the wall and hissed at him to be very still. Outside he could hear shouting and scuffling as the body was discovered. He looked around the room and cursed, the boy spun around at the sound.

"What?" he whispered harshly.

"There's a bomb in this building...it's on a timer."

"Shit" the other boy stated, bracing the door against harsh pounding which began at the same time.

They had been detected and there was no other exit. Trowa walked over intending to help brace the door when the boy sprang toward him; tackling him in mid jump, sending them both backward into a nearby wall. The door burst open, the guards spilling in. Trowa braced himself for the impact that never came. The wall disintegrated into nothing and he was swallowed by the thick darkness. As he lost consciousness he faintly heard the shouting of the guards as the room got farther and farther away with a flash of bright light before fading into nothing.

**********

"What an injustice!" a voice exclaimed across the clearing and through the trees. This was followed by an exasperated  " Itai! "

Chang Wufei wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand, tracing a line of grease that mimicked the frown already on his face. Blasted repairs! he grimaced, rubbing his sore back trough the tank top. Not only did he lack the proper parts but also execution of the smaller repairs had proved difficult, due to the various positions needed to actually reach the problem areas.

What I wouldn't give for Trowa's acrobatic skill right n...Itetetetete! he groaned as he hit his chin against a lever. Finally he gave up for the while and climbed to the top of his gundam Shenlong for a short break. Well at least that stupid American was not here to talk my ear off, he huffed thankfully.

Deep down he knew that Maxwell's joker attitude was just a mask he wore to hide his true feeilngs but sometimes he just couldn't put up with it.

A bone-chilling howl pierced the air, causing him to jump and fall into the cockpit.

" What the hell?"

He scrambled to his feet and turned his head toward sounds coming from the woods that were getting closer. He bent down into the pit and unsheathed his katana. When he stood again he cried out. In the small clearing a slim dark haired girl stood, engaged in a vicious battle with a thing...a beast. Wufei did not know what else to call the hideous creature clawing at the girl.

It stood almost seven feet with long sharp talons for fingers and toes; its face was gnarled and twisted with sharp yellow teeth that gnashed together sickeningly.Long spiked trailed down it's back to stop at a bobbed tail. He uttered a cry as the beast sung a massive arm against the female who rolled out of the way, bringing up a glowing blade to slice the creature neatly in half. He stood mollified as she then turned toward him.

" GET DOWN!"  she shouted as he heard a low growling from behind.

Hot, stinky breathe washed over his neck as he turned his head slowly, hoping to see something other than what he knew was there. Yellow fangs and ruby eyes were what he saw from the corner of his eye. Wufei's eyes rolled back into his head and he promptly fainted, clearing the way for the girl who quickly sprang up unto the gundam's chest and easily separated the beast's head from its body. The creature burst into flames that soon faded to leave no trace of the monstrosities' presence.

The girl then looked down at the unconscious pilot and shrugged:

" Men."'

End of Chapter One


On to Chapter Two

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