The Demon Gundam

By Quicksylver

Chapter Two

Standard Disclaimers Apply. Warnings: None really... just some language and yaoi.

Duo sat on the park table, munching a doughnut and swinging his legs off the side. His new friend stood a small distance away trying to hustle two large pretzels for the price of one from a short, eccentric vendor. Duo laughed as they haggled and bickered, drawing attention from passers by. He thought back to when he had first met the pilot that saved his life. They both touched down quietly, hidden from view by high mountains. Duo all but ripped his harness in eagerness to see who was behind the cheery alto that had hailed him out. He sprang out of the cockpit and off of the gundam that he had laid on its back. He looked around, puzzled to be alone.

Suddenly a figure emerged from the bushes, smiling and waving. Duo stared unashamedly; the boy was absolutely georgeous. They, by Duo's guess, were the same age. He had an oval face with soft lips and eyes the colour of the sky on a cloudless day, they were beyond blue. His head was surrounded by a halo of golden hair that was drawn back into a long thick braid that was looped loosely around his collar and fell down his back. His tanned face was split in half by a wide grin of sparkling white teeth. He was donned in a tight hip hugging pair of black leather pants and a tight plush black turtle neck sweater. He sauntered toward Duo and gave him a hug. Duo's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey there!"' the boy laughed, slinging an arm casually around Duo' shoulders. "'Love the look! Modern seminary right? Ha, just kidding! The name's Skye... Skye Shanne! What's yours? Are you hungry? I sure am, there's nothing like a battle to get those juices a-flowing y'know? I'm one for junk food myself, y'know, doughnuts especially. The chocolate ones with the chopped nuts, man, those are just your very own piece of heaven in a cool pink box, knowwhattamean?"he said all in one breath.

Duo had looked at him incredulously; here was someone who talked as fast as he did; he hadn't thought that it was possible. He liked him already. To his surprise Skye had a car hidden nearby and boy what a car! It was a red little beauty with a heart of pure speed. Duo shuddered to remember how he held on for dear life as Skye tried to break the sound barrier around dangerous curves and took flight over hills. He was a self-proclaimed speed demon.

"I love eating, singing, cooking, driving fast and fucking hard... but not necessarily in that order"he had confessed laughingly while maneuvering a very sharp curve with the confidence of a professional stunt driver, AND managing to wink at Duo at the same time.

Duo had been thankful when they finally stopped at a local fast food outlet. During the drive he had told Duo about his mobile suit which was code named Sunfire and how he worked for a private establishment who wished to remain secret.

"You're lucky y'know, I just happened to be in the neighbourhood when I heard you cause we don't usually get involved with local matters, s'against the rules n'all." He stated matter of factly.

A voice brought him out of his reverie. Skye was standing before him, grinning, with a big pretzel in each hand.

"No one can resist the 'Skye Charm', patent pending of course." Shanne exclaimed, trusting one of the pretzels into Duo's now empty hands.

They both laughed and walked towards the shiny red beamer that Skye had been tempting fate in and leaned against it. The car was warm compared to the chill of the night. Duo shivered, which did not go unnoticed.

"Whanna find a good place to catch some sleep?"' The blonde asked softly, the concern in his voice giving it a deeper, huskier sound.

Duo nodded but demanded that he drive for a while. Skye chuckled and surrendered the keys. Soon they were settled into the classy motel room comfortably, maintaining a casual string of easy conversation. Duo looked about the room approvingly; Skye admitted that working for a company with an unlimited expense account did have its advantages.

"Where can I sign up?"Duo asked jokingly and they both laughed.

They said goodnight and settled in. Duo dozed off but awoke to the sound of movement. He turned to see the other pilot emerging from the bathroom in nothing but the smallest pair of boxers he'd ever seen. God...he's beautiful he thought to himself. Skye was bathed in the light of the bathroom; his golden tresses seemed to float about his muscular frame, swirling around his slim hips to hang about his exposed thighs. Duo exhaled the breath that he forgot he was holding as the blonde shuffled to the bed and, throwing off the covers completely, collapsed unto his bed and into sleep. Duo flushed at the reaction his body was having. Get a hold of yourself Maxwell, he chastised himself, I'm already in love with Heero...I think...no...I am, I'm sure. He's the one I should be fantasizing about. Now if I could only be brave enough to tell him how I feel and hope that he doesn't laugh at me or kick the shit out of me.

Duo shook his head; he did not like where this train of thought was going. Resolutely, he turned his back on his roommate and went to sleep. Well, tried to go to sleep is more like it. The room suddenly lost all of its warmth, Duo shivered and looked across in surprise to see Skye up and alert. Slowly he eased out of the small bed, motioning Duo to do the same. Duo opened his mouth to speak when a loud crashing sound cut off his words.

He scrambled away from the window, eyes wide in shock as he stared at the intruders. Skye stood defensively between him and two enormous freaks of nature. They were tall and hideous with blood red eyes and long dangerous teeth, looking like they came from an old horror movie. Duo's heart almost stopped beating as one of them caught his eye in a lengthy stare and he could see that whatever they were, it could only be described as pure evil.

Skye muttered a curse, how could they have found us? He stood squarely between the creatures and the terrified pilot. Suddenly one of them disappeared and materialized in front of Duo.

"'No!" He cried as the Shinigami pilot was backhanded into the wall, blacking out almost immediately.

Skye growled with anger and charged the beast, calling forth a golden sword to materialize in his hands. He quickly bisected the thing and turned to attack the other but it was gone. He looked towards the wall which the young pilot was slumped against but then jerked his head quickly to a small bouncing sound. His eyes widened as a small grenade bounced in and rolled to a halt near the bed.

WHOA SHIT .

He grabbed Duo quickly and made a dash for the window. Luckily their room was on the first floor and they both hit the asphalt of the car park with a hard roll. The room then burst into a great ball of fire and Skye used his body to shield Duo's from the scalding heat of the immense flames. In no time he was on his feet, slicing at the creature that had thrown the grenade. He scanned the parking lot but there were no more beasts then looked back at Duo lying on the damp pitch.

"Let's get you out of here."' He said softly, scooping the boy into his arms.

He lay him gently into the car seat, covering him with a blanket and buckling the seat belt around him. Don't worry man...I won't let anything happen to you, Shanne thought as they drove away into the night.

**********

Heero slid from shadow to shadow along the streets but no matter how fast he went or how many detours he took; he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him. Suddenly, the hairs at the back of his neck stood on end and he tightened his grip on the handle of his gun. Someone was nearby, he could feel them. He whipped out the pistol, ready for anything; anything but what he saw then. A scream rose but died in his throat.

Around him stood three monsters, beasts that seemed to come from the depths of hell itself. They circled him slowly, baring their long yellow teeth and burning him with their bloody stare. A long forgotten feeling of fear buried deep by years of training rose up from deep within him, causing his heart to beat like a kettledrum. He opened fire at one closest to him but the bullets did nothing but bounce off the hard, shell like skin of the monsters and he could only watch in absolute terror as they advanced. He began to attack without any objective but escape but they were too strong. Their claw like hands held him and began raining blows on him.

He struggled hopelessly for a long while then gave in, defeated. He was sure that most of the bones of his body were broken and that he was bleeding internally. This is it, he admitted, I am going to die now. Suddenly, he felt himself being dropped unto the cold ground, the hands gone. He looked up painfully to see the mysterious boy from the base calmly cutting the beasts down with a long sword made of a shiny black metal that he did not recognize. The beasts seemed to disintegrate as they were sliced by the boy?s fluid strokes, giving out a blood-curdling cry as they expired. As the boy approached him he scrambled away, wincing in agony as he pressed himself against the brick wall.

"What were they?...who are you?" he demanded weakly, trying not to let the terror he felt seep into his voice.

The boy stooped and, after giving him the once over, stated in a low monotone:

"They were demons... and I am a Demon Hunter."

*********

"'D... Demon Hunter!!" Quatre stammered, his eyes the size of tea saucers.

His small hands were still clutching the floral comforter as tightly as they had been when the girl had begun her story. For starters, her name was Iria and she was the pilot of the green mobile suit known as Dragon's Flight that had saved his life. She had also brought him and his gundam to this old ranch to serve as their head quarters as well as  restore his gundam to a near perfect state and store it in a huge cavern nearby.

Whew! Great start! Apparently she and her friends had come to earth in their ;bio-mechs; (as she called them) to save mankind from the demons that had been unleashed to destroy this planet by evil forces. It all sounded like a bad anime to Quatre but the seriousness with which the girl spoke made him believe that what she said was true. He had always believed that such things as demons and other mythical creatures were just that...  myths, but Iria confessed that this belief was only partly true.

"Vampires and ogres and all that other creepy stuff exist in another dimensions but they are not strong enough to pass through the dimensional doorway into this world by themselves so don't worry. The myths are about creatures that roamed the earth long ago but they died out way back when. Their just stories now"' She stated simply as if unaffected by the severity of her words.

His thoughts raced wildly through his mind and he cringed as his mind conjured up all sorts of ghastly images of tales he had been told as a child. Though, all in all he thought that was taking all of this pretty very well. He was just deciding whether to scream like a madman or cower deeper into the soft blankets when the door opened. The girl turned and smiled at a dark skinned boy with an impassive face. He reminds me of Trowa; Quatre contemplated, suddenly moved by a deep sense of longing.

"Lisaan"' the girl greeted, standing.

The boy remained in the doorway, looking at Quatre.

"The gundam pilot... " he said, making Quatre uncomfortable as he continued to stare, "..of the one called Heavyarms is in the other room."

Quatre started, scrambling out of the bed hastily but was tangled so much in the thick sheets that he almost fell unto his face. The girl helped him upright and he blushed. She smiled and said:

"Take it easy, we'll get there soon enough...friend of yours eh?"

Quatre's heart was rabbiting in his chest as they proceeded down the hallway to the room where Trowa was supposed to be. Trowa... here? But how?... was he okay? He was a wreck with anticipation. They soon reached the doorway and entered. The room was similar to his in structure but was decorated in a georgeous blend of blues and greens, complete with a huge carved wooden four poster bed with blue and green see though curtains which were tied to the posts.

In the midst of this large canopy bed lay the slim, sleeping form of Trowa Barton. Quatre rushed to his side, having to climb onto the huge bed in order to reach his lover's hand. As their hosts watched he gently called Trowa out of his reverie and into wakefulness. A green eye slowly opened and looked at him and he gave a sigh of relief. Trowa sat up groggily then stiffened as he registered his surroundings. He looked at Quatre, then at the other two standing near the door. The boy from the base was standing with a girl he did not recognize and he looked to Quatre for some explanation. The girl cleared her throat daintily they the two pilots turned toward her.

"I think we should leave you two alone for a while, so you can catch up."She winked.

The dark boy nodded and they left the room, Trowa turned back to his blonde boyfriend who hugged him tightly and said:

"Trowa...you...re not going to believe this!"

Outside the room the girl turned to the tall boy and exclaimed sweetly:

"New couples are so sweeeeet!"

The boy shrugged and leaned against the wall to stand guard. The girl laughed and bounced down the hallway whistling a happy tune. When she rounded the corner she was stopped in her tracks. Before her a slim dark haired girl was dragging a short, chinese boy into a room.

"Andromeda!"she gasped, running to help her friend place the boy on the maroon coloured, modern style bed "What happened?"

The other girl huffed in annoyance.

"This one here decided to land his gundam in the middle of demon territory. Good thing I was scouting there or he would have been 'dawgmeat'; he fainted dead away at the sight of two Dawgboys." She shook her ebony tresses in disgust.

"'Well...what did you really expect for his first time." Iria asked softly and the girl smiled slightly.

"Come on Andy, seems that you're not the only one who brought a guest for dinner." She said, chuckling at Andy's confused look

"You'll see!"she continued enigmatically, leading her friend out of the room and down the hallway to where the other gundam pilots waited.

**********

When Lisaan estimated that enough time had passed, he knocked on the door. No answer came so he pushed it open carefully, avoiding stepping into the room. The blonde sat on the bed but the tall one from the base was no where to be seen. He sensed a presence behind the door and silently commended him for his effort, though futile. This one does not trust easily, he thought to himself. Putting enough command in his voice he flatly stated:

"I can understand your doubt but you should already know that if we meant you any harm you would not have woken to such pleasant surroundings...I assure you no harm will befall you but if you attempt to attack me I will not be as cordial as Iria"

Slowly Trowa emerged from behind the heavy door to stand beside the bed, ready to defend his fellow pilot. Lisaan nodded and stepped into the room. His face is like a perfectmask, he pondered, remembering that all to familiar look that he had once seen in his own mirror. But Andy had changed all of that when she had come in to his life like a hurricane, and he could see from the way the tall boy's eyes softened when the blonde touched him that he would soon be healed as well.Quatre grasped Trowa's hand in apprehension only to relax when his beloved's hand tightened around his.

This dark skinned boy looked ominous and not as friendly as the girl Iria did. He had stopped Trowa cold with his serious words; but if Trowa had felt any fear he was not showing it. Quatre bit his lip as the boy continued to stare at them. Just then Iria appeared with another girl with lush black tresses that went just past her shoulder blades. She looked at them in surprise and, while Iria giggled. Quatre could sense her growing disbelief. She shook her head in exasperation and placed it against the shoulder of the boy Lisaan who put his arm around her protectively. They're a couple too, Quatre realized

" Quatre...Trowa, This is Andromeda, our leader and pilot of the Red Claw and I think you already know Lisaan, pilot of the Nevaris. Forgive me for not giving introductions earlier."'Iria apologized, frowning but she then brightened saying:

"We have more good news...Ready? Well...we seem to have found another of you comrades; so that makes three! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Who?"Quatre inquired, standing.

"The chinese one." Andromeda said flatly, leaving the doorway, pulling Lisaan with her.

Iria motioned them to follow as they all headed towards Wufei's room.


*********

Wufei stared straight ahead in disbelief. He had awoken in a strangely decorated room to see two of his fellow pilots, who promptly informed him that what he thought or what he had hoped was just a nightmare was in fact very real. Not only had he seen real demons but he had been saved by a demonhunter with amazing supernatural powers from another dimension (a woman no less) whose mission was to save the earth from demon possessed maniacs within the Oz organization.

If he had his sword he would use it, of that he was sure.

But from what he had remembered, seeing the girl easily vanquish the beasts, he decided that he would not try his luck with her, or the serious one who was obviously her man. He looked over at Quatre who was still clinging to Trowa as if the tall pilot was his only means of life support. At least they had each other while he had to digest this turn of events alone, he mused, bitterness rising in his throat. They had only been together for a short while but Wufei could easily see the effect that the blonde was having on the impassive pilot.

Suddenly a voice spoke from near the door

"Whoa... gundam collection, and here I was thinking that I was the only one with a friend in need."'

The voice belonged to a tall blonde with long disheveled hair that hung in a messy ponytail. The only thing he wore was a dirt-smeared skintight black leather pants and a wide smile. In his arms was a plaid blanket wrapped bundle with feet sticking out of one end and a long chestnut braid falling out of the other. Wufei started, Maxwell. He got up from his chair to assist but the blonde girl had already rushed to Duo's side (if rushed was the right word to use as she seemed to materialize at his side as if she had been there all the time.) and began fussing over him.

After a brief hiatus, the braided pilot was resting comfortably in an upper room and the blonde boy had returned looking refreshed. His name was Skye and he was also one of the demonhunters as well as the pilot of the mobile suit Sunfire. He put himself across as the wild and talkative, happy go lucky type. Just what we need, Wufei mused wryly, another loud mouth american. Finally he spoke aloud; asking the question that he had been mulling over but feared ask.

"How do you know so much about us?"

The two boys looked to the girl who, Wufei realized, was obviously was their leader, for the answer. She calmly poured herself a cup of tea and sat down; thinking over her answer, choosing which words to say.

"Our missions..." she began, " ...often take us to many different planets, different dimensions, often to places that are populated such as the earth. Therefore it was in our best interest that we started researching the places that we are assigned to in order to...fit in better. So... before we came here we gathered as much information from our archives about you world as we could and familiarized ourselves with you in case we should meet, so that we do not accidentally destroy our potential allies."

He saw the logic in this and nodded. She continued:

"You gundam pilots, though your presence is of no real relevance to our mission, are still integral to the future of your world. It is imperative that we preserve the natural balance of whichever place we are sent. You see... we try to remain as 'quiet' as we can as not to greatly affect the equilibrium of your existence. It is a rule we strictly obey in order to avoid unnecessary disasters"

The other two nodded in agreement and there was a drawn out silence. Just then Iria had returned from seeing to Duo.

"You speak as if you have been doing this for a long time." Trowa observed. The ebony haired girl nodded.

"Yes...a very long time" she admitted.

"Tell me about it!"Skye rolled his eyes in exaggerated mock exasperation.

"But you're just children like us" Quatre declared, puzzled.

"We...merely appear to be this way. You see...we can take many forms, most are purely for convenience. Many of the planets we are sent to are humanoid in population whereas some boast a variety of species completely different to that of the human race. Therefore to truly blend into the populace of the realm we protect, we take on their form as not to attract too much attention to ourselves. As for our apparent age...this is to compensate for the size of the cockpit of our Guardians such as the case with your Gundams"

"Yeah, we can't go around as midgets y'know"'kye chuckled.

"Also, our race ages at a different pace than yours does. Even if you live to be one hundred years old you would still be but a 'child' to us. So to say that we've been doing this for a long time takes on a very literal meaning. We've been fighting demons before your colonies even existed."

Wufei listened in silence. Their story was incredible; they were older that the colonies and they were shapeshifters as well, not to mention all the things they hadn't told them yet. His curiosity was peaked, and he could see the same wonderment in the eyes of the other pilots. After a while and a  more questions, Quatre and Trowa retired and the demonhunters had taken to murmuring among themselves. He tried to listen to their conversation but their language was unfamiliar and sleep kept calling to him.

Just as he was drifting off on the plush loveseat, he was jolted out of all sleepiness by the sight of a short, serious, red headed boy dragging in a badly injured Heero Yuy. They all gathered around as the boy lay Heero unto a nearby couch. He quickly explained how they had met and what had transpired after that. Behind him the blonde boy Skye uttered the words that were also running through Wufei's mind.

"Boy! This is some helluva coinkidink!"

They quickly put Heero in an upper room and the girl set about healing his wounds. All doubts about their powers disappeared as Wufei witnessed this healing. The blonde girl placed herself in a kneeling position next to Heero on the large royal purple bed sheets and, resting her hands gently on his chest, began to chant softly. As he watched from the room's corner, her hands began to glow which slowly spread over Yuy's battered frame, through every cell in his body. Soon the horrible bruises disappeared and the skin regained its natural hue as Heero's breathing deepened and became steady.

In moments all signs of Heero's injuries had vanished. They retreated into the living area where Wufei discovered in the next few minutes that the boy's name was Tarin, pilot of Dark Wind; and that he and the blonde haired girl were a couple as she kissed him deeply in her greeting. He in turn returned the kiss with such subtle gentleness that Wufei had to chuck his first impression of the seemingly broody boy.

He was hostile in disposition and unlike Trowa's emotionless green eyes, his eyes shone at everything like living emeralds, breaking apart and putting back together everything that he laid eyes upon. Yet there was a gentleness which gave way to great compassion and loyalty. When everything was settled, their new hosts began to retreat to their rooms.

Alone, Wufei stood at the bay windows in the main living area, broodingly looking out onto the dark blue, moonlit waters of the pacific. He heard someone behind him and he turned. It was the blonde girl, Iria. She smiled serenely and said:

"You know, if you sleep now you'll not only feel better in the morning but all of those things running through your head
would make more sense after a night's rest, yes?"

He nodded. She did have a point. She then assured him that he shouldn't worry about security because the others would never have gone to sleep unless it was absolutely safe, from both humans and demons. The one thing they never joked about was security. She smiled and for some reason he felt as if he could trust her completely. He nodded again and they both went to settle in for the night. Wufei yawned mightily as he undressed for bed. She was right, in the morning he would see things more clearly...he could decide what to do next...he could.... The end of the sentence was cut off by a gentle snoring.

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