Gundam Wing is not mine. But Duo is....MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
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Duo: This is the new one eh?
Shi-chan: Hai desu, hope you like it!
Duo: *suspiciously* It's 1x2?
Seki: Hai!
Duo: nd I'm actually IN it?
Seki: *nods*
Duo: And...I'm not dead, or in drag?
Seki&Shi-chan: *nod emphatically*
Duo: Bring it on!
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Cool World
Part 1: The Girl--er, Guy--In The Box
~By Shimegami-chan
Alternate universe, shounen ai, yep...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic is NOT based on the movie "Cool World,"! I happened to pick the video up and read the back at a video store on New Year's Eve, and this story has been rattling around in my head ever since. I did, however, steal one particularly interesting concept from the movie, but since I haven't SEEN the thing I can't say it's based on it. Any similarities--other than the whole cartoon idea--are pure coincidence. Hope you guys like this. Read on!




Heero Yuy heaved a sigh as he fixed himself a frozen dinner for a meal yet again. He supposed he probably should have learned to cook, but he really had no one to teach him, and he wasn't going to be able to visit home until spring break.

Heero had only been living at Ksuriguden College for a month now, and he had decided that he was never, ever going to get used to this new life. But he had begged and pleaded for the chance to go away to school--half to escape his twisted stepmother and half because he really had no friends at his old school--and he wasn't one to give up so easily.

Heero's watch beeped, telling him that it was six o'clock. He removed the frozen dinner from the microwave and sat down in front of the TV to eat it. If there was one thing Heero could do, it was routine: every day he'd arrive home tired from his classes, grab dinner, watch TV, do a bit of homework, and then fall into bed. This was a schedule similar to the one he had followed at home, only with the time difference his favourite television show came on an hour earlier than he was used to. But Heero was adaptable, and now that he could watch Gundam at six, he had more time to study.

With perfect timing, Heero hit the remote and the television flickered to life. For the thousandth time he thanked the gods that had given his parents such wealth, to be able to send their 19-year-old son away to college and supply him with all the comforts of home! Heero turned his attention back to Gundam Wing.

The opening sequence was so familiar that he knew it by heart. "Just wild beat...communication...ah me ni..." he shut up as the five main characters snatched a bit of screen time to themselves. There was the first, Odin Lowe...he had unruly brown hair and colbalt eyes just like Heero's. The second pilot was Duo Maxwell, the alluring God of Death with the meter-long chestnut braid and smiling indigo eyes. Next was Trowa Barton, dressed as a clown and glowering at the viewer. Quatre Raberba Winner, sitting Indian-style, his slender arms extended as though he was flying. And finally Chang Wufei, proud and courageous, smiling slyly. Then the attention focused again on Odin, and Heero went back to humming the theme song thoughtfully.

His mother had always said Heero watched too much TV, and Heero could see where she was coming from. Gundam was the only show he ever watched...but he had been utterly obsessed with it since it had first begun to air just two or three months back. It came on on Mondays, Tuesday, and Wednesdays...Heero contented himself for the rest of the week with taped videos and the assorted piece of fanart. He knew his obsession had gotten a lot worse since he had arrived at Ksurigudan, but what could he do? It was a craving he could not satisfy. And there was one pilot in particular he always had his eye on...

One Duo Maxwell, now there was a man Heero truly admired. He was about as sexy as an animated character could get, and Heero wasn't afraid to admit that. Slightly more troublesome was the fact that Duo was, well, male...it unsettled Heero greatly that he had never had a girlfriend and had really never paid attention to the other sex in general. It wasn't until he had become infatuated with Duo that he had noticed this little fact.

The theme song came to an end and the title screen flashed up, bringing a smile to Heero's lips. With any luck Duo would have some screen time today, since he'd had next to nothing yesterday. Right?

With that thought fresh in his mind, Heero turned his attention back to the TV set and spent the next half-hour in bliss.



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After Gundam ended Heero retired to his room to work on his physics project. The dorm room had been built for two but Heero had no roommate, so he had converted the other side of the bedroom into a miniature lab. It was scattered with tools and wiring, and Heero really wasn't sure where the project was going...it was a transporter similar to the ones used in the military nowadays, capable of sending small objects from one port to another. Heero's father had been the one to invent the first transporter back then, and Heero had a definite advantage over the other students when his father 'let' him have the plans. Of course, if and when Mr. Yuy noticed they were missing, he certainly wouldn't blame his angelic son.

At that point though, Heero had completely had it with his failing project. The directions were simple enough, but he had to severely downsize it and was forced to tinker when he didn't have some of the necessary supplies. The damn thing was due in two days, and if Heero was going to finish it soon his sleep patterns were going to go all to hell. Luckily the thing was pretty much done, it just needed to be tested...he could do that tomorrow. It was already 1 a.m.

Heero brushed his bangs out of his eyes and sighed before collapsing on the bed. "I'll finish it...tomorrow..."


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Tomorrow came all too soon, along with an English assignment that was also due. Heero realized in disgust that if he was going to get both projects in on time, he wouldn't be able to eat or watch Gundam that night. As it was he would be lucky if he got to sleep.

With a weary sigh Heero finished with math and biology homework before turning to the physics project. "If this works," he said aloud, "I will be so grateful. If it doesn't, I'm dead." he could hear the television from the other room as his watched beeped to signify that it was six o'clock. The familiar whirring of the VCR taping the show helped calm Heero's frayed nerves.

He put the second transporter on the living room table and returned to his room and the first. Gotta transport...what? Something difficult to damage. He slid his thick silver ring off his right hand and placed it in the box-shaped device. With shaking fingers he pressed the red button on the side of the invention, praying that the ring would disappear.

The metal object vanished suddenly.

With a cry of triumph Heero ran to the living room and checked the other transporter, and saw the ring glittering inside! He smiled in relief and stuck his hand into the box to retrieve the piece of jewellery, but as his fingers came in contact with the metal it began to shoot sparks. Hastily Heero withdraw his arm but the box continued to throw blue sparks, and the only thing he could think of as the room was engulfed with fire was God, I hope the VCR doesn't explode...

Just Communication continued to blare from the TV's speakers.

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When Heero came to he found the living room utterly destroyed, including the television, and his project. He almost broke down.

The bedroom wall had crashed in violently; the other end of the transporter had probably gone haywire too. Debris was strewn all over and piled up in a pyramid shape by the demolished wall. A faint groan came from beneath the hurricane of jip rock.

"Is there someone there?" Heero asked suspiciously. He hoped the neighbour's wall had not similarly exploded.

A muffled "Help!" came from under the wreckage, and Heero ran to it and began picking it apart. Something brightly peach-colured pushed up and out of the jip rock. "Jesus...what the hell happened?"

Heero gaped at the thing. It looked like something out of one of his dreams, a living, walking cartoon character. Apricot skin and impossibly bright violet eyes looked Heero up and down thoughtfully. "I'm guessing I'm not in Kansas anymore."

"No..." Heero mumbled, unable to tear his eyes away from the wonder. It was as though a life-size cardboard cut out had come alive and just greeted him as though nothing was wrong. But it wasn't just any cartoon character--it was him. Duo. Heero found, though, that he was three-dimensional--the familiar figure turned and gave a piece of the wall a kick. "Um, yeah."

"You're real." Heero whispered. He must have been imagining this. Maybe he was still unconscious. He reached out and touched Duo's arm gingerly, his shaking fingers meeting impossibly bright but incredibly real warm skin.

Duo was eyeing him with just as much suspicion. "Where...am I?" he finally asked.

"Ksuriguden College, Japan." Heero answered with a lump in his throat. "Are you...Duo Maxwell?"

Duo stared at him. "How do you know my name? What are you anyway? You don't look like anything I've ever seen before!"

"I think this is going to be a long and complicated explanation," Heero sighed. "I can't answer your questions. But I for one would love to know how you got here." Duo nodded in response. The Japanese student extended a hand. "I'm Heero Yuy."

"I'm Duo Maxwell, but you seem to have already known that." Duo replied. "So...what the hell's going on here?"

Heero shook his head. "I'm not sure, Duo, this is beyond me. But I think I just made a major breakthrough."








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Shi-chan: I don't like how this is going so far.
Seki: Neither do I.
Shi-chan: Thoughts, anyone? Should I continue?