Disclaimer: I don't own any of the g-boy and if I'd did... *shudders* Ahem! I DO own Christian and Kek though, so there!
"As They Seem"
Chapter 1
The odds were against the five gundam pilots as they fought against hundreds of mobile dolls. They should have known it was a trap, the whole mission went a little too easily. Sure, it was a simple mission. Just download a virus into the mobile doll system and erase all the information on the gundams. They should have been in and out in no more than an hour, but they weren't. Something, somewhere had leaked and the suits were waiting for them.
As the mini battle waged on the pilots gained the advantage.
"Ha!" the pilot of Deathscythe scoffed over the intercom system as he slung his scythe, cutting down four mobile dolls at once. "I will not be beaten by dolls!"
"Duo, you're getting careless. Focus on the objective."
Duo could practically feel the pilot of Wing Zero scowling at him for his behavior. "I am focused, Heero. Just having a bit of fun," Duo replied as he charged and sliced up a few more dolls.
"Hn..." was Heero's only response.
As the fight slowed to a halt the five gundams stood surveying the damage done. All hatches opened and each pilots stood looking over the horizon, as if savoring the brief moment of peace and silence. Neither lasted long, especially with Duo around.
"Whoa! What a fight!" called out the long-haired American, "I thought for a moment we'd lose it out there. I mean it was like wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am type deal. It was so..."
"Duo..."
"Huh? What Wu-man?
"Shut up" all the teenage soldiers chorused at one talkative boy. As expected, Duo only stuck his tongue at them in response.
They all then prepared to take their gundams back to the safe house. Duo suddenly caught the reflection of something out the corner of his eye. He turned to get a better look at it, but by then it was nowhere to be seen. Deciding to ignore it, Duo turned and climbed into his gundam. And that was the last thing he remembered as his world shook and was consumed by darkness.
*~*~*
Heero noticed Duo's hesitation as they got ready to head for the safe house. In fact, he's been noticing more and more about the braided pilot lately. He's taken note to the smallest things Duo seems to do. How many times he brushes his long auburn hair before he goes to bed, how his eyes light up when he's genuinely happy. Heero shook those thoughts from his head, for the moment at least, and focused his attention on the direction Duo was gazing in. He too saw the reflection of light, but unlike Duo, he didn't take it as lightly. As soon as he began to think it was really nothing, a plasma beam shot out from the hillside and headed directly toward them all.
It whizzed passed Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Nataku and barely missed striking Wing Zero. The blast slammed into the back of Deathscythe, knocking both the gundam and Duo forward. Heero felt something in his heart clenched when he saw that Duo was thrown out of his gundam by the sheer force of the blast. Before Heero or the other could react, there was a bright flash of light covered the whole area, blinding both the gundams and the enemy. Once the light had subsided, instinct took over and the only thing that could be seen were the Wing Zero and Nataku gundams charging toward the hill, with the intention of expressing their wrath. Barely five minutes passed and the hillside was nothing but a pile of rubble at the two gundams' feet.
Quatre's face blinked onto the pilots' screens. "I've got Duo and Trowa is taking Deathscythe back to the hanger," the little blond explained to Heero and Wufei. After receiving a confirming nod from both boys, they all took off for one of Quatre's mansions they were using as a safe house.
What they had all arrived, Quatre had already told Rashid to take Duo to the infirmary and let the doctor take a look at him. He then turned to the other boys; Trowa included, as they ran into the house. His face was a mix of concern and confusion.
"What's wrong?" asked the pilot of Nataku, taking his place against the wall.
Quatre looked up at his comrade. "This confuses me," he looked toward the infirmary. "Something's not right." Quatre started rubbing the back of his arm nervously.
"Explain," Heero commanded, his voice hovering between anger and worry.
"Well we all saw Duo thrown from Deathscythe, right?" All nodded with their faces grim. "Right after that odd light went away and I found him, expectedly, he was unconscious. But the strange thing was that there was nothing wrong with him. No bruises, no scrapes, nothing out of the ordinary except the grass in his hair."
Silence settled among them and the four of them were plagued with their own thoughts. Finally Trowa spoke up.
"That light... where'd it come from?"
"Maybe a diversion," Wufei suggested.
"Doubtful. They'd have nothing to gain. The light blinded us as well as the enemy." Trowa countered.
"What do you suggest Heero?" Quatre asked turning to face the silent pilot only to catch a glance of a green tank top turn down the hall.
*~*~*
After Quatre told them about Duo's condition, Heero had tons of thoughts running through his head all at once. Was Duo alright? Could his injuries be internal? Why did he care anyway? Heero became so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed that he had wandered down a series of halls and straight into the infirmary where Duo lay unconscious. The steady beating of the monitor brought him out of his thoughts and back to the reality of the situation. He looked down at Duo, concerned about the braided American yet never letting his emotionless mask slip out of place.
//He looks like he's just sleeping,// Heero thought.
With a shake of his head he crossed the room to the computer and began to notify the doctors of the mission's success, Duo's steady breathing keeping him company.
Meanwhile in Duo's subconscious mind... /*/ Duo looked around him and noted that he was standing in a huge, strangely familiar garden surrounded by roses of many colors. //Beautiful,// he thought, walking over to pond and gazing in. His reflection startled him. He looked the same for the most part; same eyes, long braid over his shoulder, same face, but his clothes were different. Instead of his usual black priest outfit, there he stood in classic Victorian clothes that were violet and white with gold trim.
"I never liked this style. I look like one of those idiots in Romofeller," he mumbled turning around to get a better look at himself.
"Well you got the idiot part right," called a voice behind him.
Turning quickly, Duo saw no one. "Who's there?" he shouted out into the garden.
A tall thin figure then leapt down from a nearby tree. It slowly made it's way toward Duo, each step taken with a purpose. As the figure got closer, Duo could tell that it was a male about his age but nothing else since he kept his head down as if avoiding Duo's observation. For some reason he felt like he knew this person, and that same felling told him not to let his guard down. The boy stopped a few feet in front of Duo and then looked him in the face. The boy looked exactly like him, except for the fact his clothes were red and black with gold trim and his eyes weren't violet, they were ruby red.
The two just stared at each other for a long time before Duo spoke.
"W-who are you?"
"Oh, I'm hurt. I'd think you'd remember me, of all people, young prince," the figure smirked, never taking his eyes off of Duo.
"Young prince?" The title caused something to trigger Duo's past memories. He looked at the boy again and blinked several times before a name came to mind. He took a few steps back from the boy.
"Oh, so you do remember me," the young man said, taking a step toward the retreating pilot.
"Kek..." Duo hissed, with a hint of fear building in his throat.
Kek nodded.
"But...but you're no longer a part of me, I got rid of you when I became a pilot."
"I'm as part of you as you are of me. You 'thought' you got rid of me, all you really did was put me to sleep. But now I'm awake and ready for our next battle."
"No, I cannot fight you now. There's a war going on, I have no time for you or this curse."
"I all I can say is that you're right.... You have no time for this. You have until your day of your true birth, after that well.... You should know by now," Kek smirked at the look of utter disbelief on Duo's face.
"That soon! This can't be happening. No, no! I won't let it happen," Duo screamed grabbing the sides of his head. "I can't..." he barely whispered.
"Hate to tell you this, but you have no choice," Kek spat at Duo. "You're not the only one cursed here!" Kek leapt at Duo and grabbed his wrists. Duo struggled against Kek's hold, almost in vain. "I've been trapped in this body of yours for thousands of years and I WANT OUT!"
As Kek shouted those words he slowly began to transform in front of Duo's eyes. He paled at the sight of the true monster Kek was under his disguise. Duo began to fight more violently against Kek's hold in him; it only made Kek's hands-turned-claws dig into his wrists even more. Annoyed with Duo's constant struggling, Kek released one of Duo's hands and raked his claws across Duo's chest. Duo let out a blood-curdling scream and his free hand became surrounded by a bright indigo glow. Out of instinct, he raised his hand to Kek's face and a blast exploded from his hand. The blast sent Kek flying back into a tree, letting go of Duo and allowing him to sink to his knees. Kek's body hit the tree with a sickening snap and his body slumped to the ground. He took the form of Duo again and remained motionless on the ground.
Duo was far beyond shaken up by this whole situation. He lifted his hand, which shook violently, and stared at it in morbid fascination. He suddenly heard a choked sound and he looked up and over at Kek's body. It convulsed and the choked sound was repeated. But what Duo thought was a sound of pain was nothing but suppressed laughter. Kek was laughing. Kek was laughing at him.
"Damn that power of yours," he cursed pulling his body up from the grass on which he'd laid. "You haven't beaten me yet. Not by a long shot, young prince. I am part of you. And remember...this isn't over yet!" Kek cackled and the world around them faded into nothingness. Kek soon followed the fading scenery, his last words echoing around Duo, "...this isn't over yet..."
Darkness. Complete darkness was all that was left around Duo now. Scared, confused, and feeling completely alone, Duo wept. He wept for the inevitable that one day would destroy him and he wept for his friends that he'd lose in the process.
"Quatre.... Trowa... Wufei..." the said between sobs, holding his head, "HEERO!" /*/
*~*~*
"As They Seem"
Chapter 1
The odds were against the five gundam pilots as they fought against hundreds of mobile dolls. They should have known it was a trap, the whole mission went a little too easily. Sure, it was a simple mission. Just download a virus into the mobile doll system and erase all the information on the gundams. They should have been in and out in no more than an hour, but they weren't. Something, somewhere had leaked and the suits were waiting for them.
As the mini battle waged on the pilots gained the advantage.
"Ha!" the pilot of Deathscythe scoffed over the intercom system as he slung his scythe, cutting down four mobile dolls at once. "I will not be beaten by dolls!"
"Duo, you're getting careless. Focus on the objective."
Duo could practically feel the pilot of Wing Zero scowling at him for his behavior. "I am focused, Heero. Just having a bit of fun," Duo replied as he charged and sliced up a few more dolls.
"Hn..." was Heero's only response.
As the fight slowed to a halt the five gundams stood surveying the damage done. All hatches opened and each pilots stood looking over the horizon, as if savoring the brief moment of peace and silence. Neither lasted long, especially with Duo around.
"Whoa! What a fight!" called out the long-haired American, "I thought for a moment we'd lose it out there. I mean it was like wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am type deal. It was so..."
"Duo..."
"Huh? What Wu-man?
"Shut up" all the teenage soldiers chorused at one talkative boy. As expected, Duo only stuck his tongue at them in response.
They all then prepared to take their gundams back to the safe house. Duo suddenly caught the reflection of something out the corner of his eye. He turned to get a better look at it, but by then it was nowhere to be seen. Deciding to ignore it, Duo turned and climbed into his gundam. And that was the last thing he remembered as his world shook and was consumed by darkness.
*~*~*
Heero noticed Duo's hesitation as they got ready to head for the safe house. In fact, he's been noticing more and more about the braided pilot lately. He's taken note to the smallest things Duo seems to do. How many times he brushes his long auburn hair before he goes to bed, how his eyes light up when he's genuinely happy. Heero shook those thoughts from his head, for the moment at least, and focused his attention on the direction Duo was gazing in. He too saw the reflection of light, but unlike Duo, he didn't take it as lightly. As soon as he began to think it was really nothing, a plasma beam shot out from the hillside and headed directly toward them all.
It whizzed passed Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Nataku and barely missed striking Wing Zero. The blast slammed into the back of Deathscythe, knocking both the gundam and Duo forward. Heero felt something in his heart clenched when he saw that Duo was thrown out of his gundam by the sheer force of the blast. Before Heero or the other could react, there was a bright flash of light covered the whole area, blinding both the gundams and the enemy. Once the light had subsided, instinct took over and the only thing that could be seen were the Wing Zero and Nataku gundams charging toward the hill, with the intention of expressing their wrath. Barely five minutes passed and the hillside was nothing but a pile of rubble at the two gundams' feet.
Quatre's face blinked onto the pilots' screens. "I've got Duo and Trowa is taking Deathscythe back to the hanger," the little blond explained to Heero and Wufei. After receiving a confirming nod from both boys, they all took off for one of Quatre's mansions they were using as a safe house.
What they had all arrived, Quatre had already told Rashid to take Duo to the infirmary and let the doctor take a look at him. He then turned to the other boys; Trowa included, as they ran into the house. His face was a mix of concern and confusion.
"What's wrong?" asked the pilot of Nataku, taking his place against the wall.
Quatre looked up at his comrade. "This confuses me," he looked toward the infirmary. "Something's not right." Quatre started rubbing the back of his arm nervously.
"Explain," Heero commanded, his voice hovering between anger and worry.
"Well we all saw Duo thrown from Deathscythe, right?" All nodded with their faces grim. "Right after that odd light went away and I found him, expectedly, he was unconscious. But the strange thing was that there was nothing wrong with him. No bruises, no scrapes, nothing out of the ordinary except the grass in his hair."
Silence settled among them and the four of them were plagued with their own thoughts. Finally Trowa spoke up.
"That light... where'd it come from?"
"Maybe a diversion," Wufei suggested.
"Doubtful. They'd have nothing to gain. The light blinded us as well as the enemy." Trowa countered.
"What do you suggest Heero?" Quatre asked turning to face the silent pilot only to catch a glance of a green tank top turn down the hall.
*~*~*
After Quatre told them about Duo's condition, Heero had tons of thoughts running through his head all at once. Was Duo alright? Could his injuries be internal? Why did he care anyway? Heero became so lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed that he had wandered down a series of halls and straight into the infirmary where Duo lay unconscious. The steady beating of the monitor brought him out of his thoughts and back to the reality of the situation. He looked down at Duo, concerned about the braided American yet never letting his emotionless mask slip out of place.
//He looks like he's just sleeping,// Heero thought.
With a shake of his head he crossed the room to the computer and began to notify the doctors of the mission's success, Duo's steady breathing keeping him company.
Meanwhile in Duo's subconscious mind... /*/ Duo looked around him and noted that he was standing in a huge, strangely familiar garden surrounded by roses of many colors. //Beautiful,// he thought, walking over to pond and gazing in. His reflection startled him. He looked the same for the most part; same eyes, long braid over his shoulder, same face, but his clothes were different. Instead of his usual black priest outfit, there he stood in classic Victorian clothes that were violet and white with gold trim.
"I never liked this style. I look like one of those idiots in Romofeller," he mumbled turning around to get a better look at himself.
"Well you got the idiot part right," called a voice behind him.
Turning quickly, Duo saw no one. "Who's there?" he shouted out into the garden.
A tall thin figure then leapt down from a nearby tree. It slowly made it's way toward Duo, each step taken with a purpose. As the figure got closer, Duo could tell that it was a male about his age but nothing else since he kept his head down as if avoiding Duo's observation. For some reason he felt like he knew this person, and that same felling told him not to let his guard down. The boy stopped a few feet in front of Duo and then looked him in the face. The boy looked exactly like him, except for the fact his clothes were red and black with gold trim and his eyes weren't violet, they were ruby red.
The two just stared at each other for a long time before Duo spoke.
"W-who are you?"
"Oh, I'm hurt. I'd think you'd remember me, of all people, young prince," the figure smirked, never taking his eyes off of Duo.
"Young prince?" The title caused something to trigger Duo's past memories. He looked at the boy again and blinked several times before a name came to mind. He took a few steps back from the boy.
"Oh, so you do remember me," the young man said, taking a step toward the retreating pilot.
"Kek..." Duo hissed, with a hint of fear building in his throat.
Kek nodded.
"But...but you're no longer a part of me, I got rid of you when I became a pilot."
"I'm as part of you as you are of me. You 'thought' you got rid of me, all you really did was put me to sleep. But now I'm awake and ready for our next battle."
"No, I cannot fight you now. There's a war going on, I have no time for you or this curse."
"I all I can say is that you're right.... You have no time for this. You have until your day of your true birth, after that well.... You should know by now," Kek smirked at the look of utter disbelief on Duo's face.
"That soon! This can't be happening. No, no! I won't let it happen," Duo screamed grabbing the sides of his head. "I can't..." he barely whispered.
"Hate to tell you this, but you have no choice," Kek spat at Duo. "You're not the only one cursed here!" Kek leapt at Duo and grabbed his wrists. Duo struggled against Kek's hold, almost in vain. "I've been trapped in this body of yours for thousands of years and I WANT OUT!"
As Kek shouted those words he slowly began to transform in front of Duo's eyes. He paled at the sight of the true monster Kek was under his disguise. Duo began to fight more violently against Kek's hold in him; it only made Kek's hands-turned-claws dig into his wrists even more. Annoyed with Duo's constant struggling, Kek released one of Duo's hands and raked his claws across Duo's chest. Duo let out a blood-curdling scream and his free hand became surrounded by a bright indigo glow. Out of instinct, he raised his hand to Kek's face and a blast exploded from his hand. The blast sent Kek flying back into a tree, letting go of Duo and allowing him to sink to his knees. Kek's body hit the tree with a sickening snap and his body slumped to the ground. He took the form of Duo again and remained motionless on the ground.
Duo was far beyond shaken up by this whole situation. He lifted his hand, which shook violently, and stared at it in morbid fascination. He suddenly heard a choked sound and he looked up and over at Kek's body. It convulsed and the choked sound was repeated. But what Duo thought was a sound of pain was nothing but suppressed laughter. Kek was laughing. Kek was laughing at him.
"Damn that power of yours," he cursed pulling his body up from the grass on which he'd laid. "You haven't beaten me yet. Not by a long shot, young prince. I am part of you. And remember...this isn't over yet!" Kek cackled and the world around them faded into nothingness. Kek soon followed the fading scenery, his last words echoing around Duo, "...this isn't over yet..."
Darkness. Complete darkness was all that was left around Duo now. Scared, confused, and feeling completely alone, Duo wept. He wept for the inevitable that one day would destroy him and he wept for his friends that he'd lose in the process.
"Quatre.... Trowa... Wufei..." the said between sobs, holding his head, "HEERO!" /*/
*~*~*