Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Magic over Machine ❯ Surprises ( Chapter 4 )

Magic over machine

Part 4/11

Chapter title: Surprises

Disclaimer: nope, dun belong to me 'cept those you see are originals!

Warnings: OC, pilot bashings (especially Wufei) erm…. Anymore?

The figure entered the room, footsteps lightly stepping on the marble floor. Hermione looked at the newcomer who promptly gave a nod holding up a key. She pocketed the said key. The other disapperated leaving her alone in the kitchen. Li Yan entered the room, Crookshanks following her from behind.

"Where's jie jie?" The 9 year old asked. Hermione shrugged showing her indifference. Li Yan pulled her Hermione's shorts and repeated her question.

"Li Yan, have you tried looking around the house?" Li Yan shook her head. "Hmm… Okay, I'll finish the dishes and then we'll go and find your sister okay?" The girl nodded. As she wiped her hands, she reached for a sweet. "Want a sweet?" The little girl accepted eagerly.

As they passed the guest rooms, Li Yan started yawning. Hermione started her countdown. "3,2,1…." A resounding thump was heard behind her as Li Yan, laid slumped on the floor. She picked up the sleeping girl and laid her on one of the beds. "Sorry Li Yan, this is for your own good. After all, your sister would kill me if I ever told you about them." With that, she walked out.

^^^^^^^^^^

"…sane! What if he …" A voice traveled into his head.

'Ouch…' Quatre thought, bringing up his hand to rub his sore head. He remembered being at the vicinity of the Middle East Base. Then somebody had approached him, a dark cloaked man, and then he fell unconscious. He knew that the Middle East had been dangerous since the beginning of time but a cloaked man… Similar to the clothes that Zaki wore. How did that guy enter the place where he was? For that matter, how did he even get pass Rashid and the others?!?

"…Risks. Too much done to stop now!" A different voice came this time. Quatre tried to peer through the darkened, having only the bluish glow from the 'bars'. He could see that the room was small and featureless. 'Typical of all prison rooms. At least they don't have chains and torture equipment here.' He thought cynically. Across from his cell, he could see a silhouette of another prisoner, lying slump against the corner of the room. 'Too dark to see…' Quatre thought.

The silence in his mind brought him the sounds of footsteps. Soft and even. An almost negligible echo followed. 'Two guards only.' Then a small shuffling sound reached his ears. 'Sounds like somebody is being dragged.' He thought. He tried to listen to the strange conversation.

"This guy, what's his name? Fly? Flue? Anyway does he even know what exactly is he doing?" the first voice asked.

"It's Fauzy. He knows. He has the resources to do it." That opening of a door was heard and a fall of a body. "Urg! What he really wants to do should be clear to you now. By the way, no discrimination against us wizards sounds quite good…" The second voice said.

"Wizards?!? Quatre unknowingly said out loud. The two people were in front of his cell now. 'Shimatta!' he thought. One of the wizards pointed something at him. There was a bright flash of light and then darkness.

^^^^^^^^^^

Cho stared at the control panel in front of her. She had woken up to find herself there. 'When I find that bloody arsehole of a Gryffindor, I'll kill her, after I disembowel her!' After many murmurings of 'injustice' she shut up realising her situation.

"Right…. So now what?" Taking hold of the two handles, she waited. The darkened screen brightened slightly with a rectangular cursor.

[MISSION: DESTROY 2 SATELLITE CAMPS IN EARTH'S ORBIT.

ELIMINATE ANY INTERFERENCE.

TIME: 20MINS.]

The screen darkened before revealing a green grid screen. "So, Mission start…" Cho murmured.

^^^^^^^^

Hermione watched the progress of the Ravenclaw noting the several moves the girl did. 'Sharp. She's done this before…." She commented as the girl destroyed five suits at the same time. She had programmed the sim to be like Cho's gundam. She found the stats in Cho's room and promptly 'borrowed' it.

The older girl was well into her mission when Hermione decided to make it even more interesting. "Activating zero system…" She muttered, laughing sadistically. The screen in front of her gave an orange tint. The sim cockpit she was sitting in darkened as she entered Cho's simulated battlefield.

^^^^^^^^

Quatre opened his eyes, expecting the darkness of the night. 'Stupid thing I did. My head is still throbbing. I'm really getting too old for this.' He looked around. There was a small candle that somehow seemed to give out more light than it should. He could see a dim silhouette of his neighbour. It was moving around, his space heart told him that his neighbour was anxious. 'Of course, who wouldn't be, in prison?' he asked himself. The ringing in his ear prevented him from hearing the other's murmuring.

"Who…?" he tried to say something but his mouth felt full of cotton wool.

"Well, looky who decided to finally wake up! Q-man! We've been waiting for you!"

"Duo?" He tried again, this time it came out more coherent.

"You better rest off, Winner. I heard the spell they used on you. Quite a strong one." Another familiar voice: Wufei.

"Hn? Oh that. I'll be okay. After all the spells that Zaki tried on me, you'd think I'll be immune to some! Anyway, how did you know about it? The spell I mean," Quatre said trying to look towards the origin of the sound.

"My eldest daughter keeps her books around. I was awake when they cast the spell on you. Simple but effective." said Wufei.

"I heard that they were wizards…" Duo started.

"No wonder I didn't find anything about them. Just traces." Another voice joined in.

"Hee-chan! Nice to meet you to!" Duo cried from his cell. Quatre could see that Heero's cell was right beside Duo's.

"Those wizards were being complacent. Fact that Wufei and I were awake When they continued to talk meant that they are really not soldiers." Duo said. Wufei noticed Heero looking around for something.

"Don't need to worry about cameras. They don't have any. I checked." Said Wufei.

"Hn." Answered Heero.

"So you're going to fill us in with the details or what, Duo?" A voice drifted from the darkness.

"Argh! Trowa!" Duo screamed. Wufei could hear Trowa chuckle. "Don't do that!"

"This is bad. All five of us captured. I've hoped someone would be free to tell Une. But then muggles like us wouldn't have a chance against dark wizards." Heero observed. He got closer to the blue 'bars' careful not to touch it. His eyes were used to the darkness. He saw that Wufei was right across from him, Duo was right beside him and Quatre was beside Wufei. Trowa was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Tro! Any increase of bullets in Heavyarms lately?" Duo called into the darkness. An answering finger from around the corner signaled that it was Trowa across to the left of Heero.

"I don't understand about these wizards you're talking about?" Trowa asked. Duo looked Trowa, or in his vague direction.

"You don't know anything about them?" Trowa shook his head.

"Well, since we're in this already, might as well tell you." Duo took a deep breath. "In this world there are two types of human, magical and muggles. We are muggles, non-magic people. They have many powers that we don't have. For example, when my son showed his powers, it was weird. Therefore many people don't accept him, his type of people. They make them as outcasts, persecute them. Thus the magical people keep their identity as a secret; though some are really bad at it…They don't care about us muggles or our technology. They have their own." Duo chuckled at a memory. Trowa nodded in comprehension.

"Isn't it weird? They are wizards yet the base I was sent to, had some MS." Quatre said. Duo nodded.

"Is there some kind of muggle involved?" Trowa asked.

"Don't know. I didn't get many leads." Heero said, regretting his failure.

"They should have. They need engineers to build those MS." Wufei said.

"I hate to say this, guys. But if we are here, captured, who would stop them if they attack?" The other ex-pilots were quiet as they knew the answer already.

^^^^^^^^

Hermione stepped out of the room, euphoric about entering the zero system again. 'More like dizzy,' she thought as she tried to get her blurred vision into place. She had checked the other girl at the other sim. "Heh, I won this time… now to check on her..." The vitla stats from the control room maybe accurate, but it was now way to check the psychological well-being of the person.

As she opened the door thought with a smirk, 'Stupid of her not checking the door first.' The door hadn't been locked in the first place. She was greeted with a completely normal Cho Chang. Yep, the seething, maddened, almost frothing in the mouth look on her face was perfectly normal. Pity, this wasn't Hogwarts, then both of them could indulge in another duel, a magical one that is.

"Hello Chang, Had a good time?" She asked, a sly smirk on her face. Yep she was enjoying, torturing the Ravenclaw. The blue-eyed girl got out the sword of hers. She didn't know where it actually came from, she didn't really care either. Pointing it toward Hermione, they both faced off for a more physical fight.

A silent sign signalled the start of the match. Both starting out with punches, Hermione's being an uppercut and Cho's a side punch. Both connected but as they went for their second hits, the chime of the doorbell came echoing through the house.

The battle stopped abruptly, with the both of them landing in a tangled mess from their excess momentum. "Okay what exactly was that?" Cho groaned out.

"Damned doorbell…" Hermione muttered out, trying to get her arm from under Cho's leg. "Gerrofa me!" She stood up, albeit awkwardly toward the main door Cho following closely behind her. Chang's anger was temporarily forgotten in the confusion and well, tangle. 'Wonder who…' She thought before she heard a frightened 'TuWOO!' From behind her.

Cho looked back to see a REALLY small owl(?) backing off from a prowling tiger, well, Crookshanks. "What the…?" She said but Hermione beat her to it (yet again). Sighing dejectedly, she went to answer the door.

"Crookshanks! No! You do not eat Ron's owl!" She cried. The cat had begun clawing fiercely at both girl and bird. Pigwidgeon being already frightened flew up and out of their reach. "Great! She murmured under her breath, releasing the cat from her grasp. Those two haven't been the best of friends ever since Pig nipped her tail mistaking it for some kind of sausage.

"TuWoo!" was the only thing the euphoric owl could say. It began its classic 'dance of hyperactiveness' as Harry had dubbed it. Around and around the chandelier it went, around, left right and out of the room.

"Pig…"She sighed with defeat. That hyperactive furry tennis ball of an owl always gave her trouble. Never letting her catch him easily. And then, that nut brained owl, euphoric from successfully finding the right house, pumped up with bird-type adrenaline always expects some kind of snack. She knew that Ron was poor but couldn't he use other than Pig? Errol might not be up to long journeys but couldn't he use Percy's owl instead?

"Pig! Come down here!" Hermione shouted, It was futile of course. Ping never listens to her. "Come on, Pig! I don't have time to play!" She shouted again, exasperated. 'Of all the times…' She looked for some kind of net to catch that miniature owl. Of course, the things that you urgently need are never there. Therefore she had to catch the irritating bird herself.

"TuWOO!" Pig hooted before exiting the kitchen into the dining room. He seemed to hover about for a bit, cautious or a particular overgrown cat. Then he began fluttering in that feather-brained way of his. 'That human no chance of catching me now!' He thought as he fluttered close to the ceiling.

"Pig…come on! I've got a cookie for you!" Pig ignored her. "Pigwidgeon!" She shouted again, chasing the owl which had now exited the room into the study room. 'Damn owl. I wish I can just shoot that thing!'

Cho was letting the stranger in to the living room when, suddenly a flying tennis ball and a green and brown streak went pass her. "What the…?" She looked down the hall. Hermione was chasing something, shouting "PIG!" and several death threats. Then suddenly they turned. Cho and the visitor quickly got out of the way. A "TuWOO!" and "PIG!" later, both guests politely ignored her.

Hermione was getting more and more irritated at the owl. The letter was here 10 mins ago but she still couldn't read it because of that stupid thing. She had a visitor and both guests were waiting.. 'Just this moronic detail to take care of.'

Pig seemed to be hovering, hesitating , staring down at something. She used this advantage Pig was still high up, so using the couch as a spring board, she leapt at the owl with a simple levitating spell helping her. She grabbed the tiny owl which gave a surprised "Tuwoo?!?" What goes up must come down, so with her momentum gone and her reaching the apex of her jump, she began falling and falling. Now for her, jumping down from 12 feet is no problem, broken bones can be set easily. The only problem was the one-seater in the way.

<<Crash!>>

Hermione laid on the floor awkwardly, right hand still clutching the sweatdropping Pig. "Okay… That wasn't the smartest thing to do. That was something Fred or Uncle Duo would've done." She checked herself. 'Nothing broken. Good. Can't say much about the chair though…' True enough, the chair had gone to furniture heaven, with all but one leg broken and the back cracked. Pig was trying very hard to escape from her grasp. Frantic "Tuwoo"s came from him as if frightened. "Hn?" A small growl of a cat came behind her. 'Oh no, Crookshanks.'

Sure enough, the ginger coloured cat was ready to pounce on the helpless Pig. She may not like Pig but it had no right to die mauled by a miniature tiger. She untied the letter from Pig's leg. The letter immediately enlarged. Pig couldn't carry such big things. As she was letting Pig go, Crookshanks pounced. Pig fled. "No, Crookshanks! No!" Hermione tried to intervene but Crookshanks had used her as a platform, thumping down on her and Pig. Both of them started to fight on top of her back.

Back at the living room, Cho ignored the painful shrieks and screams from somewhere around the house. She focused on the newcomer. She had short brown hair with weird fringe tilting toward the side. Her eyes were green and judging form the many layers of clothes the girl wore, Cho assumed she wasn't from a temperate country.

"Shouldn't we help her? I'm here to see her after all." The obviously younger girl asked worriedly.

"Nah, don't worry too much about her. She's strong enough to get through this simple mess." Cho answered. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously "What's your name and purpose again?"

"My name is Maria Barton, daughter of Trowa Barton one of the gundam pilots." She took out a picture. Cho gasped. The picture contained her father and 4 other people, 20 years younger! She had the same picture too. "If I may assume you are the daughter of Chang Wufei, are you not?"

"What do you really want?"

"My father said to seek out the other families if he were to be called on again. Especially if he didn't come back when he said he would." Cho nodded in acknowledgement. "You've heard of your parents' disappearance, have you?" Again she nodded. "I have a way to find them."

TBC

A/N: Does that seem incomplete? I seem to have encountered a kind of writer's block that makes me follow my original story instead the new version. Sigh…Please review!!!!