Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chupacabras Synchronicity ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

Trowa felt a shock of energy run through him and wanted to scream at Duo. Surely the idiot could aim better than that? Then he realised Duo wasn't aiming at him. He saw the Psion bands and the vicious glint in the professor's eyes and realisation dawned. Turning Trowa knew he was too late as Sally slumped against the wall and Duo went flying down the stairs.

"Duo!" He screamed, knowing it wouldn't help but unable to stop himself. Then Duo was gone from sight, plunging to his doom and Trowa was being flung around to face professor J, the cold hard metal of the Psion band hard against his shoulder.

Energy belted its way through his chest and Trowa felt his heart skip a beat before he was crumbling into professor G's waiting arms, unable to move, speak, protest…

Over the old man's shoulder Trowa saw a glimmer of hope. Landing hard on his knees and crouching low to take the impact, sword drawn and face wild, Wufei arrived.

It was hard to remain silent, to ensure Wufei kept the element of surprise, but Trowa was used to being quiet and while his body protested to its treatment his mind was steadfast. The professors had no idea what was coming.

There were soft noises drifting from the dorm levels below and Trowa hoped Duo was alright. How he could possibly survive such a fall he did not know, but he hoped. Trowa was hoping for a lot of things. Hoping Duo and Sally were alive. Hoping Quatre was fine. Hoping Wufei would get him out of there…

Wufei had moved. He was now pushed hard against the wall, melding into the shadow there, almost invisible. Treize was opposite him. Their swords were drawn, ready to take blood. Trowa could feel the tension in the air between them, sensed the tumultuous emotions between the too men muffled by a blanket of calm. They were a part of their surroundings, no more out of place than the walls of the hallway. For the first time in his life Trowa feared what Wufei was capable of.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, boys…"

Trowa saw Wufei tense, saw the disbelief in Treize's eyes as the professors turned. J looked so smug Trowa wanted to belt him to hell and back. It was then that Trowa felt the Professors turn their Psionic attention from himself to Wufei. Trowa wasted no time, gathering everything he had and exploding it out through the hallway.

Sound tore through the small space, stronger than Trowa had ever thought himself capable of in the height of his strength. Heero had somehow made them more potent! A loud scream snapped him from his thoughts and Trowa turned to see Sally struggling against the wall, hands over her ears, a trickle of blood between. Praying he hadn't caused any permanent damage, Trowa pulled his powers back.

And Wufei struck. His sword came down ablaze with flame and slammed against Professor G's armband. The strong metal held, but the wire was cut and the feed between the two `teachers' ceased. Still Professor J was smiling, all his secrets yet untold.

"Trowa!"

He turned at Sally's shout, too late. The Chupacabra tore into the flesh of his upper arm and numbness quickly spread to his chest.

"Trowa!" Again, this time from Wufei. Trowa turned but again, too late as he saw the small critter behind Wufei bite into his friend's leg. Wufei stumbled then fell, unable to fight the poison. Treize lunged at the creature and cut it from Wufei's limbs, but it was too late. Until they got the antidote, Wufei would be of no more help than Trowa.

Trowa watched in numb fascination as Treize stood over Wufei's form and drew his blade to attention. Even the Professors seemed surprised by his determination.

"Leave, right now!"

"As you wish Kushrenada," Professor J replied, moving around the chopped Chupacabra Treize had thrown at his feet. "Now just be a good boy and stay still a moment."

Professor G was picking up the small corpse while J headed for Trowa, hauling the perfectly healthy critter off Trowa's arm and pushing it into a thick leather bag he had swung over his shoulder. With that the two professors headed up the hallway the way Wufei and Treize had come. G was whistling.

Treize quickly tore the sleeve off his shirt and used it to wrap Wufei's leg before tearing off the other sleeve and heading for Trowa. Trowa grabbed hold of Treize's belt to pull the man close.

"Duo…"

"Where is he?" Treize asked, finally realising he wasn't there.

"Went over the bannister," Trowa pointed at the stairs at the end of the hall. Treize almost panicked, but some inner calm took over and he just nodded, tying off the material about Troaw's arm. He then proceeded to grab hold of both Trowa and Wufei and dragged them to the end of the hall, talking the whole time.

"We managed to kill about fourteen on our way down. There were more, but they didn't actively try to attack us. We felt Duo using his power and knew he had to hurry, but it seems we were a little slow…"

"No, just in time." Trowa let his lips form a slight smile at the look on Treize's face.

Treize left the two boys near Sally, hoping they had enough mobility between them to care for her wounds. He also made sure Wufei's katana were within reach in case of unexpected guests. Then he headed down the stairs. Trowa watched him leave, waiting until the blonde head disappeared from view before turning all his attention on Sally.

"It's just a split skull," Sally told him firmly. "I'll have a bad headache, but that's all."

Trowa hoped she was right because that was an awful lot of blood…

*

Quatre looked at the sleeping form on the couch with him and almost laughed. He had never seen Heero look so relaxed! Unfortunately, that also meant Heero was probably exhausted. Reaching out mentally, Quatre confirmed his thoughts; Heero would be dead to the world for some time. However, Quatre also figured out why. In reaching out to Heero, he noticed he could once again access the full spectrum of Heero's mind. Thoughts were flooding him, emotions overpowering, the will…Quatre forced himself to withdraw, taking deep shuddering breaths to regain his composure.

"He reawakened us!" Quatre finally gasped.

"Yes."

Quatre smiled, the voice all too familiar. He turned to look at his sister and wondered why she was there, and then why he was there; in Wufei's room.

"Why are we at Wufei's?"

"Chupacabra attack," Iria replied nonchalantly, as if that were the most normal thing in the world. "Duo, Trowa, Sally, Treize and Wufei went `hunting'."

And Heero had made sure they were strong enough to fight…or at least, hoped they were. Quatre was not sure what he thought of that. There was something about their Psionic gifts that was not right. The stronger they were the more they attained a mind of their own. Quatre had first realised his gifts were beyond his ability to control in the last battle they had had against the professors. He had tried to make Duo kill himself, something he certainly would not have been so adamant about had he been himself. Yet at the time it had seemed completely reasonable!

Quatre was not all that pleased to have the full spectrum of his `talent' returned, and he was certainly not pleased to realise he actually felt stronger than ever before.

"I'm worried."

Quatre snapped out of his musings and stared at Iria. She was worried? She didn't look it.

"It's almost dawn. They should have been back by now."

Quatre looked out the window and saw the first smudge of light on the horizon. It refreshed him, reaffirmed him that he was in control of himself. Which made him think of something extremely strange.

"Iria…Do you remember those assignments you did for Heero?"

"Of course! We had the best time writing those!"

"Do you have the one you did for Duo on your computer still?"

Iria didn't even stop to think.

"Of course! I still don't understand most of it. It's such a strange concept, but…I had so much fun writing it, I thought I would keep it. Besides, the pictures were so cute!"

Quatre did not think little machine drawings were `cute' but he was not about to argue. There was something about the assignment…

Futuristic mechanical evolution and its respective relativity to man and annual complicity. The assignment had been simple; what did you think would be the next step in human evolution? Duo's answer, however, had been far from simple. Something about the assignment was nagging at Quatre's subconscious. The answer was probably not in the assignment, because Duo had not been the one to actually write it, but…Maybe there was a clue. Quatre knew he had to see; had to know! Something just wasn't right and he wanted to figure it out before his gift decided someone else needed to die.

"Come on, we have to go to your room!"

"But Heero!" Iria protested. Apparently she had been given the usual `talk'; no one gets left alone. Sighing heavily, Quatre ran to the kitchen, grabbed a glass of water and quickly returned, tossing the offending liquid in Heero's face.

Heero sat ram rod straight and glared. Both Iria and Quatre fell back, making sure they were out of the other boy's reach. It took a minute but Heero's glazed eyes finally cleared and he came fully awake. That did not, by any means, mean he stopped glaring.

"We have to go to Iria's. I need to see Duo's assignment from last year. The one on Annual Complicity." Quatre explained, hiding the empty glass behind his back, hoping Heero wouldn't know who had woken him.

"Why?"

"Because I'm worried about something and I think that assignment might explain it."

I think I'm dangerous and I can't tell you yet…

Heero was looking around for a glass. Quatre sighed and held it out, shrugging in apology. Heero only glared harder before looking out the window.

"Something's wrong. Their frequencies are numb. I can only sense Treize."

Quatre was stunned. Heero could sense them all? Could Heero already know Quatre was dangerous? Maybe they were all dangerous? Maybe Heero didn't care! But that wasn't right; Heero cared more than anyone, he just hid it well.

"Then we'll get the assignment from your computer. You still have it right?"

"Yes, but…"

Heero didn't get a chance to finish as Quatre grabbed his wrist and started hauling him toward the door.

"We can find Trowa and the others on the way to your room."

Heero didn't protest any further. Quatre smiled knowingly; the glaring brunette wanted to find Duo just as much as he wanted to find Trowa.

It wasn't until they were at the doors to the boys dorm that Quatre started to worry. The first sign of trouble was the fact the RA's door was open, the room empty.

"Where's Milliard?" Iria asked.

"I don't like this," Quatre interrupted. "This isn't right."

"Hn."

End Chapter Ten