Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Defying the Apocalypse ❯ Judgement Day ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

All standard disclaimers apply



All standard disclaimers apply. Gundam Wing, its characters, and all likenesses of which belong to its creators. I simply interfere with their lives in my spare time. All I can lay claim to is the plot of this fic since it is of my own original conception and to the ownership of the character Deuce Maxwell, since I created her and therefore, that makes her MINE. I am not paid for spending all of my free time writing, I do this simply for the sake of fandom and for the entertainment of its readers. ^_^

Author's Note: This is the most extensive, in-depth story I have ever managed and is a culmination of more than a year's worth of intensive research and planning. "Defying the Apocalypse" is based largely on "Blind Target", which is an officially licensed Gundam Wing manga and acts as a bridge between the series, the manga and the movie "Endless Waltz". For more information on "Blind Target", visit <a href="http://www.gundamwing.org">GUNDAMWING.ORG</a>

Warni ngs: Alternate Universe fic. Angst, blood, death, shounen ai, violence… and the appearance of an original (fey) character


Judgement Day

A.C. 197 [Post series timeline]

{Hiiro}


"I see that you've finally decided to join me, Mr. Yuy…"

Even in the near- pitch black, I could see him sitting behind his desk across the room. He held himself proudly, never faltering, even though I was pretty sure that he was completely unarmed, much as Treize Kushrenada had been over two years ago during the battle of Luxembourg. The Akuma, the phantom Earth Sphere ruler and the brain behind the massive, anti-humanity war currently being waged. ... I had finally found him.

Quatre quivered on my arm as I stepped forward, still dragging his now battle-crippled form. I tried my best to cope with the faint whimpering sounds he made with every pain-ridden step... it was twisting my insides up in knots sharply to have to hear him suffering the way he was. He didn't have a chance for survival in his current state. I was pretty banged up myself, but it was nothing compared to what my partner had endured. He was missing a leg, his left arm was shattered, and he had multiple bullet wounds in various places in his body, not to mention that that old wound in his stomach had reopened. We were too far away from the nearest rebel base hospital, and that was assuming that we'd leave this base alive. But still, he forged on bravely, knowing that the end was near...

The figure right ahead of me sat back comfortably in the shadows, which masked his visage sufficiently. But I was satisfied enough for being able to see him in the flesh and know that there was no way out of this room unless he went through me. There would be no chance that this guy was going to be getting away from us again. This was it... this is what Quatre and I'd been fighting for all this time... we'd managed to find Akuma, the bastard who started the entire revolution that had plunged damn near ninety percent of the earth's populace into oblivion and even more of the existing space colonies. The same guy who had brainwashed Wufei into turning against us and setting us up for that ambush on that deserted colony on the outskirts of L3...

Even now, in the back of my mind, I can see the image of Trowa's face over the video screen, the sheer horror and desperation etched into his features as he threw himself in front of the double beam cannon's fire that was meant for Quatre. I can hear the Sandrock pilot's screams of disbelief and agony as his lover was enveloped by the blast, his gundam being all but obliterated by the force. Then, on the edges of my peripheral vision, the gut-wrenching image of Duo and Wufei locked in a desperate struggle of their own, just outside of the main building of the base the fight was taking place around. Both boys had forsaken the use of their mobile suits in favor of hand to hand combat... and until this day, I still don't know why they weren't in their suits. Something tells me that I may never know... but it was pretty obvious to anyone that for all of his street smarts and speed, Duo was out-classed. A skilled, conditioned warrior of the Dragon Clan, Wufei easily dodged all of his attacks, ducking and weaving his way through the rain of blows to insert himself perfectly so that he could strike. They were too far away... much too far... and all I can remember doing was screaming my denial as I saw Duo lurch forward and collapse in a broken, bleeding heap... having been impaled through the chest on Wufei's sword. I left the battle right then and there to help him, but it was too late...

I can't really explain what it was like for me at that time, jumping out of Zero and running up to him, only to look into those glassy, sightless eyes and realize that he wasn't going to live to see the next day. But to say it hurt watching as the flame of life flickered out within him would be a sore understatement. Oh, God... if he only knew how badly I wanted to break down right there and take my own miserable, worthless life so that I could join him wherever he was... I didn't care, as long as we were together.

But I'd promised him some time before then that I'd stay alive no matter what- to try and give humanity a fighting chance. I had given him my word... and I'd be damned if I was going to back out and make a liar of myself. As much as it hurt, I had no intention of violating his last wishes...

Hope. What a meaningless word... Maybe it's because I have no faith that I say that. There's nothing left to have any faith in. How could I? Duo had had faith... and for a time, he had gotten me to believe that I could as well. Believe in a power higher than us, one that could not be explained nor contained. An omnipotent being that would somehow become our savior in the end. But where was his God when Duo needed him the most? I was a fool to trust so blindly in something that could not even be proven to exist... an in essence, so was Duo. And for it, he paid with his life.

There is no God. The Earth and the colonies have no future now, because of this war. The future is forsaken. Armageddon... I believe that that is what they'd call this war, according to Duo's religion. The war to end wars... because after this, there'll be no humans left to fight in any. There's actually little point in killing the Akuma now, other than to satisfy my own hatred and need for revenge. But still I keep my focus, because even if that's all there is left for me, then that's what I'll do. This is my mission. Then, when this is all over, I can finally die having fulfilled my purpose. This would be the final chapter to the Apocalypse…

"I've come to kill you," I snarled at the shadowy figure, drawing my pistol with my free hand and trying to keep a firm hold on Quatre with the other. The person sitting in front of me chuckled lightheartedly and rose into the light partway, only enough for me to catch a flash of his eyes, before turning to observe the battle still in progress outside of this main building. Our forces were obviously suffering greatly, which amused my target visibly.

Even from where I stood, I could see that the Akuma was young... possibly my age, with a slender build and long, flowing hair of copper and gold pulled back into a thick braid. A very androgynous looking being. But that isn't what concerned me... it was the familiarity that I could just put my finger on. And those eyes... those indigo eyes... just like Duo's. A soft, surprised gasp barely audible to my ears broke the growing silence and I was faintly bemused to realize that it was mine.

Another dignified chuckle escaped the Akuma as he stepped out for the first time into the light. "Mr. Yuy… is something the matter?" that voice… also very unisex, was flat and totally devoid of inflection. It was an eerie sound that reminded me vividly of those old horror movies where monsters or demons called humans on the telephone with gravelly, computer-generated type voices to threaten them. It took considerable effort on my part to repress the urge to shudder.

I took a step back as I recognized the face in front of me. Fair-skinned with the barest of rose colored flush set a dazzling contrast to the glittering amethyst behind the delicate fringe of dark lashes.

"No..." I shook my head against the image, "No!" I refused to believe what I was seeing. Duo! My Duo… Duo was dead! He'd been dead for over a year! I denied it even as the figure approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I wanted to flinch, but I wouldn't give this... thing... that kind of satisfaction, nor did I want to risk dropping Quatre. "You're NOT Duo!" I yelled angrily, but I didn't like the desperate note in my own voice. I sounded frightened. I am Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier, I don't know fear... right?

Akuma smiled warmly at me, as if we were old friends and I didn't just break into this base and into his office to kill him just now. "Of course I'm not Duo Maxwell," it said simply before backing off to walk back to the window so it could resume observing the ongoing battle. He... it... I wasn't sure what to call the Akuma anymore... the Earth Sphere's sovereign seemed more like a... machine... an android of sorts.

Anything but human.

"It was an illusion that I created." It said simply.

"Why?" I don't know why I had just asked that, it seemed pretty damn stupid, but I wanted to know why the heck the Akuma was playing with my head.

Akuma shrugged dismissively, "What? Would you like another face? Perhaps this one?"

Suddenly, the face morphed and I saw a young girl's face in place of Duo's. This one I also recognized. I knew her briefly before the data on my gundam was stolen... Deuce Maxwell. She had been a very good friend of Duo's and eventually, to the whole team in the small time she'd been around. Her death was quite nebulous, but after all this time, keeping her as MIA was useless. No one could survive out there with all those machines killing off everyone on their own. Everyone who was out there who was fighting with the rebel forces were accounted for in one group or another. Deuce Maxwell just did not exist in any records.

"Yes, I knew you'd recognize this one too. I killed her also," the Akuma murmured quietly. That one casual statement was enough to make my heart fall to my stomach...

"You bastard!" My composure was beginning to crumble quite rapidly, but I no longer cared. I felt my rage tingeing my vision red around the edges. This heartless... beast... had not only been directly and indirectly responsible for my lover's death, but for erasing what last traces of his existence that had lingered. Now, I knew that in every way, Duo had been wiped off the face of this miserable planet. He existed now, only in my memory. It was all I could do to keep from mindlessly jumping at my target and beating the unholy life out of it.

Suddenly, the entire building shook with the force of a particularly strong explosion. Quatre gave an unconscious cry of pain as he lost his grip on me and was thrown to the floor. Quite abruptly, the blonde boy was the entire focus of my existence. Quatre was all I had left in this world. My partner... my friend. I couldn't lose him yet. Not yet... not when we were so close. I was down on my knees in moments, gathering him back up- stressing over his physical state. I would've imagined the Akuma laughing at my weakness at that point, but surprisingly, my enemy did not taunt me, but rather, seemed sympathetic.

Within seconds, the Akuma was also at Quatre's side, helping me to lift him. Still wearing Deuce's face, if I hadn't known any better, I would've swore that time had turned back and it was really her helping me to ease my companion's pain. But I did know better… and I wasn't fooled. Quatre was though... he had passed out earlier on, and had missed the "great transformation". But he was coming around, still fighting to keep alert, even though it was really pointless.

"Deuce? You're back?" he cried happily as he recognized the feminine face hovering just above him and he reached out to hug the questionable being. I wanted to stop him, but I was afraid of disillusioning him. He didn't have much time left... and somehow, I was disinclined to take this away from him.

The Akuma smiled with Deuce's smile and whispered reassuringly to the Arabian boy in her voice, stroking his head and holding him close. "I missed you too, Quatre... I'm so sorry for worrying you like that." A very good performance for a heartless monster. But as I said before, I wasn't fooled. The Akuma really was like Treize had been... poetic in every sense, but apathetic in the worst way. Why bother pretending now?

"You should've killed me a long time ago, Hiiro." Akuma murmured as Quatre slowly drifted back into shock. "As you know, it's useless to kill me now... the Earth is doomed. You have nowhere to go... and humanity will follow you into extinction."

I sneered at the Akuma as it lifted Quatre up and slung the boy over its shoulder, motioning me to follow. More than a little confused, both at the Akuma's confident, almost nonchalant attitude and at myself for hesitating to pull the trigger, I complied- if somewhat reluctantly. I guess at this point, nothing truly made sense to me anymore... so satisfying my curiosity for what this thing was about to do didn't seem too farfetched. So I followed it closely, my hand still clutching my weapon tightly, poised to shoot if given even the barest of ultimatums. We quickly made our way to a door marked "restricted" at the very back of the room, in a corner, which opened into an elevator at the far end of the wall. Punching in the codes, Akuma stepped back and allowed me in first as the steel doors slid open. Wordlessly, he stepped in beside me and punched in the codes for our new destination.

The silence stretched between us uncomfortably as the elevator descended.

"Hiiro... I know that it's not within my rights to ask you this, but I'd like to request a favor." Akuma murmured suddenly, without warning.

"Say what?" I wasn't sure if I'd heard right. My enemy wanted a favor from me? I snorted at that. Hell would freeze over first, I wanted to spit back at it, but I wasn't given enough time as the doors re-opened and my vision was flooded with an intense light, momentarily blinding me. We were in some basement level laboratory.

"I want you to stop me."

"Nanda?!"

"I'm giving you the opportunity to do something that would be impossible for anyone else at this point... the option of a second chance."

I eyed the Akuma warily. Just what the hell was it talking about? I thought I detected a hint of sadness in that flat, lifeless voice, if that was possible, but I shook it off. This had to be some sort of trap.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded sharply, doing my best to not appear like I'd been thrown off by what it'd just said.

"You can not stop this world's destiny as it is now... it's far too late for that. I never meant for things to turn out this way, whether or not you'd like to believe it. It was not my intention for Duo to die either..." There was a slight catch in the Akuma's voice and it paused for a moment as it lowered Quatre onto a nearby chair comfortably, making sure that the Arabian boy was all right before turning back to me. "I'm offering you a single shot at fixing things. You can refuse if you'd like and kill me here, I'm not forcing you... but I am asking you to trust me."

"Trust you?!" I couldn't believe my ears! "What the Hell are you talking about?! Why should I trust you?!"

Akuma merely shrugged, "You don't need to, Hiiro. I was just giving you that option." There was a long silence as it started typing on a nearby computer, starting up some strange process and a small glass room in the corner of the laboratory opened, spilling out a thick white cloud of smoke. By all rights, I should've pulled the trigger by now, but something kept holding me back. Maybe it was the fact that Akuma was still wearing Deuce's face, or maybe it was the fact that I was being offered the chance to set things straight, whether it be honest or not. I couldn't decide.

"Deuce was a brilliant scientist, you know..." Akuma said suddenly, turning back to face me, "before her death, she created something that had my entire scientific division thrown into a controversial uproar... an unstable, but effective method of time travel." I nodded slowly, trying to soak up that last piece of information, but somehow unable to. "It's been tested only once successfully. And there's no way of returning to your original time period, as she passed away before its completion and took the rest of her ideas with her."

"Wait a minute..." I held out a hand and felt an eyebrow crank up to my hairline, "Are you telling me that Deuce worked for you?"

Akuma shook its head, "No, not exactly... she was a POW(1). They thought that they could use her, but her will was stronger than they cared for. They bent her, broke her, tortured her... until one day... she ceased to be." There was an enigmatic feel to those words, and I wondered just how much I could believe. I'm not in any way gullible, but I couldn't help but feel that all that the Akuma was telling me had at least some truth to it. I nodded, for lack of anything significant to say.

"I'm giving you this as a favor, Mr. Yuy," the Akuma's eyes were suddenly ancient, defeated, and if it were humanly possible, even more lifeless, "If I could turn back time, I would... but I can't do that myself. So you must go back and prevent this all from happening."

I was shocked beyond all comprehension, to say the very least. Why would the Akuma have any desire to change history... to right wrongs... and more importantly- to put himself in direct danger?

"Okay..." I started out slowly, not knowing if my voice sounded incredulous or sarcastic, but then again, I didn't particularly care, "let me get this straight. You are the Akuma, the enemy of all humanity. You have a time machine that you want me to take-with no hope of returning, might I add-and go back into time to find and kill you before you can manage to initiate the Apocalypse. A time machine that you basically stole from a friend of mine before killing her?" The Akuma simply nodded. Jerk.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only one left who can."

"Why can't you do it?"

"I'm not as strong as you are."

"That's bullshit."

"Believe what you want. But for the year that I send you back, I wasn't even the Akuma yet."

"Who were you?"

"That remains to be seen, doesn't it?"

"I don't even know what you really look like!"

"That doesn't matter. You'll know me when you see me. You knew me even then."

"Nani?!"

"Yes Hiiro, we'd met several time before... and I had even fought alongside you for a while, but I had no choice but to take part in this God forsaken war."

"Hn."

"Unlike you, I don't have the privilege of calling myself a person. I... I am nothing more than a puppet, a mere slave. I'm not... sure I'm even human anymore..."

The softly spoken confession shook me a little more than they should have. I had already suspected such a thing, but I was never really hoping for such a devastating confirmation, "What are you?" I asked cautiously, not really wanting to know, but feeling I needed to know the truth anyway. Akuma looked at me wistfully, cocking its head and smiling.

"I was created by OZ as part of a theory. Artificial intelligence was always one of their major achievements. The most noticeable of which, of course, were the mobile dolls. I was the next step. The organic machine... the android... the perfect AI. Until around after colony 179, all of that seemed impossible... having an organic computer, that is... but through me, all of those visions were realized. I would be able to think, learn and strategize on my own, unlike mobile dolls that require programs, I was completely undetectable, and totally controllable through the computer chips embedded in my brain. I would seem normal on the outside, but inside..." The Akuma's shoulders slumped forward, and for the first time, looked real to me. How ironic, just considering that I was just informed that it wasn't even human. The Akuma was fallible and vulnerable, just like the rest of us. I realized, quite unhappily, that despite our relative standing, I couldn't help but feel a slight stab of sympathy for the other.

"I was born into this world a cold calculation, my destiny was plotted out for me… my only purpose was to be exploited for their gain." The explanation continued, each syllable drawn out seeming to further the reduce my enemy into something less than intimidating, each laced with disgust and contempt, "I tried to deny that existence for a long time, especially after I escaped from them the first time by getting my tracking circuits scrambled. I lost a lot more than that, but I was happy to be free of them. It didn't last long though... they found me again, eventually... they wouldn't let me go. I was too important to their research for that. Then when I discovered I had a twin at birth, I was so happy that I wasn't alone and that there was someone else out there who could make me complete. But because they had kept us apart, I had never gotten a chance to meet him ... and he'd escaped long before control could be stabilized, so he grew up fairly normal. But he died in the initial battles, and I was alone again. I know just how you feel about the death of a loved one, as I am not incapable of that, because I lost someone vital as well." Akuma finally finished, turning away from me, as if the mere sight of my face was disturbing.

Quatre was groaning again and I knelt down at his side and tentatively stroked away the bangs from his eyes. He'd paled dramatically in the last couple of minutes. Blood loss was fatal... he was about to die. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, silently willing myself not to cry. His head lolled heavily against my hand as the last of his strength began to slip through his fingers.

"H-Hiiro..." he whispered hoarsely, his breathing uneven and labored, "you... you need to... to keep fighting... " He convulsed violently and reached up to grab my collar, pulling me closer, "you... you must go... go..."

He'd heard everything and now he wanted me to trust the Akuma and go back into the past. "Stop her..." I was taken aback at that. Quatre really believed that that thing behind us was Deuce... not that I could blame him. The resemblance was unnerving.

I leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently, "I'll make everything right again, I promise..." I whispered against his skin. He nodded and closed his eyes, sighing.

"Hiiro?"

"Aa?"

"Am I going... to be... with Trowa again?"

"Aa."

He smiled at that, liking the idea. "Th-thank you..." He took a deep breath and snuggled himself against my chest. I held him as tightly as I dared, feeling his breathing slow gradually, until it stopped completely.

It was over. He was at peace now. So why did I feel so empty? My heart was ripping itself to pieces in my chest. I was so cold... this was it. It was over for me. I had nothing left to live for. Screw the rest of humanity. There was no hope for them anyway... or was there? And did I care?

It took me a long time, just sitting there, holding Quatre's lifeless body in my arms to realize that the Akuma was just standing there quietly, waiting for me. Reluctantly, I felt a flutter of appreciation for the respect that Akuma had shown in my friend's final moments. Placing the body back gently against the chair, I stood, feeling a sudden surge of determination. Abruptly, I turned to face him, "Okay… what do I have to do?"

***

"Initiating sequence… all systems ready…" the automated voice rang out through the still room, calling out the stages for the time transfer. I was inside the small, capsule-like room, preparing to take the leap back into time. So far, the procedure had consisted of several shots to help me through the internal and external stress of the transition I was about to make and an impromptu physical. Nothing like in the movies where you just stepped in and got zapped forward or backward. In a way, it kind of reminded me of astronaut preparations.

I had to take a newly developed, non-toxic form of anti-freeze, a mind numbing neurotic/sedative that would also thin out my blood temporarily to keep my body from going into shock as I made trip and to prevent a possible heart attack and some sort of time activated stimulant to wake me up afterwards… Akuma said something about it kicking in in about 20 minutes after exposure. That gave me enough time to get through my physical, into the machine and through the vortex before it completely counteracted all of the anesthesia I had received for the trip itself. "Are you ready, Hiiro?" Akuma asked from beyond the glass. I nodded curtly and began bracing myself for what was about to come.

"One last thing..." I glanced up to find the Akuma looking back at me from over where Quatre still lay with a rather unsettling expression, " Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight? (2)" I'm sure I looked totally lost, because he chuckled and went on, "As my name suggests, I am the Shinigami. All souls who cross my path are caught up in the wake of destruction... except for you, somehow."

Well, THAT didn't exactly answer any of my questions... didn't this guy ever get tired playing mind games with me?

It would've probably really got on my nerves, but I was beginning to feel the effects of all of the crap that he'd pumped into me. To be quite honest, trivial things like that are the least of your problems when your vision begins to blur and gray and the whole world starts to tip on its axis.

I watched dizzily as Akuma gathered up Quatre's body in its arms and sat down beside the controls, "After I send you through, I am going to activate a system meltdown and blow this place to Hell," came the quiet reply to my unspoken question. There was a rapid clacking of keys, "I'm sending you back to after colony 195, right after the war, to the time when you were working with Noin and Une, before they were Preventors. Good luck, Hiiro."

He might have said something after that, but I couldn't hear anything clearly anymore. It was like being held underwater.

I nodded one last time, swallowing hard, "I'll... see you in Hell..." I managed to choke out, (or at least I think I did) then all too abruptly was shrouded in darkness, the air around me became frigid and I felt the ground slip out from beneath my feet. I felt so light... I was floating... and the softest of inhalations roared in my ears. My fingertips trembled, oversensitized, as though I were hyperventilating even as the last of my vision drained away and faded to black. I could hear very faintly on the edges of consciousness the sounds of the building exploding as Akuma took what little traces of life it had left and threw it into the surrounding tempest.


***


1) Military term for "Prisoner of War"

2) Yesh, I will admit it! I took this quote from the Joker in "Batman", the movie. Don't sue me just yet… there is a special purpose for that line, but you'll have to read the upcoming chapters to find out what it is.