Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Battle for Shinigami ❯ A Knight in Shining Spandex ( Chapter 3 )

Duo opened his eyes groggily, wondering briefly why his alarm hadn't gone off yet. Like a flash, the events of the battle rushed back, his eyes widening in horror. Where was he? Looking around frantically, he realized that he was in a dark, dank cell. It seemed no larger than six feet by six feet with a low ceiling with a solitary bulb swaying from it as his only source of light. His gaze drifted over the floor, where he spied a couple roaches scurrying about. His nose curling with distaste, he shivered and realized that he was tightly restrained. Attempting to move his feet, he saw that they were shackled to the cot that he was unceremoniously sprawled upon, spread eagle. Yanking on his hands, he soon noticed that they too were shackled, the cold steel digging into the pale flesh of his arms.

 

Becoming irate, Duo thrashed upon the cot trying, in vain, to free himself with brute force. However, this was to no avail. Letting out an angry snarl, he slumped against the cot, staring at the dingy ceiling while trying to figure out a way to get out of this hell hole.

 

“Damn you Oz! Damn you all!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping that every single personnel on the base heard him. His outburst was soon followed by a loud banging sound, which apparently was the guard pounding on the metal door to his cell. Duo grinned and decided to piss someone off royally.

 

“What? You have a problem with me damning you? Fine. Curse you all to hell! How do you like that?” Duo smirked as his guard pounded on the metal door once more, a muffled curse drifting through the thick substance. However, his sense of rebellion soon disappeared as he heard the faint clicking of a key turning in the lock of his cell door. A beam of light flooded into the room, forcing Duo to wince.

 

“So, you have a problem with Oz do you? You're nothing but a little piece of shit,” his guard spat, nudging Duo's ribs with the metal toe of his boot. It was only then that the Gundam pilot realized that he was injured.

 

“So I'm a piece of shit, eh? Hey, at least this little piece of shit can pilot a Gundam. What can you do?” Duo shot back maliciously. The guard's face contorted with rage. He pulled back his fist and punched Duo in the stomach. Taking in a sharp breath of air, he coughed and tried to curl into a tight ball, the shackles prohibiting the movement.

 

“Serves you right, you bastard. You killed my comrades and you have the audacity to call me a shit. Clearly, we captured you. That means we're victorious. You should be begging for mercy, not insulting us. We can kill you whenever we please. It's only by our good graces that you remain alive.”

 

Duo snarled, his lips curling as he spat back vehemently, “Is that so? I think that you're all afraid of me still, defeated or not. That's why you shackled me so tightly.” To illustrate his point, Duo attempted to move, showing his inability to. The guard kicked Duo hard in the stomach, forcing him to gasp in surprise.

 

The guard returned to the door, and with a backward glance at his captive, said snidely, “Just you wait Gundam. You'll get your comeuppance soon enough.” With that, the door slammed closed and Duo was left wheezing in pain.

 

“Damn… what did I get myself into this time?” he whispered to the cold cell.

 

~~

 

Meanwhile, Heero crouched in the brush just outside the Oz base, his cobalt eyes glancing to and fro. His customary green tank top and black spandex shorts were abandoned, and replaced with an Oz uniform that he had taken off a now long dead patrol. Taking in a deep breath, he stood and adjusted the collar of the uniform, and took off, striding confidently towards the gate. It just about the time for the shift change, and sure enough, there was his (or really the dead patrol's) replacement.

 

Stopping in front of the soldier, obviously a newbie, Heero saluted and warned somewhat jokingly, “Be careful of those rebels out there, newbie.” The soldier blanched and returned the salute, walking out into the night, allowing Heero access to the inner recesses of the base. Smirking, Heero made his way to the barracks, but quickly turned and ducked into the shadows. Inching along a wall, he looked around. Once satisfied that no one was coming, he dashed towards a large complex towards the center of the base. Slipping through the large glass double doors, Heero calmly asked a woman at the front counter where the interrogation office was.

 

Looking at him skeptically, she asked, “Sir, why do you need to know where the office is?”

 

Appearing quite abashed, which was odd for Heero, he said apologetically, “Oh, I'm sorry. I'm the new interrogator sent from Kyoto. Didn't they tell you I was coming?”

 

“Oh yes. I knew that you were scheduled to arrive tomorrow, but it looks like you got here early. And good thing too. Just between you and me,” the receptionist hunched closer and whispered conspiratorially, “we have a true blue Gundam pilot here. Can you believe it? We caught one!”

 

Trying to look shocked, Heero gasped and said hurredly, “Really? Wow. I didn't think that I'd ever get to see, or even be on the same base as a Gundam pilot. Do you know where he's being held? I want to get a look at him for myself. It's just too amazing.”

 

The receptionist knowingly nodded and typed away at her computer for a few moments, and soon produced a map of the building. Taking a red pen, she put an `X' on a solitary room on the third floor.

 

“That's the room he's being held in. We have him restrained, so no worries there.”

 

Heero nodded with gratitude. “Oh, I wasn't worried. I was sure that Oz had taken the proper precautions against someone so viscous. Thank you.” With that, he walked towards the stairs, smirking to himself all the while. That was way too easy. It was a good thing that he had intercepted that transmission a couple nights ago about that new interrogator, or else that would have been just a tad difficult.

 

Leaping up the stairs three or four at a time, Heero soon approached the third floor. Opening the door slightly, he glanced down the hallway in both directions. According to the map, Duo was being held at the end of the hall in a small cell to the right. Undoubtedly, there would be at least one guard posted outside his door. Oz wasn't so stupid as to leave the door unprotected. Inching out of the stairwell, Heero once again glanced up and down the hall, but no one was to be seen. `That was smart of them,' he thought. `They know not to let ordinary personnel near a Gundam pilot. However, without cover, that's going to make my job that much harder.'

 

Putting on an air of self-confidence, he strode purposefully toward the end of the hall, but stopped suddenly. There was only one guard posted outside the cell door, but there were numerous cameras aimed at the entrance. Snorting, he turned and went back in the direction whence he had come, but instead of returning downstairs, he stopped at the nearby elevator doors. Heero had decided to avoid the elevator merely because if you were cornered and questioned in one, you wouldn't have an avenue of escape.

 

Pulling out a small package, he pressed the button and the elevator doors opened promptly. Glad that no one was in the elevator, he entered and opened the hatch in the ceiling, carefully taping the small package next to the pulley device. Satisfied, he quickly exited, the doors closing behind him with an audible swish. Strolling leisurely once again towards Duo's cell, he smirked and ducked into a vacant office, closing and locking the door securely behind him. Hopefully there wasn't a guard inside the cell with Duo, or this could get a little tricky.

 

Heero's thumb ran over the ignition button almost lovingly, the cold plastic promising quite a bang if pressed just a little harder. Smiling wickedly, Heero depressed the button, and an explosion resounded throughout the building, the florescent lights swaying overhead.

 

~~

 

Meanwhile, Duo had been lying in his cell wondering what to do next. Clearly, he couldn't get out on his own, and if he were left on the base, Oz would waste no time in interrogating him. He was sure that he could withstand an interrogation, but he didn't know for how long. Even Gundam pilots had a breaking point, and he was positive that Oz would stop at nothing to get the information that they wanted.

 

He also knew that none of the other pilots would come and rescue him in their right minds. It was too much of a risk. Right now, Heero was probably briefing everyone in on what happened, no doubt blaming the failure on Duo himself. He snorted and mentally cursed Heero for being so stubborn. Maybe all the other pilots would be nicer to him if he just dropped that perfect soldier façade that he sported continually.

 

Interrupted mid-rant by an earth shattering explosion, Duo sat upright, or tried to. Vainly staring at the door, he strained to hear what was going on outside his miniature prison. He could vaguely hear sirens going off and someone shouting a couple floors below, but other than that, it was silent. Once again trying to free himself from his shackles, Duo squirmed, but soon froze when he heard a muffled thud right outside his cell door. This was followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door swung open, and Duo reflexively closed his eyes. Opening them slowly, he tried to make out the silhouette in the doorway, but couldn't.

 

“If you're here to kill me, go right ahead,” he snarled, trying to make his voice seem more viscous than he felt at the moment. At this comment, the figure chuckled a little, his deep voice painfully familiar to Duo.

 

“Heero?” he questioned quietly.

 

The figure strode into the cell and knelt at Duo's ankles, and soon the shackles were off. As soon as their eyes met, Duo knew that it was Heero. His cobalt eyes were shining with suppressed mirth and his normally stern mouth was quirked into a sideways smirk. Heero stood, breaking eye contact and made quick work of the second set of restraints. Sitting up and massaging his wrists, Duo stared at Heero, about to speak. However, Heero had other plans. Placing a finger on Duo's lips, he motioned for him to follow him out of the cell. Obligingly, Duo followed, all senses on alert.

 

He could smell smoke in the air, and assumed that it was from the explosion earlier. Dashing down the hallway, Duo spied the now destroyed elevator and chuckled to himself. Leave it to Heero to blow up something like that. Darting into the stairwell, the two pilots leaped up the stairs until they finally made it to the roof without opposition. Slinking to the edge, Heero motioned for Duo to follow. Duo, his curiosity peaked, peered over the edge and spotted two motorcycles waiting in the brush just on the other side of the fence.

 

Heero, taking initiative, leaped over the edge of the building and landed in a crouch. Wasting no time, he dashed into the shadows. Duo, taking in a deep breath, leapt over the side of the five story building as well, landing with as much, if not more grace than Heero. Joining him in the shadows, Duo glanced around. There were military personnel running about, utter chaos reigning supreme. Gripping Duo's hand, Heero jumped up and ran towards the fence, an astonished Duo in tow.

 

Scaling the fence with amazing speed and agility, the two Gundam pilots ran into the darkness and mounted the waiting motorcycles. Starting them up, the headlights bathed the surrounding area. Turning the bikes around, all the while spraying gravel in all directions, the two sped off towards the nearest safe house, a decent distance away.

 

Little did they know that they had been spotted. A dark figure emerged from the underbrush near where the bikes had been hidden. Smirking, he crossed his arms and thought about the braided pilot whom he had seen moments before.

 

“Very interesting indeed… we shall meet again Gundam pilot. You can count on that.”