Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Warrior Children ❯ Transformation ( Chapter 31 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Cousin D 
Noin is rescued.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.08.2007 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 267 | Status: Completed
Noin is rescued.
Anime/Manga: Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.08.2007 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.3K | Visits: 267 | Status: Completed
Chapter 31: Transformations
Rajura-
The news clip lasted only a moment.
Nasutei-san reached out and turned the television off. There was silence that was just too good to last.
Sure enough, not two heartbeats later, the whole room seemed to burst with noise.
Kushranada-san sprang from where he’d been sitting to a machine on a table that he picked up and pushed some buttons on. His face had turned almost purple and his eyes were wide when he started speaking into the machine while Merquise-san spoke urgently to him.
Touma shouted at Kushranada-san about not letting the police shoot his poor brother. There was a distant whisper - the telling signal of the others mind-speaking - and Touma stopped shouting. He turned to face Seiji who was glaring at him. "Don't get on my case! I know she's your sister, but I won't let anyone hurt Kitty."
Seiji’s frown deepened.
“No! Not even to protect her! You don’t know him. He’s… ” Touma suddenly fell silent and started waving his arms at Seiji. It was the only indication of an argument between the two than their expressions.
Silently, Naaza slipped out of the room.
“I don’t think you quite understand,” Kushranada-san was speaking with deliberate, practiced calm. “I am ordering you not to kill the boy. You can keep your people out of it. I’m just about to send my troops in. No. Certainly not. You will not interfere.” He made a waving motion at Merquise-san and hissed, “Get ready. I’m not letting the local police be responsible for Noin’s life.”
Duo - the apple of Rajura’s eye - was still hatefully glaring at Kushranada-san and whispering to Ryou.
Heero was the only one who didn’t seem to react. He watched the commotion with interest, but without getting involved.
Chang-san and Xiu were talking louder than anyone else in the room. Chang-san said, "You didn't tell me anything and your mother was so worried! You PROMISED you'd stay and take care of them!"
"Well, what about you? Mama said you ran off with some girl!" Xiu looked completely befuddled with that. "What girl? Why haven't I met her and what about Meiran?"
The temper was likely a family trait, Rajura decided.
"Meiran is perfectly fine with it!" Wufei flared up, with a flush. "Besides, there's nothing between Nasutei and I."
"Oh, right. That's why you're blushing red as an apple, isn't it?” Xiu stopped short and frowned. “What do you mean, Meiran's fine with this? Are you feeling all right?" Xiu put a hand on his cousin's forehead.
Wufei pulled away from Xiu. “I’m fine! Don’t patronize me and don’t change the subject. You were supposed to stay with the family!”
“I had demons to fight!”
Rajura rubbed his temples and could feel his missing eye start to throb. It did that when he got upset, but he tried to stay calm. In Sh'ten's absence, the responsibility of staying calm during an emergency fell to Rajura - as much as he was unsuited for it.
Ryou and the two tigers quietly left the room with Duo, perhaps to talk about what had happened or, perhaps, to find Naaza. Anubisu looked around at the noisy mayhem just once before following Ryou and Duo.
'Fate just has to kick my ass every chance she gets, doesn't she?' Rajura was getting a headache from all the noise and arguing and noise. 'In the about the passed month we lose our youngest brothers, lose our little sister, have to sacrifice Sh'ten for our freedom, ally ourselves with a questionable demon, defeat another demon with help from the risen dead, and finally get our whole family together again and now this. Why can't anything be easy? When do we get a chance to rest?'
A wall fell in Anubisu's mind.
Pain. Confusion. Change. Terrible change.
"'Jura!"
Everyone in the room stopped talking when Duo screamed and ran back into the room. He went right to Rajura and took hold of his arm, plainly frightened. "Something’s wrong! You gotta come!"
Only Treize stayed in the parlor on the telephone while Rajura led the charge to find out what had happened to Anubisu.
Just outside the door Anubisu leaned against a wall with his arms wrapped around himself, his face pinched in obvious pain. Anubisu’s back heaved up and down, as if he were finding it hard to breathing. His head was lowered, making his hair hide his face.
Byakuen, strangely enough, also whined in pain. He lay on his side with his great head on Ryou’s lap.
"What's happening to them?" Ryou stroked Byakuen’s head. “It just happened. No warning at all.”
Rajura reached out with his mind only to be pushed away by a strange feeling that was growing in Anubisu's mind. It was so radically different from what was normally in Anubisu's mind that Rajura was afraid for Anubisu. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt from his brother. This new feeling was like Anubisu’s whole mind was changing.
Anubisu abruptly walled off his mind from the others.
Naaza put a hand on Anubisu's back. "Anubisu? Are you...?"
Anubisu reared back and swatted Naaza in the chest, sending him flying and crashing against a wall with a thud and a grunt.
Shin broke away from Touma's side and ran to Naaza, helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?" Shin asked, worried. He quickly started searching Naaza's head for bumps or blood. Shin put his fingers in Naaza's hair, trying to feel if there was anything wrong.
Naaza brushed away Shin's helping hands. "I'm fine." Naaza shook his head slightly and looked a bit uncomfortable at how close Shin was, but didn't chase him off.
"Anubisu! What do you think you're..." Rajura stepped closer to Anubisu and then paused when he heard the deep, guttural growl from Anubisu. "Anubisu?"
Everyone tensed, even the boys who weren't so closely connected with Anubisu could tell something was wrong. Ryou looked up from Byakuen and Xiu, with his strong protective instinct, put himself slightly in front of Touma. Shin was still at Naaza's side, but watched Anubisu with growing fear on his face, his hand clenching Naaza's shoulder.
Slowly, Anubisu turned to face Rajura with short, jerking motions. Anubisu's hair was longer than it had been just minutes ago, and Rajura could see it growing, spreading as he watched. On Anubisu's arms it grew to be almost three inches long and not only blue, but now striped with a darker shade of blue. There was an odd snapping and popping as Anubisu's body changed in front of them. A tail, long and blue, burst through Anubisu's clothes even as his face shifted, pushing out into a muzzle.
It was a nightmare. The slow, steady transformation.
Byakuen seemed to be going through whatever Anubisu was, growling and whining in pain while he lay on the floor, jerking as if he were having convulsions. Byakuen roared at one point and rolled onto his back. His powerful legs lashed out and only Xiu’s fast action, as he grabbed Ryou and pulled him out of the way, saved Ryou from being accidentally hurt by Byakuen.
Anubisu's body began to stretch and change with the sounds of popping and tearing as his bones reformed. Anubisu’s eyes opened, showing a lucid moment. "It hurts, 'Jura, it hurts!" Anubisu's voice was mangled by his ever growing fangs and the way his mouth seemed to be changing into a muzzle.
Horrified, Rajura knew there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t help. He couldn’t stop the pain.
Anubisu went down onto all fours. By the time he hit the floor, his hands were paws, covered in fur and savage claws. His back stretched and Anubisu threw back his head with a howl of agony and his ears moved, the bones shifting under his skin until they were nearly on the top of his head.
The change to Anubisu's body was so great that his clothes ripped off, falling to the floor and showing off the other changes.
Rajura felt his stomach churn, watching.
It was surely the work of Byakuen's blood that Anubisu had drunk. Rajura could feel the wall around Anubisu's mind begin to weaken and through it he could feel the unspeakable pain Anubisu was suffering.
Anubisu stopped shaking with convulsions, but the changes continued. His face was covered in short blue fur and his nose and mouth were pushed out, resembling a muzzle more than a face and his ears pushed up on top of his head. His eyes were the same glorious blue, but that was the only thing that hadn't changed. Anubisu threw back his head again with another cry of pain. He grew and kept growing, changing until he resembled a blue version of Byakuen or Kokuen-Oh, and then… it was over.
Rajura swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright. "A-Anubisu?"
The large cat looked at Naaza and then Rajura, his mouth opened in what looked like a cat grin. 'It must have been the demon cat's blood.'
I AM NOT A DEMON! Neko-Anubisu, growled and showed large teeth to Rajura.
It was reassuring that Anubisu had heard and answered. OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT, LOVE. Rajura answered, delighted that Anubisu could still talk to him. Still, there was a difference in the sound of Anubisu's voice in Rajura's mind. For lack of a better word, Rajura thought that Anubisu tasted different.
Ryou cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him and Byakuen, whom everyone had forgotten but Ryou.
Touma gasped and cursed.
Where Byakuen had been there was a man lay on the floor, slender and willowy, with a mane of long white hair strewn all over his nude body. The man looked around in confusion, his dark brown eyes a stark contrast to his almost albino white skin that was striped with black markings, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows.
Ryou was kneeling behind the stranger, a horrified look on his face. "What happened to Yaku-chan?!"
“A trade,” Naaza stepped closer to examine the man. “Obviously, Anubisu and Byakuen had exchanged species - somehow.”
Byakuen opened his mouth and apparently tried to speak, but nothing came out. His brow furrowed in distress and he raised a hand, putting it on Ryou's shoulder as he had so often as a tiger. Byakuen stared at his human hand with horror. He tried again to speak and this time managed a pitiful mewing sound.
HE CAN'T SPEAK. Anubisu told Rajura and Naaza. HE'S GOT THE BODY, BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT.
Byakuen's feeble attempts to sit up and move were proof of what Anubisu said. Rajura couldn't help but notice that Byakuen, as a human, was quite beautiful, but not as muscular as Rajura might have expected. Frail, almost. ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? Rajura looked at Anubisu, worried.
JUST FINE, ONCE I GET USED TO IT. I'M SURE IF I TRIED TO SPEAK TIGER, RIGHT NOW, I WOULDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, EITHER. THIS BODY IS EASIER TO USE THAN A HUMANS, THOUGH, SO I THINK I'LL BE FINE.
Kushranada-san walked into the hall and said, "The police have tracked them to a junk yard... " Kushranada-san paused when he saw the naked stranger on his floor and a new, blue tiger looking at him intently. "Um... Yes. Anyway, the police think they've gone into a junkyard on the other side of the city, but I’ve told them to do nothing."
Merquise-san grabbed his car keys. "We're taking my car, but it's only a two-seater."
"We'll run," Rajura said. They'd all ready proven that they could easily keep up with a car. Then he looked at Duo, Yuy-san, Chang-san, and Trowa-san. "You had best stay here."
"No," Trowa-san said firmly. "I am coming."
Chang-san nodded. "We all are. Quatre's a friend of ours, we won't leave him all alone."
Rajura had to roll his eyes at their stubbornness. "How do you intend to keep up with us? I seriously doubt you can run as fast as we can."
Chang-san allowed himself a little smile and pulled out a small black box with a large red button right in the center of it. "We've got rides."
"No!" Yuy-san blurted out, alarmed for some reason. He'd been silent until that moment, content to just watch what was happening without getting involved.
"Why not? I'm not following orders, anymore. I don't care what they see." Chang-san replied spitefully as he pushed the large button in the center of his small controller. “Nataku is mine - payment for their betrayal.”
“Heavy Arms is mine. I owe nothing to people who do not keep their word.” Trowa-san pulled out an identical controller to Chang-san and pushed his, also. "I will not endanger Quatre for the sake of those who would betray us. Do you still want to follow them?" Trowa-san looked at Yuy-san seriously and waited for an answer.
Yuy-san’s face twisted in a grimace until Duo spoke up, beaming faithfully at Yuy-san. "Of course he's not gonna leave poor little Quatre out to dry!" Duo said with an easy smile. "He's too smart for that. Aren't you, Heero?"
"I am?"
"Sure!"
At this show of faith in his choice, Yuy-san took out his controller and pushed his button. Duo's faith in his decision seemed very important to Yuy-san.
There was a long moment of silent expectation. Rajura waited for a minute and opened his mouth to say something when a great rumbling shook the house.
"What the... ?" Merquise-san ran to a window to see what was happening. Merquise-san stared out the window and his mouth fell open as he saw what ever was making all the noise.
Chang-san smirked at the surprised reaction he got from everyone, though Trowa-san and Yuy-san just stood there and waited.
Kushranada-san just looked at the three boys and told no one what he was thinking. Kushranada-san, slightly more dignified than his masked friend, followed Merquise-san to the window and lost a tiny amount of his dignity at whatever he saw.
Rajura couldn't resist. He went to stand next to Merquise-san and his mouth, also, fell open. In the clear blue morning sky three massive... things... soared over the city, heading directly towards Kushranada-san’s home. They flew in a triangle pattern, all together, with thunder announcing their approach.
"Giants!" Rajura said, horrified at the sight of such immense creatures flying toward the house. 'Gods, I thought we'd done with such creatures when we left the Youja Kai!'
"No." Merquise-san corrected him grimly. "Gundams." He turned his masked face to the three boys. "You're the pilots."
Heero-
The Gundams landed outside of Kushranada’s home and attracted far more attention that Heero liked. There were guards, immediately, and, more importantly, the leader of the Alliance himself who got a first hand look at them.
The only thing stopping Heero from opening fire on the crowd to protect his secret, as he should have done, was the fact that Duo looked so happy and Heero would have hated to spoil that smile.
Ryou paid very little attention to the Gundams. Instead, he kept looking back at Kushranada’s home. Duo stopped Ryou’s pacing at one point and told him not to worry, that Kokuen-Oh would protect Byakuen while they were gone.
“I know,” Ryou told him. “I know. But… I hate leaving him like this.” He started pacing around, again, until Seiji claimed him and took him to where Touma and Shin were waiting. He seemed to calm down with them.
Rajura strode out of the house while Wufei and Trowa were attempting to explain their Gundams to Xiu and Shin. He looked decidedly unhappy and Duo whispered, “He was talking to Kay. Wanted to make sure she was all right staying with Mama Fan. I guess it didn’t go too well.”
When Rajura went to speak quietly with Naaza, Duo turned his attention back to Wing Zero. “Where did you get this thing, Heero?”
"It was created for me to pilot. A scientist built it." He moved to go into the cockpit of the Gundam, but Duo grabbed his arm and stopped him again.
"I want one."
Heero gave him a puzzled look, but Duo continued, never taking his eyes off Heero's white Gundam. "Does it have a name? Something like this should have a name."
"Wing Zero. Why?"
Duo shook his head with a soft chuckle. "Wing Zero? What a dull name. I want one, Nezumi. Please, I REALLY want one."
Heero shook his head. "There are no more. Just four and they all have pilots."
Duo sighed, disappointed.
Heero could almost feel Duo's regret and he didn't like it. "You may ride in mine.”
"Really?" Duo looked up with surprise.
Heero didn't looking at him, but nodded. "If you want to."
"Yea!" Duo shouted happily and Heero showed him how to climb up to the high cockpit, located in the chest of the metal giant. Together, they settled into the rather close conditions that fitting two into the cockpit meant. Duo was basically sitting on Heero's lap and never looked happier when Heero strapped them in together.
A few minutes later-
"Please, Heero?"
"No."
"Please, Hee-chan?"
"No."
"Please, Koibito?"
"No."
"Please, Nezumi?"
"No."
"Please, Sweetie-pie, honey-cakes, baby-doll?"
"No."
Duo pouted. "You're no fun."
Heero tried to stay calm, even when Duo was being so illogical. "You are not trained to pilot a Gundam. You would kill us."
They were currently flying high over Kushranada’s car and the inhuman people who could run so fast and now had alternated between running and jumping on the roof tops of sky scrapers. Just in front of Heero was Wufei in Shen Long, though Wufei called it Nataku, and Trowa with Heavy Arms. It was the first time Heero had seen either Gundam and he had to admit to being impressed with them. Not that they were as good as his Wing Zero, of course.
Wufei and Trowa seemed so sure that they were doing the right thing in letting Kushranada see the Gundams. Heero wasn't so confident. Wufei and Trowa had explained about the videotape that showed doctor J making arrangements to sell them to the Alliance and had even shown the tape to Heero. Still, doctor J was the master. He had to be obeyed.
To make matters more complicated; Heero was getting a VERY odd feeling every time Duo bounced on his lap. Every time Duo turned around to look at him, or moved at all, a terrible electric shock seemed to shoot from Heero's lap right to his brain and making him short circuit for a moment. It was making Heero doubt that he should be flying at all, the way his body was acting of it's own accord.
Now, understand, Heero was no naïve virgin. He knew how to procreate, doctor J had taught him all about that. Heero felt his stomach tighten at the thoughts of some of the stuff doctor J had made him do during his training and quickly brought his mind back to the present.
In all of his training, Heero had never gotten the kind of response he was getting from Duo just sitting on his lap. It was kind of like when Duo had tried to kiss him in the Youja Kai, and Heero had felt sick. Or when Duo had gotten so strange in Kushranada’s parlor and had almost kissed him on the red sofa. It hadn't been so intense then. Perhaps it was because they were alone the feelings seemed so much enhanced.
"Please, let me fly. I promise I won't break it!" Duo continued pleading, twisting around on Heero's lap to look at him. "Come on, don't you trust me?"
Heero batted Duo's absurdly long braid away from his face as he looked over Duo's shoulder to control the Gundam. "This is a unique weapon that I could destroy half of Earth. Why should I trust anyone with it?"
Duo smiled disarmingly. "Please? Just for a minute, I want to fly it around."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please, Heero?"
"No."
"Please, Hee-chan?"
"No."
"Please, Koibito?"
"No."
"Please..."
And so the argument went on. Heero really couldn't say that he minded. Duo had a pleasant voice. Plus, every time Duo spoke, he turned around to look at Heero, making a bit of friction on Heero's lap. It really did feel quite nice, once Heero had gotten used to it.
'Still,' Heero thought. 'I hope Duo doesn't notice.'
Duo-
'Oh, my! Is that a sword in your pocket or are you happy to see me, Heero?' Duo thought with a chuckle. Yes, Duo knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on Heero and he intended to continue until Heero burst. Hopefully.
Every time Duo turned around Heero would turn a darker shade of red, though he showed no other sign that anything was odd.
Duo wanted one of these great machines that Heero, Wufei, and Trowa had. It would make up for not having yoroi, like Ryou.
Yes, Duo was jealous, but not of Ryou. Duo was very happy that his brother had gotten such great power. It was those other four boys. Why should complete strangers get a telepathic link with Ryou when Duo was his brother?! It wasn't fair that those four other jerks suddenly were closer to Ryou than Duo could ever hope to be.
After all, it was Duo whom Ryou had confided in about his granma and the fire. It was Duo who'd held Ryou when he'd had nightmares. Duo who'd taught Ryou how to play pranks, and Duo who knew that Ryou was allergic to apples. Then, out of the blue, come these guys who knew, in a second, everything about Ryou. They were Ryou brothers! Where's the justice in that?
Jealously wasn't the reason Duo wanted one of these hulking giants, though. This just felt right, soaring above the clouds in such a powerful machine. Duo knew it was where he was meant to be. From the moment he'd seen the giants roaring overhead, Duo knew he had to have one.
"We're landing." Heero announced suddenly. "Hang on."
Duo couldn't help the sting of disappointment when he had to stop playing with Heero. It had been so much fun, too.
Neko-'Nubie-
Neko-'Nubie dashed into the city after the lingering scent of his prospective mate, Noin. It hung in the air like a wonderful perfume, enticing Neko-'Nubie to follow. Her scent was mixed with another scent and Neko-'Nubie was very upset about that.
He could hear the others, including his first mate, following behind at some distance. There were to many of them and they made too much noise, but Neko-'Nubie knew he would need their help.
Distant noise caught Neko-'Nubie's attention and he ran, the scent of Noin getting stronger and stronger. She was close. Very lose. A scent of blood, like perfume in the air, showed Neko-'Nubie where to look.
He came to a high wall that separated him from Noin. Neko-'Nubie growled at the wall, offended that it would come between him and his desired mate. With an easy leap, Neko-'Nubie jumped over the ten foot high wall. Quatre was almost right under him when Neko-'Nubie cleared the wall and he was able to just fall, taking the boy by complete surprise. He tackled Quatre, knocking him easily to the ground, but Quatre didn't give up the fight and struggled even though he was obviously outmatched by the muscles of the tiger.
Noin-
Quatre had managed to hit her in the leg with one shot before the tiger pinned him down with its forepaws on Quatre's arms and baring its teeth at him. Her leg was throbbing and Quatre had gotten off a good shot at her head and she could feel blood seeping down the side of her face.
Noin knew Quatre wasn't to blame for anything. That loony doctor J had done something to him, screwed up Quatre's mind, somehow. She crawled over to Quatre, still pinned down by the blue tiger, and grabbed the gun in his hand, trying to wrestle it out of his determined grip.
All of Quatre's self control and his previous cold demeanor vanished very suddenly. "I won't let you hurt Quatre!" Quatre said, determinedly holding onto the gun. "I won't let you hurt him!"
"Let it go!" Noin shouted, fighting with his hand, but she just wasn't strong enough. Noin grabbed the first thing that came to hand, a large brick, and smashed it down on Quatre's hand.
Quatre didn't flinch. It was as if he couldn't feel the pain. Noin bashed Quatre's hand again, hoping to break either the gun or Quatre's hand, she'd settle for either one at this point.
The gun turned out to be very well made and Quatre's hand broke first.
With a horrible crack, most of the bones in Quatre's hand broke and he was unable to hold the gun anymore. Noin grabbed it as soon as it fell, but she knew the threat wasn't gone, yet.
"I'll kill you!" Quatre screamed insanely. "I'll kill you!"
*Clunk!*
Something hit Quatre in the head hard and fast, knocking him unconscious. Afraid that he might wake up, Noin just watched him for a minute. When he didn't move and the blue tiger stepped off him, Noin felt herself relax just enough to take a good look at the tiger.
'Must be one of Ryou's tiger friends. I didn't think he had any other than Byakuen.' Noin looked at its eyes and in that moment, she recognized... but no... it's not possible... is it?
Naaza-
Rajura had thrown one of his nun-chucks at Quatre, hitting him expertly on the head. It was a perfect throw, naturally, and Rajura had made sure he wouldn't kill the boy.
Rajura and Anubisu's thoughts were intruding on Naaza's mind. They were thinking of how fragile Noin looked, yet how strong. She fought off her attacker and managed to stay alive though the boy was clearly possessed by some evil spirit.
The girl was bleeding heavily and Seiji was naturally the first one to her. They were all at her back and Naaza thought she was too busy looking at Anubisu to notice that anyone else was around. Seiji wrapped his arms around his sister.
Noin struggled, at first, probably thinking he was another attacker. When she realized who it was, though, Noin calmed and sagged against her little brother. "Oh, Sei-chan! You have no idea how glad... " Her voice faded away when she saw the same thing everyone else saw.
Anubisu was mewling with pain, again, and shaking with short jerky motions as he had when he'd turned into a cat. He took a few awkward steps, then stopped and rolled his eyes into his head, as if he couldn't control his own body. It only took a minute, perhaps, before Anubisu was back in his human body. He was clearly exhausted and quite naked as he panted for breath after collapsing on the ground.
"'Nubie!" Rajura cried, running to him.
Noin started at his voice and, for the first time, turned around and saw how many people had come to rescue her. She blinked, surprised at the sheer number of people. Rajura clothed Anubisu's decently with an illusion before picking him up and cradling him, gently. Anubisu was fast asleep before Rajura even stood up.
"He saved me," Noin whispered as Seiji put his hand on her head wound and began healing her. For a minute, she looked sleepy eyed, as if the healing were making her tired, but she stayed awake. When Seiji was finished with her head he began on her leg, his light green aura flaring into sight as he did.
Naaza looked at Noin, held securely in Seiji's arms, much like Rajura held Anubisu. She was looking at Anubisu, despite her injuries and fatigue, she still seemed to be thinking straight.
'Maybe I can live with this.' Naaza thought, seeing how Noin looked at Anubisu, not with fear or disgust, but in admiration. 'At least she's not going to hurt Anubisu by thinking he's a monster.' He kept thinking on this new development as he went to Quatre to start his own examination and healing. The hand Noin had broken would need tending but Naaza was afraid the boy's mind would need the most care and for that, they would have to leave it to Rajura, if he was willing to help. There was no one who knew more about the ins and outs of the human mind than Rajura.
Treize-
"Are you all right?" Treize asked Noin, when Seiji had set her on the ground for healing her leg. It was getting very strange and if he knew Noin was going to be all right, Treize knew he could handle the situation. He just didn't want to think about new, mysterious Gundams. He also didn't want to think about were-tigers or illusions, or men who could run as fast as a car, or any magic of any kind. He needed facts to run his life, not magic. "What happened?" He especially didn't want to think about how Seiji was healing Noin so quickly with nothing but a green light that radiated from his body.
Noin didn't seem surprised at what her brother was doing and Treize had to wonder what else the young man could do. He could be useful in OZ. Noin looked ashamed of herself when she finally spoke after Seiji had finished healing her. "My only mistake was in underestimating my enemy. I was stupid. Quatre was affected by something called the Zero System. It's a computer program that's designed to take over a fighter and make them perfect."
Treize felt sickened at the thought. Machine made soldiers. Treize hated the thought of such a thing happening, to take away the nobility and honor soldiers valued and replace it with mobile dolls was bad enough. Now, they were taking away a person's humanity. Of all people, it had to be Quatre!
Noin looked slowly around at all the faces gathered around her, some whom she didn't recognize and said severely, "I'm going to get him. That monster hurt my brother and he did the same thing to Heero and now this poor boy. I won't let him get away with it. He needs to be punished."
Treize, knowing that Noin would be fine, went to look at Quatre. Trowa and Touma were right beside him, checking the pulse and other life signs while Naaza seemed to massaging the boy's broken hand. Naaza rubbed the mangled hand slowly and carefully with a green slime of some kind.
Treize breathed a sigh of relief when they pronounced Quatre would be fine with just a bump on the head from Rajura's little attack.
'I wish I could take better care of him,' Treize thought, sadly. Yes, Treize knew Quatre was a Gundam pilot, he had known for more than a year. Yes, he knew Quatre was being trained for war against the Alliance and would probably try to kill him. Quatre did that sort of thing when he got bored.
'He's safe,' Treize told himself. 'Back to business.' Treize went to Noin and asked, "Who did this?" Whoever had set this whole scheme up needed to be dealt with and quickly. It would just make a bad situation worse and if he had to deal with a machine that would turn out psychopaths like Quatre.
"The corner of 33rd and Maple in West City. There's an apartment building, he's taken the whole building, from what I saw," she answered eagerly with fire in her eyes. "He calls himself doctor J and he's a monster. Completely insane or I'll eat my boots! I've heard rumors of this kind of mind-control being experimented with but I didn't think anyone would be mad enough to try it. We've got to destroy that machine, Treize! It's completely evil!"
"What machine?"
"The one in his lab." Noin leaned against Seiji again, clearly exhausted and absently put a hand on his head. "You have to destroy that machine, Treize. You have to."
Zechs went to Noin and took her hand, stroking it gently. "It's all right. Calm down, Noin. You've been through a lot and... "
"No, it isn't all right!" Noin snapped, though she didn't take her hand away from him. "We have to get him before he hurts anyone else. You know what trouble I had finding him this time. If he moves, we might never find him again. I don't even know if what was done to Quatre can be undone.”
Later-
Sh'ten-
Sh’ten had thought death would be more final than what he’d experienced, thus far. He just seemed to drift along behind his family wherever they went. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he could have just done something. Anything. He felt worse than useless just watching.
On the other hand, it was amusing to watch his brothers and the ningens in terrible fury as they invaded doctor J's laboratory.
He nearly fell down laughing at the sight of doctor’s J’s face when Naaza seized him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
The world faded.
Sh’ten stopped laughing. Everything was frozen around him and blanketed in a thick fog. Ryou’s mouth was open in the middle of a shout. Rajura’s arm half raised. Xiu was left in mid-step.
An unfamiliar voice spoke. "Do you want to see them one last time?"
There was no one around that could speak that Sh'ten could see. Still, he really should expect things like this to happen now that he was dead. "I want to punish the man who hurt my family."
"Heero isn't your family, Toshitada Koma. Seiji, you have known for only a very short while."
Sh'ten looked around again for the person who'd used his true name. So few people knew it. "Duo loves Heero, so Heero is apart of my family. Seiji and I are bound by the yoroi and by Ryou. I will protect my family at all costs. I'm shamed I couldn't stop them from being hurt in the first place." Maybe the speaker was dead, also. That would sort of make sense. "Who are you?"
Sh'ten saw, as if he'd been standing there the entire time, a monk in the corner of the room. He was an old man with long white hair, his face hidden under a large wicker hat. He wore tradition monk's robes of blue and white. "My master gives you a choice, Toshitada Koma.”
"Who are you?"
"I am a warrior, a monk, a guide, a teacher. I am all that and more." The monk stepped closer to Sh'ten, his staff ringing with his each step as it lightly hit the ground. Sh'ten winced at the ringing, it was so beautiful that it was almost painful to hear. "I have seen many outcomes for destiny and this is but one. Other destinies have more painful endings and others involve you and your loved ones in wars against each other."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want to know what you want. Which destiny will you chose?”
The world unfroze and Sh’ten watched the crowd of his family as they tried to decide what to do with doctor J. No one seemed able to agree. "I want to stay, just a bit longer. I was allowed to go back before, give me another chance."
The monk opened his mouth to say something and then paused, listening to something only he could hear. "What would you do with this one last chance?" He asked finally. "Would you tell your family you loved them? Would you tell them not to grieve for you? Perhaps a final act of love?"
Sh'ten grinned at doctor J. "I will hurt that man. I will give him pain as he's never felt before."
"Is that more important than showing your family you love them?"
Sh'ten gave him a puzzled look. "That IS showing them I love them. How can I show them better than by hurting the one who hurt them?" Sh'ten licked his lips in anticipation. "I'll make him suffer so very, very much. He'll never hurt my family again."
"Wouldn't you rather give pleasure than pain before you leave your family?"
"Is there a difference?"
This answer seemed to decide something as the monk listened to the voice only he heard and Sh'ten got the impression that he'd said the wrong thing. The monk lowered his ornate staff and aimed it at Sh'ten, who took a cautious step backwards.
"You are granted two hours in the Ningen Sekai, but since your physical body is no longer here, you will borrow another," the monk declared. Sh'ten felt a great warmth surround him before light flared in his eyes. "Use your time well."
Sh'ten woke in Trowa‘s arms. He felt smaller and, as he looked down at himself, Sh'ten realized he was in the body of the blonde boy, Quatre. Quatre, Sh'ten could tell, was soundly asleep in his own mind. He wasn't alone, however. There was another presence in Quatre's mind that was trying to wake up, but wasn't able to. It left Sh'ten fully in control of Quatre’s body.
He didn't move or speak to let anyone know he was awake, but merely watched and waited. Rajura had ordered doctor J to be tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Doctor J was out cold, with a large bruise on the side of his head. 'Anubisu's work, no doubt,' Sh'ten thought. 'He always was a bit heavy handed.'
Treize was arguing with Naaza. "I don't want Quatre here! He's too young for this sort of thing."
"What sort of thing?" Naaza replied innocently.
Treize rolled his eyes. "You're going to do exactly what I'd do in your position and we both know it. I don't want Quatre involved!" Treize pointed to the other children who were preparing to leave the labratory: Ryou, Duo, Touma, Xiu, and Shin. "They're leaving and I want Quatre to go with them. If nothing else, Quatre should go to a hospital and see to it that his head gets looked at.”
Naaza snorted. "He's got a bump on the head and will probably be a little confused."
"I suppose you're a doctor?" Treize asked acidly.
"I've been a doctor since before your grandfather was walking, boy!" Naaza said, insulted.
Touma spoke up, with puzzled look. "What do you care anyway? He's my brother and I trust Seiji to look after him." Seiji was, apparently, staying behind to help 'take care of' doctor J.
Treize argued with Touma and Naaza a bit longer before Sh’ten decided it was time to let himself be known. "I really think I would rather stay."
Everyone turned to him in shock and Sh'ten felt Trowa's arms tighten around him. “Quatre? How are you feeling?”
It was nice to surprise people once in a while. “Quatre’s sleeping at the moment. Oh,” He laughed at their tense faces and realized that they must have thought he was still Quatre under the influence of the evil spirit. "Come now! I wouldn't hurt you. Not unless you wanted me to." Sh'ten looked up at Trowa's face, unusually showing an expression of surprise and suspicion. "You can put me down, now."
Trowa hesitated a moment, then let Sh'ten down to his feet.
Continued….
Rajura-
The news clip lasted only a moment.
Nasutei-san reached out and turned the television off. There was silence that was just too good to last.
Sure enough, not two heartbeats later, the whole room seemed to burst with noise.
Kushranada-san sprang from where he’d been sitting to a machine on a table that he picked up and pushed some buttons on. His face had turned almost purple and his eyes were wide when he started speaking into the machine while Merquise-san spoke urgently to him.
Touma shouted at Kushranada-san about not letting the police shoot his poor brother. There was a distant whisper - the telling signal of the others mind-speaking - and Touma stopped shouting. He turned to face Seiji who was glaring at him. "Don't get on my case! I know she's your sister, but I won't let anyone hurt Kitty."
Seiji’s frown deepened.
“No! Not even to protect her! You don’t know him. He’s… ” Touma suddenly fell silent and started waving his arms at Seiji. It was the only indication of an argument between the two than their expressions.
Silently, Naaza slipped out of the room.
“I don’t think you quite understand,” Kushranada-san was speaking with deliberate, practiced calm. “I am ordering you not to kill the boy. You can keep your people out of it. I’m just about to send my troops in. No. Certainly not. You will not interfere.” He made a waving motion at Merquise-san and hissed, “Get ready. I’m not letting the local police be responsible for Noin’s life.”
Duo - the apple of Rajura’s eye - was still hatefully glaring at Kushranada-san and whispering to Ryou.
Heero was the only one who didn’t seem to react. He watched the commotion with interest, but without getting involved.
Chang-san and Xiu were talking louder than anyone else in the room. Chang-san said, "You didn't tell me anything and your mother was so worried! You PROMISED you'd stay and take care of them!"
"Well, what about you? Mama said you ran off with some girl!" Xiu looked completely befuddled with that. "What girl? Why haven't I met her and what about Meiran?"
The temper was likely a family trait, Rajura decided.
"Meiran is perfectly fine with it!" Wufei flared up, with a flush. "Besides, there's nothing between Nasutei and I."
"Oh, right. That's why you're blushing red as an apple, isn't it?” Xiu stopped short and frowned. “What do you mean, Meiran's fine with this? Are you feeling all right?" Xiu put a hand on his cousin's forehead.
Wufei pulled away from Xiu. “I’m fine! Don’t patronize me and don’t change the subject. You were supposed to stay with the family!”
“I had demons to fight!”
Rajura rubbed his temples and could feel his missing eye start to throb. It did that when he got upset, but he tried to stay calm. In Sh'ten's absence, the responsibility of staying calm during an emergency fell to Rajura - as much as he was unsuited for it.
Ryou and the two tigers quietly left the room with Duo, perhaps to talk about what had happened or, perhaps, to find Naaza. Anubisu looked around at the noisy mayhem just once before following Ryou and Duo.
'Fate just has to kick my ass every chance she gets, doesn't she?' Rajura was getting a headache from all the noise and arguing and noise. 'In the about the passed month we lose our youngest brothers, lose our little sister, have to sacrifice Sh'ten for our freedom, ally ourselves with a questionable demon, defeat another demon with help from the risen dead, and finally get our whole family together again and now this. Why can't anything be easy? When do we get a chance to rest?'
A wall fell in Anubisu's mind.
Pain. Confusion. Change. Terrible change.
"'Jura!"
Everyone in the room stopped talking when Duo screamed and ran back into the room. He went right to Rajura and took hold of his arm, plainly frightened. "Something’s wrong! You gotta come!"
Only Treize stayed in the parlor on the telephone while Rajura led the charge to find out what had happened to Anubisu.
Just outside the door Anubisu leaned against a wall with his arms wrapped around himself, his face pinched in obvious pain. Anubisu’s back heaved up and down, as if he were finding it hard to breathing. His head was lowered, making his hair hide his face.
Byakuen, strangely enough, also whined in pain. He lay on his side with his great head on Ryou’s lap.
"What's happening to them?" Ryou stroked Byakuen’s head. “It just happened. No warning at all.”
Rajura reached out with his mind only to be pushed away by a strange feeling that was growing in Anubisu's mind. It was so radically different from what was normally in Anubisu's mind that Rajura was afraid for Anubisu. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt from his brother. This new feeling was like Anubisu’s whole mind was changing.
Anubisu abruptly walled off his mind from the others.
Naaza put a hand on Anubisu's back. "Anubisu? Are you...?"
Anubisu reared back and swatted Naaza in the chest, sending him flying and crashing against a wall with a thud and a grunt.
Shin broke away from Touma's side and ran to Naaza, helping him to sit up. "Are you all right?" Shin asked, worried. He quickly started searching Naaza's head for bumps or blood. Shin put his fingers in Naaza's hair, trying to feel if there was anything wrong.
Naaza brushed away Shin's helping hands. "I'm fine." Naaza shook his head slightly and looked a bit uncomfortable at how close Shin was, but didn't chase him off.
"Anubisu! What do you think you're..." Rajura stepped closer to Anubisu and then paused when he heard the deep, guttural growl from Anubisu. "Anubisu?"
Everyone tensed, even the boys who weren't so closely connected with Anubisu could tell something was wrong. Ryou looked up from Byakuen and Xiu, with his strong protective instinct, put himself slightly in front of Touma. Shin was still at Naaza's side, but watched Anubisu with growing fear on his face, his hand clenching Naaza's shoulder.
Slowly, Anubisu turned to face Rajura with short, jerking motions. Anubisu's hair was longer than it had been just minutes ago, and Rajura could see it growing, spreading as he watched. On Anubisu's arms it grew to be almost three inches long and not only blue, but now striped with a darker shade of blue. There was an odd snapping and popping as Anubisu's body changed in front of them. A tail, long and blue, burst through Anubisu's clothes even as his face shifted, pushing out into a muzzle.
It was a nightmare. The slow, steady transformation.
Byakuen seemed to be going through whatever Anubisu was, growling and whining in pain while he lay on the floor, jerking as if he were having convulsions. Byakuen roared at one point and rolled onto his back. His powerful legs lashed out and only Xiu’s fast action, as he grabbed Ryou and pulled him out of the way, saved Ryou from being accidentally hurt by Byakuen.
Anubisu's body began to stretch and change with the sounds of popping and tearing as his bones reformed. Anubisu’s eyes opened, showing a lucid moment. "It hurts, 'Jura, it hurts!" Anubisu's voice was mangled by his ever growing fangs and the way his mouth seemed to be changing into a muzzle.
Horrified, Rajura knew there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t help. He couldn’t stop the pain.
Anubisu went down onto all fours. By the time he hit the floor, his hands were paws, covered in fur and savage claws. His back stretched and Anubisu threw back his head with a howl of agony and his ears moved, the bones shifting under his skin until they were nearly on the top of his head.
The change to Anubisu's body was so great that his clothes ripped off, falling to the floor and showing off the other changes.
Rajura felt his stomach churn, watching.
It was surely the work of Byakuen's blood that Anubisu had drunk. Rajura could feel the wall around Anubisu's mind begin to weaken and through it he could feel the unspeakable pain Anubisu was suffering.
Anubisu stopped shaking with convulsions, but the changes continued. His face was covered in short blue fur and his nose and mouth were pushed out, resembling a muzzle more than a face and his ears pushed up on top of his head. His eyes were the same glorious blue, but that was the only thing that hadn't changed. Anubisu threw back his head again with another cry of pain. He grew and kept growing, changing until he resembled a blue version of Byakuen or Kokuen-Oh, and then… it was over.
Rajura swayed on his feet, but managed to stay upright. "A-Anubisu?"
The large cat looked at Naaza and then Rajura, his mouth opened in what looked like a cat grin. 'It must have been the demon cat's blood.'
I AM NOT A DEMON! Neko-Anubisu, growled and showed large teeth to Rajura.
It was reassuring that Anubisu had heard and answered. OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT, LOVE. Rajura answered, delighted that Anubisu could still talk to him. Still, there was a difference in the sound of Anubisu's voice in Rajura's mind. For lack of a better word, Rajura thought that Anubisu tasted different.
Ryou cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him and Byakuen, whom everyone had forgotten but Ryou.
Touma gasped and cursed.
Where Byakuen had been there was a man lay on the floor, slender and willowy, with a mane of long white hair strewn all over his nude body. The man looked around in confusion, his dark brown eyes a stark contrast to his almost albino white skin that was striped with black markings, and he pushed himself up onto his elbows.
Ryou was kneeling behind the stranger, a horrified look on his face. "What happened to Yaku-chan?!"
“A trade,” Naaza stepped closer to examine the man. “Obviously, Anubisu and Byakuen had exchanged species - somehow.”
Byakuen opened his mouth and apparently tried to speak, but nothing came out. His brow furrowed in distress and he raised a hand, putting it on Ryou's shoulder as he had so often as a tiger. Byakuen stared at his human hand with horror. He tried again to speak and this time managed a pitiful mewing sound.
HE CAN'T SPEAK. Anubisu told Rajura and Naaza. HE'S GOT THE BODY, BUT HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT.
Byakuen's feeble attempts to sit up and move were proof of what Anubisu said. Rajura couldn't help but notice that Byakuen, as a human, was quite beautiful, but not as muscular as Rajura might have expected. Frail, almost. ARE YOU ALL RIGHT? Rajura looked at Anubisu, worried.
JUST FINE, ONCE I GET USED TO IT. I'M SURE IF I TRIED TO SPEAK TIGER, RIGHT NOW, I WOULDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, EITHER. THIS BODY IS EASIER TO USE THAN A HUMANS, THOUGH, SO I THINK I'LL BE FINE.
Kushranada-san walked into the hall and said, "The police have tracked them to a junk yard... " Kushranada-san paused when he saw the naked stranger on his floor and a new, blue tiger looking at him intently. "Um... Yes. Anyway, the police think they've gone into a junkyard on the other side of the city, but I’ve told them to do nothing."
Merquise-san grabbed his car keys. "We're taking my car, but it's only a two-seater."
"We'll run," Rajura said. They'd all ready proven that they could easily keep up with a car. Then he looked at Duo, Yuy-san, Chang-san, and Trowa-san. "You had best stay here."
"No," Trowa-san said firmly. "I am coming."
Chang-san nodded. "We all are. Quatre's a friend of ours, we won't leave him all alone."
Rajura had to roll his eyes at their stubbornness. "How do you intend to keep up with us? I seriously doubt you can run as fast as we can."
Chang-san allowed himself a little smile and pulled out a small black box with a large red button right in the center of it. "We've got rides."
"No!" Yuy-san blurted out, alarmed for some reason. He'd been silent until that moment, content to just watch what was happening without getting involved.
"Why not? I'm not following orders, anymore. I don't care what they see." Chang-san replied spitefully as he pushed the large button in the center of his small controller. “Nataku is mine - payment for their betrayal.”
“Heavy Arms is mine. I owe nothing to people who do not keep their word.” Trowa-san pulled out an identical controller to Chang-san and pushed his, also. "I will not endanger Quatre for the sake of those who would betray us. Do you still want to follow them?" Trowa-san looked at Yuy-san seriously and waited for an answer.
Yuy-san’s face twisted in a grimace until Duo spoke up, beaming faithfully at Yuy-san. "Of course he's not gonna leave poor little Quatre out to dry!" Duo said with an easy smile. "He's too smart for that. Aren't you, Heero?"
"I am?"
"Sure!"
At this show of faith in his choice, Yuy-san took out his controller and pushed his button. Duo's faith in his decision seemed very important to Yuy-san.
There was a long moment of silent expectation. Rajura waited for a minute and opened his mouth to say something when a great rumbling shook the house.
"What the... ?" Merquise-san ran to a window to see what was happening. Merquise-san stared out the window and his mouth fell open as he saw what ever was making all the noise.
Chang-san smirked at the surprised reaction he got from everyone, though Trowa-san and Yuy-san just stood there and waited.
Kushranada-san just looked at the three boys and told no one what he was thinking. Kushranada-san, slightly more dignified than his masked friend, followed Merquise-san to the window and lost a tiny amount of his dignity at whatever he saw.
Rajura couldn't resist. He went to stand next to Merquise-san and his mouth, also, fell open. In the clear blue morning sky three massive... things... soared over the city, heading directly towards Kushranada-san’s home. They flew in a triangle pattern, all together, with thunder announcing their approach.
"Giants!" Rajura said, horrified at the sight of such immense creatures flying toward the house. 'Gods, I thought we'd done with such creatures when we left the Youja Kai!'
"No." Merquise-san corrected him grimly. "Gundams." He turned his masked face to the three boys. "You're the pilots."
Heero-
The Gundams landed outside of Kushranada’s home and attracted far more attention that Heero liked. There were guards, immediately, and, more importantly, the leader of the Alliance himself who got a first hand look at them.
The only thing stopping Heero from opening fire on the crowd to protect his secret, as he should have done, was the fact that Duo looked so happy and Heero would have hated to spoil that smile.
Ryou paid very little attention to the Gundams. Instead, he kept looking back at Kushranada’s home. Duo stopped Ryou’s pacing at one point and told him not to worry, that Kokuen-Oh would protect Byakuen while they were gone.
“I know,” Ryou told him. “I know. But… I hate leaving him like this.” He started pacing around, again, until Seiji claimed him and took him to where Touma and Shin were waiting. He seemed to calm down with them.
Rajura strode out of the house while Wufei and Trowa were attempting to explain their Gundams to Xiu and Shin. He looked decidedly unhappy and Duo whispered, “He was talking to Kay. Wanted to make sure she was all right staying with Mama Fan. I guess it didn’t go too well.”
When Rajura went to speak quietly with Naaza, Duo turned his attention back to Wing Zero. “Where did you get this thing, Heero?”
"It was created for me to pilot. A scientist built it." He moved to go into the cockpit of the Gundam, but Duo grabbed his arm and stopped him again.
"I want one."
Heero gave him a puzzled look, but Duo continued, never taking his eyes off Heero's white Gundam. "Does it have a name? Something like this should have a name."
"Wing Zero. Why?"
Duo shook his head with a soft chuckle. "Wing Zero? What a dull name. I want one, Nezumi. Please, I REALLY want one."
Heero shook his head. "There are no more. Just four and they all have pilots."
Duo sighed, disappointed.
Heero could almost feel Duo's regret and he didn't like it. "You may ride in mine.”
"Really?" Duo looked up with surprise.
Heero didn't looking at him, but nodded. "If you want to."
"Yea!" Duo shouted happily and Heero showed him how to climb up to the high cockpit, located in the chest of the metal giant. Together, they settled into the rather close conditions that fitting two into the cockpit meant. Duo was basically sitting on Heero's lap and never looked happier when Heero strapped them in together.
A few minutes later-
"Please, Heero?"
"No."
"Please, Hee-chan?"
"No."
"Please, Koibito?"
"No."
"Please, Nezumi?"
"No."
"Please, Sweetie-pie, honey-cakes, baby-doll?"
"No."
Duo pouted. "You're no fun."
Heero tried to stay calm, even when Duo was being so illogical. "You are not trained to pilot a Gundam. You would kill us."
They were currently flying high over Kushranada’s car and the inhuman people who could run so fast and now had alternated between running and jumping on the roof tops of sky scrapers. Just in front of Heero was Wufei in Shen Long, though Wufei called it Nataku, and Trowa with Heavy Arms. It was the first time Heero had seen either Gundam and he had to admit to being impressed with them. Not that they were as good as his Wing Zero, of course.
Wufei and Trowa seemed so sure that they were doing the right thing in letting Kushranada see the Gundams. Heero wasn't so confident. Wufei and Trowa had explained about the videotape that showed doctor J making arrangements to sell them to the Alliance and had even shown the tape to Heero. Still, doctor J was the master. He had to be obeyed.
To make matters more complicated; Heero was getting a VERY odd feeling every time Duo bounced on his lap. Every time Duo turned around to look at him, or moved at all, a terrible electric shock seemed to shoot from Heero's lap right to his brain and making him short circuit for a moment. It was making Heero doubt that he should be flying at all, the way his body was acting of it's own accord.
Now, understand, Heero was no naïve virgin. He knew how to procreate, doctor J had taught him all about that. Heero felt his stomach tighten at the thoughts of some of the stuff doctor J had made him do during his training and quickly brought his mind back to the present.
In all of his training, Heero had never gotten the kind of response he was getting from Duo just sitting on his lap. It was kind of like when Duo had tried to kiss him in the Youja Kai, and Heero had felt sick. Or when Duo had gotten so strange in Kushranada’s parlor and had almost kissed him on the red sofa. It hadn't been so intense then. Perhaps it was because they were alone the feelings seemed so much enhanced.
"Please, let me fly. I promise I won't break it!" Duo continued pleading, twisting around on Heero's lap to look at him. "Come on, don't you trust me?"
Heero batted Duo's absurdly long braid away from his face as he looked over Duo's shoulder to control the Gundam. "This is a unique weapon that I could destroy half of Earth. Why should I trust anyone with it?"
Duo smiled disarmingly. "Please? Just for a minute, I want to fly it around."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Please, Heero?"
"No."
"Please, Hee-chan?"
"No."
"Please, Koibito?"
"No."
"Please..."
And so the argument went on. Heero really couldn't say that he minded. Duo had a pleasant voice. Plus, every time Duo spoke, he turned around to look at Heero, making a bit of friction on Heero's lap. It really did feel quite nice, once Heero had gotten used to it.
'Still,' Heero thought. 'I hope Duo doesn't notice.'
Duo-
'Oh, my! Is that a sword in your pocket or are you happy to see me, Heero?' Duo thought with a chuckle. Yes, Duo knew exactly what kind of effect he was having on Heero and he intended to continue until Heero burst. Hopefully.
Every time Duo turned around Heero would turn a darker shade of red, though he showed no other sign that anything was odd.
Duo wanted one of these great machines that Heero, Wufei, and Trowa had. It would make up for not having yoroi, like Ryou.
Yes, Duo was jealous, but not of Ryou. Duo was very happy that his brother had gotten such great power. It was those other four boys. Why should complete strangers get a telepathic link with Ryou when Duo was his brother?! It wasn't fair that those four other jerks suddenly were closer to Ryou than Duo could ever hope to be.
After all, it was Duo whom Ryou had confided in about his granma and the fire. It was Duo who'd held Ryou when he'd had nightmares. Duo who'd taught Ryou how to play pranks, and Duo who knew that Ryou was allergic to apples. Then, out of the blue, come these guys who knew, in a second, everything about Ryou. They were Ryou brothers! Where's the justice in that?
Jealously wasn't the reason Duo wanted one of these hulking giants, though. This just felt right, soaring above the clouds in such a powerful machine. Duo knew it was where he was meant to be. From the moment he'd seen the giants roaring overhead, Duo knew he had to have one.
"We're landing." Heero announced suddenly. "Hang on."
Duo couldn't help the sting of disappointment when he had to stop playing with Heero. It had been so much fun, too.
Neko-'Nubie-
Neko-'Nubie dashed into the city after the lingering scent of his prospective mate, Noin. It hung in the air like a wonderful perfume, enticing Neko-'Nubie to follow. Her scent was mixed with another scent and Neko-'Nubie was very upset about that.
He could hear the others, including his first mate, following behind at some distance. There were to many of them and they made too much noise, but Neko-'Nubie knew he would need their help.
Distant noise caught Neko-'Nubie's attention and he ran, the scent of Noin getting stronger and stronger. She was close. Very lose. A scent of blood, like perfume in the air, showed Neko-'Nubie where to look.
He came to a high wall that separated him from Noin. Neko-'Nubie growled at the wall, offended that it would come between him and his desired mate. With an easy leap, Neko-'Nubie jumped over the ten foot high wall. Quatre was almost right under him when Neko-'Nubie cleared the wall and he was able to just fall, taking the boy by complete surprise. He tackled Quatre, knocking him easily to the ground, but Quatre didn't give up the fight and struggled even though he was obviously outmatched by the muscles of the tiger.
Noin-
Quatre had managed to hit her in the leg with one shot before the tiger pinned him down with its forepaws on Quatre's arms and baring its teeth at him. Her leg was throbbing and Quatre had gotten off a good shot at her head and she could feel blood seeping down the side of her face.
Noin knew Quatre wasn't to blame for anything. That loony doctor J had done something to him, screwed up Quatre's mind, somehow. She crawled over to Quatre, still pinned down by the blue tiger, and grabbed the gun in his hand, trying to wrestle it out of his determined grip.
All of Quatre's self control and his previous cold demeanor vanished very suddenly. "I won't let you hurt Quatre!" Quatre said, determinedly holding onto the gun. "I won't let you hurt him!"
"Let it go!" Noin shouted, fighting with his hand, but she just wasn't strong enough. Noin grabbed the first thing that came to hand, a large brick, and smashed it down on Quatre's hand.
Quatre didn't flinch. It was as if he couldn't feel the pain. Noin bashed Quatre's hand again, hoping to break either the gun or Quatre's hand, she'd settle for either one at this point.
The gun turned out to be very well made and Quatre's hand broke first.
With a horrible crack, most of the bones in Quatre's hand broke and he was unable to hold the gun anymore. Noin grabbed it as soon as it fell, but she knew the threat wasn't gone, yet.
"I'll kill you!" Quatre screamed insanely. "I'll kill you!"
*Clunk!*
Something hit Quatre in the head hard and fast, knocking him unconscious. Afraid that he might wake up, Noin just watched him for a minute. When he didn't move and the blue tiger stepped off him, Noin felt herself relax just enough to take a good look at the tiger.
'Must be one of Ryou's tiger friends. I didn't think he had any other than Byakuen.' Noin looked at its eyes and in that moment, she recognized... but no... it's not possible... is it?
Naaza-
Rajura had thrown one of his nun-chucks at Quatre, hitting him expertly on the head. It was a perfect throw, naturally, and Rajura had made sure he wouldn't kill the boy.
Rajura and Anubisu's thoughts were intruding on Naaza's mind. They were thinking of how fragile Noin looked, yet how strong. She fought off her attacker and managed to stay alive though the boy was clearly possessed by some evil spirit.
The girl was bleeding heavily and Seiji was naturally the first one to her. They were all at her back and Naaza thought she was too busy looking at Anubisu to notice that anyone else was around. Seiji wrapped his arms around his sister.
Noin struggled, at first, probably thinking he was another attacker. When she realized who it was, though, Noin calmed and sagged against her little brother. "Oh, Sei-chan! You have no idea how glad... " Her voice faded away when she saw the same thing everyone else saw.
Anubisu was mewling with pain, again, and shaking with short jerky motions as he had when he'd turned into a cat. He took a few awkward steps, then stopped and rolled his eyes into his head, as if he couldn't control his own body. It only took a minute, perhaps, before Anubisu was back in his human body. He was clearly exhausted and quite naked as he panted for breath after collapsing on the ground.
"'Nubie!" Rajura cried, running to him.
Noin started at his voice and, for the first time, turned around and saw how many people had come to rescue her. She blinked, surprised at the sheer number of people. Rajura clothed Anubisu's decently with an illusion before picking him up and cradling him, gently. Anubisu was fast asleep before Rajura even stood up.
"He saved me," Noin whispered as Seiji put his hand on her head wound and began healing her. For a minute, she looked sleepy eyed, as if the healing were making her tired, but she stayed awake. When Seiji was finished with her head he began on her leg, his light green aura flaring into sight as he did.
Naaza looked at Noin, held securely in Seiji's arms, much like Rajura held Anubisu. She was looking at Anubisu, despite her injuries and fatigue, she still seemed to be thinking straight.
'Maybe I can live with this.' Naaza thought, seeing how Noin looked at Anubisu, not with fear or disgust, but in admiration. 'At least she's not going to hurt Anubisu by thinking he's a monster.' He kept thinking on this new development as he went to Quatre to start his own examination and healing. The hand Noin had broken would need tending but Naaza was afraid the boy's mind would need the most care and for that, they would have to leave it to Rajura, if he was willing to help. There was no one who knew more about the ins and outs of the human mind than Rajura.
Treize-
"Are you all right?" Treize asked Noin, when Seiji had set her on the ground for healing her leg. It was getting very strange and if he knew Noin was going to be all right, Treize knew he could handle the situation. He just didn't want to think about new, mysterious Gundams. He also didn't want to think about were-tigers or illusions, or men who could run as fast as a car, or any magic of any kind. He needed facts to run his life, not magic. "What happened?" He especially didn't want to think about how Seiji was healing Noin so quickly with nothing but a green light that radiated from his body.
Noin didn't seem surprised at what her brother was doing and Treize had to wonder what else the young man could do. He could be useful in OZ. Noin looked ashamed of herself when she finally spoke after Seiji had finished healing her. "My only mistake was in underestimating my enemy. I was stupid. Quatre was affected by something called the Zero System. It's a computer program that's designed to take over a fighter and make them perfect."
Treize felt sickened at the thought. Machine made soldiers. Treize hated the thought of such a thing happening, to take away the nobility and honor soldiers valued and replace it with mobile dolls was bad enough. Now, they were taking away a person's humanity. Of all people, it had to be Quatre!
Noin looked slowly around at all the faces gathered around her, some whom she didn't recognize and said severely, "I'm going to get him. That monster hurt my brother and he did the same thing to Heero and now this poor boy. I won't let him get away with it. He needs to be punished."
Treize, knowing that Noin would be fine, went to look at Quatre. Trowa and Touma were right beside him, checking the pulse and other life signs while Naaza seemed to massaging the boy's broken hand. Naaza rubbed the mangled hand slowly and carefully with a green slime of some kind.
Treize breathed a sigh of relief when they pronounced Quatre would be fine with just a bump on the head from Rajura's little attack.
'I wish I could take better care of him,' Treize thought, sadly. Yes, Treize knew Quatre was a Gundam pilot, he had known for more than a year. Yes, he knew Quatre was being trained for war against the Alliance and would probably try to kill him. Quatre did that sort of thing when he got bored.
'He's safe,' Treize told himself. 'Back to business.' Treize went to Noin and asked, "Who did this?" Whoever had set this whole scheme up needed to be dealt with and quickly. It would just make a bad situation worse and if he had to deal with a machine that would turn out psychopaths like Quatre.
"The corner of 33rd and Maple in West City. There's an apartment building, he's taken the whole building, from what I saw," she answered eagerly with fire in her eyes. "He calls himself doctor J and he's a monster. Completely insane or I'll eat my boots! I've heard rumors of this kind of mind-control being experimented with but I didn't think anyone would be mad enough to try it. We've got to destroy that machine, Treize! It's completely evil!"
"What machine?"
"The one in his lab." Noin leaned against Seiji again, clearly exhausted and absently put a hand on his head. "You have to destroy that machine, Treize. You have to."
Zechs went to Noin and took her hand, stroking it gently. "It's all right. Calm down, Noin. You've been through a lot and... "
"No, it isn't all right!" Noin snapped, though she didn't take her hand away from him. "We have to get him before he hurts anyone else. You know what trouble I had finding him this time. If he moves, we might never find him again. I don't even know if what was done to Quatre can be undone.”
Later-
Sh'ten-
Sh’ten had thought death would be more final than what he’d experienced, thus far. He just seemed to drift along behind his family wherever they went. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he could have just done something. Anything. He felt worse than useless just watching.
On the other hand, it was amusing to watch his brothers and the ningens in terrible fury as they invaded doctor J's laboratory.
He nearly fell down laughing at the sight of doctor’s J’s face when Naaza seized him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
The world faded.
Sh’ten stopped laughing. Everything was frozen around him and blanketed in a thick fog. Ryou’s mouth was open in the middle of a shout. Rajura’s arm half raised. Xiu was left in mid-step.
An unfamiliar voice spoke. "Do you want to see them one last time?"
There was no one around that could speak that Sh'ten could see. Still, he really should expect things like this to happen now that he was dead. "I want to punish the man who hurt my family."
"Heero isn't your family, Toshitada Koma. Seiji, you have known for only a very short while."
Sh'ten looked around again for the person who'd used his true name. So few people knew it. "Duo loves Heero, so Heero is apart of my family. Seiji and I are bound by the yoroi and by Ryou. I will protect my family at all costs. I'm shamed I couldn't stop them from being hurt in the first place." Maybe the speaker was dead, also. That would sort of make sense. "Who are you?"
Sh'ten saw, as if he'd been standing there the entire time, a monk in the corner of the room. He was an old man with long white hair, his face hidden under a large wicker hat. He wore tradition monk's robes of blue and white. "My master gives you a choice, Toshitada Koma.”
"Who are you?"
"I am a warrior, a monk, a guide, a teacher. I am all that and more." The monk stepped closer to Sh'ten, his staff ringing with his each step as it lightly hit the ground. Sh'ten winced at the ringing, it was so beautiful that it was almost painful to hear. "I have seen many outcomes for destiny and this is but one. Other destinies have more painful endings and others involve you and your loved ones in wars against each other."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want to know what you want. Which destiny will you chose?”
The world unfroze and Sh’ten watched the crowd of his family as they tried to decide what to do with doctor J. No one seemed able to agree. "I want to stay, just a bit longer. I was allowed to go back before, give me another chance."
The monk opened his mouth to say something and then paused, listening to something only he could hear. "What would you do with this one last chance?" He asked finally. "Would you tell your family you loved them? Would you tell them not to grieve for you? Perhaps a final act of love?"
Sh'ten grinned at doctor J. "I will hurt that man. I will give him pain as he's never felt before."
"Is that more important than showing your family you love them?"
Sh'ten gave him a puzzled look. "That IS showing them I love them. How can I show them better than by hurting the one who hurt them?" Sh'ten licked his lips in anticipation. "I'll make him suffer so very, very much. He'll never hurt my family again."
"Wouldn't you rather give pleasure than pain before you leave your family?"
"Is there a difference?"
This answer seemed to decide something as the monk listened to the voice only he heard and Sh'ten got the impression that he'd said the wrong thing. The monk lowered his ornate staff and aimed it at Sh'ten, who took a cautious step backwards.
"You are granted two hours in the Ningen Sekai, but since your physical body is no longer here, you will borrow another," the monk declared. Sh'ten felt a great warmth surround him before light flared in his eyes. "Use your time well."
Sh'ten woke in Trowa‘s arms. He felt smaller and, as he looked down at himself, Sh'ten realized he was in the body of the blonde boy, Quatre. Quatre, Sh'ten could tell, was soundly asleep in his own mind. He wasn't alone, however. There was another presence in Quatre's mind that was trying to wake up, but wasn't able to. It left Sh'ten fully in control of Quatre’s body.
He didn't move or speak to let anyone know he was awake, but merely watched and waited. Rajura had ordered doctor J to be tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Doctor J was out cold, with a large bruise on the side of his head. 'Anubisu's work, no doubt,' Sh'ten thought. 'He always was a bit heavy handed.'
Treize was arguing with Naaza. "I don't want Quatre here! He's too young for this sort of thing."
"What sort of thing?" Naaza replied innocently.
Treize rolled his eyes. "You're going to do exactly what I'd do in your position and we both know it. I don't want Quatre involved!" Treize pointed to the other children who were preparing to leave the labratory: Ryou, Duo, Touma, Xiu, and Shin. "They're leaving and I want Quatre to go with them. If nothing else, Quatre should go to a hospital and see to it that his head gets looked at.”
Naaza snorted. "He's got a bump on the head and will probably be a little confused."
"I suppose you're a doctor?" Treize asked acidly.
"I've been a doctor since before your grandfather was walking, boy!" Naaza said, insulted.
Touma spoke up, with puzzled look. "What do you care anyway? He's my brother and I trust Seiji to look after him." Seiji was, apparently, staying behind to help 'take care of' doctor J.
Treize argued with Touma and Naaza a bit longer before Sh’ten decided it was time to let himself be known. "I really think I would rather stay."
Everyone turned to him in shock and Sh'ten felt Trowa's arms tighten around him. “Quatre? How are you feeling?”
It was nice to surprise people once in a while. “Quatre’s sleeping at the moment. Oh,” He laughed at their tense faces and realized that they must have thought he was still Quatre under the influence of the evil spirit. "Come now! I wouldn't hurt you. Not unless you wanted me to." Sh'ten looked up at Trowa's face, unusually showing an expression of surprise and suspicion. "You can put me down, now."
Trowa hesitated a moment, then let Sh'ten down to his feet.
Continued….