1-Oct-2001
Title: Chasing the Crown, an Extended Family Fic
ExFam Authors:
RavynFyre - ravynfyre@hotmail.com
von - sablexo1@yahoo.com
bonnejeanne - bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
*Special Guest Writer! Nixie the Pixie!*
Nixers - Nixerchan@aol.com
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17 for now, that will change
Pairings: 1+2+5, 3+4
Spoilers: Series, Endless Waltz, Mission: Arcadia
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners.
Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Tryan, Carter, Jack and the Ripper, and everything relating to Rip & Jack's universe are ours. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
WARNINGS: AU (Alternate Universe), Original Characters, LEMON in some sections. Kiddie-Angst.
The third shuttle leapt up into the sky in tandem with the other two, but sitting at its controls, Rashid altered the trajectory slightly, bringing its departure from the atmosphere at a point a slight distance from the other two. The experienced and canny Maganac fighter had relayed Wufei and Treize's message to Trowa and Quatre, and ordered the Maganacs to be prepared for a space battle.
Quatre settled into the mobile suit they had fixed up for him, adjusting the jury-rigged extra straps. "You comfortable?" he asked the little boy on his lap.
"Yes, thank you," Tryan said, with a mixture of excitement and anticipation. "How long is it to the moon?"
"It's pretty far, but we go pretty fast," Quatre said. "Now you have to help me, Tryan. I'm going to do my best but if Carter talks to me, I might get distracted. See these controls? This one moves the mobile suit to the left, up and down, and this one to the right, up and down. The foot pedals control walking functions but we won't need that in space."
Tryan nodded. "I can help you Quatre," he offered. "Heero and Duo were teaching us how to fly the shuttle. The mobile suit looks easier."
Quatre grinned. "Well yes and no. But we'll both do our best to get where we need to go." He reached down and pulled up the goggles that rested around his neck onto his face and adjusted them.
"Master Quatre, Master Trowa," Rashid's voice came through the cockpit intercom. "We're about to open the hatches. There are mobile suits coming around MO2. A group of them is heading towards the other two shuttles, but another group is coming around our side."
"Understood," Quatre replied. "There could be more on the other side of the resource satellite. We need to get around it as quickly as we can."
Just before the hatches opened, the message from Zechs was relayed, as the other shuttle fired thrusters back to Earth.
"Master we're getting reports from our people on Earth! Mobile suits belonging to the Preventers are... well they seem to be running amuck in several places scattered across the Earth!"
Quatre frowned. However he didn't have much time to react - the cargo bay doors opened and they were launched out into space.
The hostile mobile suits coming around MO2 made for the group of mecha spilling out of the shuttle, firing immediately.
"I count ten suits comin' in fast!" Tryan said, blinking at the incoming blast.
"I've got ten on this side as well," Trowa said over the comm. "Hardly enough to give us much trouble, but everyone keep alert."
Even as Trowa ended, Quatre and Tryan could see another blast. This time it was from the former HeavyArms pilot himself as he went to engage the enemy.
Quatre took off in the opposing direction, leading some of the hostile suits away from the shuttle. More Maganac suits emerged into space.
"You guys see if you can get a look on the other side of the satellite," Quatre called.
"No problem, Master!" Ahmad answered, and a group of the freedom fighters took off for the far side of the satellite.
As the pursuing suits locked on to fire, Quatre suddenly turned and faced them. The tan and gray Maganac suit moved with amazing speed, and two of the hunters were disabled before they quite figured out that the tables had somehow turned.
"Please surrender, there's no need for anyone to get hurt," Quatre said, sending the message on a broad band.
"We are prepared to die for the freedom of the Colonies. Attack!" called a voice from one of the invading suits.
"The freedom of the Colonies?" Quatre repeated, as he parried an attack and fired the suit's weapons to disable another hostile. "The Colonies are already free! There's something very wrong here."
"Yes, and that something is you, you brainwashed puppet of Earth! Are you prepared to die?" the voice called again, followed by and answering report of fire.
The suit shuddered at the impact but Quatre fired back. "Of course I am," he said calmly. "I wouldn't be in this mobile suit if I weren't. But being prepared to die doesn't mean that I have to kill. Hold on, Tryan."
Maneuvering, Quatre drew back, until his suit was back to back with Trowa's. "I think we're going to have to bring this to a close," he said regretfully. "We don't have time to wait for them to come to their senses."
"Got it," Trowa replied.
The remaining hostiles weren't sure exactly what happened, but in a short time, they were all floating, disabled, in space.
Ahmad sent a transmission from the other side of MO2.
"There's quite a collection of hostile suits over here, it may take a few minutes to take care of them all."
"Acknowledged," Quatre replied. "We can't leave all these disabled suits out here, the men in them will die. Rashid, you guys collect them, maybe that other shuttle captain can help. Transport them down to Earth."
"But Master, that will leave you three unprotected," the Maganac leader protested.
"We'll be fine. We need to get to the Moon base as quickly as possible. Something is waiting for us there..." Quatre said. "I know you will join us when you can make it. Please, Rashid, we can't treat these soldiers like discarded enemies."
After a moment of silence, Rashid answered. "Very well, Master. We'll join you on the Moon as soon as we can."
"Thank you, old friend. I know you will be right behind us," Quatre said gratefully.
He checked his screens and saw that Wing Zero II and HellsBane had won the engagement with their opposition, and were heading directly for the silver gray disc of the Moon.
Looking over his shoulder, Tryan smiled up at Quatre. "I can see why they call you Master Quatre," he said, simply.
A touch of pink tinged the Arabian's cheeks and he simply smiled and shook his head. Moments later he and Trowa were heading on a course for the Moon, in the wake of the two Gundams.
It took all the skill Hilde possessed to bring the shuttle down almost on its own liftoff trajectory, and certainly took a great deal of fuel getting the ship lined up properly. However the young pilot managed the feat and signaled Zechs when the shuttle was almost on the ground.
"It'll be faster for you if I open the cargo hatch and let you off up here, if you can manage it," she called back, her voice showing the strain but still bright and confident.
Already having Tallgeese released from its restraints and crouched beside the great doors of the shuttle's side, Zechs nodded. "Whenever you are ready," he said, then added, "Excellent flying. Glad to have you on my side this time."
A grin and a bit of pleasure was evident in her voice when she answered, "Thanks... um, pass that along to Duo next time you see him, will you? And be careful out there, sir!" The cargo hatch opened, showing the clouds and the ground below passing at great speed.
"The first, at least, is a deal," Zechs replied before shutting down the communication line and focusing.
Two steps brought the mecha into freefall, disappearing instantly under the high layer of clouds. The propulsion engines on Tallgeese burst to life just below the clouds ceiling, leaving the Gundam hovering within the white blanket, unfazed by the occasional crackle of static along its armor while the GPS within the computers reoriented itself, and locked onto the destination.
Shifting direction only a few degrees, Zechs pushed the system to full speed towards the Sanc border.
Perilously close to the Palace itself, a battle of depseration was playing out. The line of hostile and unmanned mobile suits fired at the small group of Preventer-manned Tauruses and around them. Evasive maneuvers programmed into them kept them from being simple target practice for Agent Noin and her agents.
At times, they grouped and re-grouped, assessing the best tactical positions possible. As the Tallgeese fell within sensor range, three of the hostile now-dolls turned towards him to engage. Two soared into the sky, while one stayed earth-bound and fired directly. Twisting in its decent to face the two oncoming engagements, the Tallgeese kept the shield arm in the line of ground fire, absorbing the brunt of shots across its width. The mecha paused in flight only a moment before pulling backwards hard, drawing the two away from the general melee and farther out of the range of the steady barrage of the Taurus dolls.
Inside the suit, Preventer Wind took the familiar assault of pressures and shift of directions with a mix of a grimace and welcoming smile. With a quick check on Noin, he pulled the mecha's whip to the fore and shook it out, letting the controlled Tauruses get a little closer before Tallgeese charged at full speed between them.
The Taurus suits followed their target into midair. They were not equipped to handle the sudden shift in velocity and direction that the Tallgeese III was capable of. After a moment or two, both suits registered the target as having moved from range and turned to recalculate and redirect themselves.
Before the two dolls had completed their turn, the length of the heat whip had slashed out twice, gouging great tears through the backs of both, severing the connection with the main computer and propulsion suddenly.
On the ground, the unmanned mobile suits had gained significant ground against the Preventers. At the break in communication with the mobile suits following Zechs, three more took to the air to engage him in combat to replace the others.
Moments later, as Zechs had finished destroying the two mobile suits, the three came into sensor range. Two fired at Tallgeese while the remaining one circled around for optimum positioning.
When Noin saw the approaching white Gundam, she'd been both elated, and singularly pissed off. He was supposed to be heading out to save the children... not having to come back to rescue his sister because she and the remaining Preventer agents couldn't manage it. She refrained from contacting him, having her hands full with the now-dolls that were swarming around them, trying to get past the few defenders in order to... to what? Destroy the Palace and everyone in it? Noin vowed that this was not going to happen, nor would it be Miss Relena who had to sacrifice herself as she had once before.
With determination, she disabled and then destroyed one of the attackers, and then had to move quickly to save one of her comrades from two more. Even as she began to make headway against the attackers, two of the dolls blocked her while a third made it past the beleaguered line the Preventers had been trying to maintain before the Palace. The mecha moved purposefully towards the building, crossing the space with a couple of strides.
Cursing, Noin viciously attacked the dolls blocking her, bringing one down quickly. Then out of the corner of her eye she caught something very odd... someone standing on a balcony, calmly observing the approaching death machine. The tall figure had signature red hair and seemed familiar in a brief and recent way. He was going to get killed in a moment, however...
Instead of screaming, or running for the imagined safety of the building behind, the redhead did something... insane. He climbed onto the balcony railing and then *jumped* for the approaching Taurus.
The two Taurus suits facing Zechs moved towards him in a flying pattern much like the first pair. The third suit attempted to maneuver around the Tallgeese to prepare for a triangular cross-fire.
The whip on Tallgeese retracted in the split second that the three Tauruses powered up, in favor of the double beam sabers. Pushing forward, the two glowing weapons arced between the dolls.
As the weapons scored sizzling slashes on the flanks of two, Tallgeese shuddered from a blast from behind. Warning sensors flashed unnoticed within as without, the suit spun in air, partially off balance from the scored hit.
It was another burst of movement that blurred another strike of green light, exposing crackling inner machinery and wiring beneath the plate armor before the third suit was falling amongst the wreckage already scattering the line of defenses in front of the Palace.
A short while later, the dust settled around the grounds and there was an eerie silence as the defeated suits lay still. Zechs' sensors did not pick up any approaching back up forces. To all intents and purposes, these were the only mobile suits they faced.
The suit that now lay sprawled, across the front steps closest to the Palace, seemed to have somehow acquired a dislocated neck, and shoulder. A figure climbed over it, activating the hatch in the front, which opened partially and then stuck.
Rip twisted his body to squeeze it into the cockpit and began running his fingers over the instruments and console. After a moment or two, he climbed out and strolled up to the Preventer Tauruses and the towering figure of the Tallgeese.
"Looks like they're broken," he said with a grin and a disappointed shrug.
Noin blinked. Then she opened a channel to Zechs. "I'm glad to see you, though I regret that you had to come back," she said. Then she added, "Who the hell is that guy and did he just disable a mobile suit barehanded?"
Zechs shook his head, his own confusion visible. "Not the first clue," he said. "Better those suits than ours, in any case."
"Definitely," Noin agreed.
The front door of the Palace opened and Relena came out, with Dorothy at her side. She looked at the wrecked suits with an expression just short of sadness, and then turned to look at the defenders.
Her eyes fixed on the Tallgeese and before she could stop it, a surprised smile lit up her face. She tried to compose herself, and then cleared her throat, calling out to the Preventers.
"Thank you for saving us," she said calmly. "Unfortunately we seem to have some other problems... I'm told that these suits that have become mobile dolls have activated all over Earth. They're causing damage and chaos and for the moment, and we're having a little trouble convincing people that they *aren't* under Preventer control, since the agency is the only one that has any armaments. And on top of that, some of the dolls from each location have broken off... to head here."
"Noin?" Zechs asked, "How many are capable of holding out against another wave?"
Noin checked quickly with the three agents who had made it through the battle and had been attempting to regroup themselves. After contacting each, she answered quickly, "We're all good. I could wish I had a few more, but we'll stop them."
"It sounds like they'll come from all directions, so we'll set up a perimeter and concentrate forces when need be," he said and with slight hesitancy, switched to external for his sister to hear. "We can't do anything yet for the other regions, but Sanc will be protected."
Relena gazed up to where she guessed the cockpit would be for the white suit. "I know it will be, Milliardo," she said simply. "And we will stay here. I'm not going to run. I want people to see and know that this is an attack on their own attempts to build a lasting peace. They will understand and do what needs to be done elsewhere."
Noin took a deep breath and glanced at Zechs in her screen with a slight smile. "One perimeter coming up," was all she said and then issued quick orders to the other three.
With a smile of thanks at his friend, Zechs moved the Tallgeese to take its guard before the front steps of the Palace.
Duan closed the door to the empty storage room behind Wufan. "Okay," he said, excitedly. "Operation Confusion Fusion has begun. The enemy should be at our last position, just about now."
"Fifty-five...fifty-six," Wufan began counting down. Within a few seconds, the first of the small charges were set to blow.
"If we're lucky, Dick will be in the room when it happens," Duan said, glancing at Carter and Mei.
Mei frowned very slightly, blue eyes filled with an odd light. "Too easy. Besides, he can't be that dumb," she replied with a soft shake of her head.
"Uh-uh," Duan said, "It's not enough to kill him, but it'll mess up the communications station and cover our tracks. At most, it might blow off his eyelashes. Don't worry, he's in for an afternoon of annoyance. Then we drop the big one."
Carter turned to Mei, his teal eyes a little glazed, oddly unseeing, yet he spoke directly to her.
"It's close... very close. It likes Hate."
Mei's frown deepened thoughtfully, her brow creasing for a long moment before she nodded once. "I understand. I'll... I'll try, Carter," she replied quietly.
He reached out and curled his fingers around hers. "You have to try. It knows you. It remembers... you remember how you used to think? Just like your grandfather taught you..."
She swallowed hard, a quick flash of fear flitting through her eyes before she took a deep breath. "I'll try hard, Carter. I don't want to be like that anymore," she murmured with a small tremor. Taking another quick, deep breath, she continued a little louder. "We need to keep moving, don't we?"
"Fifty-nine, bingo!" Wufan said, turning his head towards the door.
Just as he did so, a muted sound followed by a brief pause, then raised voices were heard. Wufan looked at Mei and smiled. "Yes we do," he said, answering her question.
"Sugoi!" Duan said, hitting his fist inside of his palm. "Round one, let's move!"
Wufan reached down and took Mei's hand. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll help too," he said.
She smiled gratefully, giving his hand a squeeze. "Xie xie," she answered, pronouncing it carefully.
Wufan's smile grew much bigger.
Taking Carter's hand, Duan moved to the door and opened it. When the coast was clear, he looked over his shoulder. "Position Two - the Mess hall," he called out, then dashed from the room.
Several individuals pressed into service as Security converged on the hallway where Marcus had directed them, coming in from opposite ends to the room he'd indicated when he'd contacted them all. Before they could bracket the area completely, there was a muffled crash, like a small explosion, and a door in the corridor suddenly opened, belching out gouts of choking, thick smoke. A moment later, a solitary adult figure staggered out amidst the billowing smoke, coughing and choking as he slumped against the far wall.
The security detail jumped into action, assisting Marcus out of the way while others began extinguishing the small fire within the room he'd just stumbled out of. Red-rimmed, watering eyes glared hatefully as he leaned against a wall and waved off their fussing hands with an irritable air.
"Little bastards were already gone when I got there..." he managed to explain between fits of coughing. "They can't have gotten far, though... Find them!" he shouted, wiping his eyes to clear them, but only managing to smudge more soot across his cheeks in the process.
Quick nods answered him before he pushed off from the wall, still coughing from the irritation in his lungs caused by the acrid smoke, and stalked down the corridor to find someplace to clean up. Resourceful little monsters... What the hell had that psycho J gotten them into by taking the whole brood?
There were only three people left in the mess hall as the small group approached.
"Thought we were supposed to have lights off now?" Wufan whispered to Duan.
Duan shrugged. "Well, sabotage is not an exact science. It'll happen," he replied, with mixed confidence.
Wufan took a deep breath sighed heavily. He held Mei's hand a bit tighter as they moved forward.
Carter stopped, causing Duan to stop since he was holding his hand. The little psychic turned mostly unseeing eyes to Duan. "Lights?" He frowned, and then there was a short series of popping noises and the mess hall was plunged into darkness.
"What the..." one voice said, from the room beyond.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch," another replied. "The back-up gen will kick in any time now." Suddenly, there was a small popping sound, and a brief flash of light.
"Yeah, right genius," the first voice said, "There goes your back up generator."
"Break's over, boys," the third said, with a laugh. "At least there's light at the far end of the corridor. Let's get back to work."
A grumble or two could be heard from the men as they moved out of the mess hall and down the corridor. Duan tugged on Carter's hand. "Link up," he said, moving further into the darkness.
"Link already in progress," Carter answered automatically. "...oh, you mean.. Mei?" he said, groping beside him.
Mei reached out and wrapped her fingers around his hand tightly. "Right here, Carter," she said quietly, "We've got you."
"Remind me never to piss you off, Carter," Duan said, moving forward.
A few moments later, the back-up generator restarted and the lights came up. Duan turned to his companions and waggled his eyebrows. "The little ones always fake them out," he said. "Now, let's take care of the food supply. If anyone's hungry, I suggest you grab a bite at this juncture. We get what we need and waste the rest. Let's go."
Wufan sighed again. "I could use a sandwich," he said.
"Protein and sugar," Carter said, but didn't move to go anywhere.
"Peanut butter and jelly, it is," Mei said with a small grin as she tugged him towards the preparation areas. If it were set up at all like Dekim's soldier's or the Preventer's messes were, the stuff should be back there. "Some for now, and some for later, because we don't know how long we'll be on our own."
"Let's make some sandwiches up. Don't forget some for Kenny too," Duan said, moving towards where Mei had indicated.
Mei nodded, then paused for a moment, noticing some things left behind by the soldiers when they'd scattered after the first little explosion. Pressing Carter's hand into Wufan's, she climbed up onto one of the chairs and examined the articles for a moment before grabbing one and shaking it out. Dropping back down, she proudly displayed what looked to be like an old courier pouch. Tying a knot in the shoulder strap to shorten it for her smaller size, she slung it over her shoulder and grabbed Carter's hand again. "Now we won't have our hands full, either."
"Good going, Mei," Wufan said, making a sandwich and placing it to one side, neatly.
"Good," Duan echoed, licking jelly from his fingers. He placed a sandwich in Carter's hand. "We can us it for supplies."
"Here," Wufan said, giving a sandwich to Mei.
She accepted it with a smile, taking an unladylike large bite out of it before turning to rummage in the cabinets for something to wrap more sandwiches in.
Carter began eating his sandwich with small bites, but quickly. When it was finished, he had a little jelly on his cheek.
Mei returned to Wufan's side with some plastic wrap, then shook her head slightly as she noticed Carter. Finding a wet rag, she carefully wiped his cheeks clean. "Let's see your hands, Carter... Still hungry?" she asked, happy to be doing anything, however small and silly, to keep her mind off of how scary things really were.
He nodded. "Energy drain is substantial," he murmured, as he continued to look like he were seeing something other than the mess room.
Mei nodded, laying the rag nearby. "I'll get you some more," she said, turning back towards the cabinets with a small frown. Rummaging around again, she emerged with a small noise of triumph, a jar of amber liquid in hand. Moving next to Wufan, she reached for the bread and peanut butter. "Honey," she explained, "It's stickier, but it's got a lot more sugar and stuff in it than jelly. It'd probably be better for him than jelly."
Wufan nodded. "Make him half a honey sandwich and there's some ham in here. "I'll make him a half a ham sandwich. If he's still hungry, we can feed him some of the protein powder stuff," he said.
Mei nodded. "Smart," she replied, squeezing the bread together and scooping up the dribbles with one finger. Right before she turned back to Carter with the sandwich she'd just made, she reached out and wiped that finger on Wufan's cheek with a grin.
"Hey!" Wufan said, with a grin.
Mei giggled, tossing Duan a wink, before pressing the sandwich in Carter's hands. "Here... Wufan's making you a ham one, too. And there's more after that if you need it."
Carter accepted the half sandwich and then stopped, his nose twitching slightly. He cocked his head a little to the side. "...the air was warm and the sound was like a hum that traveled around. It was loudest at the lightning struck tree. Duan found something on the side of the tree under the big hole, and it was sweet... the bug was yellow and black and it sat on his hand and then he was hurt. The bugs had weapons to keep enemies away. We ran away and Sallah fixed Duan's hand. I saw the bug that fell off him. It died. It could only use its weapon once."
Duan stopped in mid-bite. He walked over to where Carter sat and took his hand. "That was when we were back at the base. Me and Kenny would sneak out and go to the lightning struck tree. I got bit by a bug. Sallah said it was a bee," he said, brushing Carter's cheek. Without thinking, he took the end of his braid and put it in Carter's hand. Looking down for a minute, he just sat next to Carter real close. He missed Kenny.
Carter's fingers curled slowly around the end of Duan's braid. He took a bite of the sandwich. "It was always brighter outside," he said softly. Then he took another bite and sighed.
Duan nodded, silently remembering.
Mei returned to Wufan, nudging him with her elbow and nodding towards the other two with a quick jerk of her head. Taking the sandwich stuff out of his hands, she gave him a small push in their direction, and then went on making the rest of the sandwiches they would take with them.
Wufan hugged her briefly, then went over to where Duan sat next to Carter. He put his arms around Duan and held him for a moment.
"Don't get too lost," Wufan said. "We have to remember our good thoughts. It's the only way we'll be able to bust Kenny out and complete our mission. He's gonna be okay, Duan."
Duan leaned his head on Wufan's shoulder for a moment. Then, he nodded, giving himself a little shake. "Gotta keep focused," he said, hugging Wufan back.
"Right," Fan replied, leaning back.
Looking up into Wufan's dark eyes, Duan grinned a little. "Thanks, Wufan," he said.
Wufan shrugged.
"I got an idea. Let's just get what we can carry and get on with the mission. It'll take too much time to cause a disaster and we got stuff to do," Duan said.
"Sure thing," Wufan said. "Mei was right. Plans change after the first engagement with the enemy."
"Mei's smart," Duan said.
Wufan grinned. "I know."
"And cute too," Duan added.
"Hands off," Wufan replied.
"Done," Mei announced, carefully arranging the last of the wrapped items in the satchel over her shoulder. Her cheeks were a little red as she finally turned towards them, but she didn't say anything.
"Cool," Duan said, giving Mei a wink. "I'll get the juice cartons and we'll go," he added, standing.
"If there's any eggs in there, can you being me some of those, too?" Mei asked, ducking into a cabinet to pull out a metal pan.
A few moment's later, Duan appeared next to her with a carton of eggs. "Here," he said. "You gonna cook 'em?"
"Something like that," she said with a wicked grin as she carefully set them all in the pan and then deposited it in the microwave. "Maybe a little disaster," she confided with a wink of her own as she keyed in an extraordinarily long cooking time. "We'd better scat now, before it blows up."
"Hey!" a voice called from the corridor.
"Gotta run now!" Wufan called back. He grabbed Carter's hand, quickly.
"Stop! Halt!" one of the guards said, grabbing his comm. "I spotted the kids!"
"Try a few more languages! I don't think we know those two!" Mei taunted as she took off in Duan's wake.
"No, wait!" the flustered man called again, reaching for his weapon. He couldn't decide on whether or not to shoot the children or try and grab them. Having no experience with children at all, he growled, angry that they were rude and didn't seem to obey a direct command.
"Quick! He's got a gun!" Duan called out as they disappeared down the corridor.
The flustered guard, frowned in aggravation as he moved into the kitchen. A strange series of sounds caught his attention as he moved towards what appeared to be sparks and smoke. Just as he approached the oven, he heard a hissing sound and reached up to look inside. As he did so, he felt a sudden rush of heat and a large, heavy, foul-smelling object impact his hand and head, knocking him out cold to the floor.
A few moments later, Marcus skidded to a halt in the doorway of the kitchen, a wild look in his eyes, and his sidearm drawn. His lungs twinged painfully as he was assaulted by a fresh wave of smoke, carbon based, rather than silicon, this time, and much less than the last time, but enough to set him off coughing again.
Gaze darting around frantically, he started cursing, spotting the White Fang soldier unconscious on the floor with a large lump prominently displayed on his forehead. Bits of smoldering and flaming food particles were liberally coating a cone shaped blast radius centering on what was apparently at one time a microwave, while bread, honey, jelly, and other food items were strewn all over one of the counters.
The corner of his eye twitched as a fresh wave of the noxious smoke wrapped itself around his nose.
"I'm going to kill those little brats..." he whispered before taking off out the other doorway into the corridor beyond.
TBC
End of Part 55
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
sablexo1@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com, Nixerchan@aol.com.