3-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.
WARNING THIS SECTION: MORE Angst, Suspense
A NOTE ABOUT THE CROWN and the Cobra is at the bottom.
If Duo and Heero were expecting to encounter more resistance between them and their goal, they were disappointed. The remainder of the small White Fang forces had cleared the area, upon instructions from Dr. J. Ahead loomed the Moon, looking ever more like the graveyard of Duo's recollection. There was nothing... or perhaps there was...
A high pitched sound rang through Wing Zero's cockpit.
/Enemy coming into range./
At first Heero could not see what the Gundam was targeting. Setting the screen to a higher magnification, it sprang into focus. A bit below the disk of the moon, with the velvet night of space behind it, something glittered like a golden scarab, light reflecting off a hundred diamond cut edges.
Its form was that of a Gundam Mobile Suit, but such a Gundam had never been seen before. Polished gold from helmet to toe, the headpiece shape curving out to each side before coming back, giving the thing the look of a Pharaoh's statue, beautiful, even desirable, and as deadly as an asp.
Eye pieces in the helmet glowed red. It waited for them, venom in a precious sarcophagus, a temptation and a deceit.
"'And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads,'" Duo quoted, his voice low, and expression unreadable. [1]
As Duo spoke, the scythe held in HellsBane's gauntleted hand seemed to flare with a bright shower of incandescence, and Duo had the strangest sensation of recognition and assent. It was more than that. It was almost as if something he was connected to acknowledged its identity in the moment of recognition.
Heero heard Duo's words as his fingers moved on the controls. "You are not needed in outer space," he said, softly. He looked at the machine facing them and thought of Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Carter, Tryan and Mei. "Let's go," he said, as the great wings of Zero II spread and Heero guided it towards the enemy.
"It's you who are not needed," a voice answered from his communication speakers. "You are the past. I'm the future. You are between me and Earth. Get out of the way or omae o koruso."
Despite having intellectually been expecting it, Duo wasn't prepared to hear that voice, especially not saying those words. "Kenny...." he breathed, not realizing that he'd gripped his controls tight enough that the plastic began to crack in his hands.
Heero frowned deeply. Hearing the voice, he growled. "Not Kenny," he said, "Something too weak to show its real form. Whatever you are, you have my kids. I'm coming to get them." Without preamble, Heero moved closer. He needed to find out what this thing was capable of.
Wing Zero scanned the mecha and began reading out the statistics to the console. In many areas the readout simply said, "unknown".
The gold mecha turned to Wing Zero's approach, and Zero screeched a warning. /Inside target range./ One of the Cobra's arms shot out, revealing their incredible length, and the fanged gauntlet at the end fastened on Wing Zero's buster rifle and tore it from the Gundam's grasp. The weapon was partially crushed, and flung away.
Heero felt the impact and the vibrations move through the cockpit. As he felt the weapon being torn from his machine, he nodded to himself, calculating and comparing the strength and abilities of the mecha before him. A bit of Wufei, he thought to himself, bringing down the beam saber down on one of its arms.
Duo frowned as he engaged his ECM and dove in to help Heero.
/Kenny poked Duo gently on the arm. "Duo... are there any movies about Gundams?"/
J had done better than he'd imagined in picking a pilot... With as fanatical as Kenny had studied the Gundams and the wars, he'd have all of their combat tactics wrapped up in his brain, whether he consciously remembered them or not. Duo clenched his jaw tight, guiding HellsBane in a fast arc around to the enemy Gundam's side for a disabling shot while Heero struck at the extended arm.
There was a bright flash in Duo's monitors as a blast of energy came out of the golden mecha's forehead, turned towards HellsBane at the last moment. "I don't need to see you, I know you are there." Dodging the blow from Heero's beam saber, the Cobra fired thrusters and moved back, opening space between them. "Engaging clones."
Forms began to appear, coming in from concealment in the Moon's shadow. Dull gold mecha, all but identical to the first, four, then six, then a dozen, wheeling in patterns that showed their targets were picked and they were moving in flawless concert.
Duo felt his lips move in a silent curse as his gaze darted from screen to screen, taking in the mesmerizing flow of the 'clones'. They didn't seem to have HellsBane as firmly targeted as they did Wing, but the original enemy's performance made him wonder how much longer that advantage would hold.
Heero caught sight of the clones as well. He focused on the original target. "Come on, Zero, " he said, moving in for another pass. "We gotta mark this one somehow."
Almost as if reading his thought, the group of mecha circling closed suddenly, and Wing was struck by a number of energy blasts from different directions, throwing Heero against the harness. Zero shrieked, showing him targeting information on the attackers. Something in the back of his waistband began to get warm.
Heero felt the harness track into his suit. He held on, still attempting to fight. He registered the glow at his back, then a thought struck him. He laughed, seeing the image of Kenny in his mind. "I think I get it," he said, glancing at the controls. "Duo," he called out. "I don't know if I'll be able to win this fight... Cause, in many ways, I'm fighting me. Should be interesting." He fired a wing vulcan towards the targets attacking him. Disengaging his mind, he allowed his training and skills to guide him.
The rockets hit their targets, damaging one of the suits, while the others continued to swarm the winged Gundam, keeping it engaged for a few moments.
"No, you're fighting *for* yourself. For both of you," Duo corrected, "We won't fail... The weapons... the Guns, Heero... This is why they're here." He broke off as HellsBane was rocked by several blasts as he tried to slip past the group of clones separating him from Zero II. He managed a glancing blow against one of the offending suits as HellsBane's wings unfurled, ECM disengaging just long enough for Duo to dive in to slice at one of the suits circling Zero II.
Heero blinked, hearing Duo's words. Taking his hand off the controls, he reached around behind him, calling the gun to his hand.
The uncomfortable warmth at his back settled into his palm. The weapon from Arcadia seemed to vibrate to an unknown frequency. He could almost feel it looking to him for... guidance? Suddenly he remembered that this weapon had started out as... an egg! It waited for him to formulate his thought.
Heero nodded. "We can do this," he said, remembering HellsBane's weapon transformation in the hangar. Mentally, he formed the thought of Zero's missing buster rifle and the pattern of fire needed to take out the machines before him.
The gun warmed in his hand, he felt an acknowledgement, but perhaps a tiny bit of confusion. Nevertheless, the metal warmed further, and then turned to a thick liquid, which flowed from his palm, across the console and seemed to seep into the Gundam's inner workings. Gold light bathed the cockpit even as blasts from the attackers rocked it again. Lights on the console began to flicker erratically, tracking an energy surge that ran through the mecha's arm mechanics.
Wing Zero was still holding the beam saber, and indeed, fighting with the circling enemies. Something fluid and metallic seemed to flow out of the joints of the Gundam's wrist and wrap around the beam saber's hilt. The energy of the beam flickered and opalescent flashes shot through it, and something began to form around the beam itself.
It didn't look much like the huge beam cannon that Cobra had wrenched away. Its form was less solid, more prismatic energy, almost a plasma, and the shape resembled more a bayoneted rifled, slender where the old one was heavy. Something blinked up on the console and then Zero registered an alert signal.
/Newrifle engaged to fire./
A bolt of multicolored fire shot out from the muzzle of the weapon and then seemed to 'blossom' like an exploding firework. Five of the circling clones took hits and fell back with serious damage.
Duo had tried to remain nearby to cover Heero as Wing disengaged battle for a moment, however, HellsBane was neatly separated once more, and herded off by the ever circling group of suits. It was worse than fighting Vayate and Mercurius had been, worse even than the legions of concerted White Fang dolls had been so long ago. It wasn't the numbers, or even the capabilities of the suits themselves, but their uncanny orchestration. It was like facing off against a half a dozen Heero's, only not nearly so predictable, and much more vicious.
Sacrificing stealth and mobility for a moment, Duo whirled HellsBane around, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest as he slammed on the thrusters to close on one of his tormentors. His harness crushed him into his seat as the rainbow-hued scythe whipped out, cleaving one of the suits from neck to thigh, bits of Gundanium and titanium slagging off in odd sprays until it was engulfed in a small, very brief fireball. The rest of the group took the moment of HellsBane's attack to pounce, surrounding the Gundam and showering it with attacks before Duo could re-engage the ECM. As HellsBane shook under their assault, Duo found himself wondering if the loss of the one 'clone' was nothing more than a pyhrric victory.
It had taken Trowa and Quatre longer to cover the distance, in the donated Maganac mobile suits, and they arrived to see Wing and HellsBane fully engaged with a group of strange, gold-hued attackers. Quatre felt an ache blossom in his chest and pressed his hand against it, even as his brows pulled together in determination. He descended on the group surrounding HellsBane, slashing with a beam weapon and knocking the circle apart.
"Sorry we're a little slow, guys," he said in a determinedly cheerful tone. "I'm glad you left some for us, though!"
"Wouldn't wanna hog *all* the fun," Duo replied, though his tone held as much relief as teasing, "Although, you may regret it... These things are tough."
"But you're tougher, Duo!" Tryan called out, glancing from the scene before them to Quatre and back.
"Pretty flashy for mobile suits," Trowa said, moving to fire on two blocking his way.
Duo's eyebrows shot into his hairline briefly as he realized that Tryan was in one of the two new suits before he shook his head, muttering, "Baka. Of course he is..." Furling the wings, HellsBane vanished again and circled around to try and blindside one of the clones again. "You bet I am, kiddo... And that's just my thick skull!"
The remaining clones seemed to suddenly change formation, resetting for the larger number of opponents. With more targets, the time it took them to locate HellsBane seemed to increase slightly, as if it took resources less available.
Nevertheless, the new formation of gold mobile suits attacked quickly and without other noticeable hesitation. Quatre ducked back, putting distance between him and the rapidly advancing mecha.
"They don't move like White Fang recruits," he muttered aloud.
"He called them 'clones'," Duo offered, darting in towards a target.
"Mobile dolls?" Trowa said, watching the reformation as well.
"Think so," Duo agreed.
"Something odd about them," Quatre added, as he deliberately blasted one of the ones attacking Heero to see what reaction he would get. His blast hit its mark, but the retaliation came from the suits closest to him.
Duo could almost feel something behind him, and the scythe flared suddenly. The Cobra itself had reappeared, directly behind HellsBane and fired a blast of energy from the weapon on its forehead.
With a strangled cough that sounded suspiciously like, "Oh FUCK!" Duo whirled his Gundam around, the scythe coming up in an arching blur too quick to be seen. There was an explosion of sparks and rainbow fire as the blade intercepted the blast, impossibly parrying the blow, before Duo instinctively continued the motion into a deft cross-torso slash towards the Cobra. He could feel the scythe purring almost smugly in the back of his brain at the neat maneuver.
The rainbow-hued energy struck the gold armor as the Cobra's left arm shot out, knocking HellsBane back. But the shiny gilt-hued breastplate was dented and marked with a dark discoloration.
Like a snake thwarted in its strike, the Cobra darted back and away.
Twelve more clones dropped out of the Moon's shadow to join those that still remained.
"Man, this is like a badly written melodrama," Duo complained before diving back into help the others.
Tryan watched as Quatre maneuvered the mobile suit. He nodded as the targets were hit in silent affirmation. "This is kinda like that vid game," he said to himself as the mobile suit swung around to engage a new adversary.
Heero cursed silently as he moved Zero around. He saw the clones approach and fired on them, before turning to fire on those remaining. Two of the remaining suits shattered under the rainbow blast and three others approaching met with the same end. "Where's my target?" he said, annihilating two suits as he moved on.
The console flickered for a moment and energy seemed to crackle around the weapon. Zero showed a blinking target in the spherical targeting display. It had retreated just to the edge of the shadow.
Heero moved towards the target, firing down on it.
As the prismatic blast of energy streaked from Wing's Newrifle, something strange happened. In concert, *all* the clones dashed away from their engagements and threw themselves into the path of the beam.
The energy cut through the gold suits like a laser, but they managed to absorb enough of its energy and deflect the rest to allow the Cobra to escape unscathed.
Suddenly, the amazing synchronicity and skill of the 'clones' made perfect sense to Duo. "Kenny's controlling them..." he breathed, shaking off his surprise to push HellsBane to its top speed in pursuit of the glittering machine. The Cobra. The Cobra was the brain behind the clones.
So the easiest way to deal with the clones, would be to take out the Cobra. To take out... Kenny.
As Duo closed on the elusive Cobra, he was drawn into the deep shadow of the Moon. He saw his objective ahead... and beyond...
Beyond were rank upon rank of clones, simply waiting. He hadn't thrown anything like his full strength at them, he's simply been testing, assessing. Learning. Coldly drawing out the battle when he could at any time have drowned them in sheer numbers. And as Duo approached, he saw rank after rank begin to fire thrusters to enter the battle.
"Duo!" Quatre cried, suddenly, pressing his hand to his chest. His eyes unfocused for a moment as he was submerged in another point of view. "Duo get out!"
Torn between continuing his pursuit and Quatre's strident command, Duo hesitated for an instant. Never before, even when DeathScythe's self-detonation switch had failed, had he ever felt this surge of fear and hopelessness. It was a glittering flash of the Cobra, still retreating, that spurred him to action. "I won't let you win. None of us will," he said, fiercely pushing the darker emotions down even as he wheeled HellsBane around and headed back towards the others at maximum thrust. He quickly sent a quick burst of video feed to the other three suits, following it with a simple, but grave, "Incoming."
As HellsBane moved back to the others, Duo saw Wing Zero approach at full speed. Just behind was one of the Maganac mobile suits.
"Heero wait!" Trowa called out, catching the feed on his monitors. "There's too many!"
Quatre tightened his arm around Tryan for a moment, then he reached out and hit his thrusters.
"It doesn't matter," the Arabian said, answering Trowa. "We have to stop... *him*, but it's going to take all four of us together. Heero, your weapon seems to make it afraid. Target the main unit again. Trowa and I will clear the corridor while you and Duo attack. We'll keep the rest off of you, but we won't be able to do it for long. Ready?"
There was a slight pause, then Heero answered. "Roger that."
He moved the Gundam around, knowing what he had to do. An image of Kenny, all but cowering in front of him as he confessed what the old doctor had done to him at their base filled his mind. He let it sink into his soul. "Not again," he said to himself, barely aware he had spoken.
Duo's heart, thundering in his head like the crash of ocean waves, only impossibly fast and a hundred times more relentless... He could feel the Scythe in the back of his brain, urging him on, just a sense of almost eager anticipation, nothing more clear than that, but infinitely understandable in that one regard. He felt his breath quicken in his lungs, burning. *Him*... Kenny. *Kenny*. "If he dies... then It wins anyway," he whispered, feeling his fingers trembling on the controls, even as he whirled HellsBane in beside Wing.
Tryan turned in Quatre's lap. A deep frown darkened his features. "You're talking about that big machine. Will it stop us from going to the moon? We gotta get there and get the guys," he said.
"Yes it will," Quatre said, but he frowned slightly.
The pilot of the Cobra spoke. " 'Yes it will.' " he repeated. "The... others... stay with me... they... promised..."
"Heero, fire!" Quatre called.
Heero fired, feeling a part of him go with the blast. He tried calling upon the ice and the training that was like breathing, but found it lacking.
The blast was barely in time as close to fifty clones began to close with the group. Once again they moved to intercept the blast, but unlike before, the rainbow-hued energy continued to pour from the weapon. Two thirds of the rank were decimated, before the energy beam ceased, as Wing's systems flickered. The weapon had come close to draining the entire system, but it came back quickly.
Quatre dashed in, clearing the debris on one side so that the two Gundams could close with the enemy.
Heero moved Wing Zero forward. It was clear what he had to do.
Trowa cleared a path for HellsBane, watching and calculating what he would be able to do to help. He didn't like the scenario one bit and a part of him ached for HeavyArms.
Tryan's jaw dropped as the words sank into his head. Finally, he understood. "Kenny!" he cried out as Quatre's MS moved forward. "It's us! I brought the guys! It's Tryan, Kenny!"
The Cobra turned towards the Maganac mobile suit that was approaching its attack range. It seemed to fix on the suit. "You are fighting me," the pilot said. "You are my enemy. I have to defeat the enemies. I have to complete the mission. I can't fail."
"Kenny, it's got you! It's in your head! You gotta fight IT, not us! We love you, Kenny. Remember your happy thoughts. That's what Wufan said. You can't complete this mission!" Tryan called out, desperately.
Quatre didn't feel the hot liquid that tracked down one cheek, as he tightened his arm around the boy. He took a deep breath, groping for something he could sense. Then he whispered, "It's not in his head, he's in IT..."
Heero took up position. He heard the conversation over the comm, but didn't have time to reflect on it. "Kenny," he said, simply, then fired.
The Cobra whipped around, its left arm striking out and knocked the Maganac suit aside as it dodged the shot. "Try to trick me!" a boy's voice cried. Then before Heero could fire again, the Cobra closed with Wing Zero, wrapping an extended arm around it, which began to tighten like a constrictor.
The inky curtain of space shimmered behind Cobra, like a stone cast into a still pond reflecting the stars of the night sky. That was the only warning anyone had before HellsBane was simply there, Scythe arching in to plunge into the shoulder actuators of the arm holding the other Gundam prisoner. Even as the blow struck, HellsBane released the Scythe with one hand, making a desperate grab for Cobra's unoccupied arm.
"No, Kenny. Trying to save you," Duo spoke calmly, ignoring the tight pain in his heart.
Heero looked up, seeing the golden machine fill his view. "Kenny, this is Heero. I came to get you. If that's not possible, you know what I have to do. I can send the others away," he said, evenly.
"No..." the pilot whispered. Then there was a strange laugh. "Yes, yes, do what you have to do! Deathboy knows! I win either...way!"
The Cobra shuddered, as the scythe damaged its left arm and HellsBane seized the other. Not bothering to try and shake HellsBane off, the Cobra blasted Wing Zero point blank with its forehead blaster.
The energy filled Heero's screen and the mecha shook but the energy almost seemed to be sucked out of the Gundanium armor itself, channeling to the strange hybrid weapon Wing still held.
The chilling laugh and ominous words struck Duo full in his already wearied heart. 'Where is It?' he thought savagely at the Scythe. 'You know where It is. HELP me! Help me make It leave him ALONE!'
The opalescent blade seemed to shimmer and flare, and then the cockpit darkened for a second as if HellsBane's systems were interrupted. On the console in front of him Duo saw strange symbols appear, which looked unlike anything he had ever seen before, yet at the same time seemed oddly familiar. The symbols filled the console for a moment and then there was a blurring as the energy in the systems resumed full power, and the strange writing reformed into letters in English that he could read.
/"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire bursting with brimstone."/ [2]
The same words transmitted to the console of Wing Zero, though Heero did not see the strange symbols. The energy of the Newrifle seemed to pulse as if answering the brief flare of the Scythe.
Duo's breath caught in his lungs as he absorbed the words; he recognized the passage from Revelations from his days back at Maxwell Church. "The point to this is to not let it end the world," he muttered darkly, glaring down at the offending screen. "To not let It win. How does this help me get It to leave him alone and not destroy him with It?" he whispered, frustrated with his own inability to understand. Obviously the weapon was trying to help, if it was finally finding a way to translate its 'thoughts' into something Duo could comprehend.
The Scythe shimmered more gently as if sharing his frustration. His console cleared and then new letters formed, without the intermediate step of the odd symbols, as if *it* were learning too.
/"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God."/ [3]
Heero quickly scanned the words on his screen, then re-focused his attention on the light ahead. "Kenny, if you can hear me, report!" he growled into the comm.
"Unknown energy field from all three suits," Trowa said. "It's hard to get a reading. Quatre, I was thinking.. if the gold suit goes, there might be a chance to rescue the pilot. Worked for me."
In answer to Heero's command, there was a low chuckle from the pilot of Cobra, that seemed to end in a slight cough. Then the same voice much softer, almost inaudible said, "Um, sorry... sir... he can't... report right now... he's... um... he's with me... we're... can't... I won't lose him, sir! I promise..." Then there was a squeal as if the line was cut off abruptly.
"Trowa," Quatre answered, his voice sounding a little odd. "Keep that thought but..." Then, "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled...." [4]
Duo stared down at his screen for a long moment, silent for once. '/And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God./ Father Maxwell... Sister Helen... I believe. I finally believe.' "Do it," he spoke, even as his hands worked the controls and the Scythe pressed further into the gold suit, seeking the power plant. "I trust you."
The gold mobile suit had become oddly passive for those few moments, trapped between the Gundam it had tried to crush, and the one now slicing deeply into its frame. As if waking from a trance, it suddenly pushed at Wing Zero and tried to tear itself free from the Scythe's energy blade, only doing so by sacrificing the arm attached at the socket.
Heero was free with room to maneuver.
Duo's violet eyes stared at Heero through their open link, their amethyst depths calm, oddly peaceful. "Fire, Heero. Just fire."
Heero's frown deepened. His thoughts were at war with his reflexes, but in the end, he fired his weapon at the machine point blank. There was no sense of peace or a job that needed to be done. Alone in the cockpit, Heero could only feel the deep sorrow engulfing him.
The energy shot from the muzzle of the weapon and hit the Cobra dead on. Something which sounded completely unlike any human or even animal sound filled the speakers of every mobile suit in range, almost a sound of feedback at high pitch, an odd mechanical cry. The Cobra broke apart at the center, separating into two pieces, top and bottom, with cauterized, melted shards of metal spinning out from the impact.
The pieces seemed to drift for a moment in the silence and stillness that followed, which was absolute. The red eyes of the golden Gundam had gone dark.
Then they flickered... and came back to life.
A strange, breathless laugh, half relief and half mania seemed to come from a pilot who should not still exist.
And then the severed arm of the Cobra began to drift back towards the upper half of the body. And pieces of debris from the wrecked suits around them began to drift towards the two halves of the glittering mecha. As they watched, it began, slowly at first, then more quickly, to pull back together, and reform.
From the moment the battle was engaged, Dr. J watched the monitors with barely concealed glee. The first frown appeared when he glanced at the energy readings for the Gundam called HellsBane, and the second, much more pronounced, occurred when Wing Zero II seemed somehow to *generate* a new weapon of some completely unknown type. He pushed one of the technicians away from the console and began running energy readings on it, muttering under his breath.
However even the presence of four Gundam pilots and two actual Gundam mobile suits did not seem to be causing his creation very much difficulty. The system was working flawlessly. Even Dorothy Catalonia had never been able to coordinate the huge number of dolls that were under Cobra's control, and he observed with pleasure how efficiently *his* pilot was using those resources. He recognized that the Cobra was holding back, observing, learning.... all according to system programming. Everything was going perfectly.
"Sir!" recruit Johnson said, entering the room. He saluted and stood by the scientists shoulder, briefly glancing at the monitors. "Leader Crane reports that Earth leaders were taken totally by surprise. The takeover should be complete in three hours, sir!" he reported.
J barely looked up. "The takeover.. yes of course," he smiled, concentrating on the battle.
"Too bad, Heero," he chuckled, as the Cobra wrapped its arm around the Wing Zero and began to crush it. "You should have never gone off on your own, you headstrong boy." He smiled beneficently. "But then if you hadn't, you wouldn't have wandered off to wherever it was and found me my perfect little pilot..." This time the chuckle was almost gruesome.
However something... something wasn't going right. That knock-off DeathScythe prototype appeared and attacked his Cobra... but it shouldn't have been able to actually *hurt* it, with any kind of force weapon. His smile became a frown.
The recruit looked a little uneasy as he heard the strange laugh from the scientist, but he had his duty to see to. "Sir!" he said, "Leader Crane asks that you send him an ETA on when the Gundam pilots will be crushed sir."
"Oh shut up, you imbecile," J snapped impatiently. "Leader Crane is going to be dogfood in a short time when my lovely dolls begin the destruction of Earth. Go away and clean toilets or something."
'What is holding my Cobra back, why is it just sitting there... it's time for the kill!' he thought.
A small hush fell over the control room as technicians glanced at each other nervously. The scientist's behavior was rapidly deteriorating.
Recruit Johnson took a step back. The scientists words were disturbing to say the least. "Sir," he said, removing his side arm, "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. Leader Crane will need to hear about this."
"Marcus, kill this idiot," J ordered. Then he looked around. Marcus was not in the room. Chasing after those children again. Useless, the man was useless. J plucked a side arm from a man standing close by, pointed it at Johnson and shot him between the eyes.
"Now can I have some peace and quiet here? I'm trying to analyze a possible malfunction! How can I work under these conditions!" J ranted, waving the gun almost absently.
The technicians gasped. Three ran for the exit to the room. "Uh... put the gun down, Doctor," one of the techs tried. "Everything's ... okay."
"It is *not* okay, you regressive Neanderthal!" J yelled, and began shooting technicians at random. "SHUT UP!"
The two remaining live technicians crawled towards the door and left the room as quietly as possible. Soon, the venerable scientist was left alone in the control room with corpses for companions.
Sighing with pleasure at the return to quiet, J leaned over the console and watched, suddenly gaping in horror as the Wing Zero, now somehow freed during the distraction, pointed its odd weapon at the Cobra and fired point blank.
Then the mad scientist began to smile.
"It's all right," he said aloud, "It's all right, my Cobra... they can't kill you, of course they can't... they don't know how to kill you, and they don't know *where* to kill you, and we will win this, of course we will!! Such a lovely experiment! I can't remember how I thought of it, but it really is quite lovely..."
Duan rounded the corner with Carter, Mei and Wufan following. He heard voices up ahead and managed to get the dick on the run somewhere behind them. So far, Operation Confusion Fusion was running like clockwork. Ducking down a nearby corridor, Duan called out. "Fusion! Bombs away!" and all of the children stopped and placed their hands over their ears as the fifth bomb exploded behind them.
"Five down! Two to go!" Wufan called out as they stood in unison.
"That means that the runway lights should be firing up about now. Whoever's comin' will know where to land!" Duan said.
A doorway not more than fifteen feet away from where they stood suddenly opened, spilling out several harried looking men in uniforms. Seeing the children converged so near, one of the White Fang soldiers shouted out their position, and was quickly answered by the clattering of booted feet along the corridor the children had just come from before the blast. Less than half a heartbeat later, Marcus careened around the corner, a pistol clutched in his hand, and madness in his eyes.
"Got you!" he shrieked, aiming his weapon wildly down the hallway, heedless of his own solders standing within the line of fire.
Duan's eyes grew round. "Split up!" he called out and took one direction with Carter's hand clutched in his, as Mei and Wufan took the opposite direction away from the mad man.
Seeing his quarry split up, Marcus howled with frustration. So close. He was so close. "After them, you idiots!" he screamed, waving his sidearm towards the two retreating boys, even as Marcus shifted direction to follow Mariemeia and Chang's little clone. One clear shot. That's all he needed. One... Two. Two clear shots. One for each of the little monsters. Then he'd eject their bodies into space and send vids of them to Chang as a present.
Wufan ran down the corridor, remembering it as one that they had marked before. Ducking into a small crawlspace, he retrieved a small caliber pistol and handed it to Mei. Looking up at her, he prepared his last explosive. "He's coming," he said urgently.
Mei nodded, even as her hands automatically checked over the small gun, making sure the clip was in place before chambering a round and flipping on the safety. "He sounds mad," she agreed. Taking a quick, calming breath, she leaned forward, pressing her lips to Wufan's cheek. "Thanks. For everything."
"You would have done the same for me," Wufan said, looking down at the small explosive in his hand. "It's not much, but it might distract him."
Duan heard the footsteps close behind. He ducked inside a room to the right and locked the door. "You ok?" he asked Carter.
The blond tightened his hand around Duan's. His eyes were wide and dilated, even more than before. Suddenly he scowled deeply in concentration and effort. He whispered, the words coming slowly as if through a thick, viscous liquid.
"Um, sorry... sir... he can't... report right now... he's... um... he's with me... we're... can't... I won't lose him, sir! I promise..."
Perspiration formed on Carter's forehead, causing his pale yellow curls to cling to his skin. His hand tightened even more, cutting off Duan's circulation.
Then suddenly he gasped, eyes closed tight, and he grabbed his midsection.
After a still second or two, his hands moved, patting his stomach and chest as if surprised to find something there. He took a deep breath that was half a shaky laugh of relief.
Abruptly, Carter sat down. Putting his head in his hands, he relaxed a little, before taking several more deep breaths, each one sounding a bit more focused and determined than the last. He lifted his head and looked at Duan.
"He's not inside it," he said. "He thought he was inside it. He's not. We have to find him, Duan. We have to find him *now*."
Duan looked at Carter closely. He moved his hand to get the circulation back, and then nodded. He closed his eyes briefly. "Carter can you tell me what's in the room, or if it has a funny shape?" he asked.
Carter thought carefully. "It's not exactly a *room*," he said finally. "It looks like the inside of a mobile suit... like the cockpit. There are controls and everything, very sophisticated, and screens... it's very small and there are... must be sensors or something that make it shake like if you get hit, something like... it's like... like a sim... a sim...."
"Simulation..." Duan completed. "I can find that," he said, feeling the adrenaline beginning to pump through his system. Taking Carter's hand, Duan headed for the hallway to find Kenny.
Stepping into a different corridor, Duan could see an empty hall ahead of them. "Looks like we dodged the dick," he said, softly. Glancing back at Carter, he then asked, "What was all of that back there? Who were you talking to?"
"Talking..? Oh... uh... H-heero," Carter said. "There's a.. there's a big mobile suit battle going on..."
"Mobile suit?! Damn, and we're missin' it," Duan exclaimed.
"Kenny's not," Carter whispered. "He's in it... kind of..."
"Ok, so what do you mean kinda of?" Duan asked.
Carter reached up and rubbed his forehead absently. "The System," he said softly. "There's a system... and it uses... like uses your mind to make everything work..."
"Interactive," Duan said, nodding. "It's using Kenny's brain .... I get it. Well, It can't have him," he said, trying to sound braver than he felt.
Carter reached out and closed his hand on Duan's shoulder. "We're going to beat it. It's strong but I feel things all around... you have to find him and get him out."
Duan nodded and moved on with great urgency.
TBC
[1] The Bible, Revelations 12:3
[2] " " 19:19
[3] " " 14:4
[4] " " 17:17
NOTE ABOUT THE CROWN: Although this fic has talked about the Serpent Crown from the beginning, in fact it was mentioned first in Mission: Arcadia, I haven't taken the time to note that the idea of the Serpent Crown was inspired by something from Marvel Comics, back in the day. Uh, the day I mean was like back in the early 80's or so. At that time, an artifact called the Serpent Crown appeared in one or more titles, and I honestly can't remember which ones. There was a device some bad guy had which was sucking Serpent Crowns from alternate universes, which them combined into a gigantic super-Crown and then something else happened, I don't remember what. Other details are lost in the fog. I was involved in a RPG at the time, which ran for about 8 years, which was based on a game called (guess what?) Marvel Super Heroes. This group of players eventually abandoned all the Marvel characters in favor of our own original characters, but a few vestiges of Marvel surfaced occasionally. When I introduced Rip and Jack to this game, the concept of the Serpent Crown was useful, although I pretty much took the idea and mutated it. For example, I think the original SC was associated with Set, and mine isn't. I have created an entire mythology for mine, based more on Judeo-Christian antecedents, with a healthy dash of sci-fi. But I owe Marvel for the idea, the original concept and the name.
The Cobra is all mine, but obviously based on GW mobile suit concepts.
And while we're at it, the title "Chasing the Crown" is from an Elton John song, the lyrics of which will be given after the final chapter.
End of Part 56
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.