January 24, 2001
Hey guys!
Either the ml is really dead lately, or else I'm getting boring! So to eak the monotony HOD seems to be causing, here's different kind of spin off for ya! I still plan on finishing HOD, but this fic whapped me upside the head kinda hard, and I'd like the ML's take on it.
I don't know how many of you know YH - Young Hercules. It was a tv show spawned from Hercules the Legendary Journeys, and involved most of our fave characters from the adult show, only portrayed them as kids at Cheiron's Academy for Warriors. It was a fun show - and Dean O' Gorman as Iolaus really accounted for much of my interest - and well...this fic was spawned from THAT.
I know a lot of you are probably rolling your eyes - how can these two completely different worlds collide? Well - there *is* a way - and I found it! Read on and let me know if this sounds plausible or not!
TWO WORLDS COLLIDE: A x-over of Gundam Wing and Young Hercules
' Someone's trying to kill you!'
' That happens all the time. I don't have the energy to be impressed.'
-- H:tLJ - "Mother of All Monsters"
' They're violent, and dangerous but they're all really nice guys!'-- Quatre - "Gundam Wing"
If a bard wanted to be poetic about it, they might have said that the sun shone ightly down on the wind-swept landscape, nurturing the plants and the animals, while beating against the backs of the two runners below it, who strode swiftly o'er the fields.
Then again, if the bard wanted to be honest, they would say something along the lines of the sun's heat was doing nothing but help drain the strength from the two escapees from an angry God's temple. The shorter of the two runners knew which was the phrasing *he* would choose.
" Is it just me? Or is running for our lives becoming the normal highlight of our day?" Iolaus panted, without pausing in motion. Beside him, Hercules blew out his eath in an amused snort.
" Just keep moving!"
The two sped down the narrow trail, listening to the angry shouts of the men following them. Sweat poured down both their faces from a combination of the heat and high-level of activity in which they were currently engaged. 'Though not by choice.' ushes stung them as they pushed through some bushes that had sprung up on the ill-used trails. They could hear angry shouts behind them, getting louder. Iolaus swore.
" Tell me again why we're running, and not pounding the snot out of those losers?"
" Because we can't risk letting them get their hands on *this*," Hercules informed him again, hefting the oddly-shaped object in his hands, hidden inside a leather sack. Iolaus blinked.
" Oh yeah."
The two pressed on, Iolaus working double time to keep up to his demi- god of a best friend. Being the son of Zeus with enhanced strength did wonders for one's stamina. Iolaus was no slouch though - second only to Hercules, he was one of the highest-ranked cadets at Cheiron's Academy, training school for aspiring warriors and heroes.
An arrow whizzed by overhead and Iolaus gritted his teeth.
" Why's this thing so valuable anyway?"
Before Hercules could answer, there was a flash of light directly in front of them, and a dark-haired man dressed in black leather appeared out of thin air. Hercules pulled up instantly, holding his arm out to stop Iolaus's forward momentum. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the man.
" Ares."
" Hello, little other." Ares chuckled as he took in their winded appearance. " And his little tag-along sidekick, Iolaus."
" Who you calling little?" the blond istled. Hercules stopped him with a warning look and steeped forward, fingers tightening around the object he held in his hands.
" You're not getting this stone, Ares," he told the God of War calmly. " I won't let you have it."
" Yeah, what he said," Iolaus chimed in. His ow furrowed slightly. " Even though I don't know *why*."
" Why, Hercules - you haven't told your friend what it was he was risking his life for?" Ares shook his head, clucking his tongue in mock-disapproval. " That's not something a friend would do, now is it?"
Hercules glared at the God, unafraid. Beside him, Iolaus could sense his tension, and he clapped the demi-god on the back lightly, never taking his eyes off the man in front of them. He straightened, determined not to show a shred of fear to the man who was constantly hunting down his best friend.
" I trust Herc," Iolaus said, matter-of-factly. " It doesn't matter what that thing is."
" Even when it's the Chronos Stone?"
Iolaus blinked, jaw dropping open. " Chronos Stone? " Closing his jaw with some effort, he turned and stared at Hercules accusingly, finger pointing squarely at the demi-gods chest. " You didn't tell me we were stealing the Chronos Stone." He turned back to Ares. " What *is* the Chronos Stone?"
" It's a stone that has the power to change time," Hercules said, sparing him a quick, apologetic look. " And we didn't steal it. *He* did." He pointed at Ares.
Ares laughed and cocked his head to one side. " I suppose I did," he admitted airily. " Would it surprise you to learn that I don't care?"
" Of course not," Hercules scoffed. He tucked the leather pouch into his vest, leaving his hands free. " You're not getting it."
" Yeah, yeah," Ares mocked him. He shook his head at the two of them. " Tell me - how do you plan on stopping me?" With a wave of his hand, his group of followers that had been trailing behind the two would-be warriors appeared at the edge of the forest surrounding the small clearing. " It would seem that you're a little out-numbered."
" Wouldn't be the first time," Iolaus snapped back. He fell into a crouch, automatically falling to his and Hercules's familiar back-to- back style. " Ready to rumble, big guy?" Looks like they'd see some action after all. Iolaus couldn't help but grin at the prospect.
" You know it," Hercules responded, raising his fists.
Ares snorted, already bored, and pointed his finger at the two of them. With guttural roars, his warriors leaped forwards, swords already out and flashing silver in the light of the sun.
The mission was all-important. Nothing mattered more then the mission. It was *imperative* that the mission succeed at any and all cost. Duo scowled. The mission was boring the hell out of him.
" C'mon - why do we *all* have to be here for this?" he asked himself sarcastically. " This is *pointless*."
He'd been wandering the main floor of the near-empty museum for hours now, feigning interest in the various display cases when in reality he was counting the seconds until Heero and the other would return from their scouting report of the lower echelons of the historical building.
" Stupid scientists," he muttered. " What threat could there possibly be in a *museum*?"
He vaguely wondered where Quatre was - the diminutive little blonde had been paired with him as they pretended to tour the sights offered. Duo came to the likely conclusion that Quatre's muttered excuse of, " 'Need to go to the bathroom," and subsequent quick departure had been a ploy of the Arabian's to be able to get away from Duo and his grumbling. Duo grinned. Poor guy. He'd have to apologize for acting like a total jerk all afternoon - after all, it wasn't Quatre's fault that the scientists decided to have a contest over who could send the pilots on the most boring assignments.
Duo stuffed his hands in his pockets and slouched against the decorative marble wall that dictated much of the building's design, the im of his normally jaunty-looking baseball cap pulled down over his eyes.
Museums held no interest whatsoever for him. To him, wasting valuable time and resources studying things that happened so long ago they couldn't POSSIBLY have any effect on today's society, was disgusting. He snorted - when you lived most of your life on the streets begging and scrounging for scraps of food, you concentrated on the here and now, maybe looking forwards just a little bit, to your next meal. You certainly didn't waste energy worrying about what happened thousands of years ago.[1] Besides that, history was so boring.
' Who cares about a buncha' dead guys anyway?' he thought again, looking idly over a group of statues from Ancient Greece. ' They ain't going anywhere.'
That particular thought made him check the security features around the ancient deities out of pure curiosity. What he saw made him laugh out loud. His laughter was followed by the appearance of a familiar face.
" Duo?" Quatre stood next to him, blue eyes looking relieved to see a more cheerful look on his friends face. " What's so funny?"
Duo grinned at his fellow pilot.
" This," he motioned to the statues. " All this security for some crumbling old statues. Who'd wanna steal a rock?"
Quatre valiantly suppressed his laughter at the American's outrageous statement.
" They may not have value to *you*, Duo, but they may be considered priceless to others," the Arabian admonished him lightly. " These are beautiful works of art that have withstood the test of time and survived for thousands of years."[2]
" They still look like rocks to me," Duo observed a minute later. " Not anything any thief worth his salt would take." He shook his head. " Too large, too bulky - you'd need months worth of planning for security, lifts, transport trucks and tons of other stuff for a heist that would probably go wrong anyway. Too time-consuming." He finished his little speech, cocking his head to one side and studying the statues with an expert eye. " Too much trouble."
Suddenly, a glint of light caught his eye and he squinted, focusing on the far wall. He pushed off the marble in-lay he'd been leaning against and walked over, Quatre trailing behind him with a hint of curiosity, and a bit of apprehension - they all kept a fond eye on the former thief, knowing that while he'd never deliberately take something from any of them, or something that would screw up their mission, there were some things that posed quite a temptation for someone used to stealing to survive. For someone who felt so strongly about justice for the people of the colonies, Duo had a very general sense of right and wrong.
The flash of color that had garnered the American's attention was radiating from a large, green, vaguely diamond-shaped piece of crystal. Duo's eyes were dazzling as he pressed his nose and hands into the glass.
" Now THERE'S something worth stealing," he breathed, face animated. " Pretty."
Quatre shook his head, chuckling.
Heero walked up to the two them silently. Noting the dazed expression on Duo's face, he sighed and reached out, nabbing the three-foot long aid trailing down the boy's back.
" Baka, he growled, without any real rancor behind his words. " Remember? You're not a thief anymore."
Duo grinned at him rakishly, not surprised at Heero's surprise appearance. He had a sixth sense when it came to the Japanese pilot's whereabouts.
" Once a thief, always a thief," he informed the dark-haired teen airily. " But relax, o ye of little faith. I wasn't going to take the little dust-collector."
Quatre snorted, laughing. " Keep telling yourself that."
As Duo stuck his tongue out, the Arabian lifted one eyeow at Heero.
" So?"
" Oz definitely has ties to the lab downstairs," Heero responded. " They cover it up under the pretense of historic study but the scientists Trowa and I saw were working on something more implicating then dinosaur bones."
" Where's Trowa now?"
" Reconnaissance with Wufei."
" Does this mean we have to come back and blow up the museum?" Duo asked in a bored tone, eyes flicking back to the green jewel in the elaborate display case. " 'Cause if we are, I might as well liberate this thing instead of letting it go *boom*." He studied the carved plaque on the front. " Hmm..Chronos Stone....value is...yadda, yadda....use not known...." He straightened, clapping his hands together. " See? They won't miss it - they don't even know what it is!"
" Thought you said you weren't going to steal it," Quatre reminded him. Duo shrugged.
" Steal it, blow it up....either way, the museum's losing it."
" That doesn't make it right to steal it NOW."
" Arguing ethics with a known terrorist?"
" Duo--"
" Leave it alone, Duo," Heero commanded, eaking up their verbal sparring session. " I never said we were going to blow up the museum."
Both Duo and Quatre blinked at that statement.
" Then what are we going to do?" Quatre asked, exchanging confused glances with Duo.
" Infiltration. Get in, get info, get out." Heero looked at his watch. " The museum's closing in twenty minutes. We leave now, and come back in forty-five. The sooner we do this, the sooner we leave. Wufei and Trowa will meet us outside." He looked back at the two of them ." Got it?
" No boom-boom's?" Duo asked, adopting a puppy-ish look on his expressive features. Quatre patted him on the arm consolingly.
" No boom-booms."
" Awww........"
End Part 1
Notes:
1. This is my mother's view of history. ^_^
2. This is MY view of history. as you can probably guess, discussions
can get pretty animated in our house.
Stormy