January 24, 2001
See? Told you part 2 was coming up.
I wanted things to move a lot more quickly then HOD - one of the primary reasons I think the ficcie's getting a bit stale. So expect less detail, but a lot more action!
Here ya go!
'You're not in Neverland now pal. You're in MY yard.'
-- H:tLJ - "Armageddon Now"
'Welcome to the warriors' paradise!'
-- Dorothy - "Gundam Wing"
"Take your knife, but leave the heavy stuff behind," Heero said bluntly to Duo as they grabbed their stuff from the safehouse. They all traveled light to accommodate multiple moves, and most of their stuff had been carried out to their Gundams before their little field trip.
Their current safehouse was located only a mile or so away from the museum, and the plan was to sneak in, get the data that would implicate the museum as a front for secret work that Oz kept from the world, and therefore shake up the tentative trust that was so fragile between Oz and Romefeller. Heero smirked - he was never one for subtlety, but he supposed everything had its place. He finished loading his gun and tucked it away in the waistband of his shorts.
Duo slipped a couple of lock picks into his braid, before reaching down and strapping the familiar dagger into his boot.
"Yes mother," he grinned. Heero snorted and threw the bag over his shoulder.
"Let's go."
Quatre and Trowa were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Heero spared them a quick glance.
"Wufei?"
"Right here, Yuy." Wufei walked out of the living room. Dressed in his white pants, and dark blue tank top, his sword rested in its familiar place of honor on his hip. One slanted eyebrow quirked up.
"Are we ready?"
"Move out," Heero ordered.
The five of them filed out of the safehouse, Wufei first, Heero last. The Japanese pilot didn't bother locking the door; they wouldn't be returning anyway. Wufei leaped onto his MX400 motorcycle. The Cannondale was his pride and joy and probably the only thing Wufei would ever risk his life to transport in the slight storage space located in Nataku's left leg, just above the massive ankle joint of the Gundam.[1]
Quatre and Trowa piled into the decrepit-looking station wagon Trowa had liberated from a auto-wrecking yard in a neighboring city. The scratches, dents, and absolutely horrid color of the vehicle made Duo glad that his partner was Heero, who had slightly better taste in cars, and hadn't objected to the one Duo had picked out. Duo smirked at the two of them.
"And here I thought we were supposed to be inconspicuous?"
Quatre stuck his head out the window.
"Between Wufei and his motorcycle, and you and Heero in that monster of a Jeep Tracker, I don't think *any* of us qualify as inconspicuous," he grinned. "Besides it doesn't really matter - we're dumping them all as soon as this mission is over."
"I know," Duo sighed, watching Heero pull up in the jeep Duo had stolen for them. It was the precise reason why he'd taken it. "It's gonna be hard leaving Deathscythe Two behind."
Heero gave him a weird look but didn't comment. "Let's go."
Wufei peeled out first, laying a patch of rubber down on the asphalt as he spun out of the driveway. Heero and Duo went next, followed at a more sedate pace by Quatre and Trowa.
From the next block, two blue eyes narrowed as they watched the three vehicles leave. The power window rolled back up, hiding the eyes from view. A discreet tap on the dividing glass alerted the driver to get moving, and with a faint rumble of the imported engine, the Barbie- pink limousine pulled out into the street, following its intended target.
"Herc, you take me to the nicest places!" Iolaus gasped as he danced out of range of a sword. The wielder snarled and attempted to run him through again. Iolaus slid to one side and reached out, grabbing the swordsman's wrist and driving his elbow into his attacker. The sword dropped from numb fingers and the blonde finished him with a snap kick to his jaw.
'One down...'
He looked up and groaned.
'Twenty to go.'
Hercules tossed the man he was battling into two more of them, bowling them over. Straightening quickly, he raked a hand through his hair, eyes skimming over the remaining forces, trying to gauge how they were doing. Iolaus was a whirling cyclone of punches and kicks that hit their mark and then just as quickly slipped out of the way. Hercules himself was no slouch to fighting either, and his increased strength, a gift of his parentage, was more then enough to equal himself to any of Ares followers.
He snorted - especially since this bunch seemed to be a bunch of pathetic warrior-wannabees. While being given a decent workout, he had yet to be given a true run for his dinar.
"I try," he acknowledged Iolaus' droll comment. A shriek heralded the arrival of another war lackey, and he ducked, letting the man fly over his head to land in front of him. He blocked the downward blow of the sword with his metal wrist guards - a present from his half- brother Hephaestus, metalsmith of the Gods[2] - and kicked out sharply.
'Another down.'
A cocky sort of smugness settled in as he once again took stock of the situation. The leather bag that Ares wanted was still hidden within the folds of his vest, and he smiled brightly across the battlefield at his angry half-brother. He knew it wasn't a smart move to make Ares angry, but his and Iolaus impending victory coupled with Zeus's protection order on him, made him overconfident.
"This is actually getting fun, Ares!" he shouted, slamming his fist into another opponent, driving the air out of him with a whoosh, and he recoiled with a grimace. " Ugh. Try brushing your teeth once a century. Yuck."
"Incoming big guy!" Iolaus shouted, motioning behind him frantically. Hercules turned in time to see another sword swiping at him. He barely backed away in time; even so, the sword still caught the edge of his vest and tore it slightly, just enough to cause the leather pouch to fall to the ground. Hercules swore and dove for it, but the sword's owner got there first, pushing him out of the way.
With a grunt, Hercules hit the ground and rolled to his feet.
"What the--" Blinking, he watched the man smirk at him before he dissolved into a more familiar face.
"Strife!"[3]
"You called?" the annoying little god giggled dementedly. "Gee, the things people leave lying around these days!" He ripped the string off the bag and dumped the Chronos Stone into his hand, holding it up to catch the light of the sun. It shimmered iridescently, and Strife shivered. "What a find!"
"Hey! Give that back!" shouted Iolaus as he vaulted over another body and landed next to Hercules. Strife stuck out his tongue at the blonde.
"Yeah right - like I'm gonna just *give* it back to you," he snorted. "Puh-LEAZE."
He looked across the field at Ares. "Yo Unc! Got something you might like!" He tisked his tongue. "You are just so hard to shop for!"
"It's the thought that counts," Ares laughed harshly and held out his hand for the crystal. Strife cackled gleefully, and wound up dramatically before hurling the crystal across the clearing. Hercules watched the jewel sail over his head, and grabbed Iolaus by his shirt. Flinging the mortal into the air, Iolaus only had time to squawk in protest before his instincts kicked in. Somersaulting, he reached out and snatched the jewel at the apex of its flight towards Ares and landed.
"Got it!"
"Yes!" Hercules ginned. Iolaus zipped it back towards him. Strife watched angrily.
"Oh no ya don't," he growled. "Two can play this game." A familiar- looking fireball formed in the palm of his hand.
Hercules caught the Chronos Stone and held it up, turning it over in his hands, inspecting it for damage. Seeing none, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then a prickling sensation washed over him, and he turned around resignedly.
Strife held up the fireball, an evil grin spread across his pasty- white face.
"Here Hercules - catch THIS!"
Ares shouted in outrage.
"Strife - you IDIOT!!!"
He flew across the clearing, to reach the crystal before the blast did. Hercules 'eeped as the blast came from one direction and his half-brother from the other. Strife's energy ball struck the Chronos Stone just as Ares reached it. Iolaus watched, mouth hanging open, as green fire erupted from the Stone, the sheer brightness eclipsing even that of the sun. The winds howled as the very fabric of time and space were rent asunder, splitting the sky in half, and revealing a kaleidoscope of colors before fire consumed the two figures highlighted in front of them.
"HERCULES!"
"This was supposed to be EASY!" Duo growled as he raced up the museum stairs from the basement, turning once to fire a shot back down the stairwell. " What the hell are a bunch of egg-heads doing with weapons straight out of Men In Black?"
A beam of light shot over his head, melting the railing of the stairs and he ducked, turning quickly and scuttling up the stairs. Ahead of him, Heero growled as the door leading to the museum's main floor was sealed to prevent their escape.
"Who else would have those kinds of weapons?" he asked grimly. Sealed or no - it was still just a normal wood and metal doorway at the top of the stairs. Heero reared back and with a fierce cry, smashed through the flimsy metal lock with the palm of his hand; then kicked straight through it. Duo blinked.
"Cool."
The two of them sprinted through the opening and took up crouching positions behind several of the stone platforms, used to house various artifacts within the museum. Duo raised his eyes briefly and saw he was crouched behind the platform with the Stone he had been admiring earlier.
"Hey Heero - I wanna souvenir!" he grinned. Heero shook his head, and motioned back towards the door with his gun.
"They're coming!"
Several scientists brandishing various sorts of firearms poured out of the ruined entrance. One of them hit a switch, and several lights lit up the floor. Duo tracked one such line of lights and his enthusiasm died a bit. He knew what those pretty red lights meant.
"01! Explosives! Get down!"
Duo flung himself to the ground, covering his head. Peeking over the rim of his arm, he saw Heero do the same, just as a series of explosions rocked the room. Duo nodded grimly - light charges, more to distract then destroy. He smirked - one of the perks about fighting scientists in their museum was that they were less willing to risk their displays.
He risked a quick glance at his watch. Quatre would have the getaway vehicle warmed up about two blocks away, and would pull up to the front of the building in about seven minutes. Wufei and Trowa were probably on their way out by now with the information.
"And then you have me an' Heero," he muttered. "The human decoys!"
Suddenly he heard Heero gasp. Not knowing whether it was from pain or shock, Duo followed his gaze to the side door that had just opened, and groaned out loud as he saw the guard, and what he was prodding forward with the butt of his gun. 'Or rather,' Duo amended. 'Who.'
"You have *got* to be kidding me!"
"Well, well - look what *I* found," the guard said smugly, as he gripped the arm of one frightened-looking Relena Peacecraft. "Snooping around outside, while the little pretty boys cause damage inside."
Duo listened to Heero start cursing in both Japanese and English, and he snickered inwardly. Trust the little nuisance to follow them HERE of all places.
"H-Heero?" Relena asked hesitantly, fear showing in her widened blue eyes. Heero glanced at Duo who nodded and settled back down for a backup shot. Heero breathed evenly and stood up quickly, drawing the attention of the guard who raised his gun and fired in a panic. This left his other side wide open and Duo fired, catching the guard in the side of his head. Blood and brains spattered all over the screeching princess, who pushed the dead guard away from her, stumbling blindly into the line of fire from the scientists at the other door.
Duo jumped out and snagged the girl's arm, dragging her back behind the platform, and behind himself. He checked his partner and saw Heero gripping his arm, blood gushing through clenched fingers, and he swore.
'I swear, I'm gonna kill you Relena,' Duo swore savagely, but bit his lip as he took in the ashen face of the Queen of the World. 'Yell at her later, Maxwell. You got bigger worries right now.'
Heero's sudden shout of warning made him look up and he froze as one of the scientists took careful aim with what looked like a shoulder- mounted bazooka. 'Like that!'
"Holy SHIT!"
Red fire lanced out of the nozzle and Duo instinctively flung his arms up in a weak attempt to defend himself. The fire struck the glass of the Chronos Stone and before it could hit the frozen American, the Stone itself flashed a green light in retaliation.
Heero watched the events unfold through a series of slow motion pictures. *flash* Green light emanating from the stone in front of Duo. *flash* Red fire being absorbed by the green light. *flash* A whirlwind erupting from out of nowhere. *flash* Duo and a sobbing, shrieking Relena being highlighted before dissolving into sparks of light.
*flash*
End Part 2
Notes:
1. A Cannondale MX400 motorcycle is a pretty, pretty piece of
machinery. Cannondale has started construction of these bikes again -
Gods, I wish I were rich! For more information, I would recommend
checking out www.motocross.com for some great pics, or
www.kawasaki.com for lots of info. Great research starting points.
2. Hephaestus is Hercules' half-brother and one of the few gods that
get along with him. I know Hercules didn't get the metal bracers from
the fire god until he was older, but this is Young Hercules, and I
wanted to use them. ^_^
3. Strife - annoying little godlet - dreams of replacing Ares one day
of the god of war. The nephew of Ares, his goal right now is to annoy
Hercules as much as possible, along with his sister Discord.
I've got part of chapter 3 done, but I'd really like to know your opinions! Drop it or keep it? Myself, I haven't quite decided what to make of it - but I like experimenting with different universes!
*snickers* I think I'm going for the title Queen of the Cross-Overs!
Stormy