Chapter 24 / 37
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
Quatre rubbed his eyes wearily as he finally approached the doors to the mobile suit bay at his estate. He had driven through most of the night in an effort to make it home, rather than staying over. He couldn't say he regretted it, though he was deeply exhausted. The mission hadn't been difficult, but it HAD involved a lot of chasing and time.
The Arabian let out a startled yelp and leaped backwards when he walked in the door and a loud voice boomed out of Deathscythe. "You can save money now!"
"Wh...wh...what?!" Quatre stuttered, scrambling to regain his balance.
"Just call our toll free number at 555-2505! We're waiting to hear from you!" The announcement was followed by a blare of music.
Quatre blushed fiercely, glad no one had seen him. // Figures Duo would have a radio in there...for a minute, I thought Deathscythe was actually talking. I MUST be tired! I wonder why he didn't shut it off, though... // Quatre glanced around the room and gave another start when he saw Epyon.
The machine was listing badly to one side, the cockpit and half of the upper portion blown out, blackened. // An explosion? Oh dear, I hope they're okay... // Quatre hurried inside to check on his friends.
The blonde blinked in surprise when he realized that the estate was entirely silent. // All of the servants are gone?...What's going on around here? // He rapidly made his way down towards the stairs that lead down to his saferoom before pausing, noticing one of the doors in the guest wing was wide open. // Hmm... //
Quietly, Quatre slipped towards the door and then peeked inside. In the gray pre-dawn light he could make out a large lump in the middle of the bed amidst a whirlwind of pillows. // Is that... oh! // Quatre blushed brightly and quickly pulled out of the room and darted back down the hallway as he realized that yes, it WAS Zechs and Duo sleeping there. Naked. // They could have at least grabbed a sheet or something ... //
When the Arabian got back to his room, he couldn't help but grin. He was truly happy his friend had found someone, even if that someone HAD been an enemy of theirs. // But Heero is wrong, people DO change. Zechs is not a bad man. He simply had...different ideas on how to achieve the same goals than we did. I'm sure they'll come to realize that in time. //
Satisfied that things were well, if a little strange, the blonde stripped down and crawled into his bed. He was asleep in moments.
~ * ^ * ~
Quatre frowned as he walked into the hangar. He didn't know why he was there, but Deathscythe was talking again! Or rather, singing...
"I'm glad you don't talk, Sandrock," the blonde mumbled, worried.
"I'm not much for talking, but you should see me dance." As the little blonde gaped, his Gundam proceeded to get its groove on, dancing rather lewdly in front of Deathscythe.
Over to his right, Wing Zero and a fully repaired Epyon stalked in. Epyon was screeching at Wing Zero in a high-pitched, angry female voice. "Oh, just like you to have another mood swing! Here I waited for you ALL day and even got out my SPECIAL whip for our anniversary tonight, and now you're all ooooh! I saw so many people's enemies today! I have a headache! I'm not in the mood!"
"Oh, shut up. You know that Deathscythe is more into the whipping than I am. Leave me alone or you won't have a damn future."
Epyon let out an enraged shriek and dove forward, crashing into Zero.
~ * ^ * ~
BOOM.
Quatre leapt awake with a jolt. He looked around frantically for a moment before relaxing with a weak chuckle. // I think I'm working too much...what the hell sort of dream was that... // Another distant thud echoed through his estate. // What the hell? //
~ * ^ * ~
Duo blinked and sat up quickly at the sound of a loud noise. Zechs was up as well. They cast each other a quick glance before hurrying up and getting dressed.
~ * ^ * ~
Outside, the morning sunshine had been blotted out. Thick, dark clouds had all but obscured the sun, and a massive sandstorm had swept into the area. The power of the storm was frightening, and it only seemed to be growing stronger. Another thud shuddered through the estate as yet another of the small oasis' trees was torn free of its roots to slam into the outer wall.
Wufei scowled darkly at the whipping sand. In the distance he could barely make out Quatre's estate. His Gundam, however, had abruptly stopped working for no reason he could fathom. "Nataku, I've never seen a storm like this...I know sandstorms occur, but with such power? And what's wrong with you? Why won't you MOVE?!"
An extraordinarily loud ripping noise drew Wufei's immediate attention. He gaped in disbelief as, ahead, a swirl of black started winding its way down from the sky. "Wh...what? There aren't tornadoes in the middle of the desert!" he gasped. The black of the tornado rapidly turned into a swirl of whipping sand.
The Chinese pilot let out a horrified yell as he saw the tornado touch down and swallow the northeastern corner of Quatre's estate. Walls crumbled and were ripped apart as the storm raged.
"No!" he screamed in denial, but was helpless to do anything as he watched the destruction.
~ * ^ * ~
Zechs and Duo, hastily dressed, ran into an equally disheveled Quatre near the kitchen.
"What the hell was that?!" Duo demanded, working to pull his hair at least into some semblance of a ponytail to contain it until he had time to deal with it.
"I don't know...it looks like a sandstorm has approached, but I can't get anything on it...all the electronics in the entire place are out. The generators don't even work!"
"Why is it so dark?" Zechs frowned. His eyes widened significantly when he saw a jagged black line suddenly curl from the sky. "What..." he breathed in shocked alarm. The other two pilots turned and could only stare in stunned awe and horror as the tornado hit.
The world around them was suddenly torn apart. In pieces and fragments, the roof and walls shuddered before shattering and ripping free, sucked up into the swirling vortex. The three of them had no time at all to even grab hold of anything.
Duo wanted to scream, but the air seemed to have been sucked from his lungs. He felt himself flying in a wild swirl of painfully biting sand that was threatening to flay him alive. It only took a moment before he, like his other two companions, fell mercifully unconscious from lack of air.
~ * ^ * ~
The tornado seemed to vanish almost as abruptly as it started. The lights and displays in Wufei's Gundam sprang back to life as if nothing had happened. Wufei watched as the last of the whirling storm lifted off the ground and vanished. Sand rained down in a brief, abrupt shower.
Wufei, sick with dread, hurried over to the estate grounds. All that remained of Quatre's estate was the basement level and the half-underground mobile suit bay. The outer walls and everything else was entirely gone, reduced to tiny bits of scrap. There was not much debris - most of it had vanished with the tornado.
The black-haired pilot frantically tore through the lower levels, screaming for Duo, or Zechs...or anyone. But his search came up empty. "No...my friends..." he whispered, not finding any trace of them. A scream of denial tore through him and his gaze turned heavenward.
A seething, rippling black scar hovered malevolently in the sky above him. // That...that's just like the one from the OZ base! But what the hell is it? I don't recall them having anything destroyed but Epyon...dammit! I need to get some answers, and NOW...If this WASN'T a true storm, then maybe there's hope for my friends still! //
With a growl of determination, he leapt back into his Gundam and sped off.