Note: Read my Fanfics titled "Time" (#1), "Chaos" (#2) and "Lost" (#3), or this will make no sense to you.
Fear
by JAG
Fear destroys a soul. Fear can reduce the strongest willed person to nothing. It takes away all that person is. It takes the person's life away.
"He did what?!" Duke Dermail yelled into at the screen.
"I'm sorry to report this, sir, but Mandron took your granddaughter into custody and plans to execute her," Tellson replied from the other end, "As of now, there is nothing I can do about it, but I will try to bring her to you."
"Very good, Tellson," Dermail complimented, "Try your best, but don't blow your cover. I need you to stay in the Sanc Kingdom to keep a watch on Mandron for me."
Tellson nodded. Dermail had always thought that the man had a very plain-looking face. He just looked like a normal guy that wasn't capable of anything irrational. Dermail didn't think that anyone would even notice him in a crowd. It made him a very good agent to be this way. "One more thing, sir," he said.
"Yes, Tellson?"
"There's at least one Gundam pilot here in the Sanc Kingdom," Tellson said, "Pilot 02 approached me in a tavern trying to get information on what I thought about Romefeller's rule over the Sanc Kingdom."
Dermail wasn't too surprised. The pilots always seemed to show up where Romefeller was in force, but he was surprised that there had been no attack yet. "I can do nothing about that now. First, take care of Mandron for me. Let me worry about the Gundams."
"Yes, sir. Tellson out," he said as the screen went blank.
'Can I trust no one now?' he thought, 'Even my family and most trusted advisors have all betrayed me.' Suddenly, Dermail felt very tired.
Milliardo looked at the castle that was the center of the the Sanc Kingdom's government through the binoculars. The Peacecraft castle. His home. Somewhere in there, his older brother was hatching evil plots against his own family. 'What happened to you, Logain?' he thought, 'You used to be such a happy person. What did Dermail do to you?'
"How's our brother doing, Milliardo?", Relena asked over his shoulder.
"I don't know, Relena. He's very cautious. He stays away from windows. He must fear snipers," Milliardo said, taking his eyes from the binoculars and giving Relena a look.
"What could have happened to him to change him so much?" Relena said, surveying the walls.
"I was wondering that myself, Relena," Milliardo confessed, shaking his head.
"Well, it appears that he has changed his security plans and possibly his control center," Relena said, handing back the binoculars.
"You're a very smart woman, sister. He has. Probably out of more paranoia. I doubt he even keeps Dorothy in the dungeon in the basement."
"This Dorothy thing really bugs you, huh, Milliardo?" Relena said, studying Milliardo's face when he thought he was not looking.
"I never leave a friend in danger. Nor a friend of my family. Even if she is a dangerous liar."
"So you still don't believe she has changed," Relena said accusingly.
"I'll believe it when I see proof, but for now, I'll take your word for it," Milliardo said, getting up, "I'll get her out of there. Don't worry."
Relena watched as he walked off. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you're planning, brother." She was not sure which brother she meant.
Mandron could feel Dorothy's fear. He basked in the feel. There was nothing like the feel of the fear of one of his enemies when they knew they were going to die. He glanced at the cage he had had set up for her from his throne. His throne. It did not belong to Relena or even Milliardo. He, Logain, was the oldest Peacecraft. Although he no longer thought of himself as Logain anymore. No, Mandron was much more fitting. He had heard it was the name of a previous, well-known killer.
"I trust you are feeling well, Ms. Catalonia," he finally said. Dorothy had not stopped glaring at him since he had put her in there. Now, she lifted her chin as if she were the ruler and he the captive. Her false anger was not enough to mask her fear, though. Mask the trembling in her hands and knees. His soldiers had thought him mad to keep a prisoner in the throne room. Well, that was okay. Mandron knew he was mad, and nothing could change that. He knew Milliardo would be back, though and didn't want to take any chances at all.
"Yes, Mandron, very well," she replied with all the arrogance she could muster.
"You failed to ask me how I am, Ms. Catalonia," he said, although he knew that she did not care, "Do you have any idea how much it hurts being shot? Well, you're answer doesn't matter. You face much worse now." He realized he had been shouting by the end. He usually didn't let his emotions get the best of him.
"You can't keep me here, Mandron," Dorothy commented, "My grandfather will not allow it. Much less let you kill me. Remember you do work for him."
"No longer will I bow to anyone! You and your grandfather will rot in the pits of Hell when I'm done with you! You will wish you had never been born, and your grandfather will pay for what he did to me!" he screamed, foaming at the mouth.
"What did my grandfather do to you?" Dorothy asked.
Mandron sat back, exhausted from his outburst and started to tell her, "I remember the day I woke from the coma well, but I remember absolutely nothing of anything before that. Duke Dermail offered me a position in his new world. He called me Mandron and convinced me that it was truly my name. Over the years, I learned from various other Romefeller officials my real name, and what Dermail had done to me. When the Sanc Kingdom fell, I was inside the castle. After the battle, Dermail found me crushed underneath the rubble. I was barely alive, but he took me and had doctors fix me. He didn't stop there. He told them to take pieces of my brain and transform me into a hound, perfectly loyal to him." He lifted patches of hair to show Dorothy the scars of the operation.
Dorothy looked horrified. "My grandfather wouldn't," she gasped, "He may not be perfect, but he's not evil."
"You don't know your grandfather too well, Ms. Catalonia," he said before continuing, "I found out that one of my brothers, Milliardo, and one of my sisters, Relena were still alive, and was about to go to them when I heard that they had rebuilt the Sanc Kingdom. I was overjoyed until I heard that Relena was the ruler. I knew I was the oldest living Peacecraft and the throne was mine. So I planned my revenge on them both. Now I have my rightful place as ruler, but they still live."
He saw knowing light on her face as what he said sunk in. "I'm bait for them," she said.
"That's right. You need not worry about your death until I have them in my hands. I may be angry at you for being shot, but that anger is a match compared to the bonfire of my anger at them. They took what they had no right to."
"You truly are a madman, Mandron."
"Why, thank you, Ms. Catalonia," he replied, pleased, "You say the nicest things."
"I've figured out why he doesn't want anyone to see him," Milliardo said as he walked into the camp. There was no need to tell which "him" he meant. Mandron had been the nonstop topic of discussion ever since learning he was a Peacecraft. "He's afraid of being recognized," Milliardo continued, "He knows that there are still people who still know the kid that they loved as Logain Peacecraft, the next king."
"How have you come to this decision," Heero asked, "He would want to be seen to gain their trust. That's what I would do."
"Well you aren't him, Heero. I saw him in the market before I knew he had returned. I don't think he recognized me at the time, but as soon as he saw that I knew him, he ran. He must fear that the people would try to kill him for who he is now. The ruthless leader of Romefeller in the Sanc Kingdom."
"What does it matter? We have to get rid of him anyways," Heero said.
"You're right about that, Heero, but he knows we'll be back for Dorothy sooner or later. He'll be ready for us," Milliardo replied, "To truly have a chance, we must know how he thinks and where he would think he needs the most protection in the castle."
"Milliardo, you've given me an idea," Relena said, "How much do you think he has changed? he doesn't seem to think the same anymore."
"What are you getting at, Relena?"
"When you were inside the castle, did you see any of the entrances to the secret passages?" she asked.
"Yes, I did," Milliardo said, realizing what Relena meant, "He had none of them guarded. We can enter through the secret hanger and be on him before he knows it."
"Exactly. We may be able to avoid any bloodshed as well," Relena said, hopefully.
Heero broke in on the happiness, though. "We still don't know where the control center, guardposts or Dorothy are in there," he said.
"He's right," Duo piped in.
A thoughtful silence fell on the gathered people. Nobody had the reply to that one until Milliardo came up with an idea. "There're six of us here that can go. Sorry, Relena, you still would draw notice, but the rest of us infiltrate the castle and split up into three groups. One goes to the throne room because we know he'll be there, another to the dungeons to see if Dorothy is there and the last as reconnaissance to search for guardposts and maybe find Dorothy."
"But if we do that, we'll lose our best chance of taking the castle. He'll know how we got in," Duo said.
"He'll know," Milliardo replied, "But he won't be able to stop us. There'll always be more secret ways in that he doesn't know about."
"So, let me get this straight," Heero started, "We're only going in to save Dorothy and nothing more?"
"That's right, Heero, we're in no position to take the castle now, but we can save a friend," Relena said. By the looks of everyone's faces, it was clear Relena was the only one to consider Dorothy a friend.
Farren Bashere put a hand to his mouth as he yawned. He was used to keeping guard late night, but he had had a double shift today. He did not understand why Mandron wanted so many guards to watch his castle. These people were easily subdued and had shown little resistance to Romefeller. He heard the castle had been infiltrated, but he had been off duty then so he didn't believe it.
"These late nights are killing me, Juilin." he said to the guard next to him without looking over. He heard Juilin grunt and took it as agreement. "Well, there's no rest for the weary. I'm going on my rounds," he said walking away.
Heero watched the guard walk away. "It must be horrible not knowing the slightest thing about the world around you," he said to Milliardo. It had been easy to knock out the guard he had called Juilin without even drawing his attention from a foot away.
"A lot of Romefeller soldiers are slipping from use of the Mobile Dolls," Milliardo replied as he started running towards the throne room. Heero followed him at about three paces in case they ran into trouble.
Upon reaching the throne room, Milliardo hesitated. "What's wrong?" Heero asked, "I thought you said there was a way to get behind the throne without walking through the front doors."
"I did, but my father never allowed me to use it," Milliardo replied, "I'm trying to remember how to open the passage. Aah, there." He said as he pulled on the arm of a nearby statue. A wood panel in the wall slid away to reveal a small, dim hallway.
"Come on, Heero, let's do this," Milliardo said, running through the door.
Waiting was wearing down on Mandron. He never thought it would take this long for Milliardo to retaliate. He had always been full of fire and never waited on what could be done now. 'It must be that sister of ours,' he thought, 'She always did things with a concious decision.'
He heard a door slide open behind him. Without thinkig, he threw himself from the throne while drawing his gun. Twisting about in midair, he landed with his gun in Milliardo's face. Unluckily, Milliardo had his gun in Mandron's face as well. Mandron could see Gundam pilot 01 trapped in the corridor behind Milliardo, unable to do anything. Mandron thanked his luck.
"Aah, brother, so glad you could make it," Mandron said, "Guards!!"
"They won't be of help to you this time, Logain," Milliardo said, "We made sure to take care of them first."
Mandron saw Pilot 01 struggle out of the passage and realized he was out numbered. "Computer, escape plan 3," he called out before either of them cold act. The floor beneath the cage that held Dorothy fell away. Kicking Milliardo's legs out from under him, he ran for the trap door and jumped through before it snapped shut.
Milliardo jumped back to his feet and ran to where Mandron had dissappeared. Mandron's voice came through the speakers on the ceiling mounted around the room, "You have your precious castle now, Milliardo, but I keep this girl as a prize. You have three days to turn yourself and Relena over to me along with the Sanc Kingdom or she dies."
Milliardo heard the sound of a jet starting from outside. Running to the window. He saw the jet pull down the runway and fly off. "Damn!" he shouted, "I had him. He was mine."
"Don't worry about it," Heero said from behind him, "It's just Dorothy."
"You don't understand, Heero. I promised myself I would make up for leaving her here by saving her. I always keep my promises, Heero. You should know that."
Fear gets results. Fear finds a way. It is a tool to be used with care. For if used too forcefully, there will be nothing more to cause fear...
To Be Continued...
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Gundam Wing. Those belong to the good people at Asahi TV and the Sotsu Agency. No lawsuits please.
As always, thanks to Grant, Becky, Lisa, Ruza and Amanda for all their different viewpoints on the obvious.