[ 13th development area of Neo Hong Kong ]

.... a trapped runner, frozen in mid-step amid endless blackness....

/ Heero.... /

.... a woman's voice calling his name....

/ Heero.... /

.... a brilliant blue light descending toward him....

/ Come.... /

.... a nude woman with many wings, long blond hair soaring out the light, smiling....

/ Awaken.... /

.... coming closer and closer....

.... holding her arms out, embracing him....

/ HEERO!!! /

.... winged beauty transforming into crimson-eyed monster....

.... explosion....

.... mouth of a gun barrel, so close....

.... shafts of red light descending....

.... armored figure with visored face....

.... pistol pointing....

.... burning swirls of energy....

.... a visored face, lips set in a thin line....

.... mouth of gun barrel pointing at....

.... burning, crumbling....

.... armored figure pointing a pistol directly at him....

.... behind visor, a violet eye weeping blood....

.... gun firing... shooting him....

.... pain....

.... blood spattering... body falling....

.... PAIN....

.... head shot....

.... P-A-I-N....

"AIEEEEEEE!!!"

He shot bolt upright in his bed, gasping wildly, eyes wild with shock. He sat there for a moment in the darkened bedroom, lungs heaving, as he tried to convince himself that it was all just a dream, that he was alive and breathing....

Finally, he snapped his fingers. Window shades sprang open, letting in a flood of sunlight. As he stared out at the city skyline, the phone rang. He reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" he said, traces of the traumatic dream still evident in the faint hoarseness of his voice.

"Good morning, Heero."

[ STAND headquarters ]

"Commander, the police report that one of their Armor Gear's has been contaminated by Virus. They are requesting STAND's assistance."

"Initiate Level 5 operation."

"Sir, are you sure...."

"Level 5."

"Yes sir."

[ a Bio-Chem lab somewhere in Neo Hong Kong ]

Sergeant Mueller and his suit of power armor went flying through the air and landed hard against the concrete wall.

Metal bent and shrieked as the hulking form of what had once been a police Armor Gear forced its way through the doorway and shambled forward into the dim light. It no longer looked like a normal suit of mechanized body armor. Instead, the Virus-contaminated Gear now had the appearance of some strange bio-organic beast, complete with glowing red eyes and low, brutish growls. It opened its slavering mouth and roared.

Mueller tried to shake himself out of his daze. He glanced up at his attacker and gasped as the creature's skin began to bulge and pulse. As he gritted his teeth and struggled to get his own damaged Gear moving, the monstrosity slammed its arm into his Gear's chest and pinned him against the wall. As soon as it touched Mueller's armor, the smooth metal surface erupted into pulsating lumps, developing the same, alien quasi-organic appearance as the monster. As his Gear continued to mutate, the sergeant felt a burning sensation invade his body, as if something was boring into his flesh.

It was moving toward his head. His face started to throb with an alien pulse.

He screamed.

There was a thin flash of brilliant white light and a small explosion, followed by a meaty thud as the creature's severed limb landed several meters away.

Sergeant Mueller looked up with a gasp of relief and saw three shadowy figures standing on a beam, silhouetted by the dim interior lighting. They wore body armor, but nothing like his bulky mechanized Gear. Their armor was sleek, fluidly graceful, and form-fitting, as shown by the blatantly feminine curves of one of the figures. Visors concealed the upper parts of their faces. On the chest of one male figure, the word "STAND" could be clearly be seen.

STAND... the elite organization intended to combat and destroy Virus and its infestations.

The middle figure, the tallest one who wore gold-colored armor, spoke a single word.

"Delete."

The Virus-contaminated Gear turned its head and fired a beam of searing red energy from its gaping mouth. But it was slow, much too slow. Its targets leapt and scattered long before the shot blew apart the beam they had been standing on.

The female, dressed in white and pink armor, landed closest to the rogue Armor Gear and instantly launched an attack, exploding up from her crouched position to deliver a vicious roundhouse kick that sent the huge creature staggering backward a step. In retaliation, a long spike suddenly erupted out of its flesh and probably would have impaled the woman except for the intervention of the shorter male figure, who wore the blue armor. He grabbed the spike and yanked it aside as she frantically dodged. The blue armored man then drew back his free arm, which suddenly shimmered with power, and punched the beast in the chest.

The force of his energized fist strike blew a hole completely through the beast and it fell to the ground. Although badly wounded, the mutated gear continued to show sides of life as it struggled to continue its attack.

"Now Trowa!" yelled the blue armored figure.

"Okay, Wufei," was the gold armor wearer's cool reply.

Trowa pulled out the large, specialized pistol called a Gunblade and fired repeatedly, sending chunks of the creature's head flying.

Outside the building, the police waited anxiously as they heard a muffled series of explosions echoing through the structure. Suddenly everything went quiet. Dressed in riot gear, the officers tensed as the building's main doors slid open.

The armored trio emerged, the tallest male figure carrying the limp, unconscious form of Sergeant Mueller.

The armored woman smiled slightly, then said, "Stand by, disarm. Mark."

Responding to the verbal command, her pink body armor suddenly hissed and loosened slightly. The watching police gaped in amazement when they saw the long blond hair cascading down her back as she pulled off her helmet.

Tossing her hair back away from her face, Relena Peacecraft took a deep breath before saluting them sharply.

"Mission all clear. One survivor. Once we've checked him for implants, you can take him to the hospital."

All the police officers snapped to attention.

"Yes, ma'am!"

[ 13th development area of Neo Hong Kong ]

Heero was just getting onto his motorcycle when someone said, "That's amazing."

He turned his head sharply to see the speaker, a tall young man with long platinum blond hair, give him a casual hand wave.

"Yo, Heero."

He gave the blond a relieved smile and said, "Zechs. It's only you." As he spoke, he unobtrusively tucked his knife back into its wrist sheath.

Zechs walked over to the bike and said, "You're a hell of a mechanic if you managed to get that heap of junk running, Heero. By the way, I got you the Tsaihe Corporation data and ID card you asked for." He held out a computer disk and a card.

"Thank you." Heero took both items, then glanced at the high level corporate ID with his picture on it.

Zechs leaned against the alley wall and casually said, "I hear that they're demonstrating the new Armor Gear prototype at the corporate headquarters this afternoon. A lot of important people will be there."

"Is that so?" Heero said neutrally.

The blond man frowned. "Don't tell me that you're thinking of stealing the prototype. What good is that going to do? Besides, you'll be going up against Tsaihe security. You're bound to get caught. And once you have a criminal record, you'll never have the chance to move up in the world."

"Yeah, I know."

Zechs gave Heero a long, hard look. With a sigh, he said, "Have you got another reason for doing this? Something you're not telling me?"

The dark haired young man said nothing, but his blue eyes looked dark and haunted.

Zechs shook his head and shrugged. "Well, do whatever you want. I don't care. Just meet me at the usual time in the usual place. I'll help you clean up your mess just like I always do."

[ STAND headquarters ]

In the stark solitude of his office, a man sat at his desk and listened to the disembodied female voice speaking in amused tones.

"Your heartbeat's rising. That's not like you. Is something bothering you? Are you excited? Or perhaps... perhaps you're a little... scared?"

The black-clad, strikingly beautiful man with the long chestnut brown hair uttered a soft chuckle before he replied, "I always wanted to get to know him better. For now and for the future...."

The female voice also chuckled. "That's right. This will be a day to remember. For all of us. Send him my regards, Duo."

"All right. I've got to go, Dorothy."

[ expressway to Tsaihe corporate complex ]

As he sped down the roadway on his motorcycle, the same thoughts kept going around and around in Heero's head.

(I have to face him. I have to make sure.)

He jerked his attention back to the road and the towering corporate building looming in the distance.

(Duo....)

[ Tsaihe corporate headquarters, exhibition hall ]

"Ladies and gentlemen! Allow me to introduce you to the latest in Gear technology! A quantum leap in both offensive and defensive performance." The announcer gestured melodramatically at the massive Armor Gear sitting just behind him.

"I give you... Virgo!"

A handsome, aristocratic gentleman with ginger hair glanced at the man beside him and said, "What's wrong, Duo? Don't you enjoy these hollow performances?"

The commander of STAND shook his head slightly and murmured, "No, it's nothing, Treize."

Face with the polite rebuff, the older man could do nothing except sit back in his chair. At times, he couldn't help thinking that the tall, slender violet-eyed man looked too young to be the commander of such an important organization as STAND. But appearances aside, there was no question that Duo was almost terrifyingly competent at his job.

Outside the exhibition hall, Heero strolled up to the entrance with an air of cool confidence, looking every inch the corporate executive. A security guard moved to intercept him, but instantly backed down when he saw Heero's ID card.

He breezed by the apologetic guard, moving ever closer to his goal.

"And the person who will demonstrate the fantastic new capabilities of the Virgo is none other than one of Neo Hong Kong's finest! Sergeant Mueller!" the announcer shouted, his voice brimming with enthusiasm.

In the middle of climbing into the Armor Gear, Mueller grinned at the loud applause and paused to wave back at his audience.

But just as Mueller seated himself in the open cockpit, a beautiful blond woman dressed in a skimpy police uniform ran up to the display platform and pulled out a gun. Pointing it in the direction of the Gear, her voice rang out cold and clear.

"Get away from him!" she shouted at the announcer.

As the man sputtered incoherently, Relena snapped, "Just do as I say!"

In the gallery, Treize turned quickly to Duo and said, "Isn't she one of your officers? What's the meaning of this?"

"Just watch, sir," was Duo's cool reply.

After running the announcer off, Relena pointed the gun at the sergeant and said urgently, "Get out of the Gear right now!"

"I... I don't understand...," Mueller stammered.

"I don't have time to explain! Just do it!" Relena shouted even more urgently.

But before he could comply, Mueller suddenly hunched over and groaned loudly. Even as she pulled the trigger, the cockpit slammed shut and her shot simply bounced off the heavy armor plating.

"Damn! I'm too late!" Relena swore as she continued to fire.

"What is she doing? You need to stop her!" Treize demanded.

Duo leaned forward and hissed, "Too late."

As they watched, the Virgo began to shake and mutate, its skin rippling and shifting as if alive. Without warning, the Gear suddenly turned and started firing randomly around the exhibition hall.

Most of the observers scattered, screaming in panic, but Duo remained in the gallery, his violet eyes narrowed as he watched the scene below.

The explosions knocked Relena to the floor. Wincing, she started to push herself back to her feet. However, she froze as the rogue Virgo stalked out of the smoke. It lifted one arm, as if preparing to fire, but before it could do so, two armored figures slammed into the hulking engine of destruction, knocking it back a few meters.

Landing on their feet, Wufei glanced back at Relena and said urgently, "The Razorback's outside with your Gear!"

Wufei snapped, "Hurry up and go!"

Relena scrambled to her feet. "A-all right!"

As she ran down the hallway, a familiar voice echoed cheerfully through her earring communicator.

"Relena! You forgot something?"

"Thanks, Quatre!"

With the unarmored Relena safely out of the way, Trowa and Wufei turned their attention toward the rampaging Virgo Gear.

"Sir, it's too dangerous to stay!" one of Treize's bodyguards shouted amid more explosions.

Treize glanced back at Duo and said urgently, "Duo, we should move to a safer location. We need to get out of here."

The long-haired commander merely frowned and continued to scan the floor of the exhibition hall. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open wide and he flung his head back to stare at the ceiling. His mouth opened, as if to shout something, but whatever words he might have uttered were lost as glass exploded as Heero plunged through the overhead window and landed easily onto the observation gallery.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Heero rose from his crouch and lifted his head to stare at Duo, who stood in his black long-coated uniform and calmly returned his gaze.

Images flashed through Heero's mind.

.... the armored figure of his dreams....

.... the uniformed form of Duo....

.... his killer....

.... Duo....

.... a violet eye weeping blood....

.... the violet eyes of the commander of STAND....

It WAS him.

He leapt to his feet and charged.

The bodyguards, naturally assuming that Heero was an assassin, moved to block him. But they were no match for the young man. One man went flying over Heero's shoulder. The other man lashed out with a side kick. Heero ducked, and in the same smooth motion slammed the palm of his hand up into the man's jaw.

As Duo watched the battle, a faint flicker of some unknown emotion crossed his face.

With the bodyguards out of the way, Heero turned his attention back to Duo. The dark haired man flexed his wrist. His knife dropped into his waiting hand and he lunged toward the long-haired figure standing before him. Duo remained still, the perfect target. As soon as he got within striking range, Heero gritted his teeth and drove the knife directly toward the other man's midsection.

Duo simply... smiled.

Then his body rocked backward with the force of Heero's strike.

The remaining bodyguards could only stare, paralyzed by shock and disbelief as Heero and Duo stood perfectly still, their bodies almost touching.

A droplet of blood splattered onto the floor, followed by another... and yet another.

Heero suddenly glanced up at Duo, a shaken, bewildered look on his face.

In a soft voice, Duo murmured words that were meant for his attacker's ears only.

"You are loved."

Heero continued to stare mutely at the other man in wide-eyed amazement.

(His eyes... I remember his eyes... crying.....)

"I'm glad you came. I've always wanted to get to know you better," Duo added in that same soft murmur.

A searing white light flared in the background.

"I've been waiting for you... Heero."

(end teaser)

Author's Notes:

Yup, this is a fusion of GW and Virus Buster Serge, but an AU version of Virus Buster Serge! Is that getting complicated enough?

For those of you who are familiar with the story, the current casting list is:

Heero -> Serge
Duo -> Raven
Trowa -> Marcus
Wufei -> Jouichirou
Quatre -> Mirei
Relena -> Erika
Dorothy -> Dona
Treize -> Raven's superior

The Full Disclaimer

All rights and privileges to Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing are trademarks and property of Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties. All rights and privileges to Virus Buster Serge are trademarks and property of Masami Obari, Polygram, and associated parties

The characters of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only. This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.

Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.

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