So if you don't know who the Gundam Boyz are, all you really need to keep in mind is that they are sort of like Mission Impossible/007/Big Mecha's With Guns/Political Wackiness with pretty boyz.  As you probably already know the Ronins are many things but secretive spies, they are not...  What happens when science and guns meets mystical body armor?  Read on... -Mink-

    Trowa nodded thoughtfully from across the table, absently watching the people pass by on the sidewalk. "Very true, however, there was a reason his statues were torn down. No rationale can last longer than the people will tolerate it."

    Quatre considered this. "But, where would we be without rationalizations?"

    Trowa waited for him to continue.

    "Rationalizations are more important than," Quatre paused, leaning conspiratorially over the small table and lowering his voice so only Trowa could hear,"...sex."

    Trowa�s eye brows went up in surprise.

    Quatre, quite pleased with himself, tilted his head. "Have you ever gone a week without a rationalization?"

    Trowa admitted defeat with a soft sigh, tipping back the rest of his drink. "You are acting very strange today Quatre. Is it New York?" He gave Quatre a small smile.

    Quatre glanced towards the bustling street and sidewalk. They had both been to large cities before, and many enough to know that each city was not the same. New York was a living breathing entity, constant movement, constant filth, and absolutely no boredom. "I think it's like being in a life that's on fast forward." he paused, "I am glad you came with me Trowa."

    Trowa shrugged. "You had already packed my bag before you asked."

    Quatre let out a laugh before he could stop himself, loud enough for several other nearby patrons of the restaurant to glance around at them. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, bright blue eyes bright and smiling. "Sorry!" He leaned towards Trowa again. "It has been such a long time since we have been able to be alone-" Quatre turned his head swiftly towards the street. "Did ..did you hear something?" His eyes had assumed a far off look.

    Trowa turned his gaze in the same direction. He had heard something. A bang? Or was it closer to a explosion?

    "Maybe it was a car backfir-" Quatre�s voice was cut short by the abrupt crash of glass on the street just outside of the suddenly silent restaurant. People were running like streaks of colour past the wide street windows, their hands over there heads and faces, their shouts muted by the glass. The dying sun lent a glitter to the bits and pieces of glass which now trickled like magic dust from far above.

    Trowa�s calm eyes lingered on the splintered panes of glass lying strewn on the pavement and car roofs, then moved back to Quatre across the table who was staring in shock. Another explosion sounded in the not so distance, barely discernible above the honking horns. The old chandelier above them shook, sending powdery streams of plaster floating down around them. There was an almost inaudible whine and then a click. The lights flickered bravely for a moment then went out. The darkened room was lit dimly by the windows facing the street.

    "Trowa?" Quatre swallowed. "Maybe we ..um..should get out of here?"

    Trowa put his napkin on the table and stood slowly, the rest of the patrons speaking in tense rising voices around them. "Oz." He grabbed Quatre�s hand, not even letting the boy stand up, and practically dragged him as he moved towards the front doorway.

    "Trowa! Wait!" Quatre gasped stumbling behind. "Maybe we should go out the back..these places always have a 'back' ..right?"

    They both looked at the rapidly filling street. People were running in every direction, some screaming, some shoving. A dark shadow , like a swift moving cloud , passed over the street. However, the shadow did not pass like a cloud, it stayed in place like premature twilight. A storm?

    Quatre gasped as the light fell away. He glanced anxiously behind and up at Trowa who was also looking upwards as if, he too, could find the source of the darkness. Another silent explosion rocked the building making more plaster crack and fall. Trowa raised an arm over his head to block the falling pieces.

    "Do you think Oz has launched an attack?" Quatre asked in confusion. "My intelligence hasn�t reported even a hint of Oz activity here!" People jostled past them onto the sidewalk which was swiftly going from bad to worse.

    As it grew darker, Trowa realized dismally that the entire block was without power. "Mine either." Trowa said, his hand involuntarily slipping into his loose jacket to touch his gun. "Let�s go out the back."

    Quatre pointed behind them. "No good." The restaurant had become more like a sequel on the street before them. People had begun to panic.

    Trowa looked over the crowd and found them choking the entrance to the back alley. He turned back to the street. "Come on."

    With that, they both plunged onto the panic-filled streets. Quatre followed, his wrist locked in Trowa�s grip. People shoved and pushed by them, hissing and cursing, a woman shrieked and began sobbing.

    Trowa had expected to see several Leos bearing down on the crowds, but there was no hint of them through the chaotic noise. No gun fire or loud unmistakable hum of Leo engines. Trowa shook his head. There was something wrong about all of this.

    Grasping at each other so they wouldn't be separated, the surging, shouting crowd pulled and shoved them around the crowded sidewalk and street. Rusty cars and dented cabs honked, islands in a river of wide eyed people.

    Another tremor/explosion shook underneath their feet, almost knocking them to the ground. Trowa looked up and saw thin columns of black smoke rising from nearby skyscrapers. His eyes passed over a nearby bank building and paused. Lights.   On the top of the Mutual Security building across the street.. there were...lights? Soft dim lights moved erratically near the edge of the building's roof.

    Trowa paused.

    Over the sound of the crowd he could somehow make out the sound of metal striking metal. A sharp metallic ring that seemed to come from up above. The lights? The lights glimmered and shifted, moving swiftly across the roof and then to Trowa�s surprise, seemed to leap in unison onto the next rooftop which was at least forty feet higher. He blinked, trying to make the strange image disappear. But they didn't. The lights went back and forth on the edge of the adjacent building.

    Suddenly a dome of dark purplish light blossomed nightmarishly on top of the building, obscuring the lights completely. The ground shook violently and a low rumbling sound began. Trowa watched in frozen amazement as the top of the building's rooftop began to disintegrate and fall in massive jagged pieces down into the street.

The lights? Are they doing this?

    Still looking up, Trowa was startled when a flash of green light came from directly above the restaurant, only thirty feet above his head, and arced across the crowded street towards the rapidly deteriorating building, where the other lights had vanished. He thought he heard a voice...? .....the green light yelled something. Trowa was jolted back to the present, when a woman right behind them screamed something unintelligible, pointing up. For a moment, he thought the woman had seen the lights as well and he turned swiftly to look.

    It wasn't the lights.

    A satellite dish was cartwheeling down the side of the damaged building, shattering glass and rending steel as it went. The crowd surged in breathless panic and Trowa was shoved violently forward, his grasp on Quatre�s arm lost. "Quatre!" He watched Quatre become rapidly swallowed by the crowd. Quatre. But he was already swept away. Trowa lunged forward towards him, heedless of the elbows and offending stomping feet. The satellite dish crashed into some parked cars less than twenty feet away, showering the crowd with dust and glass. He was pushed and pulled like in the current of a savage river, a river that could scream, then he saw a familiar arm in a green sleeve failing under the edge of the surging crowd. Quatre was smashed against a dirty brick wall and pinned there. The crowd swelled and then suddenly lessened almost to a trickle.

    Trowa allowed himself to flow with the stream until he was just before him, then used all his strength to plow through those who remained.

    Quatre had an arm across his chest. "...I...I just got the breath knocked out of me..I'm..I'm.. ok...." He managed to cough out.    

Trowa looked at him an anxious moment, then looked in calm assessment around them. The crowd had drained off somehow. The cars which were stuck in the street were abandoned, their headlights gleaming bleakly through the dust and debris. The cars beneath the mangled satellite dish had begun to burn, filling the street with oily black smoke. The streets where becoming strangely empty. Only a few people flitted through the smoke and the muted beams of the headlights.

    Trowa found his gaze drawn back up at the damaged roof of the Mutual Security building where the green light had alighted and could be vaguely seen. No ..he thought.. not light, it's a person.

    "I think there's a person up there." he whispered. Trowa thought suddenly of the other lights he had seen. "I think there are people up on top of that bank."

    Quatre glanced up, still trying to catch his breath. "H..huh?"

    Trowa saw a dark purple light flicker like lightening through the smoke above and thought he knew what would follow. "Come on. We have to get out of here now."

    Not even waiting for an answer, he grabbed Quatre's arm once again and ran in the opposite direction the crowd had been going, plunging through clouds of black smoke, heedless of what was on the other side. They ran in silent fear for a few blocks, Trowa casting glances behind them as they ran. Quatre, who had never fully gotten his breath back, struggled to keep up. Looking away from the street for only a moment to peer ahead in the gloom, Quatre stumbled on an unseen curb. Trowa skidded to a halt and swung around to help him up when a deafening crash boomed right behind them in the obscuring smoke, blowing rocks and grit, slamming the tall pilot down onto the street beside him.

    Close. Trowa glanced up in the smoke and dust waiting for what would follow.

    Quatre stood shakily. "What was that?!?" He too gazed into the billowing smoke behind them.

    "It was the rest of that bank across the street." Trowa didn't look at him as he stood slowly. He could hear the metal clashing against metal again. "They're fighting."

    "Fighting? Whose fighting?" Quatre asked breathlessly as they made their way through the treacherous streets, the dull glow of the headlights of abandoned cars shone like beacons for them to follow.

    "I think I saw something." They ducked down an alley, not running but not exactly walking either. "There were lights right before the explosions."

    Quatre looked at him anxiously. "Do you think Oz is using a satellite?" His voice sounded strange, as if he did not believe his own theory or expect it to be confirmed.

    "No." Trowa murmured, his eyes set. "I don�t think so." They came out on the opposite side of the alleyway with still no sign of people. "Everyone is gone." Seeing the always busy streets of New York completely empty was disconcerting and unreal. He looked to Quatre, who had a streak of ash down one cheek and plaster in his blonde hair.

    "The power must have gone out all over the city. What do we do now?"

    With that, the headlights on the abandoned cars jammed in the street, flickered then simultaneously went out, leaving them in bleak darkness. Trowa removed his gun from it�s hidden holster. "I guess we'll find out."

*                 *                 *

    "New York New York it�s a hell of a town..." Duo sang to himself as he went. It was better than the whole lot of nothing he had to listen to instead. He kept close to the silent buildings that towered over him, skirting through alley ways and sometimes through the buildings themselves. Trying very hard not to let his panic grow as each apartment or office or hallway he borrowed to trespass was found empty. He paused in a window, the fire escape an easy route to the next roof. The dinner table was set, the forks had pieces of food stuck on the end of them for crying out loud. But as with every other strangely vacated home or store, there didn�t seem to be any signs of struggle. Millions of people just don�t up and vanish.

Duo frown, absently chewing on the inside of his lip. "Do they?" Heero had said it was indicative of the weapons they were supposed to be securing. But that only made Duo sigh. Heero knew as much about this mission as he did. Which was practically nothing. He crossed the roof quickly and slid down the fire escape ladder down to the street. Secure weapons. What weapons? None of it made sense, Oz had never did anything this weird before. He had come across several fallen buildings and a wrecked subway train, but not one sign of a Leo. Whatever was causing the damage moved quickly and was scattered all over the city. Like rouge wrecking balls.

    Multiple targets. Duo thought, glancing side to side to make sure his way was clear before he crossed the car choked street. Or multiple weapons. There was another strange thing. There wasn�t just an absence of people, there were no bodies either. If he couldn�t find one of these damn weapons how in the hell was he supposed to secure it?

    Heero had been gone for a while. They had scattered in different directions when that car had come out of nowhere. A fucking car! He looked up, a confused expression plain on his face. How could a car fall from a building?!? Could it have been in a parking garage of something? It was like somebody had thrown it or- Duo shoved the thought away. No matter how the car had ended up crashing down into the street, he and Heero had been separated. It wasn�t worried, Heero could do more than take care of himself, but he wouldn�t have minded a little back up whenever he found what was ripping the famous city down like building blocks. Right before they scattered they had been talking about trying to cross over into New Jersey, so Duo hoped he would spot the other pilot on the way.

    "That's no good." he murmured to himself. He had been working his way south to the 58th street bridge. Unfortunately, the raised highway which joined the road to the bridge itself was now nothing but rubble. With a sigh, he looked up at the thirty feet which separated him from the bridge, then longingly across the water where a strange fog was busily hiding the distant shore. The bluish fog swirled slowly just over the river's surface. Duo looked up into the sky uncertainly. It wasn't exactly night, but it wasn't daytime either. It was a gray colour, like early dawn or late evening. Time seemed meaningless, and he resisted the urge to check his watch. It had stopped around the time Heero and himself had entered the city. 2:16 pm today? Yesterday?

    "I guess I'll have to double back." His voice sounded loud although he hadn't spoken above a whisper. Looking around in the deserted shadows made him feel as if he was the last person left on earth. The thought made him shiver as he carefully climbed down the crumbing debris. A noise. Jerking to a halt, his back stiffened, steadying himself on a broken slab of concrete. He turned slowly back to look up at the lip of the bridge far above. A shower of rocks trickled down from the crumbling edge. There's somebody up there.

Keeping his eyes on the edge of the bridge while backing away, he drew his gun. Duo reached the street, eyes still locked on the bridge. Reluctantly tearing his eyes away from the bridge's base, his gaze scoured the support towers of the suspension bridge. Looming above like immense blackened trees, the support pylons seemed to be able to hid anything. He searched the towers, knowing an army could be hiding in it's shadows, let alone a single-he felt his heart stop. A lone figure was standing high above on the closest pylon, barely discernible in the dreary dark. Or is it shedding light? Blue light? Duo found himself staring at it in frozen wonder. Was that one of the weapons? He was in plain sight on the empty street. Fuck.

    Duo swung around and broke into a run, expecting at any moment to be struck from behind. He reached an alleyway between two apartment buildings. Breathing hard, he rounded a dumpster and skidded to a halt, slamming a clip into his gun. The figure was at the end of the alley, it's bluish glow more evident. It was holding some kind of bow and it was pointed straight at him, the notched arrow gleamed dully in the dismal light of the narrow alley. Duo squinted in the gloom and raised his gun in one swift motion. The figure was armored. It had a strange high and horned helmet. He tilted his head in confusion. Not like modern military armor but some kind of older armor. Duo looked it up and down. "And what exactly are you supposed to be?" Cyborg. Why didn�t it fire?

    The figure shifted, slowly lowering the bow. He couldn't see the face of it in the shadows of the alley but he felt he was being studied. Duo swallowed, not as half as brave as he wished he could be. It must be some new cyborg prototype. A pretty freaking powerful cyborg prototype considering the damage he had seen. It was a strange moment as he slowly realized he was very out gunned. He squeezed the trigger anyway, letting one sharp muted ring of gunfire fill the silence. Right for the lower left chest where he knew most AI units were housed.

    Duo watched his reinforced tip, armor piercing and not to mention titanium bullet meet and spark against the thing. It still didn�t move. He squeezed off three more. It slowly lowered it�s bow completely.

    Duo went cold. He was supposed to secure this?

    "Too good for my bullets huh?" he asked hoping to distract it, slowly backing away. "What are you waiting for, the Empire States building is still standing!"

    It did have a bow and would probably just shoot him anyway but he wasn�t going to just sit there. A second before Duo made a lunge towards freedom, the figure spoke.

    "Where the fuck do ya think you're goin'?"

    Duo blinked. This was it, this was the end. But in the back of his frenzied mind, a thought drifted Was it just me or did that cyborg sound like it was from the lower east side?.. Instead of thinking about it, he swung around and headed towards the street. He ran half a block before he dared to hope that he had left the thing behind. Turning his head to see if it was giving chase and-BANG- ran right into something. Duo skidded about three feet backwards ending up on his back. Oh god, did I just run into a telephone pole? He felt the back of his head where it had smacked the pavement, then looked to see what he hit.

Duo gasped.

    "You should watch where ya goin'." the thing said with, Duo was positive, a certain amount of amusement.

The pilot sat up on the sidewalk, a hand still on the back of his head. "I will." It didn't even budge when I ran into it. How'd it get in front of me anyway?!

    It was standing practically right over him, the meager light striking the face beneath the horned helmet. Duo�s eyes widened.

    It looked as if it were around his age, maybe older, but not by much. It didn't look particularly terrifying. It looked annoyed. Hardly the expression Duo had ever imagined a prototype cyborg killer to wear, but hey, he had never actually seen one, especially one in old Samurai armor. That's it! That armor looks like an old Samurai getup! It shocked him out of his reverie by speaking.

    "What d' you think you're doin'?" It asked carefully. "The Warlawds are all over the place, you can't just run where eva' you want!"

Duo stared at him. If this thing isn't from the east side just paint me orange and call me Judy.

    As it leaned down to grab at Duo�s arm, Duo quickly withdrew his gun and leveled it evenly in it�s face. "I don�t think so freak." Duo slowly stood and it watched him carefully, it�s dark blue gaze flickering from the gun to him. Was it scared now? "Paws off."

    The cyborg sighed. It studied Duo for moment, a smirk slowly spreading across it�s face. The giant bow was swung around it�s back where it neatly folded itself and offered out empty hands. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you, see?"

    "You�ve got that right cupid." Duo assumed what he hoped would be a construed as a threatening stance and narrowed his eyes at it defiantly. Maybe this wouldn�t be so hard after all. One secured weapon coming up. "You are coming with me. How are you deactivated?"

    The thing paused. "Deactivated?"

    "Turned off, unplugged, shut down, offline, deactivated."

    The thing looked confused. You've got it all wrong! Lemme explain, we've gotta get out-"

    Duo shook his head, "I asked you a question."

    It looked slightly exasperated, and stepped forward.

    Duo opened fire.

    Duo�s gun was designed by Doctor G. It could blast holes in brick walls. It might not have worked in the alley but at this short range nothing short of a mountain would be left standing. The thing stumbled back at close range as the bullets slammed into it�s chest. Duo smiled when it fell loudly onto the concrete, it�s armor casing clanging to the ground. "Deactivated yet?" Duo felt himself grin wider. What an odd cyborg. But Duo�s grin died. The freaky piece of shit cyborg was still running! What it take? A bomb?

    It muttered something and stood up. It didn�t look confused anymore. It looked, well, pissed off. "Give me that!"

    Duo was so shocked he let his smoking gun be ripped out of his hands.

    "You�re gonna hurt somebody!" And before Duo�s eyes, it bent the barrel of his gun into a U and tossed it over it�s shoulder.

So much for that. "Okay okay." Duo braced himself. "Get it over with, just kill me."   Game Over.

    It seemed taken aback with this and the dark blue eyes got wide for a moment. "Kill you?" The cyborg titled it�s head to the side, the brow furrowed. "What made ya think I was gonna kill you?"

    Duo motioned to the bow on it�s back with his chin. "What were you planning on doing with that? Just maim me?"

    Some of the previous cyber smile returned, and Duo noticed an unchecked lock of hair had fallen into it�s eyes. Hair the a shade of blue just a little lighter than the armor casing. It waved an armored hand. "Nah, ya see, I thought everybody in the city had been taken.... when I saw you, I thought ya were a dynasty soldier."

    The pilot blinked. "Dynasty soldier?" Duo found himself studying the eyes, they weren�t very cyborg like. They seemed very human. Besides what kind cyborg swore all the time? A soft clang came from behind him.

    A voice. "Rowan?"

    Duo swung around only to see another armored cyborg standing little more than several feet behind him, holding the biggest sword he had ever seen in his life. Chancing a glance back on the blue one, Duo saw it had broken into a relieved smile.

    "Seiji! I thought I'd lost ya!" it said gesturing to nowhere in particular.

    The massive sword whistled through the air as the one named Seiji expertedly swung the weapon over it�s shoulder. "We've got to keep moving, Ryo said to meet him uptown." The forest green armor heaved as if it had been running but he wasn't close to being winded. The new cyborg turned it�s head slightly, as if noticing Duo for the first time. It stared at him for a moment, eyes so crystal blue and cold that Duo had no doubt of their artificiality. The hard gaze regarded Duo skeptically, then it gave Duo a curt nod. "Hello." It looked back to the blue armored one. "Whose your friend Rowan?"

    The blue one (Roun?) seemed like it was about to explain then decided against it. "The Warlawds missed one Seiji, we gotta take him with us." It actually sighed and moved towards Duo.

    "With you!? I really don't-hey!" Duo yelped. The blue cyborg grabbed him around the waist and unceremoniously tossed the stunned pilot over it�s hard metal shoulder. Duo was suddenly looking at the bow up-close and upside down when the alley seemed to fall away beneath them. The cyborg jumped (flew?) from rooftop to rooftop, ignoring his outraged demands. As he breathlessly struggled in it�s iron grasp, every so often kicking hard enough to cause low muttered curses from the cyborg captor, Duo wondered if he had crossed some line. Reality seemed far, far away.

End Part 1

• On to Part 2
• Email Author
• Back to the Ronin Universe index