The True Victor: Chapter Seven

AUTHORESS NOTES: You're going to like this chapter, let me guarantee you on that ^_^. I just hope nobody kills me for the ending of this chapter....

Chapter Seven

Roy arched an eyebrow with a look of "who-are-you" on his face, gun still poised at them.

"How do you know who I am, Preventer?" Roy addressed Andy.

"No need to tell you since you've been brainwashed by them," Andy growled, standing.

Gally looked up at him in confusion. "A-Andy?"

Without even looking at her, he said, "Gally, get out of here now."

"There's no escape," Roy told them. "Even if you somehow miraculously get out of this place alive, my men stationed throughout the city will get you."

Andy couldn't help but make a grim smile, cracking his knuckles. "Well, we'll see about that."

Relena couldn't believe how GOOD Kitsune was. The young girl was fast, incredibly fast. Being held by the wrist, Relena thought that she was flying, even if slightly. Whenever the two were caught up by those just as fast as Kitsune was, she quickly disposed of them in the blink of an eye. At first, taking out the supersoldiers were easy for the twelve year old, but it was starting to get more difficult each time they were stopped. Alone, Kitsune would've teken them head on, but with Relena to protect, Kitsune didn't have the freedom. So the only thing left was to run.

Turning yet another corner in the maze that they entered, it became a dead end.

"Kuso!" Kitsune cursed to herself as they stopped. For the first time, she let Relena go to check out the corner wall. "This just HAD to happen."

Relena also couldn't believe how Kitsune had drastically changed in personality: from spunky to dead serious. Her eyes followed the young girl with every step.

"What now?" she asked.

"...Hee-chan's gonna kill me if I let something happen," she heard Kitsune mutter as she peeked out of the corner, taking out her gun.

Did she say 'Hee-chan' again or am I hearing things? Relena thought.

"Kitsune...who's this 'Hee-chan'?"

Kitsune realized her mistake. Shimata...I can never keep my mouth shut, can I? "Anno...a person?"

"Yes, I know a person, but---"

Kitsune quickly reeled back from the corner as bullets spewed through the maze's hall. "Eek...that's not good."

Relena stood next to her, whispering, "Now what?"

"Just give up, Preventer, you've been cornered!" a voice shouted. "If you hand over Prime Minister Dorlain, then you'll be able to see another day!"

This threat Kitsune didn't like. "And booyaka to you, too!" (AN: ^_^ This will be explained later!!)

Relena resisted the urge to burst into hysterical laughter. Booyaka?

"Hand her over now on the count of three!" the voice continued. "One..."

Kitsune released the safety of her gun and loaded it. "Relena-san, when I come out and face them, I want you to run as fast as you can to the doorway over there."

"Two..."

"What doorway?" Relena asked. All she saw were nothing but stone walls.

"See that nifty statue thingy over there across from us?" Kitsune asked, pointing with her eyes.

"Uh...hai."

"Pull the right arm down and it'll open a passage. You'll be outside of the plaza where the others should be at."

"Demo, what about you???"

"Three!!"

"Don't worry about me!" Kitsune answered and slid out into the hall, gun aimed. "Now!"

As she was told, Relena darted from where they turned to a gargoyle statue (AN: The nifty statue thingy). Gunshots were fired in all directions. Kitsune still remained where she was, firing as the other bullets whizzed by passed her. Pullingdown on the arm, Relena entered into the hidden passageway looking back. Kitsune was still in place, still shooting, as the door closed on Relena's eyes...

Gally looked on the battle in awe. Roy and Andy were fast. Too fast. She couldn't even see them, only where they were once in a while by a pickup of dust or the scattering of pebbles.

How can they be so fast? Gally wondered.

She also heard conversation between the two as they fought. Apparantly, Andy was trying to convince Roy about something.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Roy shouted.

"Like you give a damn about what I say because you don't even remember!" was Andy's response.

"Shut up!"

Roy tossed out a bomb in which Andy easily avoided and returned an uppercut to the lower jaw. The only thing he didn't realize that the bomb skidded past an awestruck Gally and closeby the building far behind her. As the two continued to duke it out, it exploded, making Andy snap back into reality.

"Gally, abunai!"

She looked up above her to find large pieces of concrete and glass about to crush her. Too frozen in fear, she couldn't react in time. Forgetting about his opponent, Andy dashed through, getting Gally out of the way in the nick of time. As they rolled to a stop, more pieces of the building covered them. Then there was silence.

Rubbing his jaw, Roy spit out a loose tooth. With his superhuman eyesight, he checked to see if they were still alive. Finding no signs of life, he smirked to himself, picked up his shotgun, and left.

She dared to open her eyes to gasp in shock. Andy was right on top of her, struggling to hold up the massive weight of building pieces on top of his back.

"Andy!"

He opened an eye. "Daijoubu?"

"Yeah...but you can't hold up all of that weight!" Gally pointed out.

Beads of sweat were all over his face as he maintained his position.

"Get...my gun," he said, ignoring her concern about him.

"Huh? Doushite?"

His eyes glanced to the side. The two were right next to the glass building that fell on top of them. The window next to them was partially broken.

"Shoot into the glass. The safety's off, so don't worry about unlocking it."

Gally was about to ask another question, but did as she was told, fumbling with the gun before firing at the broken glass. She winced at every gunshot that rang, unused to the noise. In about two shots, the glass crumbled into a million pieces. Knowing why Andy was holding up the rubble, Gally let herself out first. She hissed in the pain on her side that was finally registering to her brain as she slowly scooted out.

"Andy, are you going to stay there like that?" she asked him with concern.

After a few seconds, Andy rolled out in two quick movements. The rubble above him followed the laws of gravity in a loud sweep. Pain was registering everywhere in his body as he focused to ignore it.

"Andy??" Gally knelt down next to him, careful to not move him less create the situation worse than it was now.

"Help me up."

"Demo..."

He managed to prop himself up on an elbow, grey eyes looking deeply into her own violet. Gally reluctantly helped him up, slinging his arm around her shoulder. How can he just...

She never finished the thought because Andy had collapsed in her arms.

<St. Joseph's Hospital>

She was out of breath as she ran into the waiting room. Her ocean eyes were filled with relief at the sight of a familiar form.

"Gally! You're okay!" Relena exclaimed.

Gally lifted her head at the call of her name, slowly shifting out of her curled position in the chair. "Relena?"

Relena went towards her. "Daijoubu?"

The poor girl was a mess. Her hair was disheveled, her face was covered in splotches of dir, and her clothes were in disarray. Somehow, though, she managed to smile. "Hai, daijoubu. The doctor said I cracked two ribs, so I can't move as much."

Relena smiled back, glad that it wasn't any worse than that. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, demo...Andy's..."

"What happened to Andy, Gally?" Lady Une asked.

The other Preventer members: Sally, Noin, Zechs, and Wufei along with the old-time friends: Duo, Hilde, Mai-ling, Quatre, Trowa, and Catherine, waited for an answer.

Gally blinked away tears as she looked away from them.

"He's in critical condition," she said quietly. "I-I'm not sure how bad because the nurses wouldn't let anyone else except for family members into his room. Kitsune and Lowe-san are with him right now."

Just then a woman entered in the waiting room. She looked around her mid to late twenties with velvet brown hair and eyes that looked exactly like Kitsune's. Taking one glance at the gang, she headed towards the receptionists' counter.

"May I help you, Miss?" the nurse at the counter asked.

"Hai...I got a phone call from here saying that my brother's in intensive care?" the woman asked. "His name's Andrew Lowe."

Ears pricked up at the name.

The nurse looked through the papers. "Oh, are you his older sister?"

"Aa."

"Just got right down the hall and turn to your left," the nurse directed. "Room 182, you can't miss it."

The woman smiled. "Arigatou."

"Who's that?" Zechs asked.

"I don't remember Andy telling me that he had another sister besides Kitsune..." Gally murmured.

Heero stared blankly at Andy's still form, observing the monitors. He hadn't bothered to take off the mask or voicebox just yet. Kitsune slept next to him, exhausted from the hectic day before. Her right arm was in a sling from a gunshot wound, but there were no other signs of injury besides that from her.

Heero jerked his head at the sound of the door opening but relaxed when he discovered who it was. "Kaede."

The woman named Kaede (the same woman who had come in at the receptionist counter) looked around curiously.

"Um, am I in the right room? This is Room one-eight-two, right?" she asked.

"That isn't funny, oneesan," Heero said. "You know it's me."

Kaede grinned, closing the door behind her. "Well, why don't you take off that mask and voicebox of yours? Nobody's going to know you're here."

Heero slipped his arm away from Kitsune to do so as Kaede took a seat next to him.

"So, how is he?" she said softly in order to not wake Kitsune up.

"Doctor says it's a miracle that he's still alive," Heero simply put it.

"You were a similar position and it's amazing that you're alive, my little brother," Kaede pointed out.

As the two quietly conversed with one another, Heero totally forgot about the face that their room had a door window...

They were finally able to see if Andy was alright, but only Zechs, Noin, and Gally had remained. The others had to get back to work, to get cracking on their new case. Gally didn't feel like visiting at the moment, remembering the bad times that Relena didn't know, so Relena left her with her brother and sister-in-law to check up and tell Gally how Andy was doing.

Her own mind was distraught, too. She knew that people were trying to get her, but she was THIS close this time in getting killed. That frightened her. Relena absentmindedly opened the door to Room 182, and her heart just stopped right then. Time had also stopped as the man that she yearned to see after seven years' wait turned his head to face her with wide, Prussian blue eyes. Eyes that could never change.

"Heero..."

AUTHORESS NOTES: Gwuahahahahahahahaha....I just love making cliffhangers ^_^. R&R!!

Oh, and if you're a Final Fantasy VIII fan like me, then you know what the term "booyaka" comes from. But for those who don't, it's a saying of total nonsense. Really, booyaka can be used on different levels of phrases. Say it out loud first and then use it in a sentence such as: "Booyaka! I'm done!" or "Booyaka to you all!" then you'll see why this word has so many meanings. I'm trying to fufill the wish of Selphie Tilmitt in spreading it around West High and the world^_^.

Booyaka.