Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is owned by Rumiko Takihashi and Viz Video and Gundam
Wing is owned by some other guys, to the point we don't own or claim any of
this. It's all written in fun, so enjoy!
The Devil's Symphony
Written by: Jon Hall
and Greg Housley
please C&C!!!!!!!
_________________________________________________________________
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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: accessdenied1.txt
"Access denied." The figure stood before the doorway puzzled, but
only for a
moment. The computer voice that had activated had not accepted the code
that he had
been given to input. The system parameters haven't been changed yet. They
only
change the pass codes every week so this one should still work. He reached
up and
punched in the eight-digit code again and waited a second before the voice
came back up
again. "Access denied." Duo Maxwell scratched his head in slight
puzzlement as it only
took him no more than a fraction of a second to smile. "Access denied,
huh?"
Duo reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small device no
larger than a
miniature rubics cube and hooked it to the keypad. A few steps back and a
puff of smoke
later, the keypad was obliterated leaving the doorway sliding open to admit
the
longhaired American. "I got to remember to thank those docs for these
things." Duo
took another of the devices out of his pocket and kissed it lightly before
putting it back
into his pocket. The devices were bombs that hardly made a sound as they
emitted a
heat field so intense that it would cause about the same amount of damage as
a regular
grenade, given the right setting. He smiled at the recollection.
He had been on Howard^�s ship, the Peacemillion 2 when the docs had
been
explaining the bombs to him and Wufei, considering that they were the only
two gundam
pilots that were willing to take up the cause again. ^�Heh, talk about your
Silent But
Deadly!^� That remark had earned Duo a slap in the back of the head, to
which he still
had no idea why. It was just a stupid joke.
He was in the Virazin Labs, home of the latest technologies of
genetics and mind
tampering, as Duo liked to call it. He was fulfilling his second part of
the mission. The
first part of the mission was to discover if there had been truth to the
rumors that there
was a gundam being built there in secret. Duo hadn^�t thought so but he
agreed to take
on the mission just because he missed the excitement. What he had found
once he got to
the labs made him angry and horrified at the same time.
He had walked into a large warehouse-sized lab where he found evidence
that left
him speechless. He had walked over to the line of terminals that had been
close to the
doorway and began searching through recent documents, or what was left of
them. The
computers had been totally scrambled, but one piece of information did catch
his
attention. There had been a shipment of gundanium alloy to the warehouse
only a few
months ago. Most of the information was scrambled, but duo could definitely
make out
the order for the large flatbed freight truck used to ship out the materials
only days ago.
Hmmm, same type of flat-bed that we used a lot to transport our gundams.
He just couldn^�t believe it. They were really about to start another
war! Why else
would these people be building gundams? Those idiots. ^�Why can^�t anyone
just live in
peace anymore? War is not what we need right now, especially without our
own
gundams to prevent it.^� He then saw out of the corner of his eye a large
chunk of metal
lying on the ground close to the doorway that he didn^�t see before. He
walked over to it
and picked it up, immediately recognizing it as gundanium alloy and placed
it in his
pocket.
Duo still felt the weight of the chunk in his pocket as he walked
through the doorway
and into a large hall. The fluorescent lighting made it seem gloomy and
bare, the simple
colors making it look like a prison or mortuary. Doors lined the hallway
leading into
various laboratories dealing with various genetic experiments. It totally
creeped him
out. It seemed like a place where someone would find their doom, which was
exactly
why Death had come. Duo smiled at the thought. What he was looking for was
on this
floor. He glanced to either side of him and saw a small computer terminal
embedded in
the wall to his right. He quickly went over to it and began to check
through all of the lab
descriptions for the floor. He wanted to make sure that nothing else had
been changed
as well. If a single pass code could be changed in just a few days, then
there was no
telling what else had changed.
His eyes began to scan the files as they ran over the computer screen
in sequence.
^�C^�mon baby, tell papa you ain^�t gone anywhere since I last checked up on
ya.^� It took
a few moments to go through the list until he found the one that he was
looking for. Duo
smiled to himself and, pulling a disk out of his pants pocket he stuck it
into the
computer. ^�Now let^�s see what we have here.^� He quickly skimmed through
the
information to see if he was right on the money. Bingo. This was it. ^�And
save.^� Duo
saved the information to the disk and quickly pulled it back out once it was
finished. It
was a good thing too, because the alarm chose to go off then.
^�Aw, fuck me.^� He quickly put the disk back into his pocket and ran
back to the door
from which he had come. He stuck his head out to check his clearance but
quickly saw
the security guards closing in on his location. ^�Okay, it^�s safe to say
that I^�m royally
fucked.^� He spun around and started to run down the long hallway. The
sound of
footsteps closing in caused Duo to stop. ^�Shit, which one, there^�re too
many fuckin
doors! Lemme see, eeny meeny miney moe. Good enough.^� Duo punched the
keypad to
the nearest door and jumped through with the door sliding shut behind him.
He sat motionless waiting for the sound of the running steps to fade
away. He slowed
his breathing down to barely audible, the excitement making him breathe
heavily. Once
no more sound could be heard, he felt himself sigh in relief. ^�Shew, that
was waaay too
close.^� He looked around his new surroundings and confusion lit his face
with each
passing moment. ^�Where..in..the..hell^�?^� Centered in the large room was
what looked
like a large ice cube in an aquarium-like tank. But that in itself wasn^�t
what caused his
confusion. Frozen within the large block of ice was what appeared to be a
young
redheaded girl. Even though the distortion of the ice made it hard to tell
any specific
details about her, Duo could tell that she was quite attractive.
He slowly walked up to the large tank and began examining the computer
vid-screens
that surrounded the base of the tank. He punched a few buttons and got the
information
that he was looking for. From the data that Duo could gather, the girl had
been frozen for
around four hundred years. ^�Geez, a Stone Age babe!^� He quickly caught
notice of one
particularly large red button that was simply labeled DO NOT PUSH. ^�They
have got to
be joking.^� He rolled his eyes and continued to study the data on the large
icy specimen,
his interest growing as he did. As he read through all of the studies of
the frozen girl, he
found that he would keep glancing back at the big red button.
He looked back up at the girl trapped in the large chunk of ice and
noticed something
that he didn^�t see before. There at the girl^�s side, frozen in the six foot
block of ice was
a large staff with a crescent shaped blade at the end. Duo leaned in for a
closer look but
was startled as the lights began to flicker wildly on the gauges and a large
humming
sound began to broaden. ^�Uh-oh, what now.^� He looked down just in time to
notice his
hand propped up on the big red ^�DO NOT PUSH^� button.
^�Oh shit.^� He stepped back a couple of feet as the light around the
ice block began to
glow red with melting heat. The audible sound of cracking ice began to echo
off the
bare room walls. It took only a short moment before the ice cracked into a
large puddle
of water and the girl within began to start moving. Duo^�s eyes widened as he
noticed a
small sphere of light begin to form around the girls right hand. ^�This ain^�t
good,^� was all
he had time to think before the tank shattered and the water gushed out in
all directions,
completely soaking him. The girl slipped out with the rush of water knocking
him to the
floor. ^�Hey!^�
It was over in a few short seconds and the only sound that Duo could
make was the
forced breathing from the girl to the side of him along with her strained
coughs. ^�Oh
man, my head.^� Duo thought aloud, but felt the air catch in his throat as he
realized the
pitch was several octaves higher than usual. ^�What the-^� Duo quickly looked
down at
himself feeling a sense of nausea as he did, something was wrong! He pulled
himself up
to a sitting position and began to feel at himself. ^�Ahhh, what the-^� Duo
could feel the
blood drain from his head. ^�I got^�.. Boobs?^� And he was out like a light.
^�Yeah you ain^�t the only one.^� The strange girl said to herself as she
finished hacking
out the water from her lungs. She looked about her surroundings and was
surprised to
see that not a damn thing looked familiar, and then glanced over at the
small girl lying
on the floor next to her unconscious. She would have been cute to the girl
if she didn^�t
know she was really a guy. Yeah she^�d seen that reaction before. It had been
slightly
different, followed by a large panda fleeing for it^�s life, but the look on
the sleeping girls
face had been enough to tell her what had happened. ^�Nian-ni-chuan strikes
again.^� She
thought distastefully. She reached over and pulled the girl up to a sitting
position and
began to shake her at her shoulders. ^�Hey! Buddy, wake-up! Hey!^� The girl
began to sti
r within the strange girl^�s hands and finally her eyes began to flutter
open. For a brief
moment the two stared at each other in silence^� ^�I^�ve got boobs.^� The girl
announced,
still in a state of shock. ^�Yes and a nice pair at that, but look you^�re
gonna have ta help
me here.^� The girl simply blinked. ^�For starters you can tell me where we
are.^�
Duo-chan slipped out from the strange redhead^�s grasp and took a second
to think.
^�We^�re in sector 827A of Virazin labs, genetics department^�^� Duo replied
with a
somewhat distant tone.
^�Uh-huh,^� Was the only way the girl could think to respond. ^�And^� Okay,
so how
did I get here and how long have I been in that chunk of ice?^�
^�From what I could tell, somewhere around four hundred years, and I
have no idea
why you^�re here.^�
^�Four^� Hundred^� Y-years?^� The girl felt her heart catch in her throat.
^�I^�ve been
frozen for four...hundred....years?^�
The redheaded girl slowly stood up and walked a few feet away, mildly
mumbling
something to which Duo couldn^�t quite make out. She began to rise to ask a
few of her
own questions when there was the familiar beeping sound of her watch.
^�Duo..? What^�s
goin on in there? You^�ve got to get out as fast as you can. There^�s
soldiers closing in on
you and I mean fast!^�
Duo acknowledged the new information and caught the still mumbling
redhead by
her shoulder. ^�Look, I^�d like to help you out, really, but we^�re not in the
most safest of
situations right now. So if you don^�t mind, what do ya say we get the hell
outta here?^�
The redhead solemnly turned and nodded, and proceeded to pick up the
crescent bladed
staff that had fallen out beside her. They quickly made their way to the
door to the lab
and duo looked out the window to see if there was any security still close
by. When she
was sure the coast was clear, she opened the door and motioned for the
redhead to
follow her.
They followed along the hallway and exited out the door from which Duo
had first
entered in through. She craned her neck around the corner of the door and
suddenly
heard another beep from her watch. ^�There^�s no one there, just keep going
down the
hallway to your left and make a right at the corridor labeled 736B, you^�ll
be clear
beyond that point. Take the stairs to the loading docks and we^�ll pick you
up at the
rendezvous. Over and out.^�
Duo-chan glanced up and smiled as he saw the camera pointed in their
direction. She
then looked back at the redhead who still followed closely behind and
cracked a smile.
^�Hildi; gotta love her.^� The redhead simply shrugged and they began to
make their way
on the route made out by Hildi.
Their escape went unchallenged as they quickly made their way through
the
abandoned halls. Duo led the girl down the designated course until finally
reaching the
stairway Hildi had mentioned and they made their descent to the first floor.
It wasn^�t long before the two girls stood at the bottom of the stairway
looking out into
the large room that served as the loading docks. Only a handful of people
was visible
and all seemed preoccupied with their own business. Duo looked back at the
girl and
winked. ^�Just play it cool and act natural with me, then were outta here and
it^�s smooth
sailing, got it?^� The girl simply nodded. ^�Good, now follow my lead.^�
They walked out into the room with a mild yet determined pace. Duo
found herself
looking out of the corner of her eyes scanning to see if anyone had taken
notice.
Astonishingly enough, no one had. Duo smiled to herself and continued her
pace
through the loading docks. Crates upon crates consumed the docks for thirty
or so feet
before the ramp descended to the streets of the city. Duo creeped through
the lines of
crates that blocked the view to the other loaders, but when an opening came
up in
between the crates, she just walked with a confidence as if she belonged
there. She
glanced back behind her once to see if the redhead was still following and
was surprised to see the calm expression that the redhead wore.
Finally they reached the ramps and quickly made their way down to the
street. Duo
quickly glanced aound to get her bearings and then motioned for her
companion to
follow. "This way. The rendezvous should be a short distance away, so it
won't take
long to get there." They began to run down the street at a slow pace, just
to make the
trip quicker than just walking. Duo's gait heightened as she remembered
what she had
on her. The weight of the gundanium banged into her leg as she ran down the
street.
She felt down in her shirt and smiled even bigger as she felt the small
disk still in there.
But then her hand felt one of the newly acquired breasts and her mood went
downhill
just as quickly as it had gone up just moments before. "Why me?"
The redhead, on the other hand, seemed to follow at a distant pace,
her mind on other
things. Like maybe the four hundred years she^�s missed out on, Duo-chan
thought to
herself. She kept glancing at the crescent bladed staff that she still
clutched in her hand
protectively. For a second, Duo thought that she caught a flash of anger in
the redhead^�s,
but she didn^�t think to ask about it, because they had reached the
rendezvous.
As the two girls waited for the pickup, Duo finally took notice of
what the girl wore.
A red chinese shirt and black pants that looked like they had seen better
days from the
rips and tears all throughout the material. Plus the fact that the whole
outfit looked like
it was way too big for her anyway. She just stood against the fence behind
Duo and
stared at the staff, moving her free hand along the blade, a tiny droplet of
blood forming
at her fingertip. ^�Hey, you^�re gonna hurt yourself with that thing!^� But
as Duo watched,
the droplet of blood fell to the ground, shattering in small icy slivers.
The redhead raised her cut finger and stared at it for the longest of
time before
looking back up at Duo-chan. ^�It has the power to freeze. That^�s how I was
frozen in
the block.^� Duo just simply stared back at the girl as she looked back down
at the staff
and began to whisper something to herself. Duo slowly turned around to face
the street,
her face toward the sidewalk. She looked at her watch and saw that it was
almost time
for the pickup.
Just then a large brown van pulled up to the curb in front of Duo.
She looked up in
time to look into the eyes of Hildi and Lucretia Noin. Duo looked back at
the redhead as
she distantly stared back. ^�You comin?^� Both Hildi and Noin looked at each
other and
at Duo with astonished expressions. ^�Who are you?^� Hildi took on a mad
expression
and advanced on Duo. ^�I said ^�who are you?^� ^� Duo backpedaled a few steps
before
stopping Hildi short. ^�It^�s me, Duo! Who in the hell else would it be,
Hildi?^� The dark-
haired girl only grew even more impatient. ^�Duo is not a girl, for one
thing. And where
did you get his clothes? What have you done with him, you bitch?!^�
^�Now calm down, lady. I don^�t know who you think I am but there^�s
only one person
that I could be and that^�s Duo Maxwell.^� Duo-chan^�s voice took on a more
serious tone
as she progressed. ^�Besides, Hildi, who else would know about the time that
you
smuggled all of that information off of Libra just to help out us Gundam
pilots?^� Hildi
stood frozen in her tracks. She didn^�t know what to think. What the hell^�s
going on?
She thought to herself. A small snicker could be heard behind her as Noin
assessed the
situation a little quicker than Hildi. Duo only grit her teeth and clenched
a fist at hearing
the laughter.
Finally Hildi stammered herself back to slight sanity. ^�Wh..what
happened to you?^�
Duo-chan looked at the ground shyly, clenching both of her fists. ^�I
don^�t know yet, but
I^�m gonna find out.^� Duo looked over to where the redheaded girl was
staring at them
with an only half-distant expression. Hildi looked over the girl for only a
second before
turning to Duo again. ^�And who^�s the red?^� Duo^�s gaze never left the girl,
whose own
eyes had shifted back to the crescent-bladed staff in her hands. The words
that came out
of her mouth were too low for any of the company to hear, the tone itself
reaching their
ears told them that the words were longing and tearful. ^�I^�ll tell you on
the way back.^�
Duo said finally.
^�You found her where?!^� Hildi^�s voice had risen up to another peak
and could have
shaken the van were it not for the van already vibrating from the motion
that is was
currently in. Noin had been driving with the other three passengers in the
cargo area of
the van. The outburst started only moments after the van had begun its
motion. Duo had
to backpedal a little more, also, waving her hands in front of her in
defense. ^�Whoa,
Hildi, take it easy for a second, would ya?^� Hildi dropped her voice to a
hoarse whisper.
^�She might have been one of those genetic experiments that the lab was
cooking up.
She might be dangerous or worse, and enemy.^� Duo-chan scratched her head,
looking
up in thought. ^�Well she doesn^�t look like a genetic experiment, does she?^�
Duo looked
at the redhead, who was sitting quietly in the back corner of the van, still
clutching the
staff in her arms. Her eyes seemed glued to the side of the van, as if
staring off into
space.
^�Besides,^� Duo continued, leaning back against the side of the van
with her arms
behind her head, ^�I think I saved her life.^� Hildi sat motionless as Duo
went on. ^�She
was being studied at those labs, Hildi, not created. And from what I read
of the data on
the studies, it looked like she had been in that ice block for over four
hundred years.^�
Hildi^�s eyes moved over to the girl in the corner once again to find her
in the same
position as before, staring at the wall. ^�But who is she?^�
Duo looked back at Hildi for a second and then to the redhead in the
corner. ^�You
know, I forgot to ask her in all of the rush to get out of that place.^�
Duo-chan moved
back to where the redheaded girl sat staring at the wall and sat down in
front of her. Her
eyes focused on Duo as she sat. Hildi was close behind Duo and sat down
against the
opposite wall as the girl. Duo was the first to speak. ^�Hey, red. I^�m
just curious, since I
forgot to ask you earlier when we were out of the labs, but what^�s your
name?^� The girl
stared at him quietly before looking down at the staff in her lap. ^�I^�m
Ranma Saotome.
Sorry about all this.^�