Disclaimer: I never have and I never will own Gundam Wing. I’m not that
fortunate. :P And of course, the “negative content” in this story isn’t too
much different from PG-13 movies.

Gundam Wing: Phases of Memory
Phase 13: The Crash
By Sailor Celaeno

The Preventers had a major emergency on their hands. It had been two days
since Linner’s abduction. After exhaustive searching, they finally located the
warehouse. Recently it had been purchased by a woman named Nora Samms, who
coincidentally turned out to be another dead individual.
The ex-Gundam pilots had to make their move. “This chick is just crazy,”
mumbled Duo.
“You know… I almost feel sorry for her,” replied Quatre.
Duo frowned. “I guess so, but that doesn’t make it all right for her to cause
all this senseless violence and stuff.”
“You’re right.” It still bothered his conscience about what had happened days
ago at the apartment building. “She shouldn’t have allowed her powers to
control.”
Heero had been observing Quatre, and a great deal was making more sense. They
approached the warehouse cautiously.

*****

Cass smiled happily as she watched the unconscious patient. “You’re going to
be better again, and we’ll fix all those mistakes that Linner caused. I swear!”
Phips had become wary of everything. Karin’s words were echoing in his head.
He tried hard to fight those suspicions, he just had to remind himself that
Cass loved him. “It ain’t possible. I’m not losing Cass. Cass… she’s mine and
I’m hers. I can’t possibly be fighting ghosts.” He was certain without a doubt.
He hurried to check on the security around the warehouse. Phips walked down
the long hallway to the camera room. He looked at all the screens. He struggled
to pull his eyes away the lab. Cass kept watching the procedure. “Is it really
true? Could Cass care more about her… than me?”
An alarm rang. Phips quickly scanned the screens and found the pilots were
racing into the warehouse. Phips quickly cocked a gun before he left the room.
He walked out of the room in a few strides.

*****

Heero glared as they quickly raced into the warehouse. “So much for a surprise
attack…”
“We need to find the doc,” was all Duo said as he dodged shots being fired at
them.
“We need to split up. This is only one warehouse out of dozens he could be
in,” replied Trowa as he ducked down to reload his gun.
“Right. I’ll…” Quatre froze for a moment.
“Whoa there buddy…” Duo shook Quatre to snap him out of it. “We need you
Quatre.”
Quatre turned to stare at Duo. “I know where she is.”
“How?” called Wufei as he shouted over the gunfire. He ducked back down to
reload, while Trowa and Heero fired.
Quatre turned to Wufei with a glimmer of bitter anger. “She dared me to get
her.”
“Let’s not keep her waiting.” Heero pulled out a grenade. As he pulled the
pin, the others followed Quatre out of the room. They raced to avoid the
aftershock of the explosion. Quatre made turns towards a different section.
Trowa noticed a strange glow appear around his friend.
Duo fought the urge to mention his observation. He didn’t need to be psychic
to know that Quatre was seriously angry at something. As they continued, Quatre
suddenly shouted as a hail of bullets showered down on them. “Enough!” he
screamed as a force field protected them. He panted heavily as the bullets kept
coming. Duo grimaced at the expression on the blonde’s face.
A throbbing sensation pounded Quatre’s head. “ARGH!!!” The energy field
ballooned and the unearthly light filled the room. When the light faded,
several snipers were strewn all over. Quatre stormed off, while Trowa quickly
checked a man’s pulse.
“They’re just knocked out,” was the tallest pilot’s reply.
Duo’s eyes widened. “Christ! Quatre’s turned Tetsuo!”*
Wufei ignored the comment. “We have to hurry and make sure Winner doesn’t do
something foolish.”

*****

Quatre’s steps were heavy, indicating his growing anger as he tracked Cass.
His head kept pounding. He unconsciously walked in time to the throbbing. There
were tiny sparks of energy emanating from his body. He had to stop her at any
cost. Even if he had die in the process. He knew her intentions would destroy
the world and that must be stopped.

*****

Cass smiled evilly at the darkness she could feel. “Yes you do understand
everything. You will come to defeat me, but I will win in the end.”
Linner looked up from his lab station. “What have I done?”

*****

“That’s far enough!” Karin jumped out.
Quatre glared at her. “Get out of the way or I’ll…”
“Kill me?” she sniffed. “That’s not like you. After all… aren’t you supposed
to be the kind, gentle one?”
Quatre’s anger melted away. “I—“
Karin gave him a pitying smile. “You’re making a fundamental mistake. You’ve
abandoned your true nature. That’s what love does to people.”
“Love?”
“Sure. Your love for others is so strong it hurts your heart to see humanity
harmed. The anger becomes hate and your hate won’t be satisfied until you’ve
vaporized Cass.”
Quatre gasped at the blunt words.
“Don’t think that your powers are the cause of your aggression. Your powers
are just making it easier to act on them. You want to hurt her. You’re planning
on killing her and everyone else in your way. It’s a shame to see a guy like
you lose soul over this.”
“How could you know?”
“I’m a natural born Newtype like you, but of course you got a developmental
boost that enabled you to become far superior to the likes of me.”
Quatre frowned. As he was about to speak, Karin vanished. Duo and the others
eventually caught up to Quatre. “Quatre…” called Duo.
Quatre’ fierce eyes met Duo’s worried ones. “What?”
Trowa spoke. “I don’t know what she did to you to make you act this way, but
don’t do this. Never let hate cloud your judgment. Hate destroys what you love
the most. Don’t her warp your ability to love.”
Quatre turned and stayed silent as he continued onwards.
Duo turned to the others. “Don’t you find that a little disturbing?”
Wufei replied sternly. “He’s going to have to pull himself together.”
It didn’t take long for them to find the lab and the doctor inside. He was
tired, but strangely calm. It was an eerie calm, the kind when it is clear that
the end of everything was soon approaching. There was a calm before the storm
and Linner knew it. He didn’t seem to care about dying anymore. Not after he
realized the consequences of his previous actions. “Doctor? Are you all right?”
Linner turned to Trowa. “As well as can be expected.”
“We have to hurry and scram before they catch on that we found you,” Duo spoke
with some urgency.
“I can’t leave,” Linner replied matter-of-factly.
“Why?” asked Heero with suspicion.
Linner replied simply as he nodded at a figure in another room. “A doctor
can’t abandon a patient.” There was a glass window where anyone could observe
the patient.
Quatre glared at the glass. He didn’t need to look. He knew the patient. “That
patient must and will die.”
Even Heero arched an eyebrow at his comrades vicious statement. “I can’t let
you do that,” Linner replied firmly.
“Why?” Quatre shouted. “You know that your patient is a dangerous evil that
could destroy us all!”
“I know that. I created her after all.” Linner sighed as he ran a hand through
his hair. “It’s a long complicated story. To make it short, I have to make up a
personal wrong from my past.” He looked at Quatre with sorrow and anger in his
eyes. “Ghosts never leave you alone. Especially if you’re the one that made
them ghosts. I destroyed the one person I loved and this is my penance.”
“You’re doing this because of Eugenia?” Trowa deduced. Linner only stared back
sadly. Trowa shook his head. “I don’t quite see how Eugenia has anything to do
with this.”
Cass made her appearance. “Very simple Preventer Barton.” She stared at Quatre
with interest as she could feel his darkness growing. “Eugenia was in love with
Dr. Linner. However his interest in Newtype factors took him away from her once
too often for her. So she married someone else. Three years later she turned to
the good doctor to help her have a baby.” She smirked at Linner’s change of
expression. “He reluctantly agreed to help his ex-lover. Unfortunately, the
only viable embryo was a Newtype with an unusual power.”
“And what’s that?” asked Wufei watching her warily.
“The embryo absorbs large amounts of energy. In order to survive, the Newtype
would need a larger amount of energy than a normal child would. Though this
sounds fairly harmless, it placed Eugenia in danger.”
Quatre spoke. “Eugenia would have to eat excessively to survive because the
baby would naturally receive more of the food she consumed.”
“He never warned her that the pregnancy would kill her. Perhaps he was still
angry and jealous that she chose to marry another man. This one baby could
settle the score. And it did. She and the baby died in the seventh month.”
“What do you have to do with all this?” asked Duo.
Cass smiled. “Eugenia’s mother was widowed and remarried when Eugenia was ten.
She had a younger sister that she called Azzie. Of course, Azzie later married
years after Eugenia died. She became Mrs. Astrid Nahira.”
Everyone had a surprised look on her face. They turned towards the glass and
realized who the mystery patient was. Quatre was the first to react. “I won’t
let you bring her back to life!” A strong energy beam flew straight at Cass.
She didn’t flinch as the beam bounced. “Foolish Quatre… Didn’t you remember?
I’m a psychic Newtype too??!!!” She glowed and the pilots were flung backwards.
“Ah! Shit!” Duo shouted as his head hit the wall. He slid down the wall.
Heero groaned. “This is out of our hands. Quatre’s the only one with the
powers to stop her.”
Quatre floated back to his feet. “I won’t let you or your pathetic need for
vengeance destroy the world!” His powers were charging up for another attack.
“There’s only one way to win!” She screeched like a banshee as she zapped at
Quatre with a strong energy ball.
Quatre focused to deflect the energy attack. Words and images echoed in his
head. He could hear Nova’s voice again. “As a soldier, you had to kill. Why?
You had a purpose. The purpose was so powerful and bigger than yourself, you
would kill anyone that had to die for the mission. Even your own self.” The
memories of that awful nightmare pounded hard in his mind. He called for his
power to guide him. The power was building. “I’m going to kill you!” His scream
echoed as he released his pent-up energy.

*****

Mysterious figures watched Quatre intently from another dimension. “This isn’t
very promising,” said a female voice.
“Celaeno is letting things get out hand. She hasn’t been preparing these
humans properly,” added a second woman.
“She said this was part of her plan.”
“You’re kidding right Maia?”
“I’m not,” replied the one called Maia. “She has the mandate to do what she
deemed necessary for their training. That was what the counsel agreed upon,
when she was commissioned.”
“It’s rather unpleasing to see our soldier use his powers in this manner,”
noted another woman.
Maia conceded. “I know. We’ll talk to her about this later.”
“Will you go?” asked the first woman.
“Of course. I’m her champion when she’s not at the counsel hall.”

*****

The room was bright with an awesome power that was just indescribable. The
energy was freed and Cass flew backwards through the wall. Quatre turned
towards the glass window. Suddenly Phips jumped out to tackle Quatre. They
rolled on the floor struggling to win. “Get off of me!” Quatre grunted.
“I won’t let you destroy what she loves the most!” Phips answered back
fiercely.
Quatre glared, “You’re a fool for loving a woman that never really loved you!”
Quatre’s energy shield forced Phips off of him. Quatre continued towards Kari.
As he energized for another attack, a strange glow emanated from Kari. “Ugh!”
Quatre groaned as he fell over.
The window cracked into pieces and fell to the floor. Everyone was awed at
seeing Kari fully awaked and floating out of her room like a possessed woman.
“Enough!” Her voice boomed.
Cass stumbled back. “Sister?”
Kari gave sharp glare at everyone. “What fools we are. We are out to destroy
each other. We’ve doomed ourselves.”
Cass walked to her sister. “What do you mean?”
“When I fell in the cavern, I found true peace in my dying soul. I finally
understood that people like us shouldn’t exist.” Kari turned to Quatre. “You
were born with your powers. You were created by a power beyond us for a
purpose. You shouldn’t lose your soul to darkness. It’s a shame if you did.”
“Huh?” the strange glaze in his eyes faded. Exhaustion at using his powers
overcame him. Heero and Wufei picked up their comrade.
“But… we can still win!” argued Cass.
Kari retorted, “We lost the day we allowed our souls to be corrupted by our
darkness. Balance in this world as been shaken. We will correct this.”
“How?” asked Trowa.
Kari gave him a grim smile. Her body gave off an unnatural heat. “We must die.”

*****

Annie began crying shrilly. Zechs and Noin ran into her room. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know.” Noin couldn’t see what’s wrong. An idea came to her. She ran
to the playpen.
In a few quick steps, Zechs leaned over the cradle and tried to comfort his
daughter. “What’s the matter?” He couldn’t get her to stop. Was she sick?”
Noin returned and leaned over the cradle. “Hey baby! Here’s Cottontail.” She
shook the rabbit to get the baby’s attention. The baby accepted the bunny.
The strangest thing happened. Annie was glowing as she hugged her toy.

*****

The light consumed Kari and Cass. Cass screamed shrilly. Linner threw himself
into the dangerous light. He couldn’t live with himself anymore. The ex-pilots
ran. “Damn… Quatre’s conked out,” cursed Duo.
“The light… is coming!” Wufei shouted as the deadly energy approached closer.
Duo gulped, “Been nice knowing you!” The light swallowed them.

*****

A strong column of light surrounded Annie. Her form slowly morphed into a very
beautiful woman. Her hair was long and black. She stared at Zechs and Noin.
“The future is upon us all,” she said.
Zechs and Noin were blinded by the intense light. “What’s happening?” Noin
managed to groan.
The light faded and Noin checked to see that baby Annie was asleep as though
nothing had happened. However, noises from the balcony could be heard. Zechs
and Noin were surprised to see the five pilots in a chaotic pile on their
balcony. “How did…?”
Zechs’ brows furrowed. “Annie…”

*****

Sailor Celaeno was watching the whole scene from the rooftops just a few
buildings away. She had a satisfied smile on her face. “I see that they’ve
succeeded,” replied a voice from behind her.
Sailor Celaeno turned around and could see Karin walking towards her. “I told
you they’d succeed.”
Karin morphed her form into Maia. “Rather close call wasn’t it?”
“Doesn’t matter. They got the job done is all that really matters.”
“You have that much confidence in their destiny, I see.”
“More than the council will give them. After all, they aren’t ordinary humans.
They have something on their side.”
“You’re right. They have you. You wouldn’t let anything happen to them?”
“I didn’t see the need for you to talk to Quatre like that.”
“I was getting worried about him. I wasn’t sure he’d snap out of his rage.”
“Give him a little credit here. He’s much stronger than that. He’d snap out of
it eventually. He’s not a raging beast.”
“The meekest mouse is more dangerous than a lion my dear.”
Sailor Celaeno laughed. “That may be true, sis. But don’t forget I’m the
ringmaster of this little circus. I keep tight control over them.”
“You sound so sure. But we’ll see.”
Sailor Celaeno thought grimly to herself. “Yes. We’ll all see.”

Next up is the epilogue and some teasing to the next story! That’s right, I’m
working on the next story! I’m hatching out a plot. Normally I’d be prepared
with a story idea like months ago, but it seems that the next story I was going
to write has some gaps that make it hard to connect with this story. No it’s
not another sequel. The story of Kari and Cass is DEFINITELY over. No chance of
those two coming back. I’m working on a story to fill in gaps before I work on
this other story I was thinking of doing. That probably sounded confusing, but
you’ll see what I mean when I get working on it and you read it.

*- This comment was a reference to the movie “Akira.”