Preventer Crisis: Missing - Zechs Merquise
(Chapter 1 - Careful What You Wish For)
Author: Sher
Email: sher_sites@yahoo.com
Story Rating: PG
Anime: Gundam Wing
Pairing: Zechs X Noin, Heero X Relena
Summary: Chapter One, in which Zechs is tired of the usual terrorist group trying to take over the world, so he wishes for something different. Which turns out to be a bad idea.
"...By helping the Earth's Sphere Unifed Nations, we will be able to strengthen our own ties to the Earth and therefore..."
Zechs' head nodded slightly. He jerked it up casually when he realized he was dozing, but he couldn't help thinking this was the most boring meeting he'd been to in the past three weeks. This was really Relena's department, not his. She was the diplomat, he was the soldier. So how did he get talked into going to this meeting anyway? Oh yea... Une told him he had to. Because Relena was on L4 and no one else had the suave appearance he had in meetings.
The leader of the small colony organization continued to drone on, and Zechs found himself lost in other thoughts that were much more interesting than political ties. He wondered what would have happened if Heero had attended this particular meeting. The stoic preventor would have probably stalked out and given everyone a deathglare. What about Duo? Zechs managed to keep a straight face, though just barely. The braided pilot would be grinning like an idiot, drumming his fingers annoyingly on the table. And right in the middle of some important speech, he would ask an off the wall, random question, thus confusing the speaker and breaking the entire flow of the meeting. Zechs quickly changed his thoughts. Had Trowa come to this boring meeting, the silent preventor would just sit and stare blankly at everyone, and eventually throw out a quiet, snappy remark. It wasn't a very interesting thought. Neither was Quatre, because the blonde, part-time preventor was too much a politician - just like Relena. Wufei? Justice rant. About something. Zechs had long decided that the Chinese pilot could always find something to rant about.
"...We hope the Earth will understand that we are a peaceful organization wishing to..."
Zechs suppressed a yawn. How much longer was this monotoned person going to keep talking? As Zechs considered the possible countless hours of torture, the door opened and another man walked in.
"Excuse me, but I believe you've covered everything on our agenda today Mr. Walker. We need to wrap things up here." The man placed his hand on the speaker's shoulder. Zechs raised an eyebrow as Walker quickly sat down.
"Who are you?" Zechs asked, sizing the new man before the table up.
"I'm Jackson Trevent, leader of this organization. I'll be taking over this meeting now, Prince Peacecraft."
Zechs' eyes instantly narrowed. "I believe you've got the wrong name. I'm afraid I'm not Milliardo Peacecraft. I'm Preventor Zechs Merquise."
Trevent smirked. "Oh, I have the correct name Mr. Peacecraft."
Zechs could feel his nerves tensing with aggravation. "Look. I don't care who you are, or what you're doing here, but I do insist you get my name right. I know I look a great deal like Milliardo Peacecraft, but I'm a different person." He casually pulled a gun from inside his coat. "And I don't like repeating myself."
"Why Mr. Peacecraft, carrying a gun? Doesn't that go against you're teachings of pacifism?" Trevent smirked.
The gun clicked back. "How many damn times do I have to tell you? My name is Zechs Merquise. If you had any business in this meeting, you would know that much."
"I have lots of business in this meeting. You see," Trevent ran his fingers on the polished table, "all of us in this room were once part of the Treize Faction, and this meeting was only a trap to lure you, Milliardo Peacecraft, onto our side of the game board! We plan to hold you hostage so we can take over the Earth's Sphere!"
Zechs slammed his hand on the table and stood up in a quick, fluid motion. "Are you some kind of idiot?" he growled. A man darted for Zechs, but the gun fired, and the attacker fell dead. Zechs returned his immediate attention towards Trevent. "Do you have any idea how lame this is?"
Trevent blinked, obviously confused by the sudden outburst. Zechs took advantage of that. "Have you any idea how many times I've heard the phrase, 'We were once part of the Treize Faction, and we plan to take over the Earth!'? It's getting old, and I'm getting extremely annoyed at having to hear it so often! Try to guess how many rebel organizations claim to be part of Treize's elite group since the Eve Wars ended? So far, we've had 43! Yours makes 44. And don't you dare get me started on the White Fang!"
The entire time, Zechs had been randomly shooting various members in the meeting and backing Trevent towards the wall. "Guess how many Fang organizations exist? So far, I've heard of the White Fang, Red Fang, Blue Fang, Green Gang, Purple Fang, Pink Fang - which is a group that supports my sister! Of all people! - Silver Fang, Star Fang, Anti-Gundam Fang - which goes against everything the Fang stood for! - Sun Fang, Earth Fang, and hundreds of other Fangs that are trying to take over with meager supplies and arsons... I've heard of the EX-OZ Group, the Treize Factions, the OZ-Alliance, and random sporadic groups that combine random letters from ALL those organizations! There's a group that supports Lady Une, a group that supports me, a group that supports Duo Maxwell - which is just insane - and they're all trying to take over various things too! I'm sick of hearing the same thing over and over again!"
The gun barrel jammed against Trevent's throat. Zechs glared at him with icy eyes. Everyone else in the room was dead. Trevent swallowed hard, trying to back up and put any small amount of distance between his body and the gun. "Mr. Peacecraft, I don't believe..."
"It's Merquise!" Zechs yelled, pushing the gun harder against the man's skin. "Damn it, you just don't deserve to live! Tell Treize hello for me if you see him!" The gun fired before Trevent had a chance to react. Zechs jumped back quickly to avoid a spurt of blood. He brushed his white dress coat off, though there didn't appear to be anything on it. "Can't get this messed up... Relena would probably complain if I got blood on it," he muttered to himself. With that, he slipped the gun back inside his coat and quickly walked out, heading for the shuttle that was waiting for him at the docking ports. An attendant stopped him before he boarded.
"Did the meeting go well Mr. Marquis?"
Zechs frowned. "No. But I've taken care of things here. We Preventers have to watch out for sudden... changes of events, if you get my drift." He disappeared inside the shuttle.
~*~
"So..." Lady Une rested her head against her palm. "You look thrilled Zechs."
"Not only was it boring," Zechs grumbled, "but they were part of the Treize Faction, and wanted to take over something. I'm not sure what - it couldn't have been the Earth's Sphere; they were too small for such an operation."
"So what did you do?" Sally asked, propping her feet up on Lady Une's desk. Wufei, who was also in the room, shot her an annoyed look, but she didn't remove them.
"I shot them all," Zechs replied coldly. "After I lost my temper and told them how utterly stupid they were."
"Way to handle the situation," Noin grinned. "Zechs, I swear..."
"You would have done the same thing Noin. Any of us would have," Zechs replied tonelessly. "Well, Wufei would have ranted about Justice first, but..."
"HEY!"
Sally burst into laughter. "But it's so true Wufei!"
The Chinese pilot scowled and crossed his arms, refusing to continue the discussion.
Zechs stood up and stretched. "If no one minds, I'm taking the rest of the day off."
Lady Une nodded. "Sure. There's no big crisis right now. And if something happens, Wufei and Sally are here, and I can always call Maxwell from that safety meeting downstairs."
Wufei raised an eyebrow. "You sent Agent Maxwell to a safety meeting?"
"Yes," Lady Une sighed. "Although it was probably pointless."
"Pointless just begins to describe it." Wufei snorted derisively. "Maxwell and safety are two words that should not be included in the same sentence. On the other hand, Maxwell and reckless, Maxwell and dangerous, Maxwell and idiot, Maxwell and nutcase..."
"We get the idea," Sally snapped.
Zechs turned to leave. "You know, for once, I'd like someone unique, different, and strangely crazed to try and take over the world. It's always the same old thing, and it gets so boring. I'd love to see one completely different idea, just once. We need a new challenge."
"Don't go wishing for stuff like that," Une replied, shifting some papers on her desk. "You never know, you just might get what you want Zechs."
"I wouldn't complain," he muttered. The door shut behind him and he headed down the hall to his office. Changing into a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt, he left the building and started walking towards the parking lot, thankful to have the day behind him.
But he hadn't gone far when someone a voice in a nearby alley hissed at him. Zechs glanced into down the dark lane and scowled. "Who's there?"
A man stepped from the shadows - round, thick glasses, and he wore a tuxedo with a green band around the waist, red bow-tie, black top hat, and a carried cane. He was smirking. "Are you by chance, the infamous Zechs Merquise?"
"And this is your concern, because...?" Zechs tried to look interested, and only succeeded in looking completely annoyed.
The man bowed slightly and straightened back up, the smirk never leaving his face. "I wish speak with you sir. I have a slight problem. And you can help me."
Zechs refrained from saying anything sarcastic. "Listen, I'm not in a good mood right now. Try back later." He turned to leave, but the man caught his arm.
"You don't understand. You see, I'm trying to take over the world!"
Zechs groaned - loudly. This was not what he needed. Why did he get involved in these situations? He drew back, pulling his arm from the man's grip. "Who the heck are you, the Brain? Go back into the realm of television cartoon land before Pinky misses you."
The man laughed - obnoxiously. "You don't understand Mr. Merquise. I want to take over the world!" A greedy, sinister smile crossed his thin lips.
"I'm out of here," Zechs grumbled, turning to stalk off down the street. But the man grabbed his arm again and snatched him back. Before Zechs could protest, or even fight back, he felt something sharp prick his skin. Then everything around him slowly blurred, and disappeared into darkness.
The man laughed evilly and pulled Zechs by his shoulders into the alley - but not before glancing suspiciously around him in search of possible witnesses to his act. He then disappeared completely with the Preventor on his shoulder, vanishing into the darkness and the shadows.
On to Chapter 2
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