Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ ZER0 ❯ Gluttony ( Chapter 5 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Vinyl-Koneko 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Suspense / Psychological / Police / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.21.2002 | Updated On: 10.14.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 411 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Thriller / Suspense / Psychological / Police / Drama / Angst / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.21.2002 | Updated On: 10.14.2002 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 411 | Status: Completed
Title: ZER0 - Part 6 - Gluttony
Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
Rating: R
Warnings: language, angst, death, blood, gruesome stuff, yaoi
Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I just like to play with them and make them play with each other.
Comments: *Emphasis*, 'thought', [flashback], /written/, //lyrics//. Gluttony is the Sixth Deadly Sin and is defined as excess in eating or drinking. Ah, this would have been out a few days earlier but I've been working on a Weiß Kreuz site...now all I need is a host...
*~**~*
February 1, 201 AC
*~**~*
"This doesn't make any sense," Duo sighed, plopping down on his sofa, watching Heero go through the rooms and setup security cameras. "There were no direct threats to us, and if the killer ran into us before, he could have killed us then but didn't. There hasn't been anything out-of-the-ordinary around here." He paused to watch Heero for a moment. His friend was standing on a chair to rig a motion-sensitive camera up in a corner that had a full view of the door and both windows. So much as a moth beating its wings outside would trigger the camera; Une had ordered it when she heard the latest message. She wasn't taking any chances. "I could have done this myself, you know."
"You wouldn't have," the Japanese man replied, no uncertainty evident in his voice. "And then if something happened to you, Une would've had my ass."
The corners of Duo's mouth turned upwards into a smirk. "What an interesting mental image *that* is."
"Duo..."
"Yeah yeah, I know, shut up."
"Duo..."
"Hey! I'm being quiet, so stop talking to me!"
"...can you hand me the drill?"
"Oh." Duo pushed himself off the couch and handed Heero the drill. "What do you think he meant by 'enlightening' us?"
"More clues, possibly. A seriel killer wants to get caught eventually. It's almost been a month; maybe the killer is getting sick of playing games."
Duo saw something reflecting light out of the corner of his eye. It was too far away to tell exactly what it was. 'Probably a solar panel or something...a really small one...' "Neh, Heero? What do you think that is?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the light.
Heero turned around, squinting his eyes a little as if that would help. All of a sudden Duo heard a muffled boom, and the back of Duo's head was slammed into the hardwood floor as Heero tackled him to the ground. His head was swimming and he could have sworn he was seeing stars as he heard two more sounds - the breaking of glass and the smash of exploding plastic. A light woomph sound followed, and then everything went silent.
Duo had to fight the urge to pout when the warmth of Heero's body left his. 'Wait a second...where the heck did that thought come from?' Duo groaned outloud.
"Duo? Daijoubu desu ka? You're not hurt, are you?" The sudden concern from Heero touching, for the second time in a week.
"No, I'm fine, really. I just...thought something," he grinned weakly, hoping Heero wouldn't press the issue. "Now what the fuck was all of that?!"
"Gunshot; if you didn't point it out, I could have a hole in my head."
"Charming." He looked up at the camera that they had been previously installing. It was shot to pieces. "You think the bullet activated the motion sensor?" Duo asked dryly, but received no response. Heero was looking at something that was sticking out of his wall, approaching it as if it could be triggered to explode at any second. Duo jumped to his feet, immediately regretting the movement as his head started to spin again, and he had to steady himself for a moment. "It's an arrow."
"With a message," Heero stated, unwrapping a piece of notebook paper from the shaft. "You got mail."
Duo snatched the sheet. "You know, if you keep working on that sense of humor, you just might become human yet!" He unfurled the paper slowly, trying to disguise the light trembling in his hands.
/NUMbERS CAN bE SO iMPORtANt tO US All. thEY hElP US StAY ORGANiZEd, ANd thEY hAVE A REPRESENtAtiON OR AN ASSOCiAtiON. EVEN YOUR NAME hAS ONE - OR ShOUld i SAY - tWO? thE iMPliCAtiON Of A COUPlE iS NOt bYPASSiNG MY AttENtiON. ENOUGh AbOUt YOU, lEt'S tAlk AbOUt ME - i thiNk thAt iS MORE iMPORtANt tO YOU At thE MOMENt. i AM fUllY AWARE Of EVERY MOVE YOU MAkE. i AM fUllY AWARE Of EVERY MOVE YOUR fRiENdS MAkE. i kNOW AbOUt YOUR PASt; i AM iN YOUR PRESENt; i CAN CONtROl YOUR fUtURE. it'S thE SAME fOR thE OthER fOUR Of YOU, AS WEll. it'S AlMOSt fUNNY, thE tRAGEdY YOU bOYS ENGUlf YOURSElVES iN. i GUESS YOU AlWAYS WERE GlUttONS fOR PUNiShMENt.
thAt iS thE ONlY ClUE i AM AllOWiNG YOU UNtil thE dEEd iS dONE ON thE SEVENth. i'M SORRY thAt it'S SUCh A...lARGE AREA, bUt it REAllY iS thOSE PEOPlES' PROblEM, NOt MiNE./
Duo thrust the note into Heero's grasp. "You know...sometimes I really *hate* my job." He waited for the Prussian eyed Japanese man to finish reading. "Well?"
"We can get a handwriting analysis before trying to figure out what the killer's alluding to." Heero grabbed his coat off the back of a chair and put his shoes back on. "Although all it could be able to tell us is if we've seen similar notes or graffiti from him before."
Duo shrugged. "Whatever works." He looked over at the shattered camera littered on the hardwood floor with the pieces embedded in the wall. "And I hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to be staying with you for a little while."
*~**~*
February 2, 201 AC
*~**~*
Duo was on his sixth cup of coffee and was probably giving the poor forensics agent a heart attack. When the results came in, the braided American fell over backwards...literally.
"What do you mean nothing came up!?"
"There were no matches, Agent Maxwell, besides to the other messages we have received."
Duo slumped back to the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is there *anything* you can tell me?"
"Actually, yes...the paper is homemade from newspaper pulp, and the ink is most likely from a fountain pen because of the way it bled into the paper."
Duo looked crestfallen. "So the guy makes his own paper. How the hell is that supposed to help?"
The scientist shrugged. "It narrows things down a little."
"I really hate this. Can't you tell me something useful?"
"The paper has various yellow and red stains on it. I ran it through a chemical analysis and they're nothing more than mustard and ketchup. I'd check out Yankee Stadium next time you're in the area."
[Duo looked forward in time to see a man whose face was obstructed behind the bill of a Yankees cap right before plowing into the man.
Duo reflexively grabbed the man's shoulder to steady them. "Whoa, sorry. I completely spaced out for a second! Are you okay?"
The man smirked out from under his cap, but Duo still couldn't see any of his features. "It's perfectly all right. I'm fine, and I should have been paying better attention, so it's partially my fault. Now, if you'll excuse me, but I'm in a hurry." The man continued walking before Duo could say anything else. "And I'll see you soon, Agent Maxwell."]
'Maybe this guy isn't as smart as he thinks he is.'
*~**~*
Duo and Heero made their way to Heero's apartment in relative silence. It wasn't too far away from headquarters, and the night was warm for early February, so they had decided to walk - Duo allowing the cool air to organize his thoughts and anything he might have gathered at the past four crime scenes, prying for anything he might have picked up subconsciously but forgotten to pay any real attention to.
Heero noticed his friend's unusual silence and didn't say anything at first, but when they reached the elevator and he pushed the button for the eighth floor. "Still no new leads." It was a statement, not a question.
"The killer gets a ballpark frank with his morning paper..." Duo said absent-mindedly, his gaze fixed on the flashing numbers abover the door.
"Nani?"
"The paper that the message it was on...forensics said it was homemade and a chemical analysis revealed that the stains were ketchup and mustard. The guy that I walked into had a Yankees cap on and knew who I was..." the door opened on the fifth floor to let more people on. "The street vendors will still be out even though it isn't baseball season. Too bad. It would have been more fun if we got to go to a game." The same people that got on at the fifth floor got off at the seventh. "Ch'. Some people are just too lazy to take the stairs nowadays."
"There wasn't anything else?"
The door chimed and opened up, announcing their arrival on the eighth floor. They left the elevator car, walking down the hallway briefly before stopping in front of room 807. "The guy makes his own paper out of the New York Times and uses a fountain pen...and we know his eating habits, but that's all besides the supposed clue in the note he ever-so-kindly delivered to me the other day and the fact that we know somebody is going to die in five days."
Heero pulled out his key and unlocked the door, flipping on the lights as he took off his shoes. Duo had been there that morning to drop off his stuff, but didn't really look at the inside of Heero's apartment. Now that he had a good look, he was shocked. The flat was a spacious studio apartment, which Heero used to his advantage by adding rice-paper dividers that did a good job creating the illusion that there was more than one room besides the main room and the bathroom. The decor was obviously Japanese with muted tones and lighting that was bright enough to see clearly yet soft enough to be comfortable, even soothing.
"You look surprised," Heero remarked simply, pulling a disk out of his pocket and transferring the information he took from the case files to his own laptop.
"It just seems a little out-of-character. I mean, it's not bad, really nice and homey, actually, but I thought it would be a little more...Spartan."
The Japanese man just shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's the first place I can actually call home. Isn't it supposed to feel that way?"
"I guess so." 'Of course, isn't someplace you can call home supposed to be reflective of yourself? Why do I suddenly feel like I don't know Heero as well as I thought I did?' "You want to decorate my place?" Duo asked cheekily with a wink.
Heero didn't reply. He was too busy looking over a photograph of the note that had been shot into Duo's apartment the day before. "What do you think about the first sentence?"
[/NUMbERS CAN bE SO iMPORtANt tO US All. thEY hElP US StAY ORGANiZEd, ANd thEY hAVE A REPRESENtAtiON OR AN ASSOCiAtiON. EVEN YOUR NAME hAS ONE - OR ShOUld i SAY - tWO?/]
"I don't know. It could be part of the clue, but how I haven't quite figured out yet. I don't feel like going through each number to figure out what it's associated with or what it represents."
"Just start at the beginning. What's one represent?"
Duo grinned widely before he started to sing. "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever doooooo. Twooooo can be as bad as one; it's the loneliest number since the number o~one."
"Duo, this is serious."
"C'mon, Heero, you can't expect me to be serious on an empty stomach. Let's get a pizza or something and see if that helps. I think a Hawaiian sounds really good right now..."
"Iie. The worst thing you can do to a pizza is put pineapple on it."
"Okay, then how about...?"
*~**~*
February 7, 201 AC
*~**~*
A local news station got to the next killing before Preventers even got wind of it. Duo wasn't even going to try and guess how that worked, but all he could figure out was that they got tipped off somehow, and the reporter would have to be questioned later.
A sports bar across the street from Yankee Stadium exploded shortly after midnight. Duo was having a grand time cursing himself out for not checking out the area. He was supposed to go look around the ballpark - the paper had the clue right there - and he did, but he never thought to look across the street. It was cold and exhausting and nothing had been tipping him off.
'This is my fault. This is my fault. This is my fault,' repeated like a mantra in his head. 'I wasn't good enough, and now more people are dead.'
There had been 113 people in the bar, even though it had a 100 person maximum. Twelve of those who had been killed were employees whether it was the jazz band, the bartenders, or the waitresses. The other 101 people were simply patrons who picked the wrong place at the wrong night, and now all their parts were blown all over the area. Dental records wouldn't be able to help this time.
What hit even harder was the graffiti sprayed in red in the middle of the street in front of the bar that had exploded.
/ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER
ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER
ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER thAt YOU'll EVER dO/
*~**~*
End Part 6
Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily), roguegirl@att.net
Rating: R
Warnings: language, angst, death, blood, gruesome stuff, yaoi
Archive: Want it? Take it. Just give me credit, please.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. I just like to play with them and make them play with each other.
Comments: *Emphasis*, 'thought', [flashback], /written/, //lyrics//. Gluttony is the Sixth Deadly Sin and is defined as excess in eating or drinking. Ah, this would have been out a few days earlier but I've been working on a Weiß Kreuz site...now all I need is a host...
*~**~*
February 1, 201 AC
*~**~*
"This doesn't make any sense," Duo sighed, plopping down on his sofa, watching Heero go through the rooms and setup security cameras. "There were no direct threats to us, and if the killer ran into us before, he could have killed us then but didn't. There hasn't been anything out-of-the-ordinary around here." He paused to watch Heero for a moment. His friend was standing on a chair to rig a motion-sensitive camera up in a corner that had a full view of the door and both windows. So much as a moth beating its wings outside would trigger the camera; Une had ordered it when she heard the latest message. She wasn't taking any chances. "I could have done this myself, you know."
"You wouldn't have," the Japanese man replied, no uncertainty evident in his voice. "And then if something happened to you, Une would've had my ass."
The corners of Duo's mouth turned upwards into a smirk. "What an interesting mental image *that* is."
"Duo..."
"Yeah yeah, I know, shut up."
"Duo..."
"Hey! I'm being quiet, so stop talking to me!"
"...can you hand me the drill?"
"Oh." Duo pushed himself off the couch and handed Heero the drill. "What do you think he meant by 'enlightening' us?"
"More clues, possibly. A seriel killer wants to get caught eventually. It's almost been a month; maybe the killer is getting sick of playing games."
Duo saw something reflecting light out of the corner of his eye. It was too far away to tell exactly what it was. 'Probably a solar panel or something...a really small one...' "Neh, Heero? What do you think that is?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the light.
Heero turned around, squinting his eyes a little as if that would help. All of a sudden Duo heard a muffled boom, and the back of Duo's head was slammed into the hardwood floor as Heero tackled him to the ground. His head was swimming and he could have sworn he was seeing stars as he heard two more sounds - the breaking of glass and the smash of exploding plastic. A light woomph sound followed, and then everything went silent.
Duo had to fight the urge to pout when the warmth of Heero's body left his. 'Wait a second...where the heck did that thought come from?' Duo groaned outloud.
"Duo? Daijoubu desu ka? You're not hurt, are you?" The sudden concern from Heero touching, for the second time in a week.
"No, I'm fine, really. I just...thought something," he grinned weakly, hoping Heero wouldn't press the issue. "Now what the fuck was all of that?!"
"Gunshot; if you didn't point it out, I could have a hole in my head."
"Charming." He looked up at the camera that they had been previously installing. It was shot to pieces. "You think the bullet activated the motion sensor?" Duo asked dryly, but received no response. Heero was looking at something that was sticking out of his wall, approaching it as if it could be triggered to explode at any second. Duo jumped to his feet, immediately regretting the movement as his head started to spin again, and he had to steady himself for a moment. "It's an arrow."
"With a message," Heero stated, unwrapping a piece of notebook paper from the shaft. "You got mail."
Duo snatched the sheet. "You know, if you keep working on that sense of humor, you just might become human yet!" He unfurled the paper slowly, trying to disguise the light trembling in his hands.
/NUMbERS CAN bE SO iMPORtANt tO US All. thEY hElP US StAY ORGANiZEd, ANd thEY hAVE A REPRESENtAtiON OR AN ASSOCiAtiON. EVEN YOUR NAME hAS ONE - OR ShOUld i SAY - tWO? thE iMPliCAtiON Of A COUPlE iS NOt bYPASSiNG MY AttENtiON. ENOUGh AbOUt YOU, lEt'S tAlk AbOUt ME - i thiNk thAt iS MORE iMPORtANt tO YOU At thE MOMENt. i AM fUllY AWARE Of EVERY MOVE YOU MAkE. i AM fUllY AWARE Of EVERY MOVE YOUR fRiENdS MAkE. i kNOW AbOUt YOUR PASt; i AM iN YOUR PRESENt; i CAN CONtROl YOUR fUtURE. it'S thE SAME fOR thE OthER fOUR Of YOU, AS WEll. it'S AlMOSt fUNNY, thE tRAGEdY YOU bOYS ENGUlf YOURSElVES iN. i GUESS YOU AlWAYS WERE GlUttONS fOR PUNiShMENt.
thAt iS thE ONlY ClUE i AM AllOWiNG YOU UNtil thE dEEd iS dONE ON thE SEVENth. i'M SORRY thAt it'S SUCh A...lARGE AREA, bUt it REAllY iS thOSE PEOPlES' PROblEM, NOt MiNE./
Duo thrust the note into Heero's grasp. "You know...sometimes I really *hate* my job." He waited for the Prussian eyed Japanese man to finish reading. "Well?"
"We can get a handwriting analysis before trying to figure out what the killer's alluding to." Heero grabbed his coat off the back of a chair and put his shoes back on. "Although all it could be able to tell us is if we've seen similar notes or graffiti from him before."
Duo shrugged. "Whatever works." He looked over at the shattered camera littered on the hardwood floor with the pieces embedded in the wall. "And I hope you don't mind, but I think I'm going to be staying with you for a little while."
*~**~*
February 2, 201 AC
*~**~*
Duo was on his sixth cup of coffee and was probably giving the poor forensics agent a heart attack. When the results came in, the braided American fell over backwards...literally.
"What do you mean nothing came up!?"
"There were no matches, Agent Maxwell, besides to the other messages we have received."
Duo slumped back to the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is there *anything* you can tell me?"
"Actually, yes...the paper is homemade from newspaper pulp, and the ink is most likely from a fountain pen because of the way it bled into the paper."
Duo looked crestfallen. "So the guy makes his own paper. How the hell is that supposed to help?"
The scientist shrugged. "It narrows things down a little."
"I really hate this. Can't you tell me something useful?"
"The paper has various yellow and red stains on it. I ran it through a chemical analysis and they're nothing more than mustard and ketchup. I'd check out Yankee Stadium next time you're in the area."
[Duo looked forward in time to see a man whose face was obstructed behind the bill of a Yankees cap right before plowing into the man.
Duo reflexively grabbed the man's shoulder to steady them. "Whoa, sorry. I completely spaced out for a second! Are you okay?"
The man smirked out from under his cap, but Duo still couldn't see any of his features. "It's perfectly all right. I'm fine, and I should have been paying better attention, so it's partially my fault. Now, if you'll excuse me, but I'm in a hurry." The man continued walking before Duo could say anything else. "And I'll see you soon, Agent Maxwell."]
'Maybe this guy isn't as smart as he thinks he is.'
*~**~*
Duo and Heero made their way to Heero's apartment in relative silence. It wasn't too far away from headquarters, and the night was warm for early February, so they had decided to walk - Duo allowing the cool air to organize his thoughts and anything he might have gathered at the past four crime scenes, prying for anything he might have picked up subconsciously but forgotten to pay any real attention to.
Heero noticed his friend's unusual silence and didn't say anything at first, but when they reached the elevator and he pushed the button for the eighth floor. "Still no new leads." It was a statement, not a question.
"The killer gets a ballpark frank with his morning paper..." Duo said absent-mindedly, his gaze fixed on the flashing numbers abover the door.
"Nani?"
"The paper that the message it was on...forensics said it was homemade and a chemical analysis revealed that the stains were ketchup and mustard. The guy that I walked into had a Yankees cap on and knew who I was..." the door opened on the fifth floor to let more people on. "The street vendors will still be out even though it isn't baseball season. Too bad. It would have been more fun if we got to go to a game." The same people that got on at the fifth floor got off at the seventh. "Ch'. Some people are just too lazy to take the stairs nowadays."
"There wasn't anything else?"
The door chimed and opened up, announcing their arrival on the eighth floor. They left the elevator car, walking down the hallway briefly before stopping in front of room 807. "The guy makes his own paper out of the New York Times and uses a fountain pen...and we know his eating habits, but that's all besides the supposed clue in the note he ever-so-kindly delivered to me the other day and the fact that we know somebody is going to die in five days."
Heero pulled out his key and unlocked the door, flipping on the lights as he took off his shoes. Duo had been there that morning to drop off his stuff, but didn't really look at the inside of Heero's apartment. Now that he had a good look, he was shocked. The flat was a spacious studio apartment, which Heero used to his advantage by adding rice-paper dividers that did a good job creating the illusion that there was more than one room besides the main room and the bathroom. The decor was obviously Japanese with muted tones and lighting that was bright enough to see clearly yet soft enough to be comfortable, even soothing.
"You look surprised," Heero remarked simply, pulling a disk out of his pocket and transferring the information he took from the case files to his own laptop.
"It just seems a little out-of-character. I mean, it's not bad, really nice and homey, actually, but I thought it would be a little more...Spartan."
The Japanese man just shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's the first place I can actually call home. Isn't it supposed to feel that way?"
"I guess so." 'Of course, isn't someplace you can call home supposed to be reflective of yourself? Why do I suddenly feel like I don't know Heero as well as I thought I did?' "You want to decorate my place?" Duo asked cheekily with a wink.
Heero didn't reply. He was too busy looking over a photograph of the note that had been shot into Duo's apartment the day before. "What do you think about the first sentence?"
[/NUMbERS CAN bE SO iMPORtANt tO US All. thEY hElP US StAY ORGANiZEd, ANd thEY hAVE A REPRESENtAtiON OR AN ASSOCiAtiON. EVEN YOUR NAME hAS ONE - OR ShOUld i SAY - tWO?/]
"I don't know. It could be part of the clue, but how I haven't quite figured out yet. I don't feel like going through each number to figure out what it's associated with or what it represents."
"Just start at the beginning. What's one represent?"
Duo grinned widely before he started to sing. "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever doooooo. Twooooo can be as bad as one; it's the loneliest number since the number o~one."
"Duo, this is serious."
"C'mon, Heero, you can't expect me to be serious on an empty stomach. Let's get a pizza or something and see if that helps. I think a Hawaiian sounds really good right now..."
"Iie. The worst thing you can do to a pizza is put pineapple on it."
"Okay, then how about...?"
*~**~*
February 7, 201 AC
*~**~*
A local news station got to the next killing before Preventers even got wind of it. Duo wasn't even going to try and guess how that worked, but all he could figure out was that they got tipped off somehow, and the reporter would have to be questioned later.
A sports bar across the street from Yankee Stadium exploded shortly after midnight. Duo was having a grand time cursing himself out for not checking out the area. He was supposed to go look around the ballpark - the paper had the clue right there - and he did, but he never thought to look across the street. It was cold and exhausting and nothing had been tipping him off.
'This is my fault. This is my fault. This is my fault,' repeated like a mantra in his head. 'I wasn't good enough, and now more people are dead.'
There had been 113 people in the bar, even though it had a 100 person maximum. Twelve of those who had been killed were employees whether it was the jazz band, the bartenders, or the waitresses. The other 101 people were simply patrons who picked the wrong place at the wrong night, and now all their parts were blown all over the area. Dental records wouldn't be able to help this time.
What hit even harder was the graffiti sprayed in red in the middle of the street in front of the bar that had exploded.
/ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER
ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER
ONE iS thE lONEliESt NUMbER thAt YOU'll EVER dO/
*~**~*
End Part 6