Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Always There For You ❯ 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Always There For You Chapter 7:

Rain felt sick. Well that's an understatement; she felt nauseous. At the same time, Rain felt her blood rising in anger. She looked at Shelly with pure hatred burning behind her eyes. She could feel waves of anger surging through her already chemically imbalanced body as she tried to regain her composure. She realized that she had spoken out loud and that she'd moved which could very easily draw unwanted attention to Derek and herself. She glanced about to make sure no one had paid her any heed. She was relieved to see everyone watching Shelly with complete, undivided attention. Rain forced her emotions into check as she listened to Shelly talk.

"...now it is time to see who shall prove worthy of my organization. Those of you who are not worthy...well I wouldn't want to be you...After all, we can't risk anyone finding out about this organization before we are ready to attack. So those of you who do not pass the tests will not be able to get up and leave this building, actually you'll never be able to get up again..." Shelly paused and glanced about the crowd to see whom he'd shaken up with his little speech. Derek and Rain appeared unmoved by his words, but their minds were racing with determination. Shelly announced that the first part of the "testing" would begin over on the sparring mat.

All of the gym's occupants walked slowly over to the sparring mat and waited for further instruction. Shelly stepped into the center ring of the sparring mat and spoke again.

"The first part of the testing will be hand to hand combat. Whomever is the last one standing after three matches will advance to the next level of testing." Shelly said slowly. "Now who will be the first combatants?" Several people, who were daring enough to, stepped forward. Shelly selected two of them and stepped out of the ring. The two fighters faced each other on opposite sides of the sparring mat. Shelly walked over to Aldrico and stood beside him to watch the fight. Shelly spoke up.

"Oh yeah, and one other thing, anything goes... Now let the fight begin."

While everyone was caught up in watching the fight, Derek asked Rain why she'd reacted the way she had earlier.

"Rain why did you flip out when Shelly walked in?" Derek asked. Rain clenched her teeth.

"Derek do you remember how last year Jack and I quit swim team, but we never told you why?" Derek nodded.

"Yeah, you wouldn't tell me. All you said was that the coach was an asshole and I heard a while later that they fired 'em."

"Shelly is the ex-swim coach..." Rain said as she nodded towards Trey Shelly.

"What? No way!? When you talked about 'Coach Shelly' I always thought you were referring to the first name of a girl...and the replacement coach was in the yearbook...Hey wait a minute...something tells me that's not the whole story though...What happened that year?" Derek said with a pointed look at Rain. Rain sighed.

"You're right, there's a hell of a lot more to it." Rain took a breath before continuing. "I'll tell you what happened. I went to the swim coach's office to ask him about our next swim meet and he..." Derek's face took on a look of concern.

"What happened?"

"He shoved me on his desk and tried to rape me..." Derek looked shocked.

"Did he hurt you? Did he do anything to you?" Derek hissed. Rain shook her head slowly.

"No, Jack came in right as he was about to rip my bra off... my shirt and shorts were already torn off, and...Oh god, if Jack hadn't walked in when he did..."

"What happened after Jack walked in?"

"Well, he punched Shelly, got him off me, and he and I high tailed our asses out the door. We kept on running until we got to the Wales' house. I told the school principal the next day with Jack as my witness. Shelly was fired that day."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Derek asked. Rain sighed inaudibly.

"I don't know...I guess Jack and I just didn't want to think about it, or we didn't want you or the others to worry."

"Does you father know?"

"No. Nobody does. The school tried to keep it a secret. A lot of parents know what Shelly did, just not who he did it to."

Derek gently touched his hand to Rain's arm. "Oh Rain, I'm so sorry. First he did that shit, and now he's got your mother...shit. I'm sorry."

"Don't feel sorry for me. It's in the past, we need to concentrate on now." Rain's face was cold and stoic. Derek took his hand away from her arm and felt hurt. He didn't have to worry about keeping it from Rain because Shelly was speaking again.

Derek noticed for the first time that there were only a few people left who hadn't already fought. Shelly was now pointing at Rain and telling her it was her turn to fight. Rain walked to the sparring mat with out a word and took position. The guy she was fighting against grinned at her. She returned his look with a glare.

"Oooh. I get to fight a feisty one..." The guy said. Rain continued to glare.

"Yeah, too bad you won't live to brag about it."

The guy clenched his teeth and got into fighting stance.

"I wouldn't be too cocky if I was you, little girl." The guy said. Rain tensed.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life...never call me 'little girl'..." Rain said in a very quiet, yet strong voice.

"Fighters begin!"

*****

Rain came at her opponent in a double front handspring. When she was standing normally again, she jumped up and kicked with her right foot. Rain kicked her opponent squarely in the temple. The guy had been about to intercept Rain when she'd hit him. His body went limp and he fell face first onto the mat as he lost consciousness. Rain stood up straight and got ready for her next match. She had already beaten two opponents and now had only one match left before she could advance to the next level of testing.

Rain wiped her forehead with the back of her right hand. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to slow her heavy breathing. The first guy she'd fought against was easy to beat. The second guy, the one she'd just defeated had been tough. Rain was glad she'd finally knocked the guy out because she'd been getting very tired. Rain hoped her next opponent wouldn't be as difficult to defeat. Two guys came and dragged her last opponent off the sparring mat. Rain took her place outside the ring on the mat, and waited for her next opponent.

A woman about Rain's height stepped into place across the ring from Rain. The woman gave Rain the creeps. She looked very agile and very strong. The woman had long blonde hair with an odd almost green tint to it. The woman's hair was pulled up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her way. Rain figured by the girl's dark complexion and by the odd greenish glow of her hair, that her hair was obviously dyed that color. The woman had a very disturbing smile. She reminded Rain of a girl at her school named Bridget Pearson.

Bridget was a very snobbish, airheaded valley girl whom Rain had never liked. Bridget had always acted like a total bitch to Rain when Rain had nothing to deserve such treatment. The woman in front of Rain could have been a mirror of Bridget, had Bridget been ten years older. Rain shrugged these thoughts off and sized the woman up, despite how creepy she was. She could tell that the woman was doing the same, which made Rain feel even more uneasy.

"Fighters begin." Shelly said. Rain and the woman stepped into the ring. The woman immediately struck a blow at Rain's head with her fist. Rain dodged easily and swung her own fist in return. The woman blocked Rain easily. The two continued to trade weak blows like this for some time. Neither Rain, nor her opponent were really using any effort, they were both simply looking for weaknesses.

Rain's opponent crouched down and tried to sweep Rain's legs out from under her. Rain jumped over her and the woman jumped up and spun around, preparing to kick Rain in the face. Rain did a backward handspring and kicked the woman in the face halfway through her handspring. Rain noticed then, that the woman wasn't as good at blocking kicks as she was at blocking punches. Rain immediately stopped with the horseplay and started using this newly found weakness to her advantage. Rain assaulted the woman with a series of roundhouses.

The woman, realizing that Rain was going all out now, attempted with all of her effort to block Rain's kicks. The woman managed to block almost every one of Rain's kicks. Rain managed to throw off her opponent's balance slightly with one kick that had hit the woman in the chest. The woman recovered quickly, and punched Rain in the jaw. Rain was pissed. The woman hadn't managed to hit Rain with all the force she'd intended, but that was the worst hit Rain had taken all night. Rain raised her left arm like she was going to do a knife chop, and jumped up and scissor kicked the woman instead. The woman had been caught off guard, and Rain successfully kicked the woman's face.

Rain's opponent fell over backwards and hit the mat with a thump. Rain stared down at the now unconscious woman. Rain had kicked with so much force, that she'd broken her opponent's nose. Rain's opponent's face and chest were covered in blood. Rain looked away and looked at Shelly.

Shelly was speaking quietly to Aldrico. He stopped talking when he noticed Rain was now looking at him.

Shelly had been watching Rain's every movement since she'd first stepped onto the sparring mat. Rain was relieved that Shelly still hadn't recognized her. He smiled with a mix of praise and perverted admiration. Rain felt disgusted. That was the same smile Shelly used to give her back when he was still the swim coach. It was not until her near-rape experience that Rain realized that look he gave her wasn't just because she was a good swimmer. She wanted so much to go bash Shelly's face in until he would never be able to smile again. Shelly walked over to Rain and raised her arm in the air.

"Winner." Shelly said as he continued to smile at Rain. Rain remembered her mission and how she had to stay in Shelly's best interests. She forced an almost seductive smile in return. Shelly let go of Rain's hand and they both lowered their arms to their sides. Shelly turned and walked back over to Aldrico without saying anything to Rain. Rain stepped off of the sparring mat. She brushed past Derek who was walking onto the mat. She glanced up at him momentarily.

"Good luck." Rain whispered when she brushed by. Derek gave a half nod in return. Rain turned around to watch Derek's fight. Rain glanced to her left and watched as her last opponent was being carried out the door. She continued watching until the door swung shut. Rain looked away with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

'By my winning, I've just ordered the death sentence for my opponents...' Rain thought. She looked down at the ground with a faraway look. Rain took a deep breath and pushed away her thoughts. She looked back up at the sparring mat and watched as Derek started his first match.

*****

Derek ran forward and jumped up, delivering one final kick to his opponent's face. Derek's opponent's eyes rolled back into her head. She fell backwards and hit the sparring mat with a thump. Derek stayed in fighting position, just in case the woman wasn't unconscious. The woman didn't rise from the floor so Derek relaxed his tense muscles and turned to Shelly. Shelly nodded at him and walked onto the sparring mat.

"Winner." Shelly said as he raised Derek's arm. Shelly lowered Derek's arm and began giving instructions for the next level of testing. There were only six people advancing to the next level. They were the only people left out of the forty who had shown up to try out. Shelly motioned for Rain and the other three people to join him and Derek on the sparring mat. Rain walked onto the sparring mat and stood next to Derek.

The other four people, two guys and two girls, soon joined them on the mat as well. Rain studied the other people. Two of them in particular caught her eye. They looked very familiar for some reason. Rain brushed aside these thoughts and focused her attention on what Shelly was saying.

"-Battle eachother in mobile suit simulators. The results from the computers will determine who will go on to the final level of testing. Any questions?" Shelly asked, looking around at the group that encircled him. No one said anything.

"Good. Now follow me." Shelly said as he walked towards the double doors leading out of the gym. Rain, Derek and the other four people followed close behind. Aldrico followed the group as they walked out the door.

Shelly led the group down the long hallway, passing through many corridors. They finally stopped when Shelly paused in front of a door marked "MS VR Room". Shelly opened the door and led the way inside. Rain looked around with growing interest. The room had several booths with VR Helmets and seats that could rotate in every direction imaginable. Aldrico walked to a metal cabinet and unlocked it. He opened the door and riffled through a row of flightsuits hanging on the rack. He read the different tags and selected seven different ones. Aldrico pulled the flight suits off the hangers and closed and locked the cabinet. He handed the various flight suits to Derek, Rain, and the other four.

Rain looked at the tag in her flight suit seeing that it said the size and had an "F" for female. She was surprised that Aldrico had correctly estimated her clothing size. Rain looked up at Shelly to see what his instructions were.

"The flight suits have VR simulator chips inserted throughout them. They, along with the VR helmets, will give you the feeling of being in an actual mobile suit battle. So hurry up and put them on so that we can begin." Shelly said.

Derek and Rain watched as the other four began slipping off their shoes. Rain and Derek did the same. As the other four began removing pants and shirts, they turned their backs. Rain turned her back to Shelly as she removed the rest of her outer clothing. She quickly pulled on the formfitting flight suit and turned back around to look at Shelly. The others were all clad in the flight suits as well.

Shelly stared at the three girls of the group, taking obvious interest in the tight bust area of the flightsuits. Derek followed Shelly's gaze to Rain and felt his stomach twist with repulsion. He wanted very badly to beat the shit out of Shelly at that moment.

Shelly pried his gaze off the girls' chests and motioned for the group to follow him. Each of the six were put into individual VR booths. Each sat in one of the rotating chairs and were strapped in. Aldrico came around to each of the booths and plugged various wires into the flight suits. He also put placed all of the helmets on and plugged them in as well.

Derek blinked as the screen in his helmet came on. He turned his head back and forth as though looking around inside the cockpit of a mobile suit. He reached forward and punched in the start up sequence on the keypad in front of himself as Shelly instructed. He felt a vibration as the engine of the mobile suit came to life.

In reality, Derek was still just sitting in a seat in the VR booth, tapping at the key pad in front of him. To Aldrico, it looked like Derek was typing on the key pad in front of himself and nothing was happening. Each VR both had a keypad, for that was the only thing they couldn't really simulate. They could simulate the keypad making things work or making sounds, but they couldn't simulate the feeling of actually pressing the keys.

Aldrico noticed that the other five were doing the same. He walked over to a glass door and opened it. He stepped inside a small room with many computer monitors. The monitors showed heart and breathing rates, brainwave patterns, as well as what each individual person was seeing with the VR gear. Aldrico glanced to his left at Shelly who was looking over the monitors and out of the glass panel, into the VR room. Aldrico noticed he was staring at one person in particular. Rain.

You seem to have a particular interest for that Carson girl." Aldrico said as he followed Shelly's gaze. Shelly didn't look away from Rain.

"Simply delicious isn't she? She reminds me of someone...I'm just not sure who at the moment, but it will come to me." Shelly said. Aldrico didn't answer. Even though Aldrico was a cold-hearted asshole, he found Shelly's whole perverted cradle robbing fetish absolutely disgusting. Aldrico looked away from Rain and looked down at the monitors to wait for the MS battle to start. Shelly reached for a microphone that was linked to all of the VR helmets.

"Begin the fighting...now!" Shelly said and switched off the microphone. He took his eyes away from Rain and looked down at the monitors to watch the simulated fight.

*****

Derek heard a beeping sound and hit a button to fire his beam riffle. He watched his center screen as the beam of light raced towards the black Serpent in front of him. Derek flared the thrusters of his own Serpent in order to dodge the beam that had just been fired at him from the left. He cursed under his breath as the Serpent that had been in front of him dodged his shot.

Derek noticed that the Serpent that had fired from the left was now preoccupied with the Serpent that had been in front of him. He took that opportunity to fire point-blank-range at the Serpent that had been on his left. Derek grinned wolfishly as the Mobile Suit exploded in a giant burst of flames and sparks. His grin mirrored the grin his father sometimes got when a battle seemed to be going his way. Derek had only paused for a split-second before he flared his thrusters and charged at a Serpent that had fired from above him. He'd dodged easily and was now set on taking out that Serpent as well.

Rain dodged a shot fired from the beam riffle of the Serpent in front of her. Another Serpent quickly came at her from the right and fired its beam riffle at her. She dodged again and prepared to fire her own beam riffle at it. She was surprised when the Serpent suddenly exploded before her. She caught sight of another Serpent. It had been behind the Serpent she'd just watched explode in a ball of flames. Rain figured that Serpent had destroyed the one that had been in front of her. She watched the Serpent zoom upwards towards a mobile suit that had fired from above. She took aim while the Serpent was distracted. Just as she was about to fire, Rain heard a beep and noticed a beam riffle had locked onto her from behind. She flared her thrusters and zoomed downward to dodge the beam. Rain spun her mobile suit around with lightning fast precision and fired at the Serpent that had been behind her. She smirked the slightest bit as the mobile suit exploded.

The half amused smirk she'd held for that split second matched the smirk her father had when he found something battle associated amusing. It was the smirk that was almost prideful. Rain took note that there were only three more Serpents left out of the original five she'd counted at the beginning of the battle simulation. She zoomed off towards the nearest Serpent with out another thought.

Aldrico turned away from the monitors showing the simulated battle and glanced at a clock. The last four combatants of the simulated MS battle had been fighting for the past twenty minutes. Two had already lost the simulated battle. Their Mobile suits had been destroyed so their VR simulators had automatically turned off after they'd been "killed". The boy and girl had already been unhooked from the VR equipment and had been taken outside of the RV room. Aldrico glanced out the viewing panel at the remaining four combatants who were still in their VR booths. All of them had sweat dripping down their fronts, from beneath their VR helmets. They appeared to be breathing hard from the strain of the simulated battle.

Looking down at a monitor showing heart rates and breathing rates, Aldrico titled his head the slightest bit. A look of awe worked its way onto his face. He couldn't believe they were still conscious. With their heart rates as high as they were, Aldrico was surprised they hadn't all gone into cardiac arrest. Along with the extremely high heart and breathing rates they had, the four combatants looked exhausted. Aldrico couldn't believe they hadn't passed out already.

Aldrico looked again at the clock and shook his head wistfully. The simulated battle was still raging and the last for combatants had been hard into battle for well over thirty minutes. He glanced at Shelly who was carefully watching the simulated battle.

"Do you think I should shut off the system now? They all look like they're about to pass out." Aldrico said. Shelly shook his head.

"No, wait just a few more minutes. I wouldn't want to stop the battle without finding out who the victor was." Shelly said, not taking his eyes off the screen showing the battle. "Besides, I have a feeling that the battle won't be much longer."

"Yes sir." Aldrico replied.

Aldrico secretly disapproved with letting the battle run on. He knew that the four fighters couldn't hold out much longer. Aldrico turned his gaze back to the simulated battle. He noticed that all of the four Serpents were in face-offs. He watched curiously as the four Mobile Suits fired simultaneously. The four Serpents all exploded at the same time. The simulated battle had finally ended. It had resulted in a four way tie.

Aldrico opened the door of the viewing room and walked into the VR room. He walked to each booth and unhooked the combatants from the systems. Shelly followed Aldrico, helping to unhook the systems as well.

Rain pulled off her helmet and wiped her damp forehead on the sleeve of her VR flight suit. She held her helmet under her arm and walked over to Shelly along with the other three combatants. She took note of who she'd been fighting in the end. She glanced around at the three others. They all seemed as exhausted as she felt. Rain noticed how, similar to herself, they all seemed to be hiding just how tired they really were. Rain glanced briefly at Derek. Rain had figured Derek would have lasted until the final battle so she wasn't surprised to find him still there. Rain and Derek shared a brief look, saying 'good job' to eachother with their eyes.

Rain looked away from Derek and studied the other two people there. It was a male and a female. They both looked to be about the same age as Rain. The boy had messy medium brown hair and green eyes that were partially covered by the shadow of his long bangs. He seemed slightly tall for his age, but looked like he could be a gymnast. The girl had raven colored hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail and intense blue-green eyes. She was about Rain's height and seemed just as agile. Rain was surprised to see it was the same two people she'd slightly recognized earlier. She still couldn't figure out why they looked so familiar, but she didn't let it bother her. She decided instead to reflect on the simulated battle she'd just been in.

Rain had been somewhat surprised by the outcome of the simulated battle. The four remaining combatants had all fired their beam riffles at the same time and had all "killed' eachother. Rain didn't take too much time to think about the battle. She had been trained in simulated MS battles by her father since she was little. She figured the others must have been trained in real or simulated battles for along time as well. Rain looked over at Shelly, waiting for him to speak.

"Congratulations. You four are all going on to the final test. However, you all seem exhausted. Therefore, the final test will commence tomorrow after you have all rested. I will explain the final test to you then" Shelly said as he glanced at them all. He glanced at Aldrico before he spoke again.

"Now if you will follow me, I will show you where you will be staying for the night." Shelly said as he started out the door. Rain, Derek, and the two others followed Shelly while Aldrico brought up the rear.

Shelly led the group down a series of beautifully decorated hallways within the mansion. He stopped in front of a door and unlocked it. He also unlocked the door to the room next door. He pointed to Rain and the other girl.

"You two girls will be staying in this room." Shelly gestured to the first room. He then pointed to Derek and the other guy.

"And you two will stay in that room." Shelly said as he gestured to the second room. "Both rooms have their own bathrooms. In the bathrooms you will find towels, bathrobes, and toiletries. Aldrico will stop by shortly with some outfits for you to sleep in as well as clothing for the final test. I will be back in eight hours to take you to your final test. Are there any questions?" Shelly asked, eying the group. No one spoke. Shelly nodded like he figured there wouldn't be any questions.

"Get plenty of rest before then." With that said, Shelly disappeared down the hallway.

Rain had noticed earlier that Aldrico had disappeared some time before they'd reached their rooms. She figured that he must have gone to go get their clothing like Shelly had said. Rain also noticed then that she and the others were still wearing the flight suits they'd worn for the VR battle. She was glad that Aldrico would be bringing other clothes. Her flightsuit was soaked with sweat so a change of clothes sounded great to her. Rain glanced briefly at Derek. They wordlessly wished eachother 'goodnight'. Rain noticed that the two people she didn't know had also shared a look. They both gave one quick nod, then turned to Rain and Derek. The boy opened the door to his and Derek's room. He and the other girl both went in. The boy and girl looked out from the 'boys' room and motioned for Derek and Rain to follow.

Derek looked at Rain to see what she thought. She shrugged and walked in after them. Derek followed. The boy Rain and Derek didn't know glanced out the door, then quickly shut it behind them.

To be continued...

-End of Chapter 7-

A/N: Incase anyone is wondering about my sanity as far as how freaky Shelly is... umm, well, there's reasons why I'm making him so twisted, but I can't tell you yet. You'll find out in later chapters. And NO, he is not going to rape anyone. So don't worry about that. Ok, well gotta go. Ja ne! Don't forget to review!
-Aly Rain