A.C. 192

[A craft drifts through space]

Duo: Let go! Let me go!! [in the clutches of two men] I'm warning you, let go of me!!

Man: You've got a lot of courage kid, stowing away on our Sweepers Ship!

Professor G.: [enters the scene] What is going on?

Man: A stowaway! And he's been stealing the food supplies!

Duo: Hey! Even I wanna eat some decent food once in a while! Let go!

Professor G.: ...Let him go.

Man: But...

Professor G.: It's alright. Let him go.

GW Episode Zero
A.C. 187: Duo Maxwell
~Duo's history, age 7~

[A few children steal food from a stall]
Man: Hey! You kids!!
Duo: [his arms are laden with the stolen food] Ha ha! Go charge it on the Federation Army!
Man: What're you talking about?!
Duo: [he runs into someone] Ouch!! [drops the food and he's on the ground, holding his head while the priest looks on in concern] Ouch…..
Priest: I'm sorry.
Man: [from behind Duo]You!! Come back here!
Duo: Oops! Sorry, man! [hops over the priest's head and escapes]
Man: Argh! They got me again! I do pity those war orphans, but they steal stuff from me all the time...
[Inside a broken-down desolate house, the three children sit on what could be the living area, eating the food they stole]
Kid#1: We pulled it off again, huh, Duo?
Duo: Yup. Tomorrow we're gonna sneak into the army warehouse.
Kid#1: What?! Won't that be a bad idea?
Kid#2: If they catch us, we're dead!
Duo: [Continues to eat] We're lucky we're still alive, anyway. Why not do what we can!
[The kids are running in the warehouse; machine guns are firing]
Kid#1: Aaaaaah! Run! Run!!
Duo: Why'd they have to start shooting right away? Are they serious?!
Kid#1: The army doesn't care even if they shoot women and kids.
Duo: Damn!
[Back at the broken-down house, older men surround Duo and the kids]
Duo: Go away! We didn't do anything. What've we done anyway?!
Man: Don't say you haven't done anything! You just stole from the army, you fools!
Duo: Well, we live here! After they destroyed it, what do you expect us to do?
Man: The Maxwell Church just agreed to take you all in. Be thankful!!
Duo: Church?
[At Maxwell's Church]
Duo: Quit it! I'm telling you, stop!
Priest: What's wrong?
[Duo, dressed on a preist's outfit, struggles in his seat while a nun (Sister Helen) holds him down with one hand, while the other's holding a pair of scissors]
Sister Helen: This child doesn't want to have his hair cut!
Duo: You got that right!! I can't stand to wear these weird clothes, I'm sure as heck not gonna put up with having my hair cut!
Sister Helen: But it's all mussed up and dirty...
Duo: It's fine!
Priest: Sister Helen, do as Duo says.
Sister Helen: But...
Priest: [He smiles and gives a nod]
[Sister Helen braids Duo's hair, instead]
Sister Helen: Alright, I'm finished.
Sister Helen: You don't have a problem with that, do you?
Duo: This is awesome! I can steal anything without it getting in my way.
Sister Helen: Are you still carrying on like that?
Priest: As long as you stay with us, you do not have to steal, Duo.
Duo: Oh, right. Not a thief no more, instead I'm a beggar.
Priest: A beggar?
Duo: The Church gets money from the people's donations, right?
Sister Helen: This kid...
Priest: I suppose that's right.
Duo: Yup! Don't pretend!!
[Sister Helen and the priest smile each other]
[Several kids are walking, greeting each other on their way to school. They gaze behind them, staring at an uncomfortable-looking Duo]
Sister Helen: Is he going to be alright?
Priest: With the proper education he could receive, he can be the best priest this world has ever seen.
Sister Helen: But, Duo? All the other kids were adopted by families, yet they keep on sending Duo back to us.
Priest: He was like me when I was younger...
[At Maxwell Church]
Sister Helen: Wait! Duo!
Sister Helen: You did it again, didn't you?
Duo: It was their fault!! [He struggles against Sister Helen's hold]
Sister Helen: Duo, you put those children in the hospital. How come you say that they were the ones who did wrong?
Duo: [He looks guilty] ... Yeah, but...
Sister Helen: [She's thinks,] Duo... [She says out loud,] What did they say to you?
Duo: [He's slightly blushing] They said I smelled dirty.
Sister Helen: [Reaches out and hugs him]
Duo: What... [He blushes a little more]
Sister Helen: You don't smell dirty, at all.
Duo: Really?
Sister Helen: Really. So the next time they say things, just ignore them.
Duo: [He's smiling] ...Okay.
Nun: You say there's no God?
Duo: Yeah. If there's really a God, He should stop the war.
Duo: [He's sitting on the priest's lap] If the war didn't exist, there wouldn't have been orphans like me.
Priest: Duo... God doesn't start wars, but people do. People have to end what they start.
Duo: Hmm.... So it doesn't matter if there is a God or not, huh?
Sister Helen: That's not true!
Duo: I think the only God in this world is Shinigami (the god of death).
Sister Helen: Duo, ...You don't believe in God, but you believe in Shinigami?
Duo: [With enthusiasm,] Yeah! Because I've never seen a miracle, but I've seen lots and lots of dead people!
Sister Helen: [She looks at Duo with a strange expression on her face]
Priest: A ha ha, it's hard to argue with you.
Sister Helen: You're quite an interesting child.
Narration: Since Duo came to live in Maxwell Church, the building was always full of laughter. But...
Narration: One day, the laughter stopped.
[Scenes of gunfire, mobile suits, violence, death, and destruction]
The year was A.C. 188
Man#1: [He's injured] Uhh...
Man#2:[Supporting the injured man] Hang in there!
Duo: [He watches the injured people being taken to Maxwell church]
Sister Helen: [Takes care of the injured while Duo watches on]
Leader: We have destroy the Federation's G2 Point Base! It's the only thing left for us to do!
Followers: Yes, sir!
Duo: [He's thinking,] It's going to start all over again? We've all been happily living here, until now...
Leader: All we need is one Mobile Suit! If we could get just one, our freedom is assured!
Priest: Isn't it enough?
Leader: What?!
Priest: I believe Heero Yuy said it before: 'We colonists did not come into space to fight. Whatever happens, we should not fight.'
Leader: You! Try saying that again!
Priest: And I shall say it as often as possible. We mustn't fight.
Man: You...!
Man: [He hits the priest with his rifle] Shut up!
Duo: Bastard!
Sister Helen: [Moves to stand in front of the fallen priest] Please stop! Don't do any more!
Woman: [Slaps Sister Helen] Shut up. All of us have to be united! Why do you have to preach peace and stir up confusion at a time like this?!
Follower: They might be Federation spies...
Follower#2: It's possible, isn't it?
Sister Helen: N-no...!
Follower: Shall I make them confess?
Duo: Wait!!
Duo: One Mobile Suit is good enough, right?
Leader: What?
Duo: I'll steal one for you! In exchange for that, you guys are out of here, right? This is a place for peace.
Leader: Kids' nonsense...
Duo: I run, and I hide, but I never lie, like you guys do!
Leader: What?!
Sister Helen: Duo! Stop!
Duo: I'll get a Mobile Suit and bring it here for you!
Sister Helen: DUO!
[Runs out the church door and along some rubble]
Duo: [thinking,] Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! [He says out loud,] Why!? Just a little while ago, everyone hated war! Why does it have to start again? [He leaps over a wall and continues to run]
Soldier: Intruder!
Duo: [Thinking,] Sure, I hate the Federation Army! But... But...
Soldier: Stop! Stop or we'll shoot!
Duo: If they want war so much, why don't the people who enjoy it fight each other and leave us alone?!
Duo: [Keeps on running, bullets hailing all around him]
Soldier: S-stop! He's just a kid!
Soldier#2: Doesn't matter! We're to kill all the colonists!
Duo: [Thinks,] All you do is make orphans like me...!
[He arrives in a garage where the Mobile Suits are hidden in trucks]
Duo: That's it!
Soldier: Huh?!
Duo: [Leaps in the truck]
Soldier: Hey! Who the hell are you?
Duo: [He zooms past the confused soldier]
Soldier: Don't let him get away! Shoot! Shoot!!
Duo: [Drives the truck containing the mobile suit] It's just by chance that I'm still alive. I might as well be the one to do the dirty jobs...
Duo: [He stands among the ruin that used to be Maxwell's church] It can't...be...
Sister Helen: Du...Duo...
Sister Helen: [She's lying among the rubble with blood trailing from her mouth]
I'm so glad... You're alright, aren't you?
Duo: Sister!
Sister Helen: Don't worry us like that. The Father was thinking of you until his very last moment...
Duo: I-I'll call a doctor right away!
Sister Helen: The Federation Army has come. We can't... leave here...
Duo: Is- is it my fault? Because I stole a Mobile Suit from the Federation?!
Sister Helen: The Father was... a wonderful example... He preached peace to... everyone... till the end...
Duo: What do you mean, wonderful?! He was just stupid, wasn't he?! What did he accomplish by getting himself killed?
Sister Helen: Duo... [She reaches up and touches Duo's cheek with her hand] May God... bless you and... keep... you... [Her hand drops away]
Duo: [He stares with wide blank eyes, tears trickling down his cheeks] UWAAAAA!!! [His head is thrown back, his body silhouetted among the church ruins]
The death toll was 245 people. The rebellion of the colony was put down by the Federation and OZ Special Forces. The event became known as the "Maxwell Church Tragedy."
[Duo, wearing a black cap, sits on the floor of a prison cell]
Guard: Hey, did you know, he's a survivor from Maxwell Church.
Guard#2: Really? He must have made some deal with Shinigami, hm?
A.C. 192. The moon's north pole
[A spacecraft is on the lunar surface]
Man#1: [Wearing a spacesuit and is staring at a large block in the shape of a pyramid] With this spaceship, we could have left the solar system...
Man#2: [Also wearing a spacesuit] However, right now, it will not do us any good. All we can do is leave it here until the day comes when we can use it.
Man#1, now revealed to be Professor G. : What are you going to do now?
Man#2: Go back to earth. I want to go to the seaside and feel the waves...
Professor G.: Hn. Just what I'd expect from you...
Man#2: Take care.
Professor G.: Yeah...
[The spaceship, now flying through space]
Duo: Let go! Let me go!
Professor G.: Let go of him.
Voice: But...
Professor G.: It's alright, let him go.
Professor G.: Kid... I can't believe you snuck into this ship. I thought my security system was flawless. How did you do it?
Duo: That's a professional secret. But, so your pride isn't hurt too badly, I'll admit I had a rough time getting in.
Professor G.: Interesting brat.
Duo: I'm not a brat. My name is Duo. I run, and I hide, but I never lie--Duo Maxwell!
Professor G.: Maxwell...? Ha ha... Maxwell's little demon, hm?
Duo: Not a demon.
Duo: I'm Shinigami...!