Episode zero: Duo Maxwell A.C. 192
(A spaceship flies through space)
Duo: Leggo! Lemme go!!
Duo: (Being held by two men in a room full of crates) Isaid, lemme go!
Man 1: You've got a lot of nerve sneaking aboard a Sweepers ship, you little punk!
Professor G.: What's going on?
Man 2: A stowaway! He was raiding the food stores!
Duo: Hmph, even I want to eat some real food now and then! Leggo!
Professor G.: ...Let him go.
Man 1: But...
Professor G.: ust let him go.
~A.C. 187~
(Some little kids make off with food from a market stall)
Man: Hey! Damned brats!
Duo: (carrying lots of food) heh heh, you can send the bill to the alliance!
Man: The hell with you!
Duo: (running into someone) Ow!
Duo: (On the ground, his loot scattered around. A priest looks at him in concern) Owww...
Priest: Oh, I'm sorry.
Man: Hold it!
Duo: Uh oh! Sorry! (Leapfrogs over the priest's head and runs off)
Man: (standing infront of the priest and some other guys) Oh brother, they did it again! I dofeel sorry for these war orphans, but they're always doing this...
(The children are sitting around eating apples in a broken down old house)
Kid 1: That went well, huh, Duo?
Duo: Yeah. And tomorrow we're gonna sneak into the military warehouse.
Kid 1: What?! Isn't that kinda.....
Kid 2: If they catch us, we're toast!
Duo: *Munching an apple.* Hmph! It's just a fluke that we've lasted this long anyway. We might aswell go all the way!
(In a warehouse. Sound of machine gun fire. Kids running)
Kid 1: Aaa!
Kid 2: Run, run!
Duo: Firing without warning, are those guys nuts?!
Kid 1: Soldiers dont care about women and kids.
Duo: Dammit! (Back at the ruined house where the kids live. Grown-ups surround them)
Duo: Stop it! What'd we ever do to you?!
Man: Don't give me that crap! I can't believe you idiots actually went after the alliances food stores!
Duo: But .... But this is our home! If you bust it up, .... where are we supposed to go?!
Man: The Maxwell Church has offered to take you in. Be grateful!!
Duo: A Church?
(In the church)
Duo: Don't! I said quit it!
Priest: (enters the room) What's going on?
(Duo is dressed in a long priest outfit and squirming on a chair while a nun holds him down, with a scissors in her hand. and a distressed expression)
Nun: This boy .......... He wont let me cut his hair.
Duo: Well duh!
Duo: It's bad enough i gotta wear these weird clothes, I can't let you cut my hair aswell!
Nun: But it's all scraggly and tangled. It's unhygienic.
Duo: I like it like this!
Priest: Sister Helen, let Duo have his way.
Nun: But...
Priest: (Smiles and nods)
(Nun braids Duo's hair)
Nun: So..... there you go.
Nun: No complaints, right?
Duo: Heh heh, Yeah! Makes it easier to move around. It wont get in my way when i steal stuff.
Nun: Are you still talking like that?
Priest: Ha ha. Duo. There's no need for you to steal as long as you're here.
Duo: Oh, that's right! I'm supposed to be begging now, not stealing.
Priest: Begging?
Duo: Isn't that how it works? I mean, a church is kept up by the towns-people's donations.
Nun: Oh my, for a child....!
Priest: You're right, it's just how you say.
Duo: Yeah! So dont get all high and mighty!
(Nun and priest smile at each other, thinking he's cute)
(School kids in uniforms are saying hello to each other. Duo doesn't look pleased, in his black outfit, as he carries his school books. The kids fall silent and stare at him)
Nun: Will the boy really be alright?
Priest: Why, certainly ........ with a little education Duo could turn out to be the finest priest in the whole earth sphere.
Nun: Duo?? But all the other kids got placed in foster homes .... he's the only one who keeps getting sent back.
Priest: It's true .... Duo is just like i was at his age.
Nun: Duo, wait!
Nun: Oh Duo, you did it again!
Duo: I-It was their fault .... Theirs!
(Struggling to escape from her)
Nun: How can you say that, when it was you that sent those other kids to the hospital?
Duo: (with a guilty expression) Yeah ..... But .....
Nun: (with a kind expression) Duo ...... what did they say to you?
Duo: They said .... they said I smelled like a sewer.
Nun: (hugs him)
Duo: Huh? (Blushing)
Nun: See, you're not smelly at all.
Duo: R-really?
Nun: Really. So no matter what people say, you just ignore them.
Duo: *Smiling.* ...Okay.
Nun: You say there's no God?
Duo: Yeah. If there really was a God, then wouldn't he make it so there weren't any more wars?
Duo: (Sitting on the priest's lap) And if there were no wars, there wouldn't be any war orphans like me.
Priest: Duo... wars aren't started by God ...... But by people. What people begin .... people must end for themselves.
Duo: Hmm.... So it doesn't matter if God exists or not?
Nun: Th-that's not so!
Duo: Then the only god in the world is the god of death.
Nun: Duo... You don't believe in God, but you believe in the god of death?
Duo: (Cheerfully) Yeah! I've never seen any miracles, but I've seen lots of dead people!
Nun: (Sweat drop) Dear me, it's hard to argue with you.
Priest: You say the strangest things.
After Duo's arrival, there was always laughter at Maxwell Church.
However ....One day ...... The smiles dissapeared from everyone's faces.
(A scene of people shooting guns at large mobile suits and the scene which follows shows masses of dead bodies)
Injured Man: Unh ......
Companion: (helping him up) Hang on!
Duo: (Watching the injured people being cared for in the church)
Leader: No matter what ....... we've got to capture the base at point G2! That's the only option we have left!
Followers: Yes, sir!
Duo: (Thinking) It's starting all over again We were all living happily until just yesterday.
Leader: Just one Mobile Suit! If we could get that, then freedom will be ours!
Priest: Haven't we had enough of this?
Leader: What did you say?!
Priest: Didn't Heero Yuy once say ..... "We the people of the colonies, didn't come to live in space so we could fight"..... No matter what happens, we must not fight.
Leader: *******! I dare you to say that again!
Priest: I'll keep saying it over and over. We must not fight.
Man: Y-you...!
Man: (Hitting the priest with his rifle) Shuddup!
Priest: Unh
Duo: Hey!
Nun: (Standing in front of the fallen priest) Stop it! Please! Please no more!
Woman: (Slapping the nun) Shut up. We've got to have total solidarity! Why are you confusing people with useless talk of peace at a time like this?!
Follower: They must be alliance spies...
Woman: Hmm. It's possible.
Nun: B-but
Follower: Shall we make 'em confess?
Duo: Hey, Wait! All you want is one mobile suit?!
Leader: Huh?
Duo: I'll go steal one for you! And in return, I want you guys to get out of here! This is supposed to be a peaceful place!
Leader: Hmph. The brats talking nonsense
Duo: I may run, and I may hide, but I don't tell lies, like you guys!
Leader: Say what?!
Nun: Duo! Don't!
Duo: One mobile suit coming right up!
Nun: DUO!
(Duo runs out the door, and through some rubble)
Duo: (Thinking) Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! (Out loud) They all used to hate wars just the other day! Why go start another one?!
Soldier:(sees Duo jump over fence) An intruder!
Duo: (Thinking) I hate the alliance too! But... But still!
Soldier: Stop! Stop or we'll shoot!
Duo: If they want a war so much, then why don't you jerks all go fight each other!
Duo: (Running, bullets spattering the ground around him)
Soldier: S-stop! He'sonly a kid!
Other Soldier: Yeah, so what? All the colonists are our enemies!
Duo: (Thinking)They keep making more orphans like me ....!
Duo: (Arriving in a warehouse where Mobile Suits are tucked in on trucks)There!
Clueless Soldier: (As Duo runs past) Huh?!
Duo: (Leaping in the truck)
Soldier: Hey! Who's in there?!
Duo: (Drives the truck out while soldiers shoot at him)
Soldier: Don't let him get away! Fire!
Duo: (while driving) I'm the onl one alive through luck anyway. If someone's gonna do the dirty work, it should be me.
Duo: *Standing in the ruin of what used to be the church.* No... This .... Can't be...
Nun: D...Duo...
Nun: (Lying in the rubble, blood trickling from her mouth) I'm glad... You're safe.
Duo: Sister!
Nun: Don't make us worry like that. Father was .... worried about you .... even to the end .....
Duo: I-I'll go get a doctor!
Nun: Th-the alliance came and attacked. But we couldn't leave ..... the church
Duo: W-was it my fault?! Because I stole the Mobile Suit from the alliance?!
Nun: F-father was so noble. H-he kept .... preaching peace.....
Duo: That's not noble! That's just dumb! What's the point if he's dead now?!
Nun: Duo... (Reaching out to touch his face with her scuffed hand) May you.... have God's blessing... (Her hand drops away)
Duo: (Staring with big, blank eyes.) UAAAAAAAAAHHHH
245 people were killed. The colony rebellion was suppressed by the alliance's and OZ's crack troops. People came to call this incident "The Maxwell Chuch Traged."
(Duo sits glumly in a prison cell)
Guard: Hey, didya knowthat kids a Maxwell Church survivor?
Other Guard: Wow.... Guess he cut a deal with death huh?
A.C. 192. The north pole of the moon.
(A spacecraft sits on the lunar surface)
Professor G: (Staring at a large pyramid-like hill, hiding a spaceship) With this spaceship, we could have gone beyond the solar system...
Howard: But it's of no use now, we'll just let it sleep until it's day comes.
Professor G : So, where to now?
Howard: Back to earth. I want to relax, lulled by the ocean waves.
Professor G:Hmph. Sounds like just your kind of thing.
Howard: Yep. So long.
(spaceship now flying through space)
Duo: Leggo! Lemme go!!
Professor G: Let him go.
Man: But...
Professor G: Just let him go.
Professor G.: Kid ... I'm impressed you were able to sneak aboard. My security system should've been perfect, how did you do it?
Duo: That's a trade secret. But, if it helps your pride, i'll say it was pretty tough.
Professor G.: Ha ha. You're an interesting kid.
Duo: I'm no kid! My name is Duo. Duo Maxwell, who may run and hide, but never tells a lie.
Professor G.: Maxwell...? Heh Heh... Like Maxwell's demon, eh?
Duo: Nope, not just a demon. I'm the god of death!
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Duo's Story:The encounter between the war orphan, Duo, and the church. As well as the mystery behind his braid, the tale is packed with crucial points that formed the Duo we know today!
1) The man who makes his own name: The "Maxwell" mystery.
Duo was once a war orphan, wandering alone through the colonies, until the priest and Sister Helen took him in snd lavishly showered him with love. For Duo, the warmth of a loving family, which he experienced for the first time, was a big source of support. However, war took the church away from Duo. His taking the surname "Maxwell" might have been a personal oath of sorts. In any case, the way he calls himself the god of death, yet at the same time names himself after the church, reveals something of Duo's subtleties. The poor citizens of the colonies, and drifting street urchins like Duo, don't have full names to begin with; even the name Duo was adopted after he met Solo, another urchin who died of a virus. Thus, Duo builds his name from his various experiences, and his name is his life story itself.
2) Was it just unhygenic?: The secret behind the braid.
Duo didn't have his hair braided when he was little - instead he'd simplly wear his hair long. Was he just being lazy? No, it was just that there was nobody to show him how to neatly gather long hair. He liked the braid that sister Helen happened to make for him, and he's continued to do it ever since. The name, the braid - the church has had a great influence upon him. These are glimpses of the part of his personality that cherishes the bonds between people.
3) His connection with G: Death and Pestilence.
Duo's role in th Gundam Wing story begins when the boy who calls himself the god of death meets up with Professor G. After meeting Professor G, he somehow becomes involved with "Operation Meteor" (a plan to drop a colony onto Earth, and then take over during the ensuing chaos). But seeing how strongly Duo opposes the plan, Prof. G suggests thathe steal the Gundam Deathscythe. Rather than playing the mass-murdering "hero," Duo chooses to descend to Earth as the god of death and fight the Alliance, going on to meet Heero and company there. If Duo is death, you might call Professor G Pestilence.
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