Chapter Two: Questioning

"What?!" Duo exclaimed.

The angel approached him. "Saint Peter," he said, extending a hand cordially. Duo ignored it.

"I know who you are," he snapped. "I wasn't raised in a church for nothing. Now explain what's going on here."

Saint Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're being judged, Duo. Now-"

"I know that," Duo interrupted. "But I didn't think it was supposed to be a courtroom."

He sighed. "Normally, it isn't. But several... or rather, many things came up in your record that we found questionable. Hence the courtroom."

"Questionable?!" exploded Duo. "If this is about being a Gundam pilot, I'm sorry but those were orders. And what about those four? They killed and destroyed just as much as I did-"

"Duo!"

He fell silent.

Another angel silently stepped forward and handed something to Saint Peter. "All right Metatron," he murmured.

The voice of God? Duo thought wildly. Shit, I'm in trouble...

"God would like you to know Duo, that although your comrades did not have to go through this same process, He doesn't love you any less. This is only a precaution," Metatron said clearly before stepping back to his former place beside the podium.

Duo muttered incoherently before saying, "Get on with it."

"Now Duo, answer these questions honestly. God is here," Saint Peter warned.

"Okay, okay," Duo said.

"Duo, where are your parents?"

"Dead. They died when I was three," Duo said, still tense.

"Where did you go after that?"

"The streets," Duo replied. He paused. "I thought you guys knew all this already."

"We do, Duo. This is only to see if you know."

Duo frowned. "Of course I know! It's my life."

Saint Peter ignored that comment. "What did you do on the streets?"

"I joined a gang of other kids."

"How did you survive without any adults around?"

Looking nervous, Duo said, "We lived in abandoned warehouses and stole food and clothing."

The audience of angels started murmuring to themselves.

"You were raised in a Catholic church orphanage, true?"

Duo shook his head. "No. I only lived there for about a year or two, when I was seven or eight. I would hardly call that being raised there."

"How did you come to live there?"

"A couple of other kids and myself were caught looting a Federation army base and instead of allowing us to be punished, the Maxwell Church took us all in."

"What happened to the Maxwell Church?"

A jolt of sadness hit Duo in the pit of his stomach. He squeaked out, "It was destroyed. Everyone there died."

"But not you?"

"No."

"And why was that?"

"I... I was... out."

"Doing what?"

Silence.

"Duo?" Saint Peter said gently, "What were you doing when the Maxwell Church was destroyed?"

"Stealing a mobile suit from the Federation."

More murmuring.

"Who took care of you at the Maxwell Church?"

"Father Maxwell and Sister Helen mostly. There were other nuns and people there too though."

"Do you recall the discussion you had with Sister Helen about God?"

"Quite vividly actually."

"At that time you revealed that you did not believe in God, is that so?"

"Yes."

"What did or do you believe in exactly, Duo?"

"The God of Death," Duo said, defiance clear in his voice.

Louder murmurs.

"Why would that be?"

"Like I told Sister Helen, I don't belive in God because I've never seen a miracle," Duo said, the line fresh in his mind. "But I believe in Death because I've seen a lot of dead bodies."

"Is it true that you often called yourself the God of Death?"

"It most certainly is."

"Why?"

Another stressful question. Duo answered with, "Because everyone close to me died. I guess I figured it was my fault. I still haven't forgiven myself..."

"How exactly did you become a Gundam pilot?"

"I got caught sneaking onto a ship on the moon. Instead of killing me or locking me up, Professor G invited me to participate in the project and I accepted," Duo answered.

"How old were you?"

"About twelve.

"What was the name of your Gundam, Duo?"

"Deathscythe," Duo replied, somewhat proudly.

"You're reported on numerous occasions to have yelled, and I quote, 'Shinigami's going to take you all to hell!' during battle. Is this true?"

"Yeah."

"Why did you say that?"

"Because they were the enemy. They were threatening the safety of the colonies. And I figured that sometime during the war I was going to get killed. I also figured that I'd never end up here, seeing as I don't believe in God and all."

"When did you stop believing in God?"

"I don't think I ever did believe."

A collective gasp went up from the audience.

"We have in our records that your parents intended on bringing you up as a Catholic. Do you think you would believe in God had your parents not died?"

"If my parents hadn't died, the Federation probably wouldn't have existed before that. They were the ones that killed them and a lot of other people," Duo mused. "Without them, I probably wouldn't have lost my parents or so many friends. I wouldn't have seen so many dead people. So yeah. I probably would."

Murmurs.

"Did you consider yourself to be a good pilot?"

"I don't really think it's my place to answer that, but yeah, I think I was an excellent pilot. A lot of other people thought so too," said Duo.

"Do you know exactly how many people you killed in your lifetime, Duo?" Saint Peter's tone was accusing, almost menacing now.

He gulped. "I-I... I don't. I have a guess, but I'm probably way off."

"What's your guess?"

"I'd rather not share."

Saint Peter was unruffled. "All right then." He looked at some papers. "You killed almost five hundred people in the years AC 195 to 196. You destroyed countless mobile suits and nearly got yourself and your comrades killed on several occasions as well."

"That was pretty close to what I thought," Duo muttered.

"No further questions," Saint Peter declared.

"Can I leave now?" Duo asked.

"No," Metatron replied automatically. "They-" -he pointed to the other pilots- "-must speak to you first."

Duo sighed. This was going to be a long afterlife...