Milliardo Peacecraft sat in the courtyard of his deceased father's palace in the Cinq Kingdom. He found the solitude the palace provided a very comforting thing and did not leave its grounds unless absolutely necessary; and thanks to Tuberov's Mobile Dolls, that necessity rarely came. After destroying his archrival, the Gundam pilot Heero Yuy, in that climactic battle, Milliardo saved the Earth from a fiery collision with the Libra battleship in his last act of chivalry. After Romafeller's crushing defeat in space, conquering its "World Nation"'s forces on the Earh was simple. Ever since, Milliiardo ruled over the World Nation and had repeatedly attempted to wipe out the remaining Gundams in space with his now endless supply of Mobile Dolls. Despite the hoards of troops he sent to each colony, Milliardo was never able to reclaim outer space. Along with this lack of control, the remains from Libra and the remains of the Mobile Dolls destroyed during the battle with Romafeller had been droppping randomly into Earth's atmosphere. This made incoming threats from space next to impossible to locate. That was why he, Milliardo Peacecraft, the Lightnng Count, was hiding within his father's home like some sniveling coward. Despite controlling Epyon, the strongest Gundam to date, Milliardo was not satisfied. Since defeating Heero, he had been making some modifications to the Zero-like cockpit system used by Epyon. Even though Treize and himself were still at war, Milliardo had to commend the man whom he once considered as a friend on the fine piece of machinery he'd constructed. And now, with the modifications he'd made to the cockpit system, the elder Peacecraft believe he possessed the ultimate weapon.

Milliardo looked up at the night sky to see a shooting star fly by the night sky. He could tell it would be landing nearby...he would tend to it later. The elder Peacecraft started walking towards his bedchambers to catch up on his sleep. Something told him he would be needing it. With one last look behind him in the direction of the fallen meteorite, Milliardo Peacecraft retired for the night.

One hundred kilometers west of the Peacecraft castle, a metal orb glistened in the dim moonlight. As the seconds passed, the cargo door of the small shuttle opened and out stepped Deathscythe Hell. The black Gundam hid in the pitch blackness like a panther stalking its prey. Quickly, the Gundam got its bearings and soared off into the night sky towards the Cinq Kingdom's capital. However, no sooner had he gone anywhere when he was bombarded by enemy fire. Hundreds of Virgo and Taurus Mobile Dolls littered the night sky, their beam cannons ravaging the countryside as they tried to destroy the elusive Gundam. Milliardo had yet another stroke of genius. He had created a modification in the Mobile Doll system to where every Mobile Doll in a given area could be linked together. If one was attacked or found an intruder, the rest could home in on the first MD's signal and come to its aid. This presented anyone who wished to do battle with these Dolls would face unmeasurable odds. This was no problem for Duo, however. The young pilot inside Deathscythe Hell's cockpit only smiled and started wiping out the Mobile Dolls one by one. He knew it would take longer, but he wanted the exercise. As he slowly progressed onward, something became apparent: the Dolls were lessening in number...something had to be wrong.

Milliardo Peacecraft was awakened by the castle alarms as they blared a warning siren throughout the castle halls that an enemy Mobile Suit was approaching. Milliardo scolded himself for not checking that meteorite earlier. After all, he could still have been asleep by now. But no matter, now that he was up he decided to have a little fun and show that Gundam pilot what a TRUE Gundam could do. With this new resolution, he headed towards the castle's hangar...and Epyon.

Duo continually fought the oncoming hoards of Mobile Dolls. It seemed that Zechs' new cockpit system was more annoying than he had anticipated. But now the Dolls were thinning out and he didn't know why...He had only been fighting about half an hour and there were fewer and fewer coming after him each time. He was SURE that Zechs had enough money to produce more Mobile Dolls than THIS! In the middle of his reverie, a purple blur, streaked by Deathscythe Hell as the Mobile Dolls abruptly scattered and left the battlefield.

"Well" thought Duo..."Here comes the moment of truth."

Inside Epyon's cockpit Milliardo Peacecraft smirked. "Well now...if it isn't Duo Maxwell" said the young king. "Do they still refer to you as the GOD OF DEATH, Maxwell?"

Duo smirked back, "Yea, something like that."

"Well I don't think you deserve that title...you are too WEAK."

Duo was on the verge of laughing "Oh...and why is that?"

"Because you are hiding your true nature Maxwell, just like all the OTHER Gundam pilots...I'm going to make you PROVE you deserve that title..." Milliardo smiled slyly "are you UP TO IT?"

"I'm up to ANYTHING you can throw at me."

"Alright then, land your Gundam and exit it. Afterwards we will switch Gundams and if you prove yourself in battle, then you will be worthy of your title...agreed?"

"Hmmph...fine by me...let's get this over with."

The two Gundams landed simultaneously on the ground, their repulsors creating pockets in the tall grass as they landed. Both hatches open as a faint hiss of expelled air fills the night's eerie silence. The two pilots stared each other down as they slowly made their respective ways out to the middle of the grassy meadow where they landed. The elder Peacecraft stared down haughtily at Duo, smirking cockily as he did so. "Well, well. Duo Maxwell, the self-proclaimed God of Death."

"Can it, Zechs. Now what's this little 'test' you have for me?"

"Quite simple, Maxwell. Take Epyon and prove yourself to me in battle. If you do, then we shall duel and see if you truly can do what Heero could not."

At this jab, Duo glared at the elder Peacecraft with loathing in his eyes. "Mission, accepted." With that, he blew past Milliardo to the waiting lift into the Epyon's cockpit. As Duo got settled into the unfamiliar cockpit, Milliardo released the failsafe that kept his Mobile Dolls from targeting his Gundam while in battle. Almost instantly wave after wave of Taurus and Leo Mobile Dolls flew towards Epyon's position. Duo barely had time to blink before he revved the Gundam's engines and flew into his oncoming opponents. He quickly realized that the Epyon's cockpit system was quite advanced. It was giving him data almost one hundred opponents in advance. At the same time it seemed to be giving the best strategies for destroying every Mobile Doll he was facing. The onslaught of information was too much for Duo and he screamed in both agony and anger as the Epyon's massive beam sword flared into existence and decimated the entire first line of Mobile Suits in one swipe. Duo was breathing heavily from the emotional strain that Epyon's cockpit system was putting on his synapses. He couldn't understand how anyone could interpret all this data at once. However, soon his instincts took over and he began weaving in and out of the new line of Taurus Mobile Dolls, their beam canons on continuous fire as they attempted to take down the exceedingly agile Epyon. Duo used the weapon systems of his Mobile Suit to their fullest advantage. As he swiped through a Leo Mobile Suit with his beam sword, he instantly redirected his momentum so that the energy whip attatched to Epyon's other hand flared to life and sliced cleanly through another Leo that tried to aid it's companion. This dangerous ballet went on for another few minutes before Milliardo remotely reinitiated the failsafe and all the Mobile Dolls fled Epyon's position.

Seeing his enemies stop and turn tail, Duo, who at this point was still on a severe adrenaline rush from the battle and the emotional strain that the Epyon's cockpit system put on him, landed the Gundam in the exact same spot it had left before the attack. Milliardo Peacecraft simply smirked at the cockiness implied from that display. He walke towards his Gundam before Epyon's massive beam sword slammed itself blade-first into the ground in front of him. The platinum blonde-haired man looked up at the cockpit, a look of loathing and contempt crossing his features. "Just what do you think you are doing, Maxwell", screamed an angry Peacecraft.

If the young leader had been able to see Duo Maxwell's features at that point, he would've simply run in fear, but he never had the chance. The only warning Epyon's pilot gave was a maniacal cackle and the shout of "The God of Death lives" before the huge blade of Epyon's beam sword engulfs Milliardo Peacecraft in one smooth motion, leaving nothing in its wake.