THE BOX: Part one (Otherwise known as WHY Duo was a dead man)

by Caliko

Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Sunrise and Bandai. I don't own them, either...

Looking back, Heero Yuy winced. If he had known then what he knew now....he would never have started it. It was some quirk in his personality, that hadn 't been trained out of him young. He never even realized that possessed such an appalling trait. Until that day...

He had just met the braided pilot of Deathscythe, and already he hated the very air he breathed. He was a sarcastic know it all, and he talked too much. Duo, (that was his name), went on and on about how he, the perfect soldier, needed HIS help. What a laugh! Like he was going to let that strange man, Howard, touch his baby!

Still.... the annoying urchin had a point. He needed parts, and he had a mission to accomplish in the morning. He thought about it, long past the time that the others went to bed. Finally, his head snapped up with the obvious answer.

Looking lustfully at the morbid gundam lying next to his, he smiled an evil smile that was usually reserved for when he blew things up.

Naaa....He couldn't... Could he? The laptop beeped, reminding him of his pressed schedule. With a tight smirk, he went to work. Whistling, he grabbed Howard's tools and started to dismantle the Deathscythe.

He took off for his mission whistling. A strange sense of warped accomplishment heralded his prank.

:::Heh heh heh.... I got parts, Duo!::: he thought, as he took care of his mission.

He started the whole blasted thing! He never realized that the idiot would take it for a challenge! The next thing he knew, he had corn syrup in EVERY pair of his underwear. He poured it in his bed while he was asleep, as well. What a time he had explaining that one to the laundress at the school!

There was NO WAY he was going to let the obnoxious brat win this war! Of course he got even.

Duo was taking a night off of fighting, (Like he did EVERY Friday), and had a date with that new girl. Heero, in the name of 'true admiration and concern' told her how he knocked up his last girlfriend. He was suitably outraged when he informed her of Duo's denial of the child. He even hacked into the school files and inserted a fictitious record of the 'victim'. From there, he just had to sit back and watch the show.

She stormed into class, slapped him straight across the face, and told him she wouldn't date him if he crawled over glass to ask her. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. As he denied everything, (which she expected), she TOLD Duo that Heero warned her about him!

From that point on, it was personal. He didn't mean to be that rotten. Wait, yes he did. Still, how was he to know that Duo really liked her? Besides, they had more important things to worry about besides girls.

The braided boy didn't see things that way. Their little skirmishes escalated. Little by little, the others had gotten caught in the middle. Eventually, they cornered them both and threatened thier future manhood if it didn't stop.

Heero listened. (Not out of fear, of course. He didn't feel fear.) He just realized that it was immature, and it was hurting thier mission. Duo, as usual, ignored their warnings. He didn't like being threatened anymore than Heero did, but he was also juvenile enough to make his feelings known. Everyone was fair game after that.

Quatre had his violin strings tampered with. No matter what he tried to play, or how often he tuned, the instrument sounded like a screeching cat. They realized who the culprit was when the pain in the ass walked past the music room, calling, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"

They never did learn what was done, but Duo did it each time Quatre changed the strings. In desperation, the blond Arabian took up the bongo drums.

Wufei woke up green one day. Not green sick, just green. His fingernails where painted a lovely shade of fuchsia. Duo had been seen during the night with a gas canister of air born dye. Needless to say, Duo got a lot of exercise that week.

Still, they all could have lived with it if he stopped there. But no. Not one to leave a task unfinished, Duo had to get Trowa.

He shuddered with the memory. Duo told everyone of Quatre's older sisters that Trowa thought they were hot. For a while, the silent one enjoyed the attention that was lavished on him, and Quatre LOVED having quiet time. Unfortunately, the quiet only lasted a few hours. Eventually, the girls started harping at each other, belittling the weakest mistake in front of the clown.

Tears became the state of norm, and you didn't dare compliment one sister without saying something nice to everyone. They finally forced Trowa to decide which sister he liked the most. Heero winced, remembering the sight of Trowa running out of the mansion with half his hair pulled out and both eyes blackened. The boy really should learn to be diplomatic, as he bluntly told all of them that they were way too old for him. That would have been bad enough, but he had to mention that they all looked pretty much the same, so how could he choose?

They met that night, determined to stop it once and for all. Each plan was put to a vote, each one was discarded to it's owners dismay. Weeks passed. Duo played prank after prank, and they still couldn't decide on how to retaliate. Finally, After the war was over, Heero stumbled onto their revenge.

Duo had called Heero just to talk, no special reason. Some how, he thought that he was Heero's best friend. Knowing that the illusion would work to his advantage, Heero never corrected the idiot. He was about to hang up when he noticed Hilde.

"Duo, Who's that?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, that's just Hilde." Duo carelessly waved his hand in her direction, dismissing her presence.

Hilde saw this and narrowed her eyes. They shown with vindictive malice, and Heero's plan was born whole into his mind.

"Hilde, who?" he asked, wanting to get the run down.

"Hilde, the girl who got the Libra information for us. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot about her. So, your dating her?"

A look came into Duo's face as he jumped in to deny it. As he went out of his way to assure Heero that nothing was going on, Hilde's face closed down. Slowly, even the anger was gone, and he knew that she was hiding something. From the act in front of his view screen, so was Duo.

:::::Hmmmm....Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone.::::: he thought, hanging up.

Heero recognized sexual frustration. Hell, didn't he deal with it every time he met with Relena? He knew how it got you antsy and short tempered. From the look on the girls face, she spent a lot of time yelling at Duo, and Duo spent a lot of time running away from Hilde. Well...what if Duo couldn't run?

Trap the two in an enclosed space, and the hyperactive brat would start to get on Hilde's nerves. Add in the sexual frustration, and things might get interesting. He patted his video camera, promising it a chance to capture some blackmail material.

Quickly, before changing his mind, he called Wufei and Trowa. He purposely left the blond boy out of his plan. Quatre was a good pilot...but he was too nice.

By the end of the week, Trowa had found a good home base. He leased it for two months and started gathering materials. At the end of the month, he had the metal crate built, and the bottom cushioned with overlarge pillows stolen from his sisters trailer.

Only then did he call CPS to pick up the package. Heero and Wufei each made thier excuses to Preventers, and joined him on L2 that night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Stretching forth in our imagination,
there lies a path to greatness.
Besides it lay the road of mediocrity.
Which path shall you take?
Travel with me, on the path of greatness
Stretch out your dreams
and pull them into reality.
Head not the safe road,
the one that tempts you with stabilty
What use is living without risk?