The Bet

Prelude

The blade was dull, to put it mildly. In fact, it was wood; however, it was exactly what Chang Wufei was looking for.

The duel is mine.

Mine.

The duel is mine.

He had to wonder, of course, even as he plunked his money onto the counter and recalled Treize's last words to him, just how this story was going to end; this was his own true plotline - not one given by Dr. O, not one even necessarily in line with his normal mode of operation; it was a simple plan for revenge.

I win.

Very few people understood exactly how much Wufei hated the man named Treize Kushrenada. By some causal order to "remove those things not progressive" in the system, Treize had damned Wufei's people to suffer - and ultimately, Wufei's wife to die. That was another thing that most people didn't know about him. That his wife - although not much loved, she was HIS - had died in his arms thanks to the men who served Treize Kushrenada.

I win. The duel is mine.

Yes, you won. But you let me go.

That was an enjoyable duel. I hope we can do it again sometime.

You are a fool.

Wufei thanked the proprietor and left, mentally calculating how many days it would take to set up this one last glorious infiltration. To reach OZ's French headquarters safely was the goal; to get out alive was not even part of his strategy. He would only get one shot at this; one chance to avenge himself, his people, and his pride.

He sighed and started his motor bike. He generally worked on his own anyway, just keeping under the vague order to do "as much damage to OZ as possible" - but this... this hardly fell under that general order. In fact, this was hardly even sane. No; this was revenge, plain and simple. Justice, really, had nothing to do with it.

I win.

Kill me.

That was a good match.

If you don't kill me now, I'll come back again and again until I kill you!

His wife had lived for justice. His wife, dead at 14, had traded her short life for his in the name of justice. His wife, who had been given to him in arranged marriage that neither of them appreciated, had unwittingly also given him her sense of justice at her death - at least, until he proved himself strong enough to earn the title of her husband.

His wife, who in dying, had renamed herself Nataku.

If you don't kill me now...

I'll look forward to that... I'll see you again, then.

This was why he had searched for and found this very unique wooden sword; no metal blade would make it past the detectors set up around the building, and Wufei was determined to get in safely in order to reach his goal. He probably would not make it out - but that was really not his concern.

Without telling the other Gundam pilots what he was doing, Wufei had been planning a one-man attack on the south side of France - in which Treize Kushrenada was currently residing - for well over a month. Now, it was time to act.

You let me go.

And that, Treize, Kushrenada, is a mistake you are going to regret.