A/N: Yes, I have started a new story, and no, I have not forgotten my old one. The last chapter I've been working on for the Amnesiacs Anonymous is a real plot-changer, so I keep making sure it leads exactly where I want the story to go. It is not on hiatus, it is not being abandoned, and it is not forgotten. I just needed a break from the story to clear my head.
About Code Geass: The Matrix Rebooted
You may be asking yourself, "Why isn't this in crossover?". Well I have not taken any of the characters from the original story of The Matrix, which is by the way one of the best movies ever. Even the setting of The Matrix has been changed in this story, along with the removal of the characters The One, The Oracle, Agent Smith, more Agent Smiths, etc. In short, Code Geass characters in The Matrix world.
Reviews, follows, and favorites all help my motivation! Happy reading!
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Chapter 1
...
The click of a phone. Two buttons. Zero, then 'enter'.
"Operator."
"We're beginning the rescue operation. How are her vitals?"
"Her alpha pattern frequency hasn't modulated yet, so we're still safe for now. I'd prefer to break her out of there as soon as possible, though."
"That's what we're trying to do. Where is she in the complex now?"
"They've moved her back to holding. Next guard shift is in exactly 12 minutes 46 seconds."
"Understood. I'll call back once we get her out."
"Copy that. Good luck."
...
Strands of black hair whipped back and forth in front of Lelouch's face as he drove down the highway in his motorcycle. The wind whooshed past his ears, carrying his uncovered bangs with the breeze.
"New record! 8 minutes and 32 seconds! Haha! That's faster than you can run a mile, Lelouch!"
Lelouch snorted in response.
Rivalz was still wide-eyed with surprise after Lelouch's humiliation of the Britannian nobility. They may be royalty, but they certainly did not understand how to protect the king in a simple game of chess.
Lelouch's superior intellect had always surprised the people he encountered, often predicting everything they would say and giving responses to their unasked questions. Or in this case, their movements in a game of chess.
"These Britannian nobles believe themselves to be above the people. How can they expect to rule when they cannot even rule the games they play for recreation?" Lelouch shook his head.
"You should really just forget it. Britannia isn't going to change no matter how much you rant to everyone."
Rivalz was always perplexed by his introverted friend's sociopathic tendencies and strange views of the government. Why all the girls swooned over him, he could never find out.
"Whoa there! Keep your eyes on the road, Rivalz!"
"I am! Just stop-"
"Look out!"
A massive big-rig was now speeding down the highway, threatening to crumple Rivalz's bike into nothing more than a crushed soda can.
"Dammit! Move, you idiots!"
"No! Not that way!"
The truck suddenly swerved off the road and drifted into a building, where it came to a rest.
"Oh...was that us?" Rivalz stared at the smoking wreck their bike could have easily been a part of.
"Come on! We have to help them!"
"Aw man, we're gonna be late for class!"
"Fine, then. You go on ahead and I'll stay here. I can't just leave them like that."
"Suit yourself. See ya' later, Lelouch."
Lelouch hopped off the sidecar and proceeded to sprint toward the truck. After a few moments however, he resorted to a brisk walk. Running was not exactly in his vocabulary.
"Argh...Nagata! Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine...we need to get back to the exit. That's our first and only priority now."
"Understood. Wait...do you hear that?"
Lelouch managed to climb onto the roof of the truck and was now shouting into the cab.
"It sounds like someone is trying to help us." Kallen started.
"We can help ourselves! This truck can still move and I don't want to involve civilians!"
Nagata yanked back on the shift, putting the vehicle into reverse. He stomped on the pedal and the truck shot backwards.
"Whoa!" Lelouch was thrown off balance and fell into the truck.
"Hey! Stop! I'm in here! You would think they would put a ladder on the inside..."
The sounds of helicopter blades grew louder and louder as the patrol unit closed in.
"Stop the vehicle! If you surrender now, you will be given the chance to defend yourself in court!"
"When hell freezes over!"
Nagata changed gears, speeding up the truck drastically. Machine gun fire from the helicopters ripped apart the asphalt directly behind the truck.
"They're gonna bring the army! We can't escape!"
"Have you forgotten? That's what I'm here for!"
Lelouch got to his feet and looked around. A curious sphere covered with dozens of metal pins loomed in front of him.
"Do I jump out? I risk being shot or breaking my neck...either way I have very low chances of survival...do I try to signal to the army? No, they don't know I'm not a terrorist...what should-"
Kallen ran through the cab doors and to a control panel where she began to open the rear hatch. Something was eating away at her senses as she felt the familiar sensation of being watched. On guard, she turned and noticed a figure standing in a corner waiting perfectly still.
"Who the hell are you?" Kallen surprised Lelouch with the barrel of a Britannian pistol pointed at his head.
"No! I'm just a student at Ashford Academy...I was in the bike that ran you off the highway...I ran down to your truck to help you but I fell in..."
Kallen stopped listening to him after she heard "Ashford Academy" She peered at him, trying to see if he was really who she thought it was. The same stick-thin body, the violet eyes, the same shiny black hair...No...
"Le...Lelouch...?"
"How do you know my name?"
Suddenly, the truck was bombarded by machine gun fire. Holes revealing the clear blue sky were punched all over the truck. Lelouch and Kallen dropped to the floor to avoid being shot.
"Stay down! I'll handle this!"
"How do you know-"
Kallen had already jumped into the cockpit of the outdated Glasgow and burst through the rear hatch of the truck. Helicopters suddenly began falling out of the sky.
"A slash-harken! A Knightmare!" The pilots began to flee, leaving a Sutherland carrier behind.
"I swear, I've seen that girl before..."
Another sharp turn and a steep decline threw Lelouch against the other side of the vehicle.
Lelouch closed his phone and pocketed it.
"No signal...judging from the darkness, we're probably travelling along the subway lines of the Shinjuku ghetto...if I get out now, it'll be just as dangerous as jumping out on the freeway. I'll just have to wait."
Nagata's vision was beginning to blur together. He realized he could barely move his left arm. The dried blood stuck on his clothes made movement even more difficult. The only thing he could do was move forward.
Nagata didn't see the large ditch in the path of the truck.
"Gah! Another accident?"
The wheels spun and spun, but to no avail. The truck was now stuck in a ditch. Light suddenly filled the truck, as a side-hatch opened, revealing the filthy stench of the old subway line.
A Britannian soldier saw the truck from a distance and signaled to the rest of the team. The truck was not the only thing that caught his attention, however.
"404 has sighted the target, sir!"
"Now's my chance to get out of this thing..."
Lelouch was just about to leave the truck when a figure blocked his way. A flying blur of movement, and a foot was planted on his chest.
"Get off of me!" Lelouch threw the soldier off of him.
"Lelouch! It's me, Suzaku." The soldier removed his helmet, revealing the boy Lelouch had known from so many years ago.
"Suzaku? Impossible...you became a Britannian soldier?"
"Yeah, what about you? You became a terrorist?"
"Not at all. I fell into the truck after a car accident. I was trying to help them but the truck started moving, so I was stuck here. Glad you found me though."
"Whoa! Get down!"
Suzaku tackled Lelouch to the ground as the strange sphere began releasing its pins. Suzaku grabbed his own gas mask and forcibly covered Lelouch with it.
A figure lit by an unnatural light rose from the sphere.
"That's not toxic gas...it looks like a girl!"
"Why would they be covering up the transport as 'poisonous gas'? They could easily just say they are transporting a prisoner. It would make more sense when their cargo is inspected too. Something doesn't add up here."
"Hey, I just follow orders. I had no idea what they were really doing."
"Come on, we have to help her."
Lelouch and Suzaku began to undo the restraints of the white straitjacket.
"There they are!"
Lelouch turned around to face a group of soldiers.
"Sir!" Suzaku ran up to the group.
"They said this would be poisonous gas! Why is there a girl trapped inside?"
"How dare you question your superiors! However, if you execute the terrorist, I will forgive your impudence."
The soldier held out a pistol for Suzaku, beckoning for him to take it and kill Lelouch.
"But sir! He's not a terrorist! He's only-"
"Why...you little..."
A gunshot sounded and Suzaku fell to the floor.
"No! Suzaku!"
"Your turn."
The truck behind Lelouch burst into flame and exploded, killing the entire group of soldiers. With the subway blanketed by smoke, Lelouch got up and fled with the girl.
"Who are you?"
Lelouch paused after running for what seemed like hours through the subway.
"This chaos is all your fault, isn't it? Suzaku is gone, and now they're after me!"
The girl simply looked at him with pained eyes. Her eyes were a strange golden-yellow color.
They climbed a flight of stairs where more gunfire could be heard. Lelouch and the girl ducked down to avoid being seen.
The shrill beeping of a cellphone echoed throughout the wrecked building.
"Of all times to finally get a signal!"
"Huh...? That jerk hung up on me!" Shirley Fenette angrily closed her cell phone as Lelouch Ladies' man rudely hung up on her.
"Ugh!" Lelouch grunted as he was flung against the wall behind him.
"A Britannian student? Ha! You should've stayed in school."
The soldier quickly drew his pistol.
"He musn't die!"
Out of nowhere, the girl jumped up and ran straight into the path of the bullet. She fell just as quickly.
"No!" Lelouch scrambled over to the body of the strange girl. Now, it seemed he would lose his life as well. What a terrible way to repay Suzaku and the girl's sacrifice.
"I can't die now...I've barely done anything with my life...first Suzaku...then this girl...and now me? I can't die like this!"
A hand clamping over his wrist nearly caused him to die of fright, as he realized it was the 'dead' girl who had grabbed him.
Lelouch found himself watching several images. He first saw the face of the girl. He then saw the faces of many other strange people who seemed to be monks. He saw many other images that confused him, and a voice called out to him.
"You seem to have a reason for living."
"That sounds like the girl! But how?"
"I can give you a power that will allow you to live on. You will walk away from this incident unscathed. In return, I ask that you grant me one wish. Accept this contract and you accept its turns."
"I accept your contract!"
"I expect you to survive this. Till we meet again..."
Lelouch felt as if he had just woken from a deep sleep and saw the faces of the soldiers, all prepared to fire at him.
"Oh well, we were supposed to bring in her alive, but we can always blame the terrorists for torturing her to death. Now, where were we?"
The soldier brought the pistol up again, this time with nothing in between it and Lelouch.
"Don't you know...the only ones who should kill...are those prepared to be killed!"
"Wha...what's happening...?"
The soldiers looked at each other with uncertainty as Lelouch's left eye began to glow an unnatural magenta color.
"I command you, all of you, die!"
"Yes your highness! Fire!"
Several gunshots sounded as the soldiers either turned their own weapons against themselves or turned their weapons on each other. A fleck of blood splashed across Lelouch's face.
"Well then."
...
"Nagata..." Kallen watched sadly as a body bag on a stretcher rolled past her. She was still lying back in one of the several operation chairs onboard the hovercraft.
"I'm sorry. He didn't make it. Running straight into Viletta's barrage didn't make it easy to survive." Ohgi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I...I'll be in my quarters."
Ohgi merely nodded.
Kallen swung her legs over the side of the chair, picked up her jacket, then left.
"I hope she's ok." Ohgi turned to Tamaki after hearing the crunch of Kallen's door being closed.
"Ah, she'll get over it eventually. But you're right. I hope she's ok."
"Tamaki, I need you to keep watching C.C. until she revives. Get an exit ready as soon as her pulse comes back."
"Got it. Hey, where are you going?"
"We have a crew opening now that Nagata is gone. I'm going to talk to Kallen about our new recruit."
"Jeez, give her some space first. Nagata just died! You can't just throw some replacement at her and expect her to get better all of a sudden."
"You're right..."
"I'll be waiting here." Tamaki plopped down in the operator chair and took the headset.
...
The first thing that she noticed was the stench of Shinjuku ghetto. The aroma of rotting flesh coupled with the fragrance of the run-down subway system was enough to wake her. She sat up and looked around.
"Damn...he left already."
...
"Ohgi! She's alive!"
Ohgi ran over to Tamaki who was excitedly pointing to C.C.'s vitals monitor which hung above her comatose body in the chair.
...
C.C. walked over to the group of soldiers and searched them for a cell phone.
"Operator."
"Tamaki, it's me."
"You're back!"
"Yes, I am. Where's my exit?"
"Nearest exit is at Ashford Academy, middle of the Tokyo Settlement. I'll give you more directions once you get there."
"Good."
C.C. hung up and pocketed her new phone. Ashford Academy. It was a school, wasn't it? Was it possible that this Lelouch person went to it? Suzaku did say he was a student, after all.
...
"Lelouch! You're back! What happened in the accident?" Milly Ashford ran up to the vice president.
"Huh? Accident?" Shirley looked at both of them with a confused expression.
"Yeah, a car accident! Lelouch and Rivalz ran a truck off the road!" Milly seemed to take great pride in being the only other person to know, aside from Rivalz of course.
"You did...? You jerk! Why didn't you call me?"
"I tried, but there was no signal down there." The second half of the statement was true though the first was not.
"Well then, glad to see you're both alright!" Milly sauntered off.
"You still should've called me..." Shirley followed her.
...
C.C. walked up to the large school, looking up at the grandiose arch that served as a front gate.
A phone rang in her pocket.
"C.C. here."
"I see you arrived at the school. Keep going forward, then to the left, you should see a building that looks like a small apartment. Go to it."
"Alright, I'm there."
"Take the elevator to the third floor. There should be a hallway with many doors. Go to the second on the right. Follow the sound of the phone. That's all."
"Thanks, Tamaki."
"Sure thing!"
She closed the phone and proceeded to walk through to the elevator. What a sight she must've been; neon green hair that flowed past her lower back, deathly pale skin, a dirty white straitjacket stained with blood. She could've come straight out of a horror movie. Some people she knew would say that she did.
"What's that ringing?" Lelouch came out of the bathroom and walked to the table where a phone was ringing.
As he picked up the line, C.C. walked through the doors. They both froze.
"I..." C.C. began.
"You...you're the dead girl! How?...Impossible!"
"The phone..."
"It's for you, isn't it?"
C.C. nodded.
Suddenly, Lelouch grabbed the phone line and yanked it with all his might. A snap, and the ringing stopped.
"Wha-what are you doing?! I needed that!"
"Why my phone? And why not on your cell phone? The bulge in your pocket says you do have a phone, and from the bulk and shape of it, it's a military-issued phone. You took it off the bodies of the soldiers I killed, but how you followed me I don't know."
"Good work, Sherlock."
C.C. still hadn't moved from the doorway, keeping the automatic doors from closing. Lelouch could see that several people had walked by and looked into the room where a curious conversation was playing out. He motioned for her to come in.
The automatic doors shut and C.C. lunged for the phone and the phone line.
"Hey!" Lelouch swatted the phone away as it clattered to the floor.
...
"What's going on in there?"
"Some guy just pulled out the phone line. It'll take a while to get another exit ready. Who is this guy?" Tamaki began typing rapidly in attempts to open another exit.
...
"Tell me what I want to know and I'll plug in the line again." Lelouch and C.C. were now circling around the table.
"I can't do that. Besides, I don't need that phone anymore."
"You're bluffing."
C.C. didn't notice that Lelouch had pressed the security lock on the door, disabling the automatic doors. She realized she was trapped.
"Tell me what I want to know, then I'll open the doors. Until then..."
Lelouch stomped on the phone, shattering it with a few blows. However, C.C. seemed unaffected. Perhaps she wasn't bluffing.
"I'll tell you what you want to know, but first let me out of here. You can handcuff me if you want, if you're into that kind of thing."
"You little..."
"Is that a yes?"
Lelouch paused.
"Yes."
"Good. Where's your handcuffs?"
"I didn't mean that!"
...