Zero's Mask

by Windrises

Zero's mask falls off while in a meeting with his teammates.

Note: Code Geass is owned by Sunrise.

Lelouch Lamperouge went to the living room and asked, "Is there anything that I have to do today?"

C. C. said, "You have a meeting with your team today. Since you're the leader I thought that you would know that."

Lelouch replied, "I'm going to have to clean my mask."

C. C. said, "Clean it carefully."

Lelouch replied, "I think that being careful isn't very important." Lelouch never bought any cleaning materials so he used ketchup and mustard to clean his Zero mask.

C. C. asked, "How could that stuff clean your mask?"

Lelouch said, "I think that ketchup and mustard has the potential to make my mask look cleaner."

C. C. replied, "I like you, but you make dumb choices everyday."

Lelouch asked, "Do you have to say such reasonable things?"

C. C. asked, "Why wouldn't I tell you what you should hear?"

Lelouch said, "Because I want exaggerated compliments, not realistic insults."

C. C. replied, "Whatever."

Lelouch got on his Zero costume. He and C. C. went to their meeting with their fellow team members. Since Lelouch used ketchup and mustard to clean up his costume he had several red and yellow marks on his mask.

Kaname Ohgi nervously asked, "Are you okay Zero?"

Zero said, "Yes. It's just some stains that are leftover from me cleaning my mask."

Ohgi asked, "You used something red to make your mask look better?"

Zero said, "Yes."

Ohgi replied, "That wasn't a very good idea."

Zero said, "Ohgi, only give me your opinion if it compliments me."

Ohgi nervously replied, "I'm sorry Zero. I wasn't trying to insult you."

Tamaki noticed that Zero had yellow stains on his mask so he burst into laughter and said, "Zero wet his mask!"

Zero angrily said, "I didn't wet my mask."

Tamaki asked, "Then why do you have yellow stuff all over your mask?"

Zero said, "It's mustard."

Tamaki replied, "Yeah right." Tamaki continued laughing.

A bunch of the ketchup and mustard that was in Zero's mask dripped to the floor. Zero accidentally slipped on the ketchup and mustard stains. He fell to the ground and his mask slipped off of his face. Since C. C. was the only one who knew his secret identity this was a big problem for him.

Lelouch ran to the hallway before any of his teammates saw what he looked like without his mask on. Lelouch whispered, "I'll have C. C. get the mask back. If I act quickly enough I might be able to save my secret identity."

The mask landed near Diethard Ried. Diethard was more curious than any of Zero's other team members about learning his secret identity. Diethard whispered, "If I get rid of Zero's mask I can find out who he is." Diethard threw the mask out the window and did a sneaky sounding laugh.

Lelouch hid in the hallway for ten minutes. Ohgi asked, "Where's Zero?"

C. C. said, "I'm going to go get him." C. C. walked to the hallway and saw Lelouch. She asked, "Why are you hanging out in here?"

Lelouch said, "Because I lost my Zero mask. It fell off when I slipped on the ketchup and mustard."

C. C. folded her arms while saying, "You're the most immature hero that I've ever met."

Lelouch replied, "I need you to get my mask back."

C. C. asked, "Where did it land?"

Lelouch said, "I don't know the exact location. It was around the area where I drop coffee on myself at."

C. C. walked back to the main room of the hideout and started looking for the mask. Diethard had a smug smile on his face while saying, "Don't look for the mask. It's gone."

Ohgi asked, "Where's Zero?"

Diethard said, "Zero's not really here."

Tohdoh asked, "What does that mean?"

Diethard said, "Zero's mask fell off earlier. It was the only mask that was with him so if we see him we'll find out who he really is."

C. C. angrily asked, "What did you do with the mask news boy?"

Diethard said, "I had to get rid of it. It's time for us to find Zero."

Ohgi nervously replied, "But if we do that we would ruin his secret identity."

Diethard said, "We've been Zero's teammates for months, but he's shown us very little loyalty. Since he trusts us to help him save Japan he should respect us enough to let us know who he is."

C. C. walked back to the hallway and said, "News boy got rid of your mask."

Lelouch asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

C. C. said, "I'm not sure. Diethard's trying to convince the others to find you and look at your real face."

Lelouch replied, "Make sure that they don't do that."

Ohgi thought about what Diethard told him and said, "Diethard has a fair point."

Kallen asked, "But shouldn't we let Zero keep his secret?"

Ohgi said, "If we learn who Zero is we might trust him more."

Tamaki replied, "I wanna see if his face is the same level of quality as my face."

Kallen said, "I've seen clowns that have better looking faces than yours."

Ohgi said, "Maybe we should look at Zero's real face."

Rakshata Chawla replied, "That's a foolish idea."

Diethard asked, "Why do you think it's foolish?"

Rakshata said, "If you find out who Zero is you might not like the man behind the mask. It could ruin your bond with him forever."

Diethard replied, "Ignore Rakshata's advice. We should go get Zero."

C. C. replied, "Zero's secret identity is super important to him. You must respect his wish to not have any of you know who he is."

Ohgi said, "But none of us know who Zero is."

C. C. replied, "I know who Zero is. He causes a lot of slapstick and has made a lot of questionable choices, but he's supported me and this team more than anybody ever has. Don't tell him this, but I've never had a better companion by my side."

Diethard said, "The fact that you have feelings for him is meaningless garbage."

Ohgi replied, "No. C. C. and Rakshata are right. We don't need to know Zero's real name. The only thing that we need to know is that we can trust him to help us save Japan and I'm sure that he can pull that off."

Rakshata asked, "How could Zero get out of here without us seeing his face?"

Ohgi said, "We'll leave first."

C. C. replied, "Thank you for saving Zero's secret identity."

Most of the team members left, but Diethard didn't. Diethard started running around the hideout while saying, "I'm going to find out what Zero looks like. After I find that out I could broadcast pictures of his faces on my next news show. That would be one of the biggest news stories that I've ever had."

Lelouch tried to run out of the hideout while saying, "I need to get back home before news boy finds out who I am."

Diethard grabbed Lelouch by the cape and said, "Face me so I can find out your secret identity."

Lelouch replied, "I'm not going to do that."

C. C. kicked Diethard across the hallway and said, "Leave Zero alone you crook."

Diethard replied, "But I feel the need to see his face."

C. C. grabbed Diethard and asked, "What did you do with Zero's mask?"

Diethard said, "I threw it out the window."

C. C. replied, "Get the mask back."

Diethard stubbornly said, "I refuse to do that."

C. C. replied, "Don't tempt me into throwing you out the window."

Diethard laughed and said, "You're a gullible loser for thinking that I would be scared by your threat. You act gothic, but deep down you have a soft side that's too big to do any damage." C. C. opened up the window. She was about to throw him out the window so he said, "I'll go save the mask." Diethard went outside and found the mask. He handed the mask to C. C. and left.

Lelouch asked, "Would you have actually thrown him out the window?"

C. C. said, "Yeah. The window's close to the ground so he wouldn't of gotten that hurt."

Lelouch replied, "You're harsh in the best way possible. Thank you for saving my secret identity."

C. C. asked, "Will you be more mature from now on?"

Lelouch said, "Yes. I'm going to use syrup to clean up my mask next time."

C. C. smiled and said, "Let me clean your mask from now on."