DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

This is my first fic, so please tell me how I can improve!~

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 1 - Across Space and Time

(Tokyo, Japan, 25 Sept 2014, 23:54)

6:00

Nine looked away from the timer and out over the city from the vacant high-rise building, a solemn expression on his face. The city stretched out for miles upon miles below him, a sea of red brake-lights and confused civilians. Ever since his announcement to the world, the Japanese populace was in constant terror of the impending atomic bomb detonation. But that doesn't matter now, does it? Not even he could stop the timer, even if he wanted to.

5:07 , 5:06 , 5:05…

The digital clock ticked down on his phone. Seconds, racing towards the future. He truly has no other option but this. The world must know about ATHENA, about the hell they put him, Twelve, Five, and all the other innocent children through, even if it means sending the Japanese archipelago back into the Stone Age.

3:17 , 3:16 , 3:15...

But at what cost? The destruction of the livelihood of a hundred million people? Annihilation of the past hundred years of Japan's progress into the Information Age? Complete alienation from everyone he knew and loved? Five immolated herself to save him, and Twelve, his brother, left him for that cheap, useless, pathetic, shallow, cowardly…

"ARRRGH!" roared Nine, as he threw his phone against the reinforced window. As it bounced off the window and onto the ground, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him, and he sagged against the wall, and on to the ground. He sat there, burned out from the emotional trauma of the recent weeks, before slowly picking up the timer, and resigning himself to stand up again.

2:23 , 2:22 , 2:21

But in the end, even Twelve's betrayal couldn't stop the course of time. Both he and Twelve going to die soon, anyway, courtesy of the countless drugs pumped into them by those bastards at ATHENA. But before that happens, the bomb will detonate. It was their greatest achievement together, stealing weapons-grade plutonium out from the noses of the reprocessing center and forging it into a viable weapon. Even the whole military might of Japan and America couldn't find them, and they sure as hell can't stop the weather balloon at such a high altitude. So why does he bother caring about what they've done?

0:45 , 0:44 , 0:43

So to hell with Lisa.

0:33

To hell with Twelve.

0:23

To hell with the sick geneticists at ATHENA who made me the monster I am.

0:13

"I have become death, destroyer of worlds." Isn't that what Oppenheimer said? How lonely an existence that must be, to have to be the one that commits such a horrible act as creating the deadliest weapon known to man. But, in that loneliness lies a terrible necessity.

0:09

Do you use evil to drive out evil, or do you abstain from action, never straying from good? In either case, no matter what you choose, evil remains.

0:05

So then, I must become evil myself, to bring the evil of this world to light!

0:03

0:02

Eyes focused only on the timer, Nine couldn't make out the faint cry of an impassioned 17-year-old pinkette calling out to him across the dimensional gap.

0:01

Nine closed his eyes.

0:00

The atomic bomb detonated, bathing Japan in a pale-blue aura as radiation was released up into the thermosphere, with a beautiful aurora becoming visible shortly thereafter.

Japan was covered by a massive electromagnetic pulse, knocking out all electronic systems in the entire archipelago. One hundred twenty-seven million Japanese looked up into the sky at that very moment, in awe of the terrifying power unleashed by one man.

However, no one remained in that high-rise to witness it.

XXX

(40,000 meters above Japan, aboard the Damocles, 27 July 2018, 20:44)

Schneizel el Britannia sprinted through the hallway to the auxiliary hangar as fast as he could, with his loyal aide Kanon Maldini in tow. His brother, that damned Lelouch, couldn't just die quietly.

No matter. Once he reached the plane, the Damocles would self-destruct, erasing Lelouch and his Geass from the face of this earth, like those incompetent "Black Knights" miserably failed to do aboard the Ikaruga. Finally inside the vessel, he just had to...

The communications screen came to life, and Schneizel's stomach dropped.

"I've been waiting for you, Schneizel."

...Fuck.

Noticing the guards closing in behind the plane with eerily vacant expressions, Schneizel contemplated for a moment, endless possibilities flashing through his terrifying mind, before his shoulders sagged and he exhaled, defeated.

"I suppose this means you have me in checkmate."

XX

"...Human nature is why I chose geass, and to wear a mask."

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe..." spoke an unfamiliar voice.

What the hell?

I'm hearing things.

"Lelouch, you're contradicting yourself. You, who continually deny the will of others, are standing here before us affirming the will of humanity. That's enough. Kill me now and be…"

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call..."

"Who the hell is that?" thundered Schneizel, sick of the high pitched girl's voice echoing in his head during his final moments.

"Never mind...Anyway, get it over with Lelouch, and..."

But Lelouch on screen did not react at all.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as confusion, shock, anger, and finally cold realization shone across Schneizel's face. A frightening possibility flashed across his mind, and he realized

1. Lelouch didn't react at all to a very noticeable outburst, and kept talking almost as if

2. He was a recording, which was one of his most famous strategies, coupled with the fact that

3. Lelouch has a mind-control ability that requires eye contact.

With all of that considered, the only reason why Lelouch would need to divert his attention would be...

Schneizel inhaled sharply as the sickening realization hit him.

He never intended to kill me at all!

"And that's how I came to my decision." started Lelouch from behind him.

"I give you the gift of the words, 'You shall..."

"Bastard!" roared an enraged Schneizel, throwing the slim Lelouch against the wall with every ounce of muscle within his towering 6'7 frame. He moved to draw his weapon to kill the collapsed Britannian Emperor, seething with a terrifying anger.

Looking up in shock, Lelouch frantically tried to utter, "Lelouch vi Britannia commands y…"

BANG!

Schneizel's bullet entered his head before he had any chance to complete his order, causing the Demon Emperor to fall to the ground, slumping against the world.

Looking around with cold eyes, Schneizel assessed the situation before him.

Finally, Lelouch was dead. No person on Earth stood capable of defeating his genius mind now. Yet, something was still nagging at the back of his head.

The self-destruct timer!

His light-purple eyes flashed with recognition, as he realized that the Damocles mainframe, receiving no counter-order, would have auto-detonated a FLEIJA within the central firing tube!

Frantically scrambling in his pocket for the timer, he pulled out the interface as rapidly as he could.

0:01

0:00

Suddenly, Schneizel felt an intense wave of cold dread wash over him. Having overseen all the tests of that girl's weapon, he was all too familiar with the devastating explosion that was sure to follow.

"Kanon...forgive me..."

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

XXX

(Gunsmoke, Oasis 250 Miles Outside LR, Far Future)

Two brothers stood, facing each other, with plasma weapons extruding from each of their right arms, ready to annihilate the area before them.

"I guess I can't talk sense into you, huh…" muttered the bulkier, white-haired brother

"Yeah, I've already made my decision." replied the lankier, spiky blond-haired one.

"You're wrong, Vash." growled the white-haired brother, charging his Angel Arm.

"Knives, I will not repeat my mistakes!" roared the other, as the both of them simultaneously fired.

The two beams of pure destructive energy extended out from the twisted, flesh-like extensions of each's forearm, forming a sphere of impregnable force where they met, microseconds later. The brothers, Knives, and Vash, channeled all of their strength into their weapons, yet they were both trapped in a deadlock with the other, perfectly matched. The sphere kept expanding under the pressure, encompassing the two of them in a white radiance before ultimately detonating, unleashing a destructive pressure wave.

When the smoke cleared, both brothers remained standing opposite each other, exhausted, in a 200-meter crater. Unable to maintain their Angel Arms any further, the right arm of each returned to a mundane, naked state, the blast having disintegrated their sleeves. Out of breath, they both stood stationary, panting, before Vash fired.

Click.

With no bullets remaining in the chamber, the younger brother's resolve wavered ever briefly, and he collapsed to the ground.

With a demonic grin, Knives advanced slowly, destroying Vash's shoulders and kneecaps with four consecutive bullets, immobilizing him on the crater floor. With a powerful kick, Knives knocked Vash away, laying the humanoid typhoon out on his back.

"It shouldn't have come to this, Vash…"

"..."

"You could've joined me. You were my little brother, Vash!"

"...were…?" spat Vash, coughing up blood at the enormous effort.

"You rejected my world for the last time. Now, you'll pay the price."

"...Rem…"

"Don't speak that name around me, bastard!" roared Knives, kicking the broken Vash once again.

"Now, Vash…"

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe"

"The hell?" questioned Knives, an evident look of confusion on his face.

"...Now, Vash, let me end this hundred-year charade, and…"

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call…"

A flash of anger appeared in Knives' eyes, before being replaced with his signature terrifying tranquil fury.

Turning away from Vash, and with a cold edge within his deep voice, Knives snarled, "Where are you, you insolent spider!"

Vash felt his blood run cold at the thought of another human being in the crater.

"NO! RUN!" he shouted with his remaining strength. Even at the end of his life, he couldn't bear to let a human die again, especially because of him.

"I'll grind you to dust!" roared an enraged Knives, unable to detect the origin of the offending voice.

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

"!"

And with that, a green portal opened up behind Knives, pulling him with extreme force towards its center.

With a shocked expression on his face, Knives fell through reality and disappeared from Gunsmoke forevermore.

"Knives? KNIVES!"

No... He...he promised. He promised Rem he'd take care of Knives. But now...even though he was a genocidal, cruel maniac with an irreparably twisted way of thinking, that didn't mean he deserved to die.

"KNIVES!…knives...Nii-san..."

Letting out a gut-wrenching wail, Vash curled into a ball and cried for his brother.

XXX

(Hell's Gate, Japan, 25 December 2009, 00:00)

"Don't erase them!"

"They're my memories! Don't erase them!" screamed Suou Pavlichenko. Hate coursed through her, refined from all of the pain and death she witnessed over the past 2 weeks, and all directed at the existence that took her life away by shattering her meteorite core. In defiance of the god of calamity before her, she raised the barrel of her PTRD, with tears streaming down her face, finger pulling down on the trigger...

But for some reason, Hei stopped her. He didn't know if it was out of love for Yin, or to keep Suou from having to take a life in her final moments, but he did. Gently pulling the barrel of the massive antitank rifle down, Hei felt Suou relax in his arms. The rifle disintegrating before her, as she no longer possessed any strength to maintain its form.

Defeated, Suou sunk to the ground, a sad smile forming on her face as Hei wrapped his arms around her.

"Wh...where am I going next?"

"We'll be together forever, right?"

"We'll...continue our journey...again...right?"

"Yeah, that's right...", Hei softly whispered back.

"Liar…"

"It's not a lie, Suou….I will always be by your side..", spoke Hei, cracks appearing in his voice as he held Suou's face next to his chest.

"Hei…" murmured Suou, her eyes closing, as she soon felt nothing at all.

Hei felt the gate particles he previously forced in her body flowing back into him, and as her star fell, his re-emerged. A soft smile emerged on his face as he felt his sister's molecular presence return, fusing within of him once again.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe..."

Strange. That voice…

No, Amber is dead. She sacrificed herself to allow me to destroy the Saturn Ring, and save our kind.

Shrugging aside the thought, Hei returned his focus to the situation before him. Gently, he lay Suou's corpse beside July's, fixing her hair one last time. Turning around, he exhaled slowly, allowing his emotions to fade.

With his emotional attachments at last laid to rest, he slowly pulled out a certain mask from his back left pocket, still stained with blood from his fight with Wei three years prior. He knew it represented who he truly was, the legendary, feared Black Reaper that terrorized the world those years ago. But he grew weak, too weak to bear that burden anymore, and cast the mask aside. But now...now, he was ready.

As he felt its familiar contours bind against his rough skin, Hei took up the mantle of the Black Reaper once more, a cruel smile appearing as he allowed his power to rush through his veins. Electricity coursing through his fingertips, he slowly walked towards the exit of Hell's gate.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call…"

Hei stopped suddenly.

No, dammit. It's. Not. Her.

Just the gate. That's all it can be.

But what is this feeling…?

Keep walking, Hei. Just keep...

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

A massive green wormhole appeared before him, absorbing the nearby material of the gate into its core, expanding at a terrifyingly rapid rate.

"!"

"Hei!" cried out Izanami, attempting to drag him from the edge of the wormhole with her psychokinetic abilities.

Yet, not even the powers of a God could break Hei out of the event horizon, and he fell deeper and deeper into the void, vanishing without a trace.

X

Looking up into the night sky from within the gate, Kirihara Misaki saw BK201's star outshine the moon, growing brighter and brighter until suddenly...

It simply vanished.

"Hei...HEI!"

Misaki sank to her knees, as she knew the only man she ever truly loved was gone.

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic)

It was the day of the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual, and Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Vallière was understandably nervous. For her entire life, Louise had never been able to cast a single spell successfully. Mocked by her peers, teachers, and even her family as a "Zero", her whole life as a noble had been nothing but constant headache and sadness. But today, she would change all of that.

She wouldn't just succeed with her spell. By the Founder, she'd summon the strongest, most powerful familiar in the world, who'd protect her with its life. All of the other students would look up to her and her companion with fear and awe, and even Eleanor would be forced to pay her respects. Yes...Yes...I can do it!

"...Louise?" asked a certain well-endowed fire mage, who was evidently concerned at the former's strange behavior.

"...ah...Ah?!" stammered Louise, cheeks beet-red after realizing she said that monologue out loud.

The stunned silence of the students immediately turned into raucous laughter, which only served to deepen Louise's humiliation further.

"She's gone off the deep end!"

"Of course! If she fails this, she isn't even fit to be called a noble anymore! Not like she ever was!"

"Just what we'd expect from our Zero!"

With the noise piling up on her, combined with the pressures from the whole ordeal building upon her, Louise was just about to break down, when a savior intervened on her behalf.

"Quiet, quiet everyone! Quiet! This is a sacred ritual passed down by Founder Brimir himself! Show some respect!" Professor Colbert angrily shouted at the students, finally quieting them down enough to begin the ritual.

Louise, finally free from the scorn of her classmates, if albeit temporarily, shot Colbert a silent "thank you" - Colbert simply returned a knowing smile.

"Now that everyone's settled down….Let's begin!"

The crowd roared with cheers, Louise momentarily forgotten, as the prospect of their very own familiar captured their minds once more.

"Ms. von Zerbst, if you please?" spoke Colbert, in a tone of scholarly importance.

The large-chested fire-mage slowly made her way towards the podium amid cheering from the male section of the crowd. Flipping her hair, she expertly recited the summoning chant:

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

A burst of flame appeared in the summoning area, and suddenly a massive flame-lizard came into being! The crowd gasped in admiration of the magnificent beast before them, and applauded loudly.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar!" exclaimed Kirche, finalizing the contract by kissing the lizard, and binding it to herself.

"Marvelously done, Ms. von Zerbst! This is an ideal summoning ritual, from the incantation to the magic application, finishing with an impeccable finalization of the contract. Take notes, students! Now, let's see...Tabitha?"

XX

As the afternoon wore on, every student was able to successfully summon some sort of familiar or another, from Kirche's flame lizard, to Guiche Gramont's giant mole, to Tabitha's absolutely massive rhyme dragon. The time had come, at last, for Louise to summon her familiar.

"What do you think's gonna happen?"

"Obviously another explosion! Don't you remember who she is?"

"How could I forget! She's the Zero!"

The jeering was almost enough to break her resolve again, yet Colbert was able to come in and stop the students with some...choice words.

"...Louise, you may begin."

"Thank you, professor," replied Louise, steeling her resolve as she made the slow walk up to the summoning platform. Heart pounding in her ears, she attempted to relax her body. C'mon Louise, you got this, you can do this. C'mon girl!

Thankfully, nobody mentioned to Louise that she was speaking out loud yet again, for fear of divine retribution from a certain professor.

Ascending to the platform, the petite pink-haired noble gathered all of her strength, and with all her might, spoke.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

With her declaration, everyone held their collective breaths, to witness whatever monstrous side-effect Louise's spell would have. But...there was nothing.

No explosion, or familiar in sight. Nothing, really, to discern that anything of any importance had happened at all!

The students remained silent, still fearful of Colbert coming down on them with the wrath of Brimir lest they speak out.

"Professor...may I try again?" asked Louise in a weak voice, unable to believe her failure to cast even the most simple of magic.

"...Yes, Louise. You may try again."

"Thank you professor…" trailed Louise. Vigor renewed, she set her sights back on the summoning platform, and with newly-found conviction, spoke the incantation.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

"..."

Still nothing.

One of the more brash students dared to let out a snort and Louise's failure, but his actions promptly ceased when faced with Colbert's murderous glare. Still, one had to admit, this was certainly unprecedented. Failing the ritual! Twice! It was simply inconceivable.

Of course, even though Louise was exhausted after two consecutive failed spellcasts, she still held her head high, even though her seemingly-stoic exterior was beginning to crack under all of the pressure.

"...Professor...Colbert...may I try again?" asked Louise with a much quieter, meeker tone than earlier. Concerned with Louise's falling soul power, but unwilling to effectively condemn her to a housewife's life just yet, he reluctantly gave in.

"...Yes...Louise. Try again."

"My servant that exists...somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my...call, in the name of the great Five...Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon...a familiar!"

With a burning desire to succeed, Louise poured her soul energy into the spell again. Having to gasp for air between breaths, she still tried her hardest to complete the ritual, in a vain attempt to bring at least some sort of object and complete the ritual. But alas, nothing happened.

With tears streaming down her face, in a quavering voice, Louise pleaded, "...Profes...sor...Colb…"

"Stop this, Louise! Look at yourself! Do you want to die!" cried Kirche, without the faintest trace of her former arrogance. Whenever a mage cast a spell, they used energy from their own soul. The more experienced the mage, the more the soul became acclimated to its use, increasing its capacity to cast magic. Such was why even the most talented mages still had to hone their skills for years before being able to truly wield Brimir's power to its true extent. But concerning someone like Louise, who had never successfully cast a spell before, she had to be near her absolute limit!

"...'rofess…srrr...colb…" choked out Louise, between breaths and sobs. She couldn't fail! Not now! Not when she had so much on the line! Just one more chance! Please, Founder! Just one more!

Colbert was incredibly torn himself. On one hand, he had an utmost obligation to protect his students from harm, especially magical overexertion. However, on the flip side, magic is exponentially empowered when coupled with strong emotions, especially fear and anger. If Louise would have any chance, any chance at all of becoming a mage and having a future, this would be it.

With a reluctant sigh, he made his decision.

"This is your last opportunity, Louise.", he spoke in a firm voice.

A smile came across the pinkette's face, as she wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, and calmed down as much as she could. If she wanted a familiar, no matter what it was, she would get one, Founder be damned! With her overwhelming willpower, she almost felt herself becoming ethereal, and reached out with her soul and pulled.

With the last vestiges of her accumulated soul-power gathered and ready to be unleashed, Louise calmed herself, then recited the incantation perfectly, word for word. Powered by the drive in her heart to succeed, she truly gave this final attempt her all.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

Nothing appeared to happen at first. Some other students even started to weep, empathizing with Louise's emotional struggle happening right before their eyes. But the stillness was not to last.

A massive pressure wave expanded from the circle, forcing the air out with incredible speed away from the center of the summoning platform. Filled with anticipation, all of the students edged forward to see exactly what Louise had done to bring about such an interesting effect!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Four massive explosions rang out almost simultaneously, as all the onlookers were thrown flat on to the ground, in awe at the power that Louise was able to conjure out of thin air!

Louise's face fell, knowing all too often that the explosions signified a catastrophic failure of the worst kind. Well, she had asked for a sign, and she got one alright. It just wasn't meant to be, herself as a mage. Hopefully, whatever cheap noble her mother marries her off to will at least be kind to her...

Kirche put her arm around Louise's shoulder, pulling her into a soft hug.

"I'm sorry, Louise…" she spoke in a genuine tone. Even though their families were sworn rivals, Kirche was still compassionate enough to comfort Louise in such devastating circumstances.

"I…"

Louise was interrupted in her response, as she felt a beam of ice-cold killing intent lock on to her from within the cloud. She pulled herself out of Kirche embrace, slowly turned around to look at the summoning platform, and gasped as the smoke cleared.

There were four humans...or at least, they looked like humans.

One was a muscular, tall man wearing all black, a bloody mask, and wielding a knife she'd never seen the likes of before.

Another was an absolutely massive noble, with blond hair, white gloves, and light-purple eyes carefully analyzing her with a statistical intrigue.

The third was a commoner who looked about her age, but with tortured eyes, cold as ice that held a depth well beyond his years.

The final human was a muscled, white-haired thing, in strange armor wielding a huge black firearm, whose angry, hateful killing intent she could feel from all the way across the courtyard.

Louise, as well as the rest of the students, gaped in shock at the incredible situation before them, unable to make a sound.

"Brimir help us…" silently pleaded Colbert.

XXX

Cleaned up on 8/30/18