Lelouch Vi Brittania, the Demon Emperor

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Chapter 1: The End of an Era

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The free world died in a moment with an explosion and a single speech on the summer of 2018, a.t.b. No one ever wanted to believe, nor wanted to believe, that someone could ever achieve what was once thought of as impossible. But, in a moment, with one explosion, and one speech, it was done. One man had the world under his thumb.

"Entire world, hear my proclamation!" the usurper ruler of Brittania announced from the Damocles satellite, "I am Lelouch Vi Brittania, emperor of the Holy Brittanian Empire and your ONLY ruler!"

The entire world's attention was called on the sneering face of the demon. Everyone was silent, waiting in fear to hear his words.

"Schneizal has surrendered to me. As a result, I am in control of both the Damocles and the FLEIJA weapons, and even the Black Knights no longer possess the strength to oppose me now. If anyone dares to resist my supreme authority, they shall know the devastating power of the FLEIJAs. Those who could challenge my military rule no longer exist. Yes, from this day, from this moment forward, the world belongs to me!"

A loud cry of despair resounded throughout the world as its citizens felt the last bit of their freedom being torn from them by the tyrannical emperor. The terrible realization that the world everyone once knew had disappeared dawned upon the people. Those who would protest simply muttered, no one dared to speak up.

"Lelouch Vi Brittania commands you, obey me subjects, OBEY ME WORLD!"

Chants from the newly crowned emperor's brainwashed soldiers burst through the silence. "All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch!"

Most of the Black Knights and their allies simply lost the will to fight, either killing themselves or allowing themselves to be captured or killed. Those who continued were quickly outnumbered and subdued. The battle was over, injustice and oppression had won.

All nations from that point forward were nonexistent; any nationality other than Brittanian was no longer valid. From the ashes of the old world rose the new one, ruled by the one and only Demon Emperor.

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(3 weeks after the Damocles incident)

The leaders of the resistance against Brittania sat in cold cells, heads hung low in defeat. Three weeks after their defeat and it was still difficult to accept their loss at the hands of their old leader.

"How… how could this have happened," Ohgi droned, staring at the hard concrete floor of his cell. "If there truly is any justice in the world, how could this have happened?"

Tamaki gritted his teeth angrily and shouted at the top of his lungs, "You're a coward Lelouch, you hear me? This isn't over yet, the good guys always win!"

"Give it a rest, Tamaki," Rakshata said as she massaged the sides of her temples, "It's over. We had all the right motives and goals, but when it came down to it, we were simply outplayed."

"We weren't outplayed! The deck was rigged from the start!" Tamaki protested, "He only one because of that damned Geass!"

Li Xinke nodded solemnly in agreement. "True, if it were not for that power our chances of winning would have been exponentially higher."

"It wouldn't have mattered."

All the prisoners looked over to Kallen, who had, up until that moment, been sitting in a corner alone, completely silent. "Like it or not, Lelouch is a genius," she said, her voice devoid from any detectable emotion, "he could have won even if it weren't for the Geass and that witch." She didn't know if he would have attempted his overthrow, though; if it weren't for C.C. giving him his power. Kallen soon became unwilling to accept that Zero, the one she idolized the most, was truly this demon on the throne.

'Yes,' she thought, 'it was the witch's fault. Lelouch, no Zero, had just fallen victim to the power the temptress had given him.' Kallen vowed to destroy the green haired witch for corrupting what could have been Japan's liberation.

"I should have captured her, held her hostage, done something," Kaguya sighed, thinking back to her confrontation with C.C. before the fateful explosion.

"The traitorous knight, Suzaku Kururugi has reportedly been killed. Aren't you going to beg for your life, for his sake at least?"

Much to Kaguya's frustration, the witch simply smiled back at her smugly and responded, "Kaguya, you never knew Lelouch's true face until recently, isn't that right?"

The young princess frowned, trying to figure out why the witch was able to keep so calm in her situation. "What of it?"

"Well in spite of that, you still understood a bit of his true nature, so you're obviously a very kind young woman."

'What is she playing at?' Kaguya wondered as she studied the witch carefully, 'is she trying to flatter me? Is this her way of asking for mercy?' Suddenly, a blinding pink light filled her vision, almost blinding her temporarily. Then, she looked up in horror as she heard Lelouch's proclamation.

After his speech was over, Kaguya fell to her knees, tears flooding from her eyes as thousands of Brittanian knightmares descended upon her and the other Black Knights. The last thing she saw before her capture was the witch's infuriatingly smug smile.

Kaguya clenched her fists, imagining C.C.'s same smiling face. "I should have tied bricks to her legs and dropped her in the ocean the moment I saw her!"

"Nothing we can do about it now," Lloyd said, "if Emperor Lelouch is any bit as cruel as his father, which I assume he is, then you all won't be leaving here anytime soon."

"'You all'? What to you mean, 'You All'? You're just as guilty as we are!" Gino exclaimed, glaring at the crazy earl.

Lloyd chuckled playfully, much to everyone's annoyance, and explained, "I will most likely be released to work under Emperor Lelouch, probably as one of his Geass mind slaves, Nina will definitely be released for the continuation of FLEIJA research, and as for Ms. Nunnally…"

Everyone turned their attention to the tyrant's sister, who was still curled up, quietly crying to herself. No one could believe that Lelouch had turned his back on the sister he claimed to love more than anything. Just the sight of her innocent cries of despair caused a wave of unrest and anger amongst the rebel leaders.

"Nunnally," Nina attempted to move over to comfort her, but was quickly blocked by Kent Sugiyama.

"Don't go near her!" he shouted at the petite scientist, "It's partly your fault that you lost anyways!"

Nina quickly backed off as both Tamaki and Gino joined their comrade. "He's right," Tamaki snarled, "You made the device that he used to counter our FLEIJA, didn't you? If it weren't for you, he never would have gotten the Damocles!"

"Quiet!" Dr. Chawla finally yelled, "You're all making my headache even worse!" Tamaki quickly became silent, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Finally. Now, as I said before, what's done is done. The only thing we can do is put our trust in our teammates on the outside."

"Hah, you all do what you want! My pass to freedom is coming right now," he chuckled, pointing to a group of Brittanian guards walking towards their prison cells.

Everyone cursed the earl under their breaths as the guards approached his cell and unlocked it. "The emperor wishes to see you, Dr. Asplund," one stated as he handcuffed the scientist and escorted him out of his cell. Another guard followed suit and removed Cécile as well.

"Let's see if all my predictions were correct, now," Dr. Asplund said as the guards approached the other cells.

"The emperor also wishes to see Ms. Nina Einstein, Mr. Kaname Ohgi, Mr. Kyoshiro Todoh, and Ms. Kallen Kozuki," the guard stated gruffly as he unlocked the door, "everyone else move to the other side of the room. If you do not cooperate, we have permission to execute you on site."

Reluctantly, everyone but the names called shifted to the other side of the cell. "Well I was pretty close," Lloyd sighed as the guards secured Nina, Ohgi, Todoh, and Kallen. All four shot him death glares, effectively shutting the nutty scientist up.

"What is it that his highness wishes from us?" Ohgi asked, making sure to emphasize the sarcasm dripping from every syllable of 'his highness'.

The guard escorting him gave him a smack on the back of his head with the butt of his gun and warned Ohgi, "Hold your tongue, Eleven. You will speak of the emperor with respect."

"Just keep quiet," Nina hissed, eyeing the trigger-happy guards nervously.

Ohgi abided reluctantly, not for the rest of the group, but for his love and unborn child. He was determined to see Villeta again, no matter what it took.

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(The Emperor's chambers)

Lelouch stood over C.C. as she lay sprawled out on his bed, sloppily polishing off her last slice of pizza.

"You truly are bold, getting tomato sauce all over the bed of your emperor," he chuckled, slightly amused by C.C.'s usual antics.

The green haired witch looked up at him and responded playfully, "What will you do, execute me, oh terrible demon emperor?"

"I just might," he said as he took a seat next to C.C. on his luxurious bed.

C.C. swallowed her last bite and moved over to Lelouch, seductively draping her arms over his shoulder. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as she whispered in his ear, "Tell you what, oh Lelouch the terrible, if you manage to find a creative enough way to execute me, I might just stop."

"Burned at the stake?"

C.C. laughed lightly as she fell back on the bed. "Come now, Lelouch, at least try."

Lelouch decided lay down with her and look up to the gilded ceiling overhead. He was tired, too tired to even continue his usual banter with his witch.

The façade of the demon emperor was a tiring one, and he often questioned if it was even worth it. Time and time again, he thought back to the moment after his father and mother's death, when he, Suzaku, and C.C. made their pact.

The three stood and watched as the last remnants of the 98th Emperor of Brittania and his wife disappeared into the world of C. Lelouch turned away from where his parents once stood as another chapter in his life came to a close. After all his efforts, he was only left with unsatisfying answers and an equally twisted reality.

"C.C.," he said, addressing the green haired witch, who stood only a few feet away, next to Suzaku. "I've come to a conclusion."

C.C. smiled at him amusedly. "Oh? Please, do tell."

"Freedom and peace cannot coexist, can they? When given the power of choice, human beings will always choose to fight one another, won't they?"

The witch's small smile dropped and was replaced by a serious look. "That seems to be the pattern."

Lelouch nodded solemnly. His worst fears were confirmed. "Then I suppose there really is only one logical conclusion. I need to become the new emperor of Brittania."

"W-what?!" Suzaku sputtered, staring at Lelouch as if his former friend had been driven even further off the deep end. "What do you mean? Wasn't your goal to destroy Brittania?"

"I've realized that simply destroying a powerful nation will not bring an end to war completely. As I'm sure C.C. can tell you, powerful nations have fallen before, but nothing has changed," Lelouch responded.

Suzaku now looked even more confused. "So what does this have to do with becoming emperor?"

"The problem isn't with Brittania, but with human nature itself," Lelouch explained, looking towards the heavens as he announced his revised plan, "The world, as it is, is ruled by people's desire for justice, or revenge, call it what you will. We are trapped in a reality where people live for the sole reason to destroy other people because those people destroyed others. One quest for revenge follows another, and thus the cycle becomes never ending. But, I will put an end to it. I will become emperor and use Brittania's army and the FLEIJA weapons to create a power strong enough to flatten entire nations in an instant." Lelouch raised his hands up dramatically towards the sky, raising his voice so that even God could hear him, "I will show the entire world the pain and suffering of war, then use that fear to rule over them and create an era of peace!"

Suzaku's eyes widened with fear as he heard Lelouch's ambitious plan. "You're insane!" he yelled, raising his sword threateningly, "First you kill Euphie, then you betray thousands, and now this?!"

"What would you do, then?!" Lelouch snapped back, turning suddenly towards Suzaku, "How would you bring about peace?"

"I…I…" Suzaku then came to a horrible realization: Lelouch was right. Even if Brittania fell, even if Japan was liberated, it would never put an end to all wars. More good people like Euphie and Nunnally would die and humanity will have learned nothing. His sworded fell to the ground with a clatter, his hands were too shaky to grip the handle.

Lelouch nodded triumphantly, then turned to C.C., who still had the same unreadable expression. "What about you? Will you join me?"

"Of course my warlock," she answered, "I will always be with you."

Lelouch took both of them by the hand and said, "From now on, we will shoulder the hatred of the world in the name of peace. We will rule under an iron fist to prevent humanity from making the same deadly mistakes again."

"Agreed," both C.C. and Suzaku responded.

"Having second thoughts?" C.C. asked as she and Lelouch lazed on the king sized bed.

Lelouch shook his head. "Of course not. I have committed to this path, and I will now continue down it no matter what the cost. Plus, at least I'm not alone, eh, my empress?"

C.C. moved slightly to kiss him lightly on the cheek and responded, "Of course not, my emperor. I will always be at your side."

Even though he did not admit it, C.C. was the one thing keeping Lelouch alive. While the entire world was changing around him, turning against him, the green haired witch remained his one constant, the person he could rely on no matter what.

Just as the two became more intimate, they heard a knock on the door. C.C., who was on top of Lelouch at the moment, let out an annoyed sigh and wondered out loud, "Who could that possibly be?"

Lelouch quickly pushed the witch off and straightened his robes before answering the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Suzaku standing at the door. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, you majesty," he apologized, his face a bit red, "but the prisoners you've requested to see are waiting for you in the throne room."

"Thank you, Suzaku. Wait with them, I will join you in a few minutes."

Suzaku nodded and gave a quick bow before excusing himself from the emperor's presence. Lelouch turned to C.C., who was still relaxing on the bed, and called to her, "We're needed in the throne room."

"Old friends, I presume?" she asked

Lelouch nodded. "This should be interesting," C.C. chuckled, "I wonder if any of them have forgiven you yet."

"Doubtful, seeing as they've all been in prison for the last couple of weeks."