AN: I just like to inform you all that this fanfic is based on Professor Image's prototype ZERO since he allowed me to adopt it as my own. In this fanfic, instead of C.C Lelouch found something else inside the poison gas canister.

Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or Prototype

Synthesis

10:00 am

Shinjuku Ghetto

Lelouch Lamperouge fell to the ground - groaning after his back slammed to the steel wall – deducing that the front vehicle might have fallen in some hole. He gently caressed the back of his neck in an attempt to ease the pain from the trauma before hearing the rear wheels attempt to unstick itself "It's useless. The entire truck must've fallen too. There's nothing he could do now but abandon the vehicle" the wheels continued to spin until the driver gave up. Moments later, Lelouch managed to get to his feet andwatched as a part of the truck he is in slid open, finally giving him a way out of this vehicle after being trapped while attempting to help its passengers when it crashed.

"Finally! A way out" Lelouch immediately seized this opportunityslowly walked towards. Escaping is the only thing present in his mind right now because if he's dead, who would take care of Nunnally? Sure there's Sayoko, Ruben or any of his friends to take his place but she'll be in great despair after losing the only relative she has.

As soon as he came into the view of outside, he expected freedom… only to see a Britannian soldier deliver a spinning kick at him. He fell to the ground… again before he was held in a powerful one-handed throat-grab.

"Enough mindless murder!" the soldier snarled as he tightened his grip on him.

"Wha? Wait, I'm…"Lelouch wasn't able to finish his statement as the grip became tighter than the last.

"Planning on using poison gas huh, stop trying to lie!" the soldier retorted.

"Get. Off. Me!" Lelouch snarled back, kicking the soldier, only for to be dodged easily.

Lelouch got back to his feet "First off I'm a Britannian, you could see it in my uniform" he said as he stepped in the light "And second I'm not here by choice"

The soldier seems to be petrified by his appearance "No way…"

"And if this is poison gas, the only one who could make it is Britannia mindless murder you say?" Lelouch raged at the mention of his former homeland, the source of his awful memories.

The soldier then did something Lelouch wasn't expecting.

"Lelouch…" the soldier uttered his name, causing the former prince to gasp. He then removed his helmet to show his face "It's me Suzaku"

"Y-You became a Britannian soldier" Lelouch was barely able to say that as he is shocked to see his friend after seven years.

"So? You're a…" Suzaku starts to speak only to be cut by Lelouch.

"No I'm not" he explained further "The truck crashed and I went to help it, then it drove off with me inside"

Suddenly the lights in the poison gas canister glowed blue as it opened, releasing a white smoke.

Acting immediately, Suzaku leapt towards Lelouch, enveloping his mouth with his palm. As soon as they feel to the ground, he immediately took out two gas masks; forcing one on Lelouch's mouth while the other to his own.

The sphere's four lids popped open, with a faint blue light emanating within. The two young men got up and instead seeing of poison gas, they saw something else.

It was a vial that is held just above a mysterious cylindrical device. Lelouch and Suzaku looked closer to see the vial's contents; it is a black liquid with a faint glowing blue within.

They walked towards the canister and felt a cold wind touch their skins, whatever this thing is - it has been kept at a very low temperature for a long duration.

"That's not poison gas" the Japanese boy muttered. If it was poison gas, there should've been a large tank inside to hold the gas itself.

"Definitely it isn't" Lelouch replied as he stared further at the mysterious object, he doesn't know but it seems that he's mesmerized by its presence, seemingly unaffected by the blue light it emits "What is this?" he getting curious by each passing second. He turned to his friend "Suzaku, be straight with me here, why is there a vial here inside the container instead of poison gas tank?"

Suzaku was caught off guard by the question "That's what the Royal guard said to us in the briefing"

There was a moment of silence as Lelouch digested those words in his mind.

"I see..." Lelouch frowned "But whatever it is, Britannia is not going to get their hands on this" he stretched his right hand and pulled the vial upwards from its holdings. He felt how cold it was. How long was it refrigerated?

As soon as it was removed, bright lights flashed, causing both Suzaku and Lelouch to cover their eyes.

"YOU FOOL! PUT THAT DOWN! IT'S VERY DANGEROUS!" the Royal Guard officer yelled while his men cocked their rifles at the two teenagers "AND WHAT IS A BRITANNIAN STUDENT LIKE YOU DOING HERE!?"

Suzaku hopped out of the truck and explained himself to the officer while Lelouch held the vial close to his body. Thoughts were running over the latter's head "The Royal Guard!? What are they doing here? Shouldn't they be guarding Clovis, and why would he deploy his men just retrieve this?" He looked back at the vial in his hand "He could've sent just a normal squad, unless..." he came to the conclusion that whatever this thing is, Clovis and his men are involved.

"You have no rights to question my orders you filthy eleven! Kill the terrorist!" the officer snarled, Lelouch and Suzaku froze at that order.

"B-B-But sir! He's not a terrorist, he's an innocent civilian caught in this mess" Suzaku's pleas were in vain since the officer answered with a sadistic smirk.

"You got some nerve to argue with me huh" the officer drew his pistol "If you wish to belay my order... THEN SO BE IT!" he quickly shot Suzaku at the unavoidable point-blank range, collapsing to his knees before he finally fell to the ground... Dead… at the hands of Britannians.

"SUZAKU!" Lelouch screamed in horror at his friend's dead body. His only friend was killed right in front of him.

With the disobedient eleven dealt with, the officer now focusses his attention at Lelouch "Any last words kid?"

Lelouch involuntarily step back, this is the end for him. Seven years he spent in Japan all comes to this, his oath to destroy Britannia in vain. His body is noticeably trembling in fear as he doesn't know what to do.

(Perspective Change)

Nagata Takeshi awoke from unconsciousness induced by the bullet wound inflicted by a pursuing Sutherland, immediately he heard a gunshot and a yell of a Japanese name. Peeking through the cracked window, he can see a group of Royal Guards were aiming their weapon at the trailer, at the part he opened.

"Someone must have found the capsule while I was out" he coughed up blood, spraying it at the entire door.

Knowing that he won't live, he made has given up all hope of Kallen finding him, but that doesn't mean he's going down alone.

"Any last words kid?" was the officer's question at the unknown individual.

"If I die, I'm going to take them with me" he looked at the self-destruct button just beside a picture of him and his family "Saki... Kinue..." those were the names of his wife and daughter respectively, a sad smile made its way to his face when he remembered their deaths when their home was destroyed by a Britannian bomber "I'm coming home"

"Death... To Britannia..." he reached for the button with his finger "Long live... Japan" the button was pressed and a curtain of fire enveloped him.

(Perspective Change)

*BOOM*

The truck and the canister exploded, sending a shockwave and a thick cloud of smoke to the royal guards, forcing them to shield their faces while Lelouch - being near to the canister when it explode - is blasted back within the trailer; his slamming to the steel wall, rendering him unconscious.

The entire ghetto was shaken by a large thundering shockwave; they would see a thick smoke towering over all infrastructures. The Britannian soldiers instantaneously became alert, going to their battle stance while the residents of the ghetto began to panic.

The guardsmen recovered, the smoke was clear giving them a view of the truck and the canister that were reduced into mere flaming scrap metal and that there were no sign of the Britannian student in the area.

"DAMMIT!" the officer yelled in frustration as he watches the burning vehicle before switching his sight his radio on. The prince would kill him for this but luckily he made up a story in his mind.

[Mission failed; terrorists destroyed the vehicle along with the cargo]

(Perspective Change)

"DESTROYED! AND YOU CALL YOURSELVES THE ROYAL GUARD!"

On the G-1's Bridge, General Bartley Asprius' raged at the guardsmen's incompetence. It was just simple; locate the cargo and secure it; it was very easy that even a fireteam could accomplish it. How could they lose the target?

Currently he and four other royal guards were at the tactical panel - monitoring the operation's progress and troop movement – when they received the report. Other than them there is, of course, Prince Clovis and a scientist wearing an unbuttoned lab coat standing beside him.

The scientist seemed to be calm regarding the current situation. It is highly probable that he's probably in his 50s given his facial features; his greyed butch cut hair and wrinkled face. The prince, on the other hand, was frowning at the moment the report came to the speakers.

[F-Forgive me my lord, but the vehicle was already in flames when we got here and there's no possible chance that the cargo would remain intact]

As the obese general continued his berating over the comm. channel, Clovis placed his fingers at his forehead, suddenly finding himself in absolute disappointment "How did this happen?" He questioned himself in the state of disbelief "Does this mean that Project Blacklight has been lost?" he asked Bartley.

"It would seem so your highness" the general reluctantly agreed.

Clovis felt himself sinking in the pit of despair and disappointment "Years of restless research and prodigious funding … All wasted in a single day"

This project started about 3 years ago when he was contacted by a member of the Imperial Family, requesting his irregulars to be stationed on this area to conduct their experiments. When he asked what the experiments are about, he revealed that they are engineering a potent chemical agent that he plans to utilize as a weapon. He asked about the benefits he would receive if he allowed them in, his half-sibling said that he would support his quest to the throne – causing the prince to agree on the deal without any thoughts of the consequences, going as far as giving heavy financial support to the project. After all, he desired to be the emperor of Britannia ever since his childhood and now he has the opportunity to achieve it.

To his credit, his self-pitying was met with the scientist's laugh.

This action infuriated Bartley "HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT HIS HIGHNESS' DESPAIR, YOU DISRESPECTFUL!-"

"BARTLEY!" Clovis snapped at his loyal servant, effectively silencing him before turning his attention to the scientist.

The scientist with them is none other than the leader of the irregulars sent here as well as the director of Project Blacklight itself. Their engineers transformed the large empty compartment underneath the Viceroy's Palace into an efficient science facility, where they conducted their experiments undisturbed. Clovis and his men were restricted from gaining entry since they deem the project extremely dangerous and that his royal privileges won't permit him any opened door.

"Why are you laughing? If you haven't heard me, Project Blacklight has just been lost" he uttered in a calm yet dangerous tone.

"You shouldn't worry your highness" the scientist directed his grey eyes at the prince before revealing something "Project Blacklight could not be destroyed that easily"

Clovis and Bartley looked rather confused. There was silence among the three until Clovis breaks it "What are you saying?"

"The fluid has a fair resistance to high temperatures; sure that it would evaporate to nearly nothing but if I could just recover even droplets, we could make another one… or even more" The scientist explained the facts of the project.

"But even if you said that the poisonous fluid is probably airborne right now-" Bartley is cut-off by the scientist's mocking stare.

"If vaporized, the gas won't be able to spread, the high radiation from the fires surrounding the canister would've trapped the gas, gradually evaporating the poison to nothing by harmless smoke" the scientist's further explanation left the general completely speechless; he was defeated, having nothing else to say.

"Even if the chemical weapon remained intact; this knowledge could get out, leading me to my disinheritance. Tell the homeland that we're carrying out an urban renewal" He stood away from the throne in order to relay a new objective "As Clovis, Third Prince of the Empire, I command you" he regally gestured his arm at the sight before him – the Shinjuku Ghetto "Destroy Shinjuku Ghetto! Leave no one alive!"

With that the G-1's bay doors were opened as it simultaneously launches the stored Knightmares, deploying them to the field. All stationed military forces that had surrounded the entire ghetto are now converging straight to the centre.

The massacre has begun.

(Perspective Change)

Lelouch opened his eyes weakly after being rendered unconscious by the explosion; he could feel his entire body being numb and his ears deaf. He tried to lift his head only for it to ache; groaning in pain was his response and placed his left hand at the pained area.

His senses became clearer, he saw fire all over the surroundings, feeling the radiation around him and... Something else; he feels his lower torso in intense pain; he lifted his head and his eyes widened in horror.

A large shrapnel made its way through his abdomen and then back; a large pool of blood formed underneath his body as a result. Fortunately, his spine wasn't hit evidenced when he felt his legs. His arm, on the other hand, was horribly mutilated. It was burnt, some muscles were torn apart exposing his bones.

The vial was still in his arm, but with the appearance of small large cracks; it's only a matter of time before the fragile container break into pieces – which would possibly kill him.

"A-Aargh!"

He groaned as he threw his head back at the pain he's feeling. It was unimaginably agonizing for any human being to experience. People would just kill themselves to spare them from any more pain… but not him.

"I… have to… live for… Nunnally" It was very difficult to speak as he slowly raises his spared left arm to grasp the shrapnel. He pulled it upward with all his strength but it was slow and that as he pulled, blood was spraying out of the wound.

"Eeeeaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgh" he cried at the agony of removing the shard. The process was slow and he constantly stops.

Then he stopped, the shard not even making it half-way. His arm collapsed at the ground. He had given up, there's no hope for him anymore. Even if he succeeded in removing the shrapnel he would bled to death since there's no hospital near the ghettos. This is the end for him, his destiny and his fate. He will now join his mother's lingering soul in the afterlife along with the others. Sadly he would abandon Nunnally to this cruel and unforgiving world as a prey for the strong – a disposable tool.

When all hope seemed to be lost – that was when the unexpected happen.

Lelouch felt something shake in his right hand even though he couldn't move it. He looked and saw that it was the vial, its cracks were becoming bigger and bigger until…

*CRACK*

It shattered – its fluidic contents splattered all over his hand. It took mere moments to spread into a small pool of black and blue.

Just as Lelouch is about to turn his head back – he noticed something in the pool. Its blue glow was flickering.

"That's weird" was all he could say in his final moments; his voice was faint as a result of his weakened body "What is this thing anyway?" his statement was answered when something happened.

Multiple thin black lines were rising from the puddle, intertwining with the others to form larger ones. Lelouch froze in fear; his heart beats so fast that his body was already shaking.

The intertwining has been completed and nine black tendrils have been formed; blue bioluminescent glow noticeable in some areas. At the tip of the tendrils were curved metal-like blades aimed at… him.

Lelouch gasped at the realization but before he could even react, the tendrils dived fast and struck different parts of his torso, spraying blood from the new wounds. His body convulsed as he felt these things dig and spread deep within his body. His eyes were changing in coloration, the violet irises are being slowly dominated by a blue glow originating from the pupils. The puddle was shrinking to the tendril's base as it continues to insert itself at him.

As he continued to convulse, Lelouch felt his consciousness quickly slipping away from his mental grasp. His eye-lids were starting to narrow until he gave in, finally accepting what he could presume as his demise. At the same time, all tendrils finally dug themselves deep within the unconscious body. The next thing that happened is that small tendrils arose from his wound; they wrapped themselves around the object and lifted it with such ease before gently placing it beside the body. The tendrils retracted back and sealed the wound by intertwining with other tendrils; the same thing happened to the arm, multiple tendrils appeared and intertwined with each other.

As the body lay there, the surroundings continue to burn in fire as the truck finally collapsed.

(Perspective Change)

An hour later

"Report!" Bartley ordered at the comm. link as he surveyed the tactical panel with an unreadable expression.

It's been an hour since they began the purge. No eleven can be seen alive here, only dead ones lying on the streets in the pool made of their own blood. But they do met minimal resistance from a one-armed Glasgow and a group of guerrillas using man-sized automatic weapons that are ineffective against Knightmare Frames. The Glasgow's pilot was very skilled as the knights could describe but they managed to ambush the over-the-hill Knightmare and destroyed it. Unfortunately, the pilot was able to eject on time; far away from the ambush site to be able to disappear quickly.

They have exterminated approximately 99.5% of the ghetto population, all Knightmares and vehicles halted while infantries advanced further to handle the survivors.

[Section 0-1, clear]

[Section 0-2, clear]

[Section 0-3, clear]

[Section 0-4, clear]

[Section 0-5, clear]

[Section 0-6] a door was kicked opened and was followed by the sound of gunfire mixed with the screams of elevens were heard [Also clear]

Satisfied with the reports, Bartley ordered them to standby before turning to Prince Clovis, who is having the same expression as him.

"The anonymity of Project Blacklight is secured; cover this incident as a terrorist attack. We cannot allow anyone to know what really happened here. Bartley, kindly contact Diethard Reid and tell him to meet at us the Viceroy's Palace" Clovis relayed the new instruction to Bartley before turning to the scientist.

"On the other hand, you will stay here to collect whatever is left of the samples. A squad of soldiers would stay here for your own protection" he dictated.

The scientist bowed to the royal figure "Yes your highness" before he walked towards the exit. As soon as he stepped out of the bridge, a smirk made its way to his lips.

"Foolish prince. Your heavy financing accelerated our progress but you will not gain any of it"

What Clovis doesn't know is that these irregulars weren't engineering any chemical agent, but experimental bio-weapon's instead. They were aiming to create a living superweapon by the orders of their sponsor - a prince of the empire.

(Perspective Change)

The truck and its trailer were reduced into nothing but a large pile of burnt scrap metal by the fire that was recently extinguished evidenced by the smoke coming from the rubble. The surroundings were left unchanged with the exception of small shrapnel scattered all across the floor while silence reigned unopposed as a by any sound.

Until now…

Somewhere at the debris, a large pile of metal jolted upwards before a man and his upper body slowly arose from the rubble; he was naked and gasping for air.

This man is none other than Lelouch.

"What happened?" Lelouch thought as he placed a hand at his head. His body feels very weak to even stand up while his mind was dazed evident by his narrow eyes. After regaining a little bit of focus, he realized his current situation "Wait a minute! These are the remains of the vehicle. The flames and the debris should have killed me! But how come I'm still alive? And… why am I naked?" upon looking at his naked physique, Lelouch became more bewildered. His arm that was mutilated and his abdomen that was impaled… both are in good condition.

"I suffered serious injuries. But why would it look like nothing happened"

That was when he remembered being stabbed by the tendrils that formed from the vial's contents, he felt them digging their way through his body as he convulsed and lose his consciousness.

"Whatever that thing is" he stands up; using his hands to assists his feet "It has something to do with my survival" finally he got up to his feet, he limped a few steps away from the rubble before collapsing to his knees and arms. He was weak. So weak that he could barely stand up. But this is an obstacle he must cross to return to Nunnally.

"I'm not…" he attempted to stand up despite the weight of his body "Giving up…" he managed to return to his feet.

Slowly, he hobbled away from the trailer's debris and started walking to the nearby exit. The task is extremely difficult given the small shards scattered on the floor and his weight trying to drag him down. Hopefully he could find some clothes, any clothes along the way rather than walk around naked.

Lelouch grunted as his feet started to feel weak again "Not again" he collapsed on all fours at the pool of water he's walking on. After panting for a few seconds, he gasped in horror and hurriedly staggered back upon looking at his eyes; his irises were azure rather than violet and it was unnaturally glowing.

After a few moments of relieving the horror, Lelouch crawled back to the puddle to confirm what he'd just seen.

"What happened to my eyes?" he thought in disbelief as he stared directly at his reflection. It was unnatural and spooky for him; his gentle violet eyes have been replaced by awe-inspiring blue "How did this happen?"

He slowly raised himself to his feet to resume walking "I'll mind this later. But first I need to get back to Ashford" he set aside the current problem on his eyes to focus on returning home safe.

He was about to move when he heard a voice from the nearby passageways.

"This is Doctor Ackerman, I'm at the wreckage. Standby until retrieval is complete"

It took Lelouch a blink of an eye to figure that someone's coming, probably one of his brother's subjects to retrieve any remaining samples of the supposed poison gas. He started panicking upon remembering that he wore no clothes, it is a great embarrassment for any person to be seen naked.

He looked down to his body "Dammit! Someone's approaching and I don't even have any clothes on. What am I going to-"the worry about his nakedness was responded when his skin instantly dissolved into a black-oozy matter before reshaping to his uniform.

"What the hell" Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise and was taken aback, just by thinking about his clothes his skin transformed into them in an instant. He brainstormed for a few moments before finally coming to the conclusion.

"The contents!" his body shook as the memories of the vial shattering and tendrils stabbing him played in his mind "it…changed my body into something. Something… very different"

Lelouch was too preoccupied by his thoughts to notice a flashlight being pointed at him.

Dr. Ackerman has just arrived at the wreckage where he would search the area for any remaining samples; he donned a full body hazmat suit for protection against the virus or any airborne contaminant. He thought that he would be alone until his flashlight caught a figure in the shadows.

"You there!" he shouted, snapping the boy from whatever is he thinking and gaining his attention "What is a Britannian student like you-" he gasped just as soon he noticed something different from the boy's eyes. It was blue; but unlike any ordinary eye color his was glowing unnaturally.

Instantly he knew why.

"Project Blacklight" he muttered in realization.

Lelouch eyed the hazmat-wearing doctor suspiciously when spoke.

"Project Blacklight?!" Lelouch repeated before taking a step towards the doctor "Is that what's in the vial?"

That was when Ackerman just came back to his senses "BOY! Stay where you are. You're coming with me to the lab" he draws the stun baton attached from his hip and activated it.

Seeing this, Lelouch stopped from moving "Answer my questions!" He roared, glaring at the approaching figure with a sparking stick "WHAT IS IT!? WHAT DID IT DO TO ME!?" he clenched his fists after his questions were just ignored.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO QUESTION ME ABOUT IT BOY! BUT WHATEVER IT IS YOUR NOW PART OF IT"

As soon as the doctor got close enough, he heaved the baton above him before driving it down towards the boy.

Fortunately for Lelouch, he was fast enough to react despite his weakened body. He grabbed the scientist's wrist to block the attack before thrusting his left arm at his chest. To his shock, his arm punched right through; erupting from his back.

The scientist vomited blood at the glass visor in his face before tendrils arose from Lelouch's body and struck the doctor in different areas, quickly reducing him into a red-fleshy matter.

Lelouch could only look in horror while his body absorbs the melted scientist. He felt his strength returning as he continued to absorb the doctor.

Suddenly, his head started to ache as different visions started flashing in his head, shifting from place to place and person to person as it progressed.

"To any intern present allow me to introduce myself; I am Doctor Augustus Ackerman, the head of Project Blacklight. Our purpose is to secretly engineer biological weaponries for our military forces"

"The Virus enters, re-purposes and changes the cell. The new cell replicates with formerly dormant non-encoding regions active, causing drastic biological changes"

"It's beautiful. It kept changing. It was the single most complicated viral structure I had ever seen. All in all, I made good time"

"The DX-9903 viral strain is changing and evolving at a rapid pace. It's war-dialling at a genetic level. It's becoming something else."

"The viral strain is shown to be highly adaptable; it reshapes and repurposes the cell in response to stimuli. These cells could harden themselves, be elastic and even absorb and assimilate any non-infected or infected cells, incorporating the DNA and beneficial traits and manifesting it in a matter of moments. Its capabilities are theoretically infinite"

Lelouch returned back to his senses, gasping for air after all those memories he saw.

"So that's what this is all about… a bioweapon for Britannia" he summarised his recent discoveries "One of those memories said showed that the infected cells could absorb other cells and assimilate them, that must explain the incident with the doctor… I consumed him" he stared at the hand he used to end the scientist's life

Formerly, he was scared and confused. But now, he is calm and aware at the current situation.

"With this… I could obliterate Britannia. I could avenge my mother and Suzaku's death. I could make a peaceful world for Nunnally" he balled the hand into a fist

"But first must learn more about this virus" he walked towards the pool of water where he saw his changed eyes. He looked at his own reflection "If my skin could copy my uniform. Maybe it's possible if I could do the same to the scientist. Only this time, I'm mimicking his entire body" at his will, his body reshaped into that of the scientist.

"It worked" his voice was not his, but that of the scientist "Even the voice is perfectly imitated" he spoke again with the doctor's voice "Everything I need to know about this virus is in the facility beneath the Viceroy's Palace. The remaining soldiers would bring me there" a smile made its way to his face as he recalled all of the doctor's memories, including his conversation with his brother, Clovis.

Lelouch activated the radio strapped to his shoulder "This is Doctor Ackerman. Recovery is complete, returning to your location now" h

[Roger that Doc. We'll be waiting for you] replied the soldier in the radio, completely unaware of what happened like the rest of his men.

Lelouch deactivated the radio and walked to the tunnel's entrance. Behind the glass visor, his grey eyes shifted to its glowing azure colour are accompanied by his smiling lips.

To Britannia, this expression signifies the beginning of its end.

AN: If you have questions please ask. I would like to answer them