"Geass: the power of the Kings. Under Emperor Charles zi Britannia it became a weapon, meant to destroy the will of humanity as he dragged it back into the past. In the hands of Lelouch vi Britannia it gave him the power of absolute obedience, allowing him to control whomever he wished. Lelouch used the power of Geass to create a new world, one where his little sister Nunnally could live in freedom and safety. He created the Black Knights and the persona of Zero to achieve this goal, carving a path of deceit and blood in his wake. When the Black Knights turned on him Lelouch chose the path of Zero Requiem, which will forever remember him in history as the demon king of Britannia who slayed Charles and countless others in a claim for world domination under a tyrannical ruler. He was slain by his closest friend and ally Suzaku Kururugi, as part of their contract to eliminate war from the world. In the end he cast one final 'Geass' upon Suzaku: to maintain the persona of Zero, and discard his own happiness for the world's sake."
"Time continues to flow despite the will any person has against it, and as such five years have passed since the infamous Zero Requiem and the death of Lelouch vi Britannia the Demon King..."
"Oh crap, I'm gonna be late!" Shinji Akari shouted as he bolted out the door, toast stuck in his bite and his Ashford Academy jacket draped over his shoulders. He was buttoning his shirt as quickly as he could, having overslept long enough that he nearly forgot his backpack in the rush. Even though Ashford had become a multi-cultural school since the rise of Queen Nunnally vi Britannia and the subsequent peace treaty between Britannia and the United Federation of Nations, many Japanese families chose to keep their children at home rather than the expensive dorms. To most of the students it meant little more than a brisk walk or even a simple carpool if they lived far enough away, but for Shinji that meant hauling his ass to the academy as quickly as his legs could carry him. Usually his best friend Randolph Gillimer, who went by "Ryusei Gekido" at school, would drive out and pick him up if he needed the help. As things stood however Ryusei would've probably already gotten to class, and asking him to leave now would only make the both of them late for class. As Shinji pulled the gold-trimmed academy jacket on over his white shirt as was required of the boys during class hours, he dashed through the park that would shave a few minutes off his time to the academy so long as there weren't too many people around.
As Shinji blazed through the park he caught the glimpse of a young man not much older than himself sleeping on a park bench. The man wore tattered white clothes and used a shredded cape as a blanket to cover himself. It was obvious the man was in dire need of a haircut, as his raven hair threatened to entwine itself on the seat. Under the seat and invisible to almost everyone was a Britannian sword, its wing-like guard unmistakable in modern times. Shinji pushed his thoughts on the man aside for the moment, keeping the visual memory of the sleeping man stored within his mind as he continued his trek towards Ashford. Before he could reach the gate however, Shinji was distracted by a horrible site. Three hooligans roughly his own age were assaulting an elderly man, who had chosen to defend himself by using the fetal position as cover. As late as Shinji would be, he knew that he couldn't just ignore this sight as everyone else had done before. In a surprise attack Shinji jumped onto the back of the punk closest to himself, putting the larger teenager in a choke-hold as he did so. The large punk swiveled around rapidly trying to remove Shinji from his backside, until a punch from one of his friends sent Shinji crashing into the grass. Shifting their attention away from the old man the three hooligans turned on Shinji, who had managed to right himself into a suitable fighting stance despite the obvious odds against him.
Just as Shinji braced himself for the first attack however, he heard footsteps behind him and scattered muttering. Turning around slightly Shinji saw the young man who had been sleeping on the bench, his tattered and filthy cloak dragging along behind him. What truly surprised Shinji was how the man walked forward unarmed but with the obvious intent to assist Shinji. As more people began to stare at the filthy pile of clothes that was the slightly older man the three punks turned towards him with looks of arrogance and disgust upon their faces. The stranger merely sighed as he lifted away the uncut hair that had been covering his eyes. "You've had your fun, so why don't you three go home now?" The three stared at the strange young man for a few moments as their eyes seemed to glaze over, before they shrugged it off and decided to leave their violent behavior at that. Shinji turned around in shock towards his apparent savior and attempted to thank him, but by the time his mind had caught up with events the tattered man had leaned down to assist the elderly gentleman from earlier before returning to his park bench. He gave Shinji one last look, which lingered briefly on the Ashford insignia, before smirking and shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position.
Shinji tried to be irritated at the sleeping man's poor attitude, until he realized with a jolt that he had already been pushing towards tardiness before the whole incident had occurred. Turning on the spot Shinji bolted for the gates, as his savior gave the teen one last look before drifting back to sleep. The back of his left hand burned slightly, as an image of a crimson bird quickly flashed over his hand before flickering in his closing eye. Meanwhile Shinji had taken off like a seven-forty-seven, leaping down a few flights of stairs and even skidding down the final fleet as he came to the street between Ashford and the park. He bolted through the gates just as the initial bell began to ring, dashing through the halls at breakneck speed with a wild abandon for even his own safety. Sliding to a halt in front of his classroom door Shinji took in a few deep breaths and patted down his raven hair as best he could, before opening the door in a dignified manner. However, as he began his walk Shinji was nearly trampled by a solid stream of classmates eager to leave the room. Looking around in confusion Shinji felt an arm across his shoulder as Ryusei walked beside him, the large grin on his face straining not to laugh. "Sorry Shin, but you just missed it!" As if to emphasize Shinji's mistake Ryusei squeezed his thumb and pointer finger as close as he could without them touching, which had been a classic joke amongst the Britannian people. "I really don't think it's that funny!" came a stern female voice from behind the two. The boys cringed slightly and turned around as a red-headed Japanese girl stood behind them with a pouting face, tapping her left foot for the added effect. "Really now Ryu," she continued, as Ryusei removed his arm from Shinji's side "we don't need Shinji to be as bad as you are. He's supposed to be the next Student President after all, and it's bad enough he's almost ALWAYS LATE!" she said, raising her voice as Shinji was trying in vain to sneak away.
Ryusei looked at his friend with a comical version of empathy before turning on the girl. "C'mon Sei, it's not THAT bad." Shinji cringed; Seiei Yokubo was a pretty straight-laced girl when it came to the student council they all shared seats on, and despite the friendship shared between the three Shinji thought Ryusei was pushing it by using her nickname. However, before Seiei could retort Ryusei got a devious gleam in his eyes and continued to speak with a softer voice. "Besides ..." Ryusei said shruggingly as he moved closer to Seiei to whisper something to her. Shinji could not hear whatever his friend said after that, but whatever it was caused Seiei to turn beet-red and practically scream out "You wouldn't DARE!" Shinji stepped back a few steps, pointing to the clock as he did so. "Seriously guys, we should head for the council room before Lady Ashford sends out a search party for us...again." All three cringed with the memory; the last time they had failed to show up on time, Milly (as she preferred they address her) had sent out the entire school on a hunt for them. The ensuing carnage had once more summoned a very exhausted Knight Police regiment, who upon arrival had only to hear the word "Milly" before sighing and returning to base. The new unit that had arrived prior to that had a member who had seemed intent on meeting up with Milly, but between his captain's orders and Milly's return to the news station he had sorrowfully agreed to leave. Officer Cardemonde had soon thereafter visited the Student Council a few times, although much to his chagrin Milly was never there when he was. Apparently he had gone to school with Milly and had quite the crush on her (which had nothing to do with her family's status), but after the infamous death of Lelouch the Demon he had grown very solemn and joined the Knight Police.
The three quickened their pace towards the Student Council room with Shinji in front, while Seiei continued to stare daggers at Ryusei. As they continued walking Seiei managed to lean in and whisper back to Ryusei. "If you ever tell Shinji that I...well, it won't be pretty." Ryusei gave her the hands-up sign, which had become the universal peace sign. "Alright, alright, I get it already. You SHOULD tell him though, before you lose your chance. Remember how Milly used to tell us about a girl in her class who had a crush on a boy? She used to always pine after him without his knowing, and by the time she finally confessed and went on a date with him she passed away shortly thereafter. Of course, Prez never DID mention who the boy was..." Despite their school already having a class president he was currently too busy with college applications to maintain his student council work. Then there was the fact that everyone from the older years and all the nearby alumni considered Milly the best class president they had ever been gifted with. Still, that didn't stop Milly from using some of her...unconvential approaches, such as measuring women's cup sizes and randomly screaming "GUTS!" to the council members in the hopes of perking them up (which they agreed to the effect for no reason other than to stop her using it for a while). Sure enough, as soon as Shinji opened the door Milly pounced on him. Keeping him pinned to the floor she grabbed a pair of fluffy black cat ears and stuck it to his head, motioning Seiei and Ryusei to a clothing rack filled with similar outfits. She herself had picked out a questionably sexy cat outfit, complete with tail and paws. The other two members of the council, who were both younger than Shinji, sat wearing a rabbit suit and dog suit with obvious embarrassment. Picking Shinji up off the floor and sticking him in a chair Milly had the two hold him down while she applied fake whiskers and such to Shinji, leaving Ryusei to pick out a somewhat silly-looking wolf suit while Seiei made sure to keep a red bunny suit at arms' length.
Once the three had been properly costumed (whether they wanted to be or not) they sat down in the air-conditioned room. Ever since the reconstruction of Ashford following the FLEIA warhead explosion Milly has made sure to bring the school to the cutting edge of technology. That way, despite the hot late-summer air and the furry clothing they all wore each of the council members felt nice and cozy as they continued their work. Considering how they had missed last week's meeting there was an enormous pile of paperwork to file through, from tax forms to club finances and even the grading curve of their school. At five o'clock Milly left the council to their machinations as she headed off to her career as a newscaster, nearly forgetting to change out of her suit before leaving. Time flew by after that so fast that when the five had finally finished it was already dusk. The two younger members said their farewells as they headed off for the junior dorms, leaving Shinji and his friends to head for their own rooms. Ryusei had cleared an extra space for Shinji for the night, which Shinji's parents had gladly agreed to. Seiei would likewise head for the girls' senior dorms, which was in the same general direction as the boys'. They were joking around, talking about Prez's strange habits and the weirdness she was bound to get them into soon, when the ground beneath them trembled.
All three stopped on the spot as they waited for another tremor, until a massive explosion knocked them off their feet. The corridor they had been walking through had shattered from the impact, a massive chunk of empty space through the first and second floors. Beneath them other students were climbing out of the rubble or helping their classmates out of it, as screams erupted en masse all throughout Tokyo. The last time Tokyo had been under attack it resulted in the use of the tactical weapon FLEIA, which had eliminated almost the entire city in an instant. The thoughts of another war enveloping their homes, not even five years since the last World War, had even spread into the minds of those unaware of world events at the time; almost in unison the entire student body began a chorus of wails and screams that coincided with those of the adults around them. A few of the elder students and faculty were able to keep their heads and guide the others to the safest exits. As Shinji watched he felt Ryusei tug on his sleeve and turned towards his two friends, as Ryusei pointed his thumb in the direction they had just come from. "You wanna try jumping instead?" he shouted over the screams, bringing Shinji back to their own predicament. The floor ahead of them had given way in the explosion, and adding to the distance between them and the ground was the large amount of rubble and shattered glass that littered the area beneath them.
Looking away from the carnage Shinji followed after his two friends as they backtracked through the empty corridor. The closest staircase had been on the other side of the wreckage, and it would take them a good deal of time to reach the one they had come up from. As they continued walking more explosions erupted throughout the city, the cause of which was still unknown. The three friends quickened their pace, until they were racing along the narrow strip. It was roughly ten minutes after the first explosion that something occurred which eclipsed the raging fires. As Shinji watched a series of shadows pass over the three he looked up to see a small fleet of machines flying overhead. "Knightmares?!?" Seiei shrieked, as the infamous war machines soared above them. "Why are there Knightmares HERE?" Ryusei responded, shouting just to be heard over the engines. Shinji just looked ahead and raced forward with more determination; if there was going to be a Knightmare battle here in Tokyo the LAST place he wanted to be was above ground and surrounded by glass. Ryusei and Seiei followed right behind him, just as more explosions began to erupt within the city.
As Shinji waited for his friends to catch up he caught a better glimpse of the attacking frames; almost every Knightmare was painted in a black-and-gold color scheme. "Hey, those are Black Knights models! Why are they attacking us?" Before either of Shinji's friends could respond another explosion ripped through the ground beneath them, breaking apart the already unstable walkway and plummeting the three into the empty gymnasium. Luckily none of them were too badly injured aside from a few cuts and bruises. However, as Shinji was helping Seiei out of the rubble they heard the sounds of rifles being loaded; turning around the three found themselves face-to-face with a half-dozen armed men clothed in the Black Knights uniform. "You shouldn't have come here" the leader of the six said with an evil grin. "Oh well, it's your funeral after all!" With that the other five aimed their own rifles at the kids, as both Shinji and Ryusei moved to cover a still-recovering Seiei.
Just as the men began to fire however a figure jumped down from the wrecked walkway and took the incoming bullets in stride, becoming a human shield for the three kids. Shinji looked up when he noticed the lack of pain in his body, and instantly recognized the back of the man who had saved him earlier. The guards were shocked at the sight of a man who couldn't be taken down by bullets, as their leader looked at the young man with wide eyes. "What kind of demon are y-you…I remember that face! You are Lelouch Vi Britannia, the Demon King…but you died!" The man, whether he was Lelouch the Demon or not, ignored the armed men and turned his head to the side. Following his gaze the three teens nearly vomited; they had yet to notice the gunned-down classmates and faculty who had most likely also interrupted the men in the middle of whatever they had been doing. His clothes still stained with blood from the barrage of bullets he suffered the young man looked down and spoke in a barely audible tone. "Must I atone for this sin as well? Is this yet another evil I have created?"
The leader of the men aimed his own pistol at the young man's head, his hand shaking with fear. "L-Lelouch vi Britannia, I command you to-". "Command?" the young man responded, once more peeling back his overgrown hair to reveal the crimson sigil in his eyes. "Very well then…Lelouch Vi Britannia commands all of you: Die!" At first Shinji thought this Lelouch character was insane, until two of the guards turned their rifles on each other and fired. The other soldiers performed similar actions, as the leader shouted "Happily, Your Highness" with a manic grin on his face and his pistol on his neck. As the final shots went off and the last guard fell Lelouch turned towards the three teenagers. From where he stood Shinji could see a very solemn expression on Lelouch's face. Looking down to where Shinji was kneeling Lelouch offered the young teenager his hand to help him up. Lelouch began to observe Shinji; while Ryusei and Seiei helped each other get to their feet. All three teenagers stepped back with caution, fearful of the young man before them. Lelouch looked from one teen to the next, his eyes finally returning to Shinji with a sad grin.
"Y-you saved me. Earlier today, I mean." Lelouch watched Shinji grow more confident with a half smile, an idea coming to his mind. "That's how you got them to back off, isn't it?" Lelouch's smile dropped as he thrust his open palm towards the three, igniting the crimson sigil on his hand. "Geass. That is the name of this awesome and terrible power. I have used it far too often…would you desire it?" The question took all three by surprise, as Lelouch continued his speech. "Geass is the power of 'absolute obedience', though that changes from person to person. I will give you its power on one condition…you must help me stop what is happening." Shinji looked to his two friends for guidance, but they were both just as confused as he was. Finally Shinji turned to face Lelouch once again, his mind set on his answer.
"I accept" Shinji said with confidence, though in reality his mind was racing at just what would happen to him. Lelouch opened his palm once more, this time placing his palm onto Shinji's forehead. Instantly a flood of images and memories flowed into Shinji's mind. Prince Clovis, dead before him…The helmet of Zero held in his hand…Tears flowing down his cheeks as he stood at a funeral…A silver-haired man, his manic grin distracting the pair of sigils in his eyes…watching Suzaku Kururugi become revealed as the pilot of the Lancelot…shooting Princess Euphemia, his face burning with tears…locked in a stalemate with Suzaku, his own face stained with blood and Kallen Kouzuki staring up at him with shock…standing aboard the Black Knights' flagship, his voice going hoarse telling Kallen he would save her…an orange-haired girl dying in his arms, her blood coating him entirely as he screamed in agony…Standing before the 98th Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, his fists clenched tight…A young boy dying in the cockpit of a Knightmare, a smile on his face as he passed…the destruction of a strange spiraling pillar, as Emperor Charles and deceased Empress Marianne disintegrated…The royal court of Pendragon, where the royalty saluted and bowed to him…His hand on Prince Schneizel's shoulder, almost ecstatic with the sense of victory…Empress Nunnally, handing him the key to Damocles…
Standing before Suzaku Kururugi, handing him the helm of Zero and offering him a sword. As the final image passed through his mind it gave way to a startling epiphany for Shinji; that Emperor Lelouch had planned everything, including his own demise, for the sake of the world. His mind reeling from the event Shinji was barely able to stand as he once more made eye contact with Lelouch. "I understand" Shinji said softly, causing Lelouch to betray a small amount of surprise before retrieving his composure. Before he could ask any more questions however a booming voice overtook the city. Looking skyward through the debris the four could see a large Britannian blimp flying overhead, a giant television monitor covering its side. On the screen was a calm-faced man with elegant features and blond hair. "People of Tokyo…we are the Black Knights." With that one sentence Lelouch's face began to contort with uncontrolled rage.
"SCHEIZEL!!!"
