Chapter 2: The Contract Renewed
Part 3: Episode of Zero
A mask is not an item of cowardice but an instrument to hide a man's cowardice.
-The Reaper of Heldinga (Wilhelm the Britannian playwright)
One week later
"Lelouch cannot be related to the Black Knights," Shirley said, walking down the aisle of cargo.
It was dusk, not the time for a lone girl to be roaming around. But Shirley was not aware of her surroundings; she was too blind from her aching heart and confusion. Shirley had always been infatuated with Lelouch and dreamed of becoming his wife but was too conservative to approach him directly. The night he showed up late for a Mozart concert was the day she took action and kissed him, but it was not a kiss of passion, it was a kiss of sorrow over her father's death at Narita. Recently, she had been unable to talk to Lelouch and was constantly worried about his wellbeing. Lelouch's isolate disposition added anxiety to her delicate heart. Lelouch had been hiding his masked counterpart behind the shadows for over three months as insurance for his plans in defeating Holy Britannia alone. Shirley's mind at the moment was a screen of confused thoughts and memories, mixed feelings of pain and comfort. She feared but was fearless, longing to see Lelouch as his handsome self.
"I cannot expect Lelouch to be here, he is a good boy and would never fight alongside terrorists," Shirley reassured herself repeatedly.
Little to her knowledge, Lelouch was not only a terrorist, he was the leader and founder of the terrorist faction known as the Black Knights. The Black Knights were feared by the Britannian empire by their efficient guerrilla tactics demonstrated in every coup d'état. Lelouch had always wished to destroy the empire and create a world of peace and balance, employing only factors of calculation and strategies. From his experience, he had to get his hands dirty to liberate past nations from imperialist cruelty.
"Should we strike master Zero," the voice of a man transmitted through his radio receiver.
"No, Cornelia reacted too quickly, any rash move will result in suicide," Lelouch calculated the tactics.
"Then what should we do?" the man asked.
"Wait until the time maximizes," Lelouch computed, "T minus one minute, twenty seconds."
"Roger sir," the transmission ended there.
Nobody in the Black Knights knew Lelouch; a seventeen year old boy would be their master. The Order of the Black Knights was as dark as their name suggests, with members who would pay their life to liberate Area 11 from the empire and a leader who would keep his identity in secrecy.
"I see eight vehicles being deployed by the enemy ship," Kallen informed him through her radio on the Guren. It was called the Crimson Dreadnought by Lelouch himself; he regarded Kallen and the Guren to be his prized juggernaut of past victories. Her magnificent battle vehicle, the Guren was a wonderful work of engineering; a locally built Knightmare Frame used to sever the heads of enemy battle units.
A sudden explosion was spotted near Lelouch's proximity. The smoke filled the air with the putrid smell of gasoline and human flesh. Any person within the detonation's vicinity would have tasted the acrid smoke and suffocated from its foul stimulation. Kallen fought back with all the firepower she had. She piloted the Guren in the air, launching two blades to hack her opponents. She managed to destroy three out of eight enemy Knightmares but was overwhelmed within minutes as the opposition penetrated the limbs of the Guren until they were dysfunctional. She escaped from her damaged avatar through an escape pod to salvation.
"Master Zero, we have been breached by enemy reconnaissance!" a voice cried.
"Fall back and abort mission, I repeat, fall back and abort mission!" Lelouch communicated through his radio but lost contact with all forty members out on duty.
Shirley was shocked by the sound of gunfire and explosives. She never experienced being near a warzone from her blissful days back at Ashford academy and in Pendragon. Not knowing what to do, she ran as far away from the detonation site towards Lelouch's direction.
Lelouch ran for his life to a safe place but was located by an enemy soldier.
"Hold it right there Zero!" the soldier ordered.
Shirley reached the point where the two were standing and was petrified by the sight. Zero pulled out a gun and directed it at the soldier. The soldier took aim and both pulled triggers. The soldier was shot straight in the face and Zero took a blow that cracked his mask. The mask fell apart and revealed his face, unharmed from any bullet wound.
Shirley stared in shock with her eyes wide open, gaping at the revelation of Zero. Zero was Lelouch and Lelouch was Zero. "No it couldn't be, Lelouch…," Shirley stammered at the revelation. She stood there motionlessly and watched Lelouch run away from the site. She wanted to call his name but the shock prevented her heart from doing so. Shirley's heart pounded from distance; distance from the person she admired. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she bawled over Lelouch's accursed lie. He was the ringleader of a terrorist organization and her father's murderer: he was her lover and injurer. But it was too late; he was out of sight and somewhere safe. Shirley looked up in the sky and said, "Lelouch my love, why are you my life and my loss!"
Part 4: Psycho
Lelouch could not bear to look at his face in the mirror; he remembered the humiliating failure of his strategy that was last night. He remembered seeing Shirley at the site but was too cold to even say hello. If his face was fully visible back then, Shirley would have found out about his identity. The terror of losing forty men in combat against imperial forces was inevitable from his guerrilla tactics but revealing his secret identity to a friend was a darker threat.
"C.C. we have to find Shirley," Lelouch requested.
"You worry so much for this girl?" C.C. asked, "Do you love her?"
"I do not know," he replied blankly.
"Do you hate her?" she asked again.
"Look I do not know. I cannot let her spread the facts of my dual identity, I saw her at the site last night."
"Will she?"
"You cannot guarantee she won't and I know where she might be."
"Fine then, I will accompany you in search for her."
"She will probably be lost in the city due to shock, so wear your disguise."
"My disguise?"
"That dress I bought you last week. I did not purchase those clothes for you as a fashion statement."
"I see your motives crystal clear."
Meanwhile
"Lelouch is Zero! Lelouch is Zero! LELOUCH IS ZERO!" Shirley shrieked in disbelief, losing every fibre of her sanity.
She walked down New Britannia Square in solitude, weary of everything around her. Nobody was there but a sense of paranoia would describe her wreckage.
A young man about Shirley's age with silver hair, wearing headphones and sunglasses approached her. He spoke, "A cunning one I see. My you have such a tasty past. I see your memories of bliss followed by pain and suffering."
"Who are you? Go away!" Shirley yelled with an ill expression.
"Look, you are suffering right now! I see why," the man spoke in a sickening voice, "You love another person but he doesn't reciprocate. I think I know how that feels, it is just terrible."
"Go away you creep!' Shirley defended.
"Look, we share something in common and I can help. The only difference is that I am innocent and you are full of sin! You lured that man into doing something you want, how unjust and devilish of you!"
"Shut up you creep!"
"My you need to clear your mind! Listen to this, listen to me. If you want to talk this out with the man you love, then help me get what I want in return."
Shirley looked at his face and listened to his twisted mind.
"I will give you the strength to confront "Lelouch" again. Then you may reunite and fall in love!"
"I will?"
"You will once I get what I want. Just follow me."
Meanwhile
C.C. was wearing the mahogany dress and top hat that Lelouch bought for her. Lelouch wore the brown women's coat but did not feel awkward.
"I swear this is a unisex coat," Lelouch said.
C.C. did not respond, returning to her stoic composure. They were in a park, looking for Shirley. This park was Shirley's favourite park to go to; she regularly came to feed the ducks residing at the pond.
"This place is beautiful," C.C. commented on its innocent scape.
"Ryerson Park, now I know why she comes here every week. I heard she used to come here frequently with her father before he joined the military," Lelouch said in grief over her deceased father. He was the blame for all her recent heartbreaks and insanity.
"You do care about her."
"I just feel sorry for killing her father unintentionally at Narita."
"Ah, what an interesting taste, the taste of regret," the man with the silver hair said. He clapped slowly and gained speed. He appeared with Shirley beside him, "Look, I brought your lover and you have mine! Now let's exchange partners shall we?"
"Who are you," Lelouch demanded, irked by the man's disgusting nature.
"The name is Mao and I am here for my lovely C.C. Hello there, you haven't changed, have you? That is why I love you, you are always reliable," the man said.
"C.C. is not yours Mao but I will gladly take Shirley."
"A polygamist, ho ho ho? You are one naughty boy Lelouch!" Mao scoffed at Lelouch, and clapped his hands.
"C.C. is staying with me!"
"Wrong! C.C. belongs to me and she will forever be mine!"
"What do you want from her?"
"Everything, so you will never have her!" Mao declared selfishly, clapping yet again.
Lelouch thought to himself, "I cannot use my Geass with his sunglasses on. All I can do for now is run."
Lelouch grabbed C.C. by the hand and ran at his top speed.
"Lelouch it is useless," C.C. warned.
"What are you talking about?" Lelouch questioned.
"You cannot run from him when he is this close by."
"Why not," Lelouch stopped and inquired.
"His Geass," C.C. explained.
"He has a Geass?"
C.C. nodded.
"You can run but you cannot hide, Lelouch," that psychopath taunted, snapping his fingers like a sideshow comedian.
Lelouch continued to run and exited the park to a gondola station.
"Look Lelouch, we should separate from here?"
"Why?"
"Because his Geass cannot locate me."
"Agreed."
Lelouch walked up the gondola's platform and turned around. Mao was right before him holding a knight in his left and a chessboard in this right.
"I think you are familiar with this game?" Mao said with a twisted grin.
"Why would that matter?"
"Let see if you can win."
Mao proceeded forward and made his way into a stationary gondola. Lelouch followed and the gondola's doors spontaneously shut.
"Let me make this clear, I have never played this game," Mao decided to inform Lelouch.
"Then why would you ever challenge me?"
"I am confident I will win."
"I am a grandmaster; there is a slim chance that a novice like you could ever defeat me!"
"Let the pieces decide."
The two started by placing the pieces on the board.
"You start," Mao insisted.
"Then I should be white," Lelouch pointed out.
"Then white starts," Mao inferred from Lelouch's remark.
Lelouch made the classic Scandinavian opening. Mao followed and they continued for twenty moves.
To his disbelief, Mao had crushed his entire flank and was in amidst of checkmating him.
"You are a liar, this cannot be your first time playing," Lelouch exclaimed in terror.
"But it is, I was telling the truth," Mao looking up, revealing his eternal Geass to Lelouch.
"Geass! Your power must be telepathy," Lelouch deduced from this simple clue.
"You are a smart fellow, but too late! Checkmate," Mao said, he clapped like a happy child, "Did I tell you that if you lose, I will take my C.C. from you?" He was pointing a pistol at Lelouch.
A drop of sweat rolled down Lelouch's face as he panicked. He cannot use his Geass since he lost his only chance to this sly man. The gondola circuited once along the track to its original position.
"Alright you got me, I will hand over C.C.," Lelouch said.
"Goodie! Now get her here!" he commanded.
Lelouch walked out of the gondola with a pistol against his back. Mao was eager to reclaim C.C.
Lelouch walked to the stairs and discovered Shirley pointing a pistol at him. C.C. was just behind her at the bottom of the stairs.
"C.C. oh how I missed you over the years," Mao cried.
C.C. left the scene.
"C.C. where are you going?"
Lelouch snatched the gun from Mao's hand as his anxious face turned around. Lelouch pointed the gun at his stomach and fired at point blank. Mao collapsed down the stairs with a wound in his abdomen. Lelouch made his way to Shirley and placed his lips on top of hers. He parted and took the gun out of her hand. She widened her eyes and said, "Lelouch are you Zero?"
Lelouch looked at her with a serious face and said, "I Lelouch vi Britannia command you to forget my name and everything about Lelouch Lamperouge."
He passed her as she stared blankly into space, saying, "Yes my master."
Mao stared at the two, struggling to speak, "I will not let…"
Lelouch glared at the twisted psycho and walked away callously.
C.C. met up with Lelouch and said, "You managed to take over."
"Yes but it was a difficult task," he replied.
"You look dissatisfied."
"I had to erase a memory and I think Mao will be back."
"What was your relationship like?" Lelouch asked.
"When I was living in the Chinese Federation, Mao was a hopeless orphan living on the streets."
"So you took him in? I never thought you had a heart."
"Stop thinking I am some wicked witch!" C.C. exclaimed.
"Please continue," he spoke directly.
"I took him in and gave him a Geass."
"He can read my mind."
"Unlike your power, his is very potent, being able to tap into minds simultaneously over a five hundred meter radius."
"What was the downside?"
"He was curious and frequently activated his Geass. Not before long, he could not stop it."
"Wait, will that happen to me?"
"Eventually."
"And you gave me this power without telling me that?"
"You agreed to my terms."
"Why you… Do you know I hate using this power?"
"Whether or not you use it is your choice."
"Did you give him his power without informing the consequence?"
"Yes."
"So he is my predecessor," he laughed, "But why would you torment him with this curse?"
"Similar to you, he was a very curious boy and accepted the power. Thenceforth the power developed within him."
"Why is he so attached to you?"
"Mao was always hated by the locals; he was called the dirty orphan. I was the only one who cared for him so he thought of me as the only one he could trust. I became his only friend."
"Sounds depressing but he was obsessed with you."
"My guess is that he developed an attachment to me when he was a child and was extremely hurt when I left."
"So he was jealous that I am with you. Then he is coming back to haunt you," he said with his cheek cupped in his hand.
"That is the gist of it," C.C said.
Lelouch and C.C. walked down the clear path as dusk approached and the moon glistened up high in the heavens. The moon was majestically up in the sky, observing every mortal and immortal under her domain.
Part 5: Convictions of Madness and Apology
Lelouch sat on a stool in his room, watching the morning view of Ashford Academy out his bedroom window mindlessly. The sunlight poured onto his face like a screen of visible radiance, its warmth tangible and energy evident. But Lelouch did not embrace the radiance, he felt uneasy from all his woes: the pain of a killer who killed for justice was both diabolical and of torment. He felt cold like the frosty days of wintertime.
"Lelouch," C.C. said lying on his bed.
"What is it C.C.," Lelouch responded, his limbs looked strength-less from his slouching.
"I have a question for you," C.C. asked.
"What is it?"
"Do you hate me for giving you Geass?"
"There is so much out there to hate when we do not understand it. Every unidentifiable person that we cannot make peace with will descend into the blackest chasm in our heart, the abyss of our darkest recesses," he said poetically.
"So you do hate me."
"Why should I? You haven't threatened me in any way and all of my sins were of personal choice. I chose to accept Geass in the first place."
"But I have led to all your misgivings."
"Wrong, you have accelerated my progress but it I was led by myself."
C.C. climbed out of Lelouch's bed and made her way to his side.
"Then what are you going to do," she asked. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and whispered into Lelouch's ear, "What choices remain for you?"
"I can go back to my dull life as Lelouch Lamperouge or proceed for as Zero, knight of justice," were his thoughts.
"Why can't you be yourself? Why can't you be Lelouch vi Britannia," C.C. asked him.
"No, I have killed my royal history and severed my relation to the emperor."
"So you rebel to liberate yourself?"
Lelouch stared into C.C.'s eyes and said, "Presumptuous but true C.C., presumptuous but true."
Lelouch stood up and placed his hand in his pockets.
"What are you going to do?" C.C. asked.
"I have to get rid of Mao. His power will be a disturbance to my life and my sister's security," he answered, glaring into her amber eyes with a deathly visage.
"He was no use to me, but an irksome fool, a nuisance. I will help you exterminate him."
"Very well, but you will have to play bait in the evening."
C.C. wore the coat Lelouch won at the clothing store with a white beret on her head and walked in solitude under the waning moon. She stood around the darkness of nightfall, surrounded by the cold and inert rides in Clovisland amusement park. The details on how she managed to climb through closed gates remained a mystery but she wasn't entirely alone. C.C. made her way to the largest carousel in the dark, fearing nothing in sight. Suddenly, the carousel lights flickered on but nobody was in sight. She turned one full circle and located a figure holding something in his hand.
"I cannot hear your quiet mind C.C. my love, so I was informed by that wanton man that you will be waiting for me here," Mao said.
"I see nothing will be between us tonight," C.C. replied.
"Isn't it wonderful? For ten years I can properly rejoice with my only friend, but I have to admit, Britannian medical science must be paramount to be able to revive me from a coma."
Mao appeared out of the shadows carrying a chainsaw. He said, "Let us return back to the Chinese Federation, you and me living life in peace together," he requested.
"I have quite a lot of attachments to my new home here under Britannian rule," she replied.
"That man Lelouch poisoned your mind into thinking this place is good. Not to worry, I know you are too big for me to carry, so I brought this," the maniac exclaimed while starting up his chainsaw. He shut it off and approached C.C. until she was cornered to a pole on a neighbouring carousel.
"What do you think you are doing," C.C. demanded an answer.
"I have to cut you up and transport you home," the madman declared with the chainsaw set to full speed. He grabbed C.C. by the neck until she lost consciousness.
At that moment, a neighbouring wide screen with surround sound activated with Lelouch making the broadcast.
"Mao, I am six kilometers away at New Tokyo Tower," Lelouch began.
"So? You cannot stop me from doing my business!" Mao cried perniciously, he clapped at that remark like a child.
"I advise you to leave the amusement park at once," Lelouch continued.
"Wait until I finish my job. Are you dissatisfied to give her up? I've been thinking we could share her if you want. I get the weekdays and you get weekends." He pulled out a standard Britannian pistol and shot C.C. in the arms and legs to keep her stationary.
There was a momentary pause.
"Mao, do you even know her real name? You don't think C.C. is her real name, do you?" Lelouch continued after the intermission.
Mao was stunned.
"But I know her real name," Lelouch added.
"That is right, C.C. you never told me your real name! Then why did you tell him? Why did you tell Lelouch?" Mao was losing himself.
"Do you know why she told me? She told me because she is mine! Every inch of her is now mine and she likes it that way!"
"No way! That is bull, C.C. has always been mine!" Mao renounced.
"I have conquered every part of her, even parts you never seen!" Lelouch intensified, "Every part of her belongs to me!"
Mao raged at the screen and tore it down his chainsaw, preventing the broadcast from continuing.
"Die you evil man! How can you defile that perfect C.C. and call her your woman! Lelouch, I hate you. I HATE YOU! Ahhhh!"
As the screen flickered from all the static, something entered Mao's ears. He trembled as the voice polluted his consciousness. The sound intensified and was getting louder and chaotic. Mao shivered from the sounds and dropped his chainsaw, covering his ears to block the myriad of noises. The voices grew and grew until he begged on his knees to stop.
"Hold it right there kidnapper, you are under arrest," a loudspeaker announcement echoed. Mao did not fear anything but two things, losing C.C. and getting caught.
"But who could have done this?" Mao trembled in disbelief.
He looked at C.C. who had just awoken from her blackout. A policeman walked up to her and carried her bridal style. Mao's spine tingled at the sight as he dreaded it.
"Lelouch," C.C. exclaimed as if she was relieved to meet her lover.
"Mao overheard C.C.'s vocal voice and gaped at the scene.
"How could this be, you were kilometers away minutes ago up at New Tokyo Tower," Mao inquired.
Lelouch did not speak but thought, "You are too naive Mao. That was a recording to trap you here. C.C. wanted to be the bait and kill you on the spot. She hates you and would rather be with me!"
Mao looked dreadfully in denial and said, "That is impossible. C.C. loves me; she cares about me since I was a child!"
Lelouch continued to manipulate Mao's mind, "You lost Mao. Everything you ever hoped for will be taken away from you. Your death will redeem the sins of your intrusive powers."
"Wait Lelouch, I have something that I have yet to say to him," C.C. cried. But it was too late, Lelouch commanded every officer to open fire and burn the body, under the influence of Geass. He carried C.C.'s injured body out into safety, never returning to that deathly site again.
Part 6: The Contract Revised
Lelouch and C.C. stood in Ryerson Park, alone in peace under the beautiful moonlight. C.C. recovered from her wounds and gazed up into the sky. Lelouch's prize jacket had four bullet holes and was soaked in blood on each respective spot.
"Sometimes you wish somebody would die, but when they do, you regret them dying," C.C. stated.
"That is usually true when it comes to friends who follow the twisted path of the dark side," Lelouch said hypocritically.
"I took care of him eleven years ago when he was just an orphaned boy. I raised him under conditional love and gave him his power. This power corrupted him, which further alienated himself from everybody, including me. I was his mother, his lover, and a total stranger all at once, never revealing who I truly am."
"Then what were you going to tell him back there?"
"I was going to tell him I was sorry and that I really cared about him."
"No matter what, I can assure you; he died knowing more about you than any time in the past. He was but a childish lone wolf trying to belong to somebody but never had the chance to. I wish I had known this yesterday, perhaps I could have restored his sanity if I had the chance."
"What are you trying to say Lelouch? Are you trying comfort me from not being able to talk to the person who I considered my only son, pity me for my cowardice or win me back?" She looked back at him in the eyes.
"I am trying to forge our contract and this time it is from me to you," he said with a stern expression, direct as always.
C.C. turned around and smiled at him, "Very well, I accept your contract." Lelouch looked at her in surprise.
Their hands approached each other's and gradually met. The two looked deeply into each other's eyes.
"What do I have to fulfill?" Lelouch enquired.
"Mao was my first son. He was my first adopted son who I abandoned. I regret being so irresponsible for doing so. Now I think I want a real one; a real son with you."
Lelouch stared into C.C.'s and embraced her tightly. C.C. was shocked at this first timer, perhaps his first in his life. Lelouch spoke into her ear, "I will not let you down, even if I have to die. On my honour and for the future of mankind, I will change the world for the better. I will change the world for you."
Lelouch and C.C. kissed for the first time, under the silver moonlight of passion. They vowed never to leave each other for the rest of their lives together, living beneath one sun of glory, one moon of nurture and the gentle stars of tranquility and felicity.
The dream ended and reality had just begun.