follwing up in rapid style, here's chapter 3.
Lelouch: That was fast. Godspeed almost.
Kyugan: GEASS speed you mean.
Lelouch: Please stop butchering the english language.
Kyugan: Oh stop, unless you wanna run around in heels and a tutu preaching love and justice for all?
Lelouch: You wouldn't dare.
Kyugan: You're right, I wouldn't.
C.C: *Comes out from behind Lulu with a bucket of water from 'spring of drowned girl* I would.
Lelouch: Wha-? *splutters as drenched in water* C.C? What the? *Notices change in voice and chest mss* GODDAMMIT!
C.C: *seizing a pair of handfulls* Wow...almost as big as Cornelia...Charles had good genes...
Kyugan: *In a trance* Arrru hairru Britanniaaaaaa...
Luluko: I hate you all.
The Mysterious Golden Warrior!
"T sent me along as your back-up." The golden, tri-horned beetle explained, it's voice laced with so much bemused mockery it was a wonder it wasn't smirking "I can see why, you certainly have a nose for trouble."
"Back-up? You?" Lelouch repeated, the former emperor literally thrown for a loop by the current situation. And could you blame him? One minute he'd been following a beacon that he suspected had something to do with what T had brought him back to life for, only to find what looked like a red-clad high-class prostitute overseeing a cross between a B-movie monster and a porn-star torturing a shrine maiden with, of all things, what looked like a laser fired from her breasts.
'I swear, it's like one of those anime that Tamaki used to watch when he was supposed to be on monitor duty.' The teen muttered, recalling walking in on the redhead during such moments numerous times in the past, as Zero that is.
He'd been contemplating how to deal with the situation, as T had neglected to supply him with any form of weaponry. Unless they were stored in the attaché case, which he'd left hidden in the sidecar of his motorcycle, all the way at the bottom of the steps leading up to the shrine.
In any case, the moment the redhead had teleported, honest to God TELEPORTED, off to wherever it was seductive evil redhead's in tight red clothes went, he'd been so deep in thought, so stunned by the sight before him (and of a pair of tits so readily exposed, though he'd never admit this aloud) that he'd inadvertently stepped on a twig, which had predictably snapped, drawing the monsters attention to himself.
Needless to say, the monster hadn't taken well to his presence, and had lunged at him, determined to beat the stuffing out of him, or silence him in a more PERMANENT fashion, though he noted she'd taken the time to refasten her clothing before doing so.
'I guess even monsters have a sense of feminine modesty.' He mused, even as he shook his head, staring at the source of his current salvation skeptically. True, he was glad the little golden bug had come to his rescue, as he was in no particular hurry to go back to the collective mind of C's world just yet, but he couldn't see how a little beetle, big enough to sit in his palm with room to spare, was supposed to help him against a monster that could fly, turn her hands and feet into weapons, and was strong enough to knock trees over with her HAIR.
Then again, he HAD seen the little bugger (pun intended) body-slam the Daimon, as the redhead had called it, out of the air, though admittedly, that had been more of a surprise attack, one he highly applauded it for. Sneak attacks were the Black Knight's forte before they became the official army of the UFN.
"Don't go daydreaming on me kid." The beetle chastised, snapping Lelouch out of his thoughts by flying up into his face, the teen flinching back, opening his mouth to protest, only to be cut off as Mikuji leapt to it's feet once again, the Daimon letting loose a roar of fury that was made all the more intimidating by the massive gashes on the left side of her face, as if something had clawed through tree bark.
"How dare you!" Mikuji snarled, the Daimon's features drawn back in a savage snarl of rage as she glared hatefully at the teen and his mechanical ally "Marring a woman's face! That's the WORST kind of Bad luck!"
"Seriously, is she like some evil fortune-teller or something?" Lelouch demanded, only to yelp, a decidedly unmanly sound as Mikuji bent over, revealing a fortune casket on her back, which fired off several wooden fortune spikes like a nail-gun, forcing Lelouch to duck behind a tree, out of sight.
"Oh yeah, REAL promising." The beetle muttered, hovering right beside the teen's ear as he caught his breath, peeking out occasionally to see if the monster was still walking towards him "If YOU'RE the best the doctor could find, I pray for the people of your world."
"Stuff it, witch." Lelouch muttered out of reflex, the former emperor not even bothering to correct himself, [eering warily around the trunk even as the gold bug buzzed irritably in his ear "What the hell is that thing?"
"A Daimon," the beetle explained, sounding mildly annoyed, though only just at being brushed asside so cavalierly by it's partnet "It's pretty much a monster created by combining a cultivated cell with an object or organism, in this case, a shrine tree."
"Great, so we got a killer plant with a parasite on our hands." Lelouch muttered grimly, the elder lamperouge grimacing as he ducked out of sight of Mikuji's fortune bolts once again, it was tht or loose an eye "Any weaknesses?"
"I'm not programmed with such functions." The beetle shot back primly, though Lelouch swore the little insect was playing hard to get on purpose "Generally you just need to destroy it, though they can take a lot of damage."
"How much damage?" Lelouch demanded, intrigued despite himself. After all, the more he knew about his enemy, the better prepared he could be.
"Pretty much resistant to small to medium arms fire." The beetle relayed "Bullets just bounce off them, they can survive intense radiation, though a large explosion can destroy them."
"And me without any semtex." Lelouch snarked, shaking his head wryly, even as he grimaced at the sound of the Daimon's approaching footsteps "So what do we do?"
"Hold it right there!" a female voice called out, Lelouch's ears perking up at the sound, the teen peeking out from behind the tree to gape at the sight before him along with Mikuji.
scene break...
"Warrior of Love and Justice…!" Usagi called out, the blonde having undergone her Senshi transformation when she'd heard Rei's scream, and was now going through her introduction pose "Sailor Moon!"
"Sailor Moon?" Mikuji repeated, the annoying little boy and his pet insect forgotten, for the moment, in the face of this new interloper. As much as she wanted to crush the pests for scarring her beautiful face, she could sense the power coming off the sailor suited blonde before her, and knew turning her back to her would be a VERY bad idea.
"I can't forgive you for hurting my Pure-Hearted Friend!" the leader of the Senshi and reincarnated Princess of the Silver Millennium declared, mentally crossing her fingers, for she knew first hand Rei wasn't exactly 'Pure' of mind, especially for a priestess "In the name of the Moon…I will Punish You!"
Mikuji, rather than being intimidated by the blonde's speech, merely scoffed mockingly, tilting her head over her shoulder to the comatose Rei "Fool, she was targeted BECAUSE of her Pure Heart!"
With Lelouch...
"So the Daimon's targets are Pure Hearts?" Lelouch muttered, the teen eyeing the conversation from his hiding place behind the trees, his brows narrowed in comprehension, even as the blonde blinked in confusion "I can see why she'd target a Shrine maiden then."
"Though naturally, it means someone like YOU is perfectly safe." The beetle teased, her tone laced with the same wry mockery that had made C.C such an aggravation and pleasure to converse with. For as much as he wished he could strangle the immortal woman sometimes, Lelouch had appreciated their conversations, using them as a means to develop his own caustic wit.
"Better an impure heart than no heart at all." The teen shot back, earning a slightly approving huff from the beetle, even as they watched Mikuji toss the blonde around like a wrecking ball using her bell-rope ponytail, slamming the wailing Senshi against the wall with a sickening crack "That had to hurt…"
"She's fine." The beetle countered uncaringly, her tone so reminiscent of C.C's dismissive nature that Lelouch fought the urge to stare at it "Despite the look, that suit that she's wearing is actually pretty resilient to physical damage."
"You're kidding?" Lelouch muttered, the former emperor sweat dropping as he pointed at the downed blonde, who was actually struggling to get up again despite the force of the blow "It looks like something you'd wear in a strip club!"
"It's true." The beetle persisted "You could shoot her point blank with magnum rounds and they'd just bounce off." She revealed, earning a look of amazement from the teen "Oh she'll still FEEL the shots, but that'd be it, maybe some mild bruising for more serious injuries."
"And here I thought the technological level for this world was LOWER than my own." Lelouch muttered, a little impressed by this Sailor Senshi's equipment, even if she DID strike him as more than a little scatterbrained.
"It's not technology, its magic." The beetle countered, earning a quirked brow from the former Emperor "Don't look at me like that, it's all there in T's files if you'd bothered your ass to read them!"
Before Lelouch could fire off a counter, three feminine screams filled the air, the teen looking up in alarm to see Mikuji unleashing a salvo of her fortune spears at three young women, a blonde, a brunette and a bluenette, pinning them to trees, causing them to scream in alarm "Damn! We have to do something!"
"Thought you'd never ask." The beetle hummed, a pleased little buzzing noise emanating from somewhere within it's body as it hovered next to his head "Press the button on your bracer," it urged impatiently "hurry it up!"
"Bracer?" Lelouch repeated, looking down at the strange device that T had fastened to his wrist, noticing a little button sticking out from the side.
"That's the one." The beetle instructed buzzing close to his head for emphasis "Quit wasting time and press it! That blonde idiot's about to be fertilizer!"
Lelouch looked up to see that Mikuji was INDEED marching towards the downed Sailor Moon, who was struggling to get back on her feet, the teen's eyes narrowing as he brought his wrist up, pressing the button as indicated, only to startle as it released a mechanized cry of "STAND BY!"
"About time." The beetle muttered, buzzing around Lelouch's body rapidly, actually circling the tree a few times, before homing in on his wrist, latching onto it with a cry of "HENSHIN!"
Lelouch blinked, looking on in alarm as his body, starting with the arm sporting the wristband, was covered with hexagonal metal panels, each piece interlocking as they spread across his body, forming a heavy suit of armor. "What the HELL?" he exclaimed, looking down at his now armored hands in alarm, reaching up to touch his now helmeted face "What is this?"
"Boy, T really chose a keeper didn't he?" came the female voice of the beetle over a speaker in his helmet, her tone torn between amusement and exasperation "You didn't bother to read the files, did you?"
"When the hell did I have TIME?" Lelouch shot back in annoyance, once again marveling at the beetle's similarity to C.C's, more accurately, her ability to invoke the former emperor's ire without fear of repercussion…permanent ones anyway, only to be forced out of his thoughts as the priestess' screams started up again, the teen looking up to see that Sailor Moon had been pinned to a tree, while the Daimon returned to it's prior task of extracting the Miko's 'Pure Heart', whatever that meant. "Damn! GET AWAY FROM HER!"
With Sailor Moon...
Sailor Moon could only look on in horror as the monster that had attacked Rei's succeeded in extracting the strange glowing gem from her friend.
Only moments ago, things had been going as usual. Sure, she'd had a rocky start, she usually did when fighting solo, as the Senshi generally looked to make an opening for her finishing attack, and being slammed into the stone wall that marked the border of the Hikawa Shrine's land hadn't done much for her admittedly lack-luster agility. Fortunately, her beloved Tuxedo Kamen, the reincarnation of her past life's betrothed, had once again come to her aid, hurling one of his magically enchanted roses to distract the Daimon, giving her enough time to charge up her Moon Princess Halatation, launching the destructive attack at the enemy's unguarded back.
However, Mikuji proved to be more alert than any Youma or Droid, as not only had she seen the destructive attack coming, she'd actually DEFLECTED it, with a wall of sutras, knocking the Princess wand out of a stunned Sailor Moon's hands, before launching herself at the Senshi, pinning her to a tree while her friends and lover looked on in shock.
But that wasn't the worst part, oh no, Mikuji, upon turning her hands and feet to stone, had latched onto the brooch that held the Ginzuishou, digging in deep with her fangs, before turning her entire face to stone and biting down HARD.
The magical gem of the Silver Millennium had gone berserk, flashing incessantly, before suddenly dying down, all it's brilliance apparently drained, the stunned Senshi unable to do anything but gape in horror as her Senshi amour dissolved back into ribbons, before her transformation wore off altogether, leaving her in her civilian form.
'How could this have happened?' she wondered, looking on in mute horror as the stone mask that had attached to her chest fell away, taking with it the now inactive Henshin brooch, which simply lay there on the grass, almost forlornly
"Is that the last distraction?" Mikuji demanded, sneering as she eyed her captives, having taken out Tuxedo Kamen, Artemis and Luna with her fortune restraints, the Daimon turning her attention back to the struggling Rei, even as she opened the gap in her dress once more "Then I shall take my time and extract the Pure Heart!"
Exposing the star tattoo over her cleavage once again, the Daimon unleashed another burst of dark energy at Rei, the priestess's back arching as her screams renewed, with increased intensity, as Mikuji was THROUGH playing around and wanted the damn crystal NOW.
After what seemed like an eternity, Rei's system had finally had all it could take, the priestess finally passing out from the agony, her head dropping lifelessly to her chest, eyes glazing over even as a bright red crystal was pulled out of her chest.
"Rei-chan…!" Usagi wept, her eyes filling with tears, recalling the last conversation she'd had with the fiery priestess not even an hour ago, how Rei had attempted to cheer her up, in her own fashion, regarding her abysmal grades and the upcoming entrance exams next year, her struggles increasing as Mikuji moved to grab the crystal "No! Give it back! Give it back to Rei-chan! I won't forgive you!"
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" a voice roared, the blonde's eyes widening in shock as a large form tore past her, startling Mikuji long enough to tackle her off her feet, the two of them rolling around in the dirt for a moment, only to separate with a clash, eyeing one another warily.
The new figure was tall, taller than Makoto, who was the tallest of the Senshi, and considerably broader, though that might have had something to do with the armor he was wearing across his body.
The armor was thick, colored gold with some silver accents. The left Shoulder guard was a silver dome, the right, however, had what looked like three horizontal spikes sticking out from under the silver casing, almost like something was fighting to get out. The helmet was also silver, though again, gave the impression that there was something else underneath, and his eyes glowed an ominous blue over his silver mouth guard.
The amour was apparently worn over a black bodysuit with armor plating on the sides of his legs, which while not as durable looking as the ones on his torso, kept the same gold and silver theme.
"Who are you?" Mikuji demanded, the Daimon glaring at this newest interloper, her initial surprse giving way to anger and wariness as she clutched the stolen Heart Crystal in her hand "What are you doing here?"
"I'm only going to say this once," the mysterious armored figure replied, his tone sending shivers down the collective Senshi's spines "Put that crystal back where you got it."
"Never!" Mikuji roared, lunging forwards with her clawed hands, one rather, as the other was stashing the Pure Heart Crystal inside her dress "Bad fortune to you all!"
The armored warrior simply side-stepped her strike, bringing his knee up to ram into the Daimon's stomach, actually doubling her over with the force of the blow, following it up by grabbing the monster by her bells and driving his knee into her face with a sickening crack that caused even the captive Senshi to wince.
"Who is this guy?" Artemis wondered, struggling to escape his restraints, even as he watched the new arrival smack the Daimon around like a rag doll "Think he's on our side?"
"Who knows?" Luna shot back, the black feline eyeing the newcomer warily. On the one hand, she was glad SOMONE was doing something to stop the monster escaping with whatever she'd pulled out of Rei, but on the other, there was no guarantee that this armored warrior was on their side either.
With Lelouch...
'This is…incredible…' Lelouch marveled, the former Emperor continuing his assault on the Daimon, delivering blow after punishing blow to her face and midriff, pointedly avoiding her chest, as he recalled that was where she'd stashed whatever it was she'd taken from the Miko 'Such power…'
"You're easily impressed." The beetle mused over the speakers in his helmet, Lelouch actually jumping at the sound, though he didnt stop pummelling his opponent "Honestly, you're like a child with a new toy, you didn't even bother to unwrap it first."
"What're you talking about?" Lelouch demanded, grimacing as a desperate slash from Mikuji raked across his chest plate, causing a shower of sparks "I seem to be doing fine."
"You haven't even activated the suit's full power yet." The beetle corrected, her tone bemused, so much like C.C's condescending bemusement that Lelouch almost felt himself start to smile "You won't be able to finish off a Daimon with just the Masked Form."
"Masked Form?" Lelouch questioned, quirking a brow as he ducked under one of Mikuji's wild swings, delivering a snap-kick to her midriff that slammed her into a tree ten feet back "What're you talking about?"
"See what happens when you don't read the notes?" the beetle teased, chuckling as Lelouch scowled inside his helmet "Think of your current form as an energy conservation mode, emphasizing in defense over offense."
"Seems pretty offensive to ME." Lelouch countered, watching as Mikuji staggered to her feet, holding her midriff and growling.
"You're not even using HALF of the armors full power." The beetle countered, her tone disapproving as Lelouch watched Mikuji warily "Until you Cast Off the excess armor, you won't be able to wrap this up before she makes a break for it."
"So you're saying I need to ditch the excess armor." Lelouch deduced, his tone grim as he moved into a ready stance "Alright, how the heck do I do that?"
"You see how I'm perched on your wrist?" the beetle instructed, Lelouch casting his eye to his wrist, where the Beetle was perched horizontally with his wrist, forming an X like shape "Turn me so I'm facing your fist!"
Lelouch didn't even bother asking why, he simply raised his wrist up, gripping the beetle in his left hand, turning it sharply so that the three horns were aimed at his fist, even as Mikuji lunged at him once again.
"CAST OFF!" the bracer declared, the silver sections of his armor disengaging violently, the captive girls screaming in alarm as the shrapnel impacted around them, some of it slamming into Mikuji, knocking her out of the air, sending her tumbling to the ground, leaving Lelouch standing tall in his new form.
The new armor was sleeker, vaguely insect-like in design, like a beetle's carapace, and a brilliant, shining gold. His left shoulder guard was a simple golden disk, but the right was adorned with three impressive looking golden horns, identical to the ones that adorned the beetle strapped to his wrist.
Even as he stood there, the blue eyes of his helmet flashed, revealing the three golden horns that framed his faceplate, two on either side, one in the center.
"CHANGE: BEETLE!"
With the Senshi...
"What…what on EARTH?" Luna exclaimed, her eyes wide with alarm as she gaped at the scene before her alongside the captive Senshi and Artemis "What IS that?"
"EEEK! It's a giant bug man!" Minako exclaimed, thrashing in her constraints fearfully, her skin crawling with hives "It's gonna lay eggs in our brains!"
"Minako chan, I doubt a Bug MAN can lay eggs." Ami stammered, sweat dropping at her friend's mistake, though she had to admit she was rather intimidated by their unknown assistant's new appearance "Still, why would he discard his armor? Won't that make it easier to hurt him?"
Back with lulu...
"Okay…" Lelouch admitted, the former emperor examining his armoured hands, looking down at his new, sleeker form with a hint of approval in his purple eyes "This is good," he applauded, rotating one shoulder loosely "easier to move in for one."
"Don't get cocky." The beetle warned, though her tone was amused at his obvious approval "The Rider Form is faster, and can do more damage, but conversely, you TAKE more damage than you would in Masked Form."
"Understood." Lelouch muttered, rotating his shoulder to loosen up, the Masked Form armor had been rather stiff to move in "Anything else you'd like to tell me? I'd like to finish this off quick before she tries to run."
"So impatient." The beetle sighed, chuckling in bemusement, only to recover admirably as Mikuji grunted, and moved to get up "To initiate a finishing move, simply reverse me so I'm facing the other way, that will initiate the Rider Beat System."
"Got it." Lelouch muttered, the armoured teen scowling at Mikuji as the Daimon slowly staggered to it's feet, the former emperor raising his fist once again, this time reversing the golden beetle so it faced the other way. "RIDER BEAT!" the brace declared, electrical energy racing over the outer layer of the armor, traveling up it and focusing on the helmet, the three horns lighting up even as the visor glowed an ominous blue.
Letting out a yell, Lelouch ran forward, the energy coursing through his body as he reared his arm back, the electrical energy gathering in his fist as he rammed it into Mikuji's stomach, the Daimon's eyes widening in alarm as she was sent flying through the air the front of her dress tearing open, the stolen Pure Heart Crystal landing safely in Lelouch's open hand.
"BAD FORTUNE!" the Daimon screamed, her back arching as she sailed through the air, before exploding in a burst of blue fire, the flaming wreckage of a sacred tree crashing to the ground in her place, a small, almost unnoticeable seed, dropping from it's trunk, cracking open to reveal a wailing black specter, which vanished into thin air.
"Okay…" Lelouch muttered, the former Emperor's brow quirking beneath his helmet as he eyed the smoldering remains of the tree, which was lay at least ten feet away from him "What the hell was that?"
"The Daimon's true form." The beetle replied solemnly over the speakers "A Daimon seed is all that's needed to turn something into a Daimon, be it a living organism or an inanimate object, it ll depends on the targetreally."
"Let's just hope they don't start putting them in Nukes then." Lelouch muttered grimly, the armored teen turning his attention to the crystal that he held in his other hand, staring at it in confusion for a few moments "Great, just how am I supposed to put this thing back?"
"You aren't." a new voice spoke up, Lelouch whipping round to see two feminine figures sitting in the branches of a nearby tree, having apparently been watching the entire exchange "Just give it to us and we'll handle that part."
And so we have Lulu's first battle.
Don't get me wrong, he isn't like Tendo Souji, he's not gonna just waltz in and beat the Tofu out of anything that crosses his path, and look stylish doing it. Lulu's still Lulu under there, he's gonna need to LEARN how to use the armour.
Also, for those of you wondering why I gave the Caucasus Zecter a voice, pure crack potential, Lelouch needs a partner, and the Zecters CAN talk, at least in the Hyper Battle Video, so I figured why not.
Regarding Lulu's armour, one glaringly obvious difference is the inclusion of a Masked Mode, which the Kabutech Zectors traditionally lacked in the movies. I'll admit to being influenced by Kamen Rider Chrome and Ten-Faced-Paladin once again on this one. Hwever, I kept the arm brace because it's just that epic.
As for how it works, remember how, in the movies, the Zectors attach at an angle, but need to be turned to transform? Well I took that and redesigned it to be more like Zabee's henshin sequence, where the masked mode forms when the Zector attaches itself to the henshin brace.
When the Kabutech Zectors attach, they're at an angle, making an 'X' shape, roughly, with the user's arm, this is Masked Mode.
When the Zector is turned so the horns point at the fist, this initiates Cast Off.
When the Zector is reversed to point at the wrist, this starts the Rider Beat system.
To my knowledge, Caucasus doesn't have any weapons by default 'he never needed them in the movie', but can use a Rider Punch and Rider Kick for his finisher.
Lulu's nowhere near as strong as Kurosaki was, so he's getting a little extra help in the form of weapons, which will be revealed as the fic goes on.
Luluko: I'm not wearing that!
C.C: But the fans demand it!
Luluko: I'll wear the Zero uniform but NOT that!
C.C: Fine *holds out Kallen's 'Zero' costume from Foxfire art's 'Zeroes'*
Luluko: WHAT THE HELL C.C?
R&R!
