Chapter 3: Zero and the Black Knights

The next day, I managed to wake up quite early. I showered, got dressed and decided to head out. On my way out of the clubhouse, I encountered Lelouch.

"Good Morning, Rai," he greeted me. "I see you've taken a liking to your new surroundings."

I replied, "Yes. I still haven't remembered anything, though. I might be here longer than earlier thought."

"Well, feel free to stay here as long as you need to. If you ever need anything else, feel free to ask me or anyone else for help." With that, he smiled and went on his way.

Strange; today he seemed rather friendly towards me and just the other day he seemed rather annoyed by me. It seemed Milly was right about him, but even still…

I decided to forget about Lelouch for the time being and focus on Kallen. "I still don't know if I can trust her or not, and she does seem to have some level of distrust in me, especially when I mentioned the word "eleven"."

As I attended all my classes, I felt as if I was under constant watch, either by Lelouch or by Kallen. The two seemed to be observing me, noticing my every move as if they were judging me as either an ally or an enemy. They seemed extra cautious when I was around Suzaku for some reason.

After my last class, I decided not to go to the clubhouse. Being near Lelouch and Kallen again would really put me under stress; instead, I went outside and noticed Suzaku who came over to where I was.

"Hey Rai, aren't you heading to the clubhouse?" he questioned.

I answered him, "No, I thought I should get some fresh air so I came outside."

"Did anything happen yesterday? I mean, when you were with Kallen."

"Well, I guess something did happen, but it's not quite what you think."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is. Anyway, could you tell me who exactly the Black Knights are?" I asked.

Suzaku's face suddenly darkened, his expression more serious. He looked down towards the ground and answered in a more serious tone, not like what I had heard from him until now.

"Yeah, but first could you tell me where you heard about them from?" he replied.

It was a bit risky to tell him I heard that speech while in the ghettos, especially since Milly told me he was in the military. So, I decided to improvise.

"I just happened to have heard someone talking about them."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense… Anyway, the Order of the Black Knights is a group of terrorists that oppose Britannia in the name of justice. Their leader is a masked man named Zero."

"Zero?" I couldn't help but ask. "What is that, like…nothing?"

"I don't know why he calls himself that, but he's nothing but a murderer to me. He revealed himself about a week or so before you came. He murdered Prince Clovis, the viceroy of Area 11 before Princes Cornelia. He stopped a hotel jacking by the JLF and became the self-declared Knight of Justice."

"Knight of Justice?"

"Yeah, that's what his followers call him. He saved me when I was the one accused of murdering Prince Clovis. He saved Milly, Shirley, and Nina from the hotel jacking."

"Wait, you're saying you were accused of murdering a royal prince, and Milly and the others were caught up in a hotel jacking by this JLF and this Zero character is the one who saved all of you?"

"Yeah, I was accused but it was just a misunderstanding. The only reason Zero saved me and the others was to reveal himself and his organization to the world."

"Still, he did save you, plus Milly and the others."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. I have to go now – I have some military duties to get to and you should head to the student council now."

"Okay, see you later, Suzaku."

"A Britannian who sympathizes with elevens and an eleven who sympathizes with Britannians. What a weird bunch these guys are," I thought before leaving.

After that, I turned around and headed back towards the clubhouse; hopefully I wasn't too late. As I entered the clubhouse, I found Milly and the others, apart from Kallen and Suzaku, of course. Rivalz, Nina, and Shirley seemed to be doing some paperwork while Lelouch was reading a magazine and Milly was ordering them around.

As I entered the room, Milly was the first to notice me. Rivalz and Shirley took their eyes off their work to see me but Lelouch still kept reading his magazine, ignoring me.

"What took you so long, Rai? You didn't get lost did you?"

"No, I didn't get lost. I was just talking to Suzaku."

"Oh, so what were you guys talking about?"

"Should I really tell them I was talking to Suzaku about the Black Knights? Since Kallen isn't here I guess it's safe and besides, they're my friends and they have the right to know," I thought before replying.

"We were talking about the Black Knights."

Lelouch seemed rather surprised hearing my reply as he put his magazine down and looked straight at me.

"And what exactly about the Black Knights were you two talking about?"

"Lulu, don't you know it's rude to ask about other people's conversations?"

"No, it's okay; he has the right to know. Suzaku was just telling me about how that Zero person saved him and you guys."

Lelouch seemed a bit surprised again – I could tell from his face.

"Yeah, he did do that," Milly said while turning around and looking directly out the window.

"He stopped that hotel jacking two weeks ago," Shirley piped up.

"And released all the hostages trapped inside," added Rivalz.

"Suzaku said he only did it for his own interest. Is that really true?" I asked.

"Well, we don't know for sure. We just don't know enough about him or the Black Knights." Milly said, folding her arms.

"I see."

"It seems the rest aren't as one sided towards the Black Knights like Suzaku and Kallen. So where does that put me? Do I side with Kallen or Suzaku?"

"Putting Zero and the Black Knights aside for now, what do we do about Rai today, since Kallen isn't here?"

"I'll handle Rai for now, Madame President," said Lelouch, surprising everyone in the room, including me.

Rivalz looked at his friend. "Sure about that, Lelouch?"

"Yes, I think it's best that I handle the situation myself," Lelouch confirmed.

"Um, okay then. Lelouch gets to show Rai around for the day, any objections?" Milly said.

There were none, though Shirley didn't seem very happy about me pulling Lelouch away from her.

Lelouch said, "Right, we'll need to borrow your bike, Rivalz."

"Yeah, okay, just don't break it or something," the blue-haired teen replied.

"Where will you two go?" Shirley wanted to know.

"Just a quick tour around the settlement, maybe we'll visit the nobles," Lelouch told her.

Milly looked exasperated. "Don't tell me you're going to take him gambling, Lelouch."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't lose to anyone."

"Yeah that's reassuring, Lulu," Shirley said.

With that, Lelouch got up and led me towards Rivalz's bike outside. Lelouch himself hopped in the sidecar and handed me a helmet and a pair of goggles along with the keys.

"You want me to drive?" I asked Lelouch.

"Yes, it'll help me know a bit more about your skills."

"That's just an excuse to get me to drive him around, but I guess I'll play along"

"Alright, then."

I hopped on and started the engine and we were on our way. Lelouch read a book while giving me directions. I found the bike easy to drive but felt a bit unnatural. Lelouch stayed silent for the most part until we reached a noble's house.

"Well, this is our stop," he said.

I parked the bike nearby the house and got off. Lelouch led the way in. There was a fairly large room and in the middle of it sat a Britannian noble, surrounded by several guards with a table and a chessboard on top.

"Let me make myself clear. I don't like being kept waiting, school boy," said the nobleman.

"My apologies, sir, but I had some more pressing business to attend to," replied Lelouch.

"Remember, this is double or nothing. If I win, I owe you nothing, but if you win, I'll pay twice as much," said the nobleman.

"Correct, however your opponent today won't be me but rather…" said Lelouch gesturing towards me.

"So you brought your friend along to play. I'll make short work of this one," said the nobleman. "What's your name boy?"

"Rai."

"Have a seat, Rai."

I did as he said and sat down opposite to him with the board on top the table. Chess: the game of the Kings. A game between two opposing forces, each equally matched, a game that tests people's intellect to the fullest. I already knew the rules and everything for some reason. It seemed I was using the white side while my opponent had the black.

8 Minutes Later

The nobleman and his guards stared with open disbelief as the only two pieces left on the board were my king and knight. Lelouch seemed a bit surprised as well but not nearly as much as them.

"Well, sir, it seems you owe me double," said Lelouch.

Lelouch collected his money and we were both off.

"It seems you're quite skilled at the game of Kings, Rai," Lelouch said.

"I guess." I replied.

"Here, I'll let you have half since you were the one who played," Lelouch said while holding out a thick bundle of money towards me.

"No, I probably shouldn't. If Milly ever found out she'd be pretty angry."

"I see what you mean. Very well then, have it your way," said Lelouch as he put the money back in his pockets. "It's time to head back to Ashford now."

"So during this whole trip I've been your chauffer and your gambling partner?" I asked.

"It seems you finally figured it out." said Lelouch as he hopped in the sidecar.

"So I was right: he does seem to be testing me but for what exactly?" I pondered to myself before he interrupted.

"Come on, what's taking so long, Rai?"

"Nothing; I'll be right there."

In less than twenty minutes, I stood in front of the gate of Ashford Academy once again. I parked Rivalz's bike nearby and Lelouch and I got out. Milly and the others saw us and came towards us.

"Lelouch, you didn't make Rai gamble for money did you?" Milly interrogated.

"Yes, I did make him gamble but he won his first game with no trouble." Lelouch answered.

Shirley spoke up. "That isn't the point, Lulu! Rai still has no memories and doesn't know any better and you're being a bad influence to him."

"Did you really win, Rai?" Rivalz asked, ignoring her.

"Well….yeah."

"Against that nobleman…Whoa, how much did you score?"

"That isn't important right now. What is, is that I gained a better understanding of you, Rai." Lelouch interrupted.

"Is that so?" I said.

"Anyway, I have to go check on Nunnally so I'll see you all tomorrow," said Lelouch before he walked off back towards the clubhouse.

"Just what did he mean by better understanding?" I wondered, right before there was an explosion nearby.

It nearly knocked us all on our feet. As I looked back up, I saw a Knightmare frame!

The explosion had knocked us all to the ground and once again there was smoke everywhere and that made it extremely difficult to see.

"Damn! Why does this keep happening to me? Kallen, where is she…she probably has something to do with this."

I saw a large Knightmare appear right in front of me. A Burai aimed its assault rifle straight at me, just about to fire.

"Is this it? Am I going to die without even knowing who I am?"

Suddenly, the Burai was struck from its right and it was destroyed as I stared with open disbelief. Right behind it, with a red assault rifle, stood the same red Glasgow as before.

Inside Red Glasgow's Cockpit

"Rai, judging from your expression and the fact that Burai tried to kill you…maybe you're not a terrorist like I thought. Either way I have to go take down the other Burais and clear the name of the Black Knights."

Back Outside

The red Glasgow turned and headed the other way, leaving me there as if it simply had no interest in me.

"Rai, what's going on?" Milly yelled, coughing somewhere nearby.

"I don't know, I think it's an attack!" I shouted back.

"What? We have to get everyone to safety!" I heard her exclaim.

"Right!"

I found Rivalz and Shirley nearby and helped them to their feet and took them back into the clubhouse where Nina was already hiding under a table.

"Just what is happening out there? Why are they doing this?" Rivalz asked.

"I don't know, maybe it's because they're…"

I was cut off as the door slammed open and a soldier came in. Judging from his clothes, he was part of the JLF.

"All right, hands in the air! Make a move and you're dead!"

We did as he said since we had no other choice. Well, except…

"Argh, if I unleash my powers now, then Milly and the others will….but if I don't there's no doubt they'll be executed along with me, on the spot."

"You there, girl. Get up," said the soldier aiming his gun at Nina who was under the table. Nina didn't comply; she looked too paralyzed with fear to do that.

"I said get up!" the soldier yelled as he took aim at us, focussing right at Nina. "Right, now here's my chance." What happened next was a bit of a blur. I simply let my instincts take over.

I jumped straight towards him, but by the time he noticed me it had already become too late. Just before he got the chance to pull the trigger, I spun in midair and managed to land a kick in his face.

After he fell down, I checked him and realized he was knocked out cold, not dead. Rivalz, Shirley, and Nina were all staring at me with surprised looks on their faces.

"Rai, how did you do that?" Rivalz asked.

"That was amazing, Rai." Shirley said.

Milly added, "Yeah, just how did you do that?"

I sighed. "I don't know, I just did. Never mind that, we need to go help the others. It isn't safe here."

"He's right we have to go," Milly agreed.

We left the clubhouse room and locked the soldier inside, but I took his rifle with me.

"You're not going to shoot someone with that, are you?" Shirley asked me, sounding alarmed.

"What? No, but we can't just leave an armed man in there, can we? He'd tear the place apart." I replied.

Once again, Milly backed me up. "He has a point."

We went towards the basement, rounding a few panicked students along the way who had no idea what was happening and they sure didn't look safe seeing me hold an enemy's assault rifle. Soon enough, we were standing right outside the door to the basement.

Rivalz asked, "So what do we do now?"

"It's too dangerous to take them with me outside."

"You guys go hide in the basement," I decided. "I'll check on the others."

"By yourself?" Milly asked.

"Don't worry; I'll come back right away. Besides, I can protect myself," I assured her while holding the rifle up.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this but fine, just be careful." Milly frowned.

"Right."

I ran back upstairs towards the exit. I didn't notice anyone on the way there; it was totally deserted. Either everyone was rounded up somewhere else by the guards or they were all down with Milly and the others.

I saw a large group of students sitting with their heads bowed down. They all looked scared as three JLF guards stood nearby.

As I was about to enter the room I saw a soldier standing nearby so decided to hide. I was just about to attack the guard near the door but halted as out of the corner of my eye I noticed Lelouch and Suzaku.

Suzaku charged onward and did a spinning kick similar to mine and knocked one of the guards out. Lelouch confronted the other and managed to knock out his gun and Suzaku took him down.

…only to have the gun knocked out of Lelouch's hand by a bullet.

The third guard who knocked the gun out of Lelouch's hand aimed his gun straight at them.

"This is what you get for trying to be a hero, kid." said the soldier.

At that moment, I burst in the room. The guard was near the door: that made it easier to take him down. I rammed the gun at his face, managing to knock him down.

"Rai, where did you get that gun from? And where are the others?" Suzaku asked me.

"The others are down in the basement. Oh, and I picked the gun from a downed soldier."

"Do you know where Nunnally is?" Lelouch questioned frantically.

"Nunnally. I'd forgotten all about her. She wasn't with Milly and the others but with her disabilities she would be an easy target."

"I'm afraid not. Sorry, Lelouch."

"It's okay; she's probably with Sayoko."

"Let's hope so."

"You two, get the others to safety." Suzaku cut in.

Lelouch turned to the brunet. "Where are you going?"

"To call for help," Suzaku replied.

Lelouch, for some reason, looked as if that wouldn't be a very good thing.

Lelouch and I led the others back towards the basement where Milly and the others were still hiding.

"Lulu!" Shirley yelled, seeing him.

"Has anyone seen Nunnally?" was the first thing out of Lelouch's mouth.

No one responded.

"Damn…you better be with Nunnally, Sayoko."

"Now, what do we do? We can't just hide here." Rivalz said.

"No, we ca…" I trailed off. "Is that a Knightmare?" I said, looking at the machine at the back of the room.

"Yeah, that's the Ganymede. It's an old third generation Knightmare but has no weapons." Milly said as she turned around and looked towards it.

I considered it. "It'll have to do."

"You're not saying that you're going to attack them with that, are you?" Rivalz stared at me.

"I don't have I choice…unless you guys have a Sutherland lying around."

Milly looked quite worried. "This isn't a joke, Rai, you'll get yourself killed! Besides how do you even know how to operate it?"

I hesitated for a second; I couldn't possibly tell them about what happened in the ghettos and if I charged in there, there was a strong possibility I would get myself killed. But even still, if I could save the others or at least hold the terrorists off long enough for the others to escape or for help for arrive…

Lelouch spoke. "It's alright, Madame President. I think Rai knows what he's doing."

"You can't be serious, Lulu!" Shirley exclaimed.

"Yeah, we can't just let him go out there alone," Rivalz said.

"It's okay. I won't die." I tried to reassure them.

"Rai, I can't let you do this," Milly said. "As student council president, I forbid you from entering that Knightmare!"

"I see. That'll be a problem, but…" I said before dropping the rifle on the floor and rushing straight towards the Ganymede. I got through the crowd of students and reached the Ganymede and hopped in while Lelouch managed to hold back Milly and the others.

"I'm sorry, my friends, but I'm doing this all for you," I thought before opening the hatch and the Ganymede was elevated outside.

Once outside, I could hear sounds of gunshots nearby, and in front of me stood two Burais with their backs towards me. The reason they hadn't noticed me was because the red Glasgow from before was charging towards them, about to fire.

I charged forward even if it was just a third generation Knightmare – it was still strong enough to take them on. I took the one the right; with the Ganymede's long arms, I grabbed a hold of the Burai, grabbing onto his assault rifle while standing right behind him. I kept him from firing it but could not get it away from him. The other Burai immediately aimed towards us and prepared to fire at me.

"You bastard!" the pilot yelled. I spun the Ganymede around to the point where the Burai in my grasp was right in front of me and I used him as a shield when the other one started firing. He destroyed his own ally but not before I managed to get the rifle out of his hand. He aimed at me again, preparing to fire.

But suddenly he was shot from the side by the red Glasgow. It seemed that, once again, that Glasgow had saved me.

The red Glasgow and I once again stood face to face, both of us aiming our rifles at each other, deciding what to do.

Nearby, there were loud sounds of gunfire. It seemed the Britannian military had arrived. "That was fast," I thought.

The red Glasgow suddenly released chaff smoke, engulfing itself and me in the process. I decided not to fire since that would give away my position and I certainly didn't want to get shot by the military.

"Rai! The hatch is open, get back in quick before it's too late." I heard Lelouch's voice call from the Ganymede's communicator.

"Right," I said.

I went back towards the way I came, the chaff smoke had cleared a bit and I was able to get back inside.

As soon as I got out, I expected to see angry faces but to my surprise, there was nothing and no one!

The basement looked completely deserted. Milly and the members of the student council, as well as the rest of the students, weren't there anymore.

"Where did they go? Have they all been evacuated?" I thought right before I noticed something at the ground.

I went to pick it up. It was an entirely black envelope with a letter inside which was addressed to me! I looked the letter inside it said:

Come to the top of the bell tower of the chapel. I'll be waiting…

"Chapel? Must be the one on school grounds."

I ran outside heading towards the chapel, running as fast as I could. I didn't see anyone at all on the way, no students, soldiers, or any Knightmares! The place was completely deserted. It looked like there were some small damages done to the school but thankfully it was nothing too bad.

"How is this possible? Just ten minutes ago they were right here!" I said out loud, hoping that someone heard me which, apparently, no one did.

I ran all the way up the stairs of the chapel, needing to catch my breath before going to the top.

There, I saw someone in a black cloak with their back towards me.

"Hey, who are you?" I said to him.

He immediately turned around revealing that he was wearing an unusual looking black mask. His hands were in his cloak and he looked at me through his mask. I immediately realized who it was.

"Zero!"

"So you've heard of me, man with no memories?" he said in a bold tone.

"Y-You know me?" I replied.

"No, not the way you might hope. I have only the information my spies reported on you from the ghettos."

"Spies? Could she be one?"

"You mean Kallen Stadtfeld?"

Even with his mask on, I could tell he was rather surprised about what I just said. It seemed he didn't quite expect me to know about Kallen.

"Bravo, you've been here for only a few days yet you seem to know quite a lot," he complemented, sounding a bit impressed. "And that's precisely why I want you as one of my own."

What he just said surprised me to the point where my jaw dropped.

"You showed incredible skill in Knightmare combat. From what I heard, you took down an entire squad by your lonesome," he said.

"Yes, I did, but I know nothing of how I was able to do it."

"I see. In that case, I will ask you once again to join the Order of the Black Knights."

"Why? So you can use me as a pawn?"

"Tell me, Rai, can you not see the damage which Britannia has done to Japan?"

Looking back, I remembered what I saw in the ghettos, of how badly people lived there as nothing more than mere slaves. It was wrong, it had to change, and someone had to change it.

"I know what Britannia did isn't right, but I still have friends who are Britannian, to whom I owe my life to."

"I assure you, I have no intention to cause any harm to civilians."

It sounded like he meant it; after all, he did save Milly and the others but…

"I don't have much time for chitchat, Rai, so I'm asking you for the last time: will you fight for justice?"

"Until I know who I am, I won't be joining anyone." I said, straightforward.

"I see…well, that's unfortunate," he said, pulling out a gun and aiming it straight at my face.

"Would you really do it? Kill me and you'll prove you're no real Knight of Justice."

Zero stayed silent.

"You just said you don't intend to cause any harm to civilians. Kill me and you contradict yourself."

"Seems you're quite something, Rai." He said at last.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. I remembered a bright flashing light and being knocked down on my feet. I felt something weird come over me as if my body was being forced to obey but the feeling only lasted for a few seconds. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground and my eyes were sliding shut, but right before falling unconscious, I saw Zero walk away in disappointment.

Author's note

Credit for the change of format and the corrections to my mistakes rightfully goes to my Beta Reader BonsaiTree.