Llyod: What's this little floating ball thing?

Eddie: Oh that it's a little project I was-DON'T TOUCH IT!

Llyod touched the little ball and it began bouncing in blurring speeds. Gage enters and gets hit in the head by the ball...Which then hits Rivalz in the nuts...somehow.

Llyod: So that is what it does.

Eddie: Yeah. I save it for rainy days...Once in Berlin it caused a black out. It took three days for power to come back up. And three days to stop me, Shinji, and Gage to stop laughing our asses off.

Llyod: I see...When will it come back?

Eddie: Eventually.

Grimdivide: I don't Code Geass....If you see a gold atomic super bouncy ball...wear a helmet and a cup regardless of gender.

Re:mnant Mao

The day after the first round of the tournament was a free day. Everyone who was staying on the Ark decided to have a festival in part of the City and Forest Sectors for the beautiful day. The one who had the idea and coordinated the festival was none other than Milly Ashford.

The masked Azure Knight, Aero, was trying to walk down the street, but it seems that his match had already won him some fans. They hounded him for autographs, pictures, and, from the occasional news reporters, interviews. Milly was unfortunately one of them.

"So mister Aero," she began to interview him, "how does it feel to have won with the odds so much against you? How does it feel to be the underdog?"

"I never thought the odds were against me," Aero stated.

"I see....Why did you enter the tournament?" Milly asked.

Flashback:

Adam: You're entering.

Lelouch: Why?

Adam: We have yet to see who is the best Knightmare pilot and what better way than a tournament?

Lelouch: Do we really have to compete like this in...well everything we do?

Adam: Eh, it's fun.

Lelouch: True.

Adam: Besides, we're at a draw in chess and I'm better than you at a sword fight. This will tell us who is the best S-class.

Lelouch: Hmm. Fine I'll enter.

Adam: Two more things.

Lelouch: What?

Adam: You have to make sure Kallen enters and...YOU SUCK!

Back to present:

"A rival," Aero said.

Milly's smile widened. "And who might that be?" the former student council president asked, "Is it our masked knight Zero or maybe the Red Lotus of Japan, Kallen Kozuki?"

Aero chuckled. "Well they are the favorites to win, but I wasn't really thinking of them."

"Then who is it?" she asked but Aero just chuckled and walked off, away from the crowd. "Wait! I'm not done with my questions!"

"Don't you have a festival to run?" Aero yelled before he was out of earshot. Before she had a chance to follow him, he disappeared into an alleyway.

Milly sighed. "Well that's it for him then," she turned to her news crew, "Lets go find another of the competitors. Then we can start working on the giant pizza." They all gave her a 'Yes Mam!' and followed after her.

**********

In the hanger Shadow was helping Eddie, and Shinji work on the Skeith. They were removing the landspinners and replacing the feet with new ones.

"So what exactly are we equipping?" Shadow asked. He had his mask on because Llyod and his company were upgrading the Guren's and the Lancelot's Energy Wings to help against the Skeith when needed.

Eddie shook his head. "Float units on these feet," he answered, "They will only hover the Skeith just above the ground. These feet also have jets under them, but..."

Shinji finished for him. "We don't know how they are supposed to be used."

"I see," was all Shadow said, "And why did we change the color of the Energy Wings from gold to deep red?"

"Noa said red Energy Wings suits you more," Eddie answered, bored.

They continued working in quiet until Zero entered the private hangar, pushing Nunnally in her wheelchair. They were also followed by Cornelia, Schenizel, and Guilford.

Shadow and the others in the hanger went over to greet the newcomers. "Hello your Majesty," Llyod said in his dreamy voice, "What are you all doing here? You should be out enjoying the festival."

"We could say the same Llyod," said Guilford.

"We're here to meet the Shooting Star of the Guardians," Schneizel explained politely.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Shadow said, crossing his arms. He noticed an uneasy expression on Nunnally's face. "What's wrong with you, Nunally?" he asked, lacking any actual caring.

Everyone except Guilford and Cornelia looked at the young Empress. "You should show respect to her Majesty," Cornelia scolded.

"And address her as such," Guilford added.

"I hardly ever show respect," Shadow told them, not looking at them and showing them disrespect to prove his point.

Cornelia's eye twitched. "You little punk-" she began to walk threateningly toward the masked Guardian.

Nunnally raised her hand to stop her. "It's alright sister," Nunnally said sweetly. She looked toward Shadow with a pleading look. "Will you please remove your mask?" she requested the Silver Guardian. Everyone was taken aback by her request except Shadow and Zero, who realized exactly what she wanted.

Cecile spoke up. "Um, your Majesty, I don't think-" she was cut off by Shadow.

"Very well," he said as he calmly uncrossed his arms an raised a gloved hand to his mask. Llyod and the other Black Knights scientists moved to see his face. He slowly took it off and was met with surprised and fearful looks from the Britannians and Rakshata, except for Nunnally and Zero.

"Lelou-," Nina began but stopped herself.

Cornelia drew her sword and attacked him. "Die Demon!" she yelled as she made to slash at him.

Shadow grabbed a broadsword he made appear out of thin air and quickly blocked the attack. He held back the purple-haired princess in a deadlock with one hand. Cornelia glared at his face with fury until she noticed the differences in his face. His hair was white as snow with black highlights on the edge of his hair, which was similar, but more unruly, to Lelouch's haircut. She also noticed the red colored eyes on his face which showed.

"Cornelia," Nunnally called her sister with a commanding tone, "Sheath your sword. He is not my brother." Cornelia did as she was told and backed away from him, but still glaring. Nunnally returned her attention back to the unmasked Shadow as he spoke.

"I suppose Zero told you of me," he said with a low voice.

The Empress nodded. "Yes, and as he said, you bear a striking resemblance to Lelouch. What is your name?"

The white-haired teen crossed his arms once again after making the broadsword disappear and answered. "I am Adam Noctis. You can see the reason why I wear a mask."

"It seems you have an extraordinary ability," Schneizel said unexpectedly. Then everyone remembered the sword that Adam had conjured as Schneizel spoke again, "Do you have Geass?"

At the mention of Geass, Cornelia placed her hand back to the handle of her sword while Guilford slowly reached for his pistol. Nunnally just glared at Adam, whose expression was like Lelouch's uncaring Emperor's face until his thin lips curled into a wicked grin and chuckled. Eddie and Shinji went back to work.

"What's so funny?" questioned Guilford.

Adam stopped chuckling but still retained his grin. "What's so funny is that the answer is yes and no." The Britannians all had questioning looks.

"What do you mean by yes and no?" Cecile inquired.

Schneizel answered. "I can guess why he said no. There was no indication of the Geass in his eyes, am I correct?" Adam went back to his cold expression and nodded. "I see, at least you don't share Lelouch's ability."

"Actually," Adam raised the back of his right hand in front of the onlookers, "My power exceeds Geass." A glowing red mark began to etch itself over his gloved hand. It looked like the Geass sigil they all despised with the infinity symbol behind it. "This is my Advent mark."

They stared at it with awe and curiosity, except Zero who asked, "Why show us your Advent?"

Adam lowered his hand and sighed. "Because it seems Noa doesn't really care if I do," he said nodding his head to the person who just entered the hanger. They all then turned around to see Noa walking toward them.

"Noa, what is Advent?" Nunnally asked.

"It is a power that exceeds Geass," Noa answered, "And before you ask, to put it simply, increases physical prowess and can grant another ability to the user other than their Geass. Adam for example has some powers over time and space while his Geass is able to form a material object like his sword."

"That answers the question," commented Zero.

"So, this Advent, is a more vile form of Geass," Cornelia said, not hiding the distaste in her voice. "Nunnally I suggest we rid of them before they can do-."

Noa interrupted her. "Are you so afraid of such power, that you immediately see the wielder as a monster? You should not judge someone simply because they wield such power...Don't you agree, Nunnally?"

The young Empress said nothing but nodded solemnly. Adam looked at her with pity as he thought, 'If only she knew.'

"I suggest we say nothing," Schneizel advised, prompting Cornelia and Guilford to put away their weapons, which they did grudgingly.

Zero nodded in agreement. "I agree with Schneizel. We don't want another Geass fiasco to begin again."

"Thank you," Noa said. "Now then I would like to speak with Zero and her Majesty in private." He turned and walked away, prompting everyone to return to what they were doing while Nunnally and Zero followed him.

************

Later in the day, Aero was sitting on top of a tall empty building far from the festival. He was watching the sun set over the ocean.

"It's my favorite spot," Aero said to someone, "It has a beautiful view of the sunset. Don't you think so too...Kallen?"

"It is," the Guren pilot agreed

Kallen walked up behind him and sat down next to him on the edge of the building. He noticed that she was wearing the same outfit when she found him in Shinjuku as he was about to inject Refrain into himself. She gazed into the sunset with him.

"Since you're here, I'm guessing you've figured it out?" Aero asked.

"It's not like you tried too hard to keep it from me," Kallen answered with a smile on her face as she continued to gaze at the setting sun. "It can't be good to be wearing that mask all day," she said after awhile.

Lelouch finally removed his mask and hood and turned his head to face Kallen. He then noticed that she was crying. "Kallen," he said with an apologetic expression that made her turn to him.

Kallen no longer had that smile that Lelouch enjoyed seeing. Instead she had that broken and pleading look he saw just before the final battle with Schneizel. Lelouch never wished to see his strong and proud Q-1 like this.

"Why?" she asked. Lelouch said nothing. "Why didn't let me help you? Why didn't you just at least tell me you were alive?!" Still he said nothing. "Answer me DAMNIT!"

"Because if you helped me then you would be forced to abandon everything in your life," he finally answered. "You would be hated by everyone you loved and cared about...even your mother." He paused to let her sink in the words. "As for not telling you...What would you have done if you found me alive?"

"I'd follow you," Kallen answered.

"Exactly," Lelouch told her, "I don't want you to do what I did, Kallen. I want you-" Kallen cut him off.

"To live happily," she finished and Lelouch nodded. Then he felt the ever familiar SLAP that he was expecting before she spoke again, sobbing. "BAKA! How the hell am I supposed to do that when I know everything that you did for us, the world?! How do I keep putting up a smile in front of everyone?!" She paused. "Tell me Lelouch...What do you feel about me?"

"Kallen, I...." Lelouch could only come up with three words that, to him, weren't enough. He leaned into her face and pressed his lips to hers. Kallen was surprised at first but she returned it as her tears of sadness became tears of joy. They wrapped each other in their arms to deepen the kiss.

They finally broke it when they needed air, but still held each other tightly in their embrace. Lelouch leaned into her ear. "I love you," he whispered and he knew Kallen was smiling.

"I love you too," she whispered back. "I'm surprised though," she added.

"About what?"

"That you said it first," Kallen half-joked to which Lelouch just chuckled. They released each other and returned to watching the remainder of the sunset until they heard someone clapping behind them.

"My, my," said a voice that was familiar to Lelouch, "That was touching. It must have been far much better then that kiss that Shirley put on you after you killed her daddy dearest." Lelouch and Kallen turned around to see the person who would ruin their moment.

The man that was clapping was the masked and cloaked RM. The mention of Shirley and the pose in which he was clapping reminded Lelouch of... "No," he said in a voice of dread as he got up in haste, "You can't be..."

The look on Lelouch's face indicated that he was not worried about RM seeing him, but because it was the worried look on his face he got when something he didn't expect nor wanted to happen, happened in the worst way. This scared look made Kallen worry as she too stood up.

RM chuckled as he removed his hood, revealing white hair and a pair of headphones around his neck. "Very first guess in your head you were right," he said as he then removed his mask to reveal a Chinese man with dark green eyes.

Despite his eyes no longer showed a permanent Geass, Lelouch knew who he was and Lelouch's expression turned into pure hatred. "You shouldn't be alive, Mao!" Lelouch yelled as he stepped in front of Kallen.

"Awww, still angry from the time I kidnapped Nunnally, eh?" Mao chuckled, "It's not healthy to bear grudges, ya know. But, you should know that, shouldn't you? After all it did lead up to your 'death.'"

"Who is this guy Lelouch?" Kallen asked.

Mao answered with his cocky grin. "I'm a former Geass user that can read minds. The last time I meet with Lelouch, he commanded me to lose my voice and CC killed me."

"Why can you still talk and, more importantly, why are you alive?!" Lelouch questioned.

"Oh, I'm still pretty much dead," Mao answered as he zipped down his cloak-jacket's zipper, revealing a mangled, upside down, violet Geass sigil on his stomach. "I've been reborn, as a Remnant." He then said in a mocking tone, "Oooooh, that's right! Noa never told you! In layman's terms it's the evil form of the Advent. But, it does come with...Hmm? I got to go. I won't tell anyone of your identity yet, Lulu, and I can't wait for our match tomorrow."

With that Mao vanished by just fading away like a mirage, leaving with Lelouch and Kallen with many questions. Kallen asked the first, "Lelouch, what is the Advent?"

************

After Kallen went to bed that night, a cloaked, masked, figure appeared through the darkness of the room. It was not Mao, for the figure belonged to that of an 18 year old girl. The person walked over to the sleeping Kallen as she formed a slim sword from golden light.

"Why are you the one that's real?" the Fragment asked as she began to raise the the tip of the blade over Kallen's heart.

The Second Round is beginning, but who or what is this Fragment? And what is Mao planning?

For questions, comments, and suggestions...Please Review.