Imperial Palace of Britannia, Pendragon, 2015 Imperial Calendar.
Schneizel el Britannia looked in dispelief at his brother, Odysseus eu Britannia, who sat on the throne. Odysseus had changed his typical grey attire to a purple, silver-decorated outfit, similar in style to Charles zi Britannia's outfit during his younger days. The throne was surrounded by computers and telescreens, which Odysseus interacted with. The men inside the throne room closed the doors. Odysseus turned his eyes at his brother.
"You really should learn to knock." He said to him.
"What's the meaning of this? Where is the Emperor? What have you done to him? What gives you the right to sit on his throne?" The questions flooded from Schneizel's mouth.
"Since you already are here, I think you can hear the answers." Odysseus replied to the questioning. "Father is safe, locked into the asylum, where he belongs to. I now rule the Empire as a Prince Regent, since the Emperor is mentally incapable of continuing his job. Of course it's still unknown to the public, but not for long."
"Bullshit!" Schneizel screamed. "This in nothing more than a coup detat!"
"True, Brother dearest. Though I would prefer the term revolution, beginning of a new age, not just for Britannia, but the whole world."
"Not if I have anything to say about that!" Schneizel stood up and ran towards the door. He had knocked out two guards already, so these ones should be no problem. However he stopped running, when he heard a gunshot. Looking at the direction of the voice, he could see Cornelia revealing herself behind the curtain, holding a pistol.
"You didn't think Odysseus was alone, did you?" Cornelia asked. "This plan is far better organised. Originally it was just Odysseus and Euphemia. Later they added me to the calculation, so it was thanks to them that I survived. Meanwhile the Wakandan casualties consisted of Troops loyal to the Emperor. Those lost in Japan are also loyal to the Britannian cause. Now only those loyal to us are left."
"Organised or not, you should know your plan is doomed to fail." Schneizel threathened. "The nobility will find out and stop it."
"Nobility won't be a problem." Odysseus replied to his brother's threats. "During his reign, Father has given more and more power to the nobles, while leaving commoners with practically no influence over Britannia. Also, now with the sakuradite shortage and the financial crisis it has caused, Numbers and commoners suffer greatly, while nobles are practically untouched due to their excessive rights. And the situation is further worsened by the war, which consumes even more of Britannia's dwindling resources. And as you probably know, Brother, when the people are unsatisfied, they release their anger on their leaders. And when the war reaches it's peak, Britannia falls into chaos and nobles become the scapegoats."
"You fool! You are also one of the leaders! When the people rise to the barricades, You will also end up in front of the firing squad!"
"Not if we are on top of those barricades. You see Schneizel, since we are the masterminds behind this plot, we can be the faces of the revolution as well. When the Euro Universe's forces arrive to the Britannian mainland, she will be only a shadow of her former self. People's will to fight has disappeared and their need for changes has awakened to its full potential. During that moment, Cornelia will arrive. Recovered and wisened up from the Battle of Wakanda, she surrenders to the enemy, ending the E.U. - Britannia war in favor of the E.U. Britannia loses all of it's territories excluding the Area 1 and is forced to pay billions on war reparations. During that time, Odyssey holdings will aid in the repairing of Britannia's economy. Meanwhile the special administration zones throughout the former Areas, which were supposed to be for those Numbers willing to live their former lives, now become sanctuaries to the fugitive Britannians. After that, commoners will desire for more changes. That is when the Nobles lose their influence, power and purpose, leaving only their symbolic power. Commoners on the other hand gain more and more power. Britannia becomes a constitutional monarchy, where the Emperor is pretty much just a figurehead, while the decisions are made by a parliament consisting completely of commoners."
"B-but why? I though you didn't have any ambition to rule. That you would gladly spend your life in a mansion somewhere in the countryside rather than rule the Empire. Why do you now take over and change everything?"
"Simple, Schneizel. To tell the truth, I hate this Country. All these conquests, Number systems and denial of equality disgusts me. That's why I kept a low profile during all those years, because I wanted to have absolutely nothing to do with this reign. But once I'm crowned the Emperor, I can make Britannia a place to be proud of, not ashamed of. That is my dream, Euphemia's dream, Cornelia's dream, Clovis' dream and most of all Lelouch's and Nunnaly's dream."
"This is not the real you." Schneizel whispered at his brother. "You don't have what it takes to build up this kind of plans, nor are Euphemia or Cornelia."
"True, I don't. And if it wasn't for a certain contributor, Euphie and I could have never change anything, just follow and do nothing."
Then it hit Schneizel. The name of the man behind all this. "Victor von Doom." Odysseus nodded. A smile rose to Schneizel's lips, which turned into a grin and finally into an uncontrolled laughter. The Second Prince fell to the ground, wriggling and laughing.
Cornelia looked in horror a her brother on the floor. "What's going on?"
"He realised he had no way out." Odysseus explained to his sister. "Schneizel was a perfectionist, master planner with no weaknesses, at least in his own mind. But now he has realised too late his failure to prevent the fall of Britannia" Odysseus turned towards Cornelia. "Tell the guards to send the former Second Prince to a psychiatric care as far from the one Father is kept."
Schneizel stopped squirming, when the guards grabbed and dragged him out of the throne room. "Congratulations of your victory, Victor." He thought. "I truly was a fool to underestimate you. But now I know how you play this game and the next time we meet, I'm ready. So enjoy your grasp over the World as long as you can, because I'm coming to get you."
Doom's Family mansion, Latveria, at the same time.
Victor looked at the green haired woman inside the cell in his laboratory. During the two months inside the cell, the woman had refused to make any kind of contact to Victor. Not only that, but doombot Telepath was completely incapable of reading her mind, so there was no way to make contact that way either. owever Victor was not known for quitting. Perhaps some casual talk would work better than trying to force or bribe.
C.C watched as Victor again entered the laboratory, this time with a couple of flat boxes in his hands. He on a chair next to her cell and put one of the boxes in the middle of them. Inside the box was a some kind of circular bread covered in tomatos, cheese and other nutrients. The man took a piece of it and bit it. If the man believed she would talk to him after what he did to Mao, he was far more stupid than he appeared to be.
"There is no need to be afraid of, It's not poisonous." Victor said. "And even if it was,
it would have no effect on you."
C.C. grabbed a piece of the bread and tasted it. Soon she was wolfing down the contains of the box. Looking at the woman eating, Victor opened another box.
"I had a feeling you would like it."
"You know, Mr von Doom." C.C. commented. "Acting nice around me doesn't change what you did to Mao."
"It is true that I turned him into my personal mind reader." Victor admitted turning his look at the woman. "But you're the one who drove him insane."
"I simply gave him the geass"
"And then left him alone, when he needed you the most."
"He failed to fulfill his contract."
"You were his everything. Every positive thought he could think of was directed at you. It was impossible for him to imagine a life without you. And then you forced him to imagine by abandoning him, and you know the result. With your age you should be able to understand that not every person in the world is capable of doing what you did long ago. You did kill the one, who gave you the geass, didn't you, Cera?"
C.C almost choked to her pizza "(cough! cough! cough!) How do you... (cough! cough!) How do you know that name?"
"It has been two months since I brought you here." Victor started. "I've had plenty of time to research your background. It was made easier by the fact that your hair color is quite unique and that you're not really fond of hiding. There has been several stories about a green haired witch, who can turn others into witches. At first I thought they were simply other people like you, since most of them have lived decades, even centuries ago and many have met their demise through various forms of execution. However, I managed to find a photograph about one of these witches escaping a type of tank which hasn't been used for forty years. She looked exactly like you, hair, face, marks of age, everything was a perfect copy of your appearance. In other words that girl was a clone or that she is you. I chose the latter. All I needed to do was to then go back in time to the first mentioning of a green haired woman. Eventually I found it from the 15th century Venice. Apparently a young woman going by the name Cera gained the hearts of every man, woman and child throughout the Republic. However one day she disappeared. Since then there have been no account of everyone loving this mysterious witch, but others have gained strange powers by making contracts with her. With you."
"Impressive" C.C. noted calmly "But my opinion about you doesn't change. I have no reason to help you."
"Even if I told you that I could grant your wish?"
"Many have tried. None has succeeded. What makes you think you could do any better?"
Victor turned his face away from C.C and looked at the door. "Because those who failed were good people, who cared about you. I only care about power and ways to gain more of it. Whatever your wish may be, I can grant it, because ultimately the only one I stand for is me."
C.C. sighed, stretching her hand out from the cage. "Grab my hand and let's get this over with.
Ulster's mental asylum, west coast of Britannia
Charles laid down on the padded floor in his cell in frustration. Just two months ago, he was the most powerful man on Earth, now he was just a permanent patient in the asylum. He had no idea what was going on outside of his cell, but he could imagine that as far as the other people were concerned, he was only a madman, a blind madman. When he was brought here, they not only cut off his hair, but destroyed his eyes. Charles couldn't understand, how they had known about his geass, only that they had known. Otherwise they've had no reason to blind him. It didn't matter though, in here he could do nothing. Nothing but think, think about everything he wanted to accomplish, yet will now have no chance to.
Suddenly he could hear the door to his cell opening. He couldn't see the one entering, but he did recognise the voice.
"It seems that our plan has gone to a downhill." The boy in front of Charles noted.
"What are you doing in here, V.V?" Charles asked.
"Can't a man come to see his younger brother?" V.V. answered with a question of his own.
"Yes, he can. Although I am a little confused about your reasons of seeing me again. After all I have failed?"
"Failed what, exactly."
"Everything. Britannia, the World, our plan, the future, everything. After all these years of planning and preparing, I have lost my title, status and geass, the most important tools in our plan."
"That's why I have come here, Charles: I'm busting you out. Put this on your head." V.V. gave a helmet he was holding to Charles. Charles did what was told and got surprised by the fact that suddenly he saw his brother right in front of him. "It's one of the inventions of the late Reed Richards, also known as Victor von Doom."
Charles punched the wall. Victor was a name he had come to hate and loathe. The owner of that name had been a thorn in his side for an entire year, and now he was forced to rely on equipment created by him. Suddenly something struck Charles. "Wait. Did you say Victor?"
"Yes?" V.V. answered. "My operatives have found out that Doom used the inventor Reed Richards as an alias. The recognization happened through the scans of fingerprints. It is also confirmed that Lelouch and Nunnaly von Doom are also my niece and nephew."
"You mean that..." Charles wondered. "The children of me and Marianne are still alive?"
"Yes." V.V. confirmed. "However, let us leave."
"I have no reason to go, Brother. When Victor appeared in front of me to declare war, he told me that if the world is created from unity and justice, Britannia falls. Now I'm here, while Britannia collapses around me. Although I cannot see or hear about it, I can still feet it."
"True Charles, but don't forget everything that has happened so far. You created the Darwinistic Britannia as a social experiment to see if the Gods are true, and managed to create an empire covering the entire American continent and several parts of the East-Asia. Meanwhile Doom managed to defeat Britannia not by uniting all the others against Britannia, but by using deception and trickery. In other words he defeated you by your own philosophy and only pretends not to follow it. He is a person of lies we both want to exterminate."
"You're right." Charles sai standing up. "Britannia or no Britannia, the world is still the same. However, V.V, we should prevent Victor from interrupting our plans again."
"I have that covered." V.V. replied taking a cellphone. "I have a job for you, Rolo."
