Code Geass: Infinite
Chapter 10: All Our Little Plans and Schemes
(1-2 Months…Yeah..;-_-. Way to keep your viewers waiting longer than you said they would have to, T! -_-)
(Anyway, enjoy! And yes, that is a quote from the song from the John Lewis advert for all the Brits who are reading this ;))
The group of officers had regrouped in the meeting room, all of them waiting anxiously for Telus and this man known as "Hundred" to arrive.
"Maybe we should have gone with the original plan…" said one of the younger officers, nervously
"Are you insane?!" shouted General Roberts, angry at the mere suggestion of using it, "What in god's name made you say that?!"
"All I'm saying is that Lelouch vi Britannia would have done anything to help Empress Nunally," replied the officer quietly, "She was his little sister after all"
"And what do you think he'd think of us, then?!" retorted a fuming Roberts, "He would not help us! He's a tyrant! And he was Zero so it's obvious he would hate us!"
At these words, everyone in the briefing room went quiet and the officer who had spoken wriggled, disturbed and shaken, in his seat.
"Perhaps," Marshall Riqu spoke up, clearing his throat and breaking the small few seconds of complete silence, "Before we tear each other apart we should let Telus and this "Hundred" arrive"
No sooner had he said that, then the door opened and Telus stepped through, with his usual smug smile on his face. Behind him, however, was a large figure, cloaked in darkness.
"My higher officers," said Telus, giving a mock bow, "I present you with…Hundred!"
At this, the shadowed man stepped forward and some of the officers' blood ran cold.
He was wearing what looked like dark grey, full body armour, or at the very least protective gear. His face, however, was covered by an unusual, strange mask. The mask was held together by a brace, going around his face. His mouth was covered by part of the mask while the 3 other parts covered his eyes, his nose and forehead. The two plate's which covered his eyes had six sides, and looked as if they had they ability to open at will. They were pitch black except for the number 0 on each one of them, right where the eyes should be. The other one was the same shape but bigger, and instead of being in black, it was dark grey. It covered the nose and part of the forehead. This one had the no. 1 on its middle, also in red.
"Hello, Hundred," said Marshall Riqu, standing up, "I believe that Telus has explained the situation to you"
"He has…" Hundred replied, coldly and calculating.
"Are you willing to serve us?" Riqu asked, warily.
"If the pay is good…" Hundred said with an emotionless voice.
At once, a servant in the corner was ushered over by Riqu, holding a large, grey, metallic briefcase with a latch on it. When the servant opened the latch, the contents of the case were revealed: Large rolls of money worth hundreds and thousands in Britanian Dominions.
"Is this satisfactory, Hundred?" asked Marshall Riqu, staring inquisitively and the man in front of him. Hundred said nothing at this, merely looking down at the money inside the briefcase. After a few seconds, the masked man looked up and answered:
"It will do…"
With that all the high ranking officers, except Telus, breathed an unnoticeable sigh of relief.
"WAIT!" Spoke a voice easily identified as that of General Roberts, "How can we be sure you have what it takes to take down our little "problem"?"
"Forgive me, General," answered Hundred, making a small bow, "Perhaps you would like a little bit of a… demonstration of my abilities?"
"I believe that would be necessary," answered an already annoyed Roberts, "What do you need?"
"Nothing," Hundred replied, silencing almost everyone in the room, until he raised his hand to point at the servant in the corner, with the briefcase "Except him"
"Very well," one of the female officers answered, turning towards the servant, "You! Do as he says!"
"Yes ma'am!" answered the clearly sweating and nervous servant, as he laid down the briefcase on the table and walked towards the almost cybernetic looking man, "What do you need me to do, sir?"
"I want you to look into my eyes…" he said, before pausing and chuckling at what he had said, "Or, at the very least, where you think my eyes are!"
Nervously, the servant looked into the grey parts of the mask that covered his eyes. No sooner had he locked onto them however, then a one of them clicked open to reveal a pupils eye with a red, wing like symbol on it. In a split second, the symbol seemed to float from the masked man's eye and then rested in his own. It was one of the last things he ever felt or saw. No sooner had the symbol planted itself on him, then he began to keel over, his head now rushing with his regrets, his crimes and the people he hurt.
"P-plese…" he stuttered and squirmed, "Make it stop…Don't make me remember them…"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Marshall Riqu at Hundred.
"Giving the general a demonstration…" the man coldly replied, he eye guard clicking back into place.
"Make it stop, Hundred!" ordered a desperate Riqu, "We've seen enough!"
"You haven't seen anything yet…"
These word's shook everyone in the room to their cores as they watched the servant, screaming in regret and agony, crawled his way towards Hundred, grabbing hold of his leg.
"Please…" he drily begged, "KILL ME!"
Hundred said nothing as all other in the room looked on it horror. Except for Telus, who wore a calm, pleased, smug smile on his face.
"If that is what you wish…" Hundred coldly answered, pulling a gun out from one of his armour's pockets, handing it to the grovelling man.
"Thank you…!" he thanked, gasping in mental anguish, as he stood up, shaking, and put the gun in his mouth.
"SOMEBODY STOP...!" shouted Riqu, only to be cut off by the sound of a bullet exploding out of its barrel.
All the officers sat in shock, mouths opened in horror at the sight of the corpse and its mangled head as well at the big blood splatter pattern on the wall. It was too much for one of the younger officers who turned around, gagged and vomited.
"Now, sirs and ma'ams…" asked Hundred, emotionless, with an invisible sense of grim satisfaction, "Are you satisfied…?"
Meanwhile, at the Black Tiger HQ…
It was early morning when Simon awoke. He was tired, his head hurting from the last night.
"Damn, I had too much to drink last night…" he contemplated in his head, as he rubbed his now messy blonde hair only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Hello! Infnite!" shouted Galahad from the hallway, "You in there?"
"Yeah!" Simon replied, putting on his boots and walking towards the door, "And call me Simon!"
As he open the door he found Galahad, Kain and Brax standing outside his door.
"Ok, what have I done now?" Simon said, only to be dragged out the room by the ear by Brax.
"Get out here, Mr. White Mask," he said, already dragging Simon away to laughs from Kain and Galahad, "You've got an appointment with someone!"
"What the hell are you doing?!" Simon shouted, "Let go of my ear!"
"Geez, Kain, how long do I have to drag this whining brat!"
"Oh for god's sake, both of you SHUT UP!" Kain said, silencing everyone as they neared the hangar.
"I still don't get why you can't just tell…!" Simon began, before being turned round 180 degrees by Brax, who was still holding his ear, and then shocked in awe and amazement.
In front of him, being worked on by small group of engineers, who stood on cranes and construction bridges just to reach the parts they were working on, was a large, pure white Knightmare frame. Or at least the beginnings of one.
"This is your new weapon, oh mighty Infinite," a slightly awed, but jokey, Galahad announced, "The Templar!"
Even if it was not completed yet, the sheer look and size of its grating and engines was enough to said Simon sprawling towards it to get a closer look. As he neared it, he noticed a group of construction workers and engineers lifting a cannon into place and adding it onto the grating of its left arm. The cannon was rectangular in shape, with a red and white paintjob, making it stand out from the rest of the yet uncompleted machine. Another bit that stood out was the head, which made it look like a helmet with a metal veil covering the bottom part of its face. Other parts of the machine that were quiet noticeable were the partially built body, the under construction legs and the symbols of the Black Tigers and Galahad's resistance group on its shoulder armour plates.
"So, what do you think?" Galahad asked, as Infinite turned around to see all three of them looking at him inquisitively or, in Brax's case, with boredom.
"How the hell did you afford this?" Simon asked, to suspicious and embarrassed looks from the rest, "How did you afford it?"
"Err, well…" Galahad began, only to be interrupted by Kain.
"We took your Percival, which Galahad destroyed in our battle while you were captured and used its parts and some of our own to make it. Hope you don't mind!" Kain answered, before noticing the dark aura surround Simon, "Err, Sir…You ok?"
"Galahad. Did. What?" Simon growled with dark, raging anger.
"Err…He got it destroyed. Can't you hear, Infinity-boy!" Brax replied rudely, only to get "shut up" signs from Kain and Galahad, "What?"
It was then, with great fury and anger, that Simon tackled down Galahad and began punching him in the face with all he could muster up.
"Why! Did! You! Get! It! Destroyed! It! Was! My! Mother's!" he shouted, punching Galahad over and over again, in a cartoony fashion.
"I was just doing my job…" Galahad mumbled through his bruised moth, only to be met with a few more hard punches until Simon leaned down, breathing heavily. It was then that they heard a loud feminine scream.
"Was that Lucy?" Brax asked, looking up to see a young, silver haired woman in a lab coat hanging from a piece of the construction bridge.
"Hold on!" Brax shouted, desperately, running along with the others towards where the girl was holding onto the construction bridge. However, they quickly noticed her hands losing their grip and falling down towards the earth.
"NO!" shouted Brax, running even quicker towards where she was falling. But even then he knew he was going to be too late. Seeing her nearing the ground, he closed his eyes and made a last ditch attempted to save her. Only to hear a loud bump.
When he opened his arms, he saw Simon, planted on his back, with the blonde haired woman in a lab coat known as Lucy on top of him, covering her eye.
"LUCY!" Brax shouted with delight, running alongside Kain and Galahad towards Lucy, who looked up, before looking back down and blushing furiously at the fact their handsome leader had saved her and was underneath her, in a fairly awkward position.
"S-s-sorry!" a completely red faced Lucy stuttered in mass embarrassment, quickly getting up. Simon also got up, hardly embarrassed but sill with a hint of red in his cheeks.
"No problem!" Simon replied, smiling and ruffling his messy hair.
"That was close, Luce!" Galahad said, worried, "You ok?"
"Y-yeah! I'm fine," Lucy replied, straightening up her lab coat and calming down, "Sorry for landing on you, sir…"
"No problem," said Simon, getting back onto his feet, "So, I guess you're working on my new Knightmare here. Can you tell me anything about it?"
At this, Lucy turned from still being pale from her near death experience to a lively and perky expression, "I'll be delighted sir. Allow me to give you the grand tour"
With this she began to lead the group around the area where all amount of construction and moving was taking place.
"As you can see we are trying to create the best Knightmare possible for you," Lucy informed Simon, "We are installing a high powered cannon on one arm and a staff weapon to be held by the other. The body will contain other weapons, these being powerful nets and rockets. The legs are made up of your Percival's as well as ones from a newer, more improved version of our average Knightmares we use for the normal troops. They are being reinforced and improved to allow the engines to power them. The engines are powerful, containing parts from us, the Black Tiger's and the Percival. This will ensure your Knightmare will be fast and powerful. The cockpit includes space for at least 2 people, a pilot and someone else. The chassis is enforced to prevent it snapping under the weight of the weapons and engines, as well as the metal, which is made of new metals recently stolen from Britannia during a raid we had on a supply station and Knightmare repair station. Any questions?"
Simon paused for a second, looking the woman in front of him. She couldn't be older than 18 or 19, which surprised him because of the amount of information she had just given him. He noticed that underneath her lab coat she was wearing a white shirt and below the waist was a black skirt, which worried Simon about what view the guys beneath her got, making him blush a bit just thinking about it. He soon answered:
"Are you still ok after that fall?"
Lucy blushed a bit after this, but soon calmed down and nodded, "I'm fine, thank you"
"Good to know," Simon smiled, looking up at the Knightmare, before making a cold stare at Galahad which made all his older subordinate's hairs on the back off his hairs stand up, "Despite the destruction of my previous Knightmare…I think it's great!"
This caused all of them to sigh in relief, but with Galahad sighing for a different reason.
"That's good to know!" Lucy replied, before noticing Brax, "Hey, Brax. How are you feeling?"
This attention from Lucy caused Brax to turn red. Trying to brush it off, he swerved his head to the side and spoke in a tough guy voice: "F-f-Fine!"
These words caused Galahad to burst out laughing, completely forgetting about his earlier beating from Simon, and for Kain to giggle, covering her mouth to muffle it, which only made Brax turn even redder as he turned his head back to face Lucy.
"S-so…H-how are you L-L-Lucy?" he stuttered toughly, only increasing the chorus of laughs and giggles, now joined by the snickering of Simon. However, Lucy simply looked confused before beaming a big smile:
"I'm fine," she said, beginning to wonder off, "Hope you enjoy piloting my magnum opus, Infnite!"
However, before she could even make one successful step, she tripped over a power cable, sending her sprawling to the ground.
"LUCY!" Brax shouted, running up to her and helping her up. At this, Simon turned to Kain and Galahad.
"He's got a nasty crush, hasn't he?" he whispered, making his two subordinates quietly snicker.
"You have no idea…" Galahad said, as he watched Brax helped Lucy up to her feet. She responded with a bow and, surprisingly, a small kiss on the cheek before leaving. Needless to say the kiss caused all four others to open their mouths in shock, none more shocked than Brax.
"You…lucky…son of a bitch!" exclaimed Galahad, leaping at Brax and giving him a noogie, "How come you got a kiss? I've been waiting for a kiss from a pretty girl for ages!"
"If by "ages" you mean "since last Tuesday", Kain replied, making a joking smirk.
"THAT!" Galahad shivered, "NEVER! HAPPENED!"
"What did he do?" Simon asked, to get a mischievous smile from Kain who whispered the secret into his ear, all the while Galahad was recoiled in horror:
"He got drunk and started making out with some girl in the hallway. However…" she said, looking both ways and blushing, "When he got her in his room for..."you know what"…turns out she used to be a he!"
At these words Galahad broke down crying and wailing as Simon stood over him with a bemused look on his face.
"So…" Simon said, "Who was she…or he?"
Just then, a girl with long black hair walked past them and smiled a mischievous smile at Galahad. Noticing this, Simon pointed at her:
"Is she the one?" he asked, only to get hit on the head by Brax.
"No it's not!" Brax replied, "She's his WIFE!"
"Wife?!" exclaimed Simon, before turning to a still weeping Galahad, "Then what were you doing trying to have sex with a transsexual?"
"Sorry. I meant LONG SUFFERING wife!" Brax said causing Galahad to stop weeping and instead sweatdrop and groan.
"They've been married for five years," Kain added, "Trouble is…Gal's a bit of a playboy."
"That "BIT" was the understatement of the century!" Brax added in his tough guy tone, "How many girls have you gone on dates with apart from your wife? 20? 22?"
"I told you it's an UNDERSTANDING!" Galahad nearly shrieked.
"No need to get so upset, Bed Hopper!" Brax replied.
"Speaking of romance…" Simon added, smirking, "How long have you had a crush on Lucy?"
These words caused Brax to turn pure crimson and put Simon in a headlock, applying it tighter and tighter each passing second.
"Don't say that, Prissy Boy!" Brax shouted.
"Ah! Watch my neck! WATCH my neck!" Simon croaked, causing laughter from Galahad and Kain.
A few hours later at Britannian Military High Command…
Everyone in the lift was sweating except for Telus and the masked man known as Hundred. Not only were they sharing a lift with a…psychopath who they just saw make a man kill himself, they were about to bring him to the hangar for him to analyse his new Knightmare's construction, being made for him especially by the finest Britannian engineers. They were praying to god he liked what he saw otherwise he might do the same to them. After around a minute of awkward silence, the door opened to reveal the massive hanger bay of the Britannian military.
The hanger bay contained over a thousand Knightmares, all bearing the Holy Britannian crest somewhere on them. One that was easily noticeable, and the one seen first by all who exited the lift, was a large grey Knightmare which stood a few meters away, facing towards the lift. The Knightmare was bigger than most of the other Knightmares in the hanger and towered above the group of people in front of it. It was not fully completed, since construction had only started yesterday, but it seemed to almost be complete. Most of the light, metallic grey armour that covered it was attached to the chassis of the Knightmare, with only a few more parts to be added on. The head of the Knightmare was a white helmet in the shape of a diamond, covering the outlines of a cockpit, making it look like some kind of cyborg Knight. The arms of the machine were still being fitted with weapons but it was obvious they were almost done. The main weapons on either arms were long, curved metal blades coming out from the outer side of the arm's armour, stopping just before they reached the end of the fist. However, it was obvious that they had the ability to become longer and shorter by will, shown, coincidently, by a worker testing them out with a remote control. The remote made the blade come out further until the tips barely touched the ground. Other weapons were hardly visible due to being attached to the back of the giant machine but, from the gun handle shapes that poked out over the machine's shoulders, it was easy to tell that they were some kind of cannons, presumably to be wielded by the Knightmare's hands. The legs were also grey, but were also think and sleek in design, with rockets attached to the heel of each mechanical boot. Noticing the arrival of Prince Kanon, his former pupil in military academy, and his self-appointed "protector", Duchess Grace, Marshall Riqu walked up to greet the two.
"It is good to see you well, my prince," he said, smiling at his former student.
"And good to see you, Marshall," Kanon replied, smiling even more so back at his former teacher, before dropping it when he noticed Hundred and glaring at the armoured figure, "So…I'm guessing you're Hundred?"
"I guess you royals still have brains left between your ears…" Hundred replied, gruffly, before noticing Duchess Grace swiftly drawing her sword and holding it to his throat.
"How dare you speak to Prince Kanon like that!" she viciously shouted, "I'll kill you for insulting his nobility!"
"Patience, duchess…" Telus laughed, coming between the two and ripping the sword out of Grace's hand, "You cannot say I did not pick someone who was this…entertaining, shall we say?"
This comment made Grace grit her teeth in anger, only to be met with a hand on her shoulder and a shake of the head from Kanon. Instinctively, but grudgingly, she backed away to Kanon's side.
"Well…Isn't that cute…" grinned Telus, making a mock "cute" face as he did so, "Can you make you little lapdog sit down and roll over just by clicking your fingers as well, my…"
"ENOUGH, TELUS!" Roberts shouted, shutting Telus up as he skulked back to Hundred's side, still smugly smirking as he did so.
"This is your supplied Knightmare, Hundred," Riqu said, gesturing to the large Knightmare in front of them, "So…Is it up to you and your employers standards?"
At this Hundred walked towards the Knightmare along with Telus beside him, make a dog face and then laughing smugly at Grace, earning a loud growl from the Duchess. Looking up, Hundred began analysing his new mechanical monster, stroking his hand against one of the legs of the machine, giving nothing away of what he thought with his actions. After leaving everyone in a scared and anticipated state as he did so, he eventually turned around and spoke his judgement on the Knightmare:
"It is…impressive"
At this, many of the people behind them sighed in relief.
"It will help me in taking care of your little problem…" he continued, obviously talking about Infinite and the rebels, before looking back up at the Knightmare, "When it's finished…"
"Yes, quite!" Telus smugly, laughed, placing his arm around Hundred's shoulder, then turning towards the council, the Duchess and the Prince, "I'm sure he will live up to your expectations!"
At this, everyone else looked towards the two and twitched in nervousness. Most of them had already seen what he could and they, as well as the Duchess and the Prince, did not want to know what else he could do.
Meanwhile, back at the rebel base…
In the room where he had eaten a celebratory meal the night before with the rebels, Simon was changing out of his Infinite garb and back into his royal clothes.
"Are you sure this is a good plan, Simon?"
He looked up, as he was putting his boots on, to see Kain, the one who had spoken, Brax and Galahad standing in the doorway:
"This could all go horribly wrong..."
"I know that..." Simon replied, continuing the process of putting his boots on, "But I've revealed my identity and I know that someone here is a traitor"
"Then why are you going back?" Galahad asked, inquisitively.
"Because…" Simon replied, pausing and sighing before continuing, "Because there may still be a possibility that they haven't found out yet. All I want to do is get my little sister and her nurse, get the information the rebels need for our attacks and then I'll come back"
"But what if they already know when you get there?" Brax asked, a bit annoyed at his new leader's stupidity, "You must be crazy to do this!"
"A bit…" Simon replied, putting on the second and final boot, "But if they already know all I need to do is get the information, my little sister and her nurse through…other methods…"
"Other methods?" Galahad asked, spooked out by what the defected prince had said.
Simon then turned to them and nodded, finishing up the last parts on the boots before standing up.
"I can't tell them about the Geass…" Simon thought, "If I did they might as well think I was crazy. Besides, the ability would be completely useless. They all see me as a leader. It would just come through as a normal order. Unless I made them forget about it, of course…"
"Good luck, Simon," Kain said, giving a small, friendly hug as Brax stepped forward with an outstretched hand.
"I may not always like you…" Brax said, shaking Simon's hand in grudging respect, "But…good luck, you crazy bastard…"
After this, Simon turned to Galahad, who simply smirked and gave him a small salute:
"Good luck, Si!"
"Thanks" Simon replied, wearing a small smile, before walking out of the room followed by Galahad, Kain and Brax.
As soon as they got halfway down the hallway towards the hanger, Simon noticed the same woman from the hangar walking towards them. Seeing this made him smirk as he got feel in the air Galahad nervously tensing up.
"Hello, Infinite," the woman said, in a fairly practical, but also well mannered voice.
"Hello, Mrs. Galahad," Simon cheekily replied, stopping in hsi tracks and smirking, "And its Simon, not Infinite"
"Very well...Simon," she replied, smiling back at him, "And it's Julia, not "Mrs. Galahad""
"I'm sorry, Julia," Simon replied, making a small bow before looking up in mock confusion, "Can I just ask, if you pardon me, why do you let Galahad flirt with other women?"
At this the group went silent, with Brax and Kain making gestures at Simon for him to shut up and Galahad making even rudder gestures towards the rebel prince for completely different reasons. Surprisingly though, Julia smiled at this.
"Our marriage was arranged by our parents so there wasn't much love involved to begin with," she said, beginning to walk off, and ending her sentence with a wink at Galahad, "I don't mind it. He was too young to get settled down. Besides...I'm sure he'll eventually calm down..."
After this, she made a small wave goodbye as she continued her walk down the hall, in the opposite direction away from the hangar, while all four watched her in bewilderment and a tiny bit of fear.
"Man..." Simon said, giving Galahad a nudge in the ribs, "How tolerant is she?!"
"What..." Galahad said, trembling in fear, "What does she mean "I'm sure he'll eventually calm down"?"
"Well..." Kain sinisterly said, turning to the three males beside her, a large, joyous smile on her face "I'm sure she's got a...firm, threatening, women's method of calming him down..."
At this, all three men shivered; picturing all and every nightmarish things women could do to men.
"You go, Jules..." Brax whispered, before leading the three others into the hangar.
When they got in there, Lucy, Lillian, Mr Rouge and "" were waiting for them in front of them small plane that was taking him back to the royal palace. They had removed the Black Tiger symbol and any ties connecting it to the rebels.
"Well, I didn't think I was this popular," Simon cracked, before noticing an absentee from the group, "Where's L2?"
"Here...!" A voice responded, fairly happily but also fairly emotionless. Simon turned to see his blonde companion walking over to him.
"Look..." the prince began awkwardly, "I'm sorry about last night..."
"Don't worry..." she replied, with a small trace of a smile on her lips, earning weird looks from everyone around them and a noticeably furious blush from Lilian.
"Right!" Lillian interrupted, clearing her throat as she did to get everyone's full attention, "Shall we say goodbye, Infinite?"
"It's SIMON!" the prince exclaimed, jokingly, before holding out his hand. Surprisingly, Lillian didn't shake his hand, instead leaping at him and giving him a massive hug, giving L2 a stuck out tongue over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Simon had become redder than a ripe tomato.
"Oi!" shouted "", running up to Simon, "What the hell do you think you're playing at?!"
"Nothing, I just...!" he started, only to be cut off by a swift punch from Lillian's third in command, which he was punished for by a bullet speed kick to the gut from Galahad. When he tried to get Galahad back, Rouge stepped in behind him, grabbing hold of both his arms and pulling him back.
"LEAVE IT" Rouge commanded a fuming "", who responded by pulling himself free, dusting himself off, grunting and muttering in anger before finally wandering off, cursing as he did so.
"Sorry, Infinite…" Lilian said, uncharitably shy and embarrassed and also lightly blushing, "I didn't mean for my subornment to behave so improperly towards you. Please forgive me"
"No need to apologise," Simon replied, with a small, awkward smile on his face, "And please…Just call me Simon"
At this, Lilian's cheeks turned pitch scarlet:
"T-thank you..S-S-Simon!" she embarrassedly stuttered, before walking off, accompanied slowly by Mr. Rouge, who gave Simon a nod and an almost untraceable smile as he walked behind his commander. After this, Simon turned round to see Galahad, Kain and Brax grinning at him smugly, with even L2 having a very noticeable smug look on her face.
"Well!" Brax said, boyishly gleeful at the prospect of torturing Simon, "Looks like someone's got a secret admirer!"
"Yeah, " Galahad said, "Looks like I may be knocked off my perch as chief lady killer, eh?"
"I think it's quite cute!" Kain smirked, walking over to an immensely embarrassed Simon and giving him a small pat on the shoulder, "From what I heard, I didn't think it was possible for Lillian to fall in love. Nice playing, Cassanova!"
"L-look, Guys!" a red Simon replied, "I…I don't think this is appropriate conversation at this time!"
"Oh," Brax replied, walking "menacingly" towards Simon, "I think it is!"
At this, Brax put Simon into another headlock and gave him a noogie while Kain and Galahad laughed.
After a few seconds of this, Ryan walked up to the group, seemingly out of nowhere:
"Well," he interrupted, "It seems you four are having fun!"
"Five!" Galahad replied, pointing to L2, who raised her hand in greeting.
"Well, hello!" Ryan exclaimed "smoothly", slicking back his hair and preparing to walk towards L2, only to be pulled back by his sister, clutching hold of slicked back hair, "Ahh! Not the hair!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, annoyed, as all four others looked on in bewilderment at this brother-sister argument, "Don't flirt with people you've just met!"
"But it's obvious she likes me," Ryan replied, only for his younger sister to squeeze his ear, "OW! Quit it!"
"So, Ryan," Simon asked, interrupting the two, "Is there a reason you came here?"
At once, the siblings stopped and Ryan walked towards the prince:
"Just wanted to say goodbye," he replied, "And thank you, for proving that there are still members of the nobility who aren't power greedy maniacs!"
"No problem," Simon replied, outstretching his hand in friendship and respect. Almost immediately, Ryan took the hand and shook it firmly with his own.
"Are you going to go now?" asked Brax, a bit impatiently and rudely, earning an elbow to the ribs from Kain.
"Sure," Simon replied, before walking up to him, "Brax, it's been a pleasure meeting you and I hope we can work together in the future"
"Yeah, yeah, just get on you plane and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!"
These words earned a laugh from Simon and an even harder elbow from Kain, this one leaving Brax winded for a few seconds. Next, Simon walked over to Galahad.
"Galahad," Simon began, before correcting himself, "Sorry. James. I forgive you for what you have done to me and to L2 and hope we can put it all behind us for the good of the rebellion"
Galahad, relieved, saluted Simon, before noticing L2 and scurrying off to her.
"Look," he said, sheepishly, "Sorry about the whole…cutting your finger off thing…"
"Its fine," L2 replied, making a tiny smile but still speaking emotionlessly, "I've had worse"
These words made Galahad feel worried and afraid at what might have happened to her, but he still sighed in relief and nodded before walking back towards his four comrades. Next was Kain.
"Kain, thank you for, as your brother said, proving that not all Britanian nobility and military is corrupt"
"It's me who should be thanking you," Kain replied, giving him a small, friendly hug, which never-the-less drew woos from everyone apart from Simon and L2. Kain replied by sticking her tongue out at them and walking back next to them, giving her brother a quick punch to the shoulder as she did.
"So," Simon said, turning to L2, "Are you ready to go?"
L2 responded by giving a nod and walking towards the plane, giving a small smile and a wave to the four soldiers. Simon responded by following, however he made a bigger smile and wave towards his subordinates. Kain, Galahad and Ryan waved back and Brax gave him the middle finger, causing Simon to laugh as he disappeared into the plane. Minutes later, the plane's engines started up before the plane left the ground and soured out of the hangar, leaving the four rebels and the hideout behind.
Inside, Simon sat on the pilot's seat, piloting the small aircraft, while L2 sat shotgun, looking out the window almost sadly. It only took a few hours for them to spot the skyscrapers of New Pendragon in the distance.
Meanwhile, in the throne room of the palace, the members of the royal family, excluding Simon and Kanon, stood around in the room, with the old Empress Nunnaly sitting on her throne, listening to Lord Norman's findings.
"As far as we can tell there is no sign of Prince Simon anywhere in the palace or on the grounds," he began in an informing way, "The soldiers are quietly searching for him in New Pendragon and, per your orders, Empress, we have not put up any wanted posters or given information to the press or TV stations, Brittanian or international"
"Good," a middle-aged, lightly bearded, black haired member, of the royal family responded, "The last thing we need is a big mess over what is probably a childish prank"
"Father," said a teenage family member with wild crimson hair, who was obviously the bearded man's son, "He still might have been kidnapped. The rebels got hold of him once before. Who knows? They might have done it aga…!"
"Richard," a silver haired, beady eyed member of the royal family interrupted, who was probably only around 5 or 10 years older than the other prince, "With all due respect, the walls are surrounded by guards day and night. I find highly improbable that some foolish rebels could get in and kidnap Simon"
"It's still a possibily," Edward!" Richard angrily defended.
"Indeed it is," Edward responded, "And I never really said it wasn't possible. Highly improbable, yes, but not impossible"
"Edward! Richard!" barked the bearded man, causing the two to slightly jump, "This is not the time for your petty bickering!"
"Yes, Uncle Edmund!" Edward replied, shifting backwards.
"At once, Father!" Richard similarly responded, also shifting backwards.
"Uncle?" a blonde haired prince in his 20's spoke, drawing the attention of everyone in the room
"Yes, Levi?" his uncle impatiently answered, looking over to one of his many nephews.
"What would happen if the rebels have killed dear cousin Simon?" he asked, making a few of the female royals in the room gasp.
"I mean," he laughed, continuing on from what he previously said, "It will hardly be worth getting him back if somebody's cut him into bits, will it?"
"STOP IT!" a young, 16 year old girl with ginger haired tied into two ponytails screamed, tears exploding from her eyes, "JUST STOP IT, LEVI! SIMON'S NOT DEAD! HE…Can't….be…"
After this outburst, the girl buried her head into another, older female member of the family, who also had the same hair colour but in curls instead of ponytails, who glared at Levi menacingly while putting her arm around the younger girl, who let loose a great flood of tears onto her sleeve, dousing it in fluid.
"LEVI!" shouted another royal, this time a woman in her mid-30's with green hair, "Do NOT say such horrible things!"
"Of, course, mother," Levi calmly replied, bowing to the woman who gave birth to him, "Just thinking of all the possibilities…"
"Aunt Angelica has a point though," the older, ginger haired girl growled, the young girl's head still buried in her shoulder, "This is OUR cousin here!"
"All the more reason to think things through smartly," Levi responded with a small ounce of venom and distaste.
"SILENCE!" an older man loudly ordered, making the room as quiet as a graveyard. The man had grey hair and was fairly tall and large, with narrow eyes and a stern mouth:
"While we sit here, babbling about "theories" and "what might have happened" we should be looking for MY SON!"
This made the room even more silent that usual. Surprisingly, though, the one who finally perked up to say something was not one of the younger royals, but instead Empress Nunally herself:
"Suzaku," she calmly and soothingly began in her wise and old voice, "We all understand what this must be like for you, but unfortunately this is necessary to find out where Simon is. Before we can start sending search parties out we must think about what could have happened to him. We can hardly send them off without knowing about any of the possible things that could have happened to him so they could look at location to do with them, could we?"
"…No…Forgive me, mother…" the 50 year old man slowly and tiredly sighed, stepping backwards, drawing sympathetic stares from everyone else.
Unbeknownst to them, however, the only royals not allowed into the throne room to hear the conversation, the youngsters, were listening inventively from behind the room's door.
"What's going on, Big bwother?" a four year old girl with blue hair asked, directing the question at a 7 year old boy with ginger, spikey hair who was listening in, ear almost invisibly nailed to the door.
"I don't know, Rachel!" the boy replied, moving around the door in an attempt to find a good spot to listen in.
"Maybe we should give up and wait," an 8 year old boy with silver hair and green eyes chimed in, "Wait a while and I'm sure we'll find out where Si is"
"I just hope big brothers all right," Euphemia stated in worry, drawing concerned and sympathetic looks. At once, as if instinctively, Rachel grabbed hold of her cousin's arm in comfort.
"It'll be ok, Big Sis Euphy," Rachel said, in a toddler like manner, "Big Sis loves him vewy much. I'm suwe that will bwing him home. We just hawe to bwelieve…"
After these words, the roar of a plane engine ripped through the palace, shaking everyone up in complete surprise.
"What the hell was that?!" shouted Levi, following his other family members out of the room, passing by the youngsters as they did, who quickly got up and ran behind them. Soon, only Empress Nunally and Lord Norman remained in the room.
"Lord Norman," the Empress began, "Bring me my wheelchair"
"At once, your highness!" the every-loyal Norman replied, going off to fetch his empresses' wheelchair.
As this was going on, the other members of the royal family were rushing out the palace doors, followed closely by a group of heavily armed guards who were disturbed by the noise of the plane and the commotion that followed it and knew they needed to check what was happening. They all came face to face with source of the noise, which was a small, black, military plane, its engines facing towards them, deafening in their velocity-filled roar. Soon, however, it stopped as it settled slowly down on the lawn, the silence that followed soon interrupted by the guards, who ran around the side of the plane and pointed their guns towards it, turning the safety off in case of a threat. After the royal family and guards waited patiently for around a minute, a small, unremarkable black ramp slid out from the back of the plane, fairly underneath the engines. After this, a sound went off, that being off some kind of mechanical doors opening, followed by the footsteps of two people walking down the ramp, faces and bodies masked in shadow. Preparing to fire if necessary on the passengers of the unidentified and unauthorized aircraft, the group of soldiers pointed towards the ramp…
Only to be met by Prince Simon and a blonde girl looking back at them from the bottom of the ramp, hands in the air as a symbol of surrender.
"Well…" Simon interrupted, looking around at the shocked faces of his extended family and the soldiers who were waving guns at him, "Not the homecoming I was expecting…"
(WELL, it took me long enough, didn't it? ;-_-)
(I was unsure ending this here, but I figured that you'd waited long enough :))
(But, anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it and, while I can't make any promises when the next chapter will be out, it will be out as quickly as possible)
(PS. October 25th was the day I began this story last year so, while this is late, thank you everyone, especially ExoticAngel97, WerewolfWoman12, hellokitty70705, mandylou18, silverbug28 and, most importantly, my best source of continued support, who may or may not be ticked off at me for not talking to her for a while or possible for not updating for 3 months 0_0, the always entertaining pft980811. Thank you all and also the many more who actually bother to read, and even enjoy my trite, and, not to give anything away,, as the author, I can only tell you that the best is yet to come…;))