Chapter 10: Conquest
Timeframe: Season 2, between the events of episode 21
Step 1: Recruitment
"You want to do what?" Suzaku asked his eyes wide in disbelief.
"You heard me the first time" Lelouch replied back smugly.
"I still don't believe it though"
Lelouch stared at his former friend and current archrival. The two were facing each other inside the cavern on Kaminejima Island right next to the destroyed doorway to the world of C. C.C was sitting down nearby silently reflecting on everything that had happened. Lelouch found it ironic that he and Suzaku were having another encounter here, only this time with more actual talking and less violence. Although by this point the violence would have been less time consuming.
"I'll say it for the last time Suzaku" Lelouch said as his twin Geass eyes glared back at Suzaku, "I'm going to take over Britannia and then use its military might to conquer the world. Then once the world's hatred is all focused on me, I'll die so the hatred will die as well and true peace will prevail. That is the Zero Requiem. And I want you to help me with it"
"This is proof that you have completely gone mad"
"Have I?" Lelouch questioned back. "Suzaku, I don't have anything to lose right now. Euphemia and Nunnally are both gone now. Schneizel turned all of my troops against me. I just found out my mother was alive all this time but just as evil as my father and I just killed both of them. There's nothing left for me in this world Suzaku and the same could be said for you as well. Unless you would be happy continuing to serve as Schneizel's lapdog. After all it did wonders for you when you were working for Charles"
Suzaku said nothing but evident by the very deep scowl on his face the words had struck a nerve.
"His idea is insane" Suzaku turned at the sound of C.C's voice. She formed a small smile over at Lelouch, "However this boy has a talent for taking insane ideas and turning them into miraculous victories"
"Does that mean you are going to help me?" Lelouch asked.
"We still have a contract. Don't think that I am letting you out of it that easily"
"Of course not witch. Well what do you say Suzaku?"
Suzaku looked back and forth between the pair realizing they were completely serious about this. "This is…this is crazy. Lelouch I should stop you right now and put an end to all of this. Hell there's a part of me that still wants to kill you for everything that you have done!"
"If it helps I'll let you be the one to kill me" Lelouch offered.
"It would probably your best chance for revenge" C.C added on.
The Lancelot pilot actually gave that some thought for a few moments.
"Okay I'm in"
Step 2: Escape
"Okay I'm out" Suzaku argued, "I can't do something like this"
Lelouch couldn't believe that his perfect judgement was already being questioned after only ten minutes into their partnership, "We need to get off this island before any forces find us. The quickest way to do that is to neutralize the target and commandeer their knightmare frame"
Suzaku peered out of the bushes he and Lelouch were hiding behind to look at said target, "But that's Anya. She's my friend!"
Anya was currently about twenty feet way looking over the Mordred. The girl was rightfully confused as she had woken up alone in a cave and had no idea what she was even doing on this island. Granted she was use to memory lapses but this was the first time she couldn't recall piloting her knightmare frame somewhere else. For now though, she figured the best thing to do would be to head back so she was looking over Mordred to make sure their was nothing wrong with it before taking off.
"Friendship is a pawn that you must be willing to sacrifice Suzaku. Besides, what would you do instead?"
"Well…maybe I could go speak to her. I'll explain to her what's going on and she might even agree to help us"
"Oh yes, that'll work perfectly" Lelouch said his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Why hello there Anya. You might not realize this but for the last several years the spirit of my mother has been living inside your body and using it whenever she feels like it. It was a part of a very complex plan between her and my father in order to destroy and recreate the world. We managed to stop them by using my mind control powers to order the gods themselves but we have no actual proof of our claims. Anyway, we were just about to start our own plan in order to bring about world peace with the first step being the conquest of Britannia. Would you like to betray everyone else and come along for the adventure?"
"Anya is a close friend of mine," Suzaku insisted, "If I explain all this, I know she will believe me"
"How have you managed to get through life while being so gullible? Although I suppose if you want her on our side that badly, I could use my Geass on her"
"You will not do that!"
While the two young men were arguing, C.C walked out of the bushes closer to Anya. Picking up a suitable rock, she chucked it at the back of Anya's head knocking her unconscious and then ran over to the body locating the key to the Mordred with a quick body search. All of this took less then a minute.
"The two of you sound like an old married couple" C.C yelled out causing Lelouch and Suzaku to stop and look over at her, "Just kiss already so we can get a move on!"
Twin annoyed looks formed as the two of them moved after the green haired girl.
Step 3: Meeting
"This is the smartest thing you have ever done Lelouch. For once I am truly proud of you" C.C said with complete honesty.
Across the table Lelouch gave her a hard look. "C.C you do know that this is only a temporary base of operations. We are not staying here forever"
"Why not?"
At that moment, a waitress in a Pizza Hut uniform came over with a tray of drinks. As she set them down on the table, the glow of Geass control could be clearly seen in her eyes. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Yes I would like an extra large pizza with the works and one…no wait two of every Cheese-kun product you have in shock" C.C ordered.
"Right away" the waitress said hurrying away.
Yes, the three people were currently in a pizza hut restaurant. Thanks to Lelouch persuasion skills of ordering everyone to obey them, the place was now closed to the general public, fully staffed to provide food and drinks, and had become a well hidden temporary headquarters for the three person organization.
"Why did you do this?" Suzaku asked slowly
"A better question is why didn't you do this sooner?" C.C complained.
"I was still trying to be a decent person previously and not fully subvert people to my domination C.C."
"That's no excuse"
Suzaku decided they should get back on topic and away from the weirdness that was making his head hurt. "So what's our next move?"
"Flying out to Britannia" Lelouch explained, "With my father missing my siblings will try their best to keep it covered up. All we have to do is lure them to one area and then my Geass will enable me to gain control of them and declare me leader. The good news is that I have some fake ids, passports and money we can use to fly out there. The bad news is that the documents are stored in a hidden compartment in my office of one of the black knight headquarters in the city"
"I want a first class ticket Lelouch. Or else I won't leave here" C.C said promptly
"Fine"
"Wait, you have a fake id and passport already done up for me?" Suzaku asked.
"Yes, that's right"
"Why would you…never mind. I'm probably better off not knowing. So we need to break in to get these documents then. How are we going to manage that?"
"That part is actually quite simple" Lelouch turned and looked at the waitress who was coming back with C.C's pizza, "Show us where your delivery tricks are please"
Step 4: Infiltration
Tamaki groaned as he headed toward the pounding steel door. Here he was a great hero of the battle to liberate Japan and yet somehow he had still gotten assigned guard duty. Life was truly not fair for him.
Reaching the reinforced door, Tamaki slid open a metal plate and looked outside. "What do you want?"
Outside Lelouch ducked his head low hoping the hat he had on as well as the large number of pizza boxes in front of him would be an effective disguise.
"Pizza delivery" he said in a low gruff voice.
"We don't want any" Tamaki said as he started to slide the metal plate over again.
"Wait. We deliver pizzas here almost every single week. Why would you not want them anymore?"
"Well the thing is we only put up with all the pizza for the sake of keeping our boss's woman happy. However that annoying bitch has disappeared so we can finally stop wasting money on her and make our own food choices. Nothing personal man but most of us think Chinese food is way better then pizza"
Off to the side of the door Suzaku was struggling to keep a hand over C.C's mouth so her enraged screams would not be overheard. Meanwhile Lelouch decided a change in tactics was in order.
"Did I mention that these pizzas were completely free?"
"Free? Why?" Tamaki asked with a bit of suspicion.
"Naturally it's because you liberated Japan. Pizza Hut has always secretly supported the cause of the Black Knights and we wanted to give these pizzas as a gift to show our gratitude to such great heroes"
"Well if they're free…"
Tamaki happily unlocked the door and opened it ready to receive the great reward of free food. Instead he received a spinning kick which slammed straight into his face and caused him to fall unconscious before he even hit the floor.
"Nice form Suzaku" Lelouch said as he stepped inside.
"Thank you"
"Now then help me with this body. We need to hide it somewhere and then get this uniform off him"
"Right"
Ten minutes later the three co-conspirators met up again, each of them now wearing a 'borrowed' Black Knights uniform. They quickly started to make their way towards Zero's office.
"Keep quiet and act natural" Lelouch ordered as they moved down a hallway trying not to attract attention, "If somebody stops us, let me do the talking"
"Can't you just use your powers? I thought you said that you didn't use it on them before?" Suzaku questioned.
"I rather not leave any evidence that I was here if possible. Besides there are a few minor exceptions, the main one being Kallen"
"Oh you don't have to worry about Kallen Lelouch" C.C said.
"Why not?"
A smirk appeared on C.C's face as she adjusted the skirt on her female uniform. "Who do you think I jumped and stole this uniform off of?"
Lelouch and Suzaku both stopped in their tracks and let the full impact of that statement set in.
"Snap out of it you two. I was joking" C.C shook her head in disbelief at the two, "Men"
Suzaku let out a groan. He had only really known this strange green haired woman for a little over a day now and already she was driving him nuts, "Lelouch, is she always like this?"
"Pretty much. Although there was this one lovely occasion where she had amnesia and actually treated me with proper respect"
"And I hope you enjoyed it because that will never happen again" C.C replied back sweetly.
"A pity"
The group suddenly stopped in front of a door. Checking to make sure no one else was in sight, the three quickly slipped inside closing the door behind them. The room was surrounded completely in darkness and Lelouch started to move towards the desk in the back.
"The documents are in a secret compartment over here" Lelouch said.
"My apologies but I'm afraid all you will find here is death intruders"
Several things happened at once. C.C, Suzaku, and Lelouch were stunned by the fourth voice, the lights flicked on, and Jeremiah Gottwald was revealed to be standing next to them in all his glory, wrist blades already extended and ready to decapitate.
"Stop Jeremiah it's me" Lelouch yelled out quickly.
The cyborg paused in mid swing, "Master Lelouch?"
Lelouch quickly yanked off the hat so his face could be seen, "Yes Jeremiah, it's me. I…"
Whatever Lelouch was going to say was cut off as he suddenly found himself in a body crushing hug.
"Master Lelouch! I'm so glad that you are alive!" Jeremiah cried out happily.
"Look Lelouch. It's your pet robot" C.C. teased as she watched Lelouch struggle to get free.
Before the girl could blink, she suddenly found herself trapped inside the hug alongside Lelouch.
"Mistress C.C! You're alive too and back to your usual snarky self! And last we have…Kururugi Suzaku? The enemy!"
"No wait Jeremiah. Suzaku is on our side now" Lelouch called out before Jeremiah could make an attack.
"He is?"
"Yes. Now hug him! Hug him to death!" C.C ordered.
"Very well"
Suzaku tried to fight Jeremiah off with a spin kick but was easily caught in midair and promptly had his spine nearly broken just like everyone else.
After Jeremiah finally dropped them, Lelouch quickly explained what was going on. Or rather he would have if something else hadn't interrupted him before he could speak.
"C.C!" A female voice roared so loud that the sound echoed off the walls and caused the whole group to jump up in fright.
"Hmm Kallen must have woken up" C.C mused out loud.
"What?" Lelouch hissed as he glared over at the witch, "You said you were joking about that!"
"I lied"
"I really don't want her to hit me again" Suzaku said, a hint of fear in his voice.
C.C. looked over in interest, "She hit you? When did that happen?"
"Worry about that later" Lelouch said as he reached underneath the desk and pulled out several documents and piles of cash, "We need to leave now!"
"Run master Lelouch! I will stay here and delay them so you can escape!" Jeremiah announced bravely.
Lelouch paused only for a moment before he grabbed Jeremiah by his collar and dragged him along with them.
"Nobody is sacrificing themselves today. Now start making a tactical retreat!"
Step 5: Meeting…again
"Any questions Jeremiah?" Lelouch asked just after explaining all the insane stuff that had recently passed since his servant had last seen him.
What human parts were left of Jeremiah seemed to be in a state of shock as evident by his one remaining eye nearly bulging out of his socket. Even the mechanical parts seemed to be out of it as small sparks of electricity kept coming off his body. Lelouch was just about to check to see if Jeremiah's systems had frozen when the man finally spoke.
"I believe it will take a while for all of this to sink in. Especially concerning the things regarding Lady Marianne. Still I take solace in the fact that you have survived my lord. I will always be by your side no matter what"
Lelouch was actually touched by this. "Thank you Jeremiah. It is good to know that I still have a few people that will remain loyal to me"
Jeremiah nodded as he glanced over at Suzaku with a suspicious look, "And you are sure that he is an ally?"
"Yes Jeremiah. Suzaku is our ally" Lelouch explained for the tenth time.
Jeremiah gave one last look over at the previous enemy who was ignoring the constant glares in favour of drinking a soda and finally nodded. "Very well. Master Lelouch, we should get you to a more secure location as soon as possible"
"There is no need to rush Jeremiah" Lelouch said dismissingly as he took a bite of pizza.
"But my lord, the black knights will surely be coming after you"
"Don't worry. I made some arrangements to guarantee that they won't find us for a while"
Several members of the Black Knights were standing in a semi circle looking at the only evidence that the intruders left behind, a large pile of empty Pizza Hut boxes.
Tamaki grinned at the sight. "They must be at one of the nearby pizza places. Let's go get them!"
"Hold on a moment Tamaki" Ohgi said as he looked over the scene more closely, "This might be a trick"
"What?"
Ohgi picked up one of the boxes and looked over it, "Think about it. There is a good chance that one of the people that broke in was Ze…I mean Lelouch. Do you really think someone who deceived us for so long would leave such an obvious clue to his location? No, this must be a red herring. He left these pizza boxes in order to trick us into thinking that he was at Pizza Hut when in fact he is hiding in a completely different location"
Several other members nodded their heads in agreement while being impressed with their leader's deductive reasoning.
Tohdoh scoffed at the fake evidence, "That boy clearly has no respect at all for us if he believes we would fall for such a simple ploy. We must organize a search and track him down immediately"
Li Xingke stepped forward "The best places to start with are uninhabited areas such as abandoned sectors or places hit hard by the recent battle. It would be best for us to start with them and spread out from there"
"Lelouch also has ties to Ashford Academy. It is possible he might have returned to his former home there" Diethard added on
"Tohdoh, assemble groups and start searching all of these areas," Ohgi's face was full of determination as he issued the orders, "We won't let you escape Lelouch"
C.C walked up the group and set down two suitcases that looked like they were overfilled and would burst apart at any second. "Alright, I have all the Cheese-kun merchandise and out emergency rations packed up. Did you get my first class plane ticket?"
"Small change of plans I'm afraid" Lelouch said as he got up from the table, "We have Jeremiah with us now and unfortunately that rules out traveling by plane. It would be too difficult to get him past the metal detectors at airport security"
"My apologies for interfering with your master plan. If you wish, I could to try to tear out all my metal parts for you my lord" Jeremiah said with a bow.
"No that's quite alright" Lelouch said a little nervous by how quickly Jeremiah kept volunteering to inflict self harm.
C.C formed a small frown. While she wasn't happy about it, the boy did have a point. "So we're going to use a boat then. Well as long as it's a luxury liner then I suppose it will do"
"Not a boat" Lelouch said quickly as he walked off to check on the rest of their supplies.
"How are we getting there?" C.C yelled after him easily recognizing that he was trying to dodge the question.
Step 6: Road trip
"This is as far away from first class as you could possibly get Lelouch" C.C grumbled.
"You're overreacting C.C. It's not that bad"
Actually it was. The cockpit of Jeremiah's Sutherland Sieg was not designed to hold four people and luggage. Truthfully it wasn't that big for a single person. As such Lelouch, C.C, and Suzaku were bent over practically on top of Jeremiah who was trying his best to pilot the knightmare while have a large amount of weight on his back.
"How long is it going to take us to get to Britannia?" Suzaku asked.
"Let me think for a moment," Jeremiah said, "Taking into the fact we are traveling at slower speeds and a lower altitude to avoid enemy detection as well as distance, the extra weight, unforeseen weather systems and stopping for refuelling and bathroom breaks, I estimate that we should reach Britannia in about roughly two and a half weeks"
Everyone else groaned at that followed by a few minutes of body shuffling in an attempt to get some form of comfort.
"Boys as much as I like the attention, whoever has their hand on my butt had better move it" C.C stated in a grave voice.
"It was Suzaku" Lelouch quickly said.
"Liar"
C.C growled at the two before a smirk slowly formed on her lips, "Oh Jeremiah has our beloved leader told all the details of his Zero Requiem plan?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"C.C don't…" Lelouch started but it was too late as the witch was already whispering into the cyborg's ear.
"What! I knew you were still the enemy Suzaku. I will not let you kill Master Lelouch. Taste the blade of my loyalty!"
"Can you give me a little help here Lelouch?" Suzaku asked politely as he twisted his head to the side to barely dodged being impaled.
"Jeremiah, stop this and keep your hands on the controls! C.C, are you trying to kill us all?"
"What do you mean by us? You forgot that I'm immortal and will survive no matter what"
"No, I must live!" Suzaku suddenly screamed as his Geass command kicked in.
Suzaku began to fight back against Jeremiah causing the frame to start swerving back and forth. Lelouch tried to keep the two separated and when that didn't work tried to grab a hold of the controls himself to make sure they didn't crash.
"Damn it C.C!"
Step 7: Final Setup
Lelouch smiled as he looked over the area. This was it. After somehow surviving the flight to Britannia, they were now at the royal palace. Soon his family would be lined up here and with a single command they would be proclaiming him the new emperor.
"How are you doing up there Suzaku?" Lelouch asked peering up at the ceiling.
"Fine" came back the response of his ally.
"Now do you remember you part? You need to…"
"Wait until the guards charge towards you, then leap down and take them out" Suzaku said in a bored tone, "Yes Lelouch, I know what to do"
"Perfect. We are going to make history today my Knight of Zero"
"Could you at least lay off the theatrics a little bit?"
"I don't know what you talking about Knight of Zero" Lelouch called out calmly as he walked off.
"Yeah right"
C.C glanced up as Lelouch made his way towards her. "I thought that no one was going to be showing up for a few more hours?"
"They're not"
"Then why did Suzaku go up there so early?"
"There's a slight chance that I may have told him the wrong time for when the ceremony was starting" Lelouch explained.
C.C rolled her eyes, "You do realize that the two of you are acting like children right?"
"You're probably right," Lelouch admitted, "Maybe it's because it reminds us of the old peaceful days when we were children and Nunnally was still with us"
Even C.C knew better then to give a snide response to a comment like that. Instead she choose to silently follow the soon to be future Emperor.
Roughly an hour later Suzaku had finally realized what Lelouch had done. As he kept his position in the raptures of the ceiling, he tried his best to keep his legs from cramping completely up.
"Very funny Lelouch" he said to himself before letting out a sigh, "Euphie, I hope you can forgive me for all this. Just know that even though you're gone, I will always love you….although your brother is still a huge jerk"