11: Zero Hour


The sunlight streamed in through the curtains, and Lelouch cursed the rising of the sun as he groaned, and rolled away from the annoyance in search of more sleep. A soft moan from beside him made him aware that he wasn't alone in bed. He cracked his eyes open a small fraction and found Milly curled up against him, dead the world for all intents and purposes. A small smile adorned her lips as she slept, making the exiled prince smile in turn as the previous night's events came back to him.

He reached out and gently moved a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face, and tucked it behind her ear. She sighed at his touch, unconsciously leaning into it not unlike a cat would. He wouldn't have been at all surprised to hear her start purring.

A soft buzzing alerted him to his phone going off, which was still in his pants pocket. Groaning once more, he leaned over the side of his bed to retrieve it, fumbling with it for a moment or two before answering. "Yes?"

"I trust you had a pleasant evening, Lelouch Vi Britannia, " growled a voice on the other end, making him grimace as he recognized the sound of an irritated Reuben Ashford, "I hope you know I am well aware as to why my darling Milly insisted on staying over instead of actually doing school work?"

If Lelouch had been in the man's presence, he was sure the man would be glaring at him, "I...figured you would?"

"Just tell me you did nothing, and make it convincing," the man all but pleaded, sounding pitiful, "I know full well that it'll be a lie, but -"

Lelouch rolled his eyes, chuckling, "I'm sorry, but I've had enough of lying to you for a long time, Reuben," he said, looking back over his shoulder at the sleeping woman, "She's with me right now."

Reuben groaned something about being to young to be a great grandfather, which made Lelouch laugh even more. He sat up and rolled out of bed gently, so he wouldn't wake her up, and started pulling his clothes on, the phone clipped to his ear. "Reuben, I'm sorry for bringing this up, but I do have a rescue to perform tonight." He said, hoping to ease the man's worries by changing the subject. "Do you have any information that could help me out?"

Reuben hummed over the line in thought, "As a matter of fact, yes." He sighed, and the prince knew that he was not going to like what came next, and he was right. "Cornelia and Euphemia will be in attendance." He said, making the young man wince at the mention of his second and third favorite siblings. "They landed early this morning just over an hour ago. The worst part is that they were in the company of the Cardinal."

"Dammit!" Lelouch swore loudly, "I'd hoped he would be a little longer in arriving than this!" Behind him, Milly began to stir, rubbing her eyes sleepily as her lover took no notice while she listened. "As dangerous as he is, I'm going to have to pull out all the stops this time."

"I agree," Reuben said, "I was just at the factory this morning and found young Bit and Van hard at work getting the Z-frames ready." He could almost hear the old man frowning over the phone, "Also, I'm going to have to make a speech in an assembly today for the death of a member of the Imperial family, but afterward, the classes will be canceled, and postponed for about a week. That should give you and your men plenty of time to get things moving. Have you considered using the newest frame?"

Milly looked at him in interest upon catching her grandfather's words, 'A new frame?'

But Lelouch shook his head, "Absolutely not, it's too large," he said, frowning, "Most of what I intend to do is a large scale smoke and mirror act to get them to release him, and if push comes to shove, I'll out myself, or rather, Zero as the killer, and demand a trial by combat."

"What?!" Milly shouted, startling Lelouch so badly that he nearly tripped over himself. "Combat? But you can't fight!"

Reuben agreed with her, but didn't voice it. He figured his future grandson-in-law was going to have enough on his hands at the moment with just Millicent raging at him.

=RoR=

"Is it me, or is Headmaster Ashford being more patriotic than usual?" Shirley asked as she stood in the assembly hall, listening to the words of mourning from Reuben as he spoke with a false passion that Lelouch never knew he possessed.

"Trully this is a bitterly painful tragedy for us all as our beloved viceroy of Area-11, Prince Clovis, has been lost to us forever!" Reuben roared gesturing wildly with his arms in a passionate display of loss, "However, we can and will endure the weight of this horrendous tragedy, and from this darkest of hours, we will push forward, and draw strength anew from the examples set by our dearly beloved Prince Clovis, and set a course for a bright future in his name!"

Lelouch felt sick from hearing such drivel as he remembered all the things Clovis had done in his time as the viceroy. Beside him, he noted Milly looked a little green around the gills as well. Both knew that Reuben was just playing his part, and from the sight of the military personnel, he really had no choice but to spout such nonsense, but it still irked both of them.

As the assembly let out, Lelouch sighed in relief, "Honestly, those Purebloods are worse than any of the military," he said quietly, "It's bad enough that they're trying to force the Honorary Britannian system out, but - "

"The Purebloods are doing what?" Shirley asked, having overheard him.

Lelouch looked at her with a frown, "Apparently they believe pure-blooded Britannians could never be criminals," he said with a shake of his head, "But, give them an Honorary Britannian, and they're all like sharks attracted to the scent of blood in the water. They've been trying to abolish it ever since it was put in place to give non-Britannians a chance at a decent life in our system."

"Why would they want to do such a thing?" The orangette asked innocently.

Lelouch shrugged, "Because most high-ranking Britannians view anyone outside of their race as inferior." He said, "You do realize that people in the Homeland still practice slavery, right? I've seen Africans bought and sold left and right. And not just them." He said, much to the girl's growing horror. "I once watched as a woman, just as white as she could be, I might add, get sold cheaply because she was one sixteenth Taiwanese. I couldn't tell one way or the other because she looked no different than any other person in the Homeland. She even had blonde hair." He didn't mention that he was in the company of his father at the time, or that he had bought the woman to become his son's nanny in his younger days.

Really, she had been a sweet woman after his mother had taken her in. It grieved him that she had been killed during his mother's murder.

"That's horrible," Shirely muttered. Having been raised in a minor, yet successful noble family, Shirely was raised away from things such as slavery. Lelouch knew that she was far too innocent to be in Area-11, especially since it was about to be ground zero for yet another war that he himself intended to start. But she was also one of the girl's Milly had pointed out about having feelings for him.

Really, it surprised him to think she felt anything more than friendship for him, considering that they had only known each other for a few years. Still, it was pleasant to know, though he doubted that she would want to share with Milly, given how the blonde often perved on her growing figure. Lelouch actually blushed when he realized he was comparing them. Shamefully, he turned away. "Anyway, I have some business to attend to," he said, breaking off the conversation, though the girl frowned at him.

"Not gambling again," she said, pouting cutely, and making Lelouch laugh.

The former prince shook his head, "No, no more gambling from me, Shirley," he assured her as they walked, "I've learned my lesson from that whole incident in Shinjuku."

Still, the girl pouted, "You promise?" She asked, "No more?"

"Yup," he grinned easily. It wasn't like he actually needed to gamble get money anymore. His factories had already made him quite wealthy. He just loved seeing the forlorn faces of the noblemen when they lost to a teenager over half their age.

Shirley suddenly smiled, "That's good. I've been worried about you a lot lately."

This caused him to raise his brow at her, "Worried? About me?" He asked in surprise, which made the girl blush prettily whilst tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well, yeah," she went on, "I already know you're way smarter than a lot of the other students here, but you never really apply yourself to your studies." She said, smiling a little, "If you just tried a little bit, I know you'd get better grades."

Lelouch rolled his eyes at that, "I'll tell you the truth, Shirley, I've already completed my courses in high school."

"Wha- Really?" She exclaimed in surprise, "Then why - ?"

"Nunnally, of course," Lelouch smiled tenderly, a smile she knew had nothing to do with her, but set her heart on fire all the same. "I could never leave her alone, not even when she had her sight back when we were children. She was always running around like crazy, and getting herself dirty, or scraped up in bushes trying to hide from me. And ever since she lost her sight, she was dependent on me, and she all but ordered me to stay by her side. She was terrified after I'd been in an accident. Even though I'd only been scratched with nothing severe, she was frantic when she found out about it."

"So you stayed," Shirley smiled, "Even though you could go on to better things."

"What better thing could there be than being with my family?" He asked with a smile, just as his phone buzzed again. He looked down at the ID, and smiled, looking at the girl, "Sorry, but I need to take this. I'll see you later?"

Shirley beamed at him, "Sure!" She said, then frowned, "Oh, will you be out late? You said you had business to attend to, right?"

Lelouch thought for a moment before answering, "Well, I'll most likely be pulling an all-nighter," he said truthfully, "Why?"

"Well, if you'd like, I could head over to your place and keep Nunna company until you get back?" She said, smiling at the thought of doing something for her crush.

Lelouch nodded, "That would be great, Shirley, thank you," the girl blushed as he smiled at her, "Ever since her sight came back, she's been enjoying yours and Milly's company more and more."

As he walked away from her, he placed the phone to his ear, "It's me, what have you got for me?"

A chuckle from the other end of the line gave him a smirk, "Can't I just call to say hello, Young Lord?" Jeremiah asked.

"Not when you have a parade to mitigate," the prince said, "Tell me, what have my sisters done since they have come to Japan?"

Jeremiah chuckled again, "Beside holding a gun to my head, demanding 'Zero's' head," he laughed, "Cornelia is as much a terror as she was back when you were all children. Euphemia, however, is quite the young beauty. She's moved into her role as sub-viceroy well, and is ready to take charge as soon as this whole fiasco is over."

Lelouch smiled as he remembered his sisters, "If ever there was one of my siblings I'd wish to see on the throne, it would be Euphemia," he admitted, and frowned, "Is Cornelia doing anything against Kewel's accusations of Suzaku?"

"Are you kidding?" Jeremiah asked, "She went in and questioned him under my supervision. He gave her the same answers he gave me, minus the bits concerning you, of course, and Cornelia told me once we'd finished that he hadn't lied to her in the slightest. Though, since he's already been selected as the sacrificial lamb, as it were, there's not much she can do, seeing as it would look like she was favoring a Number, and the man accused of killing her brother, whom she loved dearly."

Lelouch sighed, "Right, it wouldn't make any sense for her to do such a thing, and wouldn't look good on her since she's the new viceroy," he admitted, "Add to the fact that the Cardinal is probably watching her every move, and I'm willing to bet she feels as if she's walking on egg shells."

Jeremiah let out a loud sigh, "We all do, truthfully, Young Master," he admitted, "Lord Cardinal has an extremely unnerving air about him, and the fact that his face is always covered by that mask does not help. He has all my men on edge."

"All the more reason to get the ball rolling into our court as soon as possible," Lelouch concluded, making his way to the club house, "Make sure that Kewel is given all of the honors and such tonight, and make sure you don't incriminate yourself. As soon as I'm able, you'll be brought over into out operations, but first we need to make a statement."

"I understand, Young Master," Jeremiah said, "Though I don't think you'll need it; best of luck tonight."

Lelouch smiled as he said his thanks, and hung up the phone. "Maybe that new frame would be useful," he mused, thinking about the large monstrosity that was meant to be the first flying-type frame in his arsenal. "It's meant for transport mainly, but the guns would be useful in deterring any further pursuers..." The smile returned to his face in full force, "Yes, it will do nicely."

=RoR=

Cornelia frowned as she sat in the transport behind the ridiculous parade at the head of which was Lord Kewel, and the young Suzaku Kururugi. The young would-be Knight was bound in a prisoner's uniform, and was fitted with a shock collar that would electrify him should try to speak. Beside her was her sister, and Margave Jeremiah, his sidearm and sword strapped to his hips.

"This is a circus," the Margave frowned as he looked on while the civilians cheered and jeered at the prisoner, and Princesses respectively. "All of this just for a show of power."

Cornelia sighed through her nose in agreement, "A show of power is not a idiotic parade with a single prisoner at the forefront," she said, frowning as a few of the people threw stones and garbage at the Honorary Britannian. "It is an absolute domination of an enemy in front of his people in battle."

"This is simply cruel," the younger Li Britannia sister mumbled, having not had a chance to meet the young Japanese boy before the parade began, but she saw him now, covered in grime. All the while, he kept his cool, his eyes closed, and resigned to his fate. 'Have our people really fallen so much as to attack an a prisoner even when he's bound like that?'

Jeremiah himself was grinding his teeth so much at the treatment the boy was receiving that he tasted a small amount of blood. 'Whatever you're going to do,' he thought angrily as they neared the bridge, 'Please hurry, Young Lord!' He growled when a stone struck Suzaku in the face, opening up a cut while blood ran down his neck.

"Lord Kewel," he growled into his earpiece, "Calm those civilians. That manner of display in front of their Imperial Highnesses is deplorable."

"As you wish, but I don't see the harm in - "

Cornelia reached her hand out for the earpiece, which the Margave readily handed over, "Lord Kewel, quiet those peasants, or you'll be next on the chopping block." She said coldly, "Understand?"

"Y-Yes, You Majesty!"

Jeremiah chuckled as he accepted the small device back, "Thank you for that, M'lady." He said genuinely, "Kewel is almost impossible to handle since he thought up this scheme."

Cornelia gave him a small look, "Too much for you to handle on your own?"

"Almost," he admitted, "Lord Kewel has many supporters, as I do as well, but he has more since he supports the pro-Britannian outlook." He said, gesturing to the Knightmare frame flanking their left, "And I have a Born-Britannian African woman in my employ, so you see..."

"You're not well-liked because you don't differentiate between races when someone is born into Britannian society," Euphemia smiled at the man gratefully, "That's nice to hear. I hope that you'll remain with us after we've been made the official overseers of this Area."

Jeremiah gave the two women a sad smile, "I've already failed three of your siblings," he said, painfully reminding himself of Lady Marianne. "I will remain with you as long as you wish, but take into account that I am far from the best person in the army."

Cornelia leaned on her fist as she took in the man with interest, "Humble aren't we?" She asked, smiling, "While I do agree that you aren't perfect, Lord Gottwald, you are far better than any of the personnel stationed her aside from my own forces."

Jeremiah gave a short bow in response. The procession, suddenly, halted for some reason. The Margave had his suspicions and hastily spoke into his earpiece, "Kewel, what's the hold up?"

"Prince Clovis' car is pulling towards us," Kewel growled, "Seems as if we have a comedian among the commoners."

Jeremiah grinned internally as his brow shot up, "The Prince's car?" He said out loud, gaining the attention of the Princesses.

=A few minutes earlier=

"Is everything ready on your end, Van?" Zero's mechanical voice droned as he prepared for his debut. The car was being driven by a very nervous Kallen dressed in a grey uniform. Ohgi was stationed at the bridge where he would mostly likely be needed as a show of force.

Van's voice crackled over the radio, "All clear on our end." The young man said, "We're keeping pretty well above radar at the moment, but Moonbay says we can drop in on your position in about three minutes if needed."

Zero nodded, "Very good, I'll be counting on you for the extraction, so be sure to keep all the weapons primed and ready should things turn sour."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Van cackled, making the younger man shake his head and smile behind his mask.

"Kallen," He called down to the young red-head beneath him, "Don't be nervous. I promise, we'll be just fine."

Kallen gripped the wheel tightly, "That's easy for you to say," she mumbled as she tapped the gas pedal, "Alright, moving out."

"Ohgi, be ready on my signal," Zero said, making sure the man was listening.

"I'm still not so sure about this, Zero," the man said, sounding shaken, "Are you sure I should be piloting this machine?"

Inside his disguise, Lelouch felt the man's angst over piloting the different frame. The fact that the Zero-X had chose him as its pilot was astonishing considering all of his men had tried to gain the machine's loyalty, but failed. "You'll do fine, Ohgi." He assured him, "The Zero-X wouldn't have chosen you if it didn't think you could handle it." He reminded him, "You can do this, just trust your Zoid, as it trusts you."

=Present Time on Bridge=

The pure white car with golden trim pulled to a stop in front of the parade, or to be more precise, right in front of Suzaku's transport. In the forefront was Kewel in his Sutherland, his rifle leveled at the car.

"And what do we have here?" Kewel's voice sounded from the Knightmare, "Is this supposed to be some sort of joke? How dare you halt our procession, and with the late Prince's personal transport!" He roared angrily, his voice carrying over the bridge, "I demand you cease and desist at once and vacate that car immediately!"

The flag of Britannia suddenly caught fire, and burned its way up. The figure behind it was revealed as an armored individual, clad in black, and covered by a long cloak. He stepped out of the cubical, and spoke in a cold, mechanized voice that chilled all those that heard it to their very cores.

"I...am Zero!"

Kewel looked on in confusion, 'Zero...as in nothing?'

Similar thoughts ran through the minds of all of those present. Wondering who this "Zero" was, or whether he was a Number, or one of their own. Kewel, meanwhile, recovered from his shock, and growled, "Call yourself whatever you want," the man said, "It won't matter because you won't even had a tombstone to carve it on." He snapped, raising his Sutherland's hand to give the order, "I demand that your remove that you remove that mask."

Lelouch frowned. Kewel wasn't coming out of his Sutherland. That left Geassing the man out of the equation. "Ohgi, get ready. Kallen, ease forward." He whispered so that only they could hear him. He raised his hand to his face, but insteand of removing the mask, his hand shot up and snapped his fingers.

The cubical fell apart, revealing a large, round canister.

Behind them, Jeremiah's eyes nearly bugged right out of his head, "Oh, God, that's - !" He fumbled for his earpiece, "Kewel! Kewel, whatever you do, do not fire!" He hissed, "That's the canister we were trying to retrieve in the ghetto!"

"The gas!?" Kewel gasped.

Lelouch, now smiling as the vehicle advanced slowly, saw that Kewel was coming out of the cockpit, his pistol raised. 'As I thought. Jeremiah didn't know what the canister actually contained, and assumed it was just a poisonous gas as he was told by Clovis.' He thought.

"Be careful, Kewel Soresi," Zero intoned, "You wouldn't want this going off here with so many Britannian citizens around, would you?"

Kallen was sweating bullets as she pulled to a stop just a few yards from the Knightmare battalion. It was all down hill from this point on, for better or worse. Their fate was sealed. It all depended on the masked man known simply as Zero. Whether they lived or died now rode completely on his voice. If they live, however, it would be like a roar heard across the world that Britannia could no longer ignore.

"You know what this is," Zero said, looking to his right as a man appeared in his line of sight, a camera on his shoulder, "If this goes off here, then the results would not only be catastrophic for yourself, but also the Empire, seeing as two Imperial Princesses are within my sights."

Jeremiah was having a heart attack. Was Lelouch really planning to kill all of them? No, that couldn't be right. He knew his young lord, and this was not like him. There had to be another trick to put into play!

Kewel was panicking as well, "Wh-what is it you plan to do with this item?" He asked, not willing to risk the panic he would rouse if he let it be known a toxic gas.

Zero simply tilted his head, "I would like to propose a trade," he said, ready to cast his wager, "This device, for the life and freedom of Suzaku Kururugi."

Kewel scoffed, "I can't make such a trade!" He roared angrily, "This man is a traitor and a murderer, guilty of regicide!"

"You are wrong," Zero said, choosing that moment to look straight at the man holding the camera, "That man is no murderer. The man that killed Prince Clovis...was none other than myself!"


Took a while to get this update rolling, but once I got started, two days to publish! Let me know what you think because I'm uber excited Season 3!

Read and Review!