Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.
Special Thanks to: The Anime Margin: War of the Runes
Charles Xavier, author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Suikosource website: For providing great information that made this fic possible.
By: RB3
Paradox Rebuffed, part 2: Day Rune
A few years ago, the people of the Britannia thought their slavery was assured. "All hail Emperor Lelouch!" chanted the imperial court.
It was the crowning of the new Emperor of Britannia, Lelouch Lamperouge. The Emperor-to-be was still just a boy, yet the court worshipped him like a god. "All hail Emperor Lelouch!" they chanted again.
The dark haired boy gazed over the crowd which chanted his name with such reverence. The imperial court would be his subjects, and he would be free to do with as he pleased. Triumph never tasted so sweet. It seemed no one could stop him, not those of the imperial court and certainly not his former nemesis, Suzaku Kururugi. Before him were several people paraded in chains, ranging from traitors, enemies, to even former friends. All of them were paraded around in their final march to death by an execution squad.
Lelouch felt invincible, all of his other enemies were dead and the last of them was about to be eliminated. As his float followed the parade of condemned, a man in black descended onto his float. The masked man was none other than Zero, Lelouch's alter ego, but it was not Lelouch behind that mask. Zero rushed up to Lelouch, but before the Emperor could do anything, Zero had stabbed him with a sword. Blood trickled out of his body and down the blade. Lelouch collapsed in a heap and Zero fled before he could be captured. Just like that, Lelouch was dead and with him went the hated Empire...
A year had passed and the world of Britannia was at peace. Much had changed since the assassination of Lelouch Lamperouge. The world had developed new technologies, chief among them was the dimensional gate. The first gate opened on the anniversary of Lelouch's death, marking a new beginning for Britannia. Even before the first gate had opened, Britannia had started relations with a foreign world, that of Spion.
Spion was a natural ally for Britannia. Both worlds had received great influence from the spread of the British Empire. The two worlds quickly formed trade alliances and connected their worlds with the gates to facilitate movement between the worlds. With the wealth this trade had generated, Britannia quickly recovered from the brutal wars which had plagued it before Lelouch's ascension to the throne. Even though the Britannian Empire was a thing of the past, some people were very reluctant to let go of the past.
A faction of the Imperial Court longed for the prominence and power of the old Empire. One such person was the young Prince Edward di Britannia, one of the late Emperor Charles' son. The prince was a blond man in the uniform, a regal blue jacket with white pants, of his household. The prince walked over to the video phone in his private office. Despite his regal demeanour, this man was a schemer and his face showed the he had plans in mind. Now that Lelouch was gone, he had started to become more active.
"My prince, are you there?" asked a second distinguished blond, British man from the other end of a two-way video phone.
"Yes Joker, what is it?" asked Edward.
"My prince, the Paradox Rune has been transported safely to the Imperial Research facility in New York. You were right. Someone had attacked the decoy leaving our facility in Hong Kong," reported Joker.
"I see... Can you tell me more about these attackers?"
"They are members of the Three Sisters Detective Agency. They had taken several jobs for Dokusensha before it collapsed. We've had run-ins with them here at the British Library also. They were responsible for our break up. A man named Clive Remington had hired them to steal Runes on his behalf."
"What information do you have on this Remington?"
"Not much," replied Joker succinctly. "After checking his background, we believe that Remington is merely a false identity for his operations."
"I see," remarked Edward. "Nevertheless, your first priority is to defend the Rune. This Three Sisters Detective Agency will certainly try steal the Rune again. See to it that they fail."
"Of course your majesty," assured Joker.
Joker shut off the phone and turned to face the room behind him. It was like a massive library, filled with many people who zipped around to shelve and remove books from each of the massive shelves. This room must have contained thousands of books all by itself, and there were still more rooms like it in other parts of the complex. This was the Britannian Library, a new agency created in the wake of the Spion-Britannia alliance.
After passing through several rooms and hallways, Joker encountered several men and women in lab coats moving about. He entered the research area, the most sterile portion of the Library's hidden compound. He encountered two armed guards at a door and nodded to them after showing his ID. "Okay Mr. Joker, step right in," said the guard.
Joker had entered an observation cabin overlooking a large, fortified blast room. From the cabin's design, it was meant to safely observe and manipulate dangerous objects and substances at a safe distance. Within the blast room, in a single pedestal, was a red emblem which depicted a Penrose square. Its bizarre, paradoxical design indicated that it was the Contradiction Rune, also known as the Paradox Rune. A robotic arm moved to the Rune, sawing it with a cutting laser until a sliver fell out. A small robotic vehicle collected the sliver and drove it back to other waiting scientists.
"Status report," commanded Joker.
"We're ahead of schedule. We have cut the 400th sliver just as you came, sir. We'll easily reach our 500 sliver quota by six o'clock," replied the chief scientist.
"Well done, keep up the good work. We need all the slivers we can harvest for Britannia."
Joker left the room and went to his office, where a handful of underlings waited for his orders. The first two was were a pair of brown haired boys in their late teen or early twenties. They seemed quite competent and capable despite their youth, as though they had seen much in such a short time. From their appearance, they appeared to be brothers. The third was a blonde girl in a form-fitting, plastic white dress who munched on a slice of pizza. Joker recognized this odd group as Ronald Cunningham, Louie Cunningham, and Christine, agents of Britannian Intelligence.
Joker frowned in disgust as Christine's munching of her pizza. "Does she have to do that?"
"Sorry sir, I keep telling her, but she loves pizza too much for her good," remarked Louie.
"Eh, never mind, I have new orders for you," announced Joker.
He pressed buttons on a remote control which lowered a projector screen and dimmed the lights in the room. A picture of a remote desert appeared on the screen. It was sandy and seemed very hot, judging from the bright sun and hazy air. Small brush plants were the only thing of note in the image, save for a single rock at the centre. One this lone rock was an emblem of two orbs orbiting a much larger third orb. One orb was blue, and seemed to represent the Earth, while the other two representing the sun and the moon. It depicted a day cycle on the Earth, as day and night moved across the planet.
"This emblem is the Day Rune. It is part of a set of 27 along with the Paradox Rune we already possess. We found it just yesterday in the White Sands National Monument of the United States in Spion. You three are to lead a team there to retrieve it," ordered Joker.
"Yes sir!"
On the couch of her home, Maggie was curled up and reading the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. She was engrossed in the novel, following the mischievous exploits of Tom and his friend, Huckleberry Finn. As a papermaster, she had a love of books that was unequalled by any normal person. She was a compulsive reader and beside her right laid a stack of three finished novels. Her obsession with reading made it very difficult to become rich, since so much of her money went into buying new books. After Yomiko moved in with her sisters, they started to share books to cut costs.
In the room next door, Yomiko perused a new book from Clow Reed. This man was a magician from the world of Tarota who studied the various magical systems of the anime worlds as a hobby. He was also an archaeologist who delved into lost civilizations to plumb their secrets. His book, "Harmonian Empire," was a recent release, written while still digging at Crystal Valley, the capital of Harmonia. It was a fascinating book and Yomiko was currently reading about the Second Firebringer War. It was historically accurate, yet had many elements of fantasy fiction, likely due to the nature of the world.
In particular, one young teenaged boy was at the centre of these events. His name was Hugo, a member of the Karaya Clan of the Grasslands. Although a normal tribal boy, his life changed when his village was burnt by the nation of Zexen. Travelling to defend the Grasslands clan, he eventually learned of the hero known as the "Flame Champion," who had united the clans to repel a Harmonian invasion in the past. In pursuing this lead, he learned that the hero was dead.
Instead, he took the Flame Champion's Fire Rune, becoming the new Flame Champion. At that point, the Harmonians launched a full invasion of the Grasslands, pushing the clans all the way back to Duck Village. Hugo united the clans with Zexen as the new Firebringer army and fought back. Eventually, the new Firebringer repelled the Harmonians who were discovered to actually be a renegade faction within the empire. As she read the accounts of the war by its participants, the phone next to Yomiko rang.
"Hello," replied Yomiko in her dignified British accent.
"Hello, is this the Three Sisters Detective Agency?" asked the caller.
"Yes, that's correct."
"I'm Clive Remington, I need to speak with the Paper Sisters as soon as possible. Can they meet me in the cafe in half an hour? It's very urgent," insisted Remington.
"Hold on, I'll check," said Yomiko. She enquired with the paper sisters and got a positive answer. "They'll be there. They're heading out now."
"Wonderful! I'll see them then."
The Paper Sisters entered the cafe and looked about. Remington was in a booth in the far corner of the store. In front of him was a cup of steaming hot coffee. He mixed cream and a packet of sugar into his drink before cautiously taking a sip. The Sisters approached him and drew his attention. "Ah hello, please have a seat," offered Remington.
He took a sip of his coffee as the Sisters complied. "What's so important that you had to call us here?" asked Anita.
"It's very important," replied Remington."
Remington slid over a photo of a strange emblem on a rock. It depicted the Earth being orbited by a small sun and moon. From the layout, this emblem suggested a day-night cycle from the Earth's perspective, as day and night moved across the planet in a cycle. In the photo's background was a vast stretch of sandy land, a desert in fact. The sand was almost white in colour, something that was highly unusual for sand. The photo was taken from above, likely from a helicopter or a spy plane.
"This is a picture of a Rune in the White Sands National Monument in the US in Britannia. In addition to the Paradox Rune, my employers also want this Rune, the Day Rune, as well. They will double your pay to take this job. Do you accept?"
"Yes, we will leave at once," replied Michelle.
"Thank you. I have gotten word that there are people out in search of this Rune. Please be careful," warned Remington.
The Day Rune glowed upon its rock within the White Sands. It seemed to be waiting for the time when it would regain its power and rise again after being locked away for millennia. The swishing of helicopter blades filled the air and approached the location of the Rune. A military convoy of helicopters approached from the distance, hoping to claim the Rune for the Britannian Library. When the choppers landed, out came Louie, Ronald, and Christine, guarded by a retinue of armed soldiers.
Louie, Ronald, and Christine looked over the glowing Rune. "This is it," called Louie. "Bring the containment box."
A pair of soldiers returned from one of the choppers bearing a metal box similar in size to a hamster cage. Despite its seemingly small size, the box was heavy enough that it required two men just to carry it. The soldiers activated a remote control, which caused the box to pop open and expose an emitter connected to a set of internal circuitry. The emitter opened a vortex in space which proceeded to drag the Rune within. The Rune peeled off and stretched like taffy. Once it could not hold out, it became sucked into the containment box.
Hidden by a conveniently placed sand dune, Yomiko and the Paper Sisters watched the men around the area. "That's our cue. Let's go!" said Anita.
Michelle climbed to the top of the dune and let loose a paper arrow upon one of the guards. The paper arrow pierced through the man's chest, letting loose a haze of blood. The other guards reached for guns upon realizing they were under attack. Before they could react, Anita was already upon them, slicing them with cards used as makeshift blades. The guards that still remained finally drew their weapons and fired at Michelle. She merely dropped behind the dune as bullets sailed just above and past it.
Drake suddenly peered from behind a second sand dune and fired. His shots dropped a guard near Louie and alerted him to Drake's position. Louie hid behind the body of his helicopter and returned fire at Drake. The mercenary ducked behind the dune and pulled out a grenade. Using his teeth, he pulled the pin and hurled the grenade into helicopter's open door. Louie quickly made himself scarce, diving to the ground just before it exploded and spewed shrapnel everywhere in the interior.
When Louie finally looked up, he noticed Maggie commanding a gorilla made out of paper. The gorilla picked up the Rune containment box, which had been dropped by soldiers who had fallen from the initial attack. "No you don't!" muttered Louie. His left eye turned violet and a crimson, bird-like image formed on its surface. He peered directly into Maggie's eyes. "Give me the Rune."
Maggie, in a dream-like trance, proceeded to turn the paper gorilla around and bring the containment box to Louie. At that moment, Yomiko noticed that Maggie was not fleeing with the Rune as they had planned. She immediately plastered Louie with countless sheets of paper and hurled him away. "Maggie, what are you doing? That wasn't part of the plan!"
"I must give the Rune to him. Get out of my way!" said Maggie.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you won't follow the plan, then give it to me," demanded Yomiko.
"Try me," remarked Maggie, who formed a dragon out of paper sheets.
The dragon lunged for Yomiko, who quickly formed a paper board and skated away on the sand. The dragon chased her as she turned around to approach. As she came in, Yomiko hurled paper at Maggie, who forced the gorilla to stand in front and take the hit. "What's gotten into you?" asked Yomiko.
"What are you doing? Why are you attacking my sister?" asked Anita as watched the two papermasters duel.
"She's acting strange, then attacked me when I tried to take the Rune off her hands," replied Yomiko.
The dragon lunged for the two of them and forcing them to scatter. The dragon blew up a sand cloud as it hit the ground. It would have caused severe injury had it connected with either Anita or Yomiko, who were fortunate enough to escape. "Maggie, are you blind? You could've hit me! What's wrong with you?" scolded Anita.
"I don't know, but I think something's controlling her. We have to knock her out," urged Yomiko.
"Okay, cover me, I'll do it," said Anita.
Yomiko released numerous sheets of paper which homed on Maggie. Maggie saw the sheets coming and positioned the paper gorilla in front of her to soak up the attack. The dragon popped over the gorilla and breathed paper as though it was fire. Yomiko gathered paper together and formed a sturdy wall which sucked in the paper and added them to the wall itself. Anita watched these events carefully, hidden away behind a dune of sand. Now that Maggie was sufficiently distracted, she struck.
Anita came at her with a flying knee, aimed straight for the back of Maggie's head. Maggie sensed her coming and moved out of the away. Anita landed on the sand and launched herself forward with a flurry of punches and kicks. Maggie blocked a kick and summoned paper from her pockets and formed a serpent. It wrapped around Anita's leg and slowly crawled up to constrict her. Anita pushed to break free, eventually regaining her composure and tore the snake apart.
However, the battle was lost for the Britannian Library. Several of their men were down, felled by paper weapons and the guns of Drake and Junior. "Retreat, the mission is a failure!" cried Louie over the radio. Louie and his cohort fled to their helicopter under the covering fire of Ronald and the surviving soldiers.
The dragon flattened Yomiko. Maggie turned in time to see Louie fleeing in one of the helicopters. "Wait, I have the Rune!" cried Maggie.
Maggie transformed the gorilla into a bird of paper and chased after Louie. Just before it took off, Anita had gotten up and leapt onto the tail, holding on for dear life. Yomiko crawled out of the mass of papers and saw this whole series of events transpire. "Anita!" cried Yomiko.
Anita crawled in through the flaps of paper, seeing Maggie hidden inside, controlling the bird. With a quick chop to the back of her head, Anita knocked her out. However, in doing so, Maggie lost control and the bird started to break apart. Anita took over the reigns, straining to keep it together, let alone fly the bird. Yomiko chased the bird as fast as she could, using paper to surf through the air. When she was close enough, Yomiko reinforced Anita's control and helped to brake its descent.
The bird crashed to the ground and shattered into its constituent paper sheets. Michelle, Drake, and Junior ran to the site of the crash, where Anita was cradling her sister's unconscious body. Yomiko was looking over her to see if she had suffered any harm on landing. "She'll be fine. She's just unconscious," Anita assured her.
"Where's the Rune?" asked Drake.
Junior noticed a bulge in the mass of paper. Upon digging it out, he found the metal container within. "Here it is," he called out.
"What made her to act like that?" asked Anita. "Why would Maggie betray us like that?"
The Paper Sisters and their friends were stumped. Drake thought back to the battle, remembering the events that happened just before the betrayal. He remembered hurling that grenade into the helicopter, forcing Louie to dive away to evade it. He remembered seeing Louie glance around, then focus his gaze towards Maggie's eyes. At that moment, he was going to look away to scan for other attackers. Replaying the scene again in mind in slow motion, he remembered seeing something strange happen in Louie's eye.
He replayed the scene again and again, trying to clearly remember what it was. "Yes, I remember seeing the glint of a... red bird in one of the attacker's eyes."
"A red bird?" asked Michelle.
"Yes," replied Drake. "It happened just before Maggie turn traitor. He looked at Maggie and that's when she suddenly started to act strange. He must have some special power like you ladies and Junior have, something like a hypnosis power."
"If that's true, how do we remove it?" asked Anita. "Wait... Why don't we ask Remington?"
The Paper Sisters returned with Maggie in tow, who was still under the effects of Louie's hypnosis. For the entire trip, she was unconscious and entangled in a cocoon of paper. The girls laid Maggie on a bed before their employer. Remington held open her eye lids and looked into her eyes. Since Maggie was still unconscious, her eyes were glazed over. She had no awareness of her immediately situation and simply stared upwards at the ceiling blankly.
"Just as I thought, she's under the spell of a Geass," remarked Remington.
"A Geass? Those eye powers from Britannia?" asked Drake.
"Yes," replied Remington. "The one that got Maggie implants a hypnotic command into her mind. It can only work once on her though, fortunately, but this is something to watch out for should you ever encounter the user again." Remington waved his other hand over Maggie's head. The bird symbol flickered for a brief moment and vanished. "There, that should do it. She'll be fine once she wakes up."
"Thanks Mr. Remington. We've captured the Day Rune for you. Here it is," said Yomiko, showing off the containment box on the floor.
"Thank you, Ms. Readman. I'll return it to my employers. For now, we'll wait. I still need to find out where they hid the Contradiction Rune."
END OF CHAPTER
SPOTLIGHT: Britannia (Code Geass)
Politics/Demographics:
While the name of the world, Britannia is also the name of an empire which once controlled a vast portion of its world. True to its name, the Empire was a monarchy, with power centralized on the Britannian Empire and his court. Despite it's name, Britannia didn't even control the British Isles despite its traditions originating from the British. Its seat of power was the American continent with many territories overseas, including Japan. After severe revolts in Japan, the Empire collapsed, but is once again expanding, this time through alliances to other worlds like Spion rather than conquest.
Characters/VIPs:
Lelouch Lamperouge became the last Emperor after deposing the last, his father. His death by Zero was staged, allowing him to operate without public scrutiny. His current goal is to ensure that the Empire stays fallen operating under various aliases to sabotage would-be conquerors. Amongst his allies are CC, who had given him his Geass powers, and Rolo Lamperouge, his brother.
Powers:
Technologically, the world Britannia is a leader with respect to robotics and electronics. In particular, its military forces use Knightmare Frames, robotic war machines driven by a pilot. Britannia has also developed a clean new energy technology which harnesses the mineral Sakuradite, but this power source can be somewhat unstable.
Britannia also has psionics in the form of the Geass eye powers. These powers, manifested from the eyes, enable a person to psychically affect his or her victims. One of these powers includes Lelouch's Geass of Absolute Obedience, capable of compelling its victims to obey his command. Another is Rolo's Absolute Suspension, able to suspend its victims' perception of time. CC once had Absolute Affection, able to make anyone fall in love with her, but has since traded it away for immortality and regenerative powers.
SECRETS OF THE RUNES: Day Rune
Domain: Cycles, Day, Rotation, Repetition
Duality: Cycles vs. Repetition
Appearance: Sun & Moon orbiting a planet in a day cycle
Powers: Controls anything which operates in cycles
Description:
This Rune governs the passage of cycles, which abound in the world. Such cycles range from the passage of a day to the cycle of life itself. As the bearer learns about cycles, they are bound to fall into the trap of repetition. They are doomed to reincarnate and repeat the mistakes of his or her past lives. Only by understanding the truth, that cycles are more than just repetition, can the bearer achieve enlightenment and transcend their lot.