Code Geass: Knight of Revolution

We know the drill.

Due to repeated PMs and certain reviewers, Hal is Halbdunkel. My apologies for my error for the past twenty-three chapters. The language translator showed me the proper spelling, but I was so tired at the time, I reversed the e and u. Those Germans out their reading this fic, and I know you're out there with the Reader Traffic function on the site, Thanks, and keep reading.

Chapter 24: "Family" Issues

Outside the estate where the Ashford family let the siblings stay on campus, Guistizia hung painfully. From the angle his arm was at, he couldn't see the broken portion, but he knew it couldn't be good. He'd tentatively reached up and felt a fragment of bone protruding from the flesh. An open compound break, and he was losing blood fast. It didn't help that his oxygen supply was being slowly cut off as he dangled there.

He heard Nunally's cries for help before seeing her cell phone fly out the window. Mao laughed like an idiot as he carried her off. Cursing silently, he could only wait and pray. He'd never felt so helpless, even during his days in the Special Forces. The sound of a car speeding off told him that Mao had made off with her.

The car that screeched to a halt in the courtyard told him that his help had arrived. He struggled to yell, his vocal chords protested the action.

"Lelouch! Outside!"

The group rounded the corner and Kallen gasped. Lelouch pulled her with him to grab a ladder as Jeremiah ran inside the building to get to the floor he was under. As the two teens searched the storage shed, Kallen looked at Lelouch. His eyes were filled with fury.

"Lelouch, what's going on here?"

"I'll explain in a minute, right now Guistizia's literally hanging by a thread."

She nodded and helped him heft the ladder back to the wounded knight. Placing the utility device under him, the ladder was just tall enough for him to sit on the top. The man slumped over in relief. Just as they were getting him down, another car pulled up. The door opened to reveal Halbdunkel and C.C. Kallen stared at her.

Seeing the condition of his fellow knight, Hal clenched a fist and his sword. The blade began to rattle in its sheath. So many of their plans were now ruined because of his broken arm. His power was useless when his body wasn't in flawless condition. A opened break like that would take heavy operating and weeks to heal, months if it was as bad as it looked.

Before questions shot back and forth, lelouch's cell phone rang. The screen flashed the words 'Unknown Number'. He looked at them all and nodded once, switching to the speaker function.

"Hello?"

"Is this Lulu?"

Hal glared at the device.

"You will address him by Lelouch."

"Ooh, don't you sound scary. But I don't care about you, who ever you are. Lulu, if you care about this lovely little girl at all you'll do as I say."

Nunally whimpered in the background. The group tensed, it was a sound Guistizia knew too well, she was gagged.

"All I want is C.C. Send her to me and I'll release Nuna-chan."

C.C. stepped forward.

"Where are you Mao? No funny business."

"Oh, C.C., it's really you! I can tell by your voice. I've come for you. You won't be with that boy anymore C.C. C.C. I'll be waiting for you at the fair grounds! Make sure those men don't follow you. I'll see you tonight!"

Kallen felt the need to puke. Hal closed his eyes trying to control himself. Jeremiah swore under his breath as Guis spat on the ground in contempt. Lelouch sighed heavily. As C.C. turned to leave, Hal stepped in front of her, sword drawn. The katana's edge grazed her neckline.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To Mao, if I go to him, your problems will be solved and he'll never bother you again."

Lelouch grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. Glaring at her in the eyes, she looked at him rather bored.

"What Lelouch?"

"Are you really that stupid witch? You go, and he gets you and my sister. For all I know once he has you, he'll kill Nunally anyway. Are you that naïve?"

She raised a delicate eyebrow at his fevered rant.

"Are you through?"

When Lelouch found nothing to say to her, she turned and walked to the car. Hal turned to her again.

" . . . . . . ."

She froze with her eyes wide. Lelouch and the rest of them looked at him in surprise.

"Will you simply run from everything? Run as you did back then? When Morgen, Guis, and I met you in Egypt, we met a very different woman. She was wise, but confrontational. True, he is your problem, however,"

His eyes lit up, Guis followed suit, pushing past the pain he was in to stand and face her. Kallen saw his eyes lit up like Halbkunkel's. Lelouch understood what they were trying to do and activated his own Geass.

"By giving us all Geass, you have made us into a very reclusive group of individuals. All of us entered into contracts with you, though at separate times, we are all in manner of speaking like children to you. We are responsible to keep our fellow members in check. No matter who they are. You are not alone in the world . . . . . . . . ."

She remained with her back facing them before chuckling sadly.

"You are a very cruel man Halbdunkel. First in Cairo, Egypt, then again at the beginning of this whole mess with the Black Knights, and now this very moment in time; this is the third time you've made me cry."

"My Mother always said I'd be a heartbreaker." His attempt at humor made her snort rather unladylike. He took that as a failed attempt to stifle her chuckles. Her voice was filled with displeasure, though her timbre gave her away.

"Shut up."

"What . . . is . . . going . . . on . . . here?"

Kallen was looking very lost and confused. Jeremiah also looked back and forth between the gray witch, and the three Geass possessors. Lelouch looked at Jeremiah in the eyes.

"Sit."

Jeremiah prompted sat himself cross-legged on the ground. Kallen jumped away in shock. The man shook his head a bit before realizing what happened. He shot to his feet in sudden panic.

"You Majesty? What'd you do?"

"Sit." Down he went again without question. He snapped out of his stupor another second later as Hal and Guis struggled not to laugh. C.C. smirked wickedly. This was too entertaining. All he needed now to complete the picture was a few oranges.

"What are you doing to me?!"

"This is my Geass, Absolute Obedience. It works by eye contact. I can only give one person one order to which they will obey without question. If it's simple enough, it can repeatedly trigger itself whenever the activation requirements are met. Once a person has been hit with it, they cannot be influenced again by my Geass."

The blue haired man face faulted in revelation.

"You mean that whenever someone says 'that' word now, I'm going to . . ."

"Sit boy." Jeremiah plopped on the ground and the two Rounds shook their heads.

"Your Highness, that's just too cruel. He's utterly loyal."

"At least it's nothing serious."

Kallen walked up to him as Jeremiah pounded on the ground.

"Have you used it on me?"

Lelouch looked at her with the knowledge of what was likely running through her head.

"Remember when you asked me about Shinjuku that day at school?"

"When you told me to not tell anyone?"

"Yes, back then I used it on you to confirm my suspicions about your piloting the Glasgow that day. I had forgotten to add that order, but already shut down my Geass. I tried to hit you with it again to make you forget the conversation, and that's when I discovered that a single person can't be affected by mine more than once."

"I see. So I'm immune now?"

"To mine, but not to others."

"So my decisions have been my own?"

"Every one of them, including giving me that wonderful display during the shower." Lelouch smirked at the phone call he'd arranged with Sayoko after the Champaign incident with Shirley. He felt bad about Geassing the faithful maid/bodyguard, but at least she was immune to him now. Kallen began to fume. Shaking a fist at her waist, she glared at his smart aleck look.

"Onore . . . Chikan-desu!"

Hal stepped forward and helped Jeremiah up while ignoring the sound of a fist against flesh. The man grumbled about being cursed for life. Inside the dining room, a black paper crane Nunally had folded that afternoon fell from the table.

"Jeremiah, Kallen, we'd appreciate it if you two kept this one secret. As you can see, if news of this got out to the general public, much less our subordinates, pandemonium would ensue. Nunally knows of our power as does Cornelia and Euphemia. As the leading figures of our forces, they must know should anything like this happen."

The two soldiers nodded their understanding as Kallen rubbed her hand. Lelouch rubbed his jaw and worked his mouth, making sure nothing was broken. It was all a lot to take in, but this wasn't something that could be dismissed. The eyes were eerie and haunting. Each of the three men suddenly seemed detached from others besides each other. She guessed that having a power that no one understood, much less knew about would make living rather tough. She thought about it for a moment and looked to her gray haired comrade.

"Does Morgen have a Geass?"

"Yes. She does." Kallen nodded as she placed the pieces of the puzzle together. Before she could say anything, one of the cars pulled out of the driveway and off in the direction of the fair grounds. Everyone stared in that direction.

"C.C.! Ugh! That woman."

"Lelouch, take Kallen and Jeremiah to handle Mao. I'll take Guistizia to the hospital. Kallen, I didn't have the opportunity to do so before, but here."

He hefted a Japanese sword her way. The girl caught it frantically. She didn't know he was carrying a second weapon and chalked that up to his long outer cloak.

"You are one of us by Lelouch's desire and our approval. You are one of the Knights of Zero, support him as we do."

The red head drew the blade out a bit and noticed the engravings. Her eyes widened as she nodded and they climbed into the remaining car and drove off. Guistizia slowly made his way down the ladder as he favored his right arm. Hal walked over to him with concern on his face.

"How far is this going to set us back?"

"Quite a while I'm afraid. Don't worry about it too much Hal, Lelouch has a genius level IQ, he'll think up plans for the Black Knights that would be more efficient for us."

"Yes, but will it be filled with less bloodshed, or more?"

"I think that's the very reason we swore to guide him. Isn't it?"

Hal chuckled and nodded.

"Indeed it is. Indeed it is Guistizia."

"Um, Sir Halbdunkel? What's going on here?"

The two men turned to see Sayoko carrying a bag of groceries. Hal smiled. Her timing couldn't be more perfect. Shifting through his pockets, he pulled out a small set of keys and jingled them.

At the amusement park, the Mao looked at Nunally, who sat at the back of the stage he stood on. She huddled back, trying to make herself small. Mao looked at her with glee. She was his ticket to getting C.C. and getting out of this loud country. His laughter and clapping was unnatural and frightening to her.

She could hear him getting closer to her and she tensed. He stopped and knelt close to her. His breath smelled like the gum he was chewing. An elated chuckled escaped his lips.

"Well, well, you get to be useful. Aren't you happy? She's coming to me, and then you'll be free to go! Oh, wait, you can't move on your own can you? Hahaha! No matter, brother dearest will find you, but it won't be just here."

He picked up something heavy and heard him yanking on something. The buzzing roar of the object told her clearly what the object was. His laughter was drowned out as he anticipated C.C.'s arrival. Nunally realized what he was going to do and screamed.

"Lelouch, why are we driving to the broken Tokyo Tower?"

"We can't get too close to Mao. I have a plan, giving the nature of his mind. He's obsessed with the idea of getting C.C. back. That alone makes him easy to read."

"But he nearly killed Guistizia!"

"Guistizia didn't know who he was dealing with. None of us did. But now that he's openly admitted to who he is and what he wants, there's no way he can outsmart me now. I'll make him pay for the injuries Guistizia has. If he's done anything to Nunally, he's a dead man."

She watched him as he wet into a deep amount of thought. Entering into parking lot of the broken down Tower. The three desperate rescuers hastily made their way up. The memorial site to the invasion of Britannian forces was closed for the day. Lelouch cracked security codes to the doors and elevators as they traveled up the ruined structure. Stopping in the security office, he instructed them to snatch a camera and several connection cables. As they reached the outside top of the building, he looked over to see the amusement park suddenly light up. He figured C.C. must be inside.

"Kallen, I want you to record me. Jeremiah, hook up the camera to the video broadcast lines and wait for the recording to finish, then follow my instructions."

The two nodded. Kallen and Jeremiah began to see his plan forming, but she still didn't know why he'd want to record himself having a monologue. He kept his face stoic as he began.

"I knew you'd be there Mao."

'What is he doing?'

Hal had Sayoko drop off Guistizia in the ER of the nearest hospital with under the counter payments to keep the operation off the record books. He figured there were still some perks to being known as Rounds, even a former one. The man doctor figured he didn't want it to become public knowledge in order to avoid publicity. He was partly right. The man made note to keep this doctor in mind if they needed help in the future.

Just as he rounded the corner to drive straight two individuals sprinted past him. He didn't recognize them, but he knew the small insignias on their lapels. Drawing his side arm from his shoulder sling holster, he pulled halfway out, prompting a soldier to slam into the side of his car. Taking a bead on the other men in pursuit, he opened fire, shattering the passenger side window. He peeled out and toward the two running people.

Chiba glanced over her shoulder when the exchange of gunfire went off.

"Who is that?"

"Who cares? Keep running. You don't want Toudoh getting caught in vain do you?"

She grimaced. They'd been careless when they visited the Prime Minister's grave. Now Toudoh was fighting on his own. The car pulled up beside them and the back driver side door opened a crack.

"Get in."

The two Holy Swords made no second thoughts and jumped into the car as the driver mashed the accelerator. As they caught their breath, Asahina took at better look at his rescuer. The man froze when he saw the driver.

"You're the one with Zero!"

Chiba looked into the rear view mirror and saw Asahina was staring at. Hal wore his mask that he had kept in the back seat. He nodded at the two Japanese soldiers and turned the first corner he came to.

"Yes I am. I would be correct in assuming you're two of the four Holy Swords under Toudoh?"

"What is it to you?" Chiba pulled her gun and put it behind his head.

The man glanced at her through his mirror, then out the back of the car to see two motorcycles pull into the road he'd just turned down. He licked his lips slightly as they raised pistols and fired. The bullets impacted the hood and windshield but failed to penetrate. Gunning the accelerator as they balked at the bulletproofing, he rammed one of the men, running him over bike and all. The two JLF didn't need to look back to know the man was dead.

"Where is he? A man of his caliber shouldn't fall into Britannian hands."

Seeing his offer of aide, Asahina leaned forward.

"He stayed behind to buy us time in the Saizo sector."

"Okay. This is turning into one hell of a night!"

The woman nodded and smiled lightly. Looking back at their car's new occupants, he pointed at the space between them in the back seat.

"Could you open that?"

They both looked at each other and then to the seat and pulled down the center. An opening leading to the storage area revealed itself. Reaching inside, they were stunned to find assault rifles and other firearms.

"This was a backup support car that I hadn't intended on using yet. Situations occurred with one of our key members and my associate's been hospitalized as a result. All the vehicles were taken but this one. Get ready; we're saving your Colonel. He has beliefs a lot like mine. I refuse to let a true commander go like this."

Across town, Lelouch and the others were speeding as fast as they could to Clovis Land. Both parties hoped that neither of them would be too late.

'Lelouch, I hope that recording of yours works. Otherwise, we could have two more casualties! I don't want to see what would happen if Lelouch lost his sister.'

She gripped the sword Hal had given her when Lelouch had inducted her into their inner circle. She had his complete trust like they did. Now – with the current events going on – she was beginning to understand the difference in lies and truths. Secrets had to be kept with this kind of news. The powers they were up against were beyond anything she dreamed were even possible.

'Are we going to run into people like Hal and the others fighting Britannia? Is that the real reason why they're rebelling? This is serious!'

She shook her head and looked at the blade she'd been given. Her name had been lasered into the side of the blade. In Japanese, the name had been lasered as well, the Kusanagi. She knew the significance of the name.

'No, I won't waver. They're putting their lives at stake. It would have been easier for all of them to go with their nation and ignore their problems. Instead they're taking responsibility for it and fighting a thankless battle. Lelouch, I've misjudged you. You're a good person at heart; you just have a lot of damn pride. No, it's because of that pride that you're refusing your nation's ideals. Even though they may not say it, I will. Thank you. Thank you for everything you're trying to accomplish. I'll stay until the end!'

She whispered under her breath.

"We're coming Nunally."

The two groups are trying to save those important to them.

Will they both succeed?

Will one make it and the other not make it in time?

What is the significance of the Kusanagi?

See you in the future chapters!