Lulu's Bizarre Rebellion

by Ezit Meti

Lelouch Lamperouge was a boy with an ambition; To one day bring down the corrupt nation of Britannia and create a peaceful world for his sister. However, a single arrow gifted him a power that will help him reach his ambition. Stands... Ripple... A feud between two bloodlines that transcends time... And that's only the beginning of this bizarre rebellion!

61. Are Those Prepared To Be Killed

Code Geass is owned by Sunrise, while Jojo's Bizarre Adventure belongs to Hirohiko Araki.

Chapter 59: ... Are Those Prepared To Be Killed

====Tianzi====

"Are you ready?"

It was a little unseemly, perhaps. An Empress hiding behind a foreigner. She couldn't help it. The outside world, it was still so scary to her. Tianzi didn't understand why she felt this way. The pounding of her heart, the nail biting anticipation was more than she could take. Maybe it was that big scary golden Knightmare? That was still out there. Fighting Zero and the other three after it had so easily defeated Xingke!

Empress Tianzi clung onto Lady Kaguya's sleeve as the door in front of them opened up. The light from the outside world was as blinding as it was within the city. The air tasted funny. None of that perfume or incense the High Eunuchs liked to have, she realised. It had been a long time since she had adjusted to the scent, so it was extremely noticeable to her only now when it was gone.

Much in the same way you only notice that you're not free when you can contrast it with someone who is.

"Empress, please allow me to escort you to the outside world."

At the sound of that voice and the sight of the familiar kneeling silhouette in the doorway, Tianzi rushed out past Kaguya as fast as she could go and jumped into him so quickly and with such energy that she very nearly bowled even him over.

"Xingke!" she sobbed. "Xingke! I was so scared!"

"Dry your tears, your Majesty," Xingke calmly said. "I would never let them harm you."

"I was scared you'd get hurt!"

It's a point often remarked on already, but it bears repeating. Empress Tianzi, at thirteen years of age, had been a prisoner in a velvet cage her entire life. Her interactions with the world at large were minimal, the people she met with often putting on airs due to her position and authority. This meant that she was sheltered in a way that might make even the most stern helicopter parent grow concerned. To understand the depths of this, one must consider her thought process now.

'Why am I crying?' she wondered. 'Why? When I am so relieved! I'm not sad at all, but I can't stop.'

"Thank you," Xingke said to Lady Kaguya. "Thank you for saving her Majesty."

"Don't thank me," Lady Kaguya insisted, warmly smiling. She was nice. Tianzi wanted to spend more time with her as well. "If anything you should thank Zero. She risked her life to rescue her."

"Oh, Xingke! It was so cool!" Tianzi sniffed, grateful for the chance to talk about something else. Tangential, but still a different topic. "She - she caught me out of the air and used her Stand to 'ora' us both across the room without touching the floor!"

"And then when she was done, she pulled out any flesh bud she could find within the palace," Hong Gu said, stepping out to the join them while stroking his beard and smiling warmly. That is, smiled until a thought visibly crossed his mind, reversing his mood on the spot. "It's only a shame that we couldn't get to Zhou before that lunatic killed the High Eunuchs. What a terrible waste of life."

"A succinct summary of this whole chain of events," Xingke lamented. "I shall need to give my thanks to Zero for rescuing both of you, at least."

"She's amazing," Kaguya beamed. "Much like you were amazing, Li Xingke. Trapped in a situation where it could not be darker, you still managed to find a pinprick of light."

"If I was so amazing then I would not have needed to depend upon others," Xingke said. As humble as ever. He never took the credit for when he did something amazing. That was how he'd always been. 'I am just doing my duty,' he would say. Then that would be the end of it.

Not this time. Because this time, Empress Tianzi was free.

"Li Xingke!" Tianza proclaimed, putting on that practised tone she used whenever the High Eunuchs made her give public proclamations. Normally she hated doing it, but this time it felt right. "I order you to take the praise you are due. Your quick mind has saved the Chinese Federation, if not the entire world from falling under Vampire influence." She stopped to glance back at Kaguya, who nodded encouragingly. "Thank you, Xingke. Thank you!"

"Very good, very good!" said a new, and scary voice that was approaching from the left. They were applauding in a way that was not quite sarcastic, but could be taken that way if you squint hard enough. "That was very... heartwarming? Did I get that right?"

"Yes, Lloyd. You got it right," said a put upon sounding woman standing next to the scary man. "Pardon us for stepping in. While his highness is engaged in combat, that technically makes Earl Asplund the highest ranking representative of the Holy Britannian Empire."

How strange. This woman had said the last half of that sentence as if it rhymed with "God help us all." Looking at this Earl Asplund, it was easy to see why. The last time Tianzi had seen a smile like that, it had been on a High Eunuch's face. Hence; Hiding behind Xingke.

The scary man waved his hand at her, then coughed into it. Ah! That smile! It was so unsettling she could see it even with her eyes closed! "Terribly sorry for interrupting," he said, though his tone left her with the impression he was only saying it to seem polite. "It's all gone quite well, hasn't it? Yes, I'd say we even did something so cliche as 'saved the human race'."

The woman elbowed the scary man sharply in the ribs! Wow! She might be even braver than Zero! Not Xingke, of course. He was too brave for even Zero to measure up. "What Lloyd means is, there is some concern among our forces that the Chinese Federation and the Black Knights are forming an alliance."

"In other words, you want to know if you are now our prisoners," Xingke observed. "Your forces are hurt, cut off from reinforcements and in the middle of a foreign land."

"On that basis it would be wise to surrender right away," Lady Kaguya added. "Lloyd Asplund, wasn't it? I'm sure Rakshata would love to have the chance to pick your brains."

"Oh, I doubt we'd surrender that easily," Lloyd said. "Even though we're not at full power we could still do a lot of damage. If we had to."

"No!" Tianzi yelled. She rushed out from behind Xingke. This was too much, at this point hiding was becoming even scarier than not hiding! "No more fighting! Stop fighting! Go away and stop fighting!"

There was a calm and eerie silence all around them. The teenage Empress became keenly aware of the others staring at her, and she felt herself shrinking away from them all. She sat down on the ground and hugged her knees to her chest. They'd just got done fighting, hadn't they? Why did they want to fight again so soon?

"You heard her Majesty," Xingke said. "Once Honglou is overcome, the Britannians are free to leave. You will be escorted from our lands. I advise you not to start any new conflicts on the way."

"Hold on, not that easily," Kaguya interrupted. "Xingke, there is one other matter that the Black Knights must insist upon."

Kaguya walked across towards Tianzi, and there was cast in her eyes an apologetic yet hard look. The Empress wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. The hardness was something she was used to. In her experience it usually appears when someone important had made a difficult decision. The apologetic gleam...? That was new for her. Usually the hardness meant a ruthless edge was about to be taken.

"You can leave," Kaguya said, whirling around to face the scary man and the brave woman. "Except for one of you. Someone has to answer for crimes he has committed, against the Japanese people and against common decency."

"We want Lelouch."

====Suzaku====

What is it about betrayal that cuts so deeply? He had betrayed his nation while trying to do the right thing. His father had betrayed the human race for what he thought was the right thing to do for their nation. His best friend had betrayed Suzaku's trust and the trust of the people of Area Eleven to play his own dirty political games. Kallen had betrayed her friends on the student council. And Zero had betrayed the name of justice by going along with Lelouch's plans.

What did it say about him that he was going to stand by these three, who betrayed so casually? No, that was the wrong question. Instead he went for a different question. What did it say about the pilot of this Knightmare that the four of them would band together to stop him? Even his little sister was so disgusted -

His little sister...

"Kallen, are you sure you're up to this?" he asked.

"Who asked for your sympathy? Let's get this over with."

To think, sickly and quiet Kallen was a front for this personality! That was going to take some getting used to. But how much of it was real? Maybe the toughness just now was a front as well; When fighting his own father earlier on, Suzaku hadn't wanted to show his tears to his allies either. So how was Kallen really holding up?

"Kallen, Kallen!" the enemy pilot laughed. It was eerie. This was the same kind of tone Lelouch used when talking with Nunnally. "Is this any way to introduce your big brother to your brand new friends? Well, I suppose it's not strictly necessary. I'm already quite familiar with them. Nice to meet you all. Lelouch. Suzaku. Shirley."

Silence reigned in the air over the battlefield. The four Knightmares continued circling around S.E.I.T.E.N. while it hovered there patiently, as though awaiting them to make the first move.

"What's wrong Suzaku? I was expecting more of a reaction than that!"

"You think you're the first zombie that tried to manipulate me today?" Suzaku asked, while drawing Lancelot's two MVR swords. "I'm here to fight with the enemy in front of me. I'll deal with the rest of them once you're out of the picture."

"Oh, you hear that everyone? He's going to turn on you when it's all over with! In which case it might be best if I–"

S.E.I.T.E.N.'s wings pulsed with power and then it was right in front of him. It happened so quickly that Lancelot barely had time to swing a sword - before a flap of the Knightmare's crimson wings knocked out the blade out of his hand with all the ease of swatting a fly.

"- Eliminate you first to make things easier for them."

Suzaku's breath caught at this astounding speed, but he didn't let it beat him down yet. He pulled back and tried firing slash harkens at close range, only for the Knightmare to catch it easily out of the air. Next, he tried he hard kick to the side while its arm was occupied with the harken - blocked by the wings! They knocked Lancelot's legs aside with a brutal strike that sent him reeling. The sheer difference in unit performance was too great! Every move he made was countered almost as soon as he made it, his defenses worn down before the others could lend him support.

The radiant wave claw clamped onto Lancelot's cockpit. No! Not like this! He couldn't die like this, not yet! He could almost feel the radioactive death settling in around him. Within Lancelot's cockpit all other sounds were drowned out except for the beating of his heart. As a soldier he was ready to die at any given moment, but feeling that icy grip of the Grim Reaper upon his shoulder - It was an experience beyond comparison.

'No,' a small part of him cried out. 'Not yet. There are still things I need to do before I can die! I just found Euphemia.'

The moment dragged out for what felt like forever, and then for no reason that Suzaku could readily see S.E.I.T.E.N. let Lancelot go.

"I almost forgot," Naoto said. "Your Stand affects microwaves as well, doesn't it your highness?" S.E.I.T.E.N. pushed Lancelot away and then whirled around to face Gawain, arrogantly turning his back to Lancelot as if it wasn't even a threat.

"You noticed that, did you?" Lelouch asked, sounding oddly weary to Suzaku's ears. "Of course, that means you can't use your strongest weapon either."

"Maybe! Maybe not!" Naoto laughed. "Take note, the three of you! And especially you, Suzaku. This noble Prince would gladly cast you to the wind if it meant defeating me! You're nothing but pawns to be sacrificed in his great game."

"I... Am a soldier!" Suzaku yelled. "Every time I'm ordered to deploy, my commanding officer is putting my life at risk! Try something else!"

"Very well!" Naoto said, even going so far as to make S.E.I.T.E.N. shrug. "I'll start by eliminating this troublesome Prince. He is my real objective, so why delay?"

"Stay away from him!" Zero - Shirley yelled. Shinkiro bent its knees and fired out a pair of slash harkens. In response S.E.I.T.E.N. drew an elongated knife and used it to bat them aside and then continued on his way. As if all he was doing was opening a door and walking through.

"Muda," Naoto taunted. He said the word as though trying it to see if he liked the taste.

"Eat this!" Kallen yelled, rushing in to tackle the Knightmare piloted by her brother's corpse only to get kicked away immediately. Maybe he didn't have to worry about her after all.

"Muda, muda muda!" Naoto continued. Suzaku could almost see him licking his lips as he steadfastly approached Gawain. Hungry for Lelouch's flesh, and on that approach he might well find it! A zombie ravenous for human flesh, just like Suzaku's own father had intended to turn into a weapon for Japan.

In which case, there was only one action Suzaku could take. S.E.I.T.E.N. had its back to him. Though he was loathe to strike an enemy while their back was turned, he was even more loathe to allow this zombie to do whatever the hell they wanted. The VARIS rifle was quickly drawn by Lancelot's free hand, and Suzaku took careful aim before firing with the largest, most powerful blast the Knightmare was capable of -

S.E.I.T.E.N. ascended with a tremendous burst of speed, quickly rising ten feet in the air over where Suzaku had fired, leaving nothing in between the VARIS shot and Gawain.

"Muda!" Naoto laughed. "You intend to fight me without a supernatural ability?"

"That's right," Suzaku answered. "I'll fight you the same way I fight Stand users! Bravery and grit!"

"Bravery?" Naoto asked. "From the one who threw in the towel and joined our oppressors of his own volition?"

"I defy you to think of something braver than to change the system from within."

"As if courage alone is enough to change the world!"

"Did you really think Suzaku wouldn't notice what you were trying to do?" Lelouch interrupted. "Moving so slowly towards me compared to your top speed? That's the reason -"

The ball of energy suddenly banked upwards so sharply you could almost hear the crack of a whip against the air. All of a sudden it was barrelling towards S.E.I.T.E.N. once again!

" - he applied some backspin to his shot when he fired it."

Indeed he had. The fully rotational wrists of a Knightmare allowed him to take liberties with Spin that would not normally be possible with a human wrist. On top of that, given the enemy's attitude it seemed highly probable that they would put themselves into a higher position to ensure they could see the moment Gawain was struck.

"You made the mistake a lot of powerful people do," Suzaku said. "You assumed you were invincible and got cocky. That is how courage will change the world!"

"Exactly the attitude that makes you insufferable!" Naoto replied. He wheeled around S.E.I.T.E.N. to use its wings as a shield, blocking the powerful VARIS blast as a show of his strength. "So high and mighty! Who made you the infallible judge of human morality?"

"The same can be asked of you," Zero said, Shinkiro hovering a little behind S.E.I.T.E.N.

Schizoid Man rushed in and unleashed its fists, clashing hard into S.E.I.T.E.N.'s side.

"Ora! Ora! Ora!" the Stand screamed, its fists a blur as it pummelled the Knightmare's armour, putting a significant dent in it side. This is the folly of fighting multiple foes at once: No matter how skilled you are, in the end you must eliminate them all quickly before someone strikes you from a blind spot.

Unfortunately S.E.I.T.E.N. whirled away from the strikes before any more significant damage could be inflicted. No matter! Lancelot opened fire with VARIS, while Shinkiro fired its wrist mounted cannons to trace the enemy across the sky.

"Suzaku, keep your distance," Lelouch instructed over the private channel. "Letting him get close is a death sentence."

"Yes, your highness!" Suzaku answered, hanging back and continuing to fire at a distance with the fastest setting the VARIS had available. Determination gripped his soul. He wasn't going to get his way. Not if Suzaku had anything to say about it.

"Your twisted up morals cannot be allowed to spread any further!" Shirley warned Naoto, sounding nothing like the kind hearted cheerful girl he knew. Which was the act?

"What do you know about it, you lovestruck ditz!" Naoto yelled, returning fire with S.E.I.T.E.N.'s own energy cannons. Schizoid Man punched them out of the sky, but Shinkiro wound up hanging back as well. The circular aura of energy surrounding S.E.I.T.E.N. flashed an angry red as if reflecting the mood of the pilot. "Do you really think you're doing the right thing either? You fools! You don't understand the stakes!"

"Don't insult my friend, faker."

Kallen's yell was accompanied by a long range blast of radiant wave energy. S.E.I.T.E.N. began to move - but then just as quickly stopped. What happened next was so quick that Suzaku was only able to understand it after the fact, with the help of the automatic recording made by Lancelot's factsphere.

S.E.I.T.E.N. flexed its wings and fired its slash harkens, which struck into its target with precision accuracy - that is to say, the wires from Gawain's slash harkens! Lelouch had surrounded S.E.I.T.E.N. with razor sharp wires to use its own speed against it. But rather than dodge, S.E.I.T.E.N. used its harkens and wings to create a gap it could move through.

Amazing. Both that Lelouch had been able to come up with a trap like that for an enemy this quick and powerful, and also that Naoto had seen through this trap and escaped it without taking any further damage. It was eerie. It was like watching someone try to fight their own reflection in a funhouse mirror. Time and time again he kept noticing things about Naoto that reminded him of Lelouch!

Which made Suzaku fearful of what Lelouch might be capable of if his back was pushed to the wall. If he felt whatever despair and hopelessness and madness that had gripped the soul of Naoto Kozuki. What a frightening thought.

"Not bad, Lelouch! Not bad at all!" Naoto crowed. S.E.I.T.E.N. whirled around and fired its radiant wave arm - as a slash harken, aimed directly for Gawain. "But now it's time for the King to play!"

The hell it was! While Shinkiro and the Guren attempted to tackle the S.E.I.T.E.N. itself, Suzaku knew that much was futile. It was moving too quickly, they'd never catch it in time to stop it from striking Gawain, and maybe Lelouch as well. So he acted without thinking and spun Lancelot around in the air, taking aim and firing out a spinning steel ball that sailed through the air and struck its intended target precisely.

That target being: The radiant arm's slash harken cable! The cable twisted up and the spin sent the mighty claw flying in a totally different direction than it was originally. Flying straight towards a new target: Lancelot!

"Suzaku! What are you doing?!" Lelouch yelled.

"Fighting evil." He didn't add that he'd be dealing with Lelouch next. Because it was his responsibility. He should have seen it all the way back in Shinjuku. He should have forced him to give up the arrow. Should have reigned him in more when he became Viceroy. Should have been more suspicious of Zero. Should have kept Shirley out of this. Should have. Should have. Spinning around and around in his head, the things he should have done and the regrets that he had that would be forever unfulfilled.

But right here and right now, he did not regret redirecting the enemy's strongest weapon towards himself. Even though Lelouch's presence had temporarily disabled it, he knew all too well that a warrior as smart as Naoto would find a way to use it again. That's why he had to do this. That's why, he alone could keep Lelouch from -

"Golden Luminous!" he yelled, bringing the twin blaze luminous projectors online and spinning them around within the confines of the golden rectangle. The perfect shining ratio! He was going to use this technique to completely destroy the radiant wave surger, fully robbing their enemy of its most dangerous weapon!

"Interfering busybody," Naoto screeched. "You useless wretch!"

"It seems as though the weakest link is proving the most annoying," Suzaku said. Normally he wasn't the sort to like taunting his enemy, but against Naoto they needed any advantage they could get. Anything at all. Even a small psychological boost like this.

"Then I'll cut that link right here!" Naoto warned while the claw flew closer and closer to Lancelot. "You call it Golden Luminous. I call it 'a brand new light source'."

The meaning behind that was lost on Suzaku at first - until he remembered the reason Naoto had been holding back on using his radiant wave surger in the first place. It was because he was afraid that Lelouch might use his Stand to make it backfire. But if he had a new light source from the Golden Luminous -

When the claw was merely inches away from the spinning field, it released a burst of radiant energy directly into the golden luminous, stopping itself completely in its tracks. Lancelot jolted from the sheer force of the blast, and Suzaku could feel it without needing to look at his instruments. He was being pushed back! Just like society was being pushed back time and time again. By criminals. By terrorists. By those who abuse supernatural powers to get away with things that others couldn't. By the people outside the system who launched attacks against society.

Through sheer force of will Suzaku pushed Lancelot forward again. It was hard going. The systems were making their complaints known. But he wouldn't back down. Not for Naoto. Not for anyone.

"Leave. Him. Alone! I'm the one you want!"

That tired angry voice... Lelouch? Yes, it was! Up above, Gawain opened fire with both of its cannons leaving bright streaks of energy which forced S.E.I.T.E.N. to whirl around, using those damnable wings yet again. This time to slice through the incoming attack and causing the energy to split around it. At the same time he retracted the radiant wave claw, leaving Suzaku wondering if he'd misjudged which of them was more dangerous; The claw or the wings?

"The king comes out to play at last! Although, I thought that a good King led by example?"

Ridiculous... From that combination of attributes and ability this Knightmare might actually be worse than any Stand they'd fought so far. Although Suzaku had no fear of death, he was still shaken to his core by this raw display of power.

"You... Don't... Understand... Anything!"

Such a thing could be built...? A machine like that was... Was this what Lelouch had meant during the undead invasion? That humanity was much scarier than any undead? To be able to build this kind of machine!

Up above, Guren and Shinkiro joined the fight. Suzaku pushed his controls forward, but they were slow. Sluggish. That attack had taken a hell of a lot out of him, mentally and through damage to the machine. "Come on... Come on!" he pleaded. "I have to get up there, can't let him follow through with this insane plan of his!"

"Can you believe this guy, sis?" Naoto asked while casually dodging the Guren. "He wants to change the world for the better, but he's such a hypocrite. All he'll do is make it worse in the end. So much suffering, so much death and misery for nothing."

"Still better than what you want," Kallen warned.

"You propose cyanide as a cure for cancer," Zero - dammit, Shirley added. "The kind of evil you propose can never be a solution."

Then without warning, S.E.I.T.E.N. completely vanished. The Guren, Shinkiro and Gawain were all left there, in the midst of the mountain's shadow looking around frantically for where the enemy Knightmare could have gone.

"Where did he -? Did Any of you see where he went?"

"Gawain is plotting the likely course."

"He went that way, but then I lost track."

But Suzaku could see him. Suzaku could see exactly where he was. He's gone up. Up and to the side of the mountain, where the sun was still shining. Far, far outside the limits of Lelouch's Stand in the bright light, creating a disc made of radiant energy -

"Up there!" Suzaku yelled. Through sheer force of will he pushed Lancelot forward, raising the blaze luminous and putting himself in harm's way just in the nick of time. The forcefield took the shot that was meant for Gawain, meant for Lelouch. The energy dispersed then the the blaze luminous failed, draining the last of Lancelot's energy reserves and leaving the white Knightmare with no other recourse than to plummet to the earth below.

"Suzaku!" Lelouch yelled. Was that genuine concern, Lelouch? Or were you trying to manipulate - No, that didn't make any sense. Not here, not how. It was good to see that at least that side of you was genuine.

"Curious," Naoto asked. S.E.I.T.E.N. was right next to him as he fell. "What do you get out of fighting such an obviously superior enemy?"

What a ridiculous question. "What did you get out of fighting Britannia?"

"I saw an evil that had to be fought. Even if it cost me my life."

Lancelot landed hard onto the ground. Thank goodness Miss Cecile had bulled Lloyd into including some safety protocols into the new cockpit, or else they'd have been picking his teeth out of these monitors. Still, that was of little comfort now. He was a sitting duck. Naoto could finish him off any time he wanted.

"Hrm... No. I'll leave you alive for now," Naoto said. Leave him alive? Why would he? "If I try to attack you, it will open me up to attack from the others. Besides which, you wouldn't want to miss the part where I spoil so many evil plans when I kill Lelouch." S.E.I.T.E.N. began to drift upwards, back towards the other three. Ascending with its wings gleaming in the light like an angel's wings. "The future spits on you for valuing your moral code over their lives, traitor. Enjoy the show."

Which left Suzaku with nothing to do but pound the console in front of him in frustration. That fiend! Leaving him alive like this might have been the cruelest thing he could have done! Now he'd have to watch as his friends were picked off one at a time, while being completely powerless to do anything!

"It's alright Suzaku. Trust me. I'll beat him."

"It's easy to say that Lelouch, but do I really have a choice?" Suzaku asked. "All I can do is sit here and watch the three of you try to match that demon."

"If he is a demon, then I shall cast him back into the endless abyss. Where better to extinguish his radiance?"

He thumped the console again. Lelouch! This is what he was afraid of the most in this battle. That Lelouch's plan might be the only one that could stop Kallen's brother. That maniac! Coming up with something so unimaginable -

"Don't die Lelouch," he warned. "Euphie would never forgive me if I let you die like this! And don't let them die either! The three of you... You have too much to answer for to die today!"

====Diethard====

You often hear the phrase 'history in the making', but Diethard Reid would be hard pressed to think of a more appropriate time to use it. He'd felt it in his bones the very day that the supernatural began to appear in the world; The stable order of things was about to be shaken down to its very foundations, and as always happened throughout history a charismatic figure or two would rise out of the ashes to unite the people and rebuild.

If anything his expectations had been too mundane, too small in scope. In his wildest expectations, none of this could have possibly factored in. It was so wild, so unpredictable! It felt as though anything could happen at any given moment.

Speaking of which, this seemed rather an excellent opportunity for an impromptu interview.

"This is quite the adventure, isn't it Mister Joestar?" Diethard said. The man in front of him was remarkably large, and the sneer of contempt that he gave Diethard was almost enough to make him back down.

"I don't do interviews," Joseph waved off. "Bother someone else Mister journalist."

As if being declined so politely would deter him. Diethard Reid was too experienced for that kind of blow off to have any effect.

"Joseph Joestar. Son of George and Elizabeth Joestar. Has one sibling, a little sister who currently goes by Joanna Fennette." Joseph's look returned on hearing all of that, and Diethard could only shrug. "Your niece is dating the current Viceroy of Area Eleven. It's inevitable that this would make her a person of public interest, and so her past will have been examined by everyone of note already. Even the past from before she was born."

There are times when it pays to negotiate nicely for an interview. Then again there were the people who wouldn't respond to that, not a bit of it. A flexible tactic was the best approach. Ask, then adapt to the response and the attitude. This journalist had plenty of experience in that area. Why, Diethard could already tell that Joseph knew he was being drawn into the interview deliberately and this was upsetting him even more.

"If you already looked into my past, then there's no need for us to talk," Joseph said.

"It's quite one thing to know the facts, and quite another to know the man," Diethard corrected. "You're quite well connected, aren't you? It would be very interesting to hear your take on what's going on in the world right now."

"Just because I'm the uncle of a Viceroy's girlfriend hardly makes me well connected," Joseph shrugged. "Why should anyone care what I have to say?" The man began to walk away. If he thought he could escape that easily, he'd soon find himself mistaken.

"Oh, you're much more than that," Diethard said, quickly walking up to keep pace. "Strong ties to the Speedwagon Foundation, in particular its founder Robert E.O. Speedwagon before his untimely death a few years ago. And then there's your grandfather, Jonathan Joestar. Exiled to Australia for the crime of attempted murder –"

"He was framed," Joseph growled, stopping in his tracks to point his finger in Diethard's chest. Oho! Now we really are getting somewhere! "Don't you dare bring up either of them! Hearing a rotten journalist bring up those noble names makes my ears feel unclean."

Mister Joestar snatched a pen from Diethard's breast pocket and began using it to clean his ears. "Then let's talk about your history with the undead," Diethard said, ignoring the blatant attempt to disgust him into submission. "You obviously have a good deal of experience with them, don't you?"

"I travel a lot," Joseph answered. He blew some wax off the end of the pen, then popped it back into Diethard's pocket. "You see some weird things when travelling. Your next line will be, 'vampires and zombies aren't just weird', hmph!"

"Vampires and zombies aren't just weird," Diethard said. He stopped a moment when he caught up with Joseph's words. "How did you –"

"You journalists are all the same, the world over!" Joseph dismissively waved his hand. "You worked your way into the Britannian leadership, then threw it all away to join a vigilante group. There's only two kinds of person who does something like that: A fool, or a lunatic."

It struck Diethard at that moment that of the two of them, he himself was the closer to being a fool by quite a wide margin. Mister Joestar was not an enemy to be underestimated.

"You're the sort that wants to write history, hrm? Don't you know? The people that write history are all too easy for history to forget! In a hundred years, the only people who will remember the name Diethard Reid will be crusty old boring academics."

Mister Joestar grinned a cocky grin. "Next, 'And yet my legacy shall live on in the history that I write.' Hmph!"

"And yet my legacy shall live on in the history that I write," Diethard smoothly countered. Wait... Again? "What the -?"

"Ahaha," Joseph waved his index finger around. "You see? It's as I was saying. All too easy to predict how your sort thinks, because you're the same the world over. Will it really be your history that's accepted, or will it be someone else?"

Predicting what he was going to say, twice in the same conversation! This man couldn't be underestimated. That laid back attitude was a mask for his fearsome insight into his fellow man. However... Just as Diethard had underestimated Joseph Joestar, so too had Joseph Joestar underestimated Diethard Reid!

"My role in history is irrelevant," Diethard smoothly answered. "My role is to report it. And you, Mister Joestar, are certainly a fascinating man."

"You flatter me, but it won't make me open up."

"On the contrary, you're already wide open," Diethard countered. "I've met many who claim to be masters of cold reading, but you make it seem effortless. That is quite the interesting ability. For historical purposes, it gives us quite the insight into you."

Aha, now the wheels were turning in their battle of wits. Joseph was probably thinking something like 'Any piece of information I give him, even accidentally, will only excite him more!' Which was exactly what Diethard wanted. This meant that Joseph would have nowhere else to turn, nothing else to do but submit to a full interview. Anything less, and Diethard would be free to invent or interpret anything he wanted at his own will!

"Hi, hi there Rakshata!" Joseph suddenly, cheerfully said. He skipped off down the corridor, turning his back to Diethard completely. "Unless my beautiful eyes deceive me, those are the readings your team took of the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. before we left!"

"Mister Joestar, we weren't finished our conversation," Diethard complained, but earned no response whatsoever. No acknowledgment, not even a dismissive wave. Unbelievable! This level of disdain for the press was beyond his expectations! Where anyone else would have been pressured into putting something on the record to ensure they were accurately represented, Joseph Joestar had completely defeated Diethard - by totally ignoring him!

It was so basic that he hadn't considered the possibility. It was as if he was saying 'write what you like, I don't even care.' What do you even say to a man who can act like that?

"It's an amazing machine," Rakshata admitted to Joseph, though she wasn't looking at him any more than Joseph was at Diethard. "To think that my child could be upgraded in this way. It's a real blow to my pride."

"Well, these numbers don't mean much to me," Joseph admitted with a shrug that still came off as cocky. "You're saying these numbers are really good, but I can't tell at all."

"In which case Mister Joestar, we should leave the engineers to their work."

"But I do know people," Joseph continued unabated. "Didn't you notice? Those Britannian engineers sounded even more scared than you were. As if they had an idea of what this was even though they've obviously not made it themselves."

"Then I suppose you have a theory about what that all means?" Rakshata asked.

"Hmph, do I have to spell it out? Someone slipped the High Eunuchs schematics they shouldn't have. Maybe a spy, or someone using a power to steal technology that has not even been invented yet."

"Maybe a Stand like yours, Mister Joestar?" Diethard asked. "Except, instead of spirit photographs this Stand might be able to predict the future."

"A Stand like that would be even worse than a mind reader," Joseph observed. "Assuming they can change that future, that is. They could prepare for any strategy before you'd even know you'd need it. No enemy could touch them with that kind of power."

The man turned to Diethard, acknowledging him again at last. "In other words, they would be the ones writing our history right under our noses."

"In which case, alerting us to their presence is a rather foolish idea," Diethard countered. "Now we're more aware that they may be moving behind the scenes, we shall be watching for evidence of their existence like hawks hunting for prey."

"Unless it was part of a carefully considered bluff designed to manipulate our reactions."

"As amusing as this show of macho one upmanship is, some of us are trying to work," Rakshata interrupted. "I've never been one for hypotheticals when there's far more interesting tangible work right here in front of us. We should work out the implications later on when we have more useful information. Don't you think?"

Tsk! How disappointing. Diethard had been enjoying that banter. Mister Joestar slunk off with that same cocky smirk on his face, as though he'd 'won' their confrontation. In a manner of speaking, perhaps he had? What an astonishing man. Joseph Joestar was a truly intriguing topic, with a flare for style and arrogance that appealed to Diethard's sensibilities.

And even so, he had managed to find an even more intriguing topic of analysis for Diethard's mind to focus on, allowing him to escape further analysis himself! How amusing. It brought to mind a piece of history for Diethard's consideration.

Following the Battle of Asculum, king Pyrrhus of Epirus confronted the Roman Empire on the fields of battle - and won. Some came to congratulate him on this astounding victory, but Pyrrhus famously replied "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." From this observation the phrase 'Pyrrhic Victory' came about. A victory so terrible it may as well have been defeat.

So what did you call the opposite of this? Make no mistake. Diethard understood that Joseph had defeated him. Although, in introducing this idea of a background meddler with knowledge of future technology to Diethard he had made that defeat so sweet that it may as well have been victory. A Decius Victory? Named for Pyrrhus's enemy on the battlefield, Publius Decius Mus? Or perhaps he should ignore the historical context and simply call it a 'moral victory'?

Diethard stood next to Rakshata and smiled to himself while stroking his chin thoughtfully. He'd make his mind up later on. When he was setting about writing this history.

====Zero====

When she started down this road, she didn't truly believe. At the time, all that she was doing was following Lelouch's lead. She was his sword. He was her Prince Charming. Together the two of them were the light that would spark the world, and bring it screaming into a new and better direction. She had been naive and sheltered. She didn't think there was any such thing as truly evil until she saw it with her own two eyes.

She found it in the system of government that she had lived under and trusted for her entire life, which made discrimination seem reasonable and natural. She found it in those suffering under the same system who lashed out at innocents in their attempt for freedom. She found it in all those who abused whatever power they had over others. Something in her blood throbbed to fight evil wherever she found it. And, oh, she found it in so many places.

Today, she was saddened to find it within the revived form of Naoto Kozuki. The fallen and respected big brother to one of her newest friends. She had heard his name spoken with nostalgia and smiles among a few of the Black Knights. What must it feel like? She hoped never to find out. Discovering someone you loved so very dearly could become so very evil.

"Are you sure you can handle this?"

"I'm fine! Quit asking!" Kallen insisted, though her voice was cracked. "This is just another enemy to fight. That's all it is." Kallen... You had Shirley's - and Zero's - eternal sympathy for what you must be enduring. When she learned that her own father was being compelled against his will to assist Stand Out, it had broken her heart. But this... this is so much worse! It almost didn't compare. Your own passion and fury was being turned against you. "If anything you should worry about him."

Him being Lelouch. They'd all been aghast when they'd heard his plan, even Suzaku. One second off, even that much in either direction would mean the death of him. But every time that they protested, he cut them down the same way:

"It is my risk to take. A leader must lead. The King should move first."

The hell it was! This was a step too far! Even he couldn't pull this off, and Shirley had all the faith in the world in him. Enough faith that she'd taken up this mantle and this mask in a quest to change the world for the better! She couldn't let him. She wouldn't let him! And there was only one way to stop him! By destroying Naoto and S.E.I.T.E.N. before he had to take that damnable risk! On that plan of action, both Zero and Shirley were in total and complete agreement.

"Oh Lelouch, you keep the very worst of friends," Naoto cheerfully called. "That traitor will be the death of you one of these days. Now, where was I?"

He was in a better mood with Suzaku out of the way. That didn't sit well with her at all!

Zero leaned back in her chair while Schizoid Man's fingers danced across the keyboard control in front of her. While she didn't have Lelouch's brilliant mathematical mind she did have a Stand capable of a level of precision eyesight and speed that made up the difference. Satisfied with what she saw, her own hand pressed the button that opened up Shinkiro's chest, then fired a large prism out into the battlefield as the first half of the Knightmare's most powerful weapon.

No sooner had she done so than Schizoid Man reacted with the same speed that was able to catch a bullet - pulling up a hexagonal field around Shinkiro that protected her from S.E.I.T.E.N.'s devastating kick.

"So Shirley how are you finding piloting a Knightmare?" Naoto asked, sounding almost conversational. S.E.I.T.E.N. moved so quickly around Shinkiro that it left afterimages. It bounced around her, attacking from all angles, and she was barely able to keep up even with Schizoid Man's amazing speed. "Does it feel better than pretending to be a hero? Or being used for your Stand?"

"That level of sarcastic taunting is beneath us both."

"He doesn't love you, you know. He doesn't even know how to start."

"Then I'll teach him," Shirley adamantly replied. Not Zero. Shirley.

"Not rising to the bait?" Naoto asked. "Oh well. It doesn't really matter." S.E.I.T.E.N. punched hard into the Absolute Defense field. If not for the controls in front of her she might have fallen out of the chair from that hit. "So long as you have your shield up, you can't attack." Another punch, then a kick and for good measure both slash harkens were fired right into the field, bouncing off like rain off a windshield. "And you can't send your Stand out either, because you're using it to control that Knightmare. All you can do is defend, defend, defend!"

"And that's all I need to do," Zero warned. She may not be able to finish her attack, but she had certainly started it. Because a long way off behind Naoto, Gawain was taking aim. Not at S.E.I.T.E.N., nor at Shinkiro. But rather, at the prism that Shinkiro had released earlier on!

The twin baryon rays struck the prism and split, in exactly the same way that Shinkiro's own cannon fire did. The overall effect could be described as a 'disco ball of doom', with destructive beams of light tearing up the ground and ripping through the air, dazzling and dangerous beyond belief. S.E.I.T.E.N. was immediately forced into the defensive itself when one such beam came straight towards it and Shinkiro, ultimately being deflected by the Absolute Defense shield when Naoto moved away.

"Not bad!" Naoto yelled defiantly while dodging among the destructive energy beams. "I see what you're trying to do! You want to distract me, keep me dodging this lightshow so that I'll lower my guard!"

For a time it seemed as though S.E.I.T.E.N. would do exactly this. Right up until it stood completely stock still within the air, arms folded as though it knew for a fact that it wouldn't be hurt.

"But dear Prince, I shall give you this warning for free: If by some miracle you survive this battle, your affection for the traitor Kururugi shall be your end."

Devious! He'd figured out that Lelouch would have calculated the attack to ensure none of the beams struck the downed Lancelot - and then positioned himself in the path directly between the prism and Lancelot. The one area that was absolutely guaranteed to be safe from this combination attack! This must be his real reason for sparing Suzaku. Not concern that the others would attack him while his attention was elsewhere: A strategic plot to use Suzaku as a shield against this very kind of attack!

But as clever as he was, Naoto had underestimated Lelouch's ability to see ahead and predict his enemy's likely next move.

"My brother once told me that friendship is never a weakness."

In the air over Lancelot, lurking within S.E.I.T.E.N.'s shadow, the Guren suddenly appeared when it shot out a destructive beam of its own! But as soon as it appeared S.E.I.T.E.N. flew up in between the scattering shots to rise up above Guren's position.

"Sorry sis, but he's not the only one that can think ahead."

That's true. Zero had learned was that predicting your opponent's next move wasn't nearly as important as guiding their next move. For example, making use of both Druid systems to comprehend the pattern of the light attacks, and then instruct Kallen to attack at the very moment a gap would appear above her Guren. What would an opponent be likely to do in that situation?

The answer, as Naoto was discovering, was 'you place them into the perfect position to see Jumpin' Jack Flash strike the top of the Guren.'

"Thank goodness. Maybe we won't need to use your plan after all," Shirley said, relief washing off her. Then Zero added "Be ready for Kallen's signal so we can safely attack."

"Not yet," Lelouch warned. "All tasks are not yet cleared. Not so long as he can still –"

"Lelouch!" Naoto yelled, while sending S.E.I.T.E.N. flying up, up and up into the air. "How dare you try to use my little sister as your pawn against me!"

That was... ridiculous! That much height so quickly! This was his method of counteracting Jumpin' Jack Flash, putting so much distance between them that it didn't matter whether or not he could see: They wouldn't be able to attack him in time or do much of anything before he would be able to see again!

"What's he doing?" Kallen asked. Right, of course. She was blind too at the moment he'd gone up. "Where is he?"

"He's taking aim with the –" Zero began, but she didn't get the chance to finish before Schizoid Man slammed its hands down onto Shinkiro's keypad, sending the Knightmare flying off directly towards Gawain at top speed. "Oh no you don't!" Shirley finished.

She barely arrived in time, right before Naoto threw another of those radiant wave energy disks. The same thing he'd done earlier!

"Tsk! Blocked again!" Naoto said, sounding more than a little disappointed. "Long range attacks simply aren't going to work against this King while his Pawns are in the way."

"On the other hand, your strategies might be getting predictable and repetitive," Lelouch said. "Perhaps your undead brain isn't quite so clever as you think."

"Is that so?"

What followed was a sonic boom that nearly bowled Shinkiro over. Schizoid Man jumped for no reason that she could see - at first. Then she felt the clash of something hitting her from behind. Behind her? Shirley whirled Shinkiro around - but S.E.I.T.E.N. stayed in her blind spot. No matter how she turned or struggled, or even tried to flee S.E.I.T.E.N. was there battering against her shield.

"Shirley, are you alright?" Lelouch asked. He fired Gawain's finger harkens at S.E.I.T.E.N., but a quick series of kicks sent the two of them outside of his reach. She was being kicked around like a ball by this ludicrously strong Knightmare with Schizoid Man furiously typing away at the keyboard. Have to get her bearings. Where was she exactly...?

"Fufufu... The absolute shield defending against the absolute attack," Naoto taunted. "I always did wonder: Which proved superior in the end? The unassailable spear, or the unassailable shield? I suspect we'll find out before too long, won't we Miss Fenette?"

"I... Am... Zero!" she corrected him. Come on, identify your location. Pull away a little... North. That ought to do it. Another kick sent Shinkiro south a little after she thought that. Because of course it did.

"Very good. You are nothing," Naoto continued. "A pawn. A weapon. For an unworthy King. I bet your dreams of Prince Charming never took this kind of turn, now did they?"

"Talk all you want!" Shirley said. A little more. Just a little more is all she needed. Keep him away from Lelouch. Keep him away from Kallen. She couldn't let them fight him because... "Soon, talk is all you'll have."

Within her own hands she flipped a switch. Down on the ground directly beneath them a series of lights sprung into life, creating a bright spark that illuminated the air for a fraction of a moment - and then left stillness all around the two Knightmares.

A stillness called a Gefjun Disturbance Field.

"Well? Do you like it?" Zero asked. "I set this trap up while you were blindsided by Jumpin' Jack Flash."

"Shirley! I didn't ask you to do that!" Lelouch yelled, bringing Gawain to a stop just outside the field's affected area.

"It's okay Lelouch!" she answered. "I'm fine. We're both stuck here, which means he's a sitting duck for your –"

S.E.I.T.E.N. kicked Shinkiro hard in the chest, sending it down into the ground. Eh? Wha-what? But S.E.I.T.E.N. was inside the middle of the disturbance field! Why was it able to move?

"I'll give you credit, that was a good one!" Naoto jeered. "I actually didn't see that coming at all. Ten out of ten for creativity, little Pawn. It's just too unfortunate that S.E.I.T.E.N.'s energy system is completely different to normal Knightmares, or it might have frozen in place as well."

No... No! She'd been careless! Her trap had been completely pointless. She switched the field off, but before Shinkiro could come back to life S.E.I.T.E.N. was already stabbing its sword directly into the cockpit.

"Ora!" Schizoid Man yelled, pummelling the blade with all its strength. "Ora! Ora! Ora!"

It was working, but only barely. Whatever material that knife was made of, it was tough! Schizoid Man tried grabbing onto it, anything to hold it off but the sheer strength of S.E.I.T.E.N. meant that even this mighty Stand could only do so much to keep it at bay. Shirley could feel the air around her getting hotter and hotter as the blade got closer and closer -

With the field off there was nothing to stop Kallen from diving in to strike S.E.I.T.E.N. from the side. The two of them vanished, but the damage was done. Shinkiro was out of this fight. Damn him! There was no other way now. The fight was going to go in one of three directions and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Hey, you scheming phony! Leave my friend alone!"

The first way: Kallen killed the zombie that used to be her brother. When combined with what had happened with her mother, this would create a daunting and deep psychological wound. Neither Shirley nor Zero could condone such a thing being inflicted on even their worst enemy, never mind someone as good and noble - if hot blooded - as Kallen.

"Your friend? Dear sister, are you still blind to it? They're using you, while marching on to a terrible fate. They're no more your friends than they are mine!"

The second way: Naoto won. He killed them all and revived them as zombies. You couldn't get more out of it than that, it was such an obviously bad ending she didn't see the point in elaborating on it.

"Hearing a zombie lecture about friendship? When he aims to strip us of our humanity? Tell me! Why are you trying to make me laugh?"

The third way: Lelouch's risky plan. She knew. She understood. He wanted to do it this way so that Kallen wouldn't have to bear the burden. He wanted to take it onto himself. That's why... That's why they had all worked to get in his way. They wanted to be the ones to take down S.E.I.T.E.N. so he wouldn't have to take this stupid, brilliant risk.

"Lelouch... If you get this wrong by even a second..." Shirley sobbed. "No! Don't do it! Don't even try it! You still have too much to live for, don't throw it all away like this! Please, don't!"

She knew in her heart that she couldn't talk him out of it. Because that was the kind of person he was. Once he'd set that amazing mind to something it was impossible to talk him out of it until all tasks were set in motion, all the pieces were in place. The King would be the first to move. Because the King must set the example by taking the same risks as his pieces.

But the King was the most valuable piece on the board. So valuable that the King putting itself in check was expressly against the rules of the game, and yet... And yet Lelouch thrived on breaking all the rules to make a whole new set.

After all, that's the reason she fell in love with him in the first place.

====Villetta====

One of the most commonly used metaphors for life is that of the journey. Your birth is the departure and your death the destination. Along the way you will experience hardships, learn more of the world around you. Meet people and leave them again.

So what on earth was she supposed to make of it when, part way through her journey, someone else stepped into her shoes and carried her part way through?

"Um, pardon me?" said the Eleven nurse taking care of her. Wasn't that a laugh? A Pureblood being cared for by an Eleven nurse! "Miss Nu, isn't it?"

Villetta turned towards her. The Eleven jumped as though Villetta had tried to bite her.

"Y-You're medically cleared to go any time you want," the nurse said, careful to keep her distance. What was she, a rabid dog all of a sudden? She growled a little at the Eleven looking down on her - then had to resist the urge to smack herself for playing into that image.

The thought crept up on her like a silent assassin: What would she make of it? The other her. The Eleven who had been living her life for - if that calendar was correct - about a month. A whole month of her life. Gone. Completely wiped out. Due to her own Geass she could remember everything else about her own life right up until right now in detail that was nigh excruciating, but for that one month gap. Where someone else walked in her shoes. Some other woman of a completely different nationality and race.

"Doesn't it unsettle you?" Villetta absently asked. "Watching me turn from one of you back to normal?"

"W-Well, we knew about New Clear Days already, so..."

Villetta glowered at the nurse as if admonishing her for having such a sensible, reasonable answer. At this point she fully expected the Black Knights were letting her leave their hospital, and then they'd probably use her as part of some prisoner exchange. Or interrogate her. She looked around. The Black Knights had been very careful to cordon off anyone from the Britannian military, based on the uniforms she was seeing. There weren't many of them, most of the patients being treated were wearing the Black Knight's uniform.

Let her go? What a joke. They weren't here as patients anyway, were they? They were here as prisoners. Still, she had to put this much to the test at the very least. She stood up. Nobody stopped her. She walked down the rows towards the exit. Still nobody stopped her. In fact, they were all too busy treating their patients to even really pay her any mind at all.

It was a bit of an assortment of patients at that. She could see Black Knight uniforms, of course. There were a smattering of Chinese Federation. As well as one or two Britannian uniforms laid up in those beds. They seemed to be as confused as Villetta was. Equal treatment among all prisoners? It would be so easy, so trivial for her to grab one of their staff and take them hostage. Their guard was down to a ridiculous degree. Were they really going to let her leave that easily?

"How dare you try to keep me here when Marianne's son is in danger!"

That voice! That indignation! Those sparks of electricity coming from over there...? What?!

"Please sir, calm down. You're disturbing the other patients."

"Disturbed?" Another flash of light. "Disturbed! If I am not allowed to return to that battlefield I shall show you what disturbed really means!"

Villetta rushed around towards the bed in disbelief. He'd been taken here as well? Indeed he had. She found him resting on a bed, as lively as she'd ever seen him although there were a few strange additions. There was a peculiar mechanical monocle over his left eye, and some kind of embedded metal in his arms. What's more, there were some rather heavy looking restraints around his shoulders and waist keeping him down on the bed.

"Lord Jeremiah?" Villetta asked.

"Ah? Villetta? You're here as well?"

"Oh thank goodness. Someone who can talk sense into him," the nurse treating him said with obvious relief. "Please tell him to rest up while I fetch a Doctor and... Probably an engineer as well. He'll be more a hindrance out there in his state than a help."

This was growing more surreal with each passing moment. She was sure she was conscious, right? She looked around nervously, anticipating some kind of trap at any second. Sensing none, she approached Lord Jeremiah.

"At last a friendly face," he said. "Villetta, please undo these restraints. I must assist his highness in fighting that devil!"

Looking him over made it quite clear to her why the nurses weren't letting him out. His legs and his arms were quite obviously badly beat up. She doubted very much that the Elevens would be able to do all that much, but letting him travel under his own power in those conditions... never mind fighting! No, she couldn't let him do that.

"A wounded soldier must know when to rest," she advised. "Would you worry his highness more by placing yourself in harm's way while in this condition?"

Jeremiah grumbled, but he seemed to accept her answer. After a moment's sulking he asked "How long has it been since we talked face to face?"

"Seven months, two weeks, five hours and thirty nine minutes," Villetta immediately answered. At his quirked eyebrow, she felt a flush of embarrassment. "I may have accidentally given myself an eidetic memory."

"And I'm a cyborg now," Jeremiah said. "Rather amazing how your life never quite goes the way you intend."

The two of them were former Purebloods being treated in an Eleven run field hospital in the middle of the Chinese Federation's territory after a lengthy battle against undead-run forces. Villetta was almost knocked clear off her feet by the sheer weight of that understatement.

"It is good to see that you are back to normal," Jeremiah remarked, and that especially got her attention. "Perfect recall notwithstanding."

"You met... her?" Villetta asked. A question settled on her lips. But no. She didn't want to ask it. That other her was a parasite. A lowly Eleven who didn't even have the decency to exist. Treating her as if she was a real person, asking Jeremiah what she was like would be the same thing as legitimising the person who stole a month or so of her existence, leaving a gap in her otherwise perfect memory. So she made up her mind. She wasn't going to ask about it. She was going to move on and get on with her life!

But wait! What sort of things might this Eleven have got up to while living her life? If she truly did remember everything about who Villetta was, then - What? What would she have done? Sabotaged her life out of frustration? Taken revenge for the terrible things that Villetta had done to her people?

"What was she like?" she asked, then quickly added. "I only want to know so I can clean up any mess that she made."

Jeremiah gave her a look of concern before he answered. Tsk, don't look at her that way! "Her name was Chigusa. She seemed distracted by her memories of you. Our first meeting was just after she received a medal for service to the Empire. She was a remarkably brave, intelligent and honourable woman. Just like you."

A medal? In service to the Empire? So she'd stayed in the military as an Honorary Britannian? Then performed her duties so admirably that she'd received official recognition?! Villetta wasn't sure whether to feel proud, annoyed, concerned and so she settled on confused.

"Yes, that's the kind of expression she wore when we talked," Jeremiah said. "I'd say that she was critically aware of her true nature, and frightened that she would be forgotten. Do not forget her, Villetta. Do not dismiss her or diminish her in any way. For she was you. The best of you and the worst. She did her duty to Britannia for your sake."

For her sake...? What did that even mean in the end? Villetta unconsciously put her hand to her chest. Why? Why did it feel like she had lost a member of her own family? Why was she starting to feel as though she wanted to meet this person who had stepped into her life? Why did she?

"It's alright," a familiar voice said to an Eleven patient who was being wheeled by. "You are safe. I order you to relax. The people here are very good surgeons."

Villetta slowly turned her head to peek out down the ward. "Lord Jeremiah, was it my imagination or did I just see Royalty doing menial labour in an Eleven run field hospital?"

"If it was your imagination, then I sincerely hope you can stop it from interfering with mine," Jeremiah remarked. "This is no place for a Princess. Villetta –"

"Already working on it," Villetta firmly said. Ah, now this was much more her speed. No more of that touchy feely bleeding heart nonsense. Duty called. She snuck across the floor, still amazed that nobody had tried to stop her. Then, to her amazement, she watched as the Princess helped to move an Eleven with a leg in a cast into a bed for rest.

What caught her attention first were the Princess's hands. Bound up in bandages. That sight made her blood boil just a touch. Several possibilities flitted through her mind: Torture, perhaps? Or had they been careless in their treatment of her? Whichever it was her limited good feelings towards this faction was quickly evaporating.

"Pardon me, Princess?" Villetta quietly said. "It might be advisable to have you leave while they're not paying you much attention."

"Leave?" the Princess answered in a tone that was much, much higher in volume than Villetta felt comfortable with. "But there's all these people to help!"

Aha! Now she saw how it was. It was so clear to her what was going on here. Stockholm Syndrome! Yes, that fit rather nicely, or rather it fit rather horribly into how she was behaving. They had blatantly abused her, then treated her wounds and done so in a way that was designed to make her feel sympathy for their plight! Why, they might have even got her to open up again after months of traumatised silence. It was insidious. It was devious! Villetta knew right away that she had a duty to break this spell on her.

Much as she had to break the spell that this 'Chigusa' had cast over her. Empathy? For the Eleven that had stolen her life? Dream on!

"There are also injured Britannians who need help," Villetta whispered. "Think of it this way, your highness. Right now, Prince Lelouch is out there fighting the end of this long battle. His soldiers will be worried. How much do you think it will light their day to learn that you are well?"

The Princess slowed down a touch on hearing those words. For a moment there Villetta felt like an angel on her shoulder, whispering the virtuous truth that will lead to her doing the right and sensible thing. In much the same way that she was probably whispering in Chigusa's mind - No, forget about that. Focus on the Princess and her safety. All else is naught.

"We should leave. Right away," Villetta began, but before she could expand upon this any further a new voice entered their conversation.

"I quite agree. You should leave."

Villetta turned around and - Oh dear. She had met this Eleven before. To her shame, her own amnesiac self had viewed him as kind of cute. That thought crawled in her gut so badly it felt like there were butterflies sprouting wings. This eidetic memory was proving to be a major pain!

"We've come to an agreement with the Chinese Federation," Ohgi said. Yes, that's right. He'd been called Ohgi by the others, hadn't he? "We want you out of Chinese Federation territory as soon as possible."

"We're not your prisoners then?" Villetta asked, but then the Princess pressed her finger to Villetta's lips.

"This is not the place for such a discussion," the Princess explained. "Is there somewhere more private where we can discuss these details?"

Ohgi nodded, gave her a stern scowl and then led the pair of them off towards a side room, flanked by armed guards. Not that they'd be much of a problem for her. If she used her Geass right, she could disable them any time she pleased. Not yet. For now she wanted to wait, to see what the Eleven had to say. Then she could enact an escape plan.

Once they were in and the door closed, Ohgi pulled his gun on her. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like my memories restored to normal."

On the other hand she had various other tricks up her sleeve to facilitate an escape. "Fine," she shrugged. "Remember me. Satisfied?"

He closed his eyes and nodded. Villetta rolled hers and stepped back. It wasn't her place to assume control in this conversation. That was up to the Princess. But if that sneaky Eleven tried anything funny, that might fly under this relatively naive inexperienced girl's notice...

"So, as you were saying. Once this conflict is over, you intend to have us leave Chinese Federation territory," the Princess began. "Does this mean we are not your prisoners?"

"It means that you're free to return to your own troops," Ohgi said. "Don't start a fight. We'll escort you to a harbour, where you can go back to Japan."

"Just like that?" Villetta asked. There had to be more to it than that. "No conditions?"

"There is one," Ohgi admitted. "We want Lelouch. He has some crimes he must answer for, and he won't answer for them under your care."

"Unacceptable!" Villetta began, but again Euphemia shushed her.

"You will give him a fair trial?" she asked. Ohgi nodded. "Very well then. I will discuss the matter with him when he has returned from the battle. Though I do suspect he will agree for various reasons I'm sure we don't need to discuss."

Various... reasons? She couldn't believe what she was hearing! "Your highness, you're surrendering your brother to them?"

"No, he's going to do it himself," Euphemia sternly corrected. "I am reasonably certain this is what he shall do. I believe that the Black Knights are sincere in their quest for justice. They will not mistreat my brother while he is in their care."

Definitely stockholm syndrome!

"Then we'll have to wait for Lelouch to return," Ohgi said. "Assuming he survives S.E.I.T.E.N. and Naoto."

"He will," Euphemia said. "My brother has only truly lost to Cornelia and to Schneizel. You would do well to remember that."

"Zero beat him as well," Ohgi said. "Then again, you could argue that him losing was part of their plan to get us all into position to take down the High Eunuchs. I still don't quite understand those two."

"This joint operation gives me hope," Euphemia said. "Hope that, in the future, we can work together for a brighter tomorrow."

That remark made the room grow silent. Ohgi and Villetta shared a glance past Euphemia, and Villetta knew that the Eleven was probably thinking the same things as she.

"Stand Out," Ohgi said. "We united against them as well."

"Undead Nation," Villetta added. "Another common enemy. Yet we still fell into mistrust and combat after the threat was gone."

"Even if we cleared it up and took advantage of that same mistrust to fight an even greater enemy, the fact remains: The enemy of my enemy is only my enemy's enemy. Once that greater enemy no longer exists..."

"Then my enemy's enemy might turn into my next enemy," Villetta finished. That was the reality of the world. Politics shifts. Today you could unite against some great evil. A mutual threat to everything you hold dear. Tomorrow, your former allies might become the next great threat to be overcome. Everyone has their own interests in the end. That is an unavoidable fact of history. That one must be ready to kill, lest one be killed in turn.

"Will you allow us to retrieve our damaged Knightmares?" Villetta asked, eager to change the topic.

"Lamorak and Bedivere have already been recovered by your forces," Ohgi said. "Those were their code names, right? Your lot picked them up about the time S.E.I.T.E.N. appeared."

Well. Good. That was a relief. It also led into her next question.

"How is the fight against S.E.I.T.E.N. proceeding?"

A flash of sadness hit her all of a sudden. Her mind turned to that unknown person who had walked in her shoes for a while. Chigusa... Who was she really? Who would she have been if she had the chance to live her own life? She must have suffered quite a bit thanks to her attempt at self preservation. Using her Geass like that, inflicting perfect recollection of herself onto another person's mind was far too cruel and unusual a punishment!

"It's going fine," Ohgi answered. "Naoto was a friend of mine." Anger. Now she felt... angry. How dare these Elevens talk to them as though they were equals? Ohgi shook his head and rubbed at his eye -then the feeling faded, just like that. Wait a minute... "What those High Eunuchs made him into is completely unforgivable!"

"Are you playing with our emotions?" Villetta asked. "You have that power, don't you? I remember from our last encounter. What are you up to, Eleven?"

"I'm not up to anything," Ohgi insisted, still rubbing at his eye. "B-Blast it, what's with this power all of a sudden?!"

Power... This power wasn't like Stands, was it? "Were you given this power by a green haired girl?" she asked. The expression on his face told volumes. Then he recoiled as if in pain. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" he insisted. "I just... need some time. As for the two of you, take your things and go. When your wounded are safe to be moved, we'll send them over as well."

He left them at that time. "Well, that was a rather revealing conversation," Euphemia said, slowly like a hungry man savouring his meal. No wonder. They'd just taken in a lot to digest.

You know something, it was high time that she caught up with the green haired witch herself. While it had been Kewell that had contracted with her in the first place, one thing was obvious.

There was more going on around here than met the eye.

====Naoto====

In Japanese, the word 'guren' means 'crimson-coloured lotus'. Though it can be more than that. It is quite often used in an artistic context, a descriptive term, typically owing to the comparison between the flower's vivid colour and that of a burning flame.

Though there was another meaning. From Buddhism. The Eight Cold Hells that afflict the dead with cold and ice. Each level colder than the one before. The Seventh level had two names in Japanese: Hadoma Jigoku... And Guren Jigoku. Why the second name? Because this level was so cold that the skin tears and the blood shed from that ripped flesh is similar to that of the crimson flower.

Guren Jikoku: Pain, distress or suffering caused by severe cold. And of course the eighth, final level was a great deal colder than that. Yet even that hell, the hell of the great crimson lotus, could not compare to the coldness lurking within Naoto's heart now that he had met Lelouch vi Britannia.

So this was the man that had brainwashed his little sister with his lies and charm? Such a shame they would have to meet in Knightmare combat. Naoto would have rather beaten the Prince to death with his bare hands.

It seemed somehow appropriate that it would come down to them. Kallen and Lelouch. What better a way to set his sister free of his wicked spell than to kill him right before her very eyes? Only then would she see the truth. Only then could the tragedies of the future be averted. Lelouch vi Britannia had to die!

"Naoto! Your selfish lust for power must be brought to heel!" Lelouch said, ah but his voice betrayed him. It didn't quite have the strength behind it that he'd intended. Combine that with his sluggish control over an already slow Knightmare, and it was obvious who was the better man.

"Thank you," Naoto sincerely said. "For strengthening my conviction to kill you!"

Before another deceitful syllable could trip from his venomous lips the Guren SEITEN had already moved in front of Gawain. Incredible, he was still amazed. In terms of raw speed and power he truly was invincible in this Knightmare.

"You're mine!"

Credit where it's due, his sister didn't try to stab him in the back. What she did try was grabbing hold of S.E.I.T.E.N.'s leg. Between Kallen's reaction time and the Guren's radiant wave surger, that would have meant instant death for anyone else. Not so much for Naoto or his superior Knightmare.

"Using yourself as bait to lure me in?" Naoto taunted Lelouch, whirling S.E.I.T.E.N. around in the air to kick the Guren right into Gawain, which made an extremely clumsy attempt to dodge. The Prince was trying to punch above his weight level! "Now, that's a bit more like it! The King advances first at last!"

He'd taken Lelouch's obvious bait for a very simple reason: The Guren had been made invisible, and he needed to know where it was. Naoto grinned. Lelouch had thought he was the expert in using the King to lead the attack, but all he'd seen today was a King who was being coddled and shielded by his pieces.

Ah, his sister wasn't done yet. Now Jumpin' Jack Flash was in play, trying to grab for his energy filler. This problem was easily resolved with a little distance, especially when combined with that supremely handy detachable hand. Honestly now, what a stroke of genius this was: Attaching the Knightmare's strongest weapon to a slash harken launcher. Brilliant!

He dragged the Guren away in a way that reminded him of the time Kallen got into her first proper fight. She'd tried to stand up to a pair of bullies tormenting a child she'd never met before. Naoto, being the responsible big brother, tried to pull his sister away from the fight - only for Kallen to whirl around, kick him in the shins and slip out of his grip so she could run off and fight.

"Let go of me!"

The Guren whipped around and fired its slash harken into S.E.I.T.E.N.'s ankle, forcing him to let go of her before she could do some real damage. Oh dear. It seemed as though history repeated itself. But Kallen, did you remember that fight? Before your big brother was able to help you out those bullies had already given you a bloody nose.

"I'll be the one to stop you! Got it, you phony?"

Her Stand lashed out with its coily arms, stretching them out as far as they would go. Very well Kallen, let's see how much you've learned in his absence.

"Oh dear Kallen, where should your big brother start?"

Dealing with the Stand directly was not in his gameplan. Naoto whirled around it until he was on Kallen's right side, holding out the claw to charge up a blade made of radiant energy.

"You are not my big brother!"

Her reaction time was exactly as fast as he had been told. She moved away from his energy sword and was even able to kick S.E.I.T.E.N. in the side. Good! Very good!

"Kallen, you were always so helpful," Naoto said. "Even when you didn't mean to be. How well do you really know that cunning shadowy Prince?"

He grabbed hold of the Guren's ankle and tossed it behind him. His sister's Knightmare tumbled through the air before coming to a sharp stop, upside down.

"Stubborn aren't you? I won't drop my guard no matter what you say!"

The Guren's cannon arm rose up and opened fire, releasing several bursts of energy in quick succession.

"What I mean is... Lelouch wears many masks: A friend. A lazy genius. A shadowy manipulator. A charismatic Viceroy... and eventually he will wear the mask of a demon."

Naoto dodged around the blasts as he spoke, but they were coming a lot closer than he liked. Her aim had improved quite a bit! In which case, time to stop dodging: Naoto whipped around and used S.E.I.T.E.N.'s energy wings as a shield, blocking the shots.

"A demon?" Kallen grunted. "Hard to imagine him doing something worse than turning people into zombies."

A harken cable wrapped around S.E.I.T.E.N.'s legs. He could almost hear Kallen's unspoken 'got you'.

"I told you about those four possible endings, didn't I?" Naoto said. "The first two were Ragnarok and Replacement. The other two? Ruination and... Requiem."

"Requiem...?"

But she had underestimated S.E.I.T.E.N.'s strength.

"The Truth!" Naoto dramatically proclaimed. "Almost Human! Voodoo Kingdom! Prince of Darkness! Requiem, the evolution of power." He chuckled as a new thought grabbed hold of him, and he pulled her in with a single sharp kick. "Why, you could even call Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. a Requiem of the original Guren! And of course, our mother's own Hey Jude"

"Leave mother out of this!

The Guren's knife tried to stab him in the leg. Not bad Kallen, your strategy and instincts have improved as much as your aim. But not enough!

"Can't do that. Not after she told me about that future."

The edge of the Guren's blade struck the flat edge of S.E.I.T.E.N.'s upgraded knife. Really Kallen, it was obvious you were aiming for something like this. Naoto whirled around with the claw, ready to slice through the Guren with the energy sword!

"A Requiem so terrible it single handedly kills hundreds of thousands of people all across the Earth before it's stopped."

Kallen pushed away from his attack, and blocked it with her own radiant wave acting as a shield. The force of his attack knocked her back, whereupon she entered a defensive posture. Too predictable? That was fine. Now both of them were upside down facing one another in mid-air.

"The only way to stop it before it starts is if that Prince dies first!"

He waited for her response with - well, bated breath wasn't quite appropriate anymore. He didn't need to breathe - heady anticipation. Had she listened? Had she understood what was at stake? Even if they stopped the Emperor, even if they stopped everything else coming it wouldn't mean anything at all if Lelouch survived. The people that would die, the tears that would be shed. Turning a few people into zombies for their sake to fight against those terrible destinies, it was such a small price to pay!

"You know, it's kind of frightening when you put it that way," Kallen said. "Because... You sound just like him."

Naoto felt himself flare up with anger at the comparison, though not nearly enough to ignore Jumpin' Jack Flash making another attempt to blindside him. He pushed away, out of the Stand's range of attack before it could finish its strike, and he roared down at her in frustration.

"I am nothing like him! Why, Kallen? Why do you trust him more than me!"

She had already finished aiming her radiant wave arm up at his position by the time he'd even noticed. Already?! That went beyond merely a fast reaction time, it was like she knew where he was going before he'd even arrived!

"It's not about trust!"

S.E.I.T.E.N. rushed across the sky, being chased by the destructive radiant energy.

"If you really are Naoto, you'd understand. It's about choosing hope over fear."

As if this wasn't enough, on top of that Kallen was now firing shots from Guren's cannon arm. Throwing everything she had at him like this - Lelouch's spell over her was strong indeed!

"It was your hope that inspired us to stand up and fight when we should have been too afraid. You inspired us. You led us to do what we knew was the right thing!"

But now it was time to break that spell.

"Then let me lead you again!" Naoto yelled. He thrust the radiant energy blade into the incoming beam, splitting it around him and heating up the air to unimaginable degrees. A human being might have passed out from this heat, on top of the exertion of using this advanced Knightmare. Not a zombie, not one of his level of pilot skill.

"He will lead you into ruin! You, Ohgi, the entire world will be left broken and ruined by the time he's done! This isn't cruelty, don't you understand? The death I'll give him is far kinder than what fate has in store!"

"In that case, let's fight fate instead," Kallen said. Her Stand, Jumpin' Jack Flash was hovering by the Guren, menacingly staring up at him as they rose up into the air to meet him. In response, Naoto poured more power into the sword, transforming it into a beam of his own. Yet still the Guren was coming up towards him!

"While the past cannot be changed, the future isn't written yet. I won't give up on hope. I won't let him stray from the path of justice. Not after I've seen what happens when someone just like him strays. Naoto, you've given up on your grand dream!"

Pushing herself this far, this hard for the sake of that Prince. Naoto felt conflicted. Pride for her advanced level of skill, to push him this hard? Or irritation that she was pushing herself beyond her own limits for the sake of a demon?

"I've given up on nothing," Naoto softly said. The Guren began to be pushed back by the beam, but Naoto wasn't content with this outcome. He fired the claw down, pushing the beam back with his own until eventually the two radiating claws grasped each other in a firm grip. "Sorry Kallen, but this is for your good as well. Little sister, you've fought so hard, but you've made the same critical error you always made."

"Critical error?"

"Watch your surroundings with more care."

S.E.I.T.E.N. wrenched its claw back hauling the Guren up with it, then kicked the Guren back down to the ground. With this done, he immediately hightailed it back towards Gawain as fast as he could manage. This entire time they've been fighting, he'd been drawing her further and further away from him, away from Lelouch quite deliberately: The speed difference between the two models of Guren was vast, they didn't compare at all.

"Naoto! Get back here! Tsk... Lelouch, no! Stay away from him!"

Too late, Kallen. But it would be alright soon enough. Your big brother would free you from the charismatic spell he had cast over you, and then destroy this demon before he could fully realise the depths of his insane powerlust.

"By the time you catch up with me, this battle will be over already!" Naoto promised. "No more pieces, Black King! Only me and you! Checkmate!"

"Don't call checkmate until the game is over," Lelouch warned. Gawain let loose a burst of its twin cannons. Pointless. Even with the Druid System's predictive capabilities, S.E.I.T.E.N. was far too fast for that kind of attack to work, no matter how he tried to spread out the energy! "This is the endgame I have been after from the start."

"In other words, you sent out the others so you could study my movements with the Druid System!" Naoto scoffed. He retaliated against Lelouch with both slash harkens, and as he expected the coward turned invisible right away. Naoto withdrew them, and quickly altered his trajectory, making sure he wasn't travelling in a straight line for any appreciable length of time. "If you think to strike from the shadows, you'll soon learn it won't be that easy!"

"You're wrong," Lelouch said. "I wanted to confront you myself from the start but the others kept stepping in my way."

"Or so you wanted them to think, so they would protect you while you set up your scheme," Naoto angrily responded. "People are not chess pieces to be used and discarded. That's why, in spite of what my sister claims; We are not the same!"

Naoto had no illusions. Lelouch had a plan. He was the sort to always have a plan. Which is why he'd kept an ace in the hole. He'd showed off quite a lot of what S.E.I.T.E.N. was capable of, but not everything. That was Lelouch's ultimate 'tactical vulnerability'. Given all the data he could come up with a workable plan that would win the day, but in holding something back? Pushing out something he didn't know about? You could surprise him. Anyone could do it. Anyone could beat him so long as they used something he couldn't possibly know about.

Which is why, only now, did S.E.I.T.E.N.'s back open wide to reveal an array of rockets. Nobody to protect him. Nobody to take the hit. Lancelot and Shinkiro were in no condition to battle, and Kallen was too far away to make a difference. Even though Lelouch was invisible this attack would leave him no place to hide!

A dozen rockets flew through the air as S.E.I.T.E.N. ascended, moving out of the mountain's shadow to a high vantage point above the ground. The rockets fell to the ground like shooting stars. Not a one of them hit Gawain.

"M-Missed me!" Lelouch taunted, breathing heavily from exertion. What was wrong Lelouch? Having trouble maintaining Gawain's invisibility?

"Who said you were my target?" Naoto asked. Indeed, the rockets had all hit exactly where they were meant to. A pattern of twelve spread out, their heads embedded into the ground - and so the radiant wave generators built into those heads came to life, heating up the moisture in the ground until a huge explosion of dirt flew up, filling the air.

Stage one of his scheme had been a resounding success, and it didn't take him long to finish the second stage. On the ground Naoto could see it quite clearly. A blank space within the dust and the dirt crouched down, about as large as Gawain. Shortly thereafter it became fully visible. With this move Naoto had removed any possibility of Lelouch using his Stand to hide or set a trap in any way. Gawain was too big and bulky to effectively move and its defenses couldn't hope to match S.E.I.T.E.N. without the assistance of Painted Black's invisibility.

In this move Naoto had removed the very last of Lelouch's defenses, and Lelouch knew it too. Why else would he turn visible again? With S.E.I.T.E.N. safely in the light of day it lifted its radiant wave arm up to the sky and prepared to deliver the finishing blow to the defeated Prince.

"No it really is checkmate!" Naoto yelled, charging up a disc of brilliant radiant wave energy -

It was a brilliant scheme when you think about it. Naoto had understood the principles behind Lelouch's Stand Painted Black. He understood how it turned things invisible, and that is why he had created that cloud of dust. There would be an inevitable conspicuous gap within the shadow to show where Gawain was hiding.

But there was something he had forgotten.

Earlier, at the start of this stage of the battle Naoto had described the four of them as the new Divine Beasts. What was this in reference to? What else but the other Knightmares constructed by the Chinese Federation to advance their schemes: Gui Mo, the Black Turtle of the North. Long Fudi, the Azure Dragon of the East. Dìyù Niǎo the Red Bird of the South and Shen Hu the White Tiger of the West. Each of them represented by the new group; Guren, Lancelot Shinkiro and Gawain.

But... Wasn't Shinkiro one of those Divine Beast Knightmares as well? Had this not represented something else? Yes it had. The Japanese deliberate void. Resting in the middle of all other compass directions, a deliberate abyss.

What better than the abyss to snuff out a blinding radiance?

The disc failed to charge. It fizzled. It died. Too late Naoto realised there was a shadow cast upon S.E.I.T.E.N.'s claw, an impossible shadow that made no sense at all until just now, when his mind flashed through all of the above and realised, all along, what Lelouch's true plan was.

"Wh-What are you doing there!" Naoto yelled at the Knightmare above him, his hand shaking with fear, confusion and anger. "You can't be there! That's impossible!"

What better a Knightmare to represent the abyss?

"How did you get Lamorak up there?!"

He reconsidered the fight until this point with this new information. Lamorak! A Knightmare that could become invisible, but in a different way that Lelouch became invisible. Painted Black allowed light to pass through things that Lelouch wanted to seem invisible, while Lamorak bent light around it to create the illusion of invisibility. In a field of dust one of these would become extremely obvious due to the empty space, while the other would make it seem as though the space was full of dust. Lelouch had predicted Naoto's knowledge of his Stand and used it against him, luring him into this trap!

"But why?" Naoto asked the pilot of Lamorak. There was a sound coming from S.E.I.T.E.N.'s torso, of its external armour beginning to swell and burst. "Why would you take this risk for his sake? If you had been even a second off either way it would have left you completely vulnerable to attack! Why would you take this stupid risk?"

A rasping, exhausted voice came over the intercom, a voice that Naoto realised immediately.

"The... only... ones who should kill... Are those... prepared to be... killed!"

Now Naoto realised the depths of his defeat. Zombies didn't cry. Which meant these things coming from his eyes were something other than tears. They must be the 'sting of defeat'. Yes, that's right. Lelouch had used Painted Black to guide Gawain's movements during this fight while lurking nearby with Lamorak, looking out the perfect chance to use the only weapon on this battlefield that could destroy Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements:

Its own radiant wave surger being forced to flood the Knightmare with microwave radiation through the use of Painted Black.

"The chain reaction can no longer be stopped," Naoto said to himself as S.E.I.T.E.N. self destructed around him. "Lelouch vi Britannia... I suppose we were the same after all."

No answer. Lamorak fell from the sky. Lelouch must have passed out from over-exhaustion, pushing himself too hard to defeat a truly trying enemy. Yes. That, too, was just like Naoto.

"We commit the same final sin," Naoto sighed. "We gave her hope. We gave her dreams. Then we both break my little sister's heart when we die."

The last thing he saw before S.E.I.T.E.N. exploded was the Guren finally catching up, swooping down and catching Lamorak out of the sky. "Kallen, you really have grown up so much. But you have to stay away from him."

In the last conscious action he would take before his second death, Naoto tearfully and unconsciously saluted the enemy that had defeated him. For the first and only time ever showing a mark of respect to any form of Royalty.

"Stay away before the Requiem consumes him, and then consumes the entire world."

[To Be Continued |\|]