Turn 01 - The Reincarnation of a Demon

In the nearly eight months since Naoto died, Kallen had been pulling away more and more from her friends, the only one she would speak much with at all being Lelouch. Something about him told her that she could trust him and that he could understand her pain, but she couldn't figure out why.

Since that day in December, she had been helping the resistance in the hopes that she could help bring down Britannia's total control over Japan. Despite his protests, Ohgi eventually relented and allowed Kallen to help them during operations. She was getting ready for a mission in which they were planning to steal a truck containing poison gas when she got a phone call from Rivalz. While she was set on going to help with the mission, Ohgi convinced her to go with them, to help ease her mind a bit.

"So let me get this right…" Kallen said. "We just went there to play substitute for that guy?" She asked, sitting in Rivalz's sidecar for the first time in over a month.

Lelouch nodded. "So it would seem."

She looked at him, curiously. "But why? I thought we were gonna be running plays in the casino again."

"We were." Rivalz said. "But then this guy called us and offered us a huge reward in exchange for Lelouch's help."

"Huh?" Kallen said. "Then what was the point in me coming along at all?"

Rivalz looked down at her. "We just wanted an excuse to hang out. We can still hit the casino if you want, but we only have about twenty minutes."

Kallen groaned. "Just keep your eyes on the road." She turned her eyes toward Lelouch. Something seemed different about him lately. Almost like he'd become more withdrawn than usual. She wanted to talk to him to get him to open up, but she couldn't think of anything to say to pull him away from his book. Besides, telling him he's being distant would be too hypocritical.

"Hey, what happened over there." Rivalz said, pulling off to the side of the road.

Lelouch looked up at Rivalz, curiously, having not really paid attention to anything. "Hm? Something wrong?"

"Whoa, that's some crash." Rivalz said.

Lelouch and Kallen both stepped out of the sidecar, walking toward the edge of the road. "Huh?" Lelouch said. "Hey, what's that?" He asked, seeing something inside of the truck's open trailer.

Kallen's eyes widened. "They wouldn't... they did it without me?" She said. "Nagata?" She said, tossing her helmet off and running down toward the truck.

"Hey, Kallen wait." Lelouch said, removing his own and following her. "Dammit, I really need to work on my cardio…" He said, noting how much faster she was than himself.

"Nagata! Is that you? Nagata!" Kallen shouted.

Lelouch finally caught up to her at the truck. "Kallen, what's going on. What is this?" She climbed up the ladder with Lelouch following close behind.

"Finally. The time has come to-"

Both Lelouch and Kallen looked confused.

Lelouch looked at Kallen. "Was that you? Or…" The truck then began to reverse, causing both of them to fall into the back. "Hey! Stop, people are in-" He said, slamming into the strance capsule that was in with them. "Damn!"

Kallen turned to him. "Lelouch, stay here. I've got something I need to take care of."

"What?" Lelouch said. "Wait, what's going on here?"

She turned and looked over her shoulder at him. "I'll tell you later." She said, moving through to the front of the truck. "Nagata!"

Nagata swerved the truck a bit. "Kallen? Wait, what are you doing here?"

"That's what I was gonna ask you." Kallen said. "I was supposed to come as a part of this operation."

Nagata smiled. "Well you're here now, aren't you?" Kallen nodded.

"Stop the vehicle!" They heard from a man in a helicopter. "Surrender now and you'll get the chance to defend yourself in court!"

"Like hell we will." Kallen said, annoyed.

"Stop and surrender at once! Give up now or we'll shoot to kill!" Despite saying this, they didn't give the time for anything to be done and began to fire anyway.

"Now what?" Nagata said. "I didn't expect the military to come after us."

Kallen sighed. "I guess it's a good thing that I'm here then. Do you have it with you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"Get to the subway via the Azabu route." Kallen said. "And don't use it. We don't want to cause a blood bath."

Lelouch groaned. "You'd have thought they'd put a ladder on the inside too. Though I suppose if I jump out I take the chance of either breaking my neck or getting shot." He said to himself. "Either way, not great options. I suppose I could…"

"Talking to yourself again?" Kallen said. "I've got something I need to take care of. You stay here. Nagata will make sure you're kept safe."

"Wait." Lelouch said. "You're going out there?" He asked as he watched her walk up a set of stairs.

"Don't worry about me. We've got a secret weapon." She said, confidently. "Just don't go dying on me, okay? I'll explain things later." She climbed inside of a machine and got into position. "I wish I had time to at least change out of this uniform…"

As the military choppers continued firing, the back doors of the truck began to open and something came from the darkness, destroying one of the helicopters. "A slash harken?" The doors opened fully and a large red-colored machine jumped out onto the road. "A knightmare!"

"That's right." Kallen said. "You know full-well what this badass mother can do!" She shouted as she took down more military vehicles.

Unfortunately, at that moment, reinforcements for the army arrived. "Back off!" A man's voice boomed. "I'll take this guy." Kallen glared as a knightmare landed in front of her. "I can only assume you dug that outdated relic from some scrap heap. An over-the-hill Glasgow is no match for a Sutherland!" He shouted.

Kallen tried to attack, but her attempts were deflected as her opponent's knightmare outclassed hers. "Dammit!" She shouted.

"Kallen!" Nagata shouted. "We should split up. We can't both die here."

"No, I can do this!" She shouted.

Before she could do anything about it, another knightmare appeared in front of the truck, opening fire and causing it to turn. "Simple-minded Eleven..."

"Damn…" She tried to fire one of her slash harkens, but it locked up on her. "Crap! It's stuck!" She shouted.

"Secondhand junk!"

Kallen maneuvered out of the way of the man's strike and got away.

The man inside the Sutherland smiled. "I have to admit, I really like your spirit, however… it'll take more that spirit to escape Jeremiah Gottwald!"

Lelouch opened his phone as the truck went into a tunnel. "No signal. We're out of range. Judging from the darkness and the road surface, we must be driving along the old subway line. They're headed for an exit somewhere in the ghetto. Getting out would be dangerous." He said to himself. "I can't take the chance of seeking military protection. They might kill me for suspicion of aiding a terrorist, not to mention I could put Kallen in danger."

Lelouch was brought out of his thoughts as the truck ran into a ditch. "An accident? Or…"

Nagata growled. "I can't get it moving… Ohgi, please…" He said, racing for a switch of some sort. "Find me."

The side of the trailer opened, causing Lelouch to duck into the darkness again. After a moment though he saw an opportunity to escape. "Kallen told me to stick with him, but if I do, then I might…"

Kallen growled, angry that she ran away from the fight. "Ohgi, it's Kallen." She said turning on the communicator inside of the Glasgow.

"Kallen?" Ohgi said. "But I thought you were-"

"Change of plans." She said. "That's not important right now, though. I think the intelligence we got was right."

Ohgi nodded. "I see. So it is poison gas…"

Lelouch groaned as he stood up to try to exit the vehicle. "I can't just stay here. If someone finds me, I'm-" Just in time to block it, he saw someone flying toward him, being hit backward onto the ground. "Damn… are you Britannian?"

"That's enough mindless murder. Planning to use poison gas?" The man said, pinning Lelouch down. "Answer the question!"

"Hold on! I'm not-"

"Don't play dumb with me!"

"Get off me!" Lelouch shouted. "Mindless murder… and it that's poison gas, it was made in Britannia, wasn't it?"

"Wha… my god…"

Lelouch stepped forward. "Why don't you just obliterate Britannia!"

"Lelouch?" The man said. "It's me… Suzaku."

His eyes went wide with surprise. "What? Suzaku, but… you became a Britannian soldier?"

"Yeah." Suzaku responded. "And what about you? I thought you were-"

"What are you saying?" Lelouch shouted.

At that moment the pod inside the trailer began to open and without a second thought, Suzaku covered Lelouch's mouth with his mask. The two of them watched as a bright light shone from the open pod, a strange girl with long green hair appearing from it.

"Huh? But that's not…" Suzaku said.

Suzaku set the green-haired woman on the ground, still confused about what was happening.

"Suzaku, tell me the truth. Poison gas? This girl? What's going on here?" Lelouch asked.

Suzaku shook his head. "Hey, it's what they told us in the briefing, I swear."

"Hmph. Stinking monkey."

Lelouch and Suzaku looked toward the man who spoke. "The royal guard?" Lelouch asked. "But why are they…"

"Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you!"

"But sir," Suzaku said. "I was told this was poison gas."

The captain's eyes narrowed. "How dare you question orders!" Lelouch watched as the scenario played out in front of him. "However, in light of your outstanding military achievements, I'm going to be lenient." He said, holding out a gun. "Kururugi, take this and execute the terrorist."

"Huh? But sir, he's not a terrorist." Suzaku said. "He's an innocent civilian who got caught up in all-"

"You insubordinate little…" The captain said. "That's an order. Kururugi, didn't you swear your life and loyalty to Britannia?"

He smiled. "Yes, but I can't do it." He said, turning toward Lelouch. "I won't do it, sir. I won't shoot a civilian. I can't follow your orders, sir."

"Very well." He said, pressing the gun against Suzaku and pulling the trigger.

"Suzaku!" Lelouch shouted as he watched his friend fall to the ground.

"Well, Britannia schoolboy, what an unfortunate day to cut class. Collect the girl." He ordered his squad. "After you secure the girl, kill the student."

"Yes, my lord!"

Lelouch grabbed the girl and stood up to try to escape. "No, I can't die here."

Nagata, inside the truck and bleeding out, flipped open a compartment revealing a button. "Death to Britannia…" He said, pressing it. "Long live… Japan!"

The truck exploded as Lelouch made his way through the tunnels.

Kallen looked off toward a fairly large explosion. "What the… Nagata, you..." She said, her eyes growing wide as she realized what that meant. "Lelouch.."

"Kallen, this is bad!" Ohgi shouted.

She picked up her communicator, trying to push her emotions aside. "What's bad? What's happening?" She then saw knightmares moving out through the area, firing indiscriminately at whoever they happened to catch in their sights. "What the hell? What's going on here?"

"That's right, leave no one alive!"

"No, is that him?" Kallen said.

"Supervisor Jeremiah, General Bartley requests that-"

"Bartley has staff officers." Jeremiah replied. "I haven't had this much fun on the front lines in ages!"

Kallen watched in horror. "They're destroying Shinjuku again… no wait, this is the first time it's happened, but…"

Lelouch fell over, dropping the girl onto the ground. "What the hell are you? All of this chaos… it's all your fault, isn't it?" He said. "Not only that, but Britannia has… even killed Suzaku!"

He continued his way toward the subway exit. "Damn, they're here already…" He heard a small child crying just before gunshots silenced them, joining the rest of the corpses in the subway's exit.

"Report." The captain of the royal guard said.

"We only found Elevens here, sir."

He seemed disappointed. "And you're sure of it? The exit comes out here?"

"Yes sir. It matches up with our map of the old city."

Lelouch thought of trying to go back into the tunnel, but then his phone began ringing. "Shirley…" He thought, seeing the name on the caller ID.

Before he could do much of anything, the royal guard had grabbed him and cornered him against a wall and had restrained the mysterious girl. He had no way out. "What an appropriate location for a terrorist to meet his end."

"You scum…" Lelouch said.

The guard smiled. "Still, you've done well for a student. But that is to be expected, you're a Britannian after all. Unfortunately, my clever young friend, you have no future." He said taking aim.

Lelouch flinched as the girl broke free of the others' grip. "He mustn't die!" She shouted, jumping between the captain and Lelouch. The bullet lodged itself into her forehead and she fell to the ground.

"You shot her!" Lelouch said, kneeling down beside her.

The captain sighed. "Well, our orders were to bring her back alive if possible. Oh well, nothing can be done about it now." He said, continuing to monologue.

"How can this be happening?" Lelouch thought. Seeing the blood pool beneath the strange girl. The sight made him realize how truly dire this situation was. "First Suzaku… and this girl… and now I'm about to die. Before I've had a chance to do a single thing with my life. Just like that, it's gone in a heartbeat… Nunnally..."

Just when he had lost all hope, the girl's hand suddenly grabbed his hand.

"What?" He said.

"You don't want it to end here, do you?"

In an instant, from the guard's perspective, Lelouch's entire demeanor suddenly changed. "Say, how should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?"

"Are you some kind of radical?" The captain asked. "Huh?"

"What's wrong? Why not shoot?" Lelouch asked. "Your opponent is just a schoolboy. Or have you finally realized… the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed."

The captain stepped back a bit, his hand shaking slightly. "What's happening here?"

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you… now all of you…" He said, coldly. "Die."

The captain stepped back once more and then began laughing. "Happily, your highness!" He turned the gun on himself while the other royal guards followed in suit. "Fire!"

And just like that, the royal guards were dead. Lelouch now stood, alone in a room of corpses. Having obtained an incredible new power that was sure to change his life and help him to create the world his sister wished for. "Well then…"

Turn 01 is done! I felt that, because of the memory thing with Kallen, the first appearance of Lelouch in the battlefield wouldn't be super different, but I wanted it to be different enough. I cut out a lot of scenes though, not because they don't happen, but because they happen the exact same way and I don't want the whole chapter to just be a transcript of episode 1. Things are going to be similar for a bit, but don't worry, it won't just be a note-for-note retread.