A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, but I've been pretty busy this past month, with final exams/essays/projects due in college. Also moving back home, reuniting with friends and family has taken up some of my time.

Before I begin, I'd like to make an announcement. After this story, I'm going to be taking a break from making Code Geass fanfictions. I'll be moving on to my Bat-Wings of Rebellion idea, the Persona 5/Batman Beyond crossover. But don't worry, I'll be sure to finish this story before I begin working on the other one.

I'm also thinking of doing a Code Gundam story featuring Gundam Wing, with Lelouch piloting Wing Zero. Let me know what you think of that.

This is a chapter I've been wanting to write for a while now. Lelouch vi Britannia vs. Suzaku Kururugi in the 00 Raiser and the Lancelot siN respectively. One last fight to settle things between them once and for all. I can promise you all that at the end of this fight that only one of them will walk away.

Also, little spoiler, keep in mind for the whole fight, there will be a thunderstorm going on. So basically the whole time Lelouch and Suzaku are fighting to the death, lightning and thunder are booming around them, along with rainfall. Just keep that in mind while imagining the fight.

I do not own Code Geass or Gundam 00. Both are works of Sunrise.

A few days ago

"What do you mean you're not coming back?!" Ohgi asked in disbelief as he and the other Black Knight High Command stared at the screen in shock.

"I mean I'm not coming back," Kallen repeated, her voice more assertive so they could get her message loud and clear. "I'm staying with Lelouch and joining Celestial Beings. And I'm keeping the Guren with me." She told them as she then rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Or what's left of it that is."

"What?! My baby Guren?! What have you done to it?!" Rahkashata yelled in the anxiety of a mother who's lost her child, which she would say is exactly what happened.

The other Black Knights ignored her cries and focused on Kallen. "Why are you doing this Kozuki!?" Chiba ranted, disbelief and anger evident on her face and voice. "Why betray Japan and go to him?!"

Kallen was silent for a moment before answering. "Because I now know who he is," Kallen said, surprising many of her former comrades. "He's not some demon or monster we thought he was, nor is he a savior or messiah we once believed he could be. In truth, he's just a human being who seeks to change the whole world and free it from the disease of war." Kallen could see what was on the tip of their tongues, but she stopped them. "I know you must think I've been Geassed into believing this, but I can promise you I'm not. My heart and mind are my own. Lelouch doesn't even have that Geass power anymore. I truly believe in the mission that Lelouch has set himself on, and I seek to support him with all that I am. I'm sorry if this has caused you to see me as a traitor, but I'm not coming back. I've made up my mind. And if that makes us enemies now, then so be it."

The whole Black Knights looked in shock. It was impossible to believe. Kallen Kouzuki, the one who desired Japan to be free more than anyone else, now had left the cause that sought just that outcome and joined up with the one who had used them all. Some wanted desperately to believe that this wasn't the real Kallen. That she was under the control of Lelouch and made into a perfect slave. But the look in her eyes and the tone in her voice meant she was dead serious about her declaration, even about the part where they were now enemies.

Ohgi tried to speak up to convince her when Tohdoh placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. He then directed his attention to the redhead. "Am I to believe this is the result of the answer you searched for?" He asked, confusing most of the Black Knights.

"Yes," Kallen said firmly, nodding her head.

Tohdoh merely sighed. "Then I suppose we have no choice but to acknowledge your treason." His statement led to an outcry of disbelief and shock among the Knights. Tohdoh raised his hand to silence them as he continued. "We have no right to force a soldier to remain in this cause against their will. If we did so, then we would be no different than Lelouch and his Geass." That seemed to be what got the rest of the Knights to shut up and they looked between themselves awkwardly. He then turned his attention back to Kallen. "Farewell Kouzuki. When we meet again on the battlefield, we will do battle against each other. Do not expect any special treatment."

"I understand General Tohdoh." Kallen accepted as she nodded in agreement before donning a cocky smirk. "Don't think I'll go easy on any of you either." And with that, the video call ended.

Present

"Ohgi."

Said Supreme Commander of the Black Knights was pulled out of the memory from a few days before as he looked at Tohdoh.

"O-oh! Tohdoh!" Ohgi stuttered as he struggled to regain his composure as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly with a nervous smile. "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"About Kouzuki?" Tohdoh bluntly guessed. The smile dropped along with the hand as Ohgi looked down. Tohdoh merely let out a sigh as he gazed at the Commander. "I know you are disappointed and frustrated with her change of allegiance. But we had no right to force her to come back to us. She made her decision, and we have to live with it."

"I know," Ohgi said as he looked out the window toward the raging lightning storm that was covering his homeland. "I know that she made her own decision, and I have to respect that. I just," His jaw tightened as his hands clenched so hard they were becoming white, "I just don't understand out of all the paths she could take, why she decided to go to him of all people! Why would Kallen do that?!" He then turned to glare at the General. "And why did you let her go to him in the first place!? If you stopped her, then she wouldn't have left us!"

"I had no right to stand in the path that she had chosen to walk. Plus I could see it as clear as day." Tohdoh began to explain as he recalled the conversation with Kallen in her Guren. "The desperation in her voice, the desire to know the answers to her questions. I could see it plain as day. Ohgi, she needed to know." He emphasized. "She needed to know what she meant to him, what he meant when he told her to live. If she didn't, then she would never be able to move forward. And I would rather burn in oblivion than deny the chance for anyone to move forward with their lives."

Ohgi looked as if he wanted to argue further, but he couldn't come up with a reply. No matter what he thought of, he just couldn't argue against Tohdoh's points of reasoning. So he just sighed in defeat and turned away from the older man. "I just still see Kallen as my best friend's little sister," Ohgi admitted as he thought of Naoto. "I promised him I'd look out for Kallen always. But just how am I supposed to do that if I can't keep my eyes on her all the time?"

"You can't," Tohdoh answered. "You can't look out for her forever because she is not gonna remain that child your friend wanted you to take care of. She has to grow up." Ohgi mulled over Tohdoh's words for a moment before the older man continued. "I don't believe we give Kouzuki enough credit." Ohgi looked at him in surprise. "She knows Zero, or rather Lelouch, better than all of us combined, save for that C.C. woman that was always with him. I do not believe she would have made her choice if she was just blindly following him." And with that, he began to walk off the bridge, leaving Ohgi to his thoughts.

The creature in him was growing more hungry by the days. Even since his battle with him in Krugis, it just craved more and more of the sound of metal against metal. It craved more of that feeling of excitement he felt as he stared down the machine piloted by the man he wanted to kill more than anything.

But he was currently grounded from any such mission against the Gundams until his new masters came up with a plan. He didn't trust them, not one bit, he didn't trust Schneizel either. He didn't trust anyone.

He no longer cared about Japan or its people, or his mission of changing Britannia from within, nor his desire to become the Knight of One. All desired was to run his blade through the heart of the man who had taken everything from him. His love, his humanity, his friends, his wish to die, everything.

He didn't care about the consequences of what he was about to do. He didn't care if he was throwing away all he worked for. He didn't care if his actions led to his death or the deaths of others. He just wanted it all to be over.

So he pulled out his phone and began to dial a number he knew would just have to answer.

"How's the process of installing a GN Drive on the Guren?" Kallen asked as she and Lelouch walked up to Ian and his team working on the red Knightmare.

"It's going good so far," Ian reported as he whipped a brow of sweat from his head, "The fact it was heavily damaged allowed us to modify it for a GN Drive without taking it apart from the top, which saved time. Though the downside is finding replacement parts is taking time."

"Take as much time as you need Ian, we're not going anywhere." Lelouch said with a smile. He then turned around and stopped as he came face-to-face, with Nunnally, who was being watched over by both Sayoko and Jeremiah.

The two siblings stared at each other, Nunnally now with her eyes open thanks to the effects of Jeremiah's Geass Canceler, neither moving nor talking, simply staring. Kallen, Sayoko, and Jeremiah paid the siblings a worried glance.

After a long moment, Lelouch spoke, "I better go check in with Nina. See if she learned anything more about the matter I asked her to look into." And with that, he turned and walked away from the four others, all giving him a concerned look, save Nunnally, who seemed to be doing her best to not look in the direction of Lelouch.

"I'll go with him." Kallen told the other three, two of them nodded in acknowledgment as Kallen hurried after the man she loved. When she caught up to him, which wasn't that hard, she moved up to match his speed and walk said by side with him, almost like any real couple would, and that small thought made Kallen's face go red for a brief moment before she focused.

"You can't keep avoiding Nunnally forever." Kallen decided to say after a moment of silence.

"I'm not avoiding her!" Lelouch denied, not even looking at her. "I just have more important things at the moment than Nunnally."

"You saying that is basically saying 'I'm avoiding Nunnally'." Kallen deadpanned, she knew him well enough. "You would never usually place anything over seeing or spending time with Nunnally unless you're trying to avoid her."

Lelouch let out a sigh. Perhaps Kallen knew him too well. "I just have no idea what to say to her," Lelouch admitted as he turned to look at her. "I killed our sister, started a war with the nation we called home, killed our parents, drove Suzaku to madness, nearly got her killed so many times all in the name of making a world she would have wanted. Not only that, she knows what I've done, both as Zero and piloting a Gundam, and she's been 'dead' for months now! How the heck do you have any normal conversations after all that?!"

Kallen seemed to be pondering the answer to Lelouch's question for a moment. Then she answered, "As a younger sibling myself, I would like to say I'd like an older one to make the first move. But I think that we should also be willing to take the first steps ourselves if the older one is too much of a coward that is." She smiled at the word.

Lelouch held a sarcastic frown as he looked back at her. "You know that doesn't help me."

Kallen merely had a teasing smile as she looked back at him. "Well, I figured that it's only fair that I make you wait for months, uncertainty just filling your mind at something I said. You did the same to me after all."

Lelouch stared at her for a moment before he chuckled goodheartedly "That I did," He admitted as he continued laughing. "That I did."

They both stopped as they took a moment to look in their eyes. Kallen had to admit, she missed looking into his eyes. Not only was the color alluring about them, but the story they told as she gazed into them. The story of a boy who had lost everything, and so sought to change the world, even if it did lead him down a path of blood.

Lelouch felt the same way as he looked into Kallen's. The eyes that held a burning passion and fury that inspired and frightened him. It was beautiful to look at. He couldn't help but be drawn in as he leaned his head closer to her, and her to him.

"Hey, guys!" They then immediately looked away from each other and toward the source of their interruption. It was Rivalz as he was waving his hand towards them, beckoning them to follow him. "Nina says she's got something to show you!"

Kallen groaned internally at this interruption before she followed Lelouch after Rivalz.

"What'd you find Nina?" Lelouch said as the three came up to the young scientist. On her computer screen was footage of the Lancelot siN, recorded from the 00 Raiser's camera, along with a sea of data.

"So I figured out exactly what made the Lancelot's GN Drive different from the ones the 00 Raiser has." Nina reported as she began to bring up her research.

"You mean besides the red glow instead of the green?" Kallen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Nina said, ignoring her rhetorical question as she continued. "The particle output from the pseudo-GN Drive, that's what I'm calling it, is less than that of an original GN Drive. Another weakness I've seen is that it needs continually electrical charge to sustain particle production. So it needs to recharge. Despite it being powerful, against a machine sporting an original GN Drive, it would eventually lose."

"Yeah but that thing on the Lancelot allowed it to nearly killed me and Lelouch when we fought it, and we had two of those original GN Drives! So how come we didn't win so easily like we apparently should've?" Rivalz asked as he folded his arms.

"Suzaku." The three turned to look at Lelouch as he spoke the name of the pilot of the infamous white Knightmare. "It's Suzaku. His exceptional piloting skills make up for the weaker technological capabilities of the pseudo-GN Drive. Not only that but the Lancelot siN is outfitted with the most advanced Knightmare technology in the world, only further enhanced by the properties of the GN Drive, despite it not being an original. It was specifically designed to deal with the 00 Raiser and me."

"Great!" Kallen yelled in sarcasm. "So now the strongest Knightmare in the world has been overhauled with more powerful weapons, a GN Drive that makes those weapons that much more dangerous. And they gave it to the person who wants you dead more than anything else in the world right now! Yeah, that's just great!"

"We'll deal with Suzaku when the time comes," Lelouch told them. Though the three of them couldn't help but wonder what he meant when he said the word 'deal'. "Right now though, I'm more concerned about his employers than him and his Knightmare."

"Right. That Ribbons dude and his 'Innovators' peeps." Rivalz said as he recalled them from a few days ago. "What exactly do we know about them exactly?"

"Other than what their name is, who their leader is, what their objective is, that they are the head of the Anti-Gundam task force created by Schneizel and that they have the same Geass power as me, we know nothing," Lelouch said. "Except the unconfirmed information that this Ribbons Almark had a hand in the initial testing of the Gundams."

"He did." The four turned around to see Ian, a cup of water in his hands, taking a break from working on the Guren. "I was there when we were initially designing the Gundams. He was the test pilot for the 0 Gundam."

The three looked at Ian in surprise at his words. So what Ribbons said was true. "What happened to the guy if he was a test pilot?" Rivalz asked.

"He showed great promise from what I could remember." Ian began, looking back early days of designing the Gundam.

Flashback 7 years ago

The 0 Gundam sored through the ruined battlefield as it made quick and short work of the practice Knightmares. Observing the experiment from an observation deck was a younger Ruben Ashford along with a young Ian and a few other evaluators. When the last Knightmare had its head blown off, the 0 Gundam came back up to the collection of views as its cockpit opened up and a young man stepped out. He pulled off his helmet to reveal green hair and violet eyes, sporting a confident smirk.

"He just appeared out of nowhere. He heard rumors that we were designing a machine that would change the world and came to sign up to be a test pilot. We normally wouldn't have taken in such a mysterious person, but we were tight on personnel so we needed all the hands we could get."

Ribbons Almark was then seen conversing with Ashford and Ian about new possibilities of the GN Drive and the Gundams themselves.

"He was a bright young lad, we thought we had struck gold. He was not only was he an excellent pilot, but he was also brilliant. He understood most of the concepts of the GN Particles and GN Drives almost good as Aeolia Shemberg, the original creator of the Drives. We were lucky to have him."

Present

"So what changed?" Kallen asked the question as she folded her arms. "What made him go from this amazing star pilot you guys had to a psychopath that would threaten a little girl."

Ian looked down for a moment, grimacing as it came back to him. "We decided to test the GN Drives' Trans-Am function."

6 years ago

Ribbons was seated within the cockpit of the 0 Gundam as prepped the systems for the first-ever Trans-Am activation of the Gundam.

"Are you ready to do this Ribbons?" A young Ruben Ashford asked as he and Ian sat in the observation room of a hangar.

"Yes, I am." Ribbons announced as he clenched his hands on the controls of the Gundam in anticipation. "Let's see what the full potential of the Gundam's capabilities is!"

"Excited one is he?" Ian joked as he turned to the older man. "You sure know how to pick'em old man."

Ruben merely rolled his eyes as he then finished setting everything up on their end of the preparation. "Okay, the first test of Trans-Am will begin in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1!"

And with that, Ribbons pressed the buttons and activated Trans-Am. The 0 Gundam was cover in a red glow as the particle output began to speed up.

"Power levels increasing by a factor of three and still rising! This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this!" Ian announced as he looked at the power readings of the 0 Gundam.

Ruben smiled as he turned on the comm channel for the 0 Gundam. "Alright Ribbons, power down the Trans-Am, that's enough for today." No response came from the pilot.

Both men looked at each other with concern. The comm system was functioning normally, so why wasn't Ribbons responding? "Ribbons? Are you there? I said shut it down!" Ruben repeated himself.

This time, they did hear a response from the Gundam pilot, but it wasn't addressed to them. "I can feel it," Ribbons said in awe, which surprised the two men, "The collective unconsciousness of humanity, the minds of everyone on the planet. I can almost touch it!"

"What the heck is he talking about?" Ian asked, concerned. Ruben could only shake his head, he had no idea. Suddenly, the GN Drive began to spin faster as more and more particles were generated. The warning lights on the counsel began to go off in warning. "He's generating too many particles with the Trans-Am on! He needs to shut it down!"

"Ribbons! Shut the Trans-Am down now! Ribbons!" Ruben demanded, but he got no response from the pilot, at least not any that was directed at him.

In the cockpit of the 0 Gundam, Ribbons felt his Geass activate, and only grow stronger as the GN particles continued to pour out. "It's glorious! This power! This machine! It's mine! All mine! Ahahahahahaha!" Ribbons let out the laugh of a madman as he continued to grow more powerful by the second.

Suddenly, the Trans-Am was shut down and the power that Ribbons felt coming into him was not abruptly halted. "What?! What happened?! What did you just do Ashford?!" Ribbons demanded, his tone devoid of any of the politeness he had shown previously as he glared at the one responsible for deactivating the Trans-Am system from the control room.

Present

"After that, Ruben banned Ribbons from even looking at a Gundam again. He felt as if the Trans-am had driven him insane." Ian told the three.

"But we both know that's not true," Lelouch said as he knew Trans-Am couldn't drive the pilot insane, as he used it multiple times.

"No. We soon learned that Ribbons never shared our goals or desires for the Gundam at all when we first began the project."

'When did you figure that out?" Kallen asked.

"When he tried to steal the Gundam."

6 years ago

Ribbons had chosen a time when security was at its weakest to smuggle the Gundam out. No one here but him understood the power that the Gundam was capable of. Only he had the right to control such a machine, not even Charles or V.V. would be worthy of the power it possessed.

As he made short work of the Guards he was about to make his way to the cockpit when a spotlight blinded him. He covered his eyes so he wouldn't be blinded by the light, but he knew who it was.

"I'm disappointed in you Ribbons," Ruben said as he stood by the spotlight along with Ian, guards as well as they held out their guns and trained them on the turncoat pilot. "I had thought you would be able to do good with the Gundam. But it seems I was wrong."

"Yes. You were wrong old man." Ribbons said as he dropped his hand to glare at the older gentleman. "Wrong to think that this machine was only meant to stop wars. It can do so much more than you could imagine. And it needs someone like me to bring out its full potential."

"Have you gone made Ribbons?! Did the Trans-Am do this to you?!" Ian asked, worried that their machine could cause mental instability.

Ribbons merely chuckled as he shook his head in denial. "No. It didn't turn me insane if that's what you think. Rather it opened my eyes to the truth."

"And what truth is that?" Ruben asked.

Ribbons merely smirked. "That I am meant to rule over this world! As the supreme being that all will bow before!" He declared.

"Do you think you're a God?" Ian asked, disbelieving.

"Yes. I am."

"Then I suppose we have no other choice," Ruben said as he signaled for the guards to prepare to fire. He couldn't allow the machine to be in the hands of someone trying to play God. "FIRE!"

As the bullets flew, Ribbons sprang into action. Since the bullets were firing in the path of the 0 Gundam, Ribbons couldn't enter the machine, much to his annoyance. So he had to retreat for the time being. But he vowed to himself that he would get the Gundams and use its power to ascend to a higher level of existence. Someday.

Present.

"After that, we never saw him again," Ian concluded the story. "We decided to stop the look for any test pilots and recruitment so we wouldn't accidentally pick up another like him. We also had to move locations, since he knew where we were. So we decided to settle at Ashford Academy, hiding in plain sight. Ruben kept working on the Gundams though. He believed that one day someone would be worthy enough to use their power to do good in the world." Ian then looked up to Lelouch with a proud smile. "And I think he found just the man for the job."

Lelouch was in awe at Ian's last statement but smiled in appreciation. He had to now work extra hard to not let Ruben's faith in him be squandered. But now that he knew more about Ribbons, it was all starting to make sense.

"He wants the 00 Gundam." Lelouch realized. "When he entered Trans-Am with the 0 Gundam, it must have caused his Geass to evolve to the point where he could interact with the Collective Unconsciousness of Humanity in C's World. But it wasn't enough power for him to be able to manipulate it directly. But with the 00's Twin Drive System, he would be able to evolve his Geass to a higher power for him to take control of Humanity, asserting his will."

"Well, why doesn't he just use his own pair of GN Drives, he has them right?" Kallen asked.

"As Nina said, the pseudo-GN Drives are not an exact copy of the original GN Drives. Their particle output is significantly lower than the ones we have. So they wouldn't have enough power for what he intends to do."

"So what's our plan then?" Rivalz was the one to ask.

Lelouch thought about it for a moment before telling them. "Our priority is the Innovators." He decided. "Despite how big and powerful Britannia is, Ribbons Almark and his group of Geass wielders are more dangerous. Especially with what they are planning, we'll need to focus all our efforts on stopping them. However, since Ribbons seems to be the head of the so-called Anti-Gundam Task Force formed by Britannia, it looks like we are gonna have to fight them." He then turned to his comrades. "Does everyone agree?"

"Agreed!" They all said.

"So what should we be doing now though?" Rivalz asked. "Should we go out and look for those dudes or wait for them to come for us?"

"It wouldn't be beneficial to us to wait for an assault, we'll need to strike first so we have the advantage!" Kallen suggested.

"But we don't have any idea where they are at the moment?" Nina pointed out. "And we can't just attack random Britannian facilities. If we do that, then we are starting a war, which is against Celestial Beings' mission."

"Dang! Why does this have to be so complicated?" Ian said as he whipped some sweat off his brow.

As the four around him continued to debate and throw around ideas for the next step, Lelouch felt his phone go off. He frowned slightly as he went to dig it out of his pocket. Who would be calling him now? He was sure that he had cut all ties with anyone who had his number, and those that he still had contact with were right here with him.

When he saw the caller ID, his eyes widened as his brain froze. It took several more rings before he answered the call and held the phone close to his ears.

"Hello, Lelouch." A familiar voice came from the other side.

"Suzaku…" He spoke aloud, maybe a little too loud, as the four that were with him stopped their discussion and looked toward him in shock. Nunnally, Sayoko, and Jeremiah, who came to discuss things with Lelouch, also heard him mutter the name of the caller ID, which made Nunnally gasp.

"What do you want?" Lelouch asked. Though he already knew what Suzaku wanted.

"I want you dead." Suzaku's voice was so cold that those who knew him in their childhood or from Ashford.

"Yeah. I know you do. But do you think I believe you just called me out of the blue to tell me that?" Lelouch pointed out. He knew there was more to this call than simply threatening him.

He heard a dark chuckle coming from the other end of the call. "You always were the smart one between the two of us." Suzaku said, he sounded as if he was feeling nostalgic, thinking back to their childhood, but Lelouch knew the tone was fake and mocking.

"Smarter than you at least." Lelouch had a brief moment of a cocky smile on his face before he became serious once again. "What's the purpose of this call Suzaku?"

There was a defining silence for a long moment, a pin could be heard if it was dropped. Finally, Suzaku spoke. "The first Special Administrative Zone, at the base of Mount Fuji. Where Euphie and our friendship died with the dream of peace." Lelouch's eyes widened slightly at the name of the place as the memories came flooding back. "Let's end this Lelouch. No one else. Just you and me. Once and for all!"

Lelouch didn't respond for a long moment before he finally said, "And why would I do that?" He asked. "Why should I give in to your request? What point would it serve me to drop everything just to satisfy you?"

"Cause you know I won't stop," Suzaku argued. "You know that I will keep coming for you. Doing everything in my power to stop you and kill you! You know I won't quit until I accomplish at least that mission. Just as I know you won't stop in your whole mission to 'eliminate war', no matter what. We both know there's only one way for this to end. When one of us lies dead, by the hands of the other." Before Lelouch could get in any counterargument, Suzaku spoke up. "And if you think not showing won't have any consequences, you're wrong. Who's to say I won't target the rebuilding settlement or the ghettos? And don't say I'm bluffing and that it's out of character for me Lelouch. You know I'm not the same person I once was."

Lelouch had to admit, this was a brilliant strategy of Suzaku's. He knew that Suzaku had changed. Becoming so obsessed to kill him that he didn't even care for the fact Nunnally was in danger. There's no way he would care if he had to kill even more lives if it meant he could get the chance to kill Lelouch.

Plus, he was also right about the other thing. Neither of them was gonna stop. Lelouch would only continue with his mission to eliminate war, while Suzaku would be doing all he can to get in his way and eventually kill him.

There was only one way to end this.

And if he was gonna have any future success in eliminating war, then he would need to do it.

"Alright. I'll be there." Lelouch said, shocking his companions.

"Good. I'll see you in an hour. Say your goodbyes." And with that, Suzaku hung up.

Everyone was silent as they looked toward Lelouch, waiting for him to speak up or make a move. He did neither for a long moment. Then, he turned around as he then began to walk over to the 00 Raiser.

"Whoa, Lelouch! Where are you going?!" Kallen asked as she stepped in front of him to stop him. Lelouch refused to look at her, however.

"What does it look like?" Lelouch asked rhetorically as he moved past her, shoving her gently, but firmly, out of his way as he continued to the 00 Raiser. "I'm going to go finish this."

"Are you really gonna do it?" Nunnally asked, which caused Lelouch to stop in his tracks, but he refused to look at her. "Are you really gonna… kill Suzaku…?" Her lips trembled as the words came out.

Lelouch was silent and still for a long moment. He turned to her and looked her in her now open eyes, his carrying an unyielding determination in them. "Yes." He said.

The admittance shocked everyone in the room. He had always done his best to avoid taking Suzaku's life after he learned he was the pilot of the Lancelot. But now, he admits that he's going to kill Suzaku.

"Why though?!" Nunnally cried, not understanding. "Why do you have to do this?! Why do you two have to try and kill each other?!"

"Because Suzaku was right." He admitted as he looked away from her and down to the ground. "We've stood in each other's ways since the very beginning. Me always stopping him from changing the system, him always ruining my plans. It's just gonna keep happening and happening until one of us dies." He then brought up his hand to look at it. "And I can't afford to die just yet, not until I eliminate war and make up for what I've done." He then clenched his hand into a fist. "So I have to kill him."

"But-" Nunnally tried to protest, but then she looked into her brother's eyes and saw the faint traces of tears on the edge. She could tell right away that he didn't want to do this. But he knew he had to. So he again had to push his feelings and wants down for the sake of accomplishing his goals, no matter how hard it was.

He then turned away from the rest of them and began to walk to the 00 Raiser. Rivalz began following him to get into the 0 Raiser, but Lelouch stopped him with an outstretched hand. "Not this time Rivalz."

"But why?" Rivalz asked, almost whining. "I'm the pilot of the 0 Raiser, so I should be there if you're taking the 00 Raiser."

"This is my fight Rivalz," Lelouch told him. "Suzaku asked that I come alone, and I'm gonna honor that request to the fullest. That goes for all of you." He looked toward Kallen, Sayoko, and Jeremiah specifically. "This is between me and Suzaku, no one else is to get involved." He saw all of them give reluctant nods as he moved to the 00 Raiser.

He grabbed the cable and was about to ascend to the cockpit when Kallen stopped him by grabbing on the cable. The two stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. Then, Kallen cupped Lelouch's face in her hands and kissed him. The others opened their mouths in shock at the bold move.

The kiss ended a few seconds later, Kallen's hands moved from his face to land on his shoulders. Her eyes held a pleading in them as she looked into his determined pair. "Just come back." She whispered, pleading, tears on the edge of her eyes. "Just please come back to me."

Lelouch merely looked at her for a long moment before he brought a hand up and whipped away a tear from her eyes. He then gave a confident nod. "I will." And with that, Kallen stepped away from him and allowed him to ascend the cable into the 00 Raiser.

After a quick system check, Lelouch moved to the launch pad and prepared to launch. While he did hold concern and fear about what he was going to face when he got to the Special Administrative Zone that was started by Euphie, he was also determined to live through it and continue his mission, as well as return to her.

"Lelouch vi Britannia, 00 Raiser, launching!" The Gundam was then catapulted down the ramp and into the storm.

"Hey, Llyod! I just got a message from Suzaku!" Cecile said as she came up to the creator of the Lancelot. About an hour ago, Suzaku had vanished, and so had the Lancelot siN, he gave no clue to his location, no trail to follow, he even disabled the tracking system within the Lancelot. Not even the Knights of the Round or people on the Anti-Gundam Task Force knew where he was.

"Well let's hear it," Lloyd said as he came to stand beside Cecile as she played the video. It took a few seconds to load before an image of Suzaku appeared.

"Lloyd. Cecile." The recording began, Suzaku sounding grim. "If you're watching this, then it's too late. You can't stop me." Both scientists looked at each other with confusion and worry, what was Suzaku saying? "I'm going to face Lelouch. And I'm going to end this once and for all." Cecile gasped while Lloyd looked wide-eyed. "No matter how this fight between the two of us will end, I will be dead by the end of it. Because even if I do win in the end, I'm tired of living on with no purpose, with no Euphie. I just want it to end, and I'm going to end it myself."

Cecile looked on as her eyes shook. Was Suzaku serious? Was he going to commit suicide even if he won? Lloyd was also worried, though most of it was because it probably meant that the Lancelot would be destroyed.

"I know this will be the last time I speak to either of you, so I just want to say… Thank you." Suzaku seemed to have a genuine smile on his face. "I'm an eleven, yet you two have always been kind to me, though one more than the other," Cecile shot a glare at Lloyd, "and have given me the chance to try and change the world. I'm sorry if I ever let you down along the way. I hope you two don't blame yourselves for what I'm about to do. It's my choice, and it's what I want. Thank you again. Goodbye."

"We seem to have received a report from the Camelot engineering team." Kanon reported to Schneizel. "Suzaku Kururugi has taken the Lancelot siN and went to confront Lelouch, according to Miss Croomy. She asks that we go and bring him back. How should we proceed, Your Highness?"

Schneizel was silent for a long moment as he gazed out at the stormy sky from his quarters on the Avalon. Lightning was dancing and thunder booming. Finally, he replied, "We do nothing."

Kanon looked toward his liege in shock. "Your Highness?"

"Suzaku Kururugi, and by extension the Lancelot siN, are a part of the Anti-Gundam Task Force headed by Ribbons Almark. He's their responsibility now, not ours. Tell that to Miss Croomy. Besides, we have more important things to be concerned about." Schneizel said as he turned to face Ribbons with a smile. "Despite the trouble, Lelouch and the Gundam have caused us, along with the constant headache known as Ribbons Almark, they have thus provided us with a distraction for the world. How is 'that' progressing by the way?"

Kanon then smiled, knowing what his Prince was speaking about. He then looked at the tablet and began reading off the good news. "The float system has just been completed and the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads have been loaded. The Blaze Luminous shielding has also been enhanced beyond the initial energy level. We should be able to launch by as early as tonight."

"Excellent," Schneizel said as he looked back out his window and saw more lightning flash. "Soon Lelouch, Ribbons, the Black Knights, the E.U., even Gundams and Geass will all be brought to judgment by the sword known as Damocles."

As he flew closer and closer to his destination, Lelouch for some reason felt strangely calm despite the storm beginning to rage outside the 00 Raiser. No unease, no concern of what Nunnally would think of him after this fight, no worry that he was fighting Suzaku, other than the worry that he is a skilled warrior and a strong opponent.

Maybe he's just been fighting with Suzaku for so long that he doesn't care that Suzaku and he were once friends, and his former friend has just become 'another enemy'. Another obstacle for Lelouch's goals.

A part of him felt sick to think like that. Why did he just not care anymore? Has he just become a silent machine that only sees allies and enemies, not friends or loved ones anymore? Was the Gundam not only changing the world but changing himself too?

On the other hand, it also felt almost liberating. Like he was no longer chained down by his past and the Gundam freed him from such worries and shackles. Now he was free to move to the future, with nothing and no one holding him back from doing so.

Regardless, he knew what he had to do. He had to kill Suzaku. Because the Japanese boy was right. As long as they both lived, they would always try to get in the other's way. And too much had happened for them to forgive each other. So there was only one option left for them. One of them had to die.

As Lelouch drew closer to the ruins of the first SAZ, the lightning flashed and he saw a white silhouette be illuminated by the flash. He was already here. He brought the 00 Raiser into the stadium and set it down on the ground. Lelouch then gazed at the white Knightmare that had always been able to ruin his plans.

The two machines glared at each other for a long moment, neither moving an inch, waiting for the other to make the first move. They didn't even draw their swords yet.

Lelouch was clenching the controls of his Gundam hard, waiting for Suzaku to make the first move or any move. He expected Suzaku to fire on him right away, but he just stood there, biding his time, why?

Suddenly, the Lancelot's cockpit opened up and Suzaku stepped out, after turning on the signal for Lelouch to do the same. The raven-haired young man complied as he opened the Gundam's cockpit and stood to look Suzaku in the eyes. He knew what Suzaku was doing, he wanted to talk face to face, no masks, no communicators, nothing keeping them from looking dead in the eyes.

They just simply stared at each other for a long moment, the wind blowing their hair and the lightning illuminating their faces. They still neither spoke for a long moment. Finally, Suzaku broke the silence.

"You showed up," Suzaku said, his tone devoid of emotion, but Lelouch could tell he was barely keeping his anger back. "I must admit there was a moment that I was worried I would have to assault either the ghettos or the settlement to get your attention. But it seems that you took my warning seriously. Or maybe you just couldn't wait to kill me too?"

"I simply acknowledge that you were right," Lelouch told him, his tone as well holding no emotion. "As long as both of us live, one will just keep getting in the way of the other. And I can't afford a constant interruption from the likes of you."

Suzaku gave a dark chuckle. "It's funny to hear you of all people admit that I was right about something, considering the number of times you've called me a fool. But we both know which of us is the true fool." His glare hardened along with his knuckles. "What greater fool is there than one who used the wish of an innocent and kindhearted young woman to start their revolution by having her commit a massacre?! A massacre of innocent people that he claimed he wanted to liberate, but only manipulated so he could fulfill his vengeance?! Tell me Lelouch, who could be a greater fool?!"

Lelouch was silent for a moment, his black hair obscuring his eyes. Then he spoke in a cold voice. "How about the fool who uses the excuse of changing things from within when all he wants is to die? How about the fool who thinks the cause he's serving is righteous when he's condemning innocent people to the same fate as his race, the people he supposedly is fighting for?! That sounds like the greater fool to me Suzaku!"

Suzaku growled as he gritted his teeth. "So are you saying you were right to cause that massacre!? To have Euphie kill all those people!? Then kill her yourself!?" He shouted, his anger growing more in his voice.

Lelouch didn't respond right away, he was looking down as if he was contemplating saying something. "I have to tell you something Suzaku. And I want you to let me finish before you do anything." Suzaku continued to glare at him, but it didn't seem like he was gonna stop him either.

"I went to Euphie's Special Administrative Zone to sabotage it," Lelouch confessed. "I was gonna use my Geass on Euphie to have her reputation destroyed and her idea for the zone crumble. But I did not go there to have her cause a massacre, or to kill her! I was gonna use my Geass on her and order her to shoot me!" Lelouch slammed a hand on his chest for emphasis. He then looked down slightly in sorrow. "When I then learned that she had given up her royal status for the zone to come to pass and that she did it so I wouldn't have to fight anymore, I began to believe that if I worked with her, then we could accomplish it. But then I just had to open my mouth and say that stupid joke the moment my Geass went out of control. She wouldn't have been able to forgive herself, even if she knew it was me who ordered her. So I had to kill her, for her sake more than mine, because I knew that if she ever got out of the Geass command, she may have just killed herself." Lelouch felt painful tears stream down his cheek as he recalled that horrible day. He quickly wiped them away as he looked back up at Suzaku. "I'll burn Suzaku, I know I will. And I don't expect you to forgive me, or for this to change anything here and now. I just figured that since one of us won't walk away from the end of this, then you should know."

There was nothing but silence between them for a long moment, the wind and thunder being the only sounds echoing in this ruined stadium.

"Your right." Lelouch looked up when Suzaku finally spoke, to see that his expression hadn't changed from the heated glare he was giving the Gundam pilot. "This changes nothing. One of us will die here, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to make sure you are the one who dies!" And with that, they were done talking, both had said their piece and got back into their machines.

Lelouch didn't exactly know what he was hoping for when he told Suzaku the truth. Maybe he was hoping, under the slimmest chances, that Suzaku would forgive him and they could work together? Maybe he was just tired of lying and just wanted to admit the truth? But deep down, he knew this wouldn't change anything, this fight would still happen, and he would still burn.

The Lancelot siN then powered up its pseudo-GN Drive and pulled out one of its Excalibur class MVS and held it in a stance. The 00 Raiser did the same when it drew one of its GN Swords. The two machines stood completely still, not moving an inch. Eventually, rain began to fall and sliding down off the metallic bodies of the machines.

Then, with both their 'eyes' flashing green, the two machines came to life!

"00 Raiser!" Lelouch declared, swiping his blade to the side.

"Lancelot siN!" Suzaku followed, bringing his Excalibur MVS into a two-handed grip and holding it close to his head.

"Eliminating-" Lelouch began as his eyes narrowed in anticipation.

"Finally we cross swords-" Suzaku started, eyes red with hatred.

"-THE TARGET!" Lelouch yelled as he charged!

"-IN EARNEST!" Suzaku roared, also charging!

Both pilots screamed in righteous fury as they charged. And with a flash of lightning, the boom of thunder, and metal clashing against metal, the final battle, between Lelouch vi Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi, began!

Ribbons sat within his mansion and took a sip of wine as if he didn't have a care in the world. He had been informed that Suzaku had left with the Lancelot siN, and that was fine with him. He already knew where the boy was going and why. Ribbons had doubts if Suzaku would succeed where he and so many others failed to do so beforehand. But who knows, maybe the young knight will be able to surprise him and kill Lelouch.

He smiled as he opened his eyes, revealing the golden Geass symbol.

"It's begun."

The GN Swords and Excalibur MVS clashed as the 00 Raiser and Lancelot siN fought across the large ruined stadium where the pilots' friendship ended and their shared love died. The GN Drives allowed the two machines to hover slightly above the ground, giving them greater mobility, as they weaved through the ruins trading blows with each other. At this time, they both had drawn their second swords and were fighting with all they had.

The Gundam slashed horizontally at the GN-Knightmare before the latter vaulted over the former, landing behind it and slashing with its blades. The MVS met the GN Sword as the Gundam managed to overpower the Lancelot and force it back. The 00 Raiser tried to get a follow-up attack, but as it swung its sword, the Lancelot jumped again and delivered a spinning kick that knocked the Gundam off balance.

Lelouch was able to regain control as he did a full turnaround, switching the GN Swords to rifle mode and bringing up the 00 Raisers wings. He then fired beams at the Lancelot, putting Suzaku on the defensive as he dodged and weaved to avoid the beams.

"I have to admit," Suzaku spoke over the speakers as he then tried to close the gap between the two machines. "You've gotten pretty good with that machine Lelouch. Really good in fact! No wonder you were able to best Bismarck!"

"Well what can I say?!" Lelouch shot back as ceased firing and brought up one of the GN Rifles to block a downward strike from the Lancelot's MVS when it came upon him. "Practice makes perfect!" He shouted as the Gundam's eyes lit up as he brought his other GN Sword down on the Lancelot as he pushed the GN Drives to more output.

The two GN Drives then began to generate more particles as the 00 Raiser pushed back against the Lancelot siN, leading them to ram into a wall, with the former putting pressure on the latter.

Suzaku gritted his teeth as he was backed into a corner, but no way was he done yet, not by a long shot. He then fired the Lancelot's hip harkens, forcing the 00 Raiser back, as he then extended his energy wings. He fired energy bolts toward the Gundam, which tried to dodge as much as it could, while also activating its GN Field, though some bolts managed to penetrate through and nick the armor.

The Lancelot ceased firing for a moment as it ascended to the sky. It put away its MVS and pulled out its V.A.R.I.S. Rifles and fired them along with the bolts from the energy wings. Lelouch gritted his teeth as he tried to dodge the attacks and block them with the GN Field, but he was beginning to be overwhelmed by the onslaught. So, he too ascended with the 00 Raiser to try and close the gap between the two machines, firing his GN Rifle. The pink beams managed to destroy one of the Lancelot's V.A.R.I.S. rifles.

It then fired all of its GN Micro Missiles toward the Lancelot, who fired more energy bolts from the wings, destroying them. Lelouch flew through the smokescreen, in the attempt to catch Suzaku off guard, but when he emerged to the other end of the cloud, the Lancelot was nowhere to be seen. He then felt something fast and hard impact the back of the 00 Raiser, shaking Lelouch violently in his cockpit.

"You didn't think I'd fall for the same trick twice did you now, Lelouch?!" Suzaku shouted as he had the Lancelot siN's foot pressed against the 00 Raiser's back, sending it crashing to the ground. He then aimed his remaining V.A.R.I.S. toward the crater, firing it and its energy wings in a rain of fire.

He continued the hail fire for another minute before he stopped to see if he had done the job. Due to the GN Drives messing up radar and communications, he couldn't tell if he was able to destroy the Gundam. Though he would be honestly disappointed if Lelouch died that easily. He stayed there for a moment, hovering over his opponent's crater, aiming the V.A.R.I.S. at the impact zone, waiting for him to make a move.

"Is that all you got?" Suzaku gasped at the voice. Suddenly, the ground erupted as an object shot toward the Lancelot siN at incredible speed, it's GN Field deactivating. The 00 Raiser. Suzaku growled as he aimed and fired the V.A.R.I.S., but the 00 Raiser was able to weave its way around the energy shots with ease as it came upon the Lancelot.

Suzaku tried to pull back, but it was too late. The 00 Raiser was already upon the Lancelot as it sliced upwards through the V.A.R.I.S. with its GN Sword. The rifle sparked for a moment before exploding, covering both machines in the smoke. The Lancelot siN, it's hull slightly damaged, emerged first as it backed away from the smoke cloud. It then drew its two Excalibur class MVS and brought their ends together to form a double-bladed MVS.

The rest of the smoke cleared at the 00 Raiser flew there, it's two GN Swords held out to the sides. "Is that the best you can do Suzaku?!" Lelouch challenged.

Suzaku gave a maddening chuckle as he smiled wildly. "No! Not even close, Lelouch!" He declared madly.

The two machines then charged again. The 00 Raiser raised its two blades and brought them down in a vertical slash, the Lancelot's double-bladed MVS meeting the attack. Sparks of electricity flew as lightning continued to flash and crackle around them!

"What the heck is wrong with this thing?!" The radar officer shouted as she slammed her palm on the dashboard of the Ikaruga's radar.

"What's wrong?" Ohgi asked as he came over to her.

"This dang piece of junk isn't working!" she said as she slammed her hand on it again. "It was fine up till about a few minutes ago. Now I can't get a single signal from this."

"Could it be interference from the storm?" Ohgi asked, seeing as that might have been the most logical explanation.

The radar officer shook her head. "No. If we had a standard radar then yes we would be experiencing trouble due to the storm. But our systems have been heavily modified for these kinds of situations. It shouldn't be malfunctioning like this."

"We have the same problems with our comms!" The comm officer called from the other side of the bridge. "The whole system just crashed. At the same time, our radar was jammed."

Ohgi's eyes widened as he then understood. "Try and see if you can find the source of the interference!" Ohgi ordered as he then moved to the head of the bridge. "Also put out an alert to all our pilots to prepare for combat! I think we have a Gundam in the area!

The Lancelot came down on the 00 Raiser with its double-blade MVS and was able to knock it downward. Lelouch was then able to stabilize the 00 Raiser and managed to block another attack from the GN-Knightmare. The Lancelot then broke the lock and delivered a kick to the Gundam to knock it further back.

Lelouch gritted his teeth. This level of ferocity and ruthlessness. He hasn't seen Suzaku with this level of hate since the Black Rebellion, not only that, but the hate was even greater than before. It was as if Suzaku was holding in all that hate for over a year just for this moment, only having it grow over time. Making him a far more dangerous and ruthless opponent.

If Lelouch lets Suzaku continue living and hating him for any longer, he may be too powerful to stop and keep Lelouch from achieving his goal of stopping war. It looks like he didn't have any choice but to kill him.

These were his thoughts as he continued to dodge and parry as many strikes as he could from the Lancelot siN as he could while trying to get in his own attacks.

"We have visual confirmation! It's the Gundam! Along with what appears to be the Lancelot!" A bridge officer yelled out as he pulled up the main monitor to show the 00 Raiser Gundam and the Lancelot engaged in CQC.

Ohgi looked in surprise. His hunch was right! It was the Gundam! But he didn't expect the Lancelot to be here either, or for it to be engaged in combat with Lelouch. He could have tried to call Schneizel or Ribbons Almark, but the GN Drives were disrupting communications.

And besides, he wanted the Black Knights to be the ones to take down Lelouch. That way they could get Japan back and make Lelouch tell them what he did to Kallen. So they had to be the ones to take down Lelouch here. And if they managed to kill Suzaku Kururugi, then that was a bonus. One more thorn out of their way.

"Prepare to fire the main guns and have the Knightmares launch as soon as the weaponed is fired!" Ohgi ordered.

As the GN Swords and MVS clashed against each other, both pilots realized that this fight was going nowhere. Despite the superior technology of the 00 Raiser, and the piloting skills of Suzaku, the two were too evenly matched, they would need something to break the stalemate between them soon.

Suddenly, the proximity alarms went off and the two machines were able to break their lock to barely dodge a streak of red and black energy coming from a Hadron Cannon. Both machines turned to the source, and were surprised to find the Ikaruga there, Knightmares already began to emerge from the command ship.

Lelouch looked in shock to see his former army had just come here and interrupted his battle. He doubted they were here to help him or forgive him. They probably only wanted to either capture him for information about Kallen then hand him over to Schneizel in exchange for Japan, or just kill him and get Japan back anyway.

Suzaku wasn't shocked or surprised by the sudden arrival of the Black Knights, rather, he was livid. His breathing became ragged, sounding almost animal-like as his hands gripped the controls of the Lancelot so hard, his palms would have begun bleeding if his fingers had made contact with them.

"How dare you?" Suzaku said in a low voice, speaking over the Knightmare's speakers. "How dare you show up and try to interfere with this!?" With that, he charged straight to the army of Knightmares, Lelouch calling after him in protest for him to stop, but Suzaku ignored him.

The Knightmares that flew to meet the Lancelot met a gruesome end as it cut them down in less than a second each. Other Knightmares tried to attack from a longer distance, but the Lancelot just sped up to them and sliced them apart as well. It then fired off a hail storm of bolts from the energy wings that decimated more than half the attack force.

The Black Knight Command on the Ikaruga and the remaining Knightmare pilots looked in horror, as to them, one person was able to cripple one of the most powerful armies in the world in just over one minute.

"Suzaku!" Tohdoh yelled as he brought his Zangetsu's blade down on the Lancelot, which blocked the attack with ease.

"Why?" Suzaku growled out, surprising Tohdoh at the tone of his former student. "Why are you here?! WHY ARE YOU GETTING IN THE WAY!?" The Lancelot then broke the Zangetsu's revolving blade and proceeded to slice the rest of the Knightmare up with it's double-bladed MVS. Thankfully, Tohdoh was able to eject in time before the blade was able to reach the cockpit.

"Tohdoh!" Chiba cried in fear as she raced to grab the ejection pod.

Ohgi's eyes shook in fear as he gazed at the Lancelot through the Ikaruga's bridge. The white Knightmare had always been a problem for the Black Knights, ever since Shinjuku, though it has always held back, due to the morals of the pilot. But now… now there was nothing in the pilot's vision but pure rage, and whether that rage was directed at them, or something else, he wasn't quite sure.

Ohgi shook his head to get out of his thoughts as he focused. Now was not the time to get lost in his head and fear. "Fire the main guns and turrets, along with the slash harkens! It's time we take that white Knightmare out of the sky once and for all."

His orders were carried out as every weapon on the Ikaruga was fired and aimed towards the Lancelot. But the white Knightmare merely dodged and rolled its way out of the path of fire with ease, even blocked a few strikes with its shielding, and sliced up any slash harkens that got too close.

It then flew high in the air and fired off thousands of bolts from the energy wings onto the Ikaruga. The bolts heavily damaged the hull of Ikaruga, it was a miracle the vessel was still afloat after an attack like that.

The bridge was in chaos as red warning lights flashed and panic spread among the crew.

"All our torrents have been destroyed!"

"Our main cannon has been disabled! We can't fire it again!"

"Our shields are down to 15 percent! We can't take another attack like that! What should we do Commander?!"

Everyone turned to the supposedly Supreme Commander of the Black Knights for answers.

Ohgi didn't even try to hide the terror that was evident on his face. He was such a fool to come here. Now everyone in the Black Knights was going to die, all because of him and his foolishness.

"Commander!" A voice shocked him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the Lancelot siN charging at the bridge for a final attack. At the speed it was moving, Ohgi didn't even have time to close his eyes to brace himself for the end.

Just as the Lancelot was upon them, MVS raised to deliver the final blow, the 00 Raiser suddenly slammed into the GN-Knightmare knocking it away from the Ikaruga. It then brought up its wings and GN Rifles and fired off multiple bursts of beams to send it moving as far away as it could from the Ikaruga.

As Lelouch continued firing at the Lancelot, he spoke over the speaker to the whole Black Knights. "Get out of here!" He ordered. "Suzaku's completely focused on killing me, and he won't tolerate any sort of distractions! That includes all of you! Leave if you want to live! GO!" And with that, he went to pursue the Lancelot to engage in close-quarters combat.

Ohgi looked in shock at the 00 Raiser as he replayed what he said in his mind. He was telling them to leave. To live? He couldn't comprehend all of it at this moment, so instead he focused on carrying out Zero's orders, even if Lelouch wasn't Zero anymore.

"Send out the flares!" Ohgi said, trying to get his commander's voice back after the rollercoaster of emotions he just went through. "Call all our remaining forces back, then set full power to engines. Get us as far away from here as possible!"

The Black Knights moved in record time as the remainder of their forces, which wasn't all that much now, returned to the Ikaruga. The crippled flagship of the Black Knights then made a 180-degree turn as smoothly as it could in its heavily damaged state, which wasn't all that smooth, and proceeded to evacuate the area.

As Lelouch fired more beams at the Lancelot, he was able to see that the Ikaruga was now making its way as far away from the battle as it could. That caused Lelouch to breathe a sigh of relief. This battle was already hard enough, he didn't need external factors like the Black Knights to make it even more difficult.

And besides, he couldn't just let them die, after all, he created them. And a creator can't let his creation be destroyed unless it's by his hand. And besides, despite Kallen leaving the Black Knights, he knew she still cared for them. So, for her, he'd save them. Lelouch put these thoughts out of his mind as he then refocused on the battle.

The two machines flew in close to the ground as the 00 Raiser continued to fire on the Lancelot siN, which was in pursuit. The former was hovering horizontally above the ground, almost like it was floating on its back in the water, while the Lancelot just placed its feet on the ground, leaving a trail of destruction where it dragged its feet. It then fired off more energy bolts from the emerald wings, forcing the 00 Raiser to ascend to the sky again.

"I've lived for this," Suzaku said in a cold voice as he brought the Lancelot up from the ground and moved to engage the 00 Raiser in close-quarters combat. The two machines clashed their blades against each other, slashing, block, and in some cases firing back, as Suzaku began to monologue. "This is why I have continued living since that day! Even if I was reduced to a puppet of the Emperor, Schneizel, and now even the Innovators! TO KILL YOU!"

The Lancelot brought its double-bladed MVS down in a vertical strike, which the 00 Raiser then blocked with a cross block its GN Sword. Lightning flashed around them as sparks erupted from their clashed blades.

"Is this worth it Suzaku!?" Lelouch asked. "Is my death truly worth destroying yourself for?! Would Euphie want you to do this to yourself?!"

"Don't you dare tell me what Euphie would want!" Suzaku exploded in rage. "Not when you're the one who killed her in the first place! Not when you're the one who made me like this!"

Lelouch grimaced as he heard Suzaku's words. He was right. He did have no right to say these things to Suzaku. Especially since his actions did cause Suzaku to be where he is today. But that also was another reason why he had to kill Suzaku.

The two continued to struggle in their blade lock before it broke, forcing both of them to back up to gain distance.

"If this keeps up…" Lelouch spoke aloud, realizing they were stuck in a stalemate.

"We're too evenly matched…" Suzaku said, catching onto the same idea as Lelouch.

"In that case-"

"-That means it's time!"

"TRANS-AM!"

At the pilots' declaration, both machines were suddenly enveloped in a majestic crimson glow as the particle generation of the GN Drives began to increase. And, in Lelouch's case, the golden symbol of the Geass Absolute Innovation activated in his eyes.

With shouts of fury, both machines charged, leaving a trail of green and red for the 00 Raiser and Lancelot siN respectively. They met and clashed against each other, their light trails mixing together. They then broke apart and continually clashed against each other as they ascended higher and higher in the sky. The background of the storm seemingly giving way to the environment of C's World.

Though both pilots failed to notice as they were too focused on killing each other. They were so utterly lost in their own world of blood and hatred that they didn't notice the mass amount of GN particles in their cockpit before they were enveloped in bright white light.

Ribbons took a sip of champagne within his mansion as he smiled sinisterly, his Geass activated. "It's time for the awakening." He said.

When Suzaku opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in midair, a familiar endless sky filled with GN Particles surrounding him. The sky from C's World.

"What happened?" Suzaku said aloud as he tried to recall the events that led him here. "Did I already cross the veil to C's World? Does that mean I've failed? That I wasn't able to…"

"No." A familiar voice said as suddenly Lelouch appeared right next to him. "You're still alive, and so am I."

"Lelouch…" Suzaku said in awe as Lelouch began to look around at their surroundings.

"I believe this is where the quanta converge together." Lelouch said as if he had finally found the answer to a long sought-out question.

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about Lelouch?!" Suzaku asked angrily, not understanding what Lelouch was saying.

"I feel like I understand now," Lelouch explained as he suddenly appeared behind Suzaku, shocking the latter. "I now understand why Aeolia Shenburg created the Gundams."

"Or more accurately, why he created the GN Drives." Lelouch continued as he then suddenly appeared to the side of Suzaku.

"What?!" The Japanese boy shouted as he looked toward the former Britannian Prince, not understanding what Lelouch was talking about. What purpose could a man have to build such a powerful and dangerous weapon?

"I see now. The armed interventions I've been carrying out were prepared for this." Lelouch explained, now realizing why he felt a strong desire to carry out those interventions. "Aeolia's goal; was to guide humanity to reformation." He then closed his eyes as if he was contemplating.

"And so, I'm ready." Lelouch declared as he turned to face Suzaku, opening his eyes to reveal the golden symbol of the Geass of Absolute Innovation, shining brighter than it ever has before. "I'm going to reform myself!"

"Reformation?" Suzaku repeated in questioning awe as he gazed at Lelouch. It then turned into a glare as he narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that's the ultimate mystery you've learned and mastered?" Suzaku spoke aloud as he then began to think to himself. 'All Lelouch has ever sought for, ever since we met, was the destruction of Britannia. Nothing else mattered to him. But now he's saying that he's going to 'reform himself? Who does he think he is?!'

Memories of all the sins Suzaku has made over the years started to play out in his mind, starting from killing his father to letting Lelouch go the day he killed the Emperor. For a long time, Suzaku said the same thing about himself, that he would be able to reform himself and Britannia through his hard work and determination. But somehow, Lelouch had claimed that Suzaku was the twisted one between the two of them. What right did he have to claim such things when Lelouch had become just as twisted, if not more so, than Suzaku?!

"It was because of our sins and shared level of twistedness that I've had such a great desire to kill you," Suzaku said as they were again enveloped in a bright light.

Suddenly, the two were back on the battlefield, the Lancelot siN leaving a trail of red particles while the 00 Raiser was generating an infinity symbol with green GN Particles. The infinity symbol then broke as the two machines continued to zoom around the battlefield, the Lancelot pressing hard against the Gundam, both machines still in Trans-Am.

"For the ultimate victory over you!" Suzaku declared as he pushed against Lelouch with everything he had.

"All you desire now is victory over me?!" Lelouch asked as he tried to push back.

"And you don't?! All you wanted was to have vengeance over your father! What makes you so different?!" Suzaku countered.

"That may have been true before, but now I've seen there are other desires to be sought out for and other reasons to live!" Lelouch declared.

"What else is there?!" Suzaku asked, not believing him.

"It's obvious!" Lelouch yelled as he broke the blade lock, forcing the Lancelot back. He then brought the ends of his two GN Swords together to form a double-bladed GN Sword. "A tomorrow that links us to the future!" He declared, his Geass activated just briefly, as he fired a continuous beam from one of the tips of the double-bladed GN Sword.

The Lancelot siN met the beam with its own double-bladed MVS and moved to close the distance between the two machines. When the blades met, the Lancelot was able to knock the combined GN Sword from the 00 Raisers hands and to the ground.

Lelouch narrowed his now normal violet-colored eyes as the Lancelot raised the combined MVS. "Forgive me for killing you!" Suzaku declared as he brought the blade down on the Gundam's head. This was it. This was what he wanted for so long. The death of Lelouch.

In a flash of motion, the 00 Raiser caught the blade just before it made contact with its head. "You caught my blade?!" Suzaku yelled in astonishment, not expecting this. The 00 Raiser then brought the blade to the side and twisted his hands, breaking the blade with its bare hands.

"This is my way of fighting!" Lelouch declared, taking advantage of the stunned Suzaku. The beam sabers located on the 00 Raiser's waist then folded out for the Gundam to grab. The sabers ignited as the 00 Raiser drew them and jammed its left beam saber into the right shoulder of the Lancelot siN, followed by the right saber into the left shoulder, straight through the pseudo-GN Drive.

The stabbed areas sparked for a few moments before it then erupted in an explosion, destroying the arms from the shoulders down, along with the GN Drive and the energy wings. The controls and circuit boards in the cockpit also went up in smoke as Suzaku tried to cover his eyes to shield himself from the explosion.

The Lancelot siN then fell to the ground, hard, landing with a 'thud' into one of the audience stands in the ruins of SAZ stadium. Suzaku, somehow, miraculously survived the impact, though not unscathed. His body was severely injured, he was pretty sure he busted at least three ribs, maybe more. He also had a concussion along with some blood flowing down from his forehead, and maybe a broken arm.

But none of the bodily injury compared to the damage to his pride. He failed. He put everything he had into that fight with Lelouch, and still, the exiled Prince had managed to come out the victor.

'I failed you again… Euphie…' Suzaku thought to himself as he gazed at the 00 Raiser that came down to the ground, standing over the remains of the Lancelot, its right beam saber raised high, ready to plunge into the cockpit of the Knightmare. 'Well… it looks like it's time now.' Suzaku thought as he opened the cockpit and struggled to stand up and out. When he did, he glared at the Gundam, piloted by the one who bested him.

"Well, you won. Now hurry up and kill me already!" Suzaku demanded. "You deserve it! You beat me fairly, no matter how I might want to deny it! So go ahead and end my life already!"

The 00 Raiser refused to move from its position or stance. It just stood there, silent and unflinching, its beam saber still raised high. Suzaku's eyes narrowed as he was beginning to get impatient. Why wasn't Lelouch finishing him off right here and now?!

"Come on already! Do it, Lelouch! Are you too much of a coward now to finish the job and do what needs to be done?!" Suzaku tried to get a rise out of Lelouch to get him to make the strike, but the 00 Raiser still refused to move.

A distance away from the battle, the Black Knight flagship Ikaruga observed the confrontation through a long-range camera. While they were out of range to keep them from interfering with the duel in any way, after learning the hard way what happens if they do, they were still close enough to at least observe them.

Most of the Knights were also confused as to Lelouch's hesitation, especially those who knew him as Zero. He never hesitated usually. If he had a chance to eliminate a dangerous or challenging enemy, he would take it without a second thought.

So why was he hesitating now of all times?

Also viewing this fight from far away was Celestial Beings, having watched the whole confrontation through the 00 Raiser's cameras. They all looked toward the screen in worry and nervousness, wondering what Lelouch was planning to do.

Especially Nunnally. She was concerned why Suzaku would be so set on dying that he was trying to taunt Lelouch to kill him. Why was he doing this?

"You know that I won't stop Lelouch. If you let me leave here alive, I'll just come back after you again and again until I finally kill you! So why not save us both the trouble and just kill me now!" Suzaku declared, his body and clothes already drenched with the rainwater.

Inside the cockpit of the 00 Raiser, Lelouch was conflicted. He knew what he had to do. He had to kill Suzaku if he was ever gonna continue to bring about his goal, both to reform the world and himself. He couldn't have a constant thorn like Suzaku to keep getting in his way.

But for some reason, he just couldn't do it. He just couldn't kill Suzaku. Why?! After everything, the boy had done to him. Ruining his plans, bringing him before his father in exchange for a position as a Knight of the Round, using Nunnally against him, taking Kallen from him and almost drugging her with refrain, working alongside the Innovators to capture the Gundam.

Why shouldn't he kill Suzaku for all that and more?!

He raised the beam saber higher as if he was preparing to plunge it straight through Suzaku. The action seemed to please the boy. Finally, he was going to get what he wanted for over 8 years. To die!

As he stared down at Suzaku, he thought of all the crap that the two have put each other through over the past two years. The pain, the loss of loved ones, the manipulating, the lies, any despicable and vile action in the world that could make this next moment easier for Lelouch.

With a shout, he plunged the beam saber down on Suzaku–

He was struggling to climb up a hill, fearing he was going to fall. But then he looked up, and there he saw his best friend, hand outstretched, without even needing to be asked, ready to pull him up.

–and missed him by a hair, plunging the beam saber into the Lancelot! The Trans-Am deactivated and the beam sabers along with it.

His whole audience was shocked. But none were as surprised as Suzaku himself, as he stared at the Gundam. It then quickly turned to white-hot rage. "Why? WHY?!" He howled out like a wounded animal. "Why won't you do it!? This was my chance! My chance to finally die for something! Why couldn't you just do me this one last favor and just kill me already Lelouch?! Tell me why?! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE?!"

Lelouch was silent for a long moment as he worked to get his thoughts together, his brain was a complete mess. This fight had taxed him greatly. Finally, when he got his thoughts at least somewhat organized and his voice back he spoke.

"I just can't do this anymore," Lelouch said, whimpering, surprising all that heard him, Lelouch never whimpers, at least not in front of others. "I can't kill any more of the people close to me. I just can't do that again Suzaku, not here of all places." Lelouch then whipped away a few tears starting to gather in his eyes as he remembered the people whose deaths he either intentionally or unintentionally caused, before taking a deep breath to focus himself. "If you want to die so badly then be a man and do it yourself. Finding someone else to carry the burden of killing you is just pathetic and cowardly."

After he said that, the 00 Raiser then rose from its kneeling position to stand straight up. At that moment, Suzaku had noticed that it had stopped raining moments ago, and the clouds began clearing up, allowing the sun to shine down upon them. The rays from the sun gave the 00 Raiser a majestic shine to its hull.

"As for me… I… I will live…" Lelouch said, struggling to get the words out after an intense rollercoaster of emotions. "I'll live for tomorrow… This is… my way of fighting." He declared, not only to Suzaku and others watching but to himself as well. From here on out, he would live and fight for tomorrow. He then looked back down. "And you Suzaku, you must also fight to live."

And with that, the 00 Raiser ascended to the sky and began to fly off into the distance, leaving behind a trail of GN Particles.

As Suzaku watched the Gundam leave him, the wall broke down and Suzaku screamed in a mix of anguish, sadness, rage, disappointment, and frustration as he sunk to his knees and pounded the hull of the Lancelot.

"Suzaku Kururugi has failed to capture the 00 Raiser and kill its pilot Lelouch vi Britannia, and has destroyed the pseudo-GN Drive he was given," Regene reported to Ribbons.

"That's fine." Ribbons said without a care in the world. "I didn't expect him to be able to stop Lelouch, but the data he gathered from their encounters proved invaluable. And besides, what's the loss of one pseudo-GN Drive when we have dozens to spare." He spoke with a smile.

"It seems that the Lancelot is sending a homing beacon with a message: 'Send Lloyd and Cecile to retrieve me and the Lancelot. From Sir Kururugi'. How should we proceed, Your Highness?" Kanon asked.

"Send the two to retrieve the boy, but send it with a message that from this day on, Suzaku Kururugi is dishonorably discharged from the military due to insubordination, lack of results, ignoring superiors orders, and mission failure," Schneizel ordered with a sinister smile which Kanon shared as he moved to carry out his orders. "And how is project Damocles?"

Kanon held another smile as he gave his report. "Everything is prepared and ready for the launch Your Highness. Where should we set our first target?" He asked.

Schneizel smiled as he went to get ready, Kanon following him out of the room. "I have the perfect target in mind."

As Ohgi sat in his quarters alone on the Ikaruga, as it returned to Hori Island to be repaired, he couldn't get it out of his head.

Why? Why did Lelouch do it? Why did he save them? Save him?

They betrayed him and sold him out to his brother who had wanted to kill him. He had every right to kill them or allow them to die. So why did he stop Suzaku from making the killing blow?

The more he thought about it, the more he began to see that maybe he could have been wrong about Zero–about Lelouch–than he first thought. What if he wasn't the demon they all saw him as? What he wasn't the monster everyone wanted him to be?

What if… Ohgi had been wrong to trust Schneizel?

As the 00 Raiser entered Celestial Beings' base of operations, a crowd of people showed up at the feet of the Gundam, waiting eagerly for its pilot to disembark. The most prominent one being none other than Kallen Kouzuki.

As Lelouch descended the line to the ground, the second his feet touched the metal floor, Kallen ran up and embraced him tightly. Lelouch didn't react for a brief moment before he wrapped his arms around her.

After a long embrace, Kallen broke it and looked Lelouch in his tired eyes, a hand on his cheek. "You came back." She whispered as she smiled at him, which was enough for Lelouch to hold a smile of his own.

As Lelouch tried to move past her, he suddenly fell to the ground on his knees, exhaustion almost entirely taking over him. He was surprised he was able to fly back here without fainting. It's been a long day.

Kallen quickly moved to position herself to help carry him by his right, Rivalz coming up to do the same with his left. The crowd parted like the red sea before Moses as Lelouch was guided down, wanting nothing more than to just go to sleep in his bed.

"Lelouch!" A small voice called out, but he knew who it was. With the help of Rivalz and Kallen, he was able to turn and see his sister Nunnally, along with Jeremiah and Sayoko standing beside her. Tears were in her eyes, but she held a smile on her face as she gazed at her brother. "Thank you." She said through a croaked voice, clearly strained from crying so much.

Lelouch knew exactly what she was thanking him for, and as much as he wanted to argue against it, he was too tired to do so. So instead, with a smile, he simply nodded and said, "Your welcome Nunnally."

Kallen and Rivalz were about to take him to his room to rest when Nina and Ian caught them, both looking frantic and worried.

"You all have to see this!" They both said.

"Breaking News! This is Milly Ashford and we've just received a report that Pendragon, the capital of the Holy Britannian Empire, has just been destroyed!" Milly reported, her voice wavering and tone disbelieving. "We don't know the specifics, but it appears that the explosion and crater left behind is similar to that of the one left within the Tokyo Settlement months ago, the same battle which led to the death of Zero."

Celestial Beings looked in shock. Nina trembled and held her head down in shame. If this was similar to the Tokyo Settlement, then that means it was caused by a–

"Hang on!" Milly shouted, getting the bespectacled girl's attention back to the screen as the blonde newswoman held a hand to her. Her eyes widened as she then faced the camera again. "We've just received word that the supposed culprit would wish to make a statement! We are patching you into a live feed from a link that the culprit sent us."

The screen then took a moment to change. When it finished, the whole of Celestial Beings gasped in shock while one just glared in contempt.

"Schneizel." Lelouch growled.

"Greetings people of the world. I am Schneizel el Britannia, formerly the Second Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire and its former Prime Minister." Schneizel introduced himself as he sat on a throne. "I say former because now with the death of all my siblings, that at least have the right to the throne, have now died, I now declare myself the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire."

"WHAT?!" Ohgi shouted as he and the rest of the Black Knights watched the broadcast with shocked faces. Ohgi's previous doubts about trusting Schneizel seemed to increase tenfold with the broadcast.

"I know under Britannian law that the one who slays the previous Emperor is entitled to the throne, which would leave the rightful ruler to my younger brother, Lelouch vi Britannia," Schneizel admitted. "However, he had given up his claim to the throne years before murdering our father, and even stated recently he doesn't wish to have the throne, therefore, he has no legitimate claim or right to become Emperor. So I decided to take up the mantle the rest of my siblings were too cowardly to hold."

The Knights of the Round looked in surprise toward the broadcast, they were never told any of this, nor given a heads up.

"Now, many of you are wondering how I was able to destroy Pendragon so quickly and thoroughly. Well, it is because of the mighty machine known as Damocles." The screen then shifted to show a massive floating fortress within the clouds, shaped almost like a sword.

"The Damocles fired an experimental warhead known as the F.L.E.I.J.A., which was able to lay waste to an area of over 50 kilometers, This weapon will be used to usher in a new age of peace, where no one will seek to engage in conflict."

Nina looked down again in shame as her worst fears were now confirmed. It was a F.L.E.I.J.A., her invention, that destroyed Pendragon and took all those lives.

"And that leads me to my first action as the 99th Emperor of Britannia." Schneizel then paused for dramatic effect. "I hereby declare war on my brother Lelouch vi Britannia and his terrorist faction known as Celestial Beings!" The declaration sent shockwaves through all of the said organization's members, save for a few who were just plain angry.

"They seek to eliminate war through conflict, that won't work. All their doing is creating unnecessary violence and death. So I believe it is within the best interest of the world for the organization to disband and Lelouch to surrender his Gundam. You have 72 hours to decide what you will do Lelouch. If you don't decide within that time frame, I'll just have to launch a F.L.E.I.J.A. toward one of the cities you claimed to have eliminated conflict in."

And with that final warning, Schneizel ended the live feed. Most members of Celestial Beings looked at each other with worry and concern, while some just held anger at the man who threatened them with lives, while one just felt such great shame at their actions.

But none were feeling as conflicted and worried about all this as Lelouch himself. How could he be so stupid?! He was so focused on Ribbons and the Innovators along with Suzaku that he completely missed Schneizel's scheme! This was all his fault!

He then felt a hand wrap around his right. He traced the hand to look up into the eyes of its owner. Kallen looked at him, a determined fire in her eyes was burning brightly. It was beautiful. He felt a hand on his left shoulder and looked to see Rivalz, who gave him a smirk and a thumbs up.

Lelouch couldn't help but smile in gratitude. Yes. He wasn't alone. He had support. Friends and allies he could count on to help him overcome this. And he will. As he declared earlier, he will live and fight for tomorrow. And no one, not Schneizel, or the Innovators, would stand in his way of seeing tomorrow.

"Come on everyone!" Lelouch declared, getting everyone's attention. He then gave off a fiendish smirk. "We've got work to do."

Within his mansion, Ribbons was just finishing a glass of whiskey after watching Schneizel's broadcast. And he smiled.

"All according to plan." He said as drowned the glass and set it on the table with a slam.

A/N: And there you have it, people.

Now I know I promised that only one person would walk away from the fight between Lelouch and Suzaku, and I kept it. Suzaku is gonna be the one to walk away because his Knightmare's trashed while Lelouch flies away in the 00 Raiser. Okay I know some of you may be disappointed, but please just stay around for the next two chapters, I just need Suzaku for one more thing.

Anyway, Suzaku still living aside, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter. I enjoyed writing it. Sorry, it took so long. Like I said in the intro, I've been busy with school, moving back home, and family. Also my laziness. I still hope you guys enjoyed the fight. Again, I took inspiration from the Gundam 00 anime, Season 2 episodes 21 and 22 for the fight, while also throwing my original elements in there too. I hope it was satisfying.

But now that I'm back home, I should be able to write more for longer periods. Hopefully. I'm gonna be getting a job soon, so that may take up a large portion of my time as well.

But anyway, hope you all are enjoying this story. Because after this one, I'm moving away from writing Code Geass for a bit to focus on writing Persona fanfictions, specifically my Persona 5 crossover with Batman Beyond. If you guys have some ideas, PM me.

Also, you've guys mentioned wanting to see the Lelouch take on the Glinda Knights. Don't worry, he will fight them in the oncoming chapters, though it won't be much.

I have a concern. I'm trying to decide if I should split the next chapter in two parts, a breather chapter then a battle chapter, or if I should jump right into and make one long chapter. Can you guys let me know what you'd prefer?

I also know some of you want this story to go for about maybe twenty chapters, but that's not gonna happen, we're already so close to the end. Sorry.

I have just decided to split my next chapter into three parts. Here is part one.

Eve of the Final Game:

As Lelouch, Schneizel, and Ribbons prepare themselves for their final battle with each other, Suzaku, the Black Knights, and the UFN, as well as the world, all make a decision as to where they stand in this climatic battle to decide the future.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.