The Journey of the Unholy Trinity (English Version)

by Arremi

Six months have passed since the Zero Requiem, and the young Empress Nunnally has been presented with the opportunity to see the truth about the path her brother traveled, but the truth will show more than the story of Lelouch vi Britannia, since the life of the Demon Emperor has always been attached to the lives of the White Reaper and the Immortal Witch. (Watch the show fic)

5. His name is Zero

Chapter 4: His name is Zero

"It seems that Ms. C.C.'s summary has changed a bit," says Nunnally as she sees that C.C. doesn't start out the same way. "I think we should look at it, if you don't mind."

"I agree," says Tohdoh. "We don't know what can be shown, so we should see it."

Tohdoh's words make the rest of the Japanese agree, so Nunnally restarts the episode.

"Lelouch, a young britannian man, received special powers from a mysterious girl. Geass," says C.C. while the screen shows Lelouch using his Geass.

"Why is she speaking in third person?" asks Gino.

"I guess she just does it when she's narrating," Rivalz replies.

"Although that brings us back to the question of why C.C. is narrating," Guilford grabs his chin. "Especially since, in Her Majesty's words, it did not appear that D.S. is working alongside C.C."

Kallen frowns. "C.C... Where is she anyway?"

"We really don't know," says Zero. "She disappeared after Lelouch's death and her name was not on the list of people who should have been present to see these recordings."

Jeremiah looks uncomfortably at Sayoko and Anya, all three knowing full well where the emerald-haired woman is.

C.C. continued to narrate. "The absolute power to command whomever he commands. Lelouch is determined to use the Geass as a weapon to destroy the Empire of Britannia and thus avenge his mother's death, while creating a world in which his younger sister, Nunnally, can be happy," next to C.C.'s words the moment of Marianne's death is shown. "He knows that his father, the Emperor of Britannia, is waiting for him at the end of his road. Or, at least, that is what Lelouch hoped."

"Am I the only one who thinks the last part of the narration is strange?" asks Nina. "The "that's what Lelouch expected" part sounds pretty strange."

"No doubt," said Kaguya, remembering Lelouch's predecessor. "I suppose she means that the last people Lelouch ended up facing were us, after all, he himself admitted to murdering his father when he proclaimed himself Emperor."

The screen appears in black to quickly display the title of the episode: "His name is Zero".

"It seems that this episode will show Zero's debut," says Xingke. "So it's most likely that Suzaku's rescue will be shown."

"I still remember when we saw him in the council room," says Milly. "At that time none of us could understand how Zero had managed to rescue Suzaku."

"Yes, I remember," Rivalz seconds. "It really looked like something out of another world, it was like seeing a real hero."

A pistol is shown inside a plastic bag, the pistol has a label that reads, "Evidence Item No. 2."

"Do you know anything about this weapon, Private Kururugi?" Jeremiah asks while showing the two of them in an interrogation room with other soldiers. "It's the one used to assassinate Prince Clovis. The striations on the barrel confirm it."

Cécile frowns at Suzaku's condition. "They really were unfair to him; they weren't even planning to give him a real trial."

Jeremiah continued to give Suzaku information. "I also took the liberty of doing some research. You're the son of the last Prime Minister of Japan, aren't you? You had a lot of motives!"

"It's still strange to think that Suzaku was the son of the former Prime Minister of Japan," says Rivalz. "Why would he join Britannia's army if he was the son of Japan's former leader?"

"Maybe he did it in order to survive?" Gino says uncertainly. "He had to find a way to be able to buy the supplies he needed."

Kaguya shakes her head. "It couldn't have been because of that. Suzaku could easily have joined the JLF if he was looking to make a decent living, in fact, they surely would have given him more than Britannia gave him initially."

"That's for sure," says Tohdoh. "Suzaku could easily have risen through the ranks if he had joined us, not only because of his talent as a fighter, but also because of his lineage, some even believed he could have become a symbol, which is what Zero ended up becoming for us."

Zero can't help but shudder at his old mentor's words. "Join the JLF? Become a symbol? That would never have happened, after all Suzaku Kururugi didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve to be considered a symbol."

"Then why did he join the army?" asks Tianzi.

"Who knows," says Rakshata. "Maybe he just wanted to join the winning side, or he did it believing it must be some kind of punishment for him. I guess it's just another thing that will eventually show itself."

Milly rests her head on her hand. "We really should make some kind of list about these things."

"We can ask for a notebook when it's time to eat," says Sayoko. "Then we just write down what we think is important."

"You're wrong!" says Suzaku raising his head. "I've never seen this weapon before!" Suddenly a soldier kicks Suzaku's chair, causing him to fall to the ground.

Milly frowns. "What savages, no one should be treated like that!"

"It's not a surprise," says Kallen, also annoyed by the scene, but more annoyed by something else. "The surprise is that Suzaku, even after suffering that abuse, continued to support Britannia."

"It's really strange," says Cornelia, surprising a few people. "Most people would not forgive their own nation if it did something like that to them, much less if it was the nation that had conquered them. Kururugi's behavior really seems strange to me."

"We found your fingerprints all over the gun," says Jeremiah, unfazed by Suzaku's fall. "You're also suspected of killing the royal guard. Admit it. Do it now and you'll be tried as an honorary Britannian and not a dirty eleven."

"I didn't do it!" Suzaku says on the ground trying to defend himself, but another soldier kicks him in the face.

"How did they even find his fingerprints on the gun?" Tamaki asks. "We didn't see him holding it at any time."

Chiba angrily replies, "It's not obvious! They didn't do it; they're just lying so they can frame him!" The Japanese woman turns to look at the former Margrave. "Or am I wrong?"

"No, you are right," Jeremiah says honestly. "We always planned to frame Private Kururugi."

"You really have no shame!" says Ohgi in annoyance. "Not only did you physically abuse a minor, but you were planning to frame him, if you had your way he would have died."

Jeremiah simply looks at the Japanese. "I'm not proud of my actions, but I don't see the point in being ashamed of them either," Jeremiah flashes a sarcastic smile. "It's all in the past, after all his own wife was my accomplice in the plan to execute Kururugi."

Ohgi grits his teeth at Jeremiah's words, it looked like he was about to start arguing with the man on the subject of his wife, but before he could do so Villetta grabs his shoulder and looks at him warmly.

"It's all right," says Villetta in her husband's ear. "It's true that I was also guilty of that plan, it's not worth arguing with him."

Ohgi upon hearing his wife's words manages to calm down a bit, although he still looks annoyed at Jeremiah.

The scene changes to show Lelouch gently carrying Nunnally to place her on his bed.

"They mentioned Suzaku on the news, didn't they?" asks Nunnally as Lelouch accommodates her.

"Yes, it looks like he's still alive," Lelouch replies.

"Did you wait until tonight to talk about it?" asked Anya confused. "Why?"

"For safety," Nunnally replied. "It would have been dangerous at that time if someone heard us and found out that we knew Suzaku."

"We haven't seen each other since the war ended," Nunnally is tucked in by Lelouch. "Even we... Brother?"

"What?"

"This news is not true, is it?"

"Of course not," Lelouch replies as he holds Nunnally's hand. "Suzaku would never do such a thing. It must be a mistake."

Nunnally squeezes Lelouch's hand. "Yes, it must be a mistake."

"I still remember that moment," says Nunnally. "I couldn't believe that after so many years of knowing nothing about Suzaku, I would learn about him that way."

"You really didn't think Suzaku could be the culprit?" asks Kallen. "At the time you hadn't heard from Suzaku for years."

Nunnally shakes her head. "I couldn´t believe it, even after several years of not seeing him I couldn´t believe that Suzaku would do such a thing, especially since at that time I didn´t know about Brother Clovis' actions, so I didn´t understand what reason Suzaku could have for murdering him."

"Nunnally...", Zero thinks as he listens to the faith his Empress had in him. "I wonder how you will react when you see my sins, when you see what is the worst thing I have ever done. Will you hate me? Maybe you already do and you're just hiding it from me."

"That's right," says Lelouch, comforting his sister. "So... Good night, Nunnally."

Ohgi and Tamaki are shown in a dark room, near them is a television on the news channel.

"That's why we should have made an announcement earlier!" Tamaki shouts. "We could have taken responsibility!" Tamaki storms out of the room, slamming the door.

"What are you talking about?" asks Gino.

"It was about the murder of Prince Clovis," replied Ohgi. "Tamaki was upset that the Prince's murder was attributed to Suzaku."

"Really?" Sayoko looks at Tamaki. "Why? It would be easier for all of you if they blamed Mr. Suzaku. Did you want to get credit for succeeding in killing a Prince?"

Tamaki shakes his head in annoyance. "Not at all! I just didn't want a brat to die so unfairly!"

Ohgi simply watches Tamaki leave, only to snort depressed. "Naoto... I'm not cut out for this," Ohgi's words are followed by the photograph of him with Kallen and Naoto, the camera focusing especially on Naoto's face. "I am not a leader."

"I'm really not cut out to be a leader," Ohgi thinks as he looks at the picture again and hears his own words. "And if it's true that Lelouch didn't control us..." Ohgi sighs sadly at his thoughts.

The camera changes again to now show a strange room, a male voice can be heard as the camera moves.

"Well, everything should be just as you asked," says the same old man that Lelouch replaced to play chess in the past. "The most skilled person in the field is working on it. The sliding system is also being confirmed."

"Hey," Tamaki shouts when he recognizes the old man. "It's the old man again."

It is shown that in front of the old man is Lelouch with his Geass activated.

"When they eliminate all the evidence, I must forget all this, right?" says the old man, obviously being controlled by Lelouch's Geass.

"I guess that shows how Lelouch used his Geass on him," says Ohgi.

"This was indeed a painful incident," says a male voice as several Britannia flags are displayed on the screen followed by the Ashford Academy. "We lost our beloved and respected Prince Clovis, Viceroy of Area 11."

"Who is talking?" asks Tamaki.

"It's my grandfather," Milly replied, recognizing the voice. "I think it was when he gave the speech after Prince Clovis died."

The camera switches to show several students inside the gymnasium listening to the Principal's speech, among them the camera focuses on Kallen and Lelouch, the latter looking out the window as several bird's fly.

"However, we must bear this sadness," says the Director, continuing his speech. "We must be strengthened by it!"

"I still resent having to listen to that speech," said Kallen in annoyance. "Having to listen to them praise the very man who had caused us so much pain was unbearable, although it was even worse when we had to listen to the Emperor's speech."

"I doubt my grandfather enjoyed saying it," Milly recalled the conversations she had had with her grandfather. "He's never been much of a fan of Prince Clovis; I think he simply said it so the army wouldn't think there was something fishy going on at the Academy."

"Mr. Ashford was certainly in a difficult position," said Schneizel. "By helping Lelouch and Nunnally to hide, he was committing treason, if he had been discovered he would surely have been executed or at the very least imprisoned for life."

Lloyd and Cécile are shown with several other scientists checking and testing the Lancelot.

"We lost our most essential part," says Lloyd.

"Can't we go on without him?" asks Cécile.

"I wish," Lloyd says in annoyance. "The other units never release a good pilot. And even if we got one, they'd never match his readings. Their operating efficiency was 94 percent. How would we replace that?"

Tianzi, not really knowing how knightmares work, is confused. "I don't understand. 94% efficiency is very good?"

"It's one of the best scores," Cécile answered kindly. "Most people never score that high, much less with a knightmare as advanced as the Lancelot."

"Then maybe you should tell them that so they will release Suzaku!" Cecile tries to convince Lloyd.

"Miss Cécile," Zero thinks. "You always tried to help me when I had a problem... I never really thanked you like you deserved."

"He's an honorary britannian, they'd never listen to me," Lloyd says. "Since General Bartley's disgrace, the Purebloods have been in control of the army."

The camera quickly switches to show Ashford students walking, among them is Shirley, who turns to Lelouch.

"Purebloods?" says Shirley in confusion.

"From what I understand they say that only pure britannians should be in the army," Lelouch replies.

"Why would they want that?" asks Rivalz. "Wouldn't it be better to have as many people as possible in the army?"

"It's just racism," Kallen says in annoyance. "Those bastards didn't like to think that what they considered inferior beings were in the same group, or worse, could become their equals or even their superiors."

"It wasn't that simple," said Jeremiah, drawing the attention of the audience. "It is true that we did not want foreigners to occupy positions of power equal or superior to those we had, but many of our members did so because they saw it as necessary for advancement, after all if there were many soldiers in the army, there would be less chance of being able to stand out and be promoted."

"So you're saying you guys were right?!" Chiba shouts angrily. "That it was all right for you to frame us for crimes we didn't commit so you could just move up the ranks without any difficulty?!"

"I never said that, but I didn't expect you to understand," Jeremiah looks with annoyance at the Japanese woman. "In Britannia you had to stand out, ours was a society where only the strong survived, I wanted even non-noble Britannians to have a chance to rise, if there were too many soldiers that would not be possible."

"They're still just excuses!" Tamaki is also annoyed by the words of the Britannian Cyborg. "In Japan we have never allowed that!"

"Tell me you're joking?" Cornelia looks angrily at the red-haired Japanese. "Did you forget the incident at the Lake Kawaguchi hotel? The Japanese didn't seem to mind sacrificing Britannian civilians."

"Kusakabe's actions do not represent us!" says Tohdoh. "What he did at the hotel was his act alone."

"His subordinates seemed very happy to follow him."

The argument between some of the Britannians and Japanese in the audience went on for a while, at one point it looked like they might even start attacking each other, but before they could do so a loud bang is heard, which draws the attention of everyone in the room.

"Enough!" shouts Zero. "I understand that many of you disagree with the opinion and actions of others, but arguing about morality in the actions we committed in the past at this time will not help us at all, you cannot compare the way the armies in Britannia and Japan function, both have been influenced by completely different cultures."

"Zero is right," said Kaguya. "It's obvious that we will never be able to agree on this subject, our vision of the matter is built on the experiences we have lived, it would be better if we try to restore our composure and continue watching the recordings."

The audience upon hearing Zero and Kaguya's words calms down, there is still anger between the various members of both groups, but everyone can see that continuing the discussion would lead to nothing, so everyone prepares to watch the videos again.

"According to them, the guilty party can't be part of Britannia," Lloyd says as the screen returns. "But if the guilty party is an eleven, they will accept Margrave Jeremiah's demands and suspend the whole system of giving the natives the status of honorary Britannians."

"What about Suzaku?"

"I doubt he will be found not guilty."

The Ashford students are shown again, Rivalz who is among them approaches Lelouch.

"Lelouch, what are you doing later?" asks Rivalz, as he puts his hand on Lelouch's shoulder. "We shouldn't waste a day without classes. Everyone is asking for a rematch."

"Don't even think about betting!" says Shirley, annoyed by Rivalz's suggestion.

Rivalz turns to Shirley. "Oh come on, you don't have to be so against it."

"I think she's right," says Lelouch, surprising his friends. "Maybe it's time to stop doing it."

"I really couldn't believe what Lelouch had just said," says Rivalz. "I didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to stop going gambling when we were doing great at the time. Who could have guessed that the reason would be that Lelouch would become Zero?"

"I don't think any of us could have imagined it," Milly says. "I knew Lelouch wasn't fond in his family, but I never thought he would go to such lengths to get revenge. I thought he and Nunnally had become happy together with us, it seems I was wrong about that," Milly sighs sadly."

"What?" says Rivalz confused.

"I found a better opponent."

"What?" said Shirley, not understanding what Lelouch was referring to. "What do you mean by that?"

"I want to participate too!" says Rivalz in high spirits.

Lelouch simply laughs as the camera focuses on Kallen, who is walking near them.

"It's better if you don't," says Lelouch. "It's not your kind of game."

"So he says," says Rivalz. "I can't imagine getting involved in something like what the Black Knights did, it just sounds too dangerous."

The scene changes to show the interior of the Tokyo tower, several photographs are shown showing moments of the conquest of Japan.

"Britannia's overwhelming victory made the unenlightened government of Japan know exactly what its place in the world was," says a female voice from one of the guides working inside the tower, as more photographs of the war are shown. "Since then, the Empire and the eleven have reached an agreement and started down the road to rebirth."

Chiba and Tamaki grit their teeth in fury at the condescending way the woman recounts Japan's defeat, the other Japanese in the room are better at containing their anger at the way the story is told.

"You know, I never noticed it before, but it really sounds pretty awful the way she talks about Japan," Nina says. "I can't believe there was a time when I believed the same thing."

"We all did at one time or another," says Rivalz. " None of us really cared about the Japanese in the beginning, it's a good thing things have changed."

Kallen appears looking at one of the photographs. "Tokyo Tower at 4 p.m. Why here?"

Near Kallen, Ohgi is shown with Sugiyama and Yoshida touring the exhibits.

"The one who contacted us was Suzaku Kururugi, wasn't it?" Sugiyama says.

"Hard to say," Ohgi replies.

"Did you think it was Kururugi who contacted you?" asked Cornelia.

"It was the most logical choice," Ohgi replied. "At that time, we didn't know that he had fought against us, so obviously we thought that the person who had been arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis was the one who had contacted us, especially considering who his father was."

Rakshata laughs lightly. "And just the opposite happened, it was a Prince of Britannia who had helped you, while the son of their former Prime Minister was the one who almost ruined everything. Irony really can be cruel on many occasions."

"Didn't Lelouch tell Kallen to go alone?" Gino asks. "Why did you accompany her?"

Ohgi looks at the blond Britannian man sternly. "We would never let Kallen go alone, for all we knew, it could all be a trap."

"Besides, I doubt Lelouch really expected me to go alone," Kallen adds. "He surely knew I would bring some of my companions."

"Where is Tamaki?" Xingke asked Ohgi when he saw that the red-haired man was not among his companions in the tower. "Normally he is always with you."

"We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves," says Ohgi, trying not to insult Tamaki. "And Tamaki was never the subtlest of people."

"What do you mean?" says Tamaki. "When I want to be, I can be subtler than anyone else, no one could find me out."

Kallen and a few other members of the Black Knights roll their eyes at Tamaki's proclamation, none of them can bring themselves to imagine Tamaki being subtle in any way.

"But maybe he was arrested after he called Kallen," Yoshida theorizes.

"Then this place is too dangerous for us."

"All of you really weren't doing a very good job of not looking suspicious," says Sayoko. "Three Japanese men visiting Tokyo Tower at that time will attract attention, even more so if the three of them go together."

"I'll admit we could have done better," says Ohgi. "We were really too curious about the idea of finding the man who had commanded us, even more so if he was the real killer."

Suddenly a female voice is heard over the loudspeakers, startling Ohgi and the others.

"Miss Kallen Stadfield from Ashford Academy, we found something of yours. Please come to the care desk on the gazebo floor. I repeat, for the visitor..."

Ohgi along with his group turn to Kallen, only to notice that she is no longer near them, the camera switches to show Kallen in front of the service desk receiving a phone.

"Are you sure this is yours?" asks the girl at the counter, offering the phone to Kallen, but Kallen simply takes it without answering, which confuses the girl at the counter. "It's yours, isn't it?"

Kallen realizes how strange she is acting. "Yes! Thank you very much."

"You weren't a very good actress either," Gino says to Kallen. "I really wonder how no one realized that you weren't who you appeared to be."

Kallen crosses her arms a little annoyed. "It's easy for you to say, after all you met me when I was no longer hiding who I was, if you had done it before you surely wouldn't suspect me, even if you had seen me acting strangely."

"Fair enough," Gino agrees.

The viewpoint of the tower is shown, in this Ohgi and his friends walk while looking out the windows of the tower.

"Well," says Ohgi with false joy. "Thanks to Prince Clovis, life is better. I mean, thanks to Britannia we can rebuild things so fast. I'm happy about that."

"Why are you praising Britannia?" asks Chiba in annoyance.

Ohgi scratches his head nervously. "You know... I was trying to act in a non-suspicious way."

"Not suspicious way...?" Kaguya can't believe Ohgi's justification. "There's nothing more suspicious than a Japanese praising Britannia, anyone who would have heard you at that moment would think even more that you're trying to do something suspicious."

Ohgi may simply look down at the ground a bit embarrassed, in retrospect he may realize that praising Britannia being a Japanese, was not the best strategy to not draw attention to himself.

Kallen was walking near them looking at the phone, she notices that she is receiving a call, with the name Zero appearing as the person calling.

"Zero?" says Kallen confused.

"It's strange to think that there was a time when Zero's name wasn't known," says Xingke. "Nowadays I doubt anyone doesn't hear the name at least once a day."

"No doubt," Guilford supports. "No matter where I go I can always hear someone talking about Zero."

"Yes? Hello?" says Kallen answering the phone as Lelouch is shown walking in front of Tokyo Tower with his own phone in hand.

"Go to the outer tracks of circuit number five," Lelouch answers through his phone. "Bring your friends."

"What?"

Kallen looks at Gino. "There you have it; it was obvious that Lelouch would know that I was going to take some of my friends with me."

"Jeremiah is shown sitting in his office.

The program in memory of His Highness was very well organized," says Jeremiah seriously. "It was too sentimental for my taste, but..." Before Jeremiah is able to finish speaking, he is interrupted by Diethard, who was in front of Jeremiah.

"Your Excellency, the masses love drama."

"You said it like a real TV man," says Jeremiah as he shows that next to him is Villetta and a man. "In any case, I recognize your skills. You did a good job considering the short time you had. One might even say that you were waiting for His Highness to die."

"Kewell..." Villetta can't help but blurt out the name of her former comrade, which catches the audience's attention. "Poor Marika was devastated when she learned of your passing."

Ohgi approaches his wife. "Are you all right, Chigusa?"

"Yes, I am," Villetta tries to comfort Ohgi. "It's just weird for me to see a former friend, especially when I had to see how his passing hurt his sister so much."

"You said Marika, right?" asks Cornelia.

Villetta nods. "Yes, she eventually ended up joining the Valkyrie squadron."

"Yes, I remember her," says Cornelia. "She served with me for a while, although she was still quite inexperienced. Is she all right now?"

"Yes," says Villetta, smiling. "The last time I saw her; she was married to a member of House Steiner. She looked happy."

Cornelia gets a small smile. "I'm happy for her."

Diethard gives a small bow. "I'm afraid it's very common to have memorial programs prepared for important people."

"Is there one of mine, too?" asks Jeremiah.

"After this, perhaps we should make one for you, Your Excellency."

Jeremiah smiles at Diethard's words. "Which means it wasn't important enough for you until now. How honest!"

"Don't you find it too morbid to talk about your death so casually?" Rivalz asks uncomfortably.

Jeremiah shrugs. "When you are a soldier there will always be the danger of losing your life in battle, so I was just concentrating on doing my best, so hopefully I would be remembered after my death."

"I'm afraid it was," Diethard replies.

"How do you feel about joining the military?" Jeremiah asks. "We need information officers."

"I must admit that I'm not interested in that position," Diethard replies very quickly. "It's not for me."

Tamaki remembers the former producer joining them. "I don't understand? If he wasn't interested in having a position in the army, why did he join us?"

"I think he joined because of Zero," says Sayoko. "I remember he was ecstatic when Zero came back after disappearing for a year."

Rakshata lets out a laugh as she smokes from her pipe. "I remember that too. I have rarely seen anyone so excited about anything."

"You prefer the civilian sector. Never mind," Jeremiah says as he crosses his arms. "I have another favor to ask of you. Tomorrow night, Suzaku Kururugi will be transferred to his court-martial."

"We should have good patriotic citizens line the road," Diethard quickly understands what Jeremiah wants.

"Excellent, you pick things up quickly. Make sure his face can be seen by the crowd."

Guilford glares at Jeremiah. "You really had it all planned out, didn't you, Orange? Although that planning didn't end up doing you any good when Zero arrived, even worse, you helped him escape."

Jeremiah ignores Guilford's words, which simply makes the Britannian soldier angrier.

"Normally I wouldn't blame you, after all I know that Lelouch could have used his Geass on you at the time, but the fact that even now you admire him makes me think otherwise, makes me think that you simply betrayed us."

Villetta unexpectedly interrupts the conversation between Jeremiah and Diethard. "Mr. Jeremiah, there are some among the eleven who have taken Private Kururugi as a hero. Some groups are even thinking of releasing him."

"Were there other groups?" asked Anya confused. "I don't remember anyone besides Zero ending up trying anything."

"They probably didn't end up being brave enough to try," Villetta replies. "Some people just like to think they would, or maybe they hoped someone else would."

"I'll personally be part of the security with my Sutherland," says Jeremiah, turning to Villetta. "If any troublemakers show up, I'll execute them on the spot!"

"Which you didn't end up doing!" says Cornelia sternly. "No matter the situation, one should never negotiate with terrorists."

Schneizel gently grabs his half-sister's shoulder. "Cornelia, don't get upset. It's hard to blame Mr. Gottwald for his actions at the time, after all we could see how Zero had what he believed at the time to be poison gas. Letting Zero release it would have been catastrophic, both for his career and for Britannia's reputation," Schneizel approaches Cornelia's ear to start whispering to her. "Besides, don't forget that you yourself accepted Zero's help in Kawaguchi."

Cornelia shudders to hear her half-brother talk to her so closely about that incident, but upon hearing it she decides to keep silent.

There is a change of scenes to show the train passing on the tracks, followed by the interior of the train, where Kallen is looking at the phone Zero had contacted her with.

"Attention all passengers," says a female voice over the train's loudspeakers. "If you see a suspicious object on this train, report it immediately to the nearest communicator."

Kallen hears the announcement and looked nervously at the other passengers, including Ohgi and his friends. Suddenly the phone starts to vibrate, so Kallen quickly realizes that Zero is calling her again, so she answers the phone.

Milly can't help but let out a small laugh when she sees the three Japanese men trying to look like any passengers.

"Is something wrong?" asks Rivalz.

"It's just..." Milly laughs a couple more times. "They're really bad at being inconspicuous, I hadn't noticed, but they all wear the same red bandana on their heads."

"Hello?" Kallen answers.

Ohgi noticing that Kallen is talking on the phone looks at her seriously.

"Stand to the front and look to your right," says Zero, making Kallen follow his instructions. "What do you see?"

"The city of the Britannians," Kallen answered, looking out the window. "A stolen city, built with our sacrifices."

"Now look to your left."

"I see our city," Kallen looks at the completely destroyed ghetto. "Remnants of a city destroyed after the Britannians wiped it out."

"Good answer," says Zero happily. "All right, go to the first wagon."

Tianzi is confused by Lelouch's instructions. "I don't understand; why did he ask Miss Kallen to do that?"

"It was a test," Nunnally replied surprisingly. "My brother wanted to see what Kallen's and the others' real opinions and reasons for fighting were, he wanted to know what Kallen's view of the situation was for the Japanese and us. Am I wrong?"

Kallen shakes her head. "Not at all, in itself what you said were undoubtedly the reasons why Lelouch gave me those instructions.

Quickly Zero hangs up, so Kallen, listening to him, goes to the first carriage, Ohgi and the others follow her. The female voice that had given instructions on what to do in case of seeing a suspicious object names the different stations where the train will stop soon.

Kallen is surprised when she enters the first carriage, because in front of her is a person in a strange costume, being the only person in the carriage.

"Pretty dramatic, isn't it?" Lloyd asks with amusement. "His Majesty certainly liked to put on a good show. I don't think I ever got bored watching him give a speech."

Kaguya claps her hands with a smile. "I agree, I always enjoyed watching how he managed to make every operation he performed feel like a show, he captivated me from the first time I saw him."

"Was it you?" asks Kallen as the others enter the wagon.

"Really, Kallen?" asks Milly amused. "I think it's pretty obvious that he must have been the one who contacted you, after all no one would dress like that if they were just passing through."

Kallen blushes slightly. "I know... At the time we were still worried that it was all a trap, the suit could have simply been a way to distract us."

"This isn't a trap, is it?" Yoshida asks as the camera focuses on the passengers in the other car, showing that they are being controlled by Lelouch's Geass.

Tohdoh looks curiously at the passengers. "I wonder how he managed to use the Geass on all of them, it must have been complicated to get all the passengers to look directly at him in a moment."

"Couldn't he have done it one by one?" asks Rivalz.

"I doubt it," Xingke replied. "It would be bad for him if the passengers were suspicious because of the attitude of the others. He should have used his Geass on everyone at the same time if he didn't want someone to find out."

"Tell us! Did you do Shinjuku?" Kallen demands. "Did you also give the ceasefire order?"

Yoshida shouts when he sees that the person doesn't answer. "Say something!"

The person simply turns around dramatically, just as the train enters a tunnel, causing Kallen and the others to be a bit surprised by the whole scene.

"Was he really waiting for them to go through a tunnel to turn around?" asks Cornelia, confused by her half-brother's actions.

Schneizel smiles in amusement. "Well, Miss Sumeragi already said so. Lelouch certainly loved to act as if he were in a show or play."

"So?" Lelouch asks. "What do you think of the settlement tour?"

"Tour?" says Ohgi confused.

Yoshida turns to his companions. "Hey, it couldn't have been this clown!"

"I wanted you to be able to see both," says Lelouch, ignoring Yoshida's words. "The settlement and the ghetto!" Along with his words Lelouch extends his arms.

A small smile of affection appears on Nunnally's face. "Brother, I remember when I found out you were Zero I was horrified, I couldn't understand why you would take on the role of someone who sought to wipe out our family," Nunnally feels her eyes water. "But now I can see it, I can see that you didn't feel whole, you didn't feel alive. Before when I saw Zero I only saw the person who murdered two of my brothers, now when I see you as Zero all I can think about is how happy you really sound."

Ohgi steps forward. "Yes, there is a difference between us and the Britannians! A huge difference! That's why we fight as a resistance!"

"You are wrong," says Lelouch, surprising the Japanese. "Terrorism will not defeat Britannia!"

"Defeat?" Ohgi is confused by Lelouch's answer.

Ohgi shudders as he hears himself confused. "We were fighting Britannia, but none of us really believed that we could defeat it," Ohgi lets out a tired sigh. "We just wanted to hurt it, but we never thought about the innocent people we were hurting, the people who just wanted to be able to live their lives. We were really nothing at the time."

Kallen clenches her fist at Ohgi's words as she goes deep into her thoughts. "I would like to say Ohgi is wrong, but he isn't... I was angry, I was angry about my brother's death, I was angry about my mother's situation, I was angry about so many things, but I never thought about what my anger would be capable of causing. I'm sorry brother, I'm sorry mom, and I'm sorry Lelouch."

"Terrorism is just a childish nuisance."

"What was that?" Yoshida says in annoyance.

Sugiyama is also annoyed by Lelouch. "Did you just call us children?"

"Do not confuse your enemies. It is not the Britannians, but Britannia itself." Lelouch leaves the Japanese speechless. "You must start a war! Without involving civilians! Make up your minds! Take the path of justice!"

"The path of justice," Tohdoh thinks bitterly looking at Zero in the room. "Was it the path of justice that you two ended up walking down, was it the one we walked down? I really still don't know what exactly to think, if it was really you two who planned that ending, I wouldn't know what I should say."

Kallen feels her heart pound as she listens to Lelouch's speech. "How much I wished I could hear you speak again, hear you say one of your speeches, hear you give everything you had in our fight."

Kallen is annoyed by Lelouch's statement. "Don't be absurd! It's easy to say whatever comes to your mind! As if we would trust someone who won't even show us his face!"

"She's right," Yoshida shouts.

"Take off your mask," Sugiyama seconds.

Ohgi supports his friends. "That's right. Are you going to show us your face or not?"

"Very well," says Lelouch. "I'll show you."

"Did he take off his mask?" asks Gino.

"He didn't do it as I recall," Ohgi says before an idea crosses his mind. "Maybe that's where he used the Geass on me."

Kallen shakes her head. "That's not possible! Remember that I was there too and, as we could see, he could no longer use his Geass on me."

Ohgi deflates when he hears Kallen. "Ah, that's right."

Kallen prepares to see who the person in the suit really is, but Lelouch does not remove his mask.

"However, instead of showing them my face, I will show them my power," Lelouch announces. "If I give them what they consider impossible, then I will gain their trust."

The camera changes to show the Japanese flag covering the entire screen.

"He murdered a Prince of Britannia," says a male voice. "Suzaku Kururugi should be treated as a hero!"

Shown on the screen is Tohdoh with his eyes closed in front of the Japanese flag at the JLF barracks.

Tohdoh and Chiba can't help but sigh at the sight of their former group.

"It's really strange to see them, isn't it?" says Chiba, catching Tohdoh's attention. "It reminds me of our former colleagues. Do you think the others are happy, General? Do you think Asahina, Senba and Urabe are happy?"

"I hope so," replies Tohdoh. "Each and every one of them gave their lives for what they believed in. We must take advantage of what we were able to gain because of their sacrifice."

"But he's an honorary Britannian!" says another male voice.

Another person adds his opinion. "Prime Minister Kururugi was his father."

"So what?" asks another man. "The bastard gave up Japan!"

"No... He didn't," Zero thinks. "My father never surrendered Japan. He would have preferred that we all die before he surrendered Japan. The one who surrendered Japan to Britannia was his son, his stupid son."

Rivalz frowns. "Suzaku's father gave up Japan? Was he a double agent?"

"My uncle would never do that," said Kaguya, annoyed by Rivalz's suggestion. "He would never have betrayed Japan."

"Then why do he say he gave up Japan?"

Kaguya gets a sad expression. "He committed suicide, they say he did it to end the fighting between Japan and Britannia."

"Suzaku's father committed suicide?" Rivalz is surprised by the revelation. "It has something to do with Suzaku choosing to join Britannia's army."

"I don't know," Kaguya replied, and then remembered an old rumor she had heard. "In fact, maybe I do. I remember once hearing that my uncle not only committed suicide, but that he did it in front of Suzaku."

"What?" Nina said as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. Several other members of the audience were as surprised as she was.

Tohdoh can't help but look down at the ground when he hears Kaguya's words. He knows perfectly well that this rumor, although not entirely wrong is incorrect, after all the former Prime Minister did die in front of his son, but he did not die by his own hand.

Cecile looks sadly at Zero. "Suzaku... I never knew he had gone through something like that, it must have been extremely traumatic," Cecile turns to Kaguya. "And what about his mother? I've never heard him mention her."

"She died in childbirth," Kaguya answered. "Suzaku never knew her and my uncle didn't like to talk about her either."

"Suzaku..." says Nunnally looking subtly at Zero. "He had never told me about it, I never expected he would have had to possibly see his own father take his own life in front of him."

"It's not like that!", Zero thinks passionately, wanting to shout those words to the others in the room. "I'm not a victim! I'm not someone you should feel sorry for! Stop feeling sorry for me! Stop thinking that I don't deserve that. ", Zero trembles slightly, an action that does not go unnoticed by some people in the room."

"People don't know that about him."

The other members of the JLF are shown, among them were Josui Kusakabe and the group's leader, Katase Tatewaki.

"General Katase," Tohdoh thinks as he looks at his former leader. "I'm sorry I failed you, if I could have been by your side maybe you would still be with us."

"Kusakabe!" says Chiba in annoyance. "That creeping rat, if it weren't for him, then the JLF would still be alive."

"The Shinjuku incident was the work of the Kouzuki group, wasn't it?" Katase asks.

"Yes, General," Kusakabe replies. "They are currently led by a man named Kaname Ohgi."

Katase looks at the ground analyzing the situation. "Did the Kururugi family say anything?"

"No, sir. They stopped talking to him when he joined the army."

"They abandoned Suzaku?" says Rivalz incredulously. "Did they really stop talking to him just because he joined the army?"

Kaguya looks down at the ground in sorrow. "They did, for us the idea of the former Prime Minister's son joining Britannia's army was like an insult, for many Suzaku became a traitor who had brought dishonor to the family."

Gino can't help but cringe at what had happened to Suzaku, it was almost the opposite of what he experienced, as Gino remembers how he just joined the army in order to get away from his family.

Katase turns to Tohdoh. "What do you think, Tohdoh?"

"We have no duty to join him in a public execution," replies Tohdoh without raising his head.

"You weren't planning to save Suzaku?" asks Milly. "But you seemed to have known him since he was a child. And yet you weren't planning to save him?"

Tohdoh looks stiffly at the blonde girl. "At that point it didn't matter if I had known Suzaku since he was young. By joining Britannia's army, he had severed the ties he had with us, and trying to save him would have simply put the JLF in unnecessary danger."

"What cowardice!" says Kusakabe. "Are you really Tohdoh, the miracle maker?"

"You shouldn't confuse miracles with nonsense!" says Tohdoh.

The camera switches to show Lloyd sitting across from Suzaku, who is inside a cell in a prisoner's suit, his face still bruised.

"Congratulations!" says Lloyd amused. "The two you asked me about were not on the deceased list."

"I see," Suzaku is relieved by the scientist's words.

"Really?" Guilford asks. "Kururugi was still worried about the Demon Emperor and C.C. at that time?"

"Suzaku always cared about everyone, no matter what situation he was in or whether those people were friends or strangers," says Cécile, fondly recalling Suzaku's usual attitude.

"But you won't have much luck on your side," says Lloyd. "You may get a trial, but no one's on your side."

"But trials are where the truth comes out!" says Suzaku.

Kaguya lets out a bitter laugh at Suzaku's words. "Oh, cousin. I can't believe you said that."

"He really was an idiot!" said Kallen, annoyed by Suzaku's naivety. "Even after he saw that he was being framed, he still believed that the trial would be fair. I don't understand how anyone can be so damn deluded!"

"Kururugi's behavior is certainly strange!" says Xingke. "From what we've seen, he seems to have a strangely childish view of the world around him."

"I think there will be more smoke and lies than anything," Lloyd is obviously not as optimistic as Suzaku. "There is a precious absence of truth."

Suzaku closes his eyes for a moment. "If that's the way the world works, so be it, I have no regrets."

Kallen simply gets angrier at Suzaku's words. "So that's it, he would accept his own death just because that's the way the world works. How could anyone accept that?!"

"Because I wanted it," Zero thinks automatically as he listens to Kallen. "That was what I wanted."

The screen goes black for a moment, then shows the city at night.

"Any moment now," says an announcer. "Any minute now! Look at the crowds forming along the route. They're all waiting! They're waiting for Prince Clovis' assassin! They're waiting for the honorary Britannian, Kururugi Suzaku, to pass! They're waiting for the one that was an eleven in the past!"

A bridge full of people is shown, then to the Ashford Council room, where its members except for Lelouch and Kallen are watching the bridge scene on television, and finally to Nunnally alone in her room also listening to the event.

"It's really disgusting!" Ohgi mutters in annoyance. "They use an innocent to make a spectacle, it was the same thing Lelouch tried to do with us."

Villetta squirms uncomfortably in her seat as she hears her husband's words, to which, noticing his wife's condition, he realizes that he had just indirectly insulted his wife.

"It's okay, Chigusa," Ohgi says in his wife's ear. "All that is behind us, you are not like Lelouch," the Prime Minister kisses his wife on the cheek, making her smile sweetly.

The crowd is shown on the most prominent bridge, near them is the news car, followed by the inside of the car, Diethard along with other people are inside.

"Camera five is slow," says Diethard using a communicator. "Charles. Did you get your crowd ready? What? The studio? Let them wait. No delays. Everything's going according to plan. Here it comes."

On the screen, several knightmares appear in the distance escorting a vehicle.

"I can see them!" says the announcer. "It's Kururugi, the suspect! Suzaku Kururugi will be here soon!"

"There, you see," Diethard says complacently, then changes his expression to one of annoyance. "This is all a circus and I'm as corrupt as any of them."

Nina blinks in confusion at the producer's sudden confession. "Well... That came out of nowhere, why would he confess to being so corrupt just then?"

"Maybe to ease his conscience," says Milly.

"I doubt it," Kallen recalls Diethard's usual behavior. "He probably only did it because it was the truth for him, he was simply in it for the money in a job he hated."

"Murderer!" shouts a civilian when he sees the vehicle carrying Suzaku pass in front of him.

"Garbage!" shouts another civilian.

"Damn eleven!"

"Give us back our Prince!"

"Was Prince Clovis so popular?" asks Xingke.

Schneizel shakes his head. "Not really, many Britannians were bothered by the high rates of rebel groups in Japan compared to the rest of the Britannia-controlled areas, it's just that none of them liked to think that an eleven might be able to assassinate a member of royalty, no matter how unpopular he was."

Suzaku simply receives the crowd's insults with a solemn expression, but the scene quickly changes to show part of Kaguya's face.

"So that's my first appearance on the recordings," Kaguya says quietly, then frowns. "Was it really necessary to include me just then and so briefly?"

"Kaguya, you're there!" Tianzi says excitedly when she sees her friend on the screen. The young Empress' excitement makes Kaguya's frown disappear, as the young Japanese girl smiles at her friend's excitement.

The laboratory where the Lancelot is located is shown, there are also Lloyd and Cécile and other scientists.

"But we know Suzaku is innocent," says Cécile depressed.

"The court decided that our testimony is inadmissible," Lloyd simply looks at the screen of one of the computers. "There is nothing more to do."

"But..."

Lloyd turns to Cécile. "Hey, would that be altruism or humanitarianism?"

"This is no time for semantics games," says Cécile sternly.

"There's not much else to do," Lloyd says, lifting his shoulders. "You know as well as I do where this case is going. And we can't contact our boss while he's in a meeting. We can only wait for it to happen."

"Could your boss have helped Suzaku?" asks Rivalz.

Lloyd smiles as he looks at Schneizel. "Of course, after all, if His Majesty had supported our statements, we would have been taken much more into account, no one wanted to mess with the Prime Minister of Britannia. Isn't that right, Your Majesty?"

"Surely," Schneizel admits. "If I had not been so busy at the time, I could have reviewed the matter, although whether I would decide to help them would depend on what the results obtained by Mr. Kururugi would have been."

The Council is again shown watching television, the announcer can be heard continuing with the program.

"Voices of resentment!" shouts the announcer. "Voices of anger, sounding louder and louder! Voices that show the love people had for their Prince! Righteous voices that judge the terrorist!"

"Suzaku!" shouts Nunnally worriedly, as she is shown on the screen.

The scene changes to show a black background, where a person waves his cape dramatically.

"What was that?" asks Gino.

"I think it was Zero's cape," Kallen replied. "Although I don't understand why they would show it to us that way."

Suzaku is shown again being escorted by a Sutherland, on top of the Sutherland is Jeremiah.

"Margrave Jeremiah, whose efforts helped close this case, will conduct this trial as acting Consul," says the announcer.

A black background returns, someone adjusts his gloves.

"Okay... I'm confused," admits Gino. "Why are they showing these scenes out of nowhere?"

"It reminds me of an old show I used to watch as a kid," Ohgi says. "They often showed something similar when the main character appeared."

"Do you think they are doing the same thing here?" Sayoko asks.

Ohgi shrugs. "Possibly, that would at least explain why they play those scenes, plus I seem to recall Her Majesty telling us that D.S. tried to make the recordings emulate a television show."

Suzaku is shown from afar being escorted, followed again by a black background, where a part of Zero's costume is simply shown.

Tamaki appears with other members of his group in their hideout.

"There's no way just the three of them can do this!" says Tamaki.

Again the black screen appears, simply showing Zero's helmet.

Gino smiles in amusement at the scene. "I have to admit, I'm starting to like these shots, they really get you excited."

"They really are interesting," says Kaguya. "They make Zero really look like a superhero."

"But still, he told us," Ohgi thinks. "That he can make the impossible possible."

The black screen and part of Lelouch's face are displayed, a bead of sweat runs down his face, but a confident smile also appears on his face.

Jeremiah can't help but gaze admiringly at Lelouch as he was lost in thought. "Oh, Your Majesty... I truly look forward to the day when I can see you again in the flesh."

Ohgi appears on the screen inside a knightmare.

"He told us he will do it," Ohgi shows an expression of pure determination. "That he will save Suzaku Kururugi!"

"That's right," Lelouch thinks, as the inside of Zero's mask appears on the screen, followed by Lelouch putting it on. "There's no turning back. The die is cast."

Much of the audience could not help but shudder as they watched the scene and listened to Lelouch's words.

The knightmares are shown escorting the vehicle carrying Suzaku.

"Mr. Gottwald," says one of the soldiers over a communicator.

"What's going on?" asks Jeremiah.

"The vehicle approaching on the main highway... We let it pass as you told us, but..."

"Do you think your target is a terrorist vehicle?" Jeremiah asks, interrupting his subordinate.

"Well, sir... It's Prince Clovis' car," the soldier reported, surprising Jeremiah.

"The car?" Jeremiah says in confusion, then gets an amused expression. "It looks like we have a comedian. Never mind, let him get to us! All forces, stop!"

"Why did you let it advance?" Sayoko asks Jeremiah discreetly. "It would have been easier to just start shooting him from the beginning."

Jeremiah looks a little embarrassed at his partner. "It should be obvious, I simply wanted to make as much of an impression as possible, simply shooting him wouldn't have done it, while letting it go would have made the whole event draw even more attention."

Suzaku is surprised by Jeremiah's actions.

In the rebels' hideout they are also surprised by the Margrave´s actions.

"They stopped!" Sugiyama says impressed. "They did!"

Tamaki just laughs in amusement. "It's a coincidence!"

"But he said Jeremiah would do that because he likes to be the center of attention," says Yoshida.

"It's a coincidence!" Tamaki shouts again in annoyance.

"You really didn't want to believe in him, did you?" says Kallen amused as she looks at Tamaki. "Very different from how you ended up acting later, isn't it, Zero's best friend?

"Oh, shut up!" says Tamaki embarrassed. "I had no reason to believe in him at that moment."

"There is no scheduled stop here!" says the announcer as the camera shows several knightmares and the vehicle carrying Suzaku standing still in the middle of the street. "Has there been some kind of incident?"

"This is site five! There's a vehicle approaching!" says a soldier, making Jeremiah smile.

Clovis' personal vehicle is shown slowly approaching.

"It's Prince Clovis' personal transport!" says the announcer as if he can't believe his eyes. "And he's heading straight for the cavalry."

"Impossible!" says Ohgi looking at the vehicle from his knightmare's screen. "He's heading straight for them! What is he planning to do?"

"He didn't tell you what he was planning to do?" asks Cornelia. "And you still decided to follow him? They could easily have died."

Kallen tries to defend herself. "It's not like we had a better option! If we didn't do something Suzaku would have been executed, not to mention he was looking very confident at the time."

"Still, it was foolish to listen to him," says Guilford. "Agreeing to obey a stranger for such a dangerous operation without knowing what he was planning to do is stupid, no matter how you look at it."

The interior of Clovis' vehicle is shown, inside Kallen wearing the driver's uniform is driving the car.

"Will they really believe this charade?" Kallen asks herself worriedly.

Gino whistles at the sight. "Kallen, you really look good in uniform, I wouldn't mind seeing you in one again."

Kallen rolls her eyes again at her friend's witticism. "Maybe in your dreams, but believe me when I say I'll never wear one again."

"We'll see about that," says Gino, smiling.

The screen changes to show Kallen and Ohgi in front of Zero in an unknown location, around them are several destroyed cars.

"I see. Just the two of you," says Lelouch.

"I'm sorry, but can you give us a little more time?" Ohgi asks. "If I explain, I can get more people to..."

"No need," says Lelouch, interrupting Ohgi. "It will be enough with the two of you."

Kallen and Ohgi can't believe what they've just been told.

"Don't be ridiculous!" shouts Kallen angry. "There will be too many of them!"

"This is really entertaining," Rakshata laughs as she looks at Kallen. "I don't remember when was the last time you cared about being outnumbered, after all with my Guren you would be able to win, wouldn't you?"

Kallen smiles confidently. "Of course, with all the training I've done, I won't let anyone beat me anymore."

"With your help, I will accommodate the conditions of this task easily," says Lelouch as he shows them something. "Do this for tomorrow. Just look like this on the outside."

"What did he show you?" asks Tianzi.

"It was just the suits we had to have," Kallen replies. "It was really annoying to have to find a driver's uniform in less than a day."

Clovis' vehicle is shown again heading towards the knightmares, when it is close to them it comes to a complete stop.

"Get out!" commands Jeremiah. "Who dares to sully His Highness's carriage?"

Quickly the top of the car bursts into flames, revealing Zero in all his glory, which surprises Jeremiah and the civilians.

"I am Zero!" says Lelouch.

"The beginning of a legend..." says Kaguya surprising some people. "I remember the first time I saw him, somehow I knew there was something special about Zero, but I don't think I could ever have imagined how much it would matter to us."

"No doubt this will be considered a historic moment," Lloyd smirks. "Many will see this as the moment when the person who would end the Demon Emperor's life was introduced, not to mention all the other feats he performed. I wonder how much the events will be distorted over time? Maybe at some point His Majesty will be cast as the hero and Zero as the villain."

"That will never happen!" Chiba shouts in annoyance. "I refuse to believe that at some point that monster will be considered a hero!"

Rakshata smokes a little of her pipe. "I guess only time will tell, if C.C. really is immortal as we believe, she may be the only one who has a chance to see how much history changes."

"Zero?" says Villetta, confused.

The camera switches to show several people watching Zero through a huge screen in the middle of the city.

"Who is this person?" says the announcer in confusion. "This man who called himself Zero stood in front of the convoy!"

"What is all this?" says Rivalz from the Council office.

Nunnally is quickly shown, but immediately the camera switches to show Tamaki.

"What is he doing?" asks Tamaki confused.

"I was really confused at the time," says Tamaki. "I couldn't understand what they were doing at all."

"I doubt anyone knew about it, after all no one would ever expect a masked person to show up in the middle of all that," says Villetta. "Even now it feels surreal to see someone perform such an act."

Suzaku is shown also surprised by Zero's appearance, followed by Kallen gritting her teeth completely nervous.

"Who is this man called Zero?" asks the announcer.

"Zero?" says Diethard, confused, looking at one of the televisions in his car. "Like nothing?"

"Was that the reason for the name?" asks Rivalz. "I was always curious why he chose that name."

"We really don't know," Ohgi says. "Some people were betting on the meaning of his name, some even believed that was his real name."

Kallen smiles as she remembers the past. "I remember, some believed the name was a mockery of how Britannia named the nations they conquered as an area with a number, others believed Zero simply wanted to show a point of how a zero, something worthless could go on to do great things, just as Britannia believed we were worthless."

"I wonder if it has something to do with his ancestry?" says Cécile. "Maybe for him Britannia was area zero, so it was named in honor and as a mockery of the number that belonged to Britannia."

"I guess the real answer died with him, unless the Demon Emperor tells the reason at some point in these recordings," Chiba says, then looks at the Zero in the room. "But I'm curious what is the current Zero's opinion on the matter, why the name Zero?"

Zero was silent for a moment while he thought about the best way to explain it. "Zero is a symbol, it doesn't matter who Zero is, just as it doesn't matter if a zero is worthless, after all it depends on the person what they do with that zero, just as it depends on the population if Zero is still a symbol."

"Okay... What does that mean?" asks Rivalz confused.

"It means what I said and nothing more."

There is a scene change to show the JLF members watching Zero's appearance.

"Is he a terrorist?" asks one member.

"If it is, that's a very foolish move!"

"What did you think?" asked Anya to Tohdoh. "What did you think about Zero at the time?"

Tohdoh sighs as he remembers his thoughts at that moment. "I thought he was someone else trying to be a hero, but he would just end up wasting his life uselessly, though I hoped I was wrong," as Tohdoh finishes answering he thinks for a moment, "I wonder if it was because I didn't want to see someone die like that, or because of my old relationship with Suzaku?".

Suzaku is shown thinking, "Is he an eleven?"

Tamaki frowns. "Hey, how dare he say eleven to us?! We're Japanese!"

"It seems that Suzaku himself didn't think so anymore," Kaguya reflects on Suzaku's attitude. "I really wonder how my cousin could have changed so much, I remember when we were young he was very proud of his heritage."

"Suzaku, now I will return the favor," Lelouch thinks as he is shown on the screen.

"Did you finish Zero?" Jeremiah asks from his Sutherland. "Your little show is over!" Jeremiah fires a shot from his gun, causing several other knightmares to fall from the sky as they surround Clovis' vehicle.

The sudden appearance of the knightmares causes Kallen to panic, while Zero does not react at all.

"Now, you can start by taking off that mask," Jeremiah ordered.

Zero moves his hand toward his face as if he were obeying Jeremiah's command, but at the last moment he lifts it and thunders his fingers, causing the rear of the vehicle to fall, revealing the same capsule in which C.C. had been contained at the start.

"Where did he get the capsule?" Nina asks. "I would expect the military to have recovered it by now."

"No idea," Ohgi replies. "When we met, he had already prepared the vehicle, he probably used his Geass to retrieve the capsule somehow."

Jeremiah is surprised by Zero's action. "What the hell...?!"

"Mr. Jeremiah, that's it!" Villetta shouts from her Sutherland.

"Yes, Jeremiah," Lelouch thinks as he smiles, "Since you never saw what was in here, you assume this is a poison gas capsule."

Suzaku is startled when he sees the capsule. "No! That's just..." but before Suzaku can finish speaking, the necklace he is wearing gives him several electric shocks, making him stop talking because of the pain.

"Ironic," says Rakshata in amusement. "If it hadn't been for the necklace they gave Suzaku, then he might have ruined Zero's whole plan."

Nunnally looks sadly at the Suzaku on the screen. "It really shows how counterproductive the cruelty was, it only made everything end up worse for everyone. It inflicted unfair harm on Suzaku and didn't let him explain himself, even though that explanation might have helped Mr. Jeremiah."

"Can everyone in your house see this?" asks the announcer as the crowd murmurs on the screen. "It's some kind of device, though its purpose is unclear. Stay with us and we can see if this so-called terrorist explains himself."

"You bastard..." Jeremiah mutters angrily. "He took all the Britannians present as hostages! Without them knowing they are hostages!" Jeremiah points his gun at Zero.

"Quite clever of him," says Schneizel. "If the people in the crowd had realized the position they were in, they would surely have started to flee, so Lelouch would have nothing left to bargain with Mr. Gottwald."

Cornelia nods at her brother's words. "It also left Gottwald and his followers in a very bad position. They could not warn the civilians that there was poison gas, because to them if they did, then they would be revealing that Clovis was experimenting with chemical weapons."

"It really was a brilliant move," admits Tohdoh. "In just a moment he put his enemies between a rock and a hard place."

"Will you shoot me?" asks Zero mockingly as he is shown on the televisions inside the car Diethard is in. "I think you know what will happen..."

"Unit six, increase the volume!" commands Diethard. "And bring the camera closer! Bring it closer to his face!"

"Really?" asks Guilford annoyed. "The military was in that situation and he decides to just keep filming."

Nina tries to give her opinion. "It's really not like he had a better option, maybe canceling the recording might have made the incident less well known, but it would show that the military had trouble dealing with what appeared to be just one person."

"But sir, it's dangerous!" warns a staff member.

Diethard is annoyed. "Tsk. Geez, beginners!"accompanied by his words Diethard grabs one of the cameras inside the vehicle and gets out to record for himself.

"I'm honestly surprised," says Guilford, looking at the producer. "I didn't expect him to have the guts to go out and record himself, he seemed to be the kind of guy who lets other people take care of the dangerous stuff."

"You'd be surprised," Schneizel also looks at the producer. "I remember that even when Lelouch had us cornered in the Damocles, he proved to be quite brave. I don't think I've ever seen him scared."

Zero is shown again in front of Jeremiah and the other Britannian soldiers.

"All right," says Jeremiah, dropping his gun. "What do you want?"

"An exchange. This is for Suzaku Kururugi."

"Don't be absurd!" Jeremiah shouts as he moves his eyes to look at Suzaku. "This man is guilty of high treason for the murder of Prince Clovis! I can't turn him over to you!"

"No!" says Zero. "You're wrong, Jeremiah. He's not the killer."

Diethard runs down the highway to start filming, focusing right on Zero's face.

"So that shot came from him," says Kaguya, remembering watching the event. "Most of the shots were pretty far away, but there was one that showed Zero up close, it looks like Diethard was responsible for it."

"I killed Clovis!" Zero proclaims, looking directly at the camera that Diethard is carrying.

"Did Lelouch know the Diethard was there?" asks Rivalz.

"It looks like it," Kallen replies. "I honestly don't remember seeing him, although I think it was because I was too nervous at the time to notice him."

The crowd of civilians could not believe what they had just heard.

"What?" says one of the spectators, confused.

"It can't be!" shouts another.

"Really?" says a confused onlooker.

Diethard upon hearing Zero's proclamation cannot help but smile at the spectacle he is witnessing.

"I can't believe it!" says Cécile as the screen shows her and Lloyd.

"The real killer!" says Lloyd enthusiastically.

Milly looking at her former fiancé. "You were really too excited, Lloyd. Were you so excited that Zero was the real killer of Prince Clovis?"

"Of course," the scientist replied happily. "That meant that Suzaku would surely be found innocent, so I could have him back as the pilot of the Lancelot."

"Lloyd!" says Cécile sternly. "You should be happy that Suzaku wasn't going to be executed, not because you could have him back as a pilot."

The camera switches to show the JLF members reacting to Zero's words.

"What does this mean?" says the announcer in confusion. "This masked man named Zero... No, we don't know who he really is. But, in any case, he claims to be the culprit! What does that mean for the arrested soldier Kururugi?"

"He overdid it!" says Ohgi in panic. "We can't escape!"

"We have no hope now," says Kallen, trembling with fear.

"It's weird to see me acting so scared," Kallen squeezes her hand a little. "It's hard to think there was a time when I didn't think Zero's plan wouldn't succeed, I usually just worried about doing my part."

"For a single eleven, you will save the lives of many invaluable Britannians," says Zero as he is shown being recorded by Diethard. "I don't think that's a bad deal for you."

"He's doing all this like it's a show!" thinks Diethard with a maniacal grin.

"You're crazy, I tell you!" Jeremiah shouts angrily. "By disguising that truck as His Highness's, he's making a mockery of us! I'll make him pay!"

Jeremiah's soldiers get into position to shoot at Zero, but he doesn't even flinch. "Are you sure? Do you want the public to know about Orange?"

"So, what was that about Orange?" asks Xingke. "I don't remember Lelouch ever explaining it to us."

"Isn't it obvious?!" says Jeremiah, raising his voice. "It's my mission! It's my reason for existing! It's my very identity! Orange is all that I am and all that I will forever follow His Majesty for."

Jeremiah along with the other soldiers are confused by Zero's words.

"What do he mean by Orange?" asks a soldier to his companion.

"I don't know."

Zero hits the vehicle a few times causing it to start moving forward again. "If I die, everything will be published. If you don't want that to happen..."

"What are you talking about?" asks Jeremiah confused. "What are you saying?"

Lelouch activates a mechanism in his mask, causing part of it to open and show one of his eyes, in the eye you can perfectly see the Geass symbol. "Let us go using your position, also your prisoner!" Lelouch uses his Geass on Jeremiah.

"I don't understand," Guilford looks at the scene confused, then turns to look at Jeremiah. "If he really used his Geass on you, why do you keep praising him? He only ordered you to help them escape, not to be loyal to him, not to mention that this incident is what caused your fall in the army."

Jeremiah looks at Guilford. "My loyalty to His Majesty has nothing to do with the Geass, it was his own person that caused my loyalty to belong to him alone. You should be able to understand that?"

Guilford still looks at Jeremiah in confusion, but finds himself agreeing with him. Guilford himself knows that he would always be loyal to Cornelia, no matter what.

"Understood!" says Jeremiah, being controlled by the Geass. "Hand over the prisoner!"

Jeremiah's order surprises Kallen and Villetta.

"Mr. Jeremiah, what did you say?" said Villetta, unable to believe her ears.

"Hand over the prisoner!" Jeremiah orders again, causing Villetta to lose her composure.

Villetta frowns at what she observes. "I really didn't understand what was happening at that moment, I couldn't understand why Jeremiah would be obeying Zero," Villetta looks at Jeremiah discreetly. "And now I don't understand why he's still loyal to him."

"Shall we do it?" asks one of the soldiers guarding Suzaku.

"But..." his companion tries to say, not understanding his superior's order.

Jeremiah interrupts the discussion among his subordinates. "Let them take him away! Let no one interfere!"

"What are you thinking making a deal like this?" asks Kewell as he approaches Jeremiah in his knightmare.

"Mr. Kewell!" Jeremiah says as the camera focuses on his eyes. "This is an order!"

The scene changes to show Cécile and Lloyd still seeing everything that is happening.

"I can't see what happened from here, but it looks like Suzaku Kururugi's release was negotiated," says the announcer.

Suzaku is shown walking freely towards Zero, around them the whole crowd shouts confused by what is happening, none of them can understand why the military let Suzaku go free and accepted Zero's negotiations.

"It really must have been confusing for those people," Sayoko says. "For them, they are simply watching the military not only not attempt to arrest the man who just proclaimed himself to be Prince Clovis' killer, but they are also acceding to their demands to hand over Mr. Suzaku to him."

"It was for us, too," says Rivalz. "None of us could understand what was happening."

"Who the hell...?" Suzaku tries to ask about Zero's identity, but the necklace he still wears gives him an electric shock again.

"I didn't expect them to let you talk," says Zero as he sees Suzaku being electrocuted, behind him Kallen slowly approaches.

Ohgi, seeing that the plan was succeeding, activated his knightmare.

"If they escape, we'll be a disgrace!" says Villetta as she gets into her knightmare.

"Zero, it's time," says Kallen.

"Then we'll talk later," says Lelouch as he presses a button he was holding.

The capsule that once contained C.C. begins to shake and let out a strange purple smoke, causing the crowd to start running away in fear.

"What did that smoke end up being in the end?" asks Anya.

"It was just colored smoke," Jeremiah replied. "His Majesty would never have done anything that would actually put the lives of innocents at risk in what would be his debut as Zero, it would have simply ruined his public image."

"Cowardly eleven!" Villetta shouts as she tries to start shooting, but is stopped by Jeremiah's knightmare. "Why did you do that, Mr. Jeremiah?"

"I told you to not interfere!" Jeremiah proclaims, still being controlled by the Geass.

Lelouch while holding Suzaku jumps off the bridge right with Kallen.

"Did Lelouch just jump off a bridge?" Milly could hardly believe her eyes. "I know Zero had jumped, but seeing him knowing it was Lelouch makes it all very strange."

Rivalz and Nina nod at Milly's words.

"Did they jump?" said Kewell, confused. "They must be his accomplices!"

Seeing that Lelouch along with Kallen jumped Ohgi uses his knightmare to deploy a tarp, which makes Lelouch along with the other two fall more gently into the vehicle that is attached to Ohgi's knightmare.

"It worked!" says Ohgi happily. Now we can...

But Ohgi is interrupted by Kewell, who with his knightmare starts shooting at Ohgi.

"Idiots!" shouts Kewell. "Is there nowhere to run."

"Mr. Kewell!" Jeremiah shouts, pointing his knightmare's weapon at his companion. "Will you follow my orders or not? Any action you take will be punished! Is that clear? I will tell all units! Do everything in your power to help them escape!"

"Although it ended up being the opposite in the end," Villetta thinks sadly, then frowns. "If it weren't for him..."

The city is shown at night, followed by a half-destroyed building, inside it are Ohgi, Kallen and Tamaki, along with several of their fellow terrorists.

"Dude, I really didn't think he could make it," says one of the terrorists.

"Who is that guy?" asks another terrorist.

"It's bullshit!" said Tamaki. "How many times can a lie like that work, anyway?"

Kallen looks wearily at his friend. "Really, Tamaki? Even then you still didn't believe that Zero could make it?" Kallen expresses a mocking look. "Don't tell me you were just upset because you were wrong?"

Tamaki scratches his head in frustration. "I get it, I get it. I just didn't want to believe him. Happy? I didn't like the thought that a stranger would be the one to make it possible for us to defeat Britannia."

"But, you must admit something," Ohgi says, looking at the ground, and then quickly looks at Tamaki with a smile. "Who else could have pulled something like this off? Even the Japan Liberation Front couldn't do this, certainly not me. We all thought a war against the Britannians was impossible. But maybe it is possible with him."

"Did you call us useless?" asks Chiba angrily. "It's not our fault that we couldn't save Kururugi, after all we didn't have that cursed power."

"And Lelouch didn't have half the resources that you do," Cornelia looks annoyed at the Japanese woman. "You can say that Lelouch simply managed to win because of his Geass, but the truth is that the achievement is something that you could not, to say that it was only because of the Geass is stupid, we all could see how even without it he put Mr. Gottwald in a big dilemma."

Chiba looks ready to start arguing with the former Princess, but before she can say anything she is stopped by Tohdoh, who grabs her shoulder to calm her down.

"She is right," says Tohdoh surprising Chiba. "The Geass was still just a tool, we can't say that this victory by Lelouch doesn't count, after all it's very possible that if he had the same resources we had at that time he could have found a way to save Suzaku."

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Guilford murmurs to Cornelia. "I don't see why you defended the Demon Emperor to Madame Chiba."

"I'm fine," Cornelia replies quietly. "I do not forgive Lelouch for all the atrocities he committed, but I will not let my feelings guide my actions in this matter, I will not deny that Lelouch had a great talent for tactics and strategy, to do so would simply insult all the people who lost their lives for one of his plans."

Ohgi's words make Kallen react, she turns her head to observe where Zero had gone with Suzaku.

"It looks like you were treated very badly," says Zero as the screen shows him and Suzaku. "Now you know what they're really like, Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten. If you want to change the world, join me!"

"Joining you...", Zero thinks as he hears again the old offer Lelouch had made him. "I wonder... What would have happened if I had accepted your proposal, could everything have turned out better? But if I had accepted I surely wouldn't have met Euphy... Lelouch... I must see it, I must see what really happened at that moment between you and Euphy."

"So it's true?" asks Suzaku. "Are you really the one who killed Prince Clovis?"

Xingke looks curiously at Suzaku. Is that what's worrying him? Knowing if Zero really is the killer? Most people would simply thank their savior or ask him why he saved them."

"We could see that Suzaku was not like most people," says Rakshata. "His whole demeanor has been strange from the very beginning, and while his father's suicide may have affected him in some way, it's hard to see how exactly it made his personality what it was at the time. Most people would have simply hated Britannia even more if they were in Suzaku's shoes, they would blame it believing that their invasion is responsible for his father's suicide, but here we have seen the opposite, he for some reason not only decides to join Britannia, but he is also willing to accept an unfair deal."

"It's certainly a peculiar behavior," Guilford grabs hold of his chin. "I really can't understand what's going on in his head."

Nunnally looks worriedly at Zero beside her. "Suzaku... What is it that you never told me?".

"This is a war," says Zero. "It is natural to kill the enemy commander."

Suzaku looks at the ground for a moment. "What about the poison gas? And all those civilians you used as hostages?"

"It was just a lie to help with the exchange," says Zero. "As a result, no one died."

"Result?" asks Suzaku annoyed. "Of course... That's all you care about." Suzaku smiles sadly.

"But everything went well," says Rivalz. "No one was hurt by Lelouch's plan, so why would Suzaku be upset about that?"

"I don't think Suzaku was exactly upset about His Majesty's plan," says Cécile. "I think what bothered him more was the vision he had of the whole thing, from what we have been able to see, it seems that His Majesty has the philosophy that the end justifies the means, something Suzaku doesn't seem to agree with."

Rivalz is still confused. "But isn't that the same as Britannia? We could see how they were planning to murder everyone in the ghetto just to retrieve Prince Clovis' capsule, what makes it different?"

Cécile doesn't really know how to answer Rivalz's question, so she tries to look at Lloyd for support, but the scientist simply smiles amused, making Cécile look at Rivalz a little embarrassed. "I really couldn't say, maybe Suzaku will clarify it in one of the episodes."

Zero extends his hand toward Suzaku. "Join me. The Britannia you serve is a worthless nation."

Kallen listening to Lelouch couldn't help but let a wave of jealousy wash over her, the same jealousy she felt when she saw how Lelouch and C.C. seemed to be able to know what the other was thinking. The same wave of jealousy she felt when she saw C.C. standing next to Lelouch in that cave in Narita. "Tch, even now I can't help but feel left out," Kallen looks at Zero in the room with barely contained anger. "Lelouch, even though I know the reason why you pushed me away I can't help but wish you would have allowed me to be by your side, just like how you allowed C.C. and Suzaku to be."

"Perhaps it is true, however... However, this Nation can be changed for the better and from within Britannia itself!" says Suzaku.

"Changed?" thinks Lelouch confused by Suzaku's words.

"And I think the results obtained by despicable methods are worthless!" says Suzaku, walking away from Zero.

"And how is joining Britannia not despicable!" asks Kallen furious. "What right does he have to say that our methods are despicable when he joined Britannia?!"

Chiba supports Kallen. "Kururugi was simply a hypocrite."

"Wait!" shouts Zero. "Where are you going?"

Suzaku continues walking without turning to Zero. "My court-martial starts in an hour."

"Are you crazy?" asks Zero, upset. "This trial is set up so you'll be found guilty! The judge, the prosecution, the defense..."

"The rules are the rules," Suzaku replies, pausing. "And if I don't go, they will start oppressing the eleven and the honorary Britannians."

Tamaki clenches his teeth in fury. "Idiot brat! They were already oppressing us; they've been doing it from the very first moment!"

Ohgi also frowns at Suzaku's words, he cannot understand what drives Suzaku to continue following Britannia.

"But you will die!" shouts Zero.

"I don't care."

"You're being stupid!"

"An old friend used to tell me I was being stupid all the time," Suzaku says, surprising Lelouch. "I guess it's a personal flaw. I want to arrest you, but you'll probably murder me if I try to do it now. If I'm going to die, I want it to be serving people. Still, thanks for saving me."

With those words Suzaku walks away making Lelouch grit his teeth in frustration. "You fool!"

"It seems that Lelouch was also unable to understand Suzaku's actions," says Xingke.

"I doubt anyone could do it," Cornelia adds. "His whole demeanor and attitude feels unnatural; it seems as if he has no sense of self-preservation or self-esteem."

The scene changes to show Nunnally still listening to the news.

"Yes," says the announcer. "Apparently. Private Kururugi has contacted the authorities. It appears that Zero has released him. However, now that the original charges against him have been challenged, it is quite possible that Kururugi will be found not guilty and acquitted..."

"Thank God," says Nunnally.

"Nunnally...", Zero thinks as he sees how his Empress starts to hold his hand tightly. "I really was a bad friend, I was willing to go to my own execution without stopping to think about how my death would make you and Lelouch feel, but now it will be different, I swear, I swear I will give everything so I can protect you and the peace that Lelouch gave his life for."

Suddenly there is the sound of someone opening a door, so Nunnally turns his head.

"Miss Sayoko?" said Nunnally, thinking it was her maid who had come in.

But instead of being Sayoko, a woman with a prisoner's outfit and green hair can be seen in part, which is revealed to be C.C.

"C.C.!" shouts Kallen. "What is she doing in Nunnally's room?"

Cornelia quickly turns to her half-sister. "She didn't do anything wrong to you, did she?"

"I'm fine, Sister," Nunnally replies. "Miss C.C. didn't do me any harm when I met her, she just made small talk with me."

"How did she get in?" asks Cornelia with a frown.

"I really don't know, Miss Sayoko had already left when Miss C.C. arrived," Nunnally tries to remember that night. "Maybe she climbed in through a window."

Cornelia looks apprehensively at Nunnally. "Didn't you worry about a stranger suddenly coming into your home?"

"I was confused at first, but when she introduced herself and said she knew my brother I stopped worrying, I didn't feel she was lying."

"I guess it's okay, just promise me you'll be more careful in the future."

"I promise," Nunnally smiles kindly at Cornelia. "Besides, I have Zero to protect me, don't I?"

Zero nods. "That's right, don't worry Miss Cornelia, I swear to protect the Empress with my life," Zero stands up so he can see everyone in the room. "I'm sure you all want to watch the next episode immediately, but seeing the time I think I should advise that the next episode should be the last one we watch before we go to lunch. At lunch we can discuss everything further."

"Sounds good to me," says Nunnally. "Then if no one has a problem, let's move on to the next episode."

No one in the audience says anything, so Nunnally quickly uses the remote control to start the next episode.

---

Here is the new chapter of the translation, I hope you enjoy it. I was able to finish it a little earlier, so I'm posting it from now on, but the next chapter will surely be posted again on Friday.

The text below is the original chapter notes.

Well, here I bring you the fourth episode, right at the end of the year, I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to finish this little chapter so soon, but while I was writing it it just flowed fast most of the time, hopefully I can post the next two chapters in the same amount of time it takes to do this one.

I hope I have not been too hard on Suzaku in this chapter, but I honestly doubt that most characters with the exception of Cécile and Nunnally can attempt to defend Suzaku's actions at this point, remember that at the moment only Tohdoh, Kallen and Suzaku himself know what really happened with Genbu's death.

As always I try to include a little bit of information about extra Code Geass stuff, the whole Kewell's family thing being a little bit of that information, I was also quite interested in the death of Suzaku's father, mostly because the reason why he ends up being killed and even his murderer is very inconsistent, an example would be that in a manga it is C.C. who kills him instead of Suzaku, and in the novel of the series the reason why Suzaku kills him is because he was planning to kill Nunnally.

Something I want to announce in this episode is that I'm looking for people who are willing to help me in this story, I'm looking for a beta reader, since I think I could improve the quality of the chapters, another person I'm looking for is someone who would be willing to help me with an English translation of this story, since it's something I would like to do, but I don't have enough skills to do it by myself. If anyone is interested in helping me in any of these two positions, don't hesitate to send me a message, so we could see how everything would work.

As always, please feel free to comment your opinion about the chapter.

I hope you have a happy new year, or those who have already had a happy new year will have a happy new year