The Demon and the Red Moon

Feels good to be writing. Like an old suit I never get to wear. Sorry bout these waits. The only thing is I got a bitchin' master-grade. (Hi-nu Gundam ver. Ka.) And two more are coming. So I'm gonna be knee-deep in plastic.

On to answering some reviews.

There'll be lemon, don't worry. Just...t-rated lemon. Don't know how that's gonna work, but I won't leave you hanging for long. Ish. Longish. Definitely this millennium. Probably this century.

The Yaoi thing was my fourth-wall violating declaration that YAOI is WRONG.

Kitana? I only have two words to say to that. FETISH HER!

Best? Ever? Should write R2? Maybe.

Why no one thought to look for Lelouch by his mother's maiden name after the invasion of Japan? Well, Charles didn't care, what with his Raganarok Connection! and all. And...uh...why wouldn't they find him with just his first name? Or by drawing the connection with himself and Nunnally? Or that he pays his phone bills with illegal gambling money? (I assume.) Why did no one in Area Eleven recognize him? Code Geass is full of holes, roll with it.

Jiggyjoe: mentioned cuz of the fifteen reviews in a row. (Sucks in deep breath completely needlessly.) Quel was an accident due to lack of information at the time. Not going to bother changing though, since he's (spoiler alert) gonna die. Quickly. Painfully. Like all the characters of game of thrones. Asheford (and Stradtfeld) are both intentional misspellings on my part. Asheford just looks more Britannian with an E in it. Calling CC "C" is DESIGNED to draw the connection between C's World and her. More deliberate stuff. AND finally, for the "Majesty" thing. Honest mistake if you're right, but also made in the Code Geass anime a few times. Go bug Sunrise.

Technical Mistake: Last Chapter Euphemia was supposed to hear the name Lamperouge before she told everyone else what her last name was. My bad. Slightly off.

Side note. I had to freakin' comb the last episode every freaking frame of footage for the one bit where the blue-haired girl Inoue dies because I didn't know her name. NO ONE EVER CARED ABOUT THESE PEOPLE. SERIOUSLY, OHGI, KALLEN, SOMETIMES TAMAKI, THAT'S ALL WE CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE FOR! AND MOSTLY OHGI COS VILLETA'S BEWBS, KALLEN COS OF KALLEN'S BEWBS AND GUREN, AND TAMAKI COS COMEDIC RELIEF!

Spinzaku Kururugi Fact #3 At the center of each Rasengan lies a tiny Spinzaku Kururugi

Chapter 7-The Resistance Group

C opened the door just as the pizza deliveryman arrived. She accepted the pizza without comment or even facial expression and closed the door again. The only sign of her excitement was her faster than usual, but still casual pace. She entered Lelouch's room without caring about the condition of his things. She flopped the pizza down on the bed and lay down beside it, flipping the box open.

Then a blast of pressure and hot air blasted the window in and threw glass like shrapnel. C was thrown away by the blast of hot air, impaled in three places, her pizza becoming a mess on the floor.

0.0.0

Lelouch rose from his landing area on the floor of class. His forehead stung above his left eyebrow. His left arm had a sharp stabbing pain in it. He looked down at his hand and saw he was bleeding. He recoiled quickly, getting to a sitting position. He put pressure on the wound, where a shard of glass had sliced into his arm.

"Class is everyone alright?" The teacher began, panicked. Students were screaming.

"Lelouch!" Rivalz cried out, alarmed. Hearing Lelouch's name made Kallen's head swing about almost instantly. She gasped as she saw the blood covering him. His hand was white-knuckled around his arm. Kallen and Rivalz both ran over. Kallen removed her tie and began to wrap it around Lelouch's wounded arm, dropping to her knees beside him. He hissed as she began to tie the fabric tightly around his arm.

"I'll be alright," Lelouch said as he closed his left eye as blood began to drip over it. Nurses began to rush in along with other teachers.

"Over here!" Kallen shouted. She was ushered out of the way as the adults began to gather around Lelouch. He was the only one severely injured.

0.0.0

'I am Kusakabe of the Japanese Liberation Front,' a plump bearded man said on the television at the hospital. Kallen watched in horror. Her own people had targeted innocent people. Kusakabe continued to speak, decked in his armored green uniform. "We demand the immediate withdrawal of all Britannian Military from Japan within the next 96 hours. If our demands are not met will attack again."

'Britannia won't be defeated by terrorism.' Lelouch's words echoed in Kallen's ears. She wanted to believe that Britannia would ease back. But she'd seen Shinjuku and Saitama. She remembered her own words during the theft of the capsule. She hadn't released the poison gas.

"How is Lelouch?" Suzaku asked from behind Kallen. "I was working on an assignment when I heard the news. Is he alright?"

"He's with the doctors," Kallen said without turning, looking down, almost in shame. "They said he'd need several stitches but that his injuries are non-life threatening." She winced as she felt her eyes water. "All the glass that shattered was right beside him. He was the only one hurt!" tears began to leak from her eyes, and she ground them shut, angry.

Suzaku blinked, wide-eyed, at Kallen's emotional tone as she spoke. She felt very strongly for Lelouch, Suzaku could tell. He smiled, despite himself.

"Seems some crazy eleven blew himself up with a Sakuradite bomb," Lloyd noted whimsically. Kallen and Suzaku turned to face Lloyd, glaring angrily. Lloyd paused, his hands still in his pockets, suddenly very nervous. "Sorry, Japanese," he corrected, grinning sheepishly behind his glasses.

"Not that it matters, the Britannian Military will be on the Japanese Liberation Front even harder now. They tracked the broadcast to the Kawaguchi region." Suzaku recoiled at Lloyd's mention of Kawaguchi. He spun onto the Kallen.

"Isn't Kawaguchi where Madam President and the others went for their school trip?" Suzaku asked Kallen, alarmed. Kallen's eyes widened in alarm.

"Lloyd, Princess Cornelia has asked us to get to Kawaguchi!" Cecile shouted as she left the stairwell. Suzaku ran past Lloyd for the stairwell. "Suzaku, wait, your friend!"

"Oh bloody hell!" Lloyd exclaimed, following after Suzaku.

0.0.0

C winced as she pulled the bloody glass out of her chest. Her wound began to close as soon as the glass was moved. She looked over the shrubs to see the emergency workers scrambled about Lelouch's room. She tossed the bloody glass away. The student council building looked totaled.

"Oh stop teasing me," she commented to the ether. "Who do you think you're dealing with?"

She pulled another glass shard from her arm.

"No, I don't know how Lelouch is. Why don't you find out yourself?" C blinked, surprised. She scowled. "Fine, don't talk to me." She glanced over at the wall to see the same blue-haired girl draw a cross into the wall. She narrowed her eyes at the absurdity.

0.0.0

"Lelouch? Is Lelouch here?" Nunnally asked as Rivalz pushed her along the hallway. Kallen was about to call out to Nunnally when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked to see her father.

"Kallen, are you alright?" Her father asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Kallen assured. She turned back to Nunnally. "Nunnally, over here!" Rivalz drove Lelouch's blind sister over to where Kallen and her father were standing.

"Kallen, it's awful!" Nunnally exclaimed.

"Lelouch and Nunnally's room was destroyed in the blast," Rivalz informed, sadly. Kallen winced. She glanced at her father. "And there's nowhere in the dorms that can take care of Nunnally. Even if Sayoko lived with her."

"Dad," Kallen started, wondering. Kallen's father looked from Kallen to Nunnally, thoughtfully.

0.0.0

Lelouch winced as the surgeon drew the thread of the stitches on his left arm. He glanced at the blood-stained tie in his other hand. Kallen had helped him. He made a mental note to thank her. Then the surgeon yanked to draw the string tight. He hissed and forgot his train of thought.

"I need to take this," a nurse said, putting a hand on the tie. Lelouch looked at her.

"It'll be fine," he declared, using his Geass.

"No, it won't. It will be dangerous," the nurse insisted. Lelouch's eyes widened as his Geass failed to take effect. He let go of the tie, regretfully. His Geass hadn't worked. Was it possible his wound had removed his Geass? Or was it because C had been injured?

He pondered the idea as they wrapped his arm and put it into a sling. A doctor escorted Lelouch out of the room. He saw Kallen, Nunnally, Rivalz and Kallen's father waiting for him.

"Are you the parent?" The nurse asked Kallen's father.

"I'm his guardian, yes," He replied. Lelouch narrowed his eyes a twitch at the response.

"Lelouch should be fine, but he will need help with bathing himself and eating," the nurse informed. Lelouch made an annoyed sound. He wasn't an invalid, Nunnally's care was more important.

"I'll be certain to have him cared for," Kallen's father replied dutifully. "He and his sister will be living with my family for the time being." Lelouch's vision focused on Kallen's father.

"Who decided this?" He asked in loud irritation.

"Kallen made the request that you stay in our house until your condition returns to normal," Kallen's father informed. Lelouch looked at Kallen.

"I don't need your pity!" Lelouch declared.

"Lelouch!" Nunnally admonished.

"Lelouch," Kallen admonished angrily. "How will you take care of Nunnally in the boy's dorm at Asheford academy." Lelouch gritted his teeth. He could never care for Nunnally in the small dorms. In reality Kallen's house was his best option. He winced and looked back at Kallen's father.

"Thank you, sir," Lelouch said, bowing graciously.

0.0.0

Milly and Shirley huddled around Nina in the center of the group of hostages. The room was normally the convention center. It was darkened, Milly could barely see Nina in front of her. They were all surrounded by soldiers in green uniforms. Nina's hand was trembling in fear. A large man calling himself Kusakabe had announced that they were his prisoners.

"Milly," came a whisper. Milly glanced over her shoulder. She blinked in surprise at Euphemia's face. "Don't worry Milly, Shirley, Nina. My sister won't let us be harmed. We just need to stay hopeful." As soon as Euphemia was done speaking the man calling himself Kusakabe reemerged. He looked around, searching.

He was overweight, but strongly muscled. His paunchy cheeks and chin were covered with a dark, heavily-styled beard and mustache. Above his curved nose, his beady eyes scanned the hostages. His green uniform was adorned in several places with medals and campaign ribbons. Rather than denote experience however, on him they signaled a desire to appear larger to his enemies.

He would've almost looked comical if not for the sword at his side. True sword-making in Japan had foundered after the second pacific war. Since then many of these almost ceremonial pieces were stamped cold-forged blades of sub-standard steel. Kusakabe's was of even later vintage, from the recent invasion of Japan.

"That one," he said, pointing a black-gloved hand at something Euphie couldn't see. "The head of the committee. Bring him to the roof." Two soldiers came forward and picked up the man, who was already screaming. Euphemia winced behind her clandestine glasses. Kusakabe left the room following behind the two soldiers and the hostage.

0.0.0

Lelouch had instantly begun searching for a television. He didn't have time for niceties, and more importantly, his friends didn't have the time. He quickly grabbed the remote and flipped through channels until he found a news broadcast covering Kawaguchi. It was getting dark.

'Wait, there's been a new development!' a female voice said as the camera zoomed in on the roof. At Kawaguchi, Suzaku had already noticed and zoomed in with Lancelot's fact-sphere sensors. Two soldiers were shoving a man to the edge. Lelouch gripped the remote tightly.

"Don't do it," he urged the television in vain. "Idiot, if you execute a hostage they'll move even faster and kill you all." The soldiers, not heeding Lelouch's vain prayers, kept shoving. "Stop it," an angry hissed whisper. Behind Lelouch, Kallen's eyes widened, her hands going into fists unconciously.

The soldiers shoved the man off the roof.

Suzaku saw it all. Lelouch saw nothing as the broadcast was cut away.

The man's face was visible most of the way down. Unfettered horror was painted across his face. Suzaku could hear him screaming through the gag. When the screaming didn't stop after the man had hit the ground, Suzaku realized he'd been screaming.

"Stupid idiot," Lelouch chided in Kallen's living room. The image changed again. Kusakabe sat on a couch, surrounded by Japanese soldiers.

'Our demands have gone unanswered,' Kusakabe noted, monotone. 'Therefore we will throw one hostage from the roof every thirty minutes. If Britannia values their lives, it will send word as to remove all military elements from Japan in 24 hours. Long Live Japan!' The screen went black.

'Repeating our top story,' an anchor began. Lelouch shut the television off.

"We don't know that Milly and the others are there," Kallen began, trying to calm Lelouch down. Lelouch didn't move for a moment.

"They're there," he declared. "Milly proposed it because it would interest Nina. The others would appreciate the resort. It was a perfect destination. I know, because she had me make the preparations." Lelouch set the remote down. He spun elegantly to face Kallen. "Therefore, it falls to me to ensure their safety."

"I," Kallen said, looking down. "I suggested Kawaguchi to Milly," she admitted, ashamed.

"Then we have common goals," Lelouch declared. "It doesn't change anything. And there are a few others that would be ideal for helping us." Kallen looked up in surprise at Lelouch's words. Not just what he was suggesting, but also his tone, the way he said it. She wasn't addressing Lelouch Lamperouge anymore. This was Lelouch vi Britannia. Zero.

"But if you're costume was in your room..." Kallen began, uncertain. Lelouch gave her a cocky smile. Kallen's heart did a small jump.

"Do you think I've been spending the past few weeks doing nothing?"

"How long does it take you to get dressed?" Lelouch asked half an hour later. His tone was irritated, and his mood was worse. He'd heard about women taking forever somewhere, but he never thought it was actually true. And while lives were at stake. This was completely unacceptable. 'And it's not like you're going to keep it on,' Lelouch mentally added. Then he shook his head after hearing how vulgar it sounded in his head.

"Shut up, Lelouch," Kallen grumbled as she opened the door. Lelouch's brain stopped for a moment at the sight of her. She was back in her terrorist uniform. Short red shorts, thigh-high leggings, and a red vest over a short shirt. Her hair was spiked up and complimented with her read head-band. Lelouch pushed off the wall into a standing position. His arm in the sling gave a sharp pinching in complaint.

He tried to hide his wince, but Kallen noticed it anyway. He began to walk for the front door.

"Where are you two going?" came the haughty female voice of Kallen's blonde mother. Lelouch stopped. She was below in the room leading to the doorway. Lelouch gritted his teeth. That woman was getting on his nerves rapidly. He felt his left eye manifest his Geass power.

"I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you," he began, flourishing his right arm.

"Lelouch vi Britannia?" the woman echoed. Then his Geass order took effect.

Lelouch and Kallen walked out the door just as Lady Stradtfeld began howling.

0.0.0

'I'm going to be scarred for life,' Kallen noted mentally as she ran to Ohgi's headquarters. She'd left Lelouch alone at the spot he wanted Kallen to bring Ohgi and the others to. She just hoped she could be fast enough.

0.0.0

Lelouch pulled a section of the wall out and revealed a second outfit. Lelouch had been preparing this for two weeks. He didn't think he'd need the second suit so suddenly. Luckily the third, fourth, and fifth were well on the way. That might be handy, seeing as Lelouch was feeling considerable doubt about his ability to use Geass.

It had worked on Kallen's mother, but not on the nurse. There were too many variables to consider. He removed his outer jacket that had been draped around his slung arm. On the one hand, his left eye had very nearly been destroyed. Was his Geass fluctuating because of the wound? Possibly blood flow, emotional health? C might know the answers.

"Going out already, so soon after your injury, Lelouch?" Lelouch stiffened at the sudden voice, but he relaxed, not looking at the source, he already knew who it was. Kallen wouldn't be back yet, and the only one who could know his location was...

"C," he finished, confidently. "Think of the devil, and she shall appear."

"I'm a devil now? I thought I was a witch," C commented, sitting down in Lelouch's chair.

"A witch would be able to provide more consistent results. Your bargain is having difficulties making itself known when needed," Lelouch noted aloud. He turned to face her. "My Geass, why won't it work?"

"Your injury might have something to do with that, or it might be a side-effect of your manifestation. All Geass is inherently different. If you live long enough you might even become familiar with how different." Cs monotone was just as irritating as the information she provided.

"You mean Geass is different in each person?" Lelouch asked to confirm.

"Each person is different, aren't they?" C said, as if it was obvious. "As to why your Geass isn't working. Another variable is that it's very young. You've only had it a short time, and you haven't yet lost control of it. I've seen Geass last for decades. It hasn't even reflected in your other eye yet."

"What?!" Lelouch hissed, upset. "I'll lose control of this Geass?"

"As it drives your brain to produce even more negative emotions," C confirmed, uninterested. Lelouch gritted his teeth. "Geass is like a parasite. It requires something of the user in order to function. In Geass case, that's negative emotions like irritation, anger, jealously. So it alters the person over time to make them more susceptible." C noted this with a smirk. "Suddenly having second thoughts?"

"Get it out of me," Lelouch ordered, angrily.

"I can't do that Lelouch," C countered. "I need you to fulfill your contract. I'll act as your accomplice, I'll protect you, I'll even die for you. But I won't take back that contract." Lelouch's gritted teeth shrunk to a dissatisfied frown.

"I very much doubt you'll die for me," Lelouch noted, turning back to his Zero costume. "Now get out." C refused to move. He gave her a glare.

"Suddenly worried about me seeing your parts, Lelouch? I didn't think you were so prudish," C teased. "But won't you be needing help with your arm, since you need the sling? I'm sure you'll look extra imposing with your cloak held closed by a hand in a sling." Lelouch turned, rebellious. He then reached over with his right arm and removed the sling, ducking under the strap, and flexed his left arm.

"Don't get cocky," he noted, ignoring the piercing pain of his arm. "Witch." He began to strip in front of C. She didn't even bat an eye as he unclothed. Lelouch finally blushed and turned around to cover himself. "A real witch would have decency," Lelouch taunted, irritated.

As soon as he was covered and wearing his cloak, he picked up his helmet and gloves and began to move out of his office in the vehicle.

"If you're my accomplice, help me move things," Lelouch demanded. He hissed as he tapped his left arm on the wall. Putting on that suit had been excruciating. It even squeezed down on the heavy bandage covering it, making it tingle and tickle in oddly painful ways. And he couldn't lift the boxes the way his arm was.

0.0.0

Kallen lead Ohgi and the others to a large wheeled vehicle. As they approached the door in the side, Kallen leaned against the side of the vehicle and gave Ohgi a smugly teasing smile. Ohgi walked in just as Kallen opened the door.

"Welcome aboard," Zero greeted. Ohgi made a surprised sound as he saw Zero.

"Are you sure you want us to join forces?" Ohgi asked, nervously.

"Of course, we're comrades after all," Zero replied. He crossed his legs on the couch. He almost jumped as the cushion on which he was sitting kicked him. He grinned inside his helmet as he remembered. He'd shoved C in the secret compartment under the bench.

"Do you have a mission to accomplish then?" Ohgi asked, uncertain. He looked around the vehicle. "And what is this thing? It's pretty swank." Zero cocked his head to his right side, just a tad. Ohgi noticed and blushed, embarrassed.

"Swank indeed," Zero noted. Tamaki snickered, flopping down on the couch next to Zero. C screamed, almost in pain, from under the cushions.

"Is there someone under there?" Ohgi asked, suddenly concerned.

"It's a important prisoner in a private matter. As for the vehicle, I borrowed it from a nobleman who indulges my requests. No strings attached. So from now on this place can serve as our headquarters."

"And no one would ever suspect us in something like this," Inoue noted. Kallen came inside and closed the door. Ohgi saw the cardboard box on the center table and bent over to open the top flaps inside. His mouth opened in surprise at the contents. He pulled the top item out. It was a sleek black leather jacket in a air-tight plastic wrap.

"I hope they all fit. I got a variety of sizes made," Zero announced, standing up. "Don't worry about re-compensation. Like the headquarters they're part of the deal. If we're to form an army you need to at least look the part."

The resistance group rocked back in surprise. An army?

"What do you mean an army?" Ohgi asked.

"I told you in the rail car. Britannia will not fall to terrorism. It's little more than childish nuisance. That's why the Japanese Liberation Front lies in hiding, why the Japanese are forced to live in ghettos. Britannia will not be defeated by a resistance group." The group watched Zero as he spoke, stunned. Lelouch smiled inside his helmet. They were his now.

"Then...we're gonna be an army? All seven of us?" Ohgi asked, stunned.

"Eight," C announced, bursting out of the couch compartment. She climbed out and stood next to Zero. Lelouch frowned but didn't say anything.

"No." Zero announced. "We will grow bigger. Bigger than you could ever get as a resistance group. One day, we will be so large as to be a country in our own right. One day we will be a force to rival Britannia itself! Because, what I am...what we are trying to be," Zero raised his arm hand open, then clenched into a claw as he finished. "are Knights for Justice!"

To Be Continued

A/N Betcha didn't expect that! Okay, yeah, it's a bit of a cop-out, but hell, it's my fiction and I'll do what I want to, do what I want to. And let's be honest, you're pumped. I'm not even listening to metal and I'm pumped.