A/N: I don't own anything code Geass or Batman Beyond. Also, we're gonna see some Knightmare action. So enjoy!

The area surrounding the warehouse in the ghetto was flooding with flashing blue and red lights, all surrounding one building. Knightmare frames stood tall, guarding the warehouse against any police who tried to infiltrate, all eighth generation frames, way more advanced than the police's standard fifth-generation frames. Some of the officers had already lost their lives while trying to get in.

The demands were simple, yet unrealistic: the hostage for the protection of the Black King. Which wasn't going to be done considering the record the 'King' had. And when Batman took him down, he gave away all the nobles who the Black King had in his pocket. So none of his 'friends' were gonna bail him out of this one.

And Batman's head on a pike. That one was gonna be harder to deliver.


While this was going on, the Guren S.T.E.I.N. was standing motionless in the background, not entering the scene, nor even seen by anyone in the area, even though the pilot desperately wanted to go in there and rescue the hostage.

Kallen was here for personal reasons. Ever since the Black Knights evolved from their knights of justice for the streets, to any actual army, they didn't do this kind of thing much anymore. But Kallen still enjoyed it nevertheless, but not now, not when she knew the hostage.

Ohgi had given permission to go, once they learned who the hostage was, but gave her explicit orders to not engage anyone, unless absolutely necessary, so they wouldn't endanger the hostage. So here she stood, helpless, a feeling she always hated.

'If Lelouch were here, what would he do?' She asked herself. She did this much during the past 3 months, asked herself what Lelouch would do in situations. What glorious, brilliant strategy would he come up with to lead the Knights to victory now? Would he have her play decoy, while he and the rest of the Black Knights would sneak in and rescue the hostage? Would he offer an exchange and walk away with all the rewards, leaving nothing for the enemy? What would Lelouch do?

She was interrupted from her thoughts when one of the police's Knightmare frames exploded when it got too close to the warehouse. She zoomed into the room where the hostage was, to see the so-called Black King strike viciously across their face. Kallen's emotions turned to white-hot rage and prepared to go charging in recklessly when a message scrolled across her message board that stopped her.

It wasn't from Ohgi or any of the Black Knights, it was unknown, which was strange. How did this person get their hands on the Black Knights frequency? And the message it said was even stranger.

'Sit back and enjoy the show.'-B.

She was puzzled by the message and its meaning. Someone, someone she cared greatly about, was in danger, and some stranger by the name of 'B' was telling her to sit back and enjoy the show'? That did nothing to quell her rage. Perhaps it only fueled more it.

But as Kallen read the message over again, she felt a sense of nostalgia at the words. Who was sending the message? What did they have in mind? And why did the way the message was typed seem so familiar to her?

In the next minute, she got her answer to the first two questions.


Suzaku was overseeing the hostage situation over a command checkpoint with some unknown Britannian officer. He was sent here to provide support if asked to against the criminals (strangely in possession of) advanced Knightmare frames and as an observer.

All had gone well, up until some idiot policeman tried to be a hero and rushed onto the scene to save the hostage, which resulted in his death, a Knightmare exploding, and higher demands by the hostage-takers. So far, it wasn't going so well, but he didn't voice his thoughts.

"Alright!" Called the commanding officer of the scene. "We've been given the go-ahead to engage these miserable low-lives." These guys really were idiots! A hostage was endangered and they didn't care about her safety.

Although since she was Japanese, they mostly wouldn't care about someone who was a meager eleven. But Suzaku followed orders nonetheless and hopped into the Lancelot cockpit. Hopefully, he could stop the criminals and rescue the hostage without having her die.

He was doing the start-up procedure when a private made a noise of disbelief.

"What's going on here private?" The commanding officer asked. He looked over at the screen the private was watching and gave his own sound of shock. "Who does this 'B' think he is?!"

"What's going on?" Suzaku asked.

"Some creep is telling us to 'sit back and enjoy the show.'" The commanding officer replied. "Whoever this 'B' person is, he's got guts telling a Britannian commander what to do. Nevermind him. Get your butt moving!"

Though the order went out, Suzaku didn't move from his position. Instead, he started to power off the Lancelot's systems. "Sir Kururughi?!" The commander asked, disbelief clear in his voice and features. "What are you doing?! Why aren't you following orders?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, his tone indicating that it should. When he finished the power off procedure, he kicked his feet up and pulled his hands behind his head for it to rest on them. His face donned a large grin that held excitement. "I'm gonna sit back and enjoy the show."

The jaws of all the Britannians present dropped.

Then, something crashed down into the scene!


The rash actions of the police put a small wrench in Lelouch's plan, meaning that he had to act faster than he intended, but that wouldn't be much of a problem. Quickly sending a message to both Kallen and the Britannian forces present to hang back and 'enjoy the show'.

"Alright," Lelouch said to himself, pulling the cowl over his head and taking a deep breath. "Here we go!" He deactivated the cloaking device on his new Knightmare and dived down into the middle of the group of the rouge Knightmares, making himself known.

The ninth-generation bat-like Knightmare Frame, or the Kōmori, as Lelouch called it, the Japanese word for Bat, matched the pattern of his suit. Black with a red, glowing, bat symbol in the middle of the chest, glowing white eyes, long ears, arm blades sticking out of the forearms. The body was similar in regards to the Lancelot, with the bat features added to it. There were also red outlines that traced up the arms and legs of the body, meeting at the bat symbol which was different from the suit. It even held it's very own Knightmare sized utility belt. The Kōmori was made using the base of the Shinkoro, Lelouch's old Knightmare when he was Zero, but with a bunch of added features to it that made it stronger than it ever was before.

The Kōmori itself was armed with Batarangs (exploding, electric, thermal, etc.) that were large enough for a Knightmare to hold in its hands. Other armaments included slash harkens in the shape of bat claws, or claw harkens he called them, freeze grenades, a remote electric charge (REC) gun that could stun Knightmares temporarily. Its fingers could extend and sharpen into claws and its forearm blades could extend further outward as well, both being able to slice into the armor of Knightmares, made from the same material as the Master Vibration Sword, that he acquired courtesy of Suzaku. He called them the Master Vibration Claws (MVC) and the Master Vibration Blades (MVB).

It also included a pair of red bat-like (obviously) energy wings. The Knightmare's systems include an experimental cloaking device, courtesy of Wayne Enterprises thanks to Warren, and a detective vision mode, like in his mask. Also, a hidden secret was that the Knightmare actually responded to the suit's instructions, making it more effective to control when wearing the suit. It also allowed the pilot of the Frame to maneuver it to be much more agile and faster than that of the Guren and Lancelot.

And much more!

At least theoretically. He never tested the theory or any other of the Knightmares capabilities or armaments in actual combat before. 'Well, they do say that field testing is the best testing, or something like that.' Lelouch thought to himself.

Lelouch smiled proudly at his new Knightmare. He worked long and hard to make everything he used to look like a bat to fit into his new persona. And he felt that the Kōmori was a valuable addition to his growing bat arsenal. And now was the time to see what it was made of.

As soon as it landed, the Kōmori sprang into action. Extending its left MVB, it slashed at the midsection of the Knightmare it was behind, slicing it in two. It then latched onto a nearby Knightmare with one of its claws harkens, pulled, and ripped its metal arm off, then swung the torn off metal limb into the body of another Knightmare.

It then brought its right fist back and slammed into the limbless Knightmare's metallic face before it could even move to counter, knocking off the head in the process. Then, morphing its hands into the MVCs, it began slashing into the metal stomach of another frame. The cuts nicked the power source, causing the whole Knightmare to shut down.

Two more enemy Knightmares opened fire on the bat-like machine. The Kōmori began to do a series of backflips to dodge the oncoming fire. After a few flips, it reached into its belt, drew two objects, and threw the two large Batarangs to the guns, knocking them out of the hands of the frames. Then, firing two of its claw harkens at the frames, the claws digging into the metal hull of the Knightmares before it yanked the two over to it. Then extending both its MVBs, the bat-like machine dashed with it's land spinners in between the two incoming frames and slashed right through the middle of the two, amputating the body from the legs.

Then, kicking its land spinners into overdrive, it charged the remaining frame. The Knightmare fired with its rifle, but the Kōmori was able to weave around the incoming bullets with ease. When it finally closed the distance, the bat-like Knightmare leaped upward, bringing its knee up to knock the head off the enemy frame. The Knightmare fell to the ground, defeated after that.

Lelouch did a quick sweep of the area. No remaining frames on the radar. And all the pilots were alive, in pain, but alive. Lelouch then activated the detective vision in the Kōmori, scanning the inside of the building for Kane and the hostage. He found the hostage on the third floor of the warehouse, along with over two dozen hostiles.

"Why don't I get off at the second?" Lelouch said to himself, smirking, as he brought the Kōmori up to said floor. Switching the Kōmori to autopilot, he opened the Knightmare's cockpit. Then, running across the frame, he leaped from the machine, wings extended, and crashed through a window into the second floor of the warehouse.


The Black Knights on the flagship Ikaruga stared in disbelief at the scene that had just played out before them on the news monitor.

In only two minutes, a bat-like Knightmare came out of nowhere and tore through eight eighth-generation Knightmares. And it left all of the pilots alive. All that, and he did it in two minutes.

That took both a highly advanced Knightmare and an ace pilot to accomplish, in that amount of time, with no casualties. Apparently, this 'Batman' was more than just a fighter in hand-to-hand combat, but an expert Knightmare pilot too and a genius strategist. You needed all that to do what he did in less than a minute.

'Just who is this mysterious new warrior, and where did he come from?' We're the questions of some of the Black Knights present, while some were more… 'vocal' in their thoughts.

"It's official," Tamaki said after moments of awestruck silence. Then he screamed at the top of his lungs, "THAT BAT GUY IS A TOTAL BADA*!"

"For once, I agree with you, Tamaki," Tohdoh said, putting everyone into more awestruck silence that he was agreeing with the loud-mouth of the Black Knights. "This Batman is indeed a skilled warrior, expert pilot, and a brilliant tactician. Just who can this man be? One can hardly be a master of all three."

Everyone nodded in agreement.


"THIS IS PREPOSTEROUS!" Llyod shouted at the top of his lungs after viewing the bat-like Knightmare take down the seventh generation types. "I wanted to be the one to apply cloaking abilities to a Knightmare! And one of exemplary status like my Lancelot! Not that flying rodent styled trash heap!"

To anyone else that was listening to that rant, and saw the video feed of the engagement, they would disagree. The cloaking device was in the hands of someone who used it extremely well. But they were all wise enough not to voice any of those thoughts in the Earl of Pudding's presence.

"Does Britannia or any other organization have the capabilities to be able to apply a cloaking device to a Knightmare?" A tech officer asked wisely instead.

Cecile looked down at her datapad to do the research. "Well, Wayne Enterprises was rumored to be developing a cloaking system that could be applied to Knightmares, but according to our sources, they haven't made any breakthroughs." She explained.

"That bat guy must've figured it out first." Another tech voiced.

"Or he stole the ideas." Llyod voiced, surprising everyone. "My guess is that Wayne Enterprise did finish a cloaking device but it was stolen by this bat, and they are trying to cover up this mess." Llyod seemed back to normal, but really he was seething with anger. Not only because of missing his chance of being the first to create a Knightmare with cloaking abilities, but also that this Knightmare contains the same material as the Master Vibration Swords, something that was his and his alone.


"I really have to thank Warren for giving me that cloaking device," Lelouch said to himself as he moved quietly through the warehouse's second floor. "And Suzaku for the Master Vibration material, and the piloting lessons, even though they were a pain."

Activating his detective mode, he found the hostage on the floor above him, along with the disgraced Black King, holding what seemed to be a flamethrower, and a guard pointing his gun at the entrance to the room. The rest of the goons were in a large area, pointing their rifles at the entrance to the third floor.

'Thankfully,' Lelouch thought with a smirk. 'Batman knows how to make his own entrances.' He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a small metal ball along with several small round objects.


The Black King had all of his remaining low-lives thugs, minus one, guarding the entrance to the third floor. The Batman was not going to send him back to prison just hours of getting out. This time, he was going to deal with this demon.

The criminals held out their automatic rifles toward the entrance of the room. The atmosphere was tense. Sweat was falling from the faces of most of the criminals. Others had their trigger fingers twitching in anticipation. Some were trying to hold backfilling their pants up with a warm yellow liquid or a hard brown solid.

BOOM!

The floor beneath the center of the group blew open. And from this man-made hole, rose a black creature that threw multiple objects at the armed thugs. Once the objects rested on the rifles, the creature flipped a switch on its belt and the rifles exploded.

A thug, that still held his rifle, was shooting aimlessly down the new hole. Then a claw with a line attached to it shot through the man's leg. The man was then flipped upside down and hanging from the line.

Then, the silhouette of the Batman landed next to another thug armed with the rifle. Taking his arm and dislocating he begun to have the man fire at his own comrades. The others ducked and rolled out of the way of the flying bullets. After the gun ran out, Batman through the thug to the ground.

One thug was able to grab an automatic rifle, preparing to shoot, but never got a chance as Batman fired his grapple gun into the man's shoulder. The man cried out in pain and was pulled over to the dark knight. Then knocked down into the new hole in the floor.

Batman took out a Batarang and threw it to a thug that was starting to stand back up from Batman's entrance, knocking him out. Batman then turned to the sound of a door being kicked down to see a thug standing there with a grenade. He grinned as he pulled the pin.

Batman then kicked the hanging thug and he swung like a Pendulum and crashed onto the other thug, knocking them both down. The grenade fell out of the man's hand and rolled on the floor. Fear in his eyes, he rushed to clasp both the grenade and the pin and placed the pin back in the explosive before it could detonate. He breathed a sigh of relief, only to get knocked out by a roundhouse to the face.

Batman continued to tear through the group of thugs, countering their blows and striking back tenfold. At one point, one thug tried to deliver a stab to his face, only for Batman to tilt his head slightly to the side. Then pick him up by his outstretched arm, he arc'd him over his back and slammed him hard onto the wooden floor.


The Black King held on his face the same terror as the night he was captured as he stared at the door where chaos ensued outside.


The thugs now we're firing handguns to the Batman, with no effect, until they ran out of ammunition. Changing tactics, they pulled out their knives and prepared for hand-to-hand combat.

Big mistake.

As Batman charged the remaining thugs, he grabbed one by the face and slammed it onto a crate that he leaped over. He then fired his grapple into the crate and, using the enhanced strength of the suit, flung it over him and has it slam into one of the criminals knocking him out, and causing the others to disperse.

As the remaining thugs tried to get their balance back together, one was able to use their handgun to shoot the grapple out of Batman's hand. However, that did not slow the dark knight down in the least. He rose and charged toward the group of thugs.

It soon entered into a four-on-one fight with the thugs all armed with knives. Yet they weren't able to penetrate his suit's armor as he tore through them. At one point he was able to stab a thug's knee with his own knife, then knock him down. A thug came charging from the side but Batman tripped him and then proceeded to hammer his face into the wooden floor with his fist.

BAM

A loud noise and jolt to the head caused Batman to stop his assault and rise. He was feeling dazed in his head and a ringing in his ears.

BAM

The gunshot fired again. Knowing the source of the shot, Batman spun around and gripped the shooter's hand. Then he slammed the thug on the floor and dislocated his arm. A loud cry of pain coming from him.

He then felt a kick strike his face and knocked him to the floor. He scrambled to get up, but two thugs kept him on the ground by slashing their knives to him. He was about to stand when another kick kept him grounded and a knife was plunged into his left shoulder.

Now enraged Batman kicked the farthest thug out of the way, moving on to the one who stabbed him. He managed to make the thug stumble as he rose and ripped the knife out of his shoulder. Rushing up to the thug, he grabbed him by the neck and jammed the knife into the shoulder of the thug.

The last one tried to go from behind, but Batman was done playing around. He gave a strike to the nose with his fist, then his knee and with the thug bent over, Batman gripped the thug on the back and threw him into the fall, shattering the segment on contact.

He was breathing heavily. That was a lot more work than he'd done in the simulations. But he survived, relatively unscathed, except for the stab on his show, which should be impossible. The suit was made out of one of the strongest armored plating today, we'll, as strong as it could be without limiting too much movement. But a simple knife shouldn't be able to pierce the suit. He needed to look into this later.

A whimper pulled him out of his thoughts. Turning his head, he found the source was the thug who stabbed him and was in turn stabbed. He walked over to him, the thug could only whine louder as Batman's presence loomed over him. Batman gave the thug a look over.

'Criminal scum.' He thought to himself with disgust as he pulled his fist back and struck a very sensitive area.


"ARGH!"

A scream brought the Black King and his fellow occupants in the room back to reality.

He really did it? That freak just took down his best men! In less than 4 minutes?! But what else would you expect from a demon?

Regardless, he still had one more ace up his sleeve. He looked to the Eleven woman in the room with him. It's funny, she used to be one of his biggest Refrain takers, it was only fair that she pay him back by helping him escape custody. That's fair right?

He and his lackey looked toward the door for the entrant the room to burst open. 'When it does,' The Black King thought to himself as he brought a lighter up to prepare his flamethrower, 'it's gonna be fried bat for dinner tonight.' He grinned in excitement.

However, Batman didn't enter through the door just yet. It was a few tense moments that the three occupants waited in anticipation for the bat vigilante to enter.

CRASH!

The Dark Knight emerged from to walk next to the criminal closest to the door. In a split second, he wrestled control of the rifle the thug was carrying and pointed to the Black King, the thug's finger still on the trigger.

No one dared make a move, nor even speak, for the next couple of minutes.

"Drop it." The Black King ordered sternly. But Batman made no move to release the gun or criminal.

"I said drop it!" He repeated.

No movement.

"I'll kill her!" He gestured to the Japanese woman. Her face holding pure terror at the odds of her survival. The 'King' was now shaking. "BELIEVE ME I'LL DO IT!"

Batman just stood there gritting his teeth in frustration at the situation. Finally, after a minute of no response he answered in the same voice he gave the Black King when they first met. "I believe you."

Then, he fired the gun.

The bullet hit the gas tank.

Flames were emerging from the pack.

The Black King turned the weapon on the woman.

A dark shadow enveloped her.

The room exploded into flames!

BOOM


"MOM!" Kallen cried as she watched the room that held her mother burst into flames. She stared in disbelief at the event that just took place. Then with tears falling from her face, she bowed her head.

'How?!' She screamed in her mind. 'How could I let this happen to her!?' Her mother had always been there for her, even when she didn't want her to. But she stayed and endured great hardship, all for the purpose of staying close to her daughter.

And when she needed Kallen the most she wasn't there to save her. She failed her mother again! Only this time, there wasn't gonna be any chance to make it up anymore!

She spared a glance back up to the building, only to see a sight that changed her emotions in an instant.


It was warm. Very warm. Boiling hot even. But she didn't feel any burns on her body as she hung limp. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was hanging three stories up, and burning wood was falling down to the ground below her. When she glanced up, she gasped.

A black figure, dressed like a bat, like the one she heard from stories while she was in prison, was gripping her hand in a death grip, refusing to let go. She saw his other hand was outstretched, clutching an object that had a line extended out of it and gripping the remains of the building. But that wasn't what made her gasp.

The fire was dancing all around his black body! Something like that would cause a person to hysteric and scream in great pain. Yet he remained calm and unharmed, and only grunted because of the effort he put in holding her.

"Just hang on!" He told her, his voice now filled with compassion and reassurance, different from a moment ago. "I'll get us out of this!"

He brought the line down to a shining metallic object around his waist (a belt?) and placed the line into the center of the belt. The line then stayed fastened to the belt allowing him to use his other hand. He then moved his now free hand to another area of his belt and flipped a switch to cause his white eyes to glow blue.

For a moment they just hung there, no movement made by either of them. However, Ms. Kozuki felt the wind picking up behind her and she glanced away from burning room to the view of a Knightmare that looked like her savior flying in front of them. She saw the Knightmare's eyes glowed blue much like the eyes of her rescuer just now. She turned back to the bat figure holding her to confirm her theory. 'Is he controlling it remotely?' She thought.

The bat-like Knightmare then extended its right hand out right below her feet. "Go! Now!" Her savior ordered, and she complied as she let go of his hand and landed on the metallic palm of the machine.


Ms. Kozuki sat in the ambulance with an oxygen mask on her face connected to an oxygen tank as she breathed in clean air, to help filter out any smoke she inhaled. As she did this, her thoughts wandered to her rescuer.

After being dropped off a few blocks away from the fire, she was about to thank him, he asked a strange favor of her. Confused as to why he would ask it of her, she was about to ask him what he meant when sirens of an ambulance distracted her gaze. She then turned back to find that he was gone.

She turned toward the charred, but still alive, form of the Black King. To her surprise, the man survived the explosion, and to her greater surprise, she heard her savior, that Batman, had saved this man. She didn't know why he did it, but it made her feel happy that a man like him existed in the world.

"MOM!" A familiar voice shouted. Ms. Kozuki turned, and broke into a wide smile, to see her daughter, with tears in her eyes, run to her.

The mother and daughter embraced holding each other tightly. And through the embrace, she felt her daughter's unmasked fear at losing her mother again.

"I thought I lost you!" Kallen cried, tears falling freely from getting face.

"Not yet my baby girl. Not yet." Ms. Kozuki soothed her daughter's distress by stroking her blazing hair like she used to. Both mother and daughter enjoyed this moment of contact for as long as it lasted.

Sadly they couldn't remain like this. Even though she had been taken hostage, Ms. Kozuki had to return to jail as soon as she had finished with a check-up by the doctors. After all, she was still guilty of using Refrain. But before she did, she had something to tell her daughter.

"Kallen," she began, pulling back from her and looking her in the eye, "I have to tell you something. Listen-"

"You don't have to say it." Kallen cut her mother off. "I know that you stayed in that house to be close to me now. I know what you suffered to be with me. I promise you, I'm gonna change the world and make sure that we can live in it together."

Ms. Kozuki was surprised. "Kallen," she began, "I wasn't going to say anything about that, I don't blame you for any of the pain I suffered."

Feeling embarrassed, Kallen could only give 'oh' when she bowed her head. "So what did you want to talk about?" She asked.

"When that Batman saved me," her mother began, "I was about to thank him when he asked me to tell you something."

Kallen frowned in confusion. What in the world did the Batman have to say to Kallen Kozuki, Ace of the Black Knights, that he couldn't say himself? "What was it?"

"He said to tell you he's sorry." Ms. Kozuki answered. "Before I could ask him any more get was gone. Do you know what he was talking about?"

Kallen shook her head. "No. I've never met Batman at all. So I don't know what he would need to apologize for." She answered. This Batman was becoming an even deeper mystery by the day.


Sitting in the cockpit of the cloaked Kōmori, Lelouch watched the exchange between mother and daughter with a sad expression. It was selfish and improper to ask it of Kallen's mother. But Lelouch was still too afraid to talk to Kallen himself.

Why wouldn't he? Kallen Kozuki was a fierce woman who didn't take kindly to pity or sympathy. She preferred the truth from those she cared about, but Lelouch was always afraid of the truth. How would she even react to seeing him again?

Would she kill him? Would she still admire(love) him like she used to? Would she turn him over to Schneizel to get Japan back? For all the outcomes his brilliant mind could predict, Lelouch was clueless when it came to women and their brains. Was that in just him or all guys?

Regardless, Lelouch sighed as he stroked Kallen's image on the monitor in the Kōmori. It didn't matter, no matter how many reactions Lelouch could predict, it didn't matter unless he actually went up to her. And he was not ready to face that yet.

'Besides,' Lelouch thought to himself as he reached into his belt and pulled out a slightly damaged phone that belonged to the dethroned Black King, and the knife that pierced into his suit. He grimaced at the objects in his hands. 'I've got something I need to look into.'

Activating the energy wings on the Kōmori, Lelouch piloted the great machine back to the Bat-bunker to investigate this mystery further.


"WHAT IN THE NAME OF KING GEORGE WERE YOU THINKING?!" The Britannian officer spat at Suzaku back at the viceroy palace head office. "I GAVE THE ORDER TO GO AND YOU SIT THERE LIKE YOUR ON VACATION?!"

"I apologize, commander," Suzaku told the man, not really sounding sincere, "But I couldn't let a valuable moment like this be wasted by us moving in."

"WHAT MOMENT!?" The commander asked, his fury only increased. "THERE WAS NO MOMENT?! THAT BLASTED BATMAN CAME ON THE SCENE AND-"

"Commander." The authoritative voice of the Second prince of Britannia, Schneizel El Britannia cut in. The commander immediately stopped talking and listened to what the second prince had to say. Only a few people could get a hot head cool down, and two of them were princes of Britannia.

Schneizel then turned to Suzaku, holding an impassive look on his face, as always. "Explain Sir Kururughi," He ordered, "Why would a moment like this need to be observed?"

"Thank you, Your Highness," Suzaku said bowing slightly. He rose back to his full height. "I meant to say that this was a good opportunity to see what Batman was capable of. We know little to nothing about this new figure, and I believed that have him show us some of his skills and weapons, including his fighting style, would be beneficial to us in the long run."

Schneizel contemplated the words which the Knight of Seven spoke. After a few tense moments of silence, Schneizel said in a slightly mocking tone, "That is unusually smart of you Sir Kururughi. Are you sure that you have not been replaced, or damaged?"

Suzaku had to suppress a grimace. "Well let's say after fighting Zero for nearly two years, I've learned how to gain more from an enemy's victory." He answered with hidden anger.

"I see," Schneizel responded, seemingly accepting the answer. "What do you suppose we do about this Batman now that he has revealed his weapons?"

For a tense moment, the silence was in the throne room. Waiting to hear the Knight of Seven's answer. Finally, everyone in the room, including Schneizel, blinked when the Japanese turned Honorary Britannia started laughing .

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY BOY?!" The hot-headed officer asked.

"Why are you asking me?" He said between giggles. "I'm not a genius or a master people reader. I don't know how to solve a problem, I only know how to execute the solution."

"But you made a valuable choice in letting the Batman show his hand first." Kanon, Schneizel's faithful servant, pointed out. "Why can't you simply see if you can analyze his next move?"

Suzaku laughed again, harder and louder this time having to hold his chest. "You're seriously asking me to psychoanalysis a guy who dresses up as a bat?!" Suzaku laughed even harder after he said it out loud. "The guy's even crazier than Zero?!"

At that, a brief look of realization dawned on Schneizel's face. He then simply smiled. "Yes," He said with that same smile, "How foolish of me to presume that. You are dismissed, gentlemen."

The two then bowed and exited the throne room, leaving only prince and servant behind. After a few moments of silence, Kanon turned to his master. "You found something out, Your Highness." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Schneizel responded with a smile of satisfaction as he rose from his throne and turned to the large window that overlooked the city of the rebuilding Tokyo Settlement.

"What?"

"I believe I know what Batman is trying to accomplish."

"And what is that?"

Silence followed the question before Schneizel responded. "To not only protect innocents and punish criminals, but also become a symbol as great, or even greater than, Zero." He answered.

Kanon had his mouth wide open. This man, this thing, sought to replace a figure that represented the symbol of justice in this broken-down world?!

"Is he crazy?!" Kanon stated in disbelief. "How could he replace a figure such as Zero?!"

"Isn't it quite obvious Kanon," Schneizel responded with a knowing smile, "By becoming better than him."

Kanon only grew more confused.

"While I agree that his methods could use a more violent, fatal approach to be better than Zero effectiveness wise, it's his actions that give away his goal. In all the reports that the Batman was reported a part of, he has never killed, and he defends all people regardless of their nationality. So while he may never be as effective as Zero was, he can certainly be better, in a sense of justice."

"But why? Why does he seek to surpass Zero as a symbol of justice and hope?"

"That I haven't quite found the answer to," Schneizel admitted, "But I have several theories: he seeks to bring hope back to the people after feeling depressed after the death of Zero, that's the most likely. He wants even greater fame than Zero had, that's less likely. And there are others."

Kanon pondered over these reasons. It did make the most sense on why Batman is seeking to be a greater symbol than Zero. But there was something else.

"You only realized this after Sir Kururugi said that Batman is crazier than Zero." Again, not a question.

Schneizel didn't answer.

"You suspect he may know more than he lets on?" This time it was a question.

"I suspected that he knows more, ever since the Emperor disappeared three months ago. Something clearly happened there that changed Kururugi. I can see it in his eyes. But what, it is unknown to me." Schneizel then turned to the door where the said knight left only moments ago. "Regardless, I believe that we must now keep a close eye on Sir Kururugi."

As the two began to walk out of the room Kanon spoke up. "So does that mean that the Batman passed his test?" The advisor asked.

"I would hardly call that a test Kanon," Schneizal laughed slightly, "Mr. Kane was barely a warm-up for one such as him! But he did request the man to be used in the trial, so there was little I could do."

"Do you even trust him?" Kanon asked more silently than last time.

Schneizal turned toward his trusted advisor. "No I don't," He answered simply, "but, I am terrified of him." He admitted. "And what he is capable of."


'It doesn't make any sense.' Lelouch thought as the Batcomputer analyzed the knife that pierced his suit and decrypted the phone from the Black King.

'Common gangsters like him shouldn't have that far advanced Knightmare frames. They aren't available to the public. Or to most military units.' He then glanced down at the knife that pierced his suit. 'And this knife material, it's too well made and strong enough to be in the hands of them. So someone from high up in the military had to be supplying them with these armaments. But who?'

Now that he thought about it, something else was bothering him. The guys he fought in the warehouse were good, but even if they weren't good enough to be able to break Kane out of jail. So he had outside help, but from who?

A beeping from the bat computer brought him out of his thoughts. The analysis of the knife was complete, as well as the decryption of the phone he took from Kane.

Taking a look at the phone first, he saw that the number was encrypted, higher than the Batcomputer could hack at the moment, he wasn't a computer genius after all, so he couldn't track the caller. But that wasn't a dead-end, he could use the frequency and radio waves that phones used to specifically communicate with that number to search for where the messages originated.

He flipped a switch on the bat computer and he then rose from his chair and turned around. Then, a few hanging objects moved into position and a holographic map of The entire country of Japan, and a little bit beyond to their islands, appeared in front of Lelouch. The location of the radio waves signals were marked in green.

'No.' Lelouch thought to himself in disappointed as he began stroking his chin, frowning. 'The signals are too spread out to get an exact location.' He then glanced back to the knife. 'Maybe if I…'

He sat back down in the chair of the bat computer and pulled up the screen that held the knife's materials. As he examined them, he noticed that the knife held the obvious materials in its composition. All except with one addition…

'Why do gangsters have knives with sadakarite mixed into them?' Lelouch asked himself.

Sadakarite was the material that is used to power Knightmare frames. And Japan has the world's largest deposit of it. About 70% of the world's sadakarite comes from here. It supposedly was one of the main reasons that Britannia conquered Japan.

Also, the material can be strong when melted and reformed into a metal object. 'That would explain how it was able to cut through my suit.' Lelouch thought. 'But how did gangsters get their hands on this? Or even make it?'

Turning back to the map, Lelouch added the filter to search for sadakarite forging facilities. They appeared in a golden color. And like the radio wave signals, were to spread out to search without additional info. But the radio wave signals and sadakarite facilities together…

Only one location in all of Japan held the specific microwave signal on the phone and a sadakarite facility.

'Of all the places on the continent.' Lelouch thought as he moved away from the hologram map to the bat computer to make a call.

It rang four times before it hung up. 'He's isn't alone then.' Lelouch thought. That was what four rings meant. If he picked up after two then he was good to go.

After waiting for 5 minutes, Lelouch placed another call. And after two rings the phone picked up. And from it came a male voice speaking in polite Japanese.

Lelouch responded with his own Japanese. The two speakers exchanged how their lives were going while Lelouch kept his eyes on a bar sliding closer to the end.

When it finished with a message that said, 'call encrypted', Lelouch switched to English. "Alright, Suzaku we can talk freely now." He told his friend.

"Good," the voice of his friend responded, sounding quite relieved. "Because I did not know how to respond when you said your girlfriend pulled a 180 with a French philanthropist."

Lelouch groaned. He hated to have these fake conversations. But he needed time for the encryption to come into place, and there couldn't be blank silence. So they talked about fake girlfriends, college classes, and other things.

"Anyway," Suzaku said bringing Lelouch out of his recimist, "What do you need? Because if it's more Knightmare tech, I can't help you, Lloyd's learned that you took his MVS material."

"No none of that." Lelouch could have sworn he heard Suzaku sigh in relief. "We need to talk. Now!"

"Why? What's going on Lelouch?"

Lelouch took a deep breath…

"I think someone in the viceroy palace is giving weapons to criminals."

A/N: just so all of you know, this will not be a harem story, I usual hate those stories. And the main focus will be on Lelouch, Suzaku, and Kallen's perspectives.

Hope the Knightmare action was cool for you, and I hope you all like the Kōmori.

Also the reason why my updates so far are frequent is because I had already written down a few chapters before posting this story.

Also the warehouse scene, Batman v Superman. That's always a bada* scene right? I don't own that movie either.

Next chapter, Lelouch and Suzaku compare notes. And two people have an unfortunate encounter that leads to a disaster.