"I hereby renounce my claim to the throne!" – Regular speaking

'How dare the Emperor abandon Nunnally!' – Regular thinking; Italics not in singular quotations are used for emphasis

"Q-1, strike the left flank now!" – Speaking as heard over radios and other communication devices

"Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, DIE!" Speech influenced by using Geass

Disclaimer: I don't own any franchise that is used in this story nor do I make any profit from it whatsoever.

I hope you all enjoy the new chapter.


Chapter 5: Rise of a Revolutionary


The world… has changed.

Oh sure, it may not be aware of just how or why, but the world is no longer the same as it once was. Even I, the one who lit the match, have no idea just how far everything will go.

Today, the World has changed… And I am the one responsible.

If Britannia hadn't decided to use the Prince as a scapegoat, I honestly do not know what path I would have taken. But considering alternatives is pointless now.

I don't even know why I'm writing this. Maybe so that, if everything follows the worst-case scenario I have devised, that some remnant of who I am remains? Maybe so that I can leave a message to someone who may take up my ideals at some future point in time should I fail? Or maybe I'm just a madman trying to make sense of his own madness by writing it out as clearly as he can.

Regardless of the answer, I know one thing with absolute certainty.

I will not stop here. I will do all that I can to ensure my chance to shape this world is not squandered. I have sparked a War. A War that will either fizzle out and die like a candle in the wind or will burn like a raging inferno, consuming all that stands in its way. And yet…

And yet, I despise War. I have begun to fight against the tyranny of Britannia, not for any noble purpose, but so that I might seek my vengeance. My heart is divided. I do seek a better world, but should that better world stand in my way of my revenge, I believe would not hesitate to cast that ideal aside.

Or maybe, just maybe, there is a spark of light within me that would allow me to sacrifice the darkness in my heart for the sake of the world.

I truly have no idea where these thoughts are coming from. It's too late at night for me to be considering the nature of my own soul.

~Chronicles of Zero: First Entry of Zero's Journal

Compiled by Ried; 1st Chair of Historical Records


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Babel Tower – 3:52 pm – September 14 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Even with almost two full days to plan Lelouch still couldn't steel his nerves enough to avoid contemplating just how badly everything could go wrong for him tonight. He took a deep breath and did his best to focus his thoughts. He couldn't afford any slipups.

If he failed, Suzaku would be executed. If he failed, he, and anyone who he enlisted to assist him, would be riddled with bullets. If he failed, Nunnally would be left alone. Such outcomes were absolutely unacceptable.

According to the broadcast he'd seen a few days ago that showed Suzaku being arrested, they were planning his trial in two days. Likely to ensure they could pin as much as they possibly could on him aside from just the death of Clovis. A scapegoat could be used as a strawman for many causes and quite a few people were probably interested in using Suzaku's trial to shift the blame onto him to paint him in an even worse light.

The one thing he knew with absolute certainty though was that this trial would be an absolute mockery of justice. On the bright side, should he succeed, not only would he absolve Suzaku of the crime he committed, but he would also simultaneously make it impossible to use him as a scapegoat for lesser crimes.

If the greatest crime Suzaku was accused of was considered false, then all others would almost certainly be dropped because it would render the whole case against Suzaku suspect. Everyone who tried to pin their crimes on Suzaku would drop all charges against him to avoid having the complaints investigated too much for their liking.

Abandoning his musings on the consequences of his actions, Lelouch quietly waited inside the tower far enough away from the entrance to avoid being spotted by Kallen, but close enough to see when she entered and who she entered with. She would have to be a fool to come alone and he had more faith in her intelligence than to believe she would do that.

Dressed in black pants, a navy-blue sweater, brown coat, and black hat, Lelouch waited. Waiting was always the worst part of a plan in Lelouch's mind. He hated the tension that built up inside him while he waited to see what happened. It had always been exhilarating when he waited to see if an opponent would fall into his traps when he played chess, but this felt different. This had consequences beyond losing a good couple thousand pounds.

As he heard the announcement paging Kallen to come to the customer service desk, he learned that she must have entered through the other entrance instead of the one he expected. His Geass on the woman in charge of the desk wouldn't have triggered otherwise. That meant he wouldn't have to burn these clothes to prevent Kallen from ever seeing him in them again, it would have been a shame since they were so comfortable. The relief he felt was mixed with a minor annoyance that he was unable to see who had decided to follow her from her group.

Ah, well, you win some you lose some he figured. He made his way towards the exit, walking past a woman with amber eyes and a thick brown hat dressed in dark clothing pulling a suitcase. There was only one person who had those color eyes that would be staring at him like that.

"Wrong entrance." He murmured as she kept walking, but she pulled out her cell phone, untraceable, purchased with cash, and only good for about a week, and texted something. As he left the building he pulled his out, checked his texts and found her response. "You are ridiculously paranoid you know that?" He chuckled quietly as he called the phone that Kallen would have received from the customer service counter. Had she entered through the entrance he was paying attention to, she would have received the phone from the other desk. But since she hadn't that phone would mysteriously vanish from the lost and found box from Babel Tower and end up over a bridge somewhere in the Settlement later tonight, according to the orders he had implanted in the other person who ran the customer service desk.

"You will board the outbound train going around loop line five," Lelouch ordered ignoring her stumbled queries. "And bring your friends." He hung up without another word, likely leaving her both concerned and annoyed that she had been seen through so easily.

As he made his way towards the road, he thought a little bit about C.C.'s text. Perhaps she was right that he was being paranoid bring her for backup, but he thought it would have been foolish to show up alone. Still, he did not think it was a bad idea to have an immortal backing him up in case things got physical.

Lelouch hailed a taxi and set down his briefcase on the empty seat next to him. He handed the driver five-hundred pounds through the window separating the and spoke calmly. "Get me to the train station and I'll pay your fare in full. Think of this as incentive to forget me once we arrive and edit your records to reflect as such." He flared his Geass as he stared at the man through his own rearview mirror, the Geass taking hold immediately and crushing his will to do anything else. Offering a lot of cash was always a good way to get someone to stare at you in shock and that was an easy opportunity to deliver an order to his cab driver with his power.

He had found through experimentation many stipulations to his Geass aside from needing eye contact and considering his intent and wording in his commands. He did not need direct eye contact, so long as there was a reflective surface he could make eye contact with someone else's reflection and deliver an order that way. There had been quite a few strange incidences around campus at Ashford as a result of his testing of his powers, but none of them could be connected to him.

Lost in his thoughts, Lelouch settled in and enjoyed the ride.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Train Station – 4:30 pm – September 13 – 2017 a.t.b.)

When he arrived at the train station, Lelouch silently picked up his case and left the cab. And the cab driver drove off as he completely forgot his most recent customer, manipulating his cab's records to erase him entirely and pocketing the cash as well as the rest of his fare. All paid in cash.

"Your plan was ridiculous and unnecessarily complicated." A cold voice sounded quietly behind him, handing off a suitcase to him as C.C. walked passed him and exited the station.

"Better to be prepared and it be unnecessary than caught unawares." Lelouch responded quietly. Nothing more was said between the two accomplices. C.C. hailed another cab to make her way back to take a loop around while Lelouch boarded the train after flashing the ticket he had purchased under one of his multiple aliases to the poor soul managing the ticket desk. The train would return to the station in about half an hour, allowing those who had not purchased tickets beforehand and had to purchase them straight from the desk at the station the opportunity to board.

It was one of many security protocols that went into place in the event of an emergency, making it all but impossible to obtain a ticket to board any kind of public transportation ticket beyond a basic bus ticket without it having been purchased at least twenty-four hours in advance. The rule however had a built-in exception, allowing the purchasing of tickets at the desk for the time when the train would circle back around a half an hour after it left the station for those who had business affairs on short notice and were unable to procure a ticket within the time frame. Without the exception, there was no way in hell the nobles would have allowed the rule to be implemented. And since one of the individuals he was attempting to recruit was of the Stadtfeld name, he did not think it would be too difficult for Kallen to procure a ticket for herself and her 'friends'. It should be easy enough for her to pass them off as her servants and get enough tickets for all of them, no questions asked.

Once the train took off Lelouch drew the attention of everyone in the car towards him, making eye contact with everyone he gave his orders. "Until you leave this train, you will acknowledge nobody who tries to contact you. You will all disregard anything that is out of the ordinary and forget all about this train ride and everything that happened on it when you leave this train. You will only leave this train when it makes your stop or when it circles back to the starting station for the third time." Lelouch felt his eye burn and blinked the pain away as he felt the wills of everyone in the car be subsumed completely forcing them to obey his order. He had never tried to give such a complicated order to so many people before, but it was necessary to ensure that no one would pay attention to what happened on this ride. He walked towards the second car, and gave orders to everyone in that car to move to the first one and gave a variation of the order he had given everyone in the previous car. As a result, the first car was a bit cramped, but at least he was alone now.

He pulled out his Zero Armor from the suitcase C.C. handed off to him and began removing his own clothes to put the Armor on. The briefcase he had been carrying was popped open after he finished so he could examine the cash inside. It was a good couple thousand pounds and if he couldn't persuade them to work for him with his words, he figured that this would be a good incentive.

Money made the world go round, and thanks to his gambling over the years he could grease plenty of wheels to make the world spin in his favor.

Still, better to save funds where he could than needlessly waste them if he could convince them to follow him with his words. If his charisma was strong enough, it would also be more effective than bribing them to follow him. Loyalty earned was stronger than loyalty bought after all.

Lelouch made his way to the end of the car and placed the cases up with the others above the seats and waited. Kallen and her friends would arrive soon enough.

And then, the real fun would begin.


About two minutes after they left the station the second time, Zero sent a text to the phone in Kallen's possession. "Come to the next car." He prepared to meet his newest soldiers, planning a rather dramatic first impression to make sure that their opinion of him was set in a fashion that ensured respect.

He turned and waited, the car would descend into darkness soon enough once they entered the tunnel in a few moments. Then he would convince them to join his cause, one way or another.

The automatic door slid open and he heard multiple footsteps come in, he counted at least three distinct steps but it could have been more. He silently huffed at his detection abilities, Sayoko or Tohdoh would have been able to pick out far much more than their approximate numbers.

Regardless, once they started to get impatient and the car descended into darkness, Zero turned to reveal his mask and cloaked form. "Welcome, I do hope you'll forgive the mask." The armored man spoke carefully. "Should my identity be revealed the results be disastrous for those better off not knowing." He was sure at least some of them would have gotten the hint. Don't try to take his mask, or suffer the consequences. "You may call me Zero and I am the one who commanded you during the battle of Shinjuku." He finished by spreading his arms out before him in a gesture that opened the front of his cloak, causing it to flair slightly, but more importantly made him seem rather open despite his mask.

With his face covered he would have to use his oratory skills and his body language to convince them to serve. It was already difficult to trust a masked man, but if he kept himself cloaked it would only further their instinctive distrust.

"I hope you will follow my commands once more to save Kururugi from being punished for a crime that I committed." He spoke as he drew his arms back in, causing the cloak to cover his armored form once more as he awaited their reply.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" A rough looking man growled. "How the hell do you expect us to trust you!" He took a couple steps forward before another man stuck his arm out in front of his chest. "Ohgi, why did you stop me?! I'm gonna rip his fucking mask off and–" He shouted.

"And nothing Tamaki, calm down." The man presumably called Ohgi cut off his ally's rant. "Let's hear him out." The more level headed man ignored his friend's grumbling and turned to Zero. "While my friend may have not been the most eloquent, he did raise a good point. Why should we trust you?" There were many other unspoken questions, but this was one of the one's Zero had prepared for.

Just before he spoke, the train exited the tunnel that had surrounded them in darkness. Zero decided to improvise and spoke directly to the one who interested him the most. "Tell me Kallen, when you look to the right what do you see?" He gestured out with his left arm to direct her attention to the Settlement, revealing the armor beneath his cloak as it glinted in the light of the setting sun.

Kallen gulped at being addressed by the masked figure in front of her. She had yet to speak, not because she was afraid, but because she felt compelled to listen to his words. When he spoke, she felt like she needed to listen. She flinched slightly when the car was suddenly lit up after they left the tunnel and choked down a gasp when she saw Zero's mask seem to be set aflame by the setting sun. The reflective surface let the sunlight dance across the dark metal in a beautiful, yet haunting image. And when he spoke to her directly she had to take a moment to think about just what he was asking, and when she felt her blood boil when she saw the Tokyo Settlement she knew exactly how to reply. "I see a rotten city masquerading as a place of paradise, resting upon the ruins of a once great capital."

Zero contemplated the fire behind Kallen's words, before gesturing to his right. "And to your left? What do you see?" He continued gesturing to the Ghettoes. Behind his mask, he grinned at her answer.

"I see the husks of our once great past, sucked dry by the Britannian Empire." She said, eliciting some shock from her friends at the venom behind her words.

Zero chuckled darkly, which sounded unsettling as a result of his voice modulator. "That is a very good answer Kallen." He held his arms out wide, gesturing to both the Settlement and the Ghettoes. "Japan's past is dead and gone, its present is nothing more than Hell for its inhabitants, but its future has yet to be set in stone. I am that future." Zero placed his hand over his mask as he continued. "I will not show you my face, but perhaps I can convince you to follow me by performing a miracle." Ignoring the stunned reactions of the group before him, Zero removed his hand from his mask and held it before him. "Kururugi Suzaku will be tried, convicted, and then executed for the crime of regicide if we do not stop it. I will lead those willing to follow me and I will save Suzaku from his fate. If you wish to join me, then come to the Tokyo Settlement's junkyard."

Ohgi, the leader of the group, carefully weighed his options. This man before him was an unknown factor, but most of what he had said was true. Japan's past and present were either gone or nothing more than an existence of suffering, but he was still unsure about its future. This masked man claiming to be its future, it made Ohgi feel a combination of skepticism and awe at the audacity to claim that. At this moment, however, the fact that this man had killed Clovis and was not willing to let Kururugi take the fall for his crime were points in his favor, as was the facts that this man had led them in combat and with his help they had beaten the Britannian army back until they had unleashed something none of them had seen coming.

"Very well, I and Kallen will meet you there in two hours." Ohgi could tell this man had lit a fire inside Kallen's spirit, but he would allow any other members to join once they conferred later. As he turned to leave, Ohgi heard Zero speak one last time.

"Kururugi's trial is scheduled to begin at seven thirty, they will be parading him through the streets a half hour before the trial is scheduled to take place. Don't be late." Zero finished seriously as the group turned to follow Ohgi out as the train began to pull back into a station. Once he watched them leave through the windows with a number of other passengers who recalled nothing of the train ride they had taken, Zero took a seat on one of many open places and relaxed.

Once the train took off again, he turned to the door he had been standing in front of and spoke, "You can come out now, partner." Almost before he even finished C.C. pulled open the door and gave him a look as she sat down across from him on the other side of the aisle.

"Once again boy," her monotone was tinged with something akin to a mixture between irritation and amusement, "you are ridiculously paranoid. So many unnecessary precautions in case they thought it was a trap and tried to kill you or tried to force your mask off your face." She crossed her legs and arms, staring at him with cold eyes. "I do hope that you won't waste my time like this in the future."

As the car descended into darkness once more, Lelouch removed his mask and began to change back into his uniform. "I didn't plan to waste your time, but I figured having an immortal to back me up in case of a violent confrontation would put the odds in my favor." In a little while the train would come to another stop and then he would get off with the rest of the passengers, blending in with the masses. Until then, he was stuck with an annoyed accomplice on his hands. He took the hint she gave him and tried to placate her. "Look, I don't know just how long you've been alive, but I don't have the luxury of letting something go wrong even once." He began. "I need to be prepared for any scenario that could go wrong so that I can ensure that I return alive to Nunnally. Everything else means nothing to me, but I can't return to her if my identity is exposed or I end up killed just because I didn't think an encounter with a terrorist group couldn't turn violent because I had my armor or my Geass." As he finished zipping up his jacket, he looked at C.C. She stayed in her position, still staring at him.

Once the tunnel ended, Lelouch took a look at what C.C. was wearing and blinked. "Where did you get those?" He asked gesturing to her clothes, ones that she hadn't been wearing when they had passed each other earlier.

The witch was dressed up rather strangely, wearing a ridiculously frilly maid outfit with a bunch of ribbons topped with a rather pointless tiny hat on her head.

"Your credit card will have quite a few more charges on it than it had an hour ago." C.C. gave as an answer before plucking the plastic rectangle from her cleavage and throwing it at him as he stared at her. He caught it on reflex and blinked in surprise before chuckling. "I guess I can consider this your price for doing what you did today then. How much did you spend?" He didn't need to be very frugal considering how much he had won over the years, but he preferred to keep track of his expenses. Even unexpected ones like this.

"About two thousand or three thousand pounds." She said as he choked for a moment in shock.

'Note to self, placate C.C. next time before taking her through something that could very well be pointless.' Lelouch thought to himself as he coughed trying to regain his breath. "Okay, then." He shuddered and realized that she could have done far worse with his card if he had annoyed her. And though he could have had the charges cancelled by claiming his card was stolen he didn't feel like that would fix anything and it would just put the police on C.C.'s trail as there was no way she wasn't caught on camera using his card. "Is there any way I can convince you to not spend a couple thousand pounds on clothes again?" He figured she must have more bags, there's no way that one outfit cost as much as she said she spent.

"Well, I do like pizza." C.C. said with a smirk that Lelouch missed as he sighed in relief. "If you get me pizza from Pizza Hut before dragging me into doing something like this again, I won't spend your money on anything else." Pizza Hut was a small up and coming chain back when she was captured, but the first time she had one of their pizzas she had decided that there was no better place to get some of her favorite food. She had done a little research over the past few days while Lelouch had been in class in order to find out how much had gone on in the past seven years and she was happy to discover they were a fairly popular chain now.

Unfortunately for Lelouch and his wallet, she intended to be compensated for seven years without her favorite food.

Pizza was a rather inane request compared to purchasing something useful like clothing, though he really doubted there was any use for that tiny hat, but Lelouch didn't see the problem with paying for C.C.'s favorite food. "Alright, I'll have Ruben help me set up a separate credit card account and give you the card so that you can get pizza from Pizza Hut." He figured Ruben wouldn't have much issue doing that, but he had to make sure that it was only a basic credit card, he couldn't have her running around with a credit limit as high as his currently was.

With that, the conversation turned to other less important topics as Lelouch waited to leave the train and prepared to announce Zero's existence to the world in only a few hours.


(Tokyo Settlement, Area Eleven – Central Highway – 7:13 pm – September 13 – 2017 a.t.b.)

In the back of the roof of the limousine, Lelouch trembled with a mix of excitement and fear. Soon, Kallen would stop driving once they were in close enough in front of the delegation escorting Suzaku to his trial. Soon, he would set the Britannian flag ablaze and declare his existence to the world.

Soon, he would declare war on Britannia!

Lelouch took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, closing his eyes to meditate for a few more seconds. When he opened his eyes, he stared down at his mask. A mask that would become a symbol, a symbol of defiance. A symbol of hope. A symbol of hatred.

A symbol of revolution!

Zero placed his helmet upon his head and wrapped himself in his cloak. 'It's time for the current world to end.' He thought as the flag blocking him from view burst into flame and burned to ashes. 'And for a new one to begin!'

He stared out for a few moments at the delegation escorting Kururugi, not at all surprised to see a group of Knightmares guarding a media truck and a platform with only two uniformed guards standing beside Suzaku.

Lelouch's blood went hot once he saw the collar placed on the other boy's neck before Zero calmed himself down. He had to stick to the plan.

"Who are you?!" A noble voice demanded, as Jeremiah revealed himself from his Knightmare. The man stood proud as he spoke further, "I demand you remove your mask at once and explain yourself and what possible reasons you could have had for defiling the Prince's transport!"

Zero knew it was a stroke of genius to have taken an older version of Clovis' favored style of limousine, it was the whole reason he had ordered his allies to meet him in the junkyard. Setting everything up had taken a while, but it was so worth it to see the look on the Purist's face. He figured he should answer the man's question, it wouldn't do him well to get his transport shot by the Knightmare guards for not responding after all.

"You wish to know who I am?" His masked form shook as he chuckled slightly. "Very well, I shall tell you who I am." He tapped his foot slightly on the roof to signal Kallen to move forward as he began his speech. "I am the product of Britannia's lies, I am the agony of the countless Japanese you slaughtered in Shinjuku, I am the pain you caused by attempting to condemn an innocent man simply because of his heritage, I am the unending rage of the oppressed and the downtrodden." Zero tapped his foot once again to signal Kallen to come to a stop. "After the slaughter in Shinjuku ordered by Prince Clovis, the dead cried for vengeance, they cried for a savior, they cried for the deaths of the ones who slaughtered their families put to the torch by Britannia's foolish Prince." Zero flared his arms out grandly as he finished his speech. "I am the one who answered their cries, I am the one who heard their pleas and granted their wish. I am the one who killed Prince Clovis!" He declared loudly for all to hear as he stared directly into the camera a man had brought from the media truck. "I am Zero!"

Jeremiah snorted. "Zero, as in nothing?" He responded. "This boy has plenty of evidence against him, it will take more than a declaration from some masked madman to convince me otherwise!" Even though it was a flat out lie, it was still necessary to pretend otherwise since he had definitely not expected Clovis' real killer to openly announce himself like this.

"I interrogated Clovis and discovered much more than I expected, Margrave Jeremiah." Zero said as he spat out Jeremiah's name. "And after I learned all I needed to about Project: Orange I shot that blubbering Prince right between his eyes!" He snapped his fingers and signaled Kallen to reveal the container that had once contained C.C., causing quite a bit of panic to appear on Jeremiah's face.

Of course, it didn't contain the gas they thought it did, but they didn't need to know that.

As soon as the masked man in front of him detailed exactly how Clovis had died despite the fact they had kept that secret from the media, Jeremiah knew he had the right man. Or at the very least someone who knew the man who had killed Clovis if this was a decoy. But before he could even raise his pistol to avenge Prince Clovis, the container he and so many others had fought for in Shinjuku was revealed and he panicked when Zero pulled out a dead man's switch.

Zero pulled out a small device from behind his cloak, it having been attached to one of the areas meant to holster a gun, and pulled it far enough out to reveal the cord that was connected to the container behind him. "Now, I'm sure you want to avenge your pathetic Prince, but I know you don't want the contents of this container released behind me more." Zero spoke carefully, making sure that Jeremiah understood everything that was laid before him. "If you kill me this dead man's switch will release the contents of this and who knows what kind of effect that will have on the audience you so generously provided." He really enjoyed Britannian arrogance sometimes. Ignoring the hypocrisy of that statement when coming from him, it was simply too easy to manipulate Jeremiah after he gathered so many Britannians together to humiliate Suzaku on the way to his trial.

It was all too easy to hold them all hostage within the minds of the guards, even though nothing even remotely deadly was inside the container.

"Jeremiah, be careful!" A woman's familiar voice sounded from one of the Knightmares, and when she revealed herself Zero realized why she sounded so similar.

He ignored her and the other pilot who revealed himself to try and talk to Jeremiah. 'Huh, I had no idea that Villetta was so high up in the Purist's ranks.' Zero mused to himself. This turn of events could prove useful in the future, but for now he had a friend to rescue.

"What do you want?" Jeremiah asked, causing not only Zero's attention to be refocused on him instead of his subordinate, not that he knew that, but the cameraman's as well giving Zero just the opening he needed.

"In exchange for all evidence of Orange being destroyed," Lelouch began as he flexed his jaw and flared his Geass, "you will release Suzaku Kururugi into my custody and do all that is in your power to let us escape!" The left side of his mask opened for only a few moments while the all of the cameras were turned to Jeremiah in shock that he would acquiesce to a terrorist's demands and his Geass was let loose upon the will of Jeremiah.

It only took a second for his will to submit to Zero's and he gave his orders, "Very well, release the prisoner!" Jeremiah ignored the sounds of his subordinates trying to reach him. All he knew was that he must obey Zero's orders.

Zero grinned madly beneath his helmet. 'Perfect. Almost all of my tasks have been cleared.' The masked man jumped down from the car, making sure to maintain his hold on the dead man's switch, and made his way over to Kururugi.

"What are you–" Suzaku tried to speak before gurgling in pain as the collar shocked him.

"I expected as much." Zero declared. "They were going to use that collar to force you to remain silent throughout your trial and not let you defend yourself." He placed his hands on the collar carefully, and murmured something Suzaku couldn't quite catch before he felt the constant humming from the collar stop.

'Excellent, D.O.M Hostia works on anything powered by Sakuradite it seems.' Zero mused silently as his experiment was proven successful, though he took note of the one percent drop in power his use of the armor's most mysterious function caused. He would not be able to use it often, until he determined how much power it took for this system to subdue a Knightmare, he would have to relegate it to a last resort. If a small collar was able to drop it by a full percent, who knew how much would be drained by a full Knightmare Frame.

"Zero, it's time to go." The voice of Kallen behind him shook him out of his contemplative state. She was correct, this was not the time to be considering the results of an experiment.

"Right, let's move." And with that Zero pressed the button on the dead man's switch, releasing the colorful gas trapped inside and inciting a panic amongst the crowd and the guards. He wrapped up Suzaku in his cloak and made a run for the side of the highway, but was cut off by a Knightmare wielded by the male partner of Jeremiah.

"Oh no you don't!" The man shouted over his Knightmare's speakers. "You're not going anywhere terrorist scum!" He was quickly blindsided, much to both his and Zero's surprise by another Knightmare Frame, one that looked quite different than any of them had ever seen before. It attacked by sending strange looking golden threads to pierce through the arms of the enemy Knightmare, resulting in the arms and the gun being severed from the Frame. However, the pilot was quick enough to avoid having his cockpit pierced as he maneuvered out of the way, pushing his Landspinners to their max speed before ejecting to escape.

"Run Zero-sama" a feminine voice sounded from the speakers, speaking in Japanese surprisingly enough. "I'll protect you, now go!" Her voice deepened as she growled and dodged an attack by jumping away from Villetta's Knightmare. It was an attack that by all rights she shouldn't have seen coming well enough to dodge as smoothly as she had, considering it had come up from right behind her. Suddenly, four more Knightmares descended from a set of VTOLs and Zero decided to take his unexpected ally's advice.

He grabbed Kallen's shoulder, jarring her from her shock, and dragged Suzaku and her before shouting "Now!" as loud as he could down below and then he and Kallen jumped over the bridge.

Zero took care to cover Suzaku with his cloak and Kallen made sure to keep her disguise from flying off into the air as they went into a freefall. 'Come on, anytime Ohgi.' Zero demanded before mentally sighing in relief as he saw the pad deploy, slowing their fall into the back of the truck enough to where none of them were hurt beyond a few bruises.

Kallen quickly made her way to the front of the truck and opened the divider before entering the passenger seat and shutting the door behind her. Zero heard a muffled Go! before the truck jolted, causing he and Suzaku to hit the floor as they sped off down the road.

He set the Kururugi up carefully on the wall of the truck before settling down across from the boy.

Suzaku had absolutely no idea what to think. He woke up to an interrogation that was more like a torture session designed to elicit a confession, was fed nothing but scraps, and was muscled out onto a procession that proceeded to take him through the largest highway in the Settlement, resulting in his humiliation being broadcast all across his nation. And after all of that, this masked madman comes along and claims he was the one responsible for the crime Suzaku was accused of, potentially poisons thousands of people, and rescues him. This was too much. As he opened his mouth to demand some answers, Zero waved his hand and said, "I'm sure you have many questions, but they can wait until we're in a safe house. Until then, regain your strength, I promise no harm will come to you." Feeling annoyed, but recognizing his own exhaustion, Suzaku complied. He remained silent for the rest of the drive, wondering what kami he had pissed off to end up in this situation.

Lelouch stared at his closest friend from behind Zero's mask, taking in all of his features. He looked weak, most likely from his stay in prison, but he could still see the fire that made Suzaku who he was. Still, Suzaku's condition was only part of what he was considering. He had no idea who was the one that rescued him from Jeremiah's allies and, furthermore, he had no idea why his command hadn't forced Jeremiah to help them… 'Oh shit.'

Zero resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose in annoyance, knowing he couldn't do so with his mask on and he refused to remove it in the presence of Kallen and Ohgi. Still, he felt so stupid. He knew he had to be careful with how he phrased his orders and his intent behind them, but he had still screwed up!

His intent behind his order to Jeremiah was to prevent the man's interference with Suzaku's rescue and his wording should have forced him to act when his allies had moved on Zero, Kallen, and Suzaku. Except for one thing. His order had told Jeremiah to "let" them escape, not "help" them escape.

By ordering Jeremiah to "let" instead of to "help", combined with his intent of making sure it was Jeremiah himself who was unable to act and stop them from escaping, he had made the man into a passive observer. This was because "letting" someone do something was a passive act, whereas "helping" someone do something was an active act. 'I have got to be more careful with my words' Zero thought to himself.

Still, he was curious as to who had helped them escape. They were clearly an ally of his, though he had yet to meet them. But it would hardly be the first time that he had an ally arrive out of nowhere.

He shifted slightly to get more comfortable as it would take about an hour to reach the safe house, but that was including any decoy routes that they took in order to shake off anyone tailing them. His thoughts turned to another instance where he'd had some mysterious help from someone not named C.C. 'Perhaps that mysterious ally in Shinjuku has helped me yet again.' As the idea passed through Zero's mind, he wondered how they were handling themselves against six, maybe seven, Knightmares.

He kind of wished he could see them fight right now.


Back at the highway, Nunnally was very glad her Onii-sama couldn't see her fighting right now. She didn't want him to see this side of her. She flashed her Geass again to make sure she could avoid any attacks as she considered how she arrived at this point.

She had taken Nemo's form after Lelouch had left later in the afternoon. She wanted to get a little practice in so that she would be used to having her legs back should she need to run away. Nunnally had been exceedingly careful to avoid being seen, making sure to limit her practice to her bedroom where she knew there were no security cameras because there was no way her Onii-sama would let Ruben violate her privacy like that. Old family friend or not.

She greatly enjoyed being able to walk again, and being able to see how her Onii-sama had decorated her room for her brought tears to her eyes. It was exactly as he had told her every time she asked and everything was set up exactly as she had requested. Seeing a picture of herself and her Onii-sama alongside Kaguya and Suzaku in front of the Kururugi Shrine resting on her nightstand had put a smile on her face that lasted for hours. She finally knew what they looked like. The feeling was indescribable for her, to finally be able to see the faces of the first friends she had made since she and her brother were exiled was just so amazing.

But then, after having soaked up all the images she could of her room, she decided to practice with her Geass. And that's what led her to where she was now, as she pulled a sword from the back of the Mark Nemo to deflect one of the six Knightmare's weapons away from her as she jumped to the left to avoid another attack.

She had flared her Geass, hoping to see some of the near future, and saw flashes, flashes of her Onii-sama's persona, Zero. In one of them, the Knightmare controlled by Jeremiah attacked his allies, allowing Zero and his ally to escape with Suzaku, in another it was joined by the woman's Knightmare resulting in the man who worked with Jeremiah being killed by their combined efforts to help Zero escape.

But in the vision that drove her to come to this point had been one in which she had seen the man allied with Jeremiah riddle her beloved Onii-sama with bullets alongside her dear friend and her brother's ally.

She refused to allow that vision of the future to come to pass. And so, she waited. She talked with Nemo in her mind while doing so to stave off boredom and come up with some battle strategies so that she wouldn't be taken apart right off the bat. She knew that it would not be like the first time, this time she would be in a prolonged conflict that would not end quickly.

Still, a part of her felt a primal joy at the thought of going into battle to defeat her beloved brother's enemies. Her blood sang at the thought of battle, but she remained calm and worked with her ally in her mind as she waited.

Nunnally, in Nemo's form, waited for hours until she saw the man who would kill her brother prepare to attack. And then she jumped off the roof, materialized her Knightmare before anyone could see how it formed, and struck with her Blonde Knives, destroying his Knightmare's arms and taking away his weapons allowing Zero to escape. She had shouted in Japanese to draw Zero's attention and to disguise her own voice, knowing that the deeper accent she had when she spoke the language mixed with the speakers of the Mark Nemo would conceal her voice well enough so that she wouldn't be recognized.

Her left eye burned with power as she once again read the lines of the future to protect herself from another attack. She had been in battle for about ten minutes now and was starting to feel tired, the Mark Nemo had been manifested for far longer than before and this was only her second time using it. As the battle continued, she could feel her fatigue start to slow down her reflexes, even though she could still easily predict the attacks coming at her.

'I think it's time to retreat, what do you think Nemo?' Nunnally directed her thoughts to the girl that had come to become her friend over the past few days as she once again struck one of the Knightmares with her Blonde Knives, this time taking out a second one of her enemies. Though they had ejected like the first, something that angered Nunnally greatly.

She didn't want to let any of her Onii-sama's enemies survive, but she wasn't skilled enough to kill in open combat it seemed. Her attacks were off target sometimes and she got tired far too quickly. So, it looked like it was time to flee. "I agree, it's time to go. Onii-sama and Suzaku should be far enough away by now that they shouldn't be found." Nemo replied from within Nunnally's mind. Nemo was right, but still, just to be safe, Nunnally read the lines of the future one final time for the night.

Zero, standing/sitting on a stone in a warehouse… Zero embracing/shaking hands/watching Suzaku leave… Suzaku and Zero/Zero leaving and returning home to her.

Nunnally gasped slightly before turning off her Geass. She had been using it on and off for the past ten minutes during the battle, making sure that she wasn't caught unawares. Still, that last set of visions proved she had done enough to make sure that her Onii-sama would survive.

With that thought, she turned and rushed away from the highway, jumping as high as she could force the Mark Nemo to jump and using the Blonde Knives as bastardized grappling hooks to pull herself to the roof of the highest building before speeding off into the distance. None of the Knightmares would be able to follow her, they weren't able to jump with their Landspinners and even if they could there was no way they'd be able to generate the supernatural force necessary to get as high as she had. It went without saying that the Slash Harkens were unable to even reach more than half way up the building so that meant the only way she could be followed was at the ground level unless they called in helicopters, but by the time they arrived she'd be long gone.

As soon as she was a rooftop away from home, Nunnally dematerialized the Mark Nemo and collapsed in Nemo's invisible form.

"I did it." Nunnally murmured through her exhausted gasps. "I protected Onii-sama again." She smiled tiredly before forcing herself to stand up and walk into the direction of Ashford Academy. It would only take her a few minutes to get home from there and after that she could just go to bed without issue. She had told Sayoko she wanted to take a nap hours ago so the maid would not have disturbed her in her room without a request from Nunnally.

Her heightened sense of hearing would result in her sleep being disturbed, even by Sayoko, so the maid would have definitely stayed out of her room for the past few hours. So long as Nunnally made her way into her bed quickly, there would be no problems at all.

Nemo took over their shared consciousness as Nunnally succumbed to her exhaustion, but took care to ensure they retained their merged forms. It had been something they were working on so that if Nunnally was rendered unconscious they would not be separated, leaving Nunnally defenseless.

As it was, Nemo could only hold the pair together for five minutes. So, rather than take the long way down, she climbed down from the roof rather than go inside and take the stairs. Thankfully, there were plenty of windows to use as hand and foot holds so it didn't take long for Nemo to get down. She quickly made her way to Ashford, entering the clubhouse with two minutes to spare before finding Nunnally's room and tucking herself into bed just as she left Nunnally's body.

"Onii-sama." Nunnally murmured in her sleep before turning on her side. Nemo figured the girl would be fine once she saw the smile on her face.

'I hope it's a good dream, Nunnally.' Nemo thought to herself before preparing herself to keep watch until Lelouch returned.

He would be back soon.


(Minato Ghetto, Area Eleven – Abandoned Warehouse – 8:22 pm – September 13 – 2017 a.t.b.)

Zero sat himself down on a piece of rubble in an abandoned warehouse in the Minato Ghetto, staring at Suzaku. He had sent his allies away back to Shinjuku, claiming that this was enough help for now and that he'd be in contact when he needed them again.

Kallen had protested, but Ohgi dragged her away before driving the two of them off away from the area, leaving only Zero and Suzaku together alongside the sounds of waves crashing upon the shore.

Suzaku decided to break the silence first. "Why did you rescue me?" He asked.

Zero tilted his head. He thought that would have been obvious. "Because I couldn't let you suffer as a result of my actions. I killed Clovis to end the massacre of the Shinjuku Ghetto, and to make sure he never did anything like that again. I could hardly let the last of the Kururugi name pay the price for that." As he considered how he might sway the young man before him, Zero contemplated removing his mask and revealing his identity. But what Suzaku said next removed that option entirely.

"Then why didn't you turn yourself in instead of causing pointless chaos?" Suzaku demanded. "Unleashing poison gas on all those people just to save me, that's meaningless!"

Zero chuckled, "Come now Suzaku, you and I both know there was no poison gas in that container. Not when it was stolen by my allies and not when I let loose some colorful smoke to mask our escape." It looked like he would have to try a different approach. "I know that there was never any poison gas in that chamber because the woman who was kept prisoner in that chamber is my accomplice." Ah, Lelouch loved playing with his words like this. Not a single word he had just spoken was a lie, but it would all combine to give a completely different impression. "There was another boy with you when you discovered her, so I know for a fact you knew it wasn't poison gas." He chuckled at his indirect reference to himself. "Still, interesting tactic, trying to guilt me into turning myself in."

"How do you know about him?" Suzaku immediately latched on to the fact that this terrorist new about his best friend's existence. He shifted slightly so that he could either attack or escape at a moment's notice should he need to take this man out to protect Lelouch and Nunnally.

"I know that boy because he owes his life to Zero." He said once again, not technically lying since he was referring to the Armor, not the individual wearing it. "Were it not for Zero he would have likely perished in the battle." He waved his hand, dismissing the issue. "Regardless, there is another reason I saved you Kururugi Suzaku and it was not to talk about your friend."

Zero stood up from his lax position on the rubble and walked towards Suzaku. "I want you to join me, together we could destroy Britannia and free Japan and its people." He came to a stop in front of his best friend. "The things we could accomplish if we worked together are endless. What do you say?" Zero held out his hand.

Suzaku looked contemplative before asking him one final question. "Why did you release all that smoke into the crowds, making everyone think it was poison gas?"

Zero waved his other hand back and forth, dismissing the question. "What do you care? Who cares about the means by which you were saved, what matters is the end result."

With that answer, Suzaku smacked Zero's gloved hand away and glared at him. "That's wrong." He declared with conviction. "Results gained through contemptible means are worthless! There's no way I can join you, someone like you who only cares about results," Suzaku spat, "you would never be able to change Britannia like that."

Zero stood there in shock as Suzaku turned away. "What?!" The masked man rasped. "Where the hell are you going?!" He demanded.

"Back to the Settlement, I have a trial to get to." Suzaku answered without looking back, though he stopped before leaving the warehouse for a moment. "Britannia can never be changed from the outside by someone like you. You would destroy the whole system rather than try to repair it." He spoke softly.

"What does that matter when that very system is designed to oppress and subjugate countless people?!" Zero shouted back. "Doesn't a system like that deserve to be destroyed?! How the hell do you repair a system like Britannia's where everyone who isn't an individual of influence is subject to the whims of those in power?!" Suzaku stopped and turned to look at Zero, passion flaring in his eyes.

"You repair it from the inside," Suzaku declared, "you work hard enough to change your superiors' minds, you rise to every challenge and face every risk head on to change the minds of those around you." Suzaku turned away as he finished. "And once you've risen high enough, you enact the reforms necessary to change the system so that people no longer need to suffer. That's how you change Britannia."

The sound of dark chuckling made its way to Suzaku's ears, causing him to stop just outside the warehouse. "I see you are willing to stand by these foolish convictions of yours." He heard Zero clapping behind him as he walked until he was standing only a few feet to his side.

Zero walked up slowly, clapping mockingly as he arrived next to Suzaku, staring out over the water into the night sky and looking at the countless stars. He stopped clapping and turned his head slightly to stare at the young man in front of him.

Suzaku had changed, but Lelouch was willing to let this play out. On one condition.

"I will not sway you, and you will not sway me." He began his proposition. "So, I propose a little contract. If you somehow manage to change Britannia from within before I destroy it from without, then I and I alone will surrender to you and only you. However, if I win, and I purge Britannia from the shores of Japan, you will join me and help me protect the nation that will rise from the ashes of both Japan and Britannia." He turned to fully face his closest friend. "Think of it as a friendly clash of our ideals, with this country being the battleground. What do you say?"

Suzaku turned and faced the masked man that had rescued him this night and considered his strange offer. He smirked. "I say you had better prepare to surrender to me, Zero." He declared boldly. "I don't plan to lose to a terrorist." He held out his hand and Zero grasped it with a firm handshake.

"Terrorist is such an ugly word." Zero said demurely, which just sounded wrong with the voice modulator. "I much rather prefer the term revolutionary."


I am genuinely surprised I finished this chapter before the new year. It's not that I was suffering from writer's block this time, it's just I have had probably one of the single most stressful months of my life.

In early December, I took probably the biggest test of my life in the form of the LSAT which was the first of three times I can take this test in the next two years which determines whether I'll get into the law school I want to or not. I swear, I hope I got a good enough score the first time around. It's fucking stressful.

Just these past few weeks I had to handle a twenty-five-hundred-word final paper about a subject I had a hard time mustering enough energy to care for until the deadline was literally less than twenty-four hours away. I got four hours of sleep after finishing it, then I had to go take a final exam where I had to answer three questions out of five in an essay format resulting in me writing about eleven pages on four hours of sleep. And after that I still have to deal with the final exam from the class I had to write that twenty-five-hundred-word paper in starting on Monday. (Edit: Fuck finals. Seriously.)

I'm feeling insanely burnt out when it comes to writing so the fact I got this done feels like a legitimate Christmas miracle.

Speaking of, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, or Happy Winter Solstice. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and that you're all keeping warm if you're in a place that gets nasty winters.

Anyone who guesses my favorite out of these holidays gets a virtual cookie.

I promise I'll try to update in January while I'm still on break from classes.

One last thing before I go, I saw Code Geass Season 3 has been confirmed and I just have to say one thing. I'm so freakin excited about this! I can't wait until next year, no matter what the release date is supposed to be!

Ahem. Forgive me, I just really, really want to see Season 3 of what is probably one of my single most favorite anime ever.

King Draconias Over and Out.