Turn 9.2 – Enter Villain, Stage Right
I put the finishing touches on my letter to Colonel Tohdoh when a knock at the door rouses me from my focus. This should be an interesting conversation. I turn the spinning chair around to face the door, gun trained on a point approximately where head height would be.
"Colonel, we've brought you the princess and...my god, what happened here?!" a JLF private shouts as they witness the newly 'redecorated' room. Princess Euphemia is herself at least somewhat disturbed.
I fire a bullet near the man's head, "Guns down, gentlemen. The Lieutenant Colonel and I had a frank discussion in which his men realized the futility of their mission and helped me dispose of him."
The soldiers lower their guns and raise their hands in surrender as they spot Black Knight guns trained on them from the side.
"Very good. My group is already in control of the hotel and the hostages are being freed as we speak. You should be grateful. Had this operation continued, you'd have written your nation's epitaph."
I hand one of them Kusakabe's sword and the letter for Tohdoh, "I'm going to let some of you go, on the off-chance that not all of you agreed with what your commanding officer was going to do. In exchange, you will deliver this letter, and Kusakabe's katana, to Colonel Tohdoh Kyoshiro. Do you understand?"
The private gulps and nods. I'm being more than generous considering their war crimes. But I've sated my fill of blood for now with their CO's demise. I have no desire to kill these men pointlessly.
I gesture grandly with my free hand, "Now, we have a few minutes, Your Highness. And I need to speak with you on private matters." I turn to the Black Knights, "Have Q-1 get me when it's time to go. I need a few minutes alone."
As my soldiers depart, Euphie's eyes glance around the room, taking in the carnage, particularly the gory decor of the couch...and the rather large bag in the middle of the room.
"I must admit, I was not expecting to find a princess in a hostage situation. I assume you willingly gave yourself up to protect your people? I can honestly only applaud such a selfless display of noblesse oblige," I say, going into a deep bow.
Courtly manners aren't something one sees a lot of in this country. And I can tell that my expressing these sentiments isn't what she expected.
"Zero, what happened in here? And...though I'm afraid of the answer...what's in that bag?"
I shake my head kindly, "That is a question you are indeed better not knowing the answer to. But so you shall not be idly tempted to look...call it a 'present' for your sister."
I stride forward, hand holding out an envelope. Addressed to: "General Cornelia Li Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11".
"This is for her, and contains an explanation of what happened here," I say, holding the letter out. "I warn you, it is not for the faint of heart."
Euphie gingerly takes the letter from me, a look of puzzlement on her fair features.
"Why did you come here? ...Why did you kill my brother Clovis?"
I chuckle darkly to myself. I always liked Euphie as a character; she's a rare ray of light in this dark world. And of course, Lelouch always had the highest affection for her.
But...I'm going to have to prove a point. And it's not one I'm going to enjoy.
"Tell me Princess, has your sister told you what Code-R is?"
She shakes her head, "No. But what could justify such mutilation of a person?"
"Clovis was conducting human experimentation, in addition to the senseless massacre of the Shinjuku ghetto. The details of which have no doubt been discovered by your sister by now. Ask her, if you truly wish to know."
She gestures around the room, "And what do you plan to do, now that you've 'disposed' of the commander and taken us all hostage?" she says with a glare to my mask.
I laugh quietly, "Hahahaha. What an absurd notion. Why on earth would I be stupid enough to make the same war crime and mistake that I came here to stop? Besides, your sister would have my head if I even contemplated such a thing," I say, shaking my head in amusement.
I put my hand under where the chin of my mask is, "I came here of my own accord to save lives, Britannian AND Japanese. I do not take civilian hostages. And Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe earned his fate," I say the last part gruffly.
I look out the window, turning my back on her.
"This was once a free country, like Britannia. It had its share of problems, true, but those could be fixed. As it is now, however? The cycle of hatred and loss continues unabated. I have seen it happen across this world. And..."
I turn around in a flourish, cape fluttering, "I intend to change that," I pronounce with finality.
Euphemia looks me dead in the eye, "By comitting more death and destruction?"
I snort, "As if empires are ever overthrown bloodlessly. You are rather naive, aren't you?"
Euphemia meets my gaze dead on, "So you have no belief in people's ability to come to reasonable agreements? This death and destruction doesn't help anyone!"
"Not by speeches and votes of the majority are the great questions of the time decided – that was the great mistake of 1908 and 1909 – but by iron and blood," I quote with a German accent.
Surprisingly enough, Bismarck, it turns out, defected to Britannia out of disgust with the EU's populism and corruption, and supposedly for hamstringing him behind the scenes. Even in an alternate history, Otto Von Bismarck was not a man who enjoyed being commanded by intellectual inferiors.
Realpolitik, as a result, is a lapsed but recognized political theory in Britannia. Though given the warlike nature of the world, the diplomatic applications aren't practiced nearly as often.
Though from Lelouch's memories...Schneizel has an impressive collection of Bismarck's monographs and writings.
Euphemia's hands curl into fists at the quote, "I hate Bismarck."
Also not surprising. Bismarck is required reading for royalty. And he's very realistic about the way nations will always act in their own interests. Of course someone like Euphemia would consider him abhorrent.
I sigh as I walk to stand in front of her.
"But then again...if there were more people like you in Britannia, there would be no need for people like me. And then your sister and I would both be unemployed," I say jokingly.
Euphemia smiles at me. What did I do now?
"You'd prefer my way of thinking, but you think the world doesn't work that way, am I right?"
Heh. Clever girl.
There is a knock at the door and Q-1 enters.
"Zero, we're ready."
I nod, "Excellent, I'll join you momentarily."
I turn to Euphie, "One last thing. Though Japan did partially provoke the Second Pacific War, the reason that the public latched onto...was not a true one."
As she stands there in a mix of confusion and surprise, I lean in to whisper to her, "History is written by the winners, and the truth is nearly always obscured by agendas and shades of grey. The rallying cry that mustered Britannia's collective fury, the murder of the vi Britannia siblings...is not what it seems.
"That shall be enough to set you on the trail; I look forward to seeing you at the truth, Your Highness."
A roar echoes from outside the window. Lancelot, Right on time. Just as planned.
I flash the peace sign at him as the Lancelot's Factsphere's open...before activating the detonators. Because I'm a dick.
A rapid descent to the basement by rappelling down later, and everyone is on liferafts, just floating in the water.
While we, the Black Knights, are standing on a yacht's deck, lighting equipment and cameras ready for our grand introduction.
I glance behind me, spotting Sayoko out of view of the public. My sister wrapped up in a blanket to protect her identity.
"Britannians! Rejoice! As I had sworn to do, the innocent victims of this heinous action have been saved," my voice projecting over the speaker system.
The stage is alit as the fog serves as light refraction for the studio lighting highlighting us. Time to introduce ourselves.
""Allow me to introduce myself and my compatriots. We are, the Order of The Black Knights!"
The name alone is bound to piss off the Britannians. A terrorist group calling themselves knights? Absurd.
"Beholden to no nation, serving no creed save our own, we protect those who cannot fight, be they Britannian, Japanese, or any other group!"
This is something that I believe Lelouch failed at in the original timeline. The Black Knights were too beholden to Japan. I want their loyalty to reside only with our ideals and myself.
"The JLF took innocent people hostage and committed acts unbecoming of decent men. When I informed the commander of the wrongness and futility of his actions, he made despicable threats against the person of Princess Euphemia, who was here incognito, seeking to learn more to better carry out her duties."
Zero never mentioned that part originally. And Euphie is honestly quite popular, or will be, at any rate. Besides, it makes me look good for Nelly.
"Upon suggesting that I should take part in these vile acts, I executed him as the disgrace to humanity that he was."
A bit of a white lie, but better to bury Kusakabe and try to make myself look better. Once Cornelia gets my letter, the JLF will be dead men walking. Vile acts and despicable threats are vague enough to let people connect the dots themselves. Despite its commonplace, people don't like hearing about certain things happening in war.
Not that that rape and war crimes should ever happen at all, but such is the unfortunate reality of warfare.
"As for Clovis, the previous Viceroy? His massacre at Shinjuku to cover up his own misdeed would have been more than enough reason to punish him."
I put a hand approximately where my brow is in a gesture of sadness and resignation.
"But to think that Code-R, a project dedicated to human experimentation, sanctioned at the highest levels, would be the cause of so much misery, fills me with despair."
Get the people asking questions about their own government, and they won't be asking what you yourself are up to.
"There will be those who fear us. I say unto them, have at thee! For we know we serve Justice!" I say, extending one hand to the side.
I raise my other hand in an identical gesture, "To those who have not the power to fight back, or do not wish to fight, you need only seek us out. We are the shield that defends the powerless and the downtrodden!"
And now, the climax. This is where I start publicly diverging. I had thought long and hard about this. And after Saitama, I was inspired to take up the mantle of one of my greatest heroes.
"それで我は大六天魔王だ!" (For I am The Demon King of The Sixth Heaven!)
"And we, the Black Knights, shall stand in Judgement of this world!"
Let the Britannians wonder what the strange words mean. No doubt their translators will figure it out eventually.
But to the Japanese? That title has meaning. It is an emblem, a symbol.
What does it mean, they will ask, that Zero would say that? Why claim a title that no one in over four hundred years of Japan's history has dared to touch?
The people will ask these questions and wonder. And they will realize that...
If the gods have forsaken Japan, perhaps only the Devil can be the savior they need.
The smoke bombs go off, and moments later, we are escaping on high speed boats to safety.
I move to the back of one, seeking Sayoko and her precious burden.
"I apologize, there wasn't time to get you to a boat. We'll drop you on shore shortly."
As I turn to leave, a hand reaches out and grabs my wrist. It moves down to grab my gloved hand.
"話したいです、お兄さま、" (We need to talk, big brother,) a small voice whispers from the bundled up form.
And like that, suddenly my good mood is as dead as the Hotel's superstructure.
End of turn.
