Shinjuku Ghetto
"How is she?" Ohgi asked. The resistance group had spread out around the hideout. The only people left inside were Ohgi, Kallen, Lelouch, and the girl. The girl was now lying on a make-shift cot. The various straps and bonds were undone so that she would be free to move when she got up. Kallen checked the girl's pulse and felt her forehead.
"She seems alright, but after seeing her emerge like that, I-I just don't know anymore."
Lelouch looked on, still tied to a chair. He wasn't practically fond of terrorists, but the way they were behaving made them seem more like ordinary people he would see day by day. Of course they were ordinary people, what the heck was he thinking? Either way, that wasn't important now. He still had to convince them to let him go. He definitely wasn't going to blab to the police after seeing what the military was doing out of the public view. But how was he going to convince them to trust him? This is going to be rather tough, but he had to do something.
"What the-?" Ohgi suddenly blurted out, starring at a computer screen.
"What is it?" Kallen asked, "another Royal is killed?"
"No…it appears that the Sons of the Serpent attacked that school you were staying at."
"Wait, Ashford? That doesn't make sense, why would anyone want to attack the Acade-?"
Lelouch cried out as he lurched toward the computer, falling over again in the process, writhing like an eel.
"No! You're lying! The school couldn't have been attacked! You bastard! Nunnally isn't in danger! My sister is not in danger! Stop messing with my head you monster!"
Both Ohgi and Kallen stared at him. Ohgi was trying to figure out a way to clam him done but Kallen looked on with wide eyes. Lelouch had been perfectly fine before then, but at the mere thought of his sister being in danger he becomes…well…this.
Settlement Highway
"Oh my God! Milly, you're bleeding!" In the car, Shirley and the others finally felt they could breathe easier. Milly smiled weakly when Shirley noticed the red stain on the shoulder of her uniform.
"I'm alright Shirley, it only grazed me."
In the back, Nina was holding Nunnally's hands in hers.
"Nina?"
"Yes Nunnally?"
"Do you think Lelouch is alright?"
"Yes Nunnally, your brother should be alright. He and Rivalz weren't in class when those guys attacked. By now they would've probably seen the news and know what happened."
"Um…Milly, could you…um…drive a little bit faster?"
"Why Shirley?"
"Because they're chasing us." Everyone turned around in their seats to see three cars and a van approaching from behind, all colored green with terrorists garbed in a similar fashion as those at the school.
"Oh no," was all that Milly could be able to say as Nina and Nunnally ducked down again.
Shirley jumped as her phone rang. It must be Lelouch! She attached the ear-piece and answered: "Lelu?"
"Sorry, but this unidentified number is obviously not Lelouch Lamperouge. Glad to see you all made it out." This made Shirley freeze, half out of embarrassment and half out of confusion.
"Um…who are you?"
"Not now, just drive the best you can and I'll try and keep those snakes off your backs. Lelouch and Rivalz are both safe." Then the call ended.
"Hold on, how are you going to keep them off our back?" Shirley asked the now non-existent caller.
There was a loud hiss, a bang, and the green van that was pursuing them flipped over. It seemed to hang the air momentarily before hitting the ground. Sparks flew as it screeched across the blacktop. Smoke ebbed out of it as the van came to a stop, obscuring the highway behind them in a white fog. Shirley could've sworn she overheard the people in the other cars saying: "What the hell?"
The radio in the car suddenly burst on with a torrent of static, scaring Milly so she jumped and give a rather unnatural hiccup.
"Shirley, did you just turn the radio on?"
"I didn't even touch it"
[Sabotage (Ill Communication / Beastie Boys) - PLAY]
"Now what's going on?"
Behind them, the Serpents in one of the cars were having radio problems as well, but of a different sort.
"What the hell is this?" asked the one driving. The younger one in the back seat spoke up.
"Oh, I now this song. Sabotage by Beastie Boys."
"Beastie Boys in this hell-hole?"
[Sabotage - 0:15]
The revving sound of a powerful engine filled the air and out of the snow-colored smoke screen came a figure wearing a trench coat on a black motorcycle. He had orange blonde hair and a cream colored scarf around his neck despite the temperature. He maneuvered his cycle until he was right next to one of the terrorists' cars and slapped a piece of paper onto the side of the vehicle.
"Hey!" the rear passenger of the car shouted, "just what do you think you're-" He never finished his sentence.
[Sabotage - 0:39]
There was an explosion and the car went on its side from the force of the blast, spinning like a top until it began to turn over and over. It went into the sidewall of the highway finally disintegrated in a fireball.
[Sabotage - 0:52]
A fork in the road caused the students and half of the remaining terrorists to be separated from the others. Two of the Serpents in the second car (not the driver), turned in their seats and began firing sub-machine guns at the stranger on the motorcycle. The stranger swerved and drew a pistol and fired.
[Sabotage - 1:04]
The stranger swerved to the opposite side of the road, looking ahead of the car and smirking as he stowed away his revolver. He swerved again as one of the Serpents threw a grenade, which detonated a few seconds later. The stranger looked at the main highway, the gap between them wasn't getting any smaller.
Great, he thought, it looks like I have to do that after all. It's a good thing that these thugs aren't going to report anything.
"Hey Ayers," said the Serpent in the passenger seat, "I'm out, where'd you put the extra magazin-OH MOTHER DAMN!"
[Sabotage - 1:35]
The car without a live driver went over the abrupt gap in the road the stranger noticed earlier as the figure in question went flying up into the air, over the divide between the two highways, and onto-
[Sabotage - 1:38 - PAUSE]
-the trunk of Milly's car.
"Terrorist!" Nina screamed, grabbing a text book from under a seat and swinging it down. The stranger moved his hand out of the way and the book hit the car with a heavy thunk.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the stranger demanded, moving his other hand to avoid another swing of the book. "Honest to God, I'm on your side."
"Yeah right." She begins to repeatedly swing the book, alternating between trying to hit either his left or the right hand.
"I'm not-" thunk "-a terrorist!" thunk
"Then why-" thunk "-are you-" thunk "-after us?" thunk
"Because-" thunk "-I'm trying-" thunk "-to help!" thunk
"Sure-" thunk "-I-" thunk "-believe you." thwak!
"Ow! Stop it that hurts!"
"Sorry!" thawk!
"Ah! Can I talk to someone else?"
"Go away!" thwak!
"Ow! Damn it, I'm getting shot at too you know!"
Right on cue, one of the Serpents in the last car fired a series of shots which ricocheted off the road and the back of the car, puncturing the stranger's trench coat, breaking the rear-view mirror, putting two holes in the windshield (causing Shirley and Milly to cry out), and finally sending a bullet into Nina's right arm. She screamed and fell backwards onto the floor of the car.
"Nina!" Nunnally yelled, feeling Nina fall past her.
The stranger, being able to actually climb into the car, withdrew his revolver and fanned-out the remaining five rounds at the pursuers, causing them to back up a bit.
[Sabotage - 1:38 - PLAY]
"Give me the wheel," the young man commanded, having Milly move to the back seat with Nunnally and Nina. The stranger sat down, actually took the time to put his seatbelt on, then shifted his attention toward the nearest highway exit. "Hold on!"
[Sabotage - 1:52]
Skid marks appeared on the pavement as the stranger steered the car into a power slide down the off-ramp and onto an empty construction site. The Serpents followed them down as the stranger maneuvered the car through a series of girders. There was a loud clang as the Serpent's car bumped into a cement mixer. The car shuddered as they ran over an open bag of concrete mix. Gunshots rang out and the stranger turned the car around a construction crane, avoiding the bullets that were aimed at them.
"That's it, no more wasting gas," the young man said with an air of annoyance, "everybody hold on!"
[Sabotage - 2:26]
"Wait a moment," Shirley interjected, "you are not seriously thinking of-"
The car shuddered again as they hit a ramp and drove into the second level of the incomplete structure. Of course, their pursuers followed up. Two or three ramps later, they turned onto a straight-away. The stranger floored the accelerator.
"Hold on!" Milly screamed, "if you don't slow down then we will all-" More gunshots echoed and bullets made splinters of wood fly. The stranger, to add to the confusion, took out a piece of chalk from the inside of his trench coat and drew a strange circle on the dashboard.
The circle glowed, the speedometer showed maximum speed, the terrorists behind them swerved and crashed through multiple layers of wood, PVC tubing, and metal, and everyone in the car took a sharp intake of breath as they smashed through a plank of wood-
[Sabotage - 2:50]
-and into empty space.
It felt like the car seemed to be floating, until they landed on another highway and somehow stopped.
[Sabotage - END]
Everyone was breathing hard. Shirley lay back against her seat, looking up at the sky. Milly was holding Nunnally in the back. And Nina was still on the floor of the car, glasses askew and pressing a hand against her injured arm. The young man took the keys out of the ignition an turned round to look at them. The all looked at each other, then started laughing, even Nina. It wasn't laughter to go with humor, it was a more serious laughter that one might get after doing something daring with a high risk of getting hurt.
The laughter soon died down and the stranger restarted the car.
"Well, now that's over. I think it is about time to find someplace safe."
"Hold on," said Milly from the back seat, helping Nina into a laying down position and wrapping the top layer of her uniform around Nina's injury, "before you take us anywhere, tell us who you are." The young man put the car into drive and resumed driving.
"My name is Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha, I'm here because I decided to help."
"Cysgod…Eadrom…Dorcha-oh!" Shirley then realized something, "You were the one who told us to meet in the Student Council room." Cysgod laughed.
"And that will be the last time I ever use that alias."
"Where are we going?" asked Nunnally, sitting with a seatbelt on and her arms around her knees.
"To the Shinjuku Ghetto. And assuming my time is right, your brother is waiting us."
Shinjuku Ghetto
Tamaki and Nagata came in from their patrol.
"Inoue, Yoshida, and everyone else has reported in. Nothing to be concerned over," said Nagata, sitting down on top of some crates. Tamaki laid down on a stretch of bare concrete before noticing something.
"Hey, Ohgi, why the hell isn't the Britannian tied up?" Lelouch was sitting against a wall, head buried in his arms on top of his knees.
"Settle down Tamaki," said Kallen, still looking over on the green-haired girl. "The Serpents attacked the school we were both staying at. As of now, he has no where to go."
"You're kidding, the Serpents are here?"
"Question though?" interrupted Nagata, raising a hand, "If they have enough fire power to attack a Britannian school, then how come they haven't attacked Clovis?"
"Saving the best for last?" suggested Kallen with a shrug.
"It isn't that," Ohgi spoke, shaking his head, "Clovis maybe next in line to the throne now, but he isn't that good of a leader. Some of the insiders from the JLF even went as far as to label him as: not smart but not dumb." Almost immediately after that, Kallen raised a hand to her lips and shushed them.
"Quiet…she's waking up."
The girl with green hair moaned and opened her eyes, almost golden in color. Kallen leaned over and gently touched her arm.
"Hey," she almost whispered, "how are you feeling?" The girl cast her gaze around the room then back to Kallen.
"Is this Shinjuku?" the girl asked.
"Uh... yes, it is. How are you feeling?"
"Alright, I think." The girl looked at the palm of her hand for a moment before quickly sitting upright. "Is the military close by?"
"Oh, no; no-no. The military is preoccupied with other matters. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It's CC," the girl said simply.
"CC?" Nagata wondered out loud, "is that short for something?" The girl, CC, merely shrugged.
"CC is CC." She then turned her attention toward Lelouch. "Is he alright?"
"What, you mean Lelouch?" asked Kallen, slightly taken aback. "Yeah…well…I think so. Why do you ask?"
A loud and random series of beeps and tones was being emitted from the computer that Ohgi was sitting in front of. Ohgi stared at the screen for several seconds before taking the mouse and clicking on something.
"….BLEEP-Hello? Testing one, two, three; Gemini's twins and Eden's tree."
"What the hell?" Tamaki voiced out what almost everyone was thinking.
"Umm…hello?" Ohgi hesitantly replied.
"Ah, it works, what a relief! Can you put Kaname Ohgi-san on the line?" Well, that was surprising; the voice was most certainly Britannian, but he used the Japanese method of address.
"I am Ohgi. Who are you?"
"Cysgod is my name, Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha. How did the mission go?"
"What mission?"
"You know, the one you just partook in hoping to steal poison gas and instead swiped a girl with green hair and a stoic personality."
"How do you know about that?"
"Later, I promise, later. Lets see, oh yeah, how about the Britannian student?"
"How do you know about him?" Ohgi glanced at Lelouch, wondering just how bad things could get. "He ended up in our custody by accident."
"Is. He. All. Right?"
"He's calmed down now."
"Is he within hearing distance?"
"Yeah."
"Good," the voice on the other end then adopted a more positive tone. "Hey Lelouch, you still got your head on?"
"What do you want?" asked a gloomy Lelouch from his spot on the ground.
"Lelouch! Is that you?" Nunnally's voice suddenly rang throughout the room. Lelouch jumped to his feet and ran to the computer, almost shoving Ohgi out of the way.
"Nunnally? Nunnally? Thank God! Are you okay? What happened?"
"Oh brother, I'm so glad you're alright! Milly, Shirley, and Nina got out too!"
"Oh Nunnally," said Lelouch, tears of relief starting to seep from his eyes, "I'm so glad to hear that."
"Umm…I'd hate to interrupt," said the original voice, "but the trial run for this method of communication is about to expire. We're on our way to the Shinjuku Ghetto. Miss Ashford has a clipped shoulder and Nina has a bullet wound in the right arm. The Sons of the Serpent are only the beginning and it's going to get a lot worse."
"Alright," replied Lelouch, wiping the tears from his eyes and gaining a feeling of confidence that he never felt before, "I'll meet you when you get here. Do you need directions?"
"No, I already have the coordinates locked on. ETA minimum of ten minutes, Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha signing off."
Air over the Pacific
"Fuhrer Daemon."
Alexander rotated his seat on the bridge to face the leader of the Jahrtausend Division.
"Yes, what is it?"
"All targets have been eliminated, with two, if not three, problems."
"Which problems?"
"Euphemia li Britannia was already in transit to Area 11 before the Serpents could get her."
"I see, don't worry too much about it though. She's only one little princess after all."
"But what about Clovis? He's the last of the Royal bloodline who has enough prestige to lay claim to the throne. He might be an idiot, but he could still-"
"He's not the last."
"Pardon?"
"There are three I excluded from the target list. Clovis, who you already know of, young prodigy Lelouch vi Britannia, and his crippled sister Nunnally vi Britannia."
"But why exclude them if any one of them could pose a threat to Operation: Hellfire?"
"Anything in regards to Laila la Britannia?"
"Uh...no, still nothing. We don't exactly have satellite surveillance in this world; not yet at least. You want one of my comrades to look for her?"
"No... I'll have the Arcane Division look for her."
"As you wish. Back to the matter of Clovis and, what was his name, Lelouch?"
"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" asked Daemon in a tone that projected annoyance.
"Yes, the X Division just reported an unknown presence in the Middle East where you dealt with Cornelia." This made Alexander blink a couple of times, his interest had finally piqued.
"Is it Powers?"
"Yes Daemon. Contrary to initial reports, it appears he has a fully operational smuggling network from the Middle East to Europe and even Northern Britannia. He has just salvaged whatever he could from the site of the battle."
"There is no reason for concern. Just as long as the Youngfaced-Godfather does not interfere with us directly, we need not worry." The uniformed devil then bowed deeply and began to leave.
"Very well, even though I don't understand your reasoning. Hail the Millennium."
"Hail the Millennium," Daemon agreed, "and hail the Universal Utopia."
Shinjuku Ghetto
Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha drove the car up to a warehouse. He turned off the ignition and placed the keys inside of his coat.
"Okay, ride's over people." Cysgod undid his seat belt and jumped out of the car. Shirley opened the passenger door and walked around to the other side to get Nunnally. Milly helped a bandaged Nina out of the car, being careful not to rush. Cysgod in the mean time stood in front of a large warehouse door.
"Hello!" He called out. "Kon'nichiwa! I know you all can hear me!"
Seconds later, as though in reply, there was a scraping sound and the door creaked as it was pushed open by a man carrying a rifle slung over his shoulder and a red headband around his head.
"You're the one who contacted us?"
"Yes," Cysgod responded with a bow. The man nodded a few times and gestured at the car.
"Is it going to be okay if we just leave that in the open?"
"I'm pretty sure no one is going to notice. Is everyone else here?"
"Yes, but only after you're searched." This made Nina shiver next to Milly and Cysgod gave an irritated sigh.
"Very well, but the only person you need to search is me." Cysgod held his arms out, his trench coat lifting a little more above the ground. The man looked over the girls briefly before nodding and proceeded to pat down Cysgod, removing a revolver, a dagger, a golden pocket watch with about ten different dials, and a bundled notebook.
"Okay then," the man said, "you can all come in, we'll hide the car later." Cysgod inclined his head a second time and followed him inside. Shirley came in after them, carrying Nunnaly on her back. And last to enter was Milly herding a frightened Nina.
The inside was dimly lit with concrete floors and an untold number of boxes. Apart from the Ashford Students and Cysgod, there were three guards in the immediate room. A door then opened and another Japanese person started walking out and was shoved aside as Lelouch ran out.
"Nunnally!" He ran towards them and locked Nunnally and Shirley in a tight embrace.
"Lelouch!" Nunnally wrapped an arm around her brothers neck while still holding onto Shirley. "I was so frightened. It was just like-like-" She faltered as Lelouch held her head close to his.
"Its alright Nunnally, everything is going to be alright."
Shirley listened to them both as Lelouch continued his embrace. She could barley even begin to imagine what Lelouch went through to end up in a terrorist hideaway and then discover that Ashford Academy was under attack. Something gently dropped onto Shirley at the base of her neck. Was that a tear?
It was, and that was probably the first time Shirley ever saw Lelouch cry.
Middle East, Facinus controlled territory
[Back in Black (Back in Black / ACDC) - PLAY]
A small convoy raced into the modest city of Kerman from the Dasht-e Lut (or Lut Desert). Five jeeps and four trucks, all bearing clearly visible crest of a red "F" on a white circle drove along the eastern edge of the city, past the city's Rock Dome and a vast field of cultivated Persian Silk trees before turning onto a wide dirt road.
[Back in Black - 0:27]
Some of the young men in the jeeps whooped and cheered as their respected vehicles hit jumps on sand-covered sections of the road. They all skidded to a stop before a large complex known by the locals as the Aeternum Club, but known officially as the Aeternum Renegade Social Exchange. In the lead jeep, a wounded figure started to regain consciousness.
"Okay, you all know the drill. Get the merchandise into Manufacturing or the Mercantile." The figure, laying down in the back of the jeep heard the voice and was puzzled. Who is this guy? she thought to herself, her mouth gagged and her hands bound by zip ties. He couldn't be much older than fifteen, judging by his voice.
"Boss," another young-ish voice interjected, "what about those two power plants we picked up? One of them looks like mechanized crap and the other looks barely functional!" Wait a moment, that kid was the "boss?"
"People will still buy crap if it looks good!" the kid answered back. "Put them both in Manufacturing. And you two, see to that unwelcome guest will you, I don't want to lose an opportunity to lack of health."
"Yes Boss Powers," two voices answered at once.
The back of the jeep was lowered and two men came in and picked her up from the forearms. They pulled her from the vehicle and began dragging her through the sand. She then noticed something wrong. The right half of her field of vision was dark. Was her right eye swollen?
[Back in Black - FADE OUT &/or STOP]
They came to a door, and they passed through it. She was now being dragged down a hallway with a tiled floor. There was a pain in her side and at her right shoulder. She also couldn't feel anything below her left knee.
"How much do you think we'll get for this one?" one of the men asked.
"If we get that bullet out of her arm, teach her to use a cane, and if her left eye is unaffected, then she would be worth…500,000,000 in any currency." The first guy whistled.
"Sweet, easy money this time round. Hold on, what if she's blind in both eyes?"
"Then we would catch 350,000,000 in value. Unless the Sons of the Serpents buy her. They would only give us several thousand."
"You think! No doubt if they do buy her then they would rape her, beat her, torture her for no reason, and then execute her in public."
"Yeah, I actually feel sorry for her. Who is left of the Royal Britannian Family?"
"Just that one idiot in Japan."
"Wow, that's just terrible." Terrible doesn't even begin to cover it, Cornelia thought. "By the way, did you hear the latest from downstairs?"
"If you mean the bookie, I didn't bet. You win any?"
"About $350 overall, and I still have on-going bets on Clovis and Marrybell."
"That's pretty good; and Clovis is a solid bet."
"Yeah, all things considered, I'm betting that he'll be the last one killed with a side bet of death-by-bullet."
"And the exiled princess?"
"I flipped a coin and settled on explosive."
"Sounds like a sure bet to me."
"Really? How you figure?"
"She's in Spain right? The Basques in other realms like bombing political leaders."
"I'm not sure if that's racist or just plain daft."
"Shut up! That's nothing; guess what I heard when we were going through the scrap?"
"What?"
"Someone actually wagered for one of the royals to actually survive."
"Which one?"
"Princess La-la or something, I think she's like Clovis' sister, same mom."
"Now that's a lost bet." Cornelia lost track of things at this point, her head hanging down and tears silently crawling down her face. Oh Euphemia, she thought, I have failed you.
Tokyo Settlement, Settlement Airport - 45 minutes later
Clovis and his security detail stood in one of the service corridors under the main level of the airport. He was pacing back and forth, constantly checking his watch and looking from one end of the corridor to the other. The doors at one end opened and a young lady with pink hair and a dress fit for royalty. She entered and briskly walked a few paces before suddenly breaking into a run and throwing her arms around Clovis, who returned the embrace with his own. "Clovis…" she said weakly, tears pouring down her face and soaking the front of Clovis' tunic. Clovis stroked her head as she continued to cry. "Are we-?" she had to stop and try again, "are we- are we all that is l-le-?"
"I don't know Euphie," said Clovis, tightening his embrace. "I haven't heard anything about Cornelia or Laila; we can only hope."
Cornelia, Euphemia thought, almost prayed, please be alive.
Shinjuku Ghetto
Everyone was still and silent. On one side of the room sat the men from the resistance group. On the other side were the others. Milly sat against the wall, rubbing a bandage covering her right shoulder. Shirley helped Kallen with Nina's injury, of which they could only bandage and then place in a sling because Nina didn't trust Elevens enough for them to remove the bullet. The resistance woman, Inoue, watched over CC even though it was evident that the girl was extremely healthy and needed no further medical care. And in a corner, Lelouch sat with Nunnally snuggled deeper into his embrace, clinging to his shirt and pressing her face against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Pacing in-between the two sides was Cysgod Eadrom-Dorcha, his items returned and stowed away in his trench coat. He strode back and forth about fifty times before stopping in the middle of fifty-one and announcing: "There is nothing wrong here." He looked at the two groups and then decided now was a good time to let loose from steam. "Come on people! All of you are on the same side now so-"
"What makes you think we're on the same side?" Tamaki shouted in response. "I don't know what planet you're from Britannian trash; but here, the Japanese are nothing like these interlopers!"
"You think everything stays the same with the extermination of the Britannian Royals? You guys (pointing to the resistance members) have been hunted from the get-go. And you people (gesturing to the others), with the exception for CC, are now all numero-uno on the Serpent's hit list. Britannia is gone, all of it except for Area 11. Yes, it's Japan and should belong to the Japanese, but how long have the Colonists been here?"
"Too long," answered Kallen, making Nina gasp and shrink back against Shirley.
"Debatably correct," Cysgod admitted with a shrug, "but for the sake of the present, both Britannians and Japanese need to face this threat together."
"And you think we will just take your word for it because you're a Britannian?" a man with purple hair and a pair of spectacles inquired in an accusative tone.
"No Yoshitaka, I know you're going to take my word for it because I'm NOT Britannian."
This made the resistance members suddenly stir with a sort of unease that the students felt but didn't understand right away.
"How do you know Minami's name?" demanded the woman next to CC.
"You're not Britannian, then why are you defending them?" Tamaki accused.
"Now everybody hold on a second!" Ohgi was standing now, arms out as though he were preventing two walls from slamming together. He lowered his arms and looked at Cysgod. "You seem to know a lot, how about you tell us why you are here before anything else?" Cysgod nodded a couple of times before replying.
"Very well, how about I tell you as I remove the bullet from Miss Einstien's arm?"
"Fine by me," Ohgi acceded while Nina gave off a high-pitched yelp.
"No!" Nina almost screamed, "I'm fine! I'll just keep the bullet in my arm and I'll-I-I'll work around it!" This made Cysgod laugh.
"I got two things two say. One: you are not born to be a yeller. And two: are you aware that one of the bodies' major arteries happens to be in the arm?"
Nina's face turned a very pale shade of pink and she nodded her head in defeat. She scooted forward an inch or so and gingerly held her arm and sling out.
"Do it quickly…please…"
"Alright then," said Cysgod, kneeling next to Nina and taking off his trench coat. "Now…
…how should I begin?"
UMNE Airship
en route to Pendragon
Alexander Daemon settled back down in his command chair, looking over the data on the main computer. The Serpents sent to Ashford Academy returned, mission complete with only 15 casualties; something to do with a car chase on the highway to hunt down one car-full of students, no matter.
The stupid snakes even managed to collect the data that he was certain to be there; in hindsight he probably should've asked them to destroy the source afterwards, but no matter. What authority is going to search through one student's computer when faced with counting the 500-plus bodies of high school students (including those two royals-in-hiding).
Intelligence confirms that Princess Euphemia li Britannia had arrived safely in Japan and is with Prince Clovis la Britannia at the Area capital; no matter, Clovis is the least capable of the royals and a little princess is exactly that, a little princess.
And just to make sure, the trio of Jahrtausend agents he sent to Japan were able to obtain that kid and were currently holding him at their Hong Kong outpost; probably no matter, but better to be just a little bit careful (the target in question had a part-time job as a waiter, so there was the possibility of him not being at Ashford when the Serpents attacked). Now he just had to figure out what to do with the kid.
He thought about it for a bit before deciding to send their newly acquired prisoner to Alex Powers, the "Chief Executive Officer" of the Powers' Facinus. The two leaders could never see eye-to-eye, but they both knew better than to interfere with their separate ventures. Powers, being the greedy little capitalist monster that he is, only cares for money and profit. Strangely however, he also enjoyed competition. Why? Because Alex Powers, by his own admission, becomes bored easily.
What a stupid reason, and an even dumber excuse for plain-as-day greed.
"You were always overdue for a present from me Alex," Daemon spoke quietly to himself, "I'd say you need just a tiny reminder that you can't just go wherever your thirst for 'competition' takes you."
Shinjuku Ghetto
"I originally came here to look for an evil," Cysgod spoke in a simple tone as he gently handled Nina's injured arm. "This is evil is a person who's name is Occulta."
"Occulta, is that Latin?" Milly inquired cautiously. Cysgod chuckled as he lightly traced the bullet wound.
"No, that's his name, plain and simply. He never uses it but it's his real name."
"What kind of evil is he?" asked one of the resistance members.
"He's what you would probably call a radical utopian. He believes that once everybody is on equal footing, then the leaders by natural right can step up and point society in the correct direction. The first step in all of his agendas is unification by any means necessary."
"So this Occulta wants to just take over the world?" asked Lelouch, still holding Nunnally in a comforting embrace.
"Not the world. He wants all worlds."
"Hold on, what are you saying? Are you suggesting that he wants power over Heaven and Hell? Or are you telling us that this Occulta wants authority over the universe?"
"The universe is much bigger than what you see." Cysgod then paused for a moment, one of his hands holding Nina's arm steady. "Which of you saw that broadcast?"
"I saw it the moment it began," Ohgi said, raising a hand.
"What did mister Diamondback say again?"
"He said: in accordance to military Operation: Adam's Heel…we will eliminate Sin from Eden…oh, he said something about a Supreme United States of America."
"Correct," said Cysgod as he clapped his hands and began rubbing the palms together. "The Sons of the Serpents originally came from an alternate universe in which the Holy Britannian Empire doesn't exist. Instead, there was a super power that was called: the United States of America. Unfortunately, for you more than that other world, they were terrorists back there too."
"Let me get this straight," CC spoke up, surprising most of the people there. CC's voice had a quality of what could be best described as stoic inner strength. "Occulta came from his world, recruited the Sons of the Serpent from another world, and then decided to attack us on our world. Is that basically correct?"
"For the most part," Cysgod responded, placing his hands on and around Nina's bullet wound. "Hold on a second." His grip visibly tightened and Nina cried out, gripping the skirt of her uniform with her fist, eyes shut tight and face contorted in pain. But almost as quickly as he took hold, Cysgod let go and withdrew his hands. "I hate to say this, but you are such paranoid crybaby."
"It wasn't my fault that I got shot you know!" Nina retorted.
"Yeah, shot with something you could compare to a bee sting as far as guns are concerned." He opened his right hand to show a relatively small-sized bullet in his palm, stained with blood and somewhat warped in appearance.
"That was fast," observed a surprised resistance member with long black hair and gray eyes. Cysgod tossed the now harmless bullet aside then resumed to redo the bandages on Nina's arm.
"The Sons of the Serpents are now an active faction within the UMNE. The UMNE, or Universo Mundo Novo Exercitus, is a massive private army under the control of Alexander Daemon."
"So Alexander Daemon is the leader we need to worry about."
"If you want to see it that way."
"Hold on," Lelouch interrupted, "you said the Sons of the Serpents were terrorists in this other world as well. What kind of terrorists were they? Resistance? Separatist? Ex-military? Pro-military?"
"Hmm…they would actually be more along the lines of…lets say: hyper-nationalists crossed with racial socialists."
"Meaning?"
"Their patriotism is so extreme that it isn't patriotism any more, and their tolerance policies are strictly limited to those that are White, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant."
"So they're all a bunch of racist mad men?" asked the resistance member with dark brown hair.
"Exactly," said Cysgod, tightening Nina's bandages with one last tug that caused her to wince.
"Do you know what they're planning?" Kallen questioned with a raised hand.
"I can only guess. Either the Serpents are acting as the vanguard for the main invasion force, or a taskforce given the duty of drawing the public eye from the actual objective. Now," he stood up, putting his trench coat back on. "I'm going to get some fresh air. If you people haven't decided to work together by the time I come back in, then you're all on your own. And believe me when I say this," he strode to the door to the outside and paused. "…by yourself…Occulta is an invincible demon." He then opened the door, adjusted his scarf, and walked out, door shutting behind him.
Middle East, Aeternum Renegade Social Exchange
Alex Powers looked over the message he got from the communication room just a few minutes ago. He frowned as he got to the end of the page. He figured Daemon would try to initiate in some sort of deal with him eventually, but honestly? He's sending over a Britannian schoolboy for frick'n appeasement? What kind of Godfather does Daemon think he is? Of course he knew the answer to that.
Daemon was always someone Alex didn't like. At first Alex could've sworn that they shared a lot of similarities. Eventually he found that, unfortunately, they did. The only real difference between them was their ideals. That, along with Daemon's personality, led Alex to actually keep the interaction between the two to an absolute minimum. And now Daemon wants to make sure Alex keeps out of his business.
"Idiot," he said to himself. He stood and stretched, tossing the message into the garbage. He then left his office and went down to the holding area.
Cornelia awoke, her vision blurred and dark even though the room was obviously lit. She could see that she was laying on a concrete floor, her back against a wall, and she could see the metallic bars of a cell. So she was in a cell, imprisoned, probably by those Middle-Easterners-no, wait, those young men who dragged her inside from the dirt in the desert, the ones being ordered around by the young man. This must be a cell under their control.
beep beep beep
There was the hollow clacking of a security door of some sort followed by a series of subtle but sharp sounding steps. The steps stopped just outside of her limited view.
"Enjoying the stay your ex-highness?" a cocky voice came in from beyond the bars. The voice sounded familiar, she just couldn't place it.
"What do you want?" she demanded, noticing the toes of, were those Oxfords? No, Brogues; Europian style of shoe, Celt maybe? Irish? It would fit the voice, but only just. "The entire Britannian military will come looking for me."
"Yes, yes, under normal circumstances they no doubt would. But I think you have either forgotten, or you were never informed." There was a momentary pause before the voice dropped the bombshell. "Britannia is finished."
"What?"
"You are all but remains of the Imperial bloodline, your relatives and the all mighty and powerful Emperor Charles Britannia have been eliminated. All Areas, with the unusual exception of Area 11, are in the process of being occupied. Martial law has been put into effect throughout the western hemisphere. And to top it all off, two forces are going to carve up what remains among themselves."
"No," Cornelia breathed, remembering what she heard the two guards talking about.
"And you…" The voice then broke out into a fit of comic hysteria. "You're just lucky to be alive. Lets see: your right eye is permanently blind, your right leg is practically broken, your lower back is recovering from a severe stab wound, right shoulder recovering from bullet wounds, and to as if that isn't enough, you are now one of the most valuable pieces of human merchandise on the market. Imagine: 1,000,000,000 in any currency just to have the last bit of the once great royal family?"
"Sh-shut up!"
"Hey, don't blame me. I got to make a living somehow." There was a slight clicking sound, and she saw a glint of silver at around chest height. Was he checking a pocket-watch? "Speaking of which, you're going to have a guest in a while, either today or tomorrow."
"You monster! If Britannia no longer exists then let me go and no harm done!"
"Yeah, that would just be bad business ethic. I'm going to leave you to your solace now; got a business to run, places to go, stuff to steal, revenues to extort, blah-bla-blah-bla-blah…and welcome to the realm of the Facinus.
..not that you care. I mean, we're set up in bloody Persia; since when did anyone care about the 18 million people in the state of Persia? It doesn't even appear on any map, save for the Arabs!"
Area 11, Shinjuku Ghetto
The students and the resistance members continued to simply sit and stare at each other. They knew what Cysgod meant perfectly, but could they trust each other?
Luckily, it wasn't long until Lelouch had enough. He stood up, back straight, head high, and a brightness in his eyes that probably wasn't there in a long time.
"Well we can't just sit here and stare at each other."
"That I agree on," said Ohgi, standing as well. In a move that actually surprised two or three of his comrades, he took a few steps forward and bowed. "I am Kaname Ohgi, and I'm the current head of this resistance cell." Lelouch then stepped forward in equal jest so that he and Ohgi were practically face to face. He inclined his head in response.
"I am Lelouch Lamperouge, former vice president of the Ashford Academy student council, and my sister is Nunnally Lamperouge." They shook each other's hands.
"The other members of the resistance group," Ohgi said, gesturing to everyone who wore a red headband. "You already know Kallen; the others are Kento Sugiyama," the young man with blue hair nodded, "Shinichiro Tamaki," the one with short brown hair grunted, "Yoshitaka Minami," the one with purple hair and glasses gave a momentary bow, "Naomi Inoue," the woman with long indigo hair stood and bowed, "Toru Yoshida," the well-built guy with dark brown hair raised a hand in acknowledgement, "and Takeshi Nagata," the young man with long black hair and gray eyes also stood and bowed.
"And these are my friends," said Lelouch, gesturing to each one of them in turn, "former president of the Ashford Student Council, Milly Ashford, Shirley Fenette, and Nina Einstien." Ohgi and a few of the other resistance people bowed toward them. This made Nina more nervous, but it seemed to ease any possible tension with the rest of the students.
"Hold on," Shirley interjected, raising a hand, "what about that girl over there?" She pointed to CC, who merely tilted her head and looked back at Shirley with a bland expression on her face.
"I am nether Japanese or Britannian. I simply exist, and whatever happens around me has no relevance."
UMNE Airship
21 miles from Pendragon
"Are you sure that was wise to send that hostage to the Facinus?" Daemon turned to look at the head of Arcane Division.
"Wisdom is irrelevant," he responded in an irritable fashion. "What I did was only logical, that is all."
"To what logic?"
"Alex Powers is the kind of person that needs a reminder of who's in charge every once-in-a-while. That is all I did." He then turned his eyes back to computer screen, frowning slightly at the random bits and pieces of scientific data. "All the primary objectives of the Serpents have been completed. Pity though, that girl was able to get away."
"Who? Euphemia?"
"No, not her."
"Cornelia then? I thought you killed her?"
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, never mind."
"Well…if its bothering you, then shouldn't we-"
"It's of no consequence," Daemon surmised as he wiped the screen clean of the data and held up a data chip the size of his thumb. He leaned back in his chair, admiring what he was holding. "After all, what she could put together, we have already surpassed."
Area 11, Shinjuku Ghetto
Cysgod came back in, checking his multi-dialed watch. He put it away and looked up at the two groups. He actually had to blink a couple of times. They were actually either standing or sitting closer together than before, even though it obvious that they still had a clear divide between them.
"So, I take it you've made a decision?"
"We have," answered Lelouch. Cysgod chuckled.
"Well that was better than I expected. Alright then, how about a history lesson?"
"Before that," said Milly, standing with her arms crossed, "I need to ask a question."
"Okay."
"Earlier you said that both Lelouch and Rivalz were safe."
"Yes."
"Then where is Rivalz?"
Cysgod gulped. Everyone staring at him and the only thought that actually occurred in the room was: oh crud.