Hey everyone! I just created a forum to contain lore about Cyphers and such so you don't have to go to another fic to find the info: forum/Cypher-Lore-Guardians-of-the-Multiverse/219711/

Let's get this story started.

Lelouch in his prototype armor and Leon sat on the mattress, staring at the man at the door of this shanty house as a variety of emotions swelled up in Lelouch behind the helm. Anger, hatred, disgust, anxiety, fear...they were all held in check as Lelouch subconsciously rubbed his neck from a past trauma the Emperor inflicted upon him and still lingered after a few years since they last 'talked'.

The Emperor noticed this tic and while he was cold and heartless on the outside, inside a deep regret was there. What happened there was something he wish he could undo and that Marianne had expressed her fury back then after that incident.

*Several years ago...*

"Presenting Lelouch vi Britannia, seventeenth in line for the throne!" a guard announced as the great doorway opened presenting the nine year old Lelouch vi Britannia with a scowl on his face as he walked up the hall, ignoring the murmers and gossip of the court as he knelt before the Emperor.

"Hail Your Majesty, my mother the Empress is dead." Lelouch spoke as Charles sat on his throne, unmoving.

"Old news, what of it?" Charles zi Britannia asked without a beat. No expression, no change of tone, only that of indifference.

That served only to anger Lelouch as he looked up and glared at his father. "Old news?! Father...!" Lelouch stood, preparing to step up to his father only for the guards to cross their spears before him. "Your wife is dead in the heart of Britannia and your daughter Nunnally is in the hospital! Are you letting this injustice-this assault upon you the Emperor of Britannia go unpunished!?" he demanded as Charles merely showed indifference to it.

"That is what it means to be Nobility of Britannia boy, only the strong prosper and the weak perish." the man before him answered and Lelouch was officially pissed off yet kept his temper in control.

"...you bastard." the boy growled angrily, startling many at the audacity of a prince using that kind of foul language on the most powerful man in the empire. "You the most powerful man in this empire choose to do nothing, letting people undermine you for their own selfish ambitions and take things from you without facing concequences. You're not brave at all. You're just a coward and a liar." the boy challenged him.

Now there are very few things that could push the buttons of Charles zi Britannia, being lied to was one of them. Being accused a liar is also just as bad as Lelouch was about to bear witness to true fury.

"You dare...!" Charles snarled, pure anger in his voice as he rose from his throne as his presence startled everyone as he began walking down towards Lelouch and then grabbed the startled boy by the throat and lifting him up. "You dare accuse me of cowardess and deception?!" he demanded as the court was silent at this rare display of rage.

"You whom are but a child dare lecture the Emperor of such things, think he could throw such tantrums and not come out unscathed?!" Charles then slammed Lelouch into the ground, causing the young prince to cough for air as everyone gasped when Charles pulled back a fist and struck Lelouch in the face. Everyone winced as this happened a few more times before Charles ceased his assault and took a deep breath.

He widened his eyes in shock and realization as a bloody, terrified Lelouch lied there on the floor in pain. "You are dead to me. Dead from the moment you were born. I who had clothed you, fed you-were all from my generosity. You are not entitled to any rights, I'm sending you and Nunnally to Japan. A prince and princess would make great bargaining tools for what lies ahead."

Lelouch despite the pain he felt, never felt so torn by those words and he knew that this man never truly cared for any of his children. To him, they were merely pawns in his own ambitions-a betrayal so deep it stained the core of his soul as a dark laughter from that dream echoed in his half dazed mind.

*Present*

Charles stared down at the young masked gladiator as he noticed the prosthetic arm and the dried blood that stained it. The stare down between father and son was creating pressure in the atmosphere and Leon was trying his best to be invisible and quiet to the unseen conversation.

...

...

...

"...It seems you're not dead at all like I stated years ago, boy." Charles spoke after the tension reached its peak.

"I aim to prove you wrong, Your Majesty." Zero answered calmly and coldly. "Then do so, kill Bradley and I shall give you a name." the Emperor replied cryptically as he turned to leave. The tension in the air ceased and Leon regained function over his motor functions and turned to look at Lelouch.

"Kid...did he just compliment you?" Leon asked. "He admitted wrong, that's something. Get a stake ready because we've got a vampire to kill." Zero answered as his prosthetic arm began to creak as the dried blood began to flake off it.

A name. One name that was without a doubt the one Lelouch sought-the name of the bastard that murdered his mother and crippled Nunnally. All he had to do was kill a Knight of the Round to do so. The Demon within smiled at the notion of retribution and was pleased, the wings of rebellion was nigh and the Emperor will never see it coming.

*Ashford*

"-my duty not only as a Prince of Britannia, but that as Viceroy 11 and one whom is also an older brother to express my sorrow at this young girl's lost. If I may permit to see her that is?" Clovis la Britannia reasoned with his poetic words as Vivian blinked at him.

"I'm sorry your Highness, but she is not welcoming of-"

"Vivian...who is that?"

Inside the Undine winced at the sound of Nunnally's voice as the Viceroy looked over her shoulder and drew a silent gasp as numerous memories flashed through the young man's eyes. "N-Nunnally...is that really you?" Clovis stammered as he held out a trembling hand, hoping this wasn't some sick illusion conjured from the back of his mind.

The young child lifted her tear-soaked face and despite being blind, she recognized that voice anywhere. "Big brother Clovis, is that you?" she asked hesitantly as the prince dashed past Vivian and hugged Nunnally, crying and apologizing over and over for what had become of her. The Undine was willing to let that slide until she heard of the idea of sending Nunnally back to the homeland, that was when she put her foot down.

"No."

That one word froze the entire room as her gaze hardned at the prince. "Did you forget what had happened back there? Her mother, the Emperor? Do you want the assassins that got Marianne vi Britannia to realize they still haven't finished their job yet and correct it?" Vivian demanded in a cold voice that sent shivers down everyone's spine as the prince's eyes widened with realization of that.

"You're right, Nunnally is in hiding from those that killed Lady Marianne and will try to finish what they started if they find out she's alive. I swear to you under my name as a Prince of Britannia I will never give any indication Nunnally is alive." the man said, placing a fist over his heart as he made his vow as he realized something horrifiying.

"My god...the one whose missing is Lelouch?" Clovis gapped as he was beginning to panic. "He's in some sort of trouble that got him dragged back to the mainland. He'll be back, he promised me." Vivian answered as she placed a hand over her heart as she inwardly worried for the lost prince.

"He's in Britannia and in trouble there? Why would he-?"

"Bradley."

Clovis blanched at the name with utter disgust; the Vampire of Britannia was a bloodthirsty psychopath with no redeeming qualities and his taste in fashion is as dull as dirt. But why would Lelouch be...

"Oh shit." Clovis swore, something that usually is unacceptable to nobility in social gatherings. But here in this room of three, it was an exception given that Lelouch was involved in one of Luciano's twisted bloodsports and might not come out of it alive.

*Britannia-Arena*

Zero walked into the arean, unfeeling of the cheers as the cloak he wore gave him an enigmatic look as his metallic hand flexed in anticipation of vengeance against the one who stole its organic counterpart from it.

He saw his prey, the Knight of Ten standing out of the cockpit of his Glascow Knightmare Frame as he looked down at the masked boy with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

"It's about time Zero, one shall stand-"

"-and one shall fall." Zero finished as the final battle for freedom began.