So here ends the legend of Zero thought Suzaku wryly as he grimaced and let out a wheezing breath from the broken ribs and broken nose he got at the hands of his interrogators.
Amateurs he thought disparagingly of the way they jumped right into enhanced interrogation. Medea, his interrogator from his old (new?) unit had been a past master in breaking people. She would alternate from terrifying the captive and being his best chum. Within a matter of days, they would all break.
As his cell door opened, Suzaku looked up into the amber eyes of Villetta Nu.
"It is time" she said, and motioned to the two infantrymen, dressed in Purist colours. Grabbing a shoulder each, they dragged him out of his cell.
Suzaku, his head hurting, let it loll forward. He then observed something interesting, which led him to the answer to a conundrum he had been facing all his life post Zero Requiem.
No wonder she and Ohgi had five kids. Ass like that, a man wouldn't be able to resist he thought, then blinked and resisted the temptation to bang his head against a wall.
Goddamn teenage hormones!
General Andreas Darlton had been through an emotional rollercoaster over the past three months and had only now begun to settle down into his new normal as he joined the offensive to convert the Arabic Emirates into a new Area for the Holy Brittanian Empire.
Using the regained memories of his last life, he effortlessly clove through the formations of Knightmare knock-offs, unbalancing and neutralising them with the ease of experience from both his lives.
As Cornelia, his princess and commander destroyed the enemy base, a fierce rush of protectiveness rushed through his veins as he charged at the disarrayed ranks, his command right behind him.
"I say General, you might just take my title away from me" ribbed Sir Gilbert Guilford, Cornelia's personal knight and not so-secret crush. Yeesh, the sexual tension between the two of them made Darlton want to throw his hands up in despair. Or lock the two of them in a closet. Whichever worked to get...wait a minute. Flash of inspiration!
"Well, I need to show you whippersnappers how it's done, don't I?" his comment masking his smirk's real reason. Now, all he needed to do was get help from Suzaku and Euphemia. Maybe even the Earl of Pudding would pitch in when he saw the size of the pot that they would win.
Hearty laughter rang over the radio as he surveyed the now empty battlefield, his mind already a thousand miles away in Area Eleven.
Suzaku had a ringside view of his friend, and future Emperor, Lelouch performance as he was chained to the float, a shock collar around his throat.
He watched in amusement as Lelouch double bluffed the leader of the guard, Kewell Soresi, by making him believe that not only did he have control over the poison gas canister via a dead man's switch, but also information on a black project called Medusa, for which Soresi was directly responsible.
Honestly, last time round, he had been too deep in his self loathing and guilt to admire the sheer craftsmanship and pure guts that Lelouch had to do what he was doing. After taking the mantle of Zero, Suzaku set up an SOP called WWLD. What Would Lelouch Do.
It always got brilliant results. Now if he could get his friend to drop his self sacrificial attitude and keep him on the damn throne, Suzaku could happily retire to some island paradise.
And now the Geass hit Soresi. Suzaku wouldn't weep over losing him, man was a pig headed bigotic racist. He wasn't worth getting concerned over.
As Suzaku jumped over the edge of the highway being smothered with purple fog, he saw Soresi being restrained by others of the Purist guards.
Phase 1 accomplished. Onto Phase 2.
Shinichirō Tamaki was considered an idiot by all around him. And sometimes, when in the heart of enemy territory, 'idiot' was the best cover he could have.
And he was under no illusions as he secured the door to his room and then undid the stitches of his mattress, revealing the receiver of the bug he had planted on Zero.
While superficially, the two men acted the same, he needed a hard confirmation that the Zero he knew, and the Zero who had approached Ohgi, Kallen and he were one and the same.
"Well, that went off well" came the dry voice of the Grey Fox as Tamaki heard the sound of someone sitting on bricks and a wheezing breath of pain. Judging by the sound, broken ribs at the minimum.
"You don't sound surprised, or upset that I let off a chemical weapon in a crowded area" came Zero's voice, filtered by the helmet he wore. A dry scoff was the response he got.
"Oh sure, you would let off a chemical weapon in a crowded area so as to have your fledgling partisan movement wiped out before they could even make an impact. Plus I was there when that same canister was opened Lelouch. I am many things, a parricide and a traitor among them, but I am not divorced from reality" the sardonic voice of his former (future?) Commanding Officer was received clearly by Tamaki.
Judging by the amused noise made by Suzaku on Lelouch's stuttering denials, Tamaki had received his confirmation.
As the conversation progressed, Tamaki began making plans to get in contact with Suzaku and inform him that Ariel was in play.
Hopefully, they could get the band back together.
Smirking, he went about destroying the equipment, so that nothing incriminating could come back to him.
Suzaku let out a deep breath as he walked out of the courtroom of his trial. After being cleared of all charges, he handed in his resignation from the Brittanian Army, stating 'irreconcilable differences'. He met Cecilé as he was leaving, who offered him a job as the Lancelot's test pilot.
He didn't even think twice before accepting it. He had all kinds of ideas to make it a literal nightmare on the battlefield.
"Look out!" shouted a familiar voice. A voice that haunted his dreams and every waking moment.
He didn't even think. Before he registered it, he was moving, reaching out and catching her in his arms.
As familiar violet eyes, framed by pink hair looked at him from the face of the one person he failed above all else, his heart, frozen over for more than a decade, decided to do something unfamiliar.
It began to beat.