Entropy 9: (R1;8) The Black Knights
As the episode ended, the audience remained silent, each person putting Lelouch's words into context as best they could. The Ashford group was awestruck at Lelouch's declaration, and at the back of the room Jeremiah had his one visible eye closed and was nodding to himself, seemingly quite pleased, like a father seeing the extent of his son's growth. On the other side of the aisle Kallen breathed a sigh and touched a hand to her breast in relief.
She'd made her decision already, that Lelouch was good from the start and had never strayed from that path, but it was still a pleasant feeling to have proof of it. He'd said it right there: The Black Knights weren't just a cudgel to be used to smash Britannia; from the start they'd always been intended to be a force with a moral core, people who chose to join up because they saw something in doing so - a better future that was worth fighting for.
Of course, there were still quite a few episodes left to go, and Kallen remembered how distant he'd been until after the Black Rebellion. Zero - Lelouch - had been more professional back then, keeping a safe distance from his soldiers, the unspoken agreement between commander and army that they would fight any battle for him so long as he led them to victory each time. It was a good arrangement, and perhaps it was because he eventually became more personal with the Black Knights that they were able to feel so betrayed when they found out his identity. Would they have brought him before a firing squad back in those early days when hope was scarce? So long as the relationship of Zero and his Knights was a business transaction, Kallen thought such an end was unlikely.
Gino, meanwhile, didn't seem at all interested in considering the implications of Lelouch's words, instead wiping his brow theatrically.
"Hoo! For a second there I was a little worried he wasn't going to make it out of that one!"
Anya leaned forward, placing her elbows on the back of the blond Knight's seat.
"Really?"
"Really. It's pretty easy to get lost in the moment and forget this actually happened. Especially since neither of us were around to see it personally."
From the front row came a long hum, Rivalz putting his mind to work on his own point of concern.
"He said he was going to 'set them up'. So he's saying he's just going to cheat?"
Anya and Gino glanced over to their blue-haired schoolmate as one, a look of befuddlement crossing their features.
"Don't be silly," the pinkette began. "There's no such thing as cheating in war."
Kaguya cocked her head and turned round to face the conversation.
"How would you even cheat at that anyway? It's not like there're rules."
"Hmph." Guilford crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. "Obviously, by using all the tricks and deceptions Zero was known for. Rather than trusting in direct combat where he was outmatched and outnumbered thousands to one, he used other tactics to ensure his victory."
"Right," Gino added helpfully, trying to answer the Japanese princess's question. "There may not be rules, but there's the code of chivalry. Lelouch definitely trampled those like it was going out of style."
Their answers didn't seem to change Kaguya's mind.
"That doesn't make it cheating. Besides, playing fair is a luxury only afforded by those with all the power."
Villetta frowned.
"What about using Geass to turn the enemy to his cause? I think that goes beyond fairness."
Cornelia scowled and spat under her breath.
"Or dropping a mountain on me?"
With a clearing of his throat, Xingke not-so-subtlely attempted to change the subject.
"It stands to reason this was the moment Lelouch decided to make the USJ. He must have been confidant in his endgame to plan that far ahead."
"That's one way of looking at it." While Xingke was willing to be charitable, Chiba wasn't. "But I'd say it's pretty cruel, getting the Japanese their freedom just so they'd fight for him."
She should have known better than to say that. In an instant Kallen was up, leaning over the empty seat in front of her and glaring the elder woman down with fire in her ice-blue eyes.
"SHUT UP! You don't know anything about him!"
"Kallen..." As soon as her name had left his mouth Kallen rounded to put her hate back onto Ohgi. He winced, knowing from the few arguments they'd already had that it was pointless to oppose her, but he pressed on anyway. "You don't think he was using us?"
"Maybe he was, but we were using him too. It was a good deal for both of us - Zero and the Japanese. I thought we agreed on that a long time ago."
"That was then. Are you really so sure he had our best interests in mind when he sent us out to fight? Or maybe he would've sacrificed all of us just to get his revenge on Britannia."
A thought passed through Kallen's mind - her and Zero together, then spotlights and guns. Her body tensed and her hands balled into fists.
"You mean just like you did to him!?"
"Oooh, this sounds interesting!" Somehow Lloyd always knew what to say to ruin the mood, all anger temporarily forgotten as every set of eyes locked onto the most carefree man in the room. "Do share. And if you decide to fight again let me know first so I can get in a good spot to watch."
Kallen's vision snapped back to Ohgi, punctuating it with a snarl, then back to Lloyd, then she sat back down in a huff.
"You're wrong. Lelouch cared more than that. I know it. I just..."
The crowd fell back into silence. Nunnally had paused the DVD, knowing all too well there was no point in letting it continue until everyone had some discussion out of their systems. She fiddled with the remote in her hands, feeling the texture of the hard plastic shell and the rubbery buttons strewn across it. She could deal with everyone becoming less civil, seemingly by the minute, but her mind was still fixated on her brother, and the guilt and sorrow over his fate was far more effective at getting her down. Just going through the motions of touching something, to learn its shape with her fingers, was relaxing for her.
"He did care," she whispered, low enough she was sure no one could hear, not noticing Zero's masked head turn ever so slightly. "He cared too much."
"For what it's worth," Xingke offered finally, hoping to put a close to this topic, "if his purpose truly was to defeat Britannia, freeing the Japanese was a strategic goal in accomplishing that. If Lelouch was even half as intelligent as he appeared to be, he would know that, and wouldn't throw away his troops recklessly until after his final victory was secured. Whether he actually cared about the Japanese on a more personal level is entirely irrelevant."
Tohdoh expanded on his counterpart's thought, a cold lack of life in his eye, from living too long and seeing too much.
"The Japanese people wanted to be used. They cried out for a leader who could use them - could organize and arm them, then direct them to their enemies. Even if Lelouch was purposely leading them to their dooms for his own amusement, for many of our people, the mere show of defiance was enough."
A tapping started at the back of the room as Chiba frowned at the other veterans beside her.
"I'm not soft. I know in war even people are a resource to be used, but still..."
Nunnally raised the remote to start the next episode, stopping and holding back a groan as one other person decided they just had to get a word in edgewise.
"So," Tamaki started slowly, scratching at the top of his head with a puzzled look smeared across his face, "do you think he'd've won? You know, with the Yamato Alliance?"
Cornelia actually snickered in response.
"Of course not. I knew he wanted to assassinate me, so even if those undisciplined rabble had followed orders I still wouldn't let him get close enough for that to happen. Most likely we would have come to a stalemate and he would have had to retreat due to lack of supplies and fuel."
Again there was silence as everyone spent a moment to contemplate the warrior princess's words, apart from a tapping at the back. Anya had her elbow against her armrest and her head propped up by her fist, and was jostling her leg up and down impatiently, a look of building annoyance across her lips.
"Can we just get on with this. I'd rather not relive every moment in real time."
Nunnally didn't wait to confirm everyone was ready this time, raising the remote and hitting the PLAY button.
It was a new day in Area 11, and the most downtrodden of its people lived in squalor with no jobs to be found and little to do. In one dilapidated shack an old woman sat in silence, staring blankly down, suggestive empty vials strewn across a small table in front of her.
Kallen winced. She knew exactly what that woman had been getting into. Refrain - the same drug as her mother. Use of the drug in Japan was way down now, but seeing it again, even removed as it was by years and through a screen, it reminded her of the hurt her family had gone through. Maybe if Naoto had still been around...
The shanty town turned out to be just below the raised tracks of the Tokyo rail system, and inside one of its cars was none other than the Ashford group, minus the boys and Kallen.
"I never left the Tokyo Settlement before." Shirley was beaming with excitement as she turned from the window to glance at Milly. "This is my first time."
The blonde troublemaker was a little more composed, and she knew just what to say to rile the other girl up.
"I'm sure you wish Lelouch could've come with us, don't you?" To this, Shirley squeaked in embarrassment, much to the Milly's enjoyment. "Don't be so shy. Tonight we can stay up all night talking. Let's tell each other which boys we like from school."
It would soon be obvious to everyone, but for now only Milly and Nina knew when this conversation had taken place, and while the elder girl didn't appear bothered, and Rivalz beside her was holding back a whine at her implying she liked lots of boys, Nina's eyes widened in fear. Her gaze flitted to the Japanese members of the audience around her as she remembered what had caused the hotel-jacking situation to escalate. Kallen didn't seem to mind old racism too much now, though holding actions based on that racism in deep contempt, but that Chiba woman, and probably that man Tamaki too, might not take kindly to the moment she called one of the JLF an Eleven. And Cornelia beside her wouldn't be pleased it was her fault Euphemia was exposed to danger.
Just as she was about to say something, anything to prevent the inevitable tide of abuse for her racial slur, now so long ago, Rivalz spoke up.
"Hey, what are you looking at me for?" Chiba was frowning in his direction and he naturally took offense. "That was a girls' night out. It's not like they would have invited me even if I'd been able to attend!"
It appeared Rivalz could already tell what was coming too, and perhaps because of how close to home the Kawaguchi Incident had hit, it had him a little overly defensive.
"No matter how much time passes," Chiba huffed, turning back to face the screen, "it still disgusts me that you Britannians could be thinking about a 'girl night' when there were people starving just out of sight."
Cornelia rolled her eyes.
"Blame my father for creating such an environment through the colonial policies, not a bunch of barely pubescent schoolchildren."
"And what about you? You enforced those policies, didn't you!?"
Neither Cornelia nor Chiba really seemed angry enough to come to blows, but yet another argument so soon, no matter how petty, made sitting near either of them an unpleasant position. The voice of reason this time came from the most unlikely of people, Tamaki looking up at the ceiling with a mystified expression across his brow.
"So, C.C. was under the mask..." He was still reasoning out the previous episode's ending. "And nobody's seen her since Lelouch died. So maybe C.C. is Zero right now!"
This received quite a few stares, mostly in confusion as to how he could come to such a conclusion. As for Zero, he tried not to look uncomfortable as he responded, his voice quavering just enough to give him away though.
"I assure you, I am not C.C."
From the back, Anya giggled slightly, a bored look dominating her face, her cheek resting once again against her hand.
"We said C.C. lives with us, remember? And she's still at home. Good try though. Do you have a second guess?"
"Well..." Tamaki attempted to justify himself. "It's just, that wouldn't be the only time she wore the costume. She did it again when we met with Kyoto."
"Ah yes," Kaguya added whimsically, "I heard about that. I wish I could've been there at the time."
From his spot far to the right, Guilford sat in silence, trying to follow along with the latest pointless talk and finding no common ground with any of it.
"I don't know whether to say Lelouch reusing old deceptions was bold, or uncreative."
Kaguya let out a small chuckle at this, covering her mouth with one hand.
"Why, Sir Guilford, if it's not broken, don't try fixing it!" She glanced back to Zero, her eyes narrowing suggestively as her gaze met the blank mirror of his helmet. "I can say for sure, a trick like switching who's under the costume is still quite effective. Isn't it, Zero?"
Zero shifted in his seat.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean."
"But," Tamaki began again, shifting the topic back to something slightly more inane, "C.C.'s a woman! How did she hide her boobs? That jumpsuit's skintight!"
Although most the responses to Tamaki's ignorance were irritation, a clear, devious hum came from Milly and Lloyd in perfect unison. And behind them Nina's eyes glazed over as a blush crept across her cheeks. Luckily Sayoko knew how to deal with Tamaki, and answered him honestly and simply.
"You can bind your breasts down, you know."
"You can do that?!"
Kallen looked down at her own chest and frowned. It was a good thing she was never expected to wear the mask herself, because she wasn't sure it would be quite as easy for her to hide her womanly assets as C.C.
"Speak for yourself," she muttered, not really expecting anyone to hear. Nina, however, did, and she shut her legs tight as her blush spread across her face.
The scene cut abruptly to Ohgi and his crew stepping into a sparsely decorated, but still impressive room, gaudy colours from the carpet and couch assaulting the eyes even as the smooth voice of Zero caressed their ears, reassuring them it was safe to enter. This was to be their new hideout, after all.
"D'you mind if I ask how you came by this?" Ohgi wondered.
Anya giggled again and assumed the masked hero's answer.
"'Yes.'"
"Whoa." Gino was even more amazed now than Ohgi and the others had been at the time. "That was your secret hideout? That camper is like a fortress!"
Rivalz nodded along, arms crossed proudly in front of him.
"You gotta give Lelouch one thing: He had style."
Tianzi was rather intrigued too, having never seen such a motor home before, but one thing eluded her.
"He just asked for it?"
Kaguya smiled to her friend and made a flamboyant motion with her hand over her left eye.
As they were inspecting their new home, one of Ohgi's friends reported in to the others.
"It's huge! Check it out, it's got a second storey!"
"Uh," Gino began, "who's that guy again?"
Ohgi and Tamaki offered the Knight a restrained glare, and a not-so-restrained glare each at his insensitivity.
"That's Yoshida," the former Black Knights Deputy Commander answered. "He was our friend. He died during the Black Rebellion."
"So, is he going to be important, or...?"
Minami sat down and picked up a remote control.
"It's even got a TV!"
Kallen dropped her face into the palm of her hand.
"Yeah, Minami. That's the most important part."
Luckily for the Ashford group at the time, it was only because Minami went straight to the TV that the soon-to-be Black Knights learned about the trouble at Lake Kawaguchi on the news.
Lloyd smirked.
"I like the way our phantom cameraman makes sure to get the girls' rears in frame. Real classy."
Everyone crowded around to watch the horror at the resort. A splinter faction of the Japan Liberation Front had taken everyone in the area as their hostage, and were using the hotel built over the lake as their stronghold. Information was passing by rapidly onscreen, as more was always coming in, but one clip was of particular interest to the audience.
"Hey!" Gino pointed to the screen, a huge grin plastered across his face. "It's you guys!"
Milly forced out a small laugh, trying to be pleasant.
"After that night we kept seeing that clip everywhere. We were real celebrities for a while."
"So," Lloyd began, mischief dripping from his tone, "forgetting about the business with the apostrophe and 'S', can we just agree, this time they really messed up?"
At the bottom of the screen were words, written in white, presumably intended to make any watchers feel fear for the hostages, but royally failing in this:
Fottage Taken by the Perpetraeor
"Hm!" Tohdoh grunted in disapproval at Kusakabe and his men. "Such a shameful display. And only death to show for it."
"Tohdoh-san," Chiba whispered to the man beside her, "do you remember those files Schneizel gave us concerning Lelouch's Geass? Wasn't Kusakabe one of the people listed as possibly being under its influence?"
"We cannot be sure he took hostages as a result of Geass. No doubt we would have seen Lelouch get near him first, and we have no such evidence."
"But maybe...!" No other possibility leapt out at her, and she trailed off.
Back at the Black Knights HQ, the group didn't seem especially concerned about what was going on. They shared some banter, and the general consensus was that Cornelia was going to slaughter every Japan Liberation Front soldier there and nothing would be accomplished.
As for Zero, he appeared completely at ease, though a bead of sweat dripped down his face under his mask, trailing by gritted teeth.
Luckily for the hostages Cornelia had a plan, sending a team of Sutherlands into a utilities tunnel just below the convention center and the hotel. Unluckily for them the JLF had a little surprise set up in case of just that happening.
Rakshata tapped her pipe against her bottom lip derisively.
"They had a Raiko? Such an inflexible device - barely worth fielding."
As the Raiko crew onscreen prepared to fire, Gino's grin grew even larger.
"'Super Electro-Magnetic Shrapnel Cannon'? That is the most ridiculous name for a weapon ever! Why didn't we get to have those, Princess Cornelia?"
From his spot next to the Purple Princess Guilford watched the weapon discharge and utterly shred the Britannian knightmares, finding himself admiring the combined overdesign that went into it as well as its simplicity.
"It can only be effectively used on the defensive, but it certainly excels at that."
At a new revelation onscreen about Euphemia being one of the hostages Xingke raised a brow and Tianzi gasped. Tohdoh's eyes widened imperceptibly and Kaguya cocked her head to the side. Even Anya, losing her patience with all this, took note.
Rivalz looked around at the reactions many in the audience were exhibiting.
"Didn't you guys know Princess Euphemia was there?"
Kaguya shook her head.
"No. They never reported it on the news. You weren't there, so how did you know she was involved?"
"Me? Oh, that's simple." He looked behind him to Nina. "She wouldn't stop telling us about how amazing the Princess was."
Noticing all eyes on her, Nina shrank in her seat, and when she looked to her right, she saw Cornelia turning her head, ever so slowly, casting a suspicious glare down upon her.
Despite the help ASEEC may have been able to contribute to resolving the hotel takeover, they were an irregular unit and weren't allowed in on the rescue operation until expressly given permission. Of course, there was also the matter that Suzaku was an Honourary Britannian and wasn't fully trusted by the Britannian establishment.
Hours passed, and Ohgi's team, now quite clearly Zero's team, spent the time moving in to their new base. Zero spent the time in solitude watching the news. He was positively glued to his seat watching the livestream on his laptop. To those who noticed, it seemed an almost unnatural obsession, like he was personally invested in the outcome of the hostage situation.
Zero narrowed his eyes behind his mask. He remembered, on the day of the Second Battle for Tokyo, the so-called Second Black Rebellion, Lelouch had told him, had answered point blank in front of the Kururugi Shrine, that he'd only gone to save those hostages for his own benefit, as a PR stunt to draw attention to his new organization, the Black Knights. But here, Lelouch wasn't thinking anything close to that. He was considering intervening, and even noted that despite lacking the arms, numbers, and discipline to successfully march in and save the Britannians held inside the hotel, he couldn't do nothing.
Suzaku hadn't believed Lelouch back then. Somehow he could tell his old friend was lying, but even after officially joining him he'd never asked for further clarification. Perhaps, he figured, he'd been content to believe the lies, even knowing that's all they were. He was happy to assume the worst about Lelouch, even at the very end. He couldn't let the truth get in the way of his revenge for Euphemia, or for Shirley.
But now Zero had to face that truth. It was still possible that Lelouch had only used the panic caused by Kusakabe to show off to the world and gain media attention, but the fact he hadn't explicitly thought to do so right at the start suggested otherwise. If Lelouch was really so malicious and self-centered, he wouldn't have any tension at the sight of his friends in danger, especially if no one was watching, and wouldn't hesitate to use them to his advantage.
But no. Lelouch had lied. He'd lied about why he saved everyone at Kawaguchi, including Euphemia. And that was a thought Zero had never considered. Lelouch must've known, right? Lelouch always seemed to know everything. Could the realization that Euphemia was there have been the necessary step for Lelouch to decide to take out the JLF? To save the rest of the Student Council, but also to protect her? If that were the case, why would he kill her during the SAZ event, then?
Lelouch said he'd used Geass on Euphy then killed her so he could initiate the Black Rebellion. But if he'd lied about the reason for saving Suzaku that first time, then the hotel, then that could mean what happened with Euphemia...
Zero didn't notice what was going on onscreen, or the discussions popping up around him. He was too focussed on his own thoughts, and the self-doubt creeping into him.
Kallen was concerned about her friends, even though she didn't say so, trying to keep up the division between her and them, Japanese and Britannian. She couldn't help but ask Zero what might happen to the poor souls captured by the JLF though. His response was cold.
"Eventually there will be no reason to keep those Britannians alive."
"HA!" Most the audience glanced in Rivalz's direction as he let out a quick laugh of victory. To several of them, Zero's words onscreen had been ruthless and cruel, but the schoolboy only smiled. "That's my buddy Lelouch, alright! Somebody tell me you actually believe he meant that. It's obvious he was trying to keep in character. I can tell. Lelouch used to say stuff like that all the time - real dark stuff - but he never meant it. It was always just to cover up for something else."
Nunnally's face softened, and she realized she'd been holding her every muscle tight at the growing tension onscreen. But Rivalz's declaration brought her back to reality, and more importantly, reminded her of just what an insightful person he was. Often forgotten as Lelouch's friend at all in favour of Suzaku, Rivalz had a unique insight into Lelouch's character that even the Lancelot pilot had lacked. It was what allowed him to believe in Lelouch's goodness, even after subjugating the world and ruling with an iron fist.
Rivalz had somehow been able to see through Lelouch's actions at the end. He may not have been able to figure out what Lelouch's goal was, or what those actions were designed to obscure, but he knew there was more to what was going on than what the Demon Emperor allowed people to see. It was also why he came into the theatre that day singing Lelouch's praises when so many others were willing to condemn him outright.
"You were a good friend to my brother, Rivalz," she said gently, grabbing the boy's attention instantly. He nodded, respectful of her authority.
"Of course. That guy may have been a mystery, but he was never good at playing the bad guy. He always tried too hard. It came off as forced."
Though no one could tell, Zero's jaw dropped. Rivalz was right. Zero Requiem was the perfect example of just that. Lelouch tried so hard to be a villain he didn't even act like a real person anymore, seeming more like a cartoon antagonist than a believable tyrant. It was just the image he wanted to craft - exaggerated, earning an exaggerated hate in response.
Ohgi came into the room with a box of black and silver uniforms, wondering what to do with them.
"I mean, as far as gear goes, it looks pretty hip, but..."
Gino scratched at his head.
"I don't get it. Why would your mobile home come with a bunch of uniforms?"
"Clearly," Jeremiah mused from a row back, "Lelouch got them ahead of time. He must have commissioned them from a costume-maker, like he did his own outfit."
Villetta couldn't help but cringe.
"'Hip'?" She looked over to Ohgi with a mocking smile. "What are you? My dad?"
Ohgi only let out an embarrassed laugh.
"So I'm not the trendiest guy out there. That's why you love me, right?"
His laughter was contagious, and Villetta couldn't help but join in.
"Something like that."
Zero decided he'd gone too long without dropping a bombshell on everyone, so spun in his chair to face Kallen and Ohgi and got to his feet, tensing his fingers like he was plucking the world up to hold in his hand.
"What we are - what we're trying to be - are knights for justice!"
"You know," Anya began, "you don't really hear the phrase 'knights for justice' all that much in English. Probably because it's super pretentious. Maybe it's just a Japanese thing?"
Right next to her, Jeremiah just let out a sigh and gave her a playful swat on the leg.
"Oh, shush."
Night had finally arrived, and Cornelia still hadn't launched any more assaults on the hotel. The situation was bleak, and Cécile and Suzaku sat aboard the Lancelot together discussing it. Suzaku was sure everything could be resolved peacefully. He preferred the logic of systems - of bureaucracy - over individualist emotions, and truly believed that would be enough to end conflict and maintain peace.
Lloyd was laughing to himself again, this time something about how trustworthy the system had already proven itself to be, and trying to make it work over and over again was the definition of insanity. Cécile was trying to shut him up and Milly was just left laughing at their antics. But nobody else was paying attention to them. A small hint of Suzaku's character had been revealed, and everyone a had different view of it, mostly negative.
Kallen had perhaps the most complete understanding out of everyone, knowing his deep, dark secret, and she wondered to herself how that fit into his perspective.
'Is that why he can't decide things for himself?' she thought, occasionally letting her eyes flit to the black-caped form of Zero. 'Because he killed his own father and doesn't trust himself with even personal authority? Weak.'
Toward the back, Anya sneered at the image of Suzaku onscreen, her own understanding of him heavily coloured by their shared time as Knights of the Round Table.
'He's just a lost puppy where L.L. is a grown wolf. He and I are alike. Our personalities were stunted. But I'm starting to grow again. Can you say the same, Suzaku?'
Unfortunately, negotiations between Cornelia's forces and the hotel-jackers weren't going well, and they decided to throw one of their prisoners off the roof to his death to show they meant business. Cornelia still refused to give in to their demands though. Doing so would only encourage more, and more blatantly destructive, terrorism. There really wasn't an option for the viceroy. So long as Euphemia was present, any attempt to dislodge the JLF would likely result in her death, and the price of that collateral damage was one Cornelia refused to pay.
Then Zero appeared.
"Diethard, that crazy Britannian bastard," Tamaki guffawed at the sight of the propagandist fishing in the lake. "He had the right idea not taking things so seriously. He hangs out with Schneizel now, right?"
No one answered.
"Seriously?" Tamaki looked around incredulously "Nobody knows what happened to him?"
It was true. No one seen nor heard from him since the final battle. Before that, he'd attached himself to Schneizel, quite enjoying his company and not really feeling the need to associate with anyone else. While he was a Black Knight, it was necessary for him to stay in contact with everyone to keep on their good side, but after they lost Zero and Lelouch became the enemy, the war ceased to be a team effort between top brass and grunts, and Diethard didn't bother to expend his patience dealing with any of them.
Kallen looked over to Nunnally.
"Your Highness?" she addressed, the words still sounding odd on her tongue while addressing the girl she'd only ever known as the cute, unobtrusive little sister of a far more important man. "Not even you?"
Nunnally shook her head.
"I met Diethard when the Damocles was being built, but I don't know where he went. I had my secretaries search every registry they could for him so I could invite him to be here today... But they couldn't locate him either."
"That lucky bastard," Tamaki groaned. "He probably nicked everything he could from Schneizel then ran off. He's probably sipping fruity drinks on a beach in Fiji right now!"
Zero had stolen one of Diethard's news vans, probably with Geass, and was standing atop it, brazen as ever, as it drove straight toward the gates of the hotel. He was gambling that Cornelia wouldn't shoot him on sight, and it was a gamble that paid off.
"I love the Black Knights uniform," Kaguya said as the first members of the Order sat huddled around in the news van, the shadows cascading over their crisp black and silver outfits, giving them a truly imposing appearance onscreen. "It would have been nice if I got one. Oh well. Cosplay for me, it is."
Beside her, Tianzi blinked her red eyes, questioning what Kaguya meant, while Kallen, a few rows behind, stifled a laugh. Maybe Kaguya wasn't that bad after all.
Cornelia's custom knightmare and two of her Royal Guard drove up and screeched to a stop in front of Zero, cutting him off from going any farther. He was surrounded, but still confidant things would go his way. He wouldn't even need to use his Geass.
"Cornelia!" With a booming voice, amplified by his mask's speakers, Zero gave his offer. "Which would you choose? Clovis, who is dead, or Euphemia, who is alive?"
Ohgi's jaw dropped.
"He didn't use Geass?"
"He knew me well," Cornelia grudgingly confirmed. "He was a master of reading people, and knowing what buttons to push. I daresay he didn't need Geass at all. It only hastened his schedule. I think he even claimed as much."
Nunnally wasn't sure what to say. She remembered how close the li Britannia sisters were, and could easily follow Lelouch's logic. If put in the position to make a choice, Cornelia would do anything to save Euphemia, even if it meant betraying their father. Perhaps especially if it meant betraying their father. In theory, anyone with that knowledge could have manipulated Cornelia just as easy as Lelouch had back then, even Nunnally herself, and it made her wonder; if her role and Lelouch's had been reversed if she would've grown to hate the world like him, and if she could've been brave enough, just like him, to stand against that world by herself and make the ultimate sacrifice to change it.
Zero astounded everyone yet again, making the bold offer to save Euphemia for free, and just as he predicted she would, Cornelia let him pass the military blockade toward the hotel. But the Witch of Britannia wasn't going to let to him get away with the glory so easy, and gave the order for Lancelot to move in while the JLF was distracted with their infamous guest.
While Suzaku began the startup sequence for his knightmare, Cécile's voice came through on his comm, running him through a quick mission briefing. He was to enter the utility tunnel, just like the previous team, and attack, using his VARIS to destroy the foundation of the hotel, allowing Cornelia's Royal Guard to rescue the hostages before it sunk to the bottom of the lake. That was what he was told, but the true mission was to hopefully get far enough before being blown to smithereens to raise the alarm and distract Kusakabe's attention, allowing Cornelia to simply charge through the front gate and slaughter every non-Britannian in the building.
Before the Lancelot touched down at the bottom of the entry shaft, Lloyd left a quick few words of warning.
"Space is tight in there. The Lancelot will only have a 47.8 percent evasion rate."
At this, a few members of the audience squirmed in their seats, Villetta, Cécile, Kallen, and Zero foremost amongst them.
"Make sure you both pull out of there before it's too late," he continued pleasantly. "Lancelot might be wrecked. That would be unacceptable."
The phrasing of Lloyd's words seemed to be bother Suzaku, and he hesitated before clarifying.
"Before it's too late?"
"Ngh-oh~?"
Tamaki cringed.
"I thought you couldn't get any gayer. You did that one on purpose!"
"Lord Asplund," Villetta addressed cautiously, raising her own concerns, "was it really necessary to use those terms when giving Suzaku his instructions?"
The bespectacled noble glanced back at Villetta, his glasses catching the light from the screen just right and obscuring his eyes as he let a cheshire grin peel across his mouth.
"You don't think that tunnel was tight for Lancelot? Or maybe you think it was a bad idea for him to pull out?"
Even under the obscuring helmet and heavy costume, Zero was visible shaken by this talk.
"I don't like where this is going."
Cécile made sure to give the errant scientist a stern frown, but her warning had no effect on Milly, sitting to his other side.
"But Nina and I were in danger! I'm glad Suzaku penetrated the terrorists' defenses by driving straight through that tunnel to save us - as fast and as hard as he could."
Behind them Nina's face went red, and at Tohdoh's unspoken insistence Chiba refrained from getting involved. Zero however sat forward in his seat to give his weak reply.
"Please stop."
"Well," Kaguya added with a shrug, "maybe not straight through, right? Maybe just a bit to the left." Then she seemed to deflate and looked down. "Not that I would personally know, or anything."
"It's not like he'd have to be gentle," Milly continued to laugh, Lloyd joining her hysterics beside her, and cute, girlish belly laughs coming from the back row. "After all, the enemy was experienced."
"I'm glad he didn't hold back and really gave it to them!"
"STOP!"
Everyone turned to Zero, with various looks on their faces, mostly questioning, while a few wore cheeky grins.
"What's your problem, Zero?" Anya wondered, bobbing her eyebrows up and down, daring him to continue making a scene and outing his true identity. "Do you have a problem with Suzaku saving the day?"
With all eyes on him, Zero slumped in his seat, defeated.
"No. I have don't have a problem."
The Lancelot was lifted by a crane and lowered into the tunnel through the maintenance hatch and Suzaku got into position, waiting for the order to charge.
Meanwhile, Nina was busy making one of the worst decisions of her life, though thankfully, or perhaps not, eventually she would go on to make all sorts of new worst decisions, making this one seem pretty tame in comparison. As one of the JLF guarding the hostages walked by she whimpered.
"E-Eleven!"
Before anyone could make the obligatory comment about how stupid she'd been to say that around the scary men with guns, Nina raised both hands as a sign of surrender, her gaze planted firmly at her lap.
"I got mugged by a Japanese man once. I didn't have anything for him to steal, so he ran off, but I became afraid of Japanese people in general. I'm getting better about it now. I'm sorry."
Milly looked back at Nina with sympathy but said nothing. Surprisingly, this small gesture of formally apologizing was enough to calm the Japanese in the audience down, and they either nodded approvingly, muttered beneath their breath, or didn't react at all and just kept watching the screen.
Amazingly, Euphemia stood up and revealed herself to the guard to stop any retaliation for the slur before it started in earnest.
Cornelia's body went slack, and she fought to keep her eyes focused on the screen. This was no time for crying. That had already come and gone.
"She was too kind for her own good."
"Was it kindness?" Rakshata interjected, her usual carefree attitude undamaged by the sad memory of a dead princess. "Or was it just a lack of self-preservation?"
Nunnally forced a smile onto her face and looked back at the Indian inventor, showing every outward sign of warmth. It's what the Pink Princess would have wanted.
"It was kindness," she said. "Our sister Euphy was always like that. I don't think she really enjoyed being royalty because it meant being separate from all her subjects, who she loved so dearly."
"It would seem," Zero offered next, "every member of your family was a paragon in one way or another. Princess Euphemia's specialty was a compassion I've rarely seen. And a bravery as overflowing as the greatest warrior."
It was becoming more apparent with every scene involving Euphemia that she would never cause the SAZ Disaster on purpose, and for the moment nobody had the heart to bring it up and ruin her sisters' moment of fond memories.
'Euphy...' Zero watched as onscreen she made sure Nina was alright, unbothered by the JLF around her. 'I miss you.'
Zero was meeting with Kusakabe, and was having just as much trouble reasoning with him as Cornelia had before.
"What exactly do you hope to accomplish by this action?" he wondered to the lieutenant colonel.
His answer was bombastic, but less thoughtful than Zero had hoped.
"Gain attention! I want this country and the world to know that the Japanese aren't dead yet."
Zero didn't move, but his next words became tinged with disgust, conveying his thoughts more clearly than an imposing posture ever could.
"How stale. You people are obsolete. There's no saving you."
Tohdoh grunted in thought as he listened, considering the Zero onscreen and his conclusion.
"He was right. Lelouch alone had the will to move forward rather than pine for what used to be. But old traditions fight hardest to survive at the dawn of a new age."
To his right, Xingke's eyes narrowed, and he glanced over at his fellow veteran with a trace of a smile.
"You could say it was Lelouch's vision alone that inspired the world to a global revolution. Do you think he planned for that all along?" He paused to emphasize his last words. "Even his final act?"
He was clearly referring to Lelouch's death at the hands of Zero, and Suzaku taking up the mask instead. It wasn't clear yet to either of them why this had happened, though each had their hunches, but this was the first time Xingke specifically brought up the idea of it being planned to Tohdoh directly. The elder soldier only frowned and lowered his head in thought before replying.
"I cannot say certainly yet. We can only wonder, and wait for illumination."
Meanwhile, from the other side of the aisle Gino was considering Lelouch's words from a different point of view.
"So, let me just see if I'm getting this," he said. He was far from dumb, but being among the least acquainted with Lelouch personally, as well as his goals and methods, the blond Knight found himself constantly one step behind everyone else. "He didn't want Japan to come back, and that's why he didn't like the JLF and why he just created a new nation during the Black Rebellion instead."
Kallen shrugged, the bare minimum of attention she wanted to give the overly cheerful boy.
"That's right."
"Okay, but isn't that inefficient? Wouldn't it be easier to just bring back the old system and reform it?" This caught the attention of several in the audience, the Japanese members most curious about a Britannian son of nobility's views on the subject. After all, what he was suggesting was exactly what the JLF once had in mind. "Maybe if he'd done that, Lelouch would have actually won his first war against Britannia."
The first to respond to Gino's hypothetical scenario was a surprise to everyone.
"Quite unlikely," Lloyd drawled through a contented smirk. "In some instances it's easier to build a system from the ground up than try to fix the old one. Just look at my marvelous Lancelot Albion as an example."
Rakshata threw back her head and laughed her usual loud whinny of delight.
"As opposed to the SEITEN, which was simply an upgraded form of my lovely Guren." She shot her own smirk toward the front of the theatre and locked eyes with her rival. "Which was also stronger than your toy by tenfold."
Lloyd's good humour disappeared in an instant and he stood up, scowling and pointing like a petulant child.
"It wasn't even twice as fast and strong, and you know it! C'mon, Cécile, back me up, here!"
While Cécile attempted to get Lloyd to just give it up and sit back down, Jeremiah sighed.
"I don't think it's worth getting into a pissing contest over which knightmare was better when both of them are destroyed anyway."
Rakashata and Lloyd turned as one, forgetting their own argument for a moment to deliver the wittiest retort they could think of in unison.
"I BEG TO DISAGREE!"
"Xingke?" Tianzi tugged innocently at her favourite person in the world's sleeve. "How do you have a contest of going to the bathroom?"
Before the two scientists could start bickering again, Cornelia came to the rescue, returning the group to the previous subject.
"The old Japan was already dead. Perhaps if the nation still existed in some form at the time, Lelouch could have reformed it. But it didn't. And if he managed to take Tokyo and toppled the Area 11 government, he'd have to put something in its place immediately."
"Right!" Gino agreed. "So why not go with what the Japanese used to have and were familiar with?"
Guilford shook his head, disappointed his junior, yet still superior knight, didn't see the magnitude of the problem the princess had brought up.
"Area 11 was a multi-ethnic state with a deeply divided population. If the Black Rebellion succeeded, the new country would have fallen into civil war in no time between the Japanese and colonial Britannians, and that would have provided ample justification for either China or Britannia to get involved. They could claim to be stabilizing the new country, but in reality they would only be helping each side to gain a stronger foothold in the Pacific, or regain it. In the worst-case scenario, it would turn from a civil war, then a proxy war between China and Britannia, into open fighting between the two supernations."
"That sounds bad," Ohgi added unhelpfully, "but I'm a little unsure where you're going with this."
Kaguya sighed. It hadn't taken her long to figure out what argument Guilford and Cornelia were making and guess what their conclusion would be. After all, she'd already been down this line of reasoning before, back in 2017 when the SAZ fell and it seemed like the world was coming to an end. It didn't take a political genius to follow the Britannians' logic, she figured. Rather, just someone with a little knowledge of history.
"Democracy is a difficult system to maintain," she began, an almost scholarly tone finding its way into her voice, "and can be impossible to build in the first place if certain requirements aren't met beforehand. Trying to establish democracy at that time would have led to disaster. The only choice Lelouch had was imposing a harsh autocracy to prevent infighting between the different groups. If he were to bring back the old Japanese system, they'd be too slow and weak to react."
Tohdoh nodded, letting just a trace of an ironic smile into his normally stone expression.
"Sometimes people just need a king."
The weight behind those words darkened the mood in the theatre greatly, no one speaking up for quite some time. Each member of the audience looked to each other, some with the faintest glance and others quite overtly, all waiting to see who could break the sudden atmosphere of seriousness that had descended upon them. Tamaki had been silent so far, but as the quiet drew on, he did what he was best at and opened his big mouth.
"I guess we really dodged a bullet, huh?"
The USJ, the United States of Japan, would have fallen apart as quickly as it came if Zero - if Lelouch - didn't take over as its sole leader. Suzaku had never thought of it that way. He'd always thought Lelouch just wanted power, and always more of it, to satisfy his insatiable ego. It was still possible that had been the case, but even if it were so, Lelouch declaring a new nation with himself as its ruler would still be justified, at least for a while. Having all the power of the new government vested in one man would be in the interest of the people to prevent a horrific civil breakdown, and in this way, what he wanted overlapped with what everyone else wanted, even if the reasons for it were different. It was just like he'd said in the Thought Elevator Chamber on Kamine, once upon a time. It was an arrangement that pleased every party involved.
Once, Suzaku would have argued that it was mere exploitation and was wrong on that basis alone. But now, Zero couldn't help but see it as the only option. Even if it was exploiting the situation for his own benefit, it was the best option for the people, whether they liked it or not. It was only because Lelouch was so brilliant that he made the deal appealing, whereas Suzaku, if it had been him instead, would have come off as tyrannical. Zero knew all too well from personal experience that he couldn't please anyone, no matter how much he tried.
Back then, Suzaku had criticized Lelouch, but looking back on it now, as Zero, he knew he was no longer in any position to judge. He remembered, from before he took up the mask, he'd gone against his own principles, not once even acknowledging his hypocrisy, and exploited the chaos and war caused by the Black Knights in an attempt to become the Knight of One. And unlike Lelouch, whose ambitions and manipulation yielded him constant success and earned him roaring praise from his own people, what Suzaku did for himself only alienated everyone around him.
At that moment Suzaku got the order to engage the Raiko guarding the utility entrance to the hotel, and he threw the Lancelot into a furious charge. The Raiko crew knew he was coming though and fired, their first shot failing to find its target as the White Death dodged, faster than any knightmare that had ever come before.
At the top of the hotel meanwhile, all attempts to resolve things peacefully came to an end as well, Kusakabe drawing his sword and attacking Zero. A slot in the masked hero's visor opened at the last second however, revealing a crimson sigil emblazoned across Zero's left eye.
"Die."
"Tohdoh-san!" Chiba looked to the elder man in astonishment. "Kusakabe was never under Lelouch's control! Schneizel lied to us!"
"I cannot agree with that," he replied, just as level-headed as always. "He only provided us a list of suspected victims of Geass, not a confirmed list."
"He didn't seem interested in making that distinction at the time..."
The guard from before had escorted Euphemia to Kusakabe's control room, but at the sound of gunfire he threw open the door only to be shot by Zero. Kusakabe and his men inside had all 'committed suicide' once they realized how meaningless their operation was. And as Euphemia stared at the bodies and blood through the doorframe, and the figure of Zero, tall and malevolent standing amongst them, he spoke to her.
"Euphemia. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for the commoners. You haven't changed."
Milly put a finger to her chin.
"I think that counts as a Lelouch and Euphemia moment."
The remaining JLF suddenly found themselves being held at gunpoint, presumably by Ohgi's team just off camera, and Zero and Euphemia were momentarily left alone.
"I heard that you're the Sub-Viceroy now, Your Highness - Princess Euphemia li Britannia."
It wasn't an appointment she was happy with, especially since it was all because Clovis was dead. It was Zero who had made that happen, and for a moment the Pink Princess was sure Zero killed him as retribution for what could only be called a purge in Shinjuku. But Zero said that was not the case. No, it was merely because Clovis was a son of Charles zi Britannia that he was assassinated.
"That reminds me..." He levelled his pistol at her. "You're one of his children too, aren't you?"
"That's too far, Lelouch!" Cornelia slammed a fist against her leg. "Hate Father all you want, but leave your siblings out of it!"
From the front row, Rivalz gave a long sigh.
"For Lelouch's sister, you don't know him one bit."
"What!?"
"Rivalz is right," Nunnally offered in agreement. "We know he didn't kill Euphy, and having spoken with her, there would be a risk she might realize it was him. So he said something he didn't mean."
"Lelouch was an exceptional liar, Nunnally. You know that. How can you be so convinced he actually cared?" Cornelia didn't wish to speak harshly to her only remaining sister, but she didn't want to budge on this issue, either. "He seemed pretty set on killing me."
"If he truly hated all our siblings he would have killed Euphy right then and there and not risked his identity."
The Lancelot had broken through five salvos from the Raiko, and finally in range, Suzaku drew the VARIS, firing it and destroying the cannon with a single blast.
"No!" Gino mocked having a heart attack. "The Super Electro-Magnetic Shrapnel Cannon! It didn't get enough screentime!"
Suzaku continued on, blasting a hole through the ceiling with his VARIS and jumping out, taking aim at the hotel's foundation block under the water and firing, blowing it apart. The hotel began to sink into the lake, but Zero wasn't about to get trapped in the dying building. His operatives had placed plastic explosives at key locations around the hotel, and as he looked out the window at the Lancelot, and Suzaku looked back at him, he pulled a detonator from his cape and pressed the button.
The hotel burst apart at the seams, and all hope seemed to be lost. The hostages, the JLF, and Zero were all dead.
Then, from the falling ashcloud from the explosions, a yacht drifted out into view.
Despite his earlier outburst Gino was very invested in what was going on onscreen, never seeing this event from these more telling angles.
"And where'd he get that boat?" he pouted. "Don't tell me he planned that far ahead."
Milly and Nina looked to each other before the blonde girl answered for the both of them.
"It was the hotel's. We'd reserved tickets to go on it out on the lake that night. We told Lelouch about it when we invited him to come with us, so he knew it was there."
Diethard was in his own news van, not quite sure what to make of Zero's suicide attack, and expecting, hoping, for something more. He'd taken his other van, after all. Surely Zero intended to use its broadcasting systems to send out a message...
"My dear Britannians," Zero's voice rang out across the water as his masked face appeared on every television in Tokyo, Diethard predicting his use of the stolen news equipment perfectly, "have no fear. All of the hostages from the hotel are safe and sound. I, Zero, return them to you unharmed."
Several lifeboats drifted around the yacht, each containing a number of prisoners of the JLF, evidently rescued by Zero, and as everyone viewing the scene breathed a sigh of relief, the true moment to remember appeared at last.
"And here it comes!" Kaguya squeaked with all the adoration of a fangirl.
Spotlights lit up on the yacht, revealing Zero in his entirety and a team of black and silver-clad men and women surrounding him.
"People! Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights!"
Inside his own van, Diethard was having an argument with his underlings over allowing Zero's speech to go uninterrupted, but he got his way, and they let it run.
"Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgement of this world!"
LLLLLLLLLLLL