Code Geass: Rivalz of the Rebellion

Turn Four: Blood and Friendship

Funny... after all of that I still trusted him...

... ... ...

My name is Rivalz Cardemonde. He thought in the dark, evil warehouse, and that is probably the only thing I am sure of right now.

Not too long ago, my bike broke down, and instead of staying behind with it to make sure it doesn't get stolen, I ran off after my friend Lelouch. If I had stayed behind, I'd probably be back at school, waiting for Lelouch to get back.

Instead... His thoughts trailed off as he looked over the massacred Elevens, the Royal Guards that had inexplicably committed suicide, the murdered green-haired girl, and his best friend, smiling like a demon.

Man, I have the worst luck.

"Lelouch..." Rivalz repeated, regaining what semblance of calm he had. "...what... what happened?"

Lelouch turned around, and looked directly at his friend, a splatter of blood across his cheek. He seemed to look at his blue-haired friend with hesitation, like he was unwilling to do something, but this was brief and gave away to stern determination.

"Rivalz, go back into the tunnel system, find another way out, an exit outside the ghetto."

"What about you?" Rivalz asked.

Lelouch looked out at the ghetto, smoke rising over the dilapidated ruins. He didn't reply, but the look in his eyes was enough for Rivalz to guess what Lelouch was planning to do.

"Lelouch!" RIvalz stepped towards his friend, only to be stopped by a sudden glare from Lelouch. In his friend's purple eyes, he could have sworn he saw a glimmer of some dark, mystical force.

"Rivalz, I'll meet up with you soon. Just find a way out of the ghetto and away from the Britannian military." Rivalz only looked on in shock at Lelouch. The black haired teen looked away and continued, "Rivalz, I don't want you to talk about this with anyone. ANYONE." He repeated before Rivalz could open his mouth. "I'll meet up with you after everything is done."

"Lelouch, you're crazy!" Rivalz shouted. "Why can't you come with me? Or at least let me stay with..."

Suddenly, the sound of landspinners broke the silence. "Rivalz, go!" Lelouch cried and pushed his friend backwards into the stairs leading back down into the subway. Rivalz looked back at his friend, and saw for the first time in his life Lelouch... in pain.

Sadly, Rivalz ran back into the tunnels.

Lelouch, what's going on...? Rivalz thought as he ran again. How were you able to get those guards to kill themselves? What happened to you?

As his mind reflected on the traumatic incident, Rivalz recalled Lelouch saying, "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you..."

Why did you call yourself that? Does it have something to do with how you killed those guards? What do you think you're doing staying behind? How do you think you could stand against the Britannians and the terrorists all by yourself?

Halfway into the dark tunnel, after running blindly for over a minute, Rivalz stopped and clenched his fists, breathing heavily. "Dammit," he swore under his breath, "Why am I just leaving you there... what kind of friend am I...?"

"I thought I heard something over there!"

Rivalz jumped at the sound of the harsh Japanese-accented voice. Quickly, he leapt behind a pile of crates and forced himself not to make a sound. Glancing out between the cracks his hiding place, he saw three Elevens carrying machine guns, two with brown hair and one with bright red.

"Dammit!" The redhead yelled, "I could've sworn I heard..."

"Tamaki, we need to keep heading towards Ohgi." One of the other terrorists interrupted their supposed leader. "For all we know, the damn Britannians could have overrun his position by now."

"Gagh! Ohgi can't do anything without me can he?" Tamaki growled, dashing off. "All right, this way!"

"That's the wrong way Tamaki..."

"I...knew that..."

When the terrorists had fled, Rivalz peeked out behind the box. These are the terrorists? Rivalz wondered, having never seen one this close. They're just like... But he shook his head of these thoughts and walked out from behind his hiding spot.

If they're heading that way, then the center of the battle must be there too. I should be running the other way, but Lelouch is...

Rivalz gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut. Lelouch, I'm supposed to be the one who makes stupid decisions...

Opening his eyes again, Rivalz stared with grim determination down the tunnel the terrorists had dashed down. Lelouch, I can't just leave you out there. What kind of friend would I be if I left you alone... you could get killed. Making up his mind, he began to follow the terrorists. Man, this is a stupid idea. But I have to save Lelouch...

...

(Author's still body is poked by reviewer fco ala) GASP! I'M ALIVE! Wow, it's been such a long time. What have I missed? (P-1 looks at him disapprovingly) Ah. That. I'm sorry it's been so long, I wish I could say I was busy with school work, but frankly I simply hit a major case of writer's block and decided to put this down and look at it later. I didn't realize that I wasn't going to look at it for another five months! I'm sorry for the huge delay, but this is what I have written so far. The chapter was going to be MUCH longer than this but, as I said, I've run into a hole in my planning for the series. Basically, I want to get Rivalz into a knightmare somehow, but I can't come up with a way to do it without it being forced and contrived (Wow, redundant adjectives, I haven't written in a while...). If anyone has any ideas, please, write them in the reviews. Thanks to people like Kiki Hayashi, Worker72, and Frenschel Boo for reviewing, and remember, I can ALWAYS use new ideas.

P.S. If you haven't read Dauntless by Allora Gale, why the hell are you reading this and not that? Check it out. It's thousands of times better than whatever I can come up with and, fortunately, updates far more regularly and frequently.