I don't own Code Geass or its characters (although I suspect Pizza Hut might)
A/N: Greetings faithful readers. I hope the wait wasn't too long. Thank you all for your reviews, I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you. Now then onto the story.
Hotel Getaway
It had been two days since Lelouch and Kallen made the deal to pretend to date each other, but they'd also had the last two days off. So today was their first day as a couple... Kallen stood a mere twenty feet outside of the Ashford Academy gates. She looked around, trying to look busy by messing with her phone. She clicked back through her text inbox to review the most recent message from Lelouch. It read: "Meet me outside the Academy gates before school starts." Kallen exhaled nervously.
Lelouch walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Startling her some, she whipped around to see him standing there with a slight grin. "Glad you showed up. You didn't respond."
Kallen chewed on her lower lip slightly, her deep red hair draping in front of her face. "Um yeah, I wasn't really sure what to say back." She still felt nervous about the whole ordeal. Even though it was an act, if it was going to be convincing, she'd have to play her part well. Dating wasn't exactly something Kallen knew like the back of her hand. She'd been on dates before, but rarely. Between her over protective brother, and fighting Britannia, her life didn't have a lot of room for social events.
"Okay, would have been just fine." Lelouch chuckled to himself. Noticing Kallen's discomfort his expression turned slightly serious. "This is an important task Kallen. While our success may not hang in the balance, how easy that success will be to achieve is at stake. Don't fail me." In the snap of a finger it was as if he was no longer Lelouch, but Zero. He knew exactly how to manipulate her. Lelouch was just another boy to her. Zero, on the other hand, was her leader. While they held the same identity they held entirely separate personas. One that he changed so often it was difficult to tell which was the mask and which was flesh.
The tone he took roused Kallen's courage. "Understood." She said with a slight nod. Lelouch extended his hand, which she took. His palm was sweaty and firm. Even though his expression was unwavering, she could tell it wasn't easy for him either. Hand in hand they walked into the courtyard of the academy, awkward as it was. Who knew it took so much thought to just hold hands, or perhaps that was their problem. Quickly there were fingers being pointed and gasps voiced.
"Ahh! They're official now." A man yelled out, he sounded fairly defeated. Most likely because Kallen was the unicorn of the school. While many had tried, none could succeed in catching her. She was as ephemeral as she was beautiful.
As they continued Lelouch looked down to see how Kallen was taking all the attention. She looked ready for a fight, apparently the blush trying to flush her cheeks was only combatable by the warrior Kozuki. If she continued to look like that it wouldn't seem very convincing. Lelouch nudged her with his shoulder. "You know, you can smile. Unless dating me really is that much of a burden."
Kallen looked up at him with his seemingly sincere smile. She managed the most natural smile she could and let go of his hand. She wrapped an arm around his left shoulder and rested her head for a moment on his other shoulder. "Not at all." Kallen had even surprised herself with how simple that gesture was. If she could just find a way to relax, this plan was actually feasible. They made it about halfway through the courtyard before everyone suddenly lost interest. They returned to their circles and found juicier bits of gossip to busy themselves with.
Lelouch could see at the open doors of the Academy stood the student council. Milly, wearing an all knowing look of 'I told you so.' Lelouch smirked and rolled his eyes. Standing next to Milly was a shocked Rivalz, his hand locked in his hair. Beside him stood Shirley, she wore a mix of emotions. Part of her was utterly devastated seeing Lelouch with Kallen, on the other hand she seemed slightly happy for him. Nina stood off to the side, shy and silent as usual. Lelouch reached his arm around Kallen's waist and whispered into her ear. "This is it, if we can fool them that will clear all current objectives." She nodded and took a deep breath as they approached them.
"You two love birds ready for the big trip?" Milly asked with a smile and a wink. Now that Lelouch and Kallen were coming out in the open about their relationship, they were fair game.
Lelouch looked to Kallen who looked equally surprised. "Big trip?" He asked, glancing at the student council president.
"Don't tell me you forgot!" Milly pretended to be upset. "We're going to Lake Kawaguchi, we'll be staying overnight at a hotel there."
Lelouch had forgotten, the president had told him about the trip a while ago. It skipped his mind to inform her that he couldn't go considering the last few days had been rather hectic. "I'm sorry but I won't be able to attend this time-"
"I won't take no for an answer Lelouch. I've already bought the tickets and as the vice president it is your duty to accompany the group. We already bought Kallen's ticket as well." Milly smiled.
Kallen's eyes widened, there was no way that she could go. "What?! But I can't go, I have-"
"Classes? Already taken care of, it's a school sponsored event so you are both excused from all classes for the next two days. Unfortunately the hotel reservations were made before you joined the student council, Kallen. We reserved a two single bedrooms and one with two beds. Me and Nina will be in the double, while both Shirley and Lulu have their own separate rooms. So I'd suggest rooming with Shirley." Milly shrugged.
Kallen looked over at Shirley who seemed to harbor no good thoughts of Kallen. Sure while everyone was looking at her she was as pretty as a peach. But as soon as everyone looked away she'd catch just glances of anger and envy. *Just perfect. I don't want to bunk with Milly, she's a pervert. But if I don't room with Shirley, my only option is..* Kallen's thoughts drifted to Lelouch as she went nearly catatonic. Sure play dating was one thing, sharing a hotel room, that was a code red. "You couldn't get another room? I can pay for it." Kallen offered.
Milly sighed, "sorry, tried that already. Some big political group is having some kind of event there the same day, they booked the rest of the suites. I'm just glad we reserved the rooms when we did."
Kallen cast her eyes towards the ground. "I see." She looked back up to Shirley. While the thought of sharing a room wasn't pleasant, the thought of sharing a bed was much worse... At least she had some time to think it over.
Lelouch thought about the arrangement for a moment and realized a name was missing from the room assignments. "Wait a second, Rivalz, you got out of this?" He asked, a flare of jealousy behind his words.
Rivalz chuckled and pulled Lelouch in close to whisper, "it's a hotel trip with the Prez. Do you really think I want to miss this?" His face was dead serious. He pulled away to speak aloud to the rest of the group. "Yeah that Reisdorph has me in lock down. He said I'm a disgrace to the academy, the homeland and humanity in general.. I even have to ask for permission to go home... I guess my parents agreed it was best for me.."
Kallen winced, feeling his pain. "I'm sorry Rivalz. I'm sure you'll be free to do what you want in no time." Her tone was in no way convincing.
"So are you guys ready or what?" Milly asked tapping her foot impatiently as the school bell rang. With that sound Rivalz got a look of horror on his face as he sprinted off without another word. Bringing her attention back to Lelouch. "We are on a schedule after all."
"We don't even have a change of clothes." Lelouch responded, holding his hands up in testament.
"Well get going! We need to be ready for the carpool to the train in half an hour." Milly shooed them away with a hand gesture.
Lelouch shrugged, "where do you want to meet back up? Here? I shouldn't take long."
"Well it's going to take me fifteen minutes just to get to my house. Is there any way I can get a ride and we can just leave from my place?" Kallen asked quietly, still trying to play up her sickness.
"That's fine. What are you waiting for Lelouch? RUN!" Milly cheered with a smile. Lelouch grumbled and did as he was told.
Lelouch reached his room in great time, for his standards. He quickly pushed his way inside to find C.C. eating pizza on his bed, wearing next to nothing as usual. "Good, you're here. Where did you go the other day?" He asked while going to his closet to grab a spare change of clothes.
"Out." C.C. responded between bites. The total amount of modesty in her could be balanced on the head of a pin, not even caring to button up her shirt. Even a light breeze would leave her completely exposed.
Still, Lelouch had more important things to focus on. "Well, don't. What if one of us needs to get a hold of you? Besides you can't just go running around campus. Do you know how many people are looking for you?" He grabbed the clothes and started to shove them into his duffle bag. He looked at his Zero costume hung up behind the rest of his clothes. Contemplating whether he should take it or not, *I suppose I should bring it, after all in the worst case scenario I can use my geass on the entire student council. War doesn't take holidays and I can't afford to expect them.*
"I know exactly how many actually. Don't think you can trap me, little boy. I'll do as I please. Don't worry about me getting caught. If you really need to get a hold of me, call me here. Your sister and your servant are both aware of my presence." C.C. said lazily, finishing off the last slice. "Pizza..." She looked at the empty box, still hungry.
"That would work fine, if you were ever here." Lelouch shook his head as he zipped up his bag.
"Fine then when you need me to, I'll stay. But don't expect me to mope in this boring room all day while you're at school." C.C. fell back onto of the bed, her shirt no longer covering her scarred breast. "So where are you going?"
"To Lake Kawaguchi, it's about two hours from here." Lelouch looked back towards her, noticing her shameless nudity. "Is it entirely necessary to dress like that?" He was frustrated, by dating Kallen he'd finally found a way to stop girls at school from throwing themselves at him. And yet, somehow he saw the opposite effect taking place on C.C.
"I do what I want," she responded casually. Although Lelouch rarely saw her, C.C. more often than not had an eye on either him or Kallen. She wasn't about to allow such strong candidates slip through the grates. She also noticed recently that by finding one of them, she'd usually find the other. C.C. decided to perceive this as a rather interesting challenge. Back when she had geass power she could make anyone love her, unconditionally. Because of this, the one thing she'd longed for was someone to love her without that false influence. With Lelouch this proved even more of an obstacle as she could see him falling for Kallen. Getting him to push past that feeling for the red head and love her instead was going to be far from boring.
"Stay by the phone." Lelouch said while walking out the door. He hadn't expected anything to happen, but he was going to be hours away from home, better safe than sorry. Hurrying out the door he made his way down to the gates where everyone else was still waiting for him. "Alright, I'm ready to go."
Once they were all in the van they sped off to Kallen's house. Milly drove while Nina sat in front, in the back row Lelouch was in between Shirley and Kallen. Shirley did her best to keep her eyes towards the window, trying to take her mind off of things. Kallen's phone vibrated, she pulled it out to realize she'd gotten a text from Lelouch.
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Lt. Colonel Kusakabe stood in one of the dining halls of the hotel with a large number of loyal soldiers in fatigues. "How are things progressing? Is the Raiko prepared?" He asked stirring the drink he held in his left hand.
"Nearly sir, we expect to be ready to take hostages within three hours."
"Understood, inform me when everything is complete so we may send out our list of demands."
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The train ride up to the hotel wasn't much different from the van ride. Although Nina seemed a bit worried, travelling outside of the Tokyo settlement. Milly looked to her with sympathy, "don't worry Nina. Everything will be okay, we're all here with you." Nina did the best she could to shake her fear and smile.
"So we are getting close to our stop, what are we going to do once we get there?" Lelouch asked. His duffle bag secured beneath his seat and behind his legs.
"Well the first thing we have to do is check into the hotel. After that we can go out to the lake for some fishing, maybe a picnic." Milly was excited, how she loved school events. "It'll be nice to just relax and take a break from all the exams and homework."
"You've got that right madam President." Shirley chimed in with a smile. Either she was starting to come to terms with Lelouch and Kallen or she was masking it very well. "So tell me Lulu, when did you Kallen get together? It all seemed so sudden." Shirley placed her gaze upon Lelouch who was watching the scenery in the window fly by.
"It was rather sudden, we just had a chance to talk on the roof a few times and we hit it off really well. We exchanged phone numbers and started talking outside of school. Then, we started seeing each other more often. A few days ago she asked me to get some food and I was hungry. When I got there she had flowers for me and asked me to be her boyfriend." Lelouch never took his eyes off the window staring off as his vision doubled. Finally he looked over to Kallen who was a mix of mortified and ready to explode from anger. "Isn't that right dear?" He hid a smirk in his eyes, one only Kallen could see.
"Yeah you should have seen the look on your face when I asked you," A devilish yet sincere smile replaced her embarrassment. "Then you took me to see that cute movie and cried on my shoulder." A slight pout crept over her lower lip. "That's when I knew that I'd made the right choice." She tilted her head up and kissed him on the cheek and snuggled closer to him. If he wanted to play hard ball she was game.
"Lulu! You cried? How adorable is that? I've never seen that side of you!" Milly was ecstatic with joy. "You two make the cutest couple ever. You're both just so sweet and fragile." She giggled to herself.
Lelouch laughed awkwardly, not really wanting to continue playing. "Yeah, you know us Pres." The train slowly came to a halt and everyone looked out over Lake Kawaguchi. It was beautifully simple, at the base of a mountain with a hotel that rested in the middle of the lake. The only way to get to it was to cross one of three folding bridges that led to the towering hotel. It must have been nearly fifty stories tall, it was a sight to behold. Everyone grabbed their luggage and walked off the train.
Once they checked in the group walked to the elevator. Milly pressed the button 35th floor and they began their steady climb. Kallen was looking back and forth between Lelouch and Shirley, she had to make a decision and soon. Looking at Shirley it didn't seem that she was mad at Kallen anymore, on the contrary she seemed rather happy. So instead of complete silence and awkward tension the night promised to be full of manicures and questions about her and Lelouch.. *That's why I hate Britannians, always prying into everyone else's' business.* It wasn't the only reason, just the most recent one. Kallen could think of a million reasons to hate Britannians from the way they dress to the way they breathe. Still she was beginning to feel a connection with the student council, one day she may even be able to call them friends.
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"Everything has been prepared Lt. Colonel. We're ready to begin sweeping the floors." A soldier reported to Kusakabe.
"Very well begin from the bottom, work your way up. Split into teams for each floor. Let's get this done quickly." The Lt. Colonel ordered.
"Yes sir."
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The bell chimed, signaling that they had arrived at their destination. "Well this is our stop Lulu, your room is on the next floor. With reservations as packed as they were, we weren't able to get all the rooms on the same floor." Milly said taking a step out of the elevator. "So you're rooming with me right?" Shirley asked in Kallen's direction.
"Well umm I was wondering if it'd be okay for me to stay in Lelouch's room?" Kallen asked feeling all eyes slowly shift to her.
Shirley's eyes went wide. "You're going to share a room with Lulu?"
Kallen lowered her head. "Well it's just-"
"Don't worry I understand," Milly winked as she wrapped an arm around Shirley and Nina. "Come on everyone let's get our luggage put away so that we can start this vacation!" Milly dragged Nina and Shirley out of the elevator. One by one they shuffled out of the elevator and walked down to the three rooms they'd reserved. The double bedroom was on the west side while the single bedroom was directly across the hall.
Lelouch was also rather shocked by this move, he didn't expect Kallen to want to room with him. He pushed the button for the next floor, after a moment the door opened again. Was this another extension of their game? Was she just trying to make him crack? "Well let's hurry, don't want to keep the Pres waiting." Lelouch walked to their room, the last door at the end of the hall. He opened it with his card key and walked inside, holding the door open for Kallen to follow. "So is there a reason you chose to stay with me?" Lelouch asked, now free to show his discomfort.
"What's the matter? Thought you wanted to prove to everyone that we're together." Kallen shrugged, still playing her part. "I couldn't think of a better way to get that across then by sharing a room."
"I'm fairly certain they bought it after you kissed me on the cheek." Lelouch sighed, placing his duffle bag in the closet.
Kallen laughed, "don't tell me I embarrassed you." Her voice was condescending. "Aw that's cute."
"I am not cute." Lelouch replied grimly. The air stood silent for a moment, a silence which was broken by a cracking sound followed by muffled yelling. Catching both of their attention they heard crashes as the doors down the hall were one by one being kicked in by soldiers.
"Come on, let's go. As of this moment you're our hostages, don't make us shoot." The soldier's voice could be heard from their room. Soon they would come to Lelouch's room.
Lelouch looked around quickly, noticing the layout of the room. Once you opened the door immediately on your right was the bathroom. His mind was racing like a well oiled machine. The crashes were getting closer. "Kallen, get into the bathroom and leave the light off. When they come in they'll pass the door to grab me. If you can neutralize them do it, if not, come out and surrender. We'll figure things out from there." Kallen didn't say anything as she quickly ducked into the bathroom. Lelouch grabbed a set of headphones from his bag and quickly put them on before turning on the living room light. He sat at desk in the back of the room facing away from the door and waited.
Not long after he sat down he heard his door get kicked in, he simply sat there bouncing his head back and forth as if he was listening to music. The first soldier looked to the second, "I guess he didn't hear us."
"What are you waiting for, go grab him." The second replied sharply. "This is the last room, so hurry." The first soldier complied and moved forward to grab Lelouch by the shoulder. Just as he was about to reach out he heard a gasp for air and a loud popping sound. He turned around to see his comrade hit the floor as a red headed girl held a gun aimed at his head before a single round fired off.
Kallen leaned against the wall of the kicked in door to listen to the hallway. It was quiet, she peeked out quickly in both directions to ensure no one was left in the hallway. "We're clear."
"Well done Q-1." Lelouch stood up, removing his earphones and went to his duffle bag. "Get changed." Quickly Lelouch stripped down and began putting on his Zero outfit.
Kallen rested the gun on the bed and before grabbing her bag as well. Inside was the Black Knight uniform he'd given to her. The rest of the squad should have received theirs in the mail. "Never worn this before." She said pulling off her shirt without hesitation.
"Well I hope the measurements you gave me were right." Lelouch responded pulling on his cloak. He flipped out his phone and dialed his home phone. It rang several times but no one answered. "Damnit where is that witch?!" Lelouch hung up and dialed Ohgi.
After two rings he picked up, "Zero?"
"Correct, did you get the boxes I sent you?" Lelouch asked in a hushed yet hurried tone.
"Yes we did, the uniforms have been handed out to everyone." Ohgi quickly replied, sensing his urgency.
"Very good, I want you and whoever is immediately available to come to meet us at Lake Kawaguchi. We are going to need plenty of smoke. We are in the hotel, call me when you're close."
"Understood Zero." Ohgi responded. He hung up his phone and looked around him. "All right everyone suit up, we have our next mission."
Kallen was now fully dressed with gun in hand. "What's the plan from here?"
"We simply have to find a soldier to take us to the commander. These guys aren't Britannians, they're Japanese." Lelouch said placing his mask over his face.
"Then doesn't that make them our allies?" Kallen asked, keeping an eye on the door.
"The moment they took innocents hostage they lost our support. We have to make a stand to show the world, and this will be the perfect stage." Lelouch gave Kallen a signal to move forward. She took a step outside the door, followed closely by Lelouch.
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"Lieutenant Colonel." A soldier saluted. "We have the hostages all detained down the hall. We're ready for your announcement sir."
"Very well." Kusakabe said, picking up his phone.
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"Princess Cornelia!" Guilford called, "we have a situation."
Cornelia turned her head. "What is it my knight?"
"The JLF has taken hostages at a hotel on Lake Kawaguchi."
Cornelia turned entirely to face him. "That's where Euphemia is.. Damnit, deploy the closest Knightmares, get Asplund on the phone. His toy seemed rather useful in our previous operation. And get me a transport immediately, I'm going to be taking charge of this matter personally."
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A knock came at the door of the Lieutenant Colonel's. "Yes what is it?"
The door opened to reveal Zero and Q-1 standing in the doorway. "My name is Zero." The soldiers in the room raised their weapons. "I can assure you we will not shoot. Q-1, drop your gun." Kallen did as she was told, Kusakabe instructed his men to lower their weapons.
"Very well Zero." The Colonel said inviting Zero to sit down in front of him. "I heard you were killed."
"Well it's a good thing the Britannians are honest in media." Zero said raising one leg to rest on the other. *Perfect he has no problems holding a conversation with me. Now I just have to draw this out until Ohgi calls.* Kallen stood behind him keeping a close eye on the soldiers in the room.
In the room down the hall all the hostages were on their knees, soldiers walking around them constantly. Shirley, Milly and Nina were huddled on the edge of the circle holding onto each other. Nina looked up at the soldier walking near her, "Eleven."
The soldier was outraged looking down on the Britannian brat. "What did you call me?" He grabbed Nina by the collar and lifted her to her feet. "We're not Elevens, we're Japanese!" Nina flailed and tried to squirm away from the man.
A woman with lime green hair was blocking Euphemia's view. Hearing the commotion she stood to remove her glasses. "Put her-" She was cut off by the deafening ring of gun fire.
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Lloyd looked up at Suzaku in the cockpit of the Lancelot. "So your orders are to eliminate any threat in the tunnel system bellow and to destroy the support pillars in the foundation of the hotel. Did you get that?" He asked with a hazy smile on his face.
"Yes I understand." Suzaku looked up to the hotel. "I will save all of you. I swear it." Suzaku sat down and sealed up the hatch to the cockpit. "Lancelot prepared for launch."
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"So tell me Kusakabe, what do you intend to prove with this act?" Zero asked.
"It will send a message to the world saying that Japan will not be beaten so easily. We will never die." Kusakabe responded raising his fist into the air, followed by the rest of his soldiers in the room.
Zero looked down at his cell phone, Ohgi was calling. "Fear not, a message will be sent to the world tonight. A message that will give Japan both hope and strength." Zero stood up as the soldiers eyed him suspiciously. "Unfortunately, it won't be delivered by any of you. Now, Die." The soldiers all raised their firearms to their temples and pulled the trigger. "Quickly Q-1, while most of their forces were here, they will send reinforcements. Guard the door." Lelouch walked over to the window to see where Ohgi was waiting.
Kallen looked out the door to see C.C. coming towards her. "What the hell? Where'd you come from?"
Lelouch looked back over his shoulder to see C.C. walking through the doorway with blood stains and bullet holes in her white prison garb. "I've been here all along. I couldn't let the two of you come all the way out here by yourselves for two days. I have to ensure that no harm comes to either of you." Not only could they have been in danger, but Kallen would have Lelouch all to herself.
"Is that blood yours?" Zero asked without much concern.
"Some of it. The hostages are safe, one was killed, but the rest are fine. They are waiting for you." C.C. motioned for Lelouch and Kallen to follow her.
"How did you get them all to wait there?" Kallen asked lowering her firearm.
"Humans are incredibly easy to manipulate." C.C. said coldly. The three of them reached the room where all the hostages were waiting. They were clearly less afraid, now that the terrorists had been killed. Few of them noticed Zero from the news.
"Oh god it's him. We're all going to-"
"No, no one else is going to die here today." Zero said charismatically. "I am Zero, I stand for justice. All of you here are innocent and as such, are under my protection. Let me make a final preparation and I alone will see you all to safety shortly. My subordinates will continue to search for remaining terrorists." Zero looked out the window to see Cornelia and her guard waiting across the main bridge. It seemed they weren't aware the Kusakabe had been killed yet. Nor had they noticed Ohgi and the others who lay waiting in hiding. He motioned for Q-1 and C.C. to follow him out of the room. He flipped open his phone to call Ohgi back. Yet again, after two rings he answered.
"Yes?"
"Change of plans. While your participation isn't currently necessary, I do still need all of you present for the closure of this operation. We'll be out in a moment." Zero hung up the phone and pulled out a recorder device he always kept with his Zero costume.
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"Viceroy, we have confirmation that the Lancelot is prepared to destroy the supporting columns. Should I give the order?" Guilford asked Cornelia, who was standing atop of her Knightmare.
Cornelia eyed the structure for a moment, there didn't seem to any activity in the upper floors anymore. "Yes Guilford- wait!" She cut herself off seeing a large group of people coming out the front of the hotel. "How could this be?" She looked closer and saw that same masked man that they'd killed just days ago. "Damnit, I don't know how but he beat us to it!" *Are you betting that I'll take mercy on you after you release the hostages Zero? I will give you no such luxury.*
The news crew caught onto the fact that Zero was among the crowd and zoomed in on him. Diethard was among the news crews covering the event. He nearly choked on his own spit when he saw Zero in the middle of the pack. "It's him again? But he was killed! Everyone keep that broadcast steady, don't lose focus on him. Get a mic out there now!"
"Cornelia! I return to you the hostages that you were unable to save. Among them,sub viceroy Euphemia." Zero drew back his hand to reveal the princess alive and well.
"Just what are you after here Zero?" Cornelia spat out.
"I am Zero. Citizens of the world, fear me or rally behind me as you see fit. I am the leader of the Black Knights, and we stand for justice! The Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe had taken these innocent Britannians hostage in a cowardly grasp for power. And for his crimes, we mercilessly executed him! Just as I killed former viceroy Clovis for the murder of countless Japanese. I cannot afford to do battle with Britannia on level ground, but this world cannot afford more meaningless bloodshed and no longer can I bear witness to it. Those of you with power, fear me. Those of you without it, rally behind me. Together we will stand in judgment of this new world!" The hostages ran away from Zero with relief.
Milly and Shirley looked around the group as they ran past Cornelia. "Lulu, Kallen where are you?" Milly shouted, she spotted Kallen quickly. "Kallen, over here!"
Cornelia looked down on Zero who stood alone walking past her, towards where Ohgi and the others were hiding. "Hold it right there Zero. You think that by saving these people it will wash away your crimes? Even if you are a different man than the one we executed, by dawning his mask you carry his fate." Cornelia drew her long barreled pistol from its holster and aimed at Zero's head. "You think you can humiliate me?" Zero looked up towards Cornelia as she pulled the trigger three times in quick succession. The bullets pierced the visor and knocked Zero to the ground.
Diethard slammed his fist into the side of the van. "Get a close up of this. If this is the last we see of him I want to have the best coverage possible!" The camera's zoomed in on the masked man as blood drained through the bottom of the mask. The hostages gasped in horror, not believing that Cornelia would do such a thing. In the confusion Kallen stepped back from the crowd for a moment while their attention was diverted.
Ohgi's phone began to ring, it was Kallen. He picked up the phone, "Kallen what do we do?" Ohgi asked still trying to get a good look at what had just happened.
"Did you bring the smoke bombs?" Kallen asked in a calm voice.
"Yes we have them here." Ohgi replied, confused by Zero's plans as usual.
"Get ready to use them on the signal." Kallen hung up the phone and returned to the crowd.
Cornelia looked down on Zero with a grave smile on her face. No matter who donned the mask of Zero, she would hunt down and kill every last one of them.
Kallen looked through the crowd and spotted Lelouch who was watching with something barely noticeable in his hand. She quickly grabbed him and pulled him over with Shirley and Milly.
To everyone's disbelief Zero slowly rose to his feet. Every looked on in horror as the man who had just been shot in the face, still bleeding from beneath his mask, stood upright. "So you finally see Cornelia. You can never defeat me. For I am immortal!" Zero raised his right hand to the sky and snapped his fingers. Ohgi realized that as a signal and let loose the smoke bombs. Quickly Zero was lost in the confusion. When the smoke cleared he was gone as were Ohgi and the rest of the Black Knights.
Diethard was drooling with the monitor in his hand. As usual Zero didn't disappoint.
It seemed Milly was on the verge of wetting herself as she turned to face Kallen, Lelouch and Shirley. "OH MY GOD did you guys just see that?!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Todoh watched the TV with interest, along with the four holy swords. A messenger quickly approached them. Todoh raised his hand knowing what was to be said. "It's been confirmed then, we'll be sending the Guren Mk II to Zero and Black Knights."
A/N: Whew next chapter down. Hope you all enjoyed it : ) If you have a moment I'd love to hear what you think about it. Until next time…