Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Code Geass and this is merely fiction, intended for the enjoyment of the readers.

Author's Note: I am going to guess this isn't my best work, since people have raved in the 3 reviews I saw about the fighting. Even so, I may change it whether or not the reviewers like it or not. I am sorry if it is somehow confusing.

24 hours had passed since the world watched as Zero fell into the abyss. Many remained skeptical as to whether or not Zero would reveal himself to the world again, proving that Zero could survive death and was the miracle worker as many believed. Even so, many of the world's power have gotten restless. With the iconic symbol Zero was gone, the world has once again fallen prey to the temptations of a shift in power.

Turn 2: Existence of Lelouch

Lelouch sat on the bed of the hotel, the remote in his right hand. C.C. looked at him as if she were studying what he planned on doing. He flipped through the channels, each of them having the prescheduled programming, or something on Zero, mostly last minute. He passed by numerous shows, including the biography of Zero, the more interesting Philosophy and Zero, and other shows that claimed Zero was dead. How soon it is that everyone will embrace someone dead, C.C. thought. Even still, when Zero, or Suzaku, fell from the building, his body had not been found on the ground. Speculators on the television had claimed that his body was probably in some trophy room of terrorists, but even still, they all assumed he was dead. They had such little faith in miracles. Suddenly, Lelouch, who had been silent since they had gotten to the hotel, Suzaku's supposed death had shocked him, stopped at a single channel. It was a simple talk show, talking about Zero, but it was a bit more, too. The three men who sat at the table, who were talking about Zero's death, were a general, a government politician, and a reconstruction supervisor. "So what you're saying is that Zero's death is making these countries want to start war, even though we signed numerous agreements with them," the politician said, talking to the general. "No, I'm not saying anything that they want to, but in most situations, we speculate that some country may try something to take advantage of this if nothing happens. It may be in weeks, and only something small like a bill, or something big like a war, I'm not saying anything," the general said, frustrated. His voice shook as if his career was on the line, since it was for one wrong word could actually trigger the event he was describing. The reconstruction supervisor, a man whose job was created right after the Fleija battle, for the sole purpose of supervising the reconstruction of destroyed and damaged areas, sat quietly and patiently, through his facial expressions were that of a timid person. He face twitched a bit, before softly saying, "But why would they want to do that. It ----." C.C. had grabbed the remote from Lelouch, and turned off the TV, while Lelouch still stared at it blankly. She then raised her arm into the air, her eyes closing in annoyance, and hurled it downward, the remote hitting Lelouch on the back of the head. Lelouch, turned around, anger apparent in his eyes, and in a tense voice said, "What was that for?" C.C. tossing the remote behind her, the remote hitting the wall, and then falling onto the bed, said, "This even won't matter. What you need is some fresh air, otherwise you'll be in more of a depression as it is. Forget about this, one event is going to affect the world. Many people who changed history have all been assassinated, and their work became solid because of it." The last comment rang coldly in Lelouch's mind, for Suzaku was still is friend, even if it meant insuring peace. "Now come on," C.C. said, throwing a jacket at Lelouch and his fake goatee. She then walked out the door, opening it, causing a mild creek, a sign of how old the hotel they were staying at was, and then slammed it. A bit of dust fell from the ceiling onto Lelouch's hair. Lelouch sighed, and got up, following her to the outside world.

Meanwhile, in a dim lit room, the only source of light would be a single flickering light bulb, Clay stands wearily, holding a small paper crane, he had picked it up subconsciously when Suzaku or Zero was chasing him. It had a different beauty than the one he was use to, the one of this room. He looked up from the crane, and looked throughout the room. Suzaku was in a chair, his mouth covering with duck tape, his eyes blinded, and his arms tied down. He was in a small wooden chair, the chair itself had a rotting look to it, the same as the small splotches of green mold that ran again the black stone wall. Overall, it sickened Clay. The only thing that was modern in this room was the door, it was a flat, cold steel. The door was modern for the fact that it had a sensor that opened it whenever someone entered a fingerprint scan. The rest was filth.

Suddenly, the door opened, Lord Bismarck stepping in. He wore a black eye patch over his eye, the Geass resonating underneath. He had abandoned the piercing clamps that had kept it originally shut. He outfit was still the same uniform he wore in his services to the Emperor, it still had the blood stains he had received when battling Suzaku, and it was slightly torn in random places. Lord Bismarck turned to Clay, and said, "You did a good job." Clay didn't even look up, he just stared at the crane. Lord Bismarck walked over to Suzaku, walking in a circle behind him, and untied the blindfold. Suzaku's eyes widened when he looked at Clay, though Clay eyes still remained transfixed on the origami crane. Clay then looked up, only to see the anger in Lord Bismarck's eye, his forehead strained with the veins that clearly penetrated the surface. He then grabbed the back of Suzaku's chair, his face covered in a sweat from the shear adrenaline rush. His face was distorted in shear anger. He spun the back of Suzaku's chair so that Suzaku faced him, the wooden legs screeching against the stone floor, the shock in Suzaku's eyes was apparent. Lord Bismarck lifted up his leg, and swung in the arm, hitting Suzaku straight in the chest, the chair with Suzaku flying straight into the moldy wall, the back of it cracking a bit, and the two back legs flying in opposite directions, hitting the floor, spinning a bit before stopping. Suzaku chair tipped over onto its side, Suzaku closing the eyes after being sent flying, and then open them again. Bismarck walked over to Suzaku, his hands placed calmly behind his back. "Suzaku, Suzaku, Suzaku, the biggest traitor we've ever seen," he said calmly. "Isn't it ironic how you could be here today." Suzaku's voice seemed to say something under the duck tape, through it was unclear. Clay closed his hand, the crane was now a metal cube. "Why'd you do it," Bismarck continued, the stress in his voice was apparent. "Why'd you destroy the Britannia Empire? The world would have changed to your liking eventually, but you damned elevens wanted to be treated as equals now. You couldn't wait 100 years. You were all power hungry bastards." Bismarck's voice had risen to yelling now. "But that's going to change soon. Soon we'll break you, and make you into our little puppet. Soon the world will see what filth you elevens are." Clay stared with a blank expression at the metal cube, what was once a paper crane. He closed his hand again, revealing the metal cube to be small glass orb. Bismarck turned to Clay, and said, "Clay, leave. Go check up on Lord Daniel. See how well his experiment in coming along." Clay looked up, hearing the order, losing interest in the glass orb. He dropped it, and as it feel, with a weird dance to it, as if it were made from paper, the air resistance fighting gravity, and it seemed to crumple and reform as it feel. When it hit the floor, from where Suzaku could see, it was a crumpled ball of paper, the same paper that was once a paper crane.

Clay watched out of the room, through the door, and into the elevator. He pushed the button, and the elevator creaked and groaned, and then started heading upward. The ancient needle that indicated the floor moved up, stopping at floor three. The door opened, and Clay entered into a square room, lighted with a few ceiling lights, the room itself was completely white. In the cornet of the room, sitting in a white chair that was built into the floor, it was a cubic chair, hard and uncomfortable, was a girl, with slightly long hair. It had hints of pink in it. Her clothing was of a white dress, nothing special about it, somewhat like a hospital gown. Her face was similar to Princess Euphemia. No wonder Lord Daniel liked her. Even so, Lord Daniel had a well known nickname that everyone called him except Lord Bismarck. He was called Doll Maker, because of his Geass power. Lord Bismarck after the fall of Britannia had gathered them altogether to avenge V.V. and Charles. The elevator creaked again, and the door slid open, Lord Daniel coming through. Lord Daniel was a heavily built man, his body bulging with muscles, but he wore a lab coat similar to his idol, Lloyd. His skin was black, since he had an African heritage, and his hair was long and braided. His left eye had a Geass, unable to be deactivated. "Your late, Doll Maker," Clay said, coldly. "Sorry, I had some notes to send," Daniel said, rubbing the back of the head. He said looked at the room, and said, "Chair." The floor opened up, and another cubic chair emerged, which he promptly sat down in. "So how are you today, Miss Nicole," he said, looking at the girl. "Fuck you, bastard," the girl, Nicole, said. She then seemed to snort a bit, and then spit on Daniel. "Still feisty as ever, I see," said Daniel. "But I want to see if you've made progress. You sure look pretty today." Suddenly, the ferocity in Nicole's eyes lessened, and she said, with a voice not her own, "Why thank you." After this was said, Nicole's eyes changed back to their normal ferocity, but this time with an astonishing amount of fear. "That wasn't my voice. What have you done to me, you bastard? Get away, let me out," she screamed, struggling to break free of the straps bonding her to her chair. "Please don't worry, Nicole. You're progress is coming along great," He then looked to his right side, and said, "Brain." The floor opened up and a jar came up, with a brain in it. Water bubbled inside the jar. "Shall we resume?" Clay walked out of the room, for his work here was done. He had seen what he had meant to see. Doll Maker is good. His skill with his Geass is unbounded. He won't need to be disposed of, Clay thought. Lord Daniel Geass ability was unique, like Clay's. He could take memories and emotions from a brain, living or dead, and insert them into another body. His most recent experiment was to see if physical changes can be made by convincing a person they were someone else over time, along with if they truly became that person. So far it had been a success.

Lelouch and C.C. walked down the street. Lelouch stared absent mindedly at the ground, his hands in his pocket. He was walking by a TV store, went something came on the news. He turned, looking at it. C.C. kept walking, but turned around, and said, "Are you coming?" He still kept staring. She walked over to hit, and grabbed him by his arm. "Come on," she said, pulling. Suddenly, a voice on the television started to speak. "Recently, with the Death of Zero, many have questioned how this will affect the world, but now it has had a drastic effect. Recently, ambassador Nunnally has refused to leave her hotel room, the death of Zero had probably left her emotionally crippled, with the similar result of the death of her brother and close friend Suzaku. With ambassador Nunnally refusing to attend, other nations have also refused to join the United Nations Meeting in Japan, which is causing incredible tension in the world." The TV then switched to another news story. Lelouch turned to C.C., looking her in the eyes. Overall, she seemed mildly shocked, for they had not expected this to happen. "I have to do something," Lelouch said, stressfully. C.C. looked at him sadly and said, "What can you do, the world thinks you're dead, Suzaku is the problem so you can't rely on him, and most of the world thinks you're a corrupt prince who died a year ago. The only person who you'd probably have an opinion of what to do is Kallen." Lelouch, when hearing that name perched up, and grabbed C.C. on the shoulders, and said, "Thank you. She's perfect. Can you call her for me? I'll be back in a few seconds." He handed her his cell phone, it still had all his old numbers on it. He started running a crossed the street, a few cars stopping suddenly to prevent hitting him, and into a convenient store.

Kallen sat at her desk, mildly in a doze, the teacher was talking about something about gravity or related to physics. She had stopped paying attention somewhere after the first fifteen minutes. Since the war with Lelouch and Prince Schneizel, the world had started rebuilding itself, and in response, the school policy had been converted to allow people of all ancestry to attend. Since she had missed a year with piloting the Guren, and now had to make it up. Suddenly, a long beeping sounded through the room. The sound caused Kallen to perch up and look around, only to realize it was her phone. She reached into her purse, and was about to shut it off when she saw the caller identification. It read Lelouch. "Mrs. Stadtfeld, you know you are now supposed to have phones in class," the teacher said, scolding. "Sorry, but this is important," Kallen said, pushing in her chair, and sprinting from the classroom. She quickly opened the cell phone, hoping that the caller hadn't hung up, and said, "Hello?" The voice on the other end replied, "Kallen, this is C.C. We need to talk."

C.C. finished talking with Kallen, giving a time and a place to meet. She and Lelouch had thirty minutes before they were to meet her, but he still hadn't returned. A taxi cab pulled up in front of her, and the window rolled open. "So is it a go?" Lelouch said, sticking his head out. She looked at him, he had abandoned the goatee, a reckless decision, but more importantly, he held in his hand a bottle of black hair dye, and his hair was down completely black, looking as it did before he dyed it. C.C. realizing the change of atmosphere, took off the glasses she was wearing, and the wig, also, and threw them on the ground. She got in the taxi, and it slowly drove off.

"So, why did you change the look," C.C. asked, skeptically. He looked at her and smiled, "I wanted to see people's reactions." The taxi driver looked in the mirror, and then looked back, and said, "You do look familiar, wait you're that movie star, that playing that damned prince," he said, smiling. "Thank you for recognizing me," Lelouch said smiling. "I've gotten more reactions were people think I'm the real deal." The driver laughed at this, and said, "Well, the rest of the world ain't as smart as us taxi drivers. We see the world for what it is." "Can you take us to The Rouge Rose," C.C. said, not paying attention to the conversation. The Rouge Rose was a restaurant built by a Britannia family, but now was commonplace for high class dining. They drove for several minutes, the taxi driver rambling on about the world and Zero's death and other stuff. They then stopped, now in front of an elegant red neon sign of the Rouge Rose. Lelouch got out and handed the guy his fair. "No tip," the taxi driver said. Lelouch walked off, as if he had not heard it. The taxi driver stared at the money a bit, and then started to yell, "You movie types are all the same, you don't care about the little guy. You get 20 million for making a movie, only having to work an hour a day, and I am fortunate enough to make 20 thousand." Lelouch opened the glass door of the Rouge Rose, the sound of the taxi driver fading away.

The stewardess came up to him, and said, "Should I show you to your table, Mister?" "Lamperouge, that would be what I would like to be called," Lelouch said. "And can you do me a favor? Can you make this place a bit private?" While he said this, he removed his contacts that hid his Geass, and the stewardess eyes immediately gained the red look of the Geass. "Right away, I'll close it up for the night, unless a special guest will be arriving?" she said. "Yes, someone will be arriving shortly, and thank you for your kindness," Lelouch said.

Kallen walked through the door of the Red Rouge, she was a few minutes late, but otherwise she should be safe. As she entered, the interior of the Red Rouge was lit dimly, a bunch of empty glass tables scattered about. Roses lined the walls and sat in vases on the tables, and a small waterfall fell in the distance. "You must be Kallen?" A stewardess said. "Yes?" Kallen said with a bit of confusion since the stewardess remembered her name. "Right this way," the stewardess said, and walked off. Kallen followed her, and then came to a booth, that was hidden with a curtain veil. "The guest is behind there," the stewardess said, walking off, passing through the metal door into the kitchen. Kallen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She moved forward, pulling at the curtain, her eyes still closes, and said, "C.C., I don't know what you wanted to talk about." She opened her eyes then, and looked to see the person sitting there. Her eyes shook with sheer shock of who sat before her. "Lelouch?" was all she could say.