Audacity chapter 28.
Author's notes.
*I apologize for the wait, however I decided it would be best for the quality of my material if I waited until I was mostly healed up and off the pain reducing drugs that had been given to me. Looking back at my previous chapter I realize that me being hopped up on painkillers while writing produces poor results… On that note, I appreciate the concern from all who gave it… However I will have you know that it will take a lot more than a car wreck to kill me. I am by no means a frail person, in fact, had there not been bystanders there to witness the accident I would've stepped on the man's throat after he ran into my vehicle with his motorcycle. That being said I present to you the contents of chapter 28.*
Response to review by: Atrile. I don't even want to think about it, had I been on the sidewalk at the time that probably would've fuck me up really good… Significantly beyond what it did to my left arm.
Euphemia (Insert sadistic laughter here.) … I can't wait put her and my character in the same room together… If you have a good look at the poll you will see that the result that has been chosen predominantly, is quite easily the most fun to write. (Insert more sadistic laughter here.)
Response to review by: LEGENDRY. You can go ahead and expect my character to fuck himself up with the over usage of this power in the future… Believe me when I say that I have plans for both his experiments and half assed practical applications for his ability.
As to your deductions of his abilities nature… I'm going to spoil something and tell you that his power is not simply energy in its purest form… This was slightly implied but never necessarily stated, you will find out later due to Gray Jack explaining further, that it is in fact energy manipulating 'dust', I use the term 'dust' in its nonliteral meaning, simply due to the fact that he's not actually manipulating the dust around him… That's just term that Jack knows it by. I'm already working on the next chapter, it will have many explanations for you to enjoy and take apart.
Response to review by: EVA-Saiyajin. I thank you for your concern, but as stated above it will take a hell of a lot more to kill me.
As to your question to why my character would pick up an ability after such a short description… We've been over this… This character is terrible at making decisions when it comes to deals… Expect epic failure on his part pertaining to anything along the lines of a deal in the future.
Response to reviews by: god of all and Ghost2113. I appreciate the input and your support, thing should be speeding up back towards my usual update pace. (At least a chapter a week.) due to my improved physical condition.
Super awesome sauce incredibly distracting line break. Woo hoo.
*Dinner with Nunnally and Suzaku.
I had arrived home just after the sun had set, the sky had yet to fully darken, and the clouds in the distance caused a florescent orange glow to overtake the trees and grass. Shortly after entering the student Council building I found that Nunnally and Suzaku were already waiting. After giving a half assed apology I sat down to eat dinner with them as planned.
Dinner was pleasant… If not a little awkward with Nunnally, however Suzaku was more than adamant to retell the events of the past several years of his life. The time came for both Nunnally and I to describe our recent happenings so I let Nunnally take the reins due to her unaltered memory. This was mostly successful, however I found it was required that I pitch in here and there; but I never provided anything more than a vague comment or description.
However things took a turn for the worse when Suzaku looked directly at me and asked.
"So what have you been up to lately? The student Council complains that you've been acting strangely… I have to say I agree, you're a lot more expressive than you used to be." I smiled awkwardly in response while struggling to formulate a rebuttal.
Well obviously I can tell him what I've actually been doing, so the next best thing is to lie while telling parts of the truth… I hope.
"Oh you know, the usual, starting resistance movements, running the Mafia, breaking steel beams with my bare hands… Same old same old." This elicited a joyful laugh from Suzaku as he struggled to stay in his seat. I realized that he would inquire further due to the absurdity of my answer so I decided to try again more normally.
"No but really, just because I'm taking my classes seriously everyone has a fit… Is it really that bad that I'm spending more time working on my education?" Suzaku had finally calmed down, his eyes softened as he picked up his fork again.
"No, it's not. I think it's great that you're trying to make something out of yourself… Something normal. Hopefully one day you and Nunnally can find somewhere to live in peace without fear of being discovered." I couldn't help but smile softly in return to how genuinely sincere he was being.
"But if we did, you would come to visit right?" Nunnally asked hopefully. Suzaku turned to her and livened up his smile.
"Yeah, definitely, and I'm sure the whole student Council would too."
"I would really like that…" She replied sweetly.
The serenity of the scene before me was almost too much to behold.
How could I ever dream of keeping it like this with the path I'm going along… I thought while resting my elbow on the table and idly playing with the food before me. But just as I was admiring how much Nunnally and Suzaku got along, I couldn't help but be reminded that Suzaku was in the Britannian military… More specifically.
He is the pilot of the white knightmare… What's it called? Oh yes, the Lancelot. So for all technical purposes, he is my enemy.
I briefly considered Geassing him in order to find out more about both his employers and the technology they were working on, but with Nunnally present and the fact that he probably knew next to nothing useful, I cast that thought aside.
"Lelouch," Suzaku began to question. "When you were-" his inquiry was cut off by the sound of my ringing phone; I jumped slightly in surprise and reached into my lower breast pocket to check the number. I didn't recognize the number in the slightest, but that didn't stop me from answering.
"This is Lelouch." I said as I stood from the table and walked towards the door in an attempt to show some form of modesty for the others eating dinner.
"Cypher, sir, this is Ohgi…" My eyes widened slightly due to the surprise of the situation, but I recovered quickly.
"Yes, I'm listening. Tell me what's going on."
"We have five people, myself and Kallen included ready to go scope out the warehouse, we're just waiting on your order, or your arrival." I clenched my teeth slightly and frustration.
The fact that others would put themselves in danger simply to double check information that I had acquired didn't sit right with me.
"I don't think that's necessary, I can go take a look at it myself later tomorrow." There was no pause between my answer in his exclamation.
"What! You can't seriously think you can go over there alone, even if you wore the mask they'd catch you immediately, the fact is they're more than likely have Japanese working in the warehouse. You would stick out immediately- Ow!- hey! Kallen!" the sounds of struggling were blatantly apparent on the other side of the phone as I listened to the receiver changing hands.
"All right Mr. the way I see it you have two options. You can either get over here and come with us, or we go now by ourselves." The venom in her tone caused me to narrow my eyes angrily, almost in indignation.
"It's almost like you don't understand who's in charge here…" I said with stern authority. Her response was hesitant, but she still replied in a logical manner towards her cause.
"I know that, but you have a terrible tendency of doing things by yourself and getting hurt-"
"That was like maybe two times!" I almost shouted into the receiver.
"Yeah! And don't you think you would learn from both those times? The fact is you make everyone else nervous when you go off and do things without telling anyone." This caused me to flinch, I didn't expect that… The way I had seen it, the more proactive I was without forcing the group to move, the more they would trust me.
I've drawn suspicion, it seems I need to be more forthcoming with how I do things and who I involve…
"Fine…" I gave in begrudgingly. "You guys can go on ahead, gather as much information as you can and detail the possible entry points… if none worth using are present… I'm not above blowing the place to hell."
"Right, thank you we'll get it done." She said happily. Just before she hung up I called out to her.
"Kallen…" I said quietly.
"Yes?" I inhaled deeply before my final request.
"Be careful…" There was a slight pause in the conversation, a full 3 seconds pass without anything being said.
"Alright…" And then she hung up. I took a brief moment to stare at the phone, its pale screen glaring back at me.
"Lelouch? Is everything all right?" I jumped slightly, I had forgotten where I was at and said things I probably shouldn't had. I quickly recovered my senses and scratched the back of my head nervously.
"Yeah, it's fine. Kallen was just going to get material for the decorations for the upcoming festival… But they were in a rather bad part of town… I told her I would do it myself but she's… Stubborn." Suzaku began to slide out of his seat and offered.
"I can go with her i-if it's too dangerous." I calmly decided to do some damage control.
"No, it's too late, she already left."
"Oh that's too bad, tell her next time she needs to go do something like that she should ask for help." I smiled slightly.
Always so sincere and gentle, maybe you should be Nunnally's brother as opposed to me…
"Don't worry I will."
The rest of dinner went by smoothly, and was significantly less awkward. I finally began to talk to Nunnally normally… Well as normally as I could. After finishing dessert we sat around talking for maybe another 15 minutes, but at that time I felt myself growing physically tired. Suzaku it seemed to pick up on this and decided to excuse himself for the night. Trying to be a good host I insisted that I walk him at least to the door. Just as we were standing outside and he had reached the bottom step he turned to look at me.
"A lot of stuff has happened recently, and you've changed a lot… but it seems you've opened up a lot more." The moment his words left his mouth I felt as if I died a little on the inside.
It's hard not to open up when you have almost nothing to close.
I stifled a yawn before I replied.
"Maybe, I'll see you later man." Suzaku waved and turned quickly. I didn't watch him walk off, instead I began my trek back to my dorm in order to sleep and recover. Along the way I briefly considered calling Gray Jack to discuss the limitations and applications of my power in more detail.
There's time for that tomorrow, I'm tired. I decided.
Just as I slipped into my pajamas and laid down in the bed, I couldn't help but feel as if something was off… Something somewhere wasn't right. I couldn't place the feeling, or give it coherent thought. So I simply went to sleep.
The ominous feeling overwhelmed me as I reached unconsciousness.
Shit was about to get real.
*Dreaming.
I awoke while still inside my dream… If that sort of thing is even possible. Once again I was met with the surreal vision of seeing absolutely pitch black save for my own body and its personal effects. I was dressed in my Ashford Academy uniform; a quick check determined that I had all my usual contents within their designated pockets. Before I could begin to draw any type of conclusion, or to discern anything of value, my attention was pulled towards a sharp and angry female voice.
"You have betrayed me, and through me the Lord himself…" the voice hissed venomously. I turned to see once again the visage of the pure white angel that had presented herself to me previously in an attempt to turn me against Gray Jack.
"What of it?" I asked flatly. From every angle I looked at it, I saw no gain working with the Angel, working with God… It would give me nothing… Nothing that I was interested in at least.
I'm already going to hell, might as well make my stay on earth a damn good one.
"That is not true, you are not necessarily condemned… Not yet." Her voice softened, which caused me to arch an eyebrow suspiciously and fold my arms over my chest.
"Oh really? Because honestly, even I think I deserve to go to hell. You would say exactly the same if you had seen what I've already done with my Geass, not to mention with my bare hands." My words caused the Angel to cringe slightly; it seemed the mere mention of earthly sins caused discomfort to her.
"Succumbing to temptation is a common fault, besides, you are still useful-" My breath hitched towards the end of her sentence, the very fact that someone else was considering using me in some unknown game of cops and robbers infuriated me.
"USEFULL?" I shouted angrily. "Is that all I fucking am to you! Some random tool that you found helpful towards your goal? Your ends? Your big picture!" I unfolded my arms and drew the Glock 17. Despite the fact this was technically a dream, I couldn't help but point my most potent physical weapon at the celestial being.
Her expression was that of pure shock, she obviously hadn't expected me to react in such a manner. However she was quick to recuperate and returned with her own form of fury.
"You dare threaten a messenger of the Lord?" She spat with a sense of finality, the calming edge of her voice vanishing completely.
"In a fucking heartbeat twinkle tits." Her face turned beet red in indignation.
"Then you will know the pain of Satan's domain… But only a taste whilst you sleep." I tightened my muscles and prepared to pull the trigger, but just before I committed the act I blinked… And she vanished. The only thing that remained of her was an echoing declaration.
"Your punishment begins now, human." I was about reply to the ghostly statement; however my attention was pulled towards the ground as it began to glow cherry red. Flames sprouted from the floor illuminating my black surroundings, only to reveal the haunting faces of decaying, decrepit demons. Sharp teeth, dislocated eyes, rotting flesh, numerous bugs festering within unwholesome wounds. These were but a few of the many utterly sickening traits that the monsters displayed proudly as they advanced upon my position, their numbers were uncountable, I couldn't help but lose my nerve and backpedal rapidly, my weapon completely forgotten. All the while the flames on the floor growing taller and hotter, consistently licking at my feet and legs, only to grow even higher and reach past my arms and head.
The pain began to set in as the shock wore off, my shoes nearly melted full off, but were boiling rapidly as they stuck to my skin like hot oil, blistering the delicate flesh around it. My clothes began to disintegrate as they caught fire, numerous burns began to develop amongst my body. Searing pain clawed its way through my consciousness, never enough to cause me to pass out, but never so little to the point where I had even the briefest moment to think.
My body throughout the blazing torture was kept in a position where it was still functional, but was put under the most horrifying and grievous burns and wounds that were physically capable of developing. In what felt like hours of burning, of blistering, of melting, my mind finally came to a point where it began to numb itself to the pain.
I looked up only to see myself surrounded again by the horrifying decrepit creatures that I believed to be demons. One of them approached me, its arms outstretched. It had no skin, a massive amount of muscle, several holes amongst its body that appeared to be made by the largest caliber of bullets, each of which bled profusely. Its head was leaning off to the side, nearly decapitated as it hung precariously by its carotid artery and a small strip of flesh.
The humanoid figure shambled closer to me until it stood just above my nearly prone and agonizing body, its black blood dripping onto the inferno of a floor beneath me, this caused me to shuffle back slightly. My actions were only met by the discovery that the rest of the demons had surrounded me in a much tighter circle.
Two of them picked me up by my severely burned arms causing a whole new world of pain to erupt, aggravating the freshly seared wounds. My body began to convulse in rejection of all the sensations. I might've passed out, I might've felt genuine fear, but I refused to scream… under no circumstances would I scream- I refused to give in to that level. Even when the humanoid figure in front of me began clawing at my festering wounds in every way imaginable, creating new ones, stripping flesh from my bones, slowly tearing muscle and breaking bones, the most it would elicit out of me was a grunt or a tensing of my remaining muscles.
The fire may have been blazingly hot.
The creatures may have been superfluously brutal.
My mind may have been in tatters due to the abuse.
But I would not scream…
Then I woke up.
"FUCKING SHIT!" I yelled hoarsely as I shot straight into a sitting position. I looked behind myself to the bed and noticed that the sheets and blanket were soaked in sweat, my mind weighed down heavily on me… Needless to say sleep had been less than restful that night.
I struggled to find a standing position but instead found myself collapsing onto the floor, my body shivering in the remembrance of excruciating pain. My stomach finally gave out as I hurriedly crawled to the bathroom and heaved several times into the toilet.
After giving myself at least 10 minutes to recuperate, I forced myself into a standing position in front of the sink. I rinsed my mouth several times took several drinks of water, shortly after I washed my face and stared into the mirror.
God I look terrible. I thought as I viewed the haggard expression as well as the bags under my eyes which were forcibly displayed amongst my normal facial features.
If that happens every time I go to sleep, then I might as well stay awake… I'll live longer that way.
I couldn't help but feel hollowed out after the terrifying experience, just a small taste of hell was traumatizing enough … I couldn't even begin to imagine an indefinite stay. I shivered at the thought of experiencing anything like it again.
I suppose if anything good came out of this, it would be that my tolerance for pain has probably gone up.
I smiled slightly into the mirror, it did nothing to help my expression; I still looked dead, beaten, torn, distraught and beleaguered.
"Man that sure was a nasty nightmare." A cheerful male voice stated from my doorway. I looked up, feeling too numb to experience shock. There stood a Chinese man with white hair, oversized earmuffs, and a rather impressive set of sunglasses, he wore an abnormal set of clothing; it was more than apparent that his choice of dress was foreign even to Japan.
"Who the hell are you and what you want?… On second thought, better question. How did you get in here?" I questioned sternly while I brought my body to its full height, quickly producing the model 36.
The man put his hands up defensively, the childish smirk never left his face.
"You can call me Mao, as to how I got in here… Let's just say I'm good at getting what I want."
He implied he wants something, I doubt the only thing he wanted was to break in here and question me for mundane matters. I suppose it's possible I haven't actually woken up, maybe now I'm now being tortured mentally as opposed to physically…
"Oh no I assure you, you're quite awake." My eyes widened as far as they were physically capable the moment he responded to my thought. If I hadn't had Jack read my mind and do the exact same thing before, I probably would've passed it off as being easily read.
Not this time.
He can read my mind, great not another god damn head crawler… That means he probably watched me have that shit storm of a dream… The question is… how much of my mind can he read?
I quickly began cross filtering and throwing several worthless thoughts on top of my developing a plan of action in order to see if it would allow me any sense of security. Just to make sure I pulled back the hammer on the model 36 and squeezed the trigger lightly, just a hair's breath away from firing.
"You won't shoot me, not when I have something to offer you." My interest piqued slightly as soon as the words left his mouth.
"Talk." I ordered.
"From what I can read in your mind you've come into contact with CC… and on top of that." He motioned lightly with his hands for emphasis. "You don't seem to be too fond of her, not that I could ever understand how…" He growled.
"What do you want with CC?" I asked quickly.
"Ah, straight the point eh? She and I have a contract, same as you, all I want is to be with her… And in return if you give her to me I might decide to work with you… Assuming you keep her safe from the military."
He has Geass! I can't believe I didn't think of that beforehand, I just assumed it was similar to Jack's ability.
Mao's face darkened as I lamented on my thoughts.
"How do you do that exactly?" I looked him directly in the eyes through his sunglasses.
"Do what?" I asked genuinely. He pursed his lips and fondled his chin as he leaned up against the doorframe heavily.
"Your mind just completely vanishes briefly for no apparent reason." And just like that a flash of recognition went through my head.
Jack installed countermeasures and fail safes for other people who can read my mind, this way people like Mao can't discover him… But that leaves the question as to how the angel knew so much about what he has done recently…
"To be completely honest with you, if I told you, you would be killed… And the power creating these gaps in your ability to read my mind would be the one to do it… I have no control over it."
"Is it your Geass? Did CC give it to you? You haven't already taken her code have you!" I squinted my eyes quizzically at his childish outbursts.
"Just read my mind stupid, I haven't taken anything from her. Much less this code you're talking about… Unless of course she's forced it upon me without me knowing." Mao's body visibly relaxed once I explained to him and he checked my thoughts.
"Oh I assure you, she couldn't have possibly given it to you without you knowing… Besides, your Geass isn't evolved enough to support a code." My interest fully peaked, I couldn't help but ask.
"And yours is?" Mao lowered is curved sunglasses down slightly and revealed his ever present Geass sigils in full bloom.
So that's what I can expect…
"If you live that long Mr. Cypher." I should've expected it from someone who was privy to my every thought… Apparently past and present. However that didn't stop me from cringing slightly when he mentioned my alter ego.
"Tell anyone, and I won't hesitate to eviscerate your God damned soul." I threatened darkly. I had to hand it to Mao, for all the responses he could have used he chose the one I expected the least. He began clapping, smiling broadly as he stood straight. It unnerved me slightly, I couldn't help but feel the urge simply shoot him and get the situation over with. My mind still felt tattered and torn from the hellish experience I had just encountered… But the enticing thought of having a mind reading Geass user help me fight Britannia was just far too tempting to turn down.
"I won't tell anyone. Scouts honor!" He said joyfully as he made a mocking salute.
"You want CC? You can have her… Assuming you decide to work for me. In return I will keep both of you safe. However you must remember, although I can give you free reign to try whatever you want with her… I can't force her to accept it."
"It doesn't matter, everything's perfectly all right… After all, she and I are in love." I grunted lightly in minor skepticism.
"We'll see about that, wait outside the door I'm gonna get dressed, you and I will find her and have a more detailed chat."
I watched him as he exited the room and closed the door behind him, I then locked it and proceeded to dress into a fresh uniform as well as placing the contents of my pockets accordingly. I briefly considered calling gray Jack for advice; however I didn't want the alleged gap in Mao's ability that would undoubtedly be caused by his appearance to unnerve him… Not to mention the smell of burnt meat would be hard to explain
If I can get him to work for me that means I'll have another way to gather data… The range that his Geass can reach will dictate how far away I can steal sensitive information from… Along the lines of information gathering, his Geass beats mine.
I paused briefly and sat down on the corner of the bed to collect myself.
If all goes well I'll have a way to get inside the heads of every Britannian official without even getting too close… Not to mention the schematics, raw data, floor plans, and secret passages that he could steal… There's all sorts of shit he might be able to uncover for me.
I stood with an air of determination; if CC was going to freeload off of me she could at least provide another asset.
I walked over to the door and opened it cautiously, I saw Mao leaning up against the wall opposite from the door.
"Let's go." I said quietly. As I led him to where CC's room was.
Wait a minute, he can read my mind… He should be able to tell where her room is without me showing him! The thought dawned upon me in a flash, this caused me to reach for my Glock and turn sharply.
"Explain yourself, you didn't need me to find where CC stays." Mao shifted his weight to one of his feet and crossed his arms impatiently.
"Sure, that's true; however you just happened to be the best source of safety due to your ability to erase everyone's memory. That being said, if you can erase the memory of those who are after her… She won't need to hide anymore and that means she and I can live happily and freely."
Not very well thought out, but if it works… Probably a definite solution. I suppose it really depends on how many people are after her and whether or not I can get to them before they get to me.
"Exactly what I was thinking." Mao said kiddingly as I turned and continued my journey CC's room.
"So you plan on using me to create a safe haven for both you and your 'woman'." I questioned darkly.
Mao shrugged indifferently and twirled his finger in the air.
"It's not like you don't plan on using me, the way I see it we can have a mutually beneficial relationship… Assuming you keep your hands off of CC… I've seen what you've done, needless to say I'm not happy, but at least you showed some restraint-"
"Don't wanna hear it moving on." I declared loudly as I continued the short walk to CC's dorm.
I think this guy is a little bit off of his rocker…
Only time would tell.
To be continued…