Slayer Anderson
JUSTICE V
A Code Geass/Misc. Fanfiction
11/04/10
They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky. Those Old Ones were gone now, inside the earth and under the sea; but their dead bodies had told their secrets in dreams to the first men, who formed a cult which had never died. This was that cult, and the prisoners said it had always existed and always would exist, hidden in distant wastes and dark places all over the world until the time when the great priest Cthulhu, from his dark house in the mighty city of R'lyeh under the waters, should rise and bring the earth again beneath his sway. Some day he would call, when the stars were ready, and the secret cult would always be waiting to liberate him.
-H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu
The National Rifle Association says, 'Guns don't kill people, People do.' But I think the gun helps.
-Eddie Izzard
Murder is a matter of means and motivation. Everyone, with few exceptions, is physically capable of killing another human being. The question, then, lies in how far you have to push someone…of if 'you' are doing the pushing. I've always found crazy people, zealots, and psychotics delightfully easy to incite into murderous moods. I'll add that the wise man is nowhere near the aforementioned lunatic when this occurs.
-Slayer Anderson
Chapter 5 – Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
It was only by virtue of a strong will that Lelouch kept from vomiting.
The bile burning his throat was the result of their current…circumstances. I always envied Suzaku his physical prowess. Even as children, he was so much more…durable than me. He could run miles while I was out of breath in the first hundred feet. When he was sparring with Todoh-sensei…that was probably the worst of it; I could never measure up to his abilities in the physical realm…just like he could never out-think me. I wonder if he was ever jealous of my mental abilities? This suit gives me the body I wished…
But it's bittersweet.
No, it's downright sour.
I have killed…I killed Clovis, or who-whatever that was in the G-1 base. I have killed dozens of drug dealers over the last three months. I killed even more of these…monsters in the last few hours than I would normally be comfortable with, but…
I have never killed like this.
Lelouch reached out and took one of the creatures heads and, hand encased in blocky gray protective metal gloves, crushed it with disturbing ease.
The flesh burst like overripe fruit, spraying a miniature shower of gore on his hardsuit and his surroundings. Meanwhile, his other hand snapped out faster than a snake, blocking the clumsy lunge of a zombie by grabbing at it's arm and twisting violently, snapping it in twain.
He would have thought such an action a 'clean break,' but…
The exposed white marrow and blackish sludge that had once been blood practically exploded from the action, leaving Lelouch to stare at the sluggishly oozing wound on the zombie as it lumbered forward heedless of the limbless stump it bore in place of its left arm. The sheer impossibility of the moment hit him hard, then, leaving him staring at the yawning maw of the creature. In that moment, Lelouch might have sold what was left of his soul for a firearm with a pistol grip that would fit the hardsuit's fingers. The compound metals and ceramics of his suit's surface were caked in blood and entrails, tinting the black and gold designs a ghastly damp, dark, red. The zombie lunged forward again, sinking it's teeth into the metal-
Or, at least, trying to.
Lelouch stared, a horrible sinking feeling in his gut. This was, or had been, a human being…'his' face was pale, white sprayed with flecks of blood from masticated flesh. In a sudden flash of red-hot anger, his hand slammed out and crushed the thing's head as if it were a malignant insect trying to feed off him. Another explosion of blood, another monster dead, another…another…another…
His mind now spinning with a violent and destructive rage, Lelouch flowed into a homicidal, acidic, burning, fury. He'd never really had any formal martial arts training beyond the scant kendo that Todoh had pounded into him one summer long ago. The result in the here and now was a series of bloody, messy kills that spread ichor like paint over the halls of the facility. The only thing saving his attacks form being completely ineffectual was the massively amplified strength and speed his suit granted him. Still, ordering someone to die and ripping their head off to crush it were two very different things.
Man was always inventing things to make the killing more impersonal, less able to directly influence the psyche of the person doing the killing. Bare hands had shifted to a rock, a rock to a spear, a spear to a bow, a bow to a gun, and the cycle was still going on today. It wasn't you doing the killing, it was the Knightmare doing it…
If the hardsuits had a flaw, it was the closeness, the nearness to the visceral level of violence that they allowed the user. The armor, the gloves, the suit was too thin to allow the user the comfort of mental detachment. Though, this 'flaw' did succeed in doing one thing that nothing else in the Umbrella facility had yet been able to accomplish… Confronted with the need to personally take this many human lives (whether or not they were monsters at the time was irrelevant) on a 'hands-on' basis was infuriating to Lelouch, a person who had, until now, prided himself on limiting the use of violent force, save on those he was sure deserved it. The slaughter of so many people just because the had the misfortune to be working for Britannia, for Clovis, and suffer at the whim of some unknown party…
It made him angry.
No, it made him furious in a way which only that man had accomplished before now.
Finally, out of breath and leaning against a wall, Lelouch looked back at his handiwork. It was a scene out of horrific slasher movie, broken human corpses-some moving and some still-laying about the hall in the dozens. The carnage stretched over three hundred feet down the passage. Tamaki's suit still bore slight patches of green, attesting to his somewhat cleaner kills, while Kallen's hardsuit was nearly completely stained with the reddish-black ichor; most likely the result of her brawler style of combat and preference for close-combat. Intellectually, he knew he could attribute part of the slughter-house vista before him to his comrades, but it didn't help the rising bile in his throat or the ache in what was left of his conscience.
"They just-huff-keep coming-huff," Kallen gasped over their comm. line, sounding as tired as Lelouch himself was.
"Yeah, I though-huff-these suit-things were supposed to-huff-make this easier," Tamaki complained.
"The Hardsuits aren't without their drawbacks," Bartley supplied, his voice sounding in their ears as he spoke to them from an unknown distance away, having remained in the storage-testing room they had found him in. Without any evidence of hostile threats in that location, it had seemed the best option. After all, while the Hardsuits were 'one size fits most' and used a flexible exoskeleton design to accommodate variable body types…
It went without saying that Bartley's 'body type' was not among the those the creators had in mind when they said most.
"These…drawbacks," Lelouch guessed, "Wouldn't happen to involve extreme mental and physical fatigue, would they?"
"Ah…" Bartley hedged, "Something like that. Although, the test pilots showed a remarkable growth in endurance and musculature over a relatively short period of time."
"That doesn't do us any good, though," Tamaki spat angrily, slamming his fist into the wall and leaving a sizable dent. "How much further do we have?"
"Assuming we can make it to the main elevator shaft?" Lelouch asked. "And depending on the resistance we encounter between one and two hours."
Tamaki gave an aggravated sigh.
"Hey…Lelouch?" Kallen asked, an affirmative grunt over the radio all the permission she needed to continue. Idly, she wondered at the difference between Zero's crisp phrasing and the Ice King's apathetic monosyllabic responses. "What was Bartley's idea about the thing that caused this? The…uh, T-Virus?"
There was silence for a moment as Lelouch collected his thoughts.
"The T-Virus," The hidden prince said slowly. "Is a biological contagion designed in this facility for the purposes of curing all known and unknown disease currently affecting mankind. It has the potential to be the ultimate panacea, though its healing properties are directly proportional to it's ability to cause mutation in the host organism."
"Yes," Bartley stated, his voice somewhat shaky on the subject. "It was, perhaps, Charles Ashford's greatest achievement…and his greatest curse. Even Prince Clovis recognized the virus' destructive capacity and, when he was made aware of the situation, ordered that research on the subject be confined to the highest security labs. Dozens of contamination protocols were put into place, but…"
"If Bartley and I are correct," Lelouch expounded, "Someone managed to infiltrate this facility and released the virus. The staff in the facility were all intimately aware of what would happen to themselves and their families if quarantine was breached. Between that and the fact that none of Umbrella's automated defenses activated…"
"This was a speculated chance of one in ten billion of the Geotherm. Net shutting down during an accidental release of one of the aggressive bio-agents. Still, even if such had occurred, it wouldn't explain the open vault door you encountered when entering via the warehouse. That would have needed to be opened by a human being who retained their higher brain functions…one of the things which the T-Virus destroys." Bartley's chain of thought was well thought out, Lelouch admitted, though it wasn't likely a spur of the moment deduction. He was likely reiterating the 'doomsday scenario' for this little slice of Hell they'd dug up.
Someone had broken the locks and let all the little nightmares and monsters out of their cages.
"But…wouldn't they be caught in the facility while the virus was spreading?" Kallen asked, confused.
"Indeed," Bartley affirmed. "It's likely they stayed in the Red Queen's Chamber. That room can go into a complete lockdown in case of emergency."
"Red Queen?" Tamaki asked as they began moving again. The muffled thump-thump of their Hardsuits feet on the metal floor. "We're dealing with royalty now?"
"Not in the least," Bartley rebuffed. "The Red Queen was the codename for the Artificial Intelligence placed in charge of the servers and certain automated functions of the facility. In the event of a Class-V breach of containment for any of the biological or viral research projects, she was given the prerogative to sanitize the complex."
"Sanitize?" Kallen cried in a horrified tone. "Please tell me you don't mean-"
"Probably some kind of nerve agent, released into the air supply. If I'm right, it would be fast-acting, capable of neutralizing the airborne aspect of the T-virus, and decaying rapidly so a retrieval team could be sent in as quickly as possible and be unaffected." Lelouch analyzed quickly, his tone one of bored concentration…as if solving a puzzle. Still, there was an undercurrent of true, burning anger beneath that façade.
Kallen was glad of the fact that she could feel the heat in his voice. Bartley was undoubtedly a monster of the worst order given his actions at Shinjuku, regardless of whether or not Clovis was actually present or not. Lelouch, though…Zero, she would like to believe there was something-someone worth following behind the mask and charisma that had entranced her. It was ironic, though…she'd started on Zero's path because of his god-like abilities and seeming inhuman skill at the art of war.
Now…she'd continue following Zero because he was human, not in spite of it.
That anger, that burning rage of resentment, horror, and pain was something she could sympathize-no, something she could empathize with. She stilled, though, as a thought occurred to her. "Wait…if they sprayed this place with nerve gas…shouldn't these people be…dead?"
Bartley's voice interrupted Lelouch's response, "The T-virus has the unique ability to reproduce in recently-dead cells, restoring them to functioning order in the process. Sadly, however, the time it takes full contamination to set in and the body to…reanimate is several hours."
"Long enough for the brain to completely starve itself of oxygen," Lelough noted absently.
"Yes. Combined with that fact, and the T-Virus' tendency for extreme mutation…you have what is left of the workforce of the facility. They are human beings, their brains reactivated to the minimum extent needed to sustain life, and driven by only the most basic of human functions," Bartley explained, his tone grim and ominous.
Silence as each Black Knight contemplated that.
"I guess we couldn't just order a few dozen burgers, huh?" Tamaki tried, attempting to break the tension that was thick in the air. Just as surely as more moans sounded along the corridors, coming towards them, the Osaka-jin was unsuccessful.
"Back on the clock," Lelouch ordered tiredly, forcing his body into motion.
Nemo wasn't having fun anymore.
Sweat beaded on her brow as her Knightmare made a series of improbable maneuvers, spinning through the air and slicing another Sutherland in half. An escape pod rocketed away, leaving the young pilot to follow its course in dismay. As much as she would like to chase it down, she had more pressing issues. Firing off a set of blonde knives, Nemo directed them with an air of focused disinterest, using their in-built rockets to guide them as she moved the Knightmare itself. She knew, without having to see, that three of the military Kngihtmares had been destroyed. Stretching her precognitive vision even further, Nemo watched, tense, as the smoke-clogged battlefield was slowly swept clean by a nocturnal breeze.
"Finally," Nemo spat, panting slightly from the exertion. "It's one thing when you're sending competent soldiers after me, but these idiots are barely cannon fodder!"
Still, sending enough of 'those idiots' after her was wearing her down. She'd had to deal with numerous long-range engagement types equipped with rifles and explosive grenades; taking into account that her own suit was primarily a close to mid-range engagement type (armed with only her blonde knives and her sword) it would have been suicide for anyone else to take on the kind of forces she'd been up against. Still, Nemo had enough of sitting on the sidelines…she'd picked this battle, she'd chosen to fight, and she was going to win.
Taking another deep breath, Nemo smiled…her pulse was finally leveling out and she was feeling a pleasant ache that compliment her sense of accomplishment. She'd actually taken on a group of Britannian Knightmares and won! A pleased grin on her face, she resolved that now just might be the chance she was looking for…she'd banish her Knightmare back to her shadow and make her way back to Ashford. With any luck, she'd manage to make it there before sunrise and get a little more sleep in before class.
Or not-
A flash of insight, her sword swinging according to something that her eyes couldn't see, but she knew was there-
Clang!
The noise was a high-pitched metallic screech of two knife-edge blades meeting, vying for dominance. There was a moment of shocked silence as the two pilots stared, neither quite able to believe that their blade had been blocked. At some unknown signal, the two leapt apart, one throwing their landspinners into reverse and the other shooting four blond knives at the ground beneath an propelling her several dozen meters backwards. Nemo scowled as she took in her next opponent…
The Kngihtmare itself was mostly white, but bore gold highlight around several pieces of it's armor. Whatever it was, the mechanical beast looked…sleeker, faster than any model of suit she'd so far fought. The pink-tinged blade it held, one of a pair, fairly hummed with destructive potential. Slowly, Nemo's frown morphed into a predatory grin…whatever this Knightmare was, it and it's pilot would definitely be capable of challenging her. Flipping open her comm. network, she licked her lips, "What's your name soldier~boya?"
Kururugi Suzaku stared at the mech he'd been deployed to combat. It matched the few photos that Lloyd had been able to provide him, taken from the Sutherlands and Gloucesters that it had already destroyed. Determinedly suppressing a shiver, the Honorary Britannian analyzed his opponent…
It's 'face' bore six glowing lights that resembled eyes far too much for his comfort. Combined with the almost…human musculature he could perceive beneath it's armor, the overall effect was disturbing. Instead of looking like a machine, the other Kngihtmare stood more like an oversized human being wearing black and yellow armor and a red under suit. The blade it held, though, was what held Suzaku's attention…it wasn't an MVS blade, nor was it any type of usual armament he'd found among terrorists, instead it was a perfectly modeled, full-length katana…
Which had just blocked a strike from his Maser Vibration Sword.
Whoever this terrorist was, he definitely had an uncommon technological edge, which was undoubtedly why they'd given an Honorary Britannian the go-ahead to engage. Likely, the machine had been such a terror, judging by the surrounding pieces of Sutherlands and Gloucesters, that no one felt a single rogue mecha was worth spending more Noble lives trying to subdue. Granted, it might also be a matter of Suzaku's availability at the time, having been in the Viceroy's office at the time.
Suzaku shivered, a horrible chill enveloping him at the though of Cornelia Li Britannia and the…discussion they'd been involved in.
I never thought anyone besides Todoh-sensei would feature a sword so prominently in a 'discussion.' Still…what could she have possibly meant…by 'a relationship with Euphemia' and 'improper conduct?' Euphemia's a Princess of Britannia, I'd never think of trying to-
Suzaku cut that thought off, banishing it as he tried to puzzle out the Viceroy's rather heated threats and promises. The pilot of the Lancelot, though, could have no way of knowing that it was his clueless protests of innocence and ignorance that had, most likely, saved his life. Not even Guilford would have been able to save him had Cornelia even the slightest inclination to believe that the relationship between himself and the princess, if it could be called such, had progressed beyond awkward smiles and blushes.
"What's your name soldier~boya?"
Suzaku blinked, shaken from his thoughts as an open comm. circuit blinked on. As unusual as the 'hail' was, he felt obligated to answer. Any chance he had to limit bloodshed was one he would take. "This is Warrant Officer Suzaku Kururugi of the Brittannian Special Dispatch Division…by the authority of the Viceroy of Area 11 and the Rule of Britannian Law, you are hereby ordered to dismount your Kngihtmare and turn yourself in for numerous and dire crimes against the Empire."
Nunnally, deep within Nemo, let out a startled cry.
The blonde, though, steeled herself, her knuckles turning white underneath the black body-suit. She grimaced as her inner-self cried out in outrage, aghast and horrified at what had become of someone who was supposed to be her friend. Suzaku Kururugi, the first 'friend' that her or her brother had ever had that didn't come with a political price-tag attached…and he was standing before her, clad in the gleaming white armor or a Britannian Knightmare, wearing the insignia of the Empire which had brought so much pain and death to her adopted homeland.
To his homeland.
On some level, she'd acknowledged he worked for the Britannian military when his trail had been televised, but he'd told them it was in some engineering position, away from the battlefields and violence of the terrorist combat campaigns. But, now, she saw him here, ready to defend the monsters that had already cost all of them so much. Still, that wasn't even the most terrible revelation of the night; the fact that he'd lied, straight-faced, to her and Lelouch…that was something she couldn't forgive.
To her everlasting guilt and horror, it made her next course of action all the easier and more satisfying.
"Kururugi?" Nemo asked faux-lightly, her tone disinterested but slightly curious. In that moment, she was intensely proud of her acting skills…at least, she hoped that cool and cynical tone was just a mask she was wearing. "The son of that Prime Minister …Genbu, right?"
Suzaku's hands seized involuntarily at the mention of his father's name…and the old wound it dug up. Unhesitatingly, he flipped on the view-screen of his cockpit, surprised to find a girl, even younger than himself, waiting on the other end. "Wh-who are you?"
Nemo raised a golden brow, her nearly-platinum blonde hair flying as she gave a slight shrug. "Nemo…just Nemo. Though this is interesting…what's a Japanese like you doing on the wrong side?"
Suzaku frowned, "I could ask the same from you? You're Britannian, aren't you?"
"Britannian, Me?" Nemo laughed, the sound like tinkling bells, "Certainly not anymore…maybe once upon a time, though. Still…I'd love to know what makes you tick? I never picked Suzaku Kururugi as a traitor to his people, his country…his friends."
"You say that…like you know me," The Lancelot's pilot stated, his tone torn between irritation and suspicion. Do I know her? Blonde hair…Red eyes…that face, though…
"Don't I?" Nemo asked, her voice still mockingly-cheerful. Why am I doing this? This is Suzaku! I should…I should get out of here. I don't want to hurt him, but…I do want answers. And…he's fighting for Britannia, does that make him my enemy? Should I be fighting him? Even if I…even if I care-
"Enough games," Suzaku growled, his mood shifting at her playful disregard for his questions. "Are you going to come quietly?"
Nemo was silent for a long moment, weighing the quiet wailing of her inner self even as her body tensed for action. Her blood pounded in her ears, crying out for retribution against the Empire which had brought her family so much pain. She couldn't do this, could she? Could she make war on Britannia, even if it meant going through Suzaku to do so? Would Lelouch be appalled at her actions, horrified if she raised her hand against the boy that had been so dear to each of them? Closing her eyes briefly, Nemo hardened her heart. This wasn't about what Lelouch wanted, this wasn't about Suzaku's betrayal of everything she'd thought he stood for, this wasn't even about her own beliefs and what she stood for.
She was honestly angry with Suzaku, for deceiving her and Lelouch in such a way. The unfamiliar emotion rose up from deep within her, lashing out at her 'friend' …whatever their conflict might bring, she needed to face him, to confront him on this…
Even if it was as someone else.
"Go quietly? You're joking, aren't you? I'm afraid I'll have to take option number two and kick you ass from here to Kyoto, traitor," Nemo spat angrily.
Suzaku actually flinched from the venom in her voice, though he subdued his reaction well in the face of the oncoming violence. Without further warning, the monstrous-looking Knightmare lunged forward, propelled by rocket-powered and blade-edged slash harkens. Besides the two assisting in her lunge, another set were shooting towards the Lancelot. Never one to back down, Suzaku shot forward on his landspinners, Blaze Luminous shield raised and ready to parry.
Block, deflect, close for a strike using his opposite hand and a quick-drawn…
Instead of pointlessly impacting the glowing green shield, the Blonde Knives snapped apart, driven by their internal rocket boosters and wrapping around the Blaze Luminous shield. Nemo grinned as the Lancelot abruptly changed direction, trying to free itself from the entrapment. In turn, her own Knightmare shifted it's course, snapping the lines taut as the two machines pulled at each other.
Suzaku growled as, slowly but surely, the other Knightmare was reeling him in. "What kind of Knightmare is that?"
Nemo's smirk widened to dangerous proportions as she released her tenuous grip on the ground, allowing her mech to be pulled forward by the Lancelot-
Sching-!
Suzaku's eyes widened, his blade missing the other by inches as Nemo's focused foresight predicted his movements precisely. Even his instinctual movements were read with an uncanny knowledge…
Maybe this person does know me? How else could she know my moves this well? Could she have been one of my sparring opponents? One of Kaguya's friends that watched me?
The nails-on-a-chalkboard sound of metal being cleaved in half cut off all thought as the Lancelot's left arm was severed, the Blaze Luminous flickering and dying seconds later. Both Blonde Knives' thrusters fired once more, tightening around the torn limb. Suzaku grimaced as, while the wires were winding back, the two thrusters fired again, this time tearing the limb into a further two pieces. Their mission accomplished, the formidable weapons rewound themselves fully, snapping into their places on the strange frame. The overall effect of the attack, though, was to give the further illusion that the Knightmare, and all it's accoutrements were alive. The synchronicity with which the limbs and weapons moved and the fluidity of the whole frame itself was…unnaturally smooth and purposeful.
Suzaku's breath caught in his throat at the sight.
"That…was pretty pathetic," Nemo stated bluntly.
The pilot of the Lancelot growled lowly.
"I mean," Nemo stated, the smugness clear even over the comm. line, "You're better than those nameless zako, but not by much. I wonder if you're even trying?"
The Warrant Officer bit back a snarl. That was exactly what she wanted. She was taunting him, trying to get him to charge in recklessly. Todoh-sensei had often used the same tactic…but he was better than that now. He knew a taunt when he heard one, and this was classic bait. He toggled the factspheres open, trying to get another read on his enemy before retreating. Whatever that suit was, Lloyd would doubtless find it fascinating enough to forgive at least part of the damage to his masterpiece…
"Though, at least your father's dead…I'd hate for him to have to see his son become a traitor, even if he's so bad at it," Nemo finished, twisting the verbal knife deeper. Nunnally's pained cries inside her became a disbelieving silence. Suzaku, on the other hand…had he been tainted by a typical soldier's vocabulary he might have resorted to profanity as a summation of his feelings; in which case, his current mood would have been encapsulated in two words:
F_ck It
As it was, he delved into that nameless pit of self-hating and loathing that encompassed his father's demise and launched himself into battle headlong. At the moment, nothing else matter-not Todoh's teachings, not his duty, not even his loyalty to Britannia. As the Knightmare shifted from Rest Mode to Combat Mode, the viewscreen was automatically cut, clearing his vision of all obstacles save his current target. Even with the viewscreen cutoff, though, he could still hear her laughing, that damn laughter-
"AHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The Lancelot's four Harken Boosters slashed out, all aiming for the heart of the monstrous Knightmare while it's remaining arm flipped an MVS blade into position. Distantly, he wished for the VARIS Rifle, the weapon having been taken for repairs by the Camelot Team, but his mind dismissed the errant desire almost immediately. All that mattered was this monster.
And Nemo saw.
Four Blonde Knives flashed out, utterly destroying the Lancelot's Slash Harkens in an explosive display of pyrotechnics. Nemo's katana, likewise, swung cleanly, taking off the Lancelot's other arm like a knife through rotten flesh. The final two Blonde Knives rocketed forth, pinning against the Lancelot's shoulders and slamming the white Knightmare to the ground as Nemo pressed her blade, still slick with pneumatic fluid and crystalline shards of Sakuradite, against the Lancelot's chest.
"That's it?" Nemo snarled, her voice dark and venomous. "Come on! You've got to have something left!"
Suzaku, his eyes wide and horror-struck, could do no more than stare.
"You've still got your legs, attack me! Ram me! You have to have weapons, still! You challenged me! Don't just stop, the NIGHT is still YOUNG! We have so many more hours to fill before you show me your worth-SOLDIER!" Nemo howled, her voice crafting a sound no human throat should give birth to and no human ear should bear witness to. If there was one thing to be thankful for in all the world, Suzaku thought, it was that he could not see what abominable thing had spat out a semblance of the human language…for that could be no girl, no human child that was sitting in that beast of a machine which he knew, now, had not been crafted by the hands of man.
Was that his voice screaming, now?
Huh…it didn't sound like his…maybe it was because his voice was so raw?
Nemo calmed, her bloodlust subsiding. "Pathetic scum…you're not even worth the time it would take to kill you. Stay clear of my path, filth, lest we meet again and I find you wanting a second time."
Finally, the mounting horror reached a crescendo and the Warrant Officer achieved a state of blissful unconsciousness. In a few hours time, he'd be awoken by a frantic Cecile standing beside his bed, but the impact of his waking nightmare would be blessedly dulled and subsumed by his human psyche…there were some things that man just was not meant to know.
After all, the most merciful thing in the world, one would think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
Nunnally would not receive so merciful an awakening.
There is a certain satisfaction to killing something twice your size with your (mostly) bare hands. The enormous pale-red humanoid monster was similar to a Licker, though much, much larger, appearing as though he, himself, had been formed in miniature compared to it. Lelouch breathed a wary sigh of relief as it remained in the frozen stillness of death even as teen within the metallic suit slowly moved around it, managing to squeeze past the behemoth and out of the tiny space he'd been cornered into, leaving the thing's head to loll into the toilet…a shard of torn metal sticking out of it's exposed brain.
"I hate this place," Lelouch growled in a quiet, venomous, undertone, making sure to give the beast one last kick. Although, this hellhole is at least making me more …physical with my aggression. Honestly, I'm starting to worry if the next time a student pisses me off, I'm just going to wring their neck and be done with it. Actually…no, that's usually my first reaction anyway…I just repress it. I wonder if this is actually good for me, in a kind of perverse way? I'm actually pretty…mellow right now, for all the fact that I feel like a chewed up piece of rubber mentally and physically. In fact, this is almost a euphoric high for me…it this the feeling Siddhartha Gautama spoke of when he talked of Nirvana? The rejection of all earthly desires? Down here, even the Emperor no longer weighs so heavily on my thoughts…is it because I have faced death so many times tonight that the sense of possible accomplishment that would come from killing him is muted due to the constant, irrepressible, invasive thought that I won't make it out alive, that I will die down here.
Although, I wonder what it says about me if it has taken this much bloodshed to sate my inner demons for even a single night?
"Lelouch?" Kallen voice asked, the Black Prince turning to face the soaked and dripping red exosuit that housed his subordinate. "Are you okay?"
"Kallen," Lelouch deadpanned, "I just tore off a piece of a toilet to use as a knife in order to kill something that, by all rights shouldn't exist…to say nothing of our larger difficulties. Is that honestly a question you really want to know the answer to?"
Kallen snorted, "Does Milly know you're such a drama queen?"
Lelouch rolled his eyes, thought the effect was somewhat diminished, clothed as they were. "Let's stick to the undead…I think that's a safer topic. Where's Tamaki?"
On cue, another one of the giant Lickers came flying through the air, shooting down the corridor between them and landing in a heap. Upon closer inspection, the shattered remains of a fire extinguisher embedded in it's 'skull,' frost and ice smeared over it's head.
"Is it dead?"
Both teens spun to see Tamaki's green Hardsuit, then looked back to the unmoving mass in the opposite direction. Both waiting a heartbeat before giving their assurances, that yes, it was dead.
"Finally," Tamaki sighed, "Why are there always more than one of those things? I mean, is it too much to ask for there to only be one? We've already got the colored suits, right? Doesn't that mean we're like, a Sentai Team, right? They always get the one-by-one lead up until the big boss, right?"
"I'm not exactly sure we qualify as a Sentai Team," Lelouch sighed, "I don't remember any of those morning cartoons featuring a character who drug around severed arms."
Tamaki, unknown to the others, blinked owlishly and looked down at his left hand. Within the metal-coated fingers of his suit, Tamaki held the still-clothed arm of a lab assistant or medical professional. The formerly white cloth was stained dark crimson almost to the point where it was black. The limb was limp, discolored, and overlaid with ebony veins. All three of the Black Knights stared at the dismembered arm for a long moment before Tamaki tossed it away with a curse. Muttering more expletives, the Osaka-jin scowled and marched down the hall to angrily kick at the adult Licker he'd just killed.
Kallen resolutely ignored the sickeningly meaty 'thuds' of metal-on-flesh impacts and asked the question she knew Lelouch was far too proud to voice out of mere curiosity, "Okay…why were you carrying the arm?"
"Because the fire extinguisher got stuck in it's head and I needed something to make. It. Back. Off. For. A. Second!" Tamaki ranted, another smack punctuating each of his final words. "I just grabbed something, I guess I wrenched an arm off a body or something!"
Kallen bit back an exasperated sigh. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have believed it, but Tamaki…yes, she could believe he was dense enough to try to bludgeon something to death with a dismembered limb. "Hey, Bartley, you listening?"
"Ah…yes, Ms. Kozuki, you needed me? Is something wrong with your suit?" Bartley asked quickly, wary of angering the young woman he'd been watching quite adeptly sunder nightmarish horrors without hardly an ounce of hesitation.
"No, the suit's great, actually," Kallen muttered half-heartedly. It irritated her to admit that Britannian scientists made something she so thoroughly enjoyed using. "I was just wondering…how much further?"
"If you go through the vault door on your right, it should be only a few hundred feet down the passage."
Kallen blinked…a few hundred feet!
The redheaded young woman spun, staring at her right…which was nothing but a blank wall. She looked closer, though the panel of cool gray metal appeared seamless and featureless to both her eyes and the numerous sets of sensors built into the suit. Although…of course it the suit wouldn't pick it up, these Umbrella guys made the suits and the walls, after all…
"Ah, hold on a moment, I'll open it," Bartley sputtered, his tone one of embarrassment.
Then, without warning, the wall slid back and to the side, displaying a sparkling-clean corridor that was, for a marvel, fully lit. Were it not for the filtering of their headpieces, the sudden comparative brightness might have blinded them. Lelouch stepped up from behind her, having obviously been listening to their conversations and onto the precipice between their dark hallways and the secret passage before them. His Hardsuit stood out in stark detail, each scratch and stain it had been covered with showed up as if they had been highlighted.
"Can we expect any security measures?" Lelouch asked. This is Bartley's test. He's been faithful as far as this point, but I don't doubt Uncle Charles placed some fairly nasty traps around this area, if it really is the central computer system. He always was paranoid…not that I could exactly blame him. Seeing as how he probably suffered the same fate as most of his scientists down here, death from our saboteur, I'd say it wasn't unwarranted. If Charles had any hand at all in designing this place…I don't want to navigate it without at least some assurance that my head won't explode.
"You shouldn't," Bartley denied, "While the backup power should ensure the server's integrity, the security systems run on the main grid."
Lelouch nodded hesitantly and stepped into the passageway, looking around warily as he moved through the well-lit space. Away from the echoing moans and shuffling of the facility itself, the hallway was almost suspiciously quiet. The Black Prince's eyes darted forward and back, the numerous levels of scanners reading each inch of the confined space. Tamaki and Kallen stepped as lightly as possible, innately reading their leaders' hesitance as they continued. The noise of miniature servos and pneumatics was loud as their suits compressed and decompressed with each step. Finally, the passageway seeming longer than it possibly could be, all three reached a panel on the other side, still firmly locked in place and the final obstacle between them and their goal.
"Bartley?" Lelouch asked, obviously waiting for the door to open.
"Ah…It's refusing my codes. Our saboteur may have changed the pass-codes…do you see a small rectangular panel to the side of the door? That should be the supplementary access login…you should be able to get in that way, but…" Bartley stated, his tone hesitant.
"What now?" Tamaki asked plaintively.
"It's booby-trapped," Lelouch guessed. "I'll wager that the login panel is tied in with the back-up power, since it looks to still be in working order. Then, if you aren't entered in the accepted IDs, there's probably something running on the auxiliary power which will attempt to kill us, correct?"
Bartley's silence told Lelouch everything he needed to know.
"This…will end badly, won't it?" Kallen asked, her tone that of a soldier who knows the field in front of them is mined with explosives…just as they know, with equal certainty, that they will have to walk though it. If anything, Lelouch would have described Kallen's tone as 'resignation to defy fate,' given her usual modus operandi in the face of overwhelming odds.
Most likely, Lelouch thought despondently. This system will probably recognize me…as paranoid as Uncle Charles was, he also believed in fail-safes. I could probably count, on one hand, the number of identification codes in this panel…if Clovis really did understand the danger of weapons like these, his will be present. Charles' own personal code, obviously…perhaps Rueben's; despite their falling out, they were brothers, when push came to shove, he would have trusted Rueben with his darkest secrets. The question is…did the man I consider my uncle trust me enough to put me on this list?
…and, if he did, which 'me' will the computer recognize? The circumstances surrounding this absolute disaster of a night, I can't conceive of another series of events which would lead of Lelouch Lamperouge coming down here...especially since we grew apart after Angela's death. No...if 'I' am in the security databanks, it will be as a Prince of the Empire. I will have to play this very carefully indeed.
The ideal scenario will be to remove Q-1 and P-2 from the immediate area, determine if I can open the 'Queen's Chamber' and have them in reserve case of a disaster. If worst comes to worst, the Hardsuits might be able to brute force their way out of here…objective ascertained, now to clear the conditions for success.
"I want you to wait outside," Lelouch ordered suddenly.
"Jeez, Zero, ya' gotta' be Jokin'!"
"No way in H_ll, sir."
Lelouch's suit twisted in conjunction with his body, allowing him to face the other two. "According to our power gauges, we have half-an-hour left before our Hardsuits loose power, leaving us helpless in this hellhole. I have a feeling I might be able to get in there, but I need you two to be able to open the way out if I get trapped inside-"
"-so we'll stay and take the fuckin' door out together if it comes to that," Tamaki stated stubbornly.
"I'm not asking for opinions or options," Lelouch almost growled, "This is an order."
"But it's from Lelouch, not Zero, so we can ignore it," Kallen stated bluntly. "Our loyalty as Black Knights was pledged to Zero…who is the true face of Lelouch Lamperouge, as he told us when we first met…or was that a lie, too? It's time to choose Lelouch?"
"Choose?" Lelouch snorted. "Exactly what choice do I have if you won't obey my orders?"
"If you're telling us as Zero, then we'll head out," Tamaki grunted.
"But if Lelouch just wants to lie to us to protect another secret, then fuck it," Kallen spat angrily. "We don't like being lied to, Zero…and you've already done that too much for anyone to take…normally. As much as you refer to us as chess pieces…we aren't, and it's time you accept that or we're never going to get as far as you say you want us to go if that doesn't happen. We'll never be able to completely trust you."
"So choose, boss-man," Tamaki stated, leaning up against the wall.
If this weren't so annoying, I'd actually be somewhat warmed by their attempt to humanize me. Still, the fact that they actually want to get to know me is unexpected. Perhaps it's time for a calculated gambit? Hmm…if Kallen is Q-1, does this mean it's a Queen's gambit?
…
That wasn't funny even to me…maybe I have been spending too much time around Tamaki.
"Are you ashamed of your father, Kallen?" Lelouch asked.
Both Black Knights blinked at the sudden change of topic.
"Because I sure as hell am ashamed of mine," Lelouch sighed, hatred and venom coating the words with a tired bitterness that stunned his subordinates. "That man has crushed so much that I held dear. There are days…my worst days, where I can't breathe for how much I hate him. On those days, the only things that keeps me going are Nunnally and the idea that one day, one day, I might get to gut that man like a fish." The animosity in their leader's voice was a frightening thing to behold as it sent shivers down their spines, chilling them to the bone and triggering some ancestral instinct to run far, far away.
This wounded animal before them, fangs sharp and talons bared, was not something to be fucked with.
Lelouch flipped the panel open and the metal flap revealed, as he had known it would, a retinal scanner. Sighing again, the Black Prince broke the seal on his visor, opening the headpiece for his first breath of non-filtered air in hours. Granted, the smell of stale ichor and befouled blood soured the experience, but it didn't changed what he had to do. Kneeling, he pressed his right eye as near to the glass as he could get and pushed the button.
A flash of red light, an optical scanner…
A heartbeat of computation by the security systems…
"Welcome Your Highness, Prince Lelouch Vi Britannia…Access Granted," The computer stated in an almost sickeningly cheerful voice, as if delivering the news of an upcoming sunny day.
"Emperor Charles Zi Britannia's closing gambit in his game against the nation of Japan was the sacrifice of two pawns…his children Lelouch and Nunnally Vi Britannia, for whom he cared nothing. Now, Kallen, Tamaki, you have a choice…take the offered trust which you asked for or prove that I was correct in lying to you. Which one will it be?" Lelouch challenged, his face still bare for his two subordinates to see.
Like every question he asked, he didn't actually need to hear the answer, he'd already known what they were going to say before he'd asked. Lelouch could almost hear the echo of a chess piece sliding into place, marble against marble…perhaps his king itself? No matter, all that counted was the result…
He considered it amazing that he was able to refrain from smirking.
All conditions cleared.
Checkmate.
"Okay…who thought this was an appropriate time to beat the shit out of each other over an old girlfriend?" Ohgi spat, his face an uncharacteristic rictus of choleric rage as he slammed another bullet into the surging mass of animate corpses. "I mean, it's not like we weren't perfectly safe before you idiots decided it was prudent to start a bar brawl surrounded by monsters!"
Sugiyama and Yoshida, despite being occupied with holding the impromptu fortifications, looked appropriately ashamed. The nice, safe, air vent corridor they had been hiding in was looking down on them from ten feet above, a massive hole testifying to their momentary and possibly fatal stupidity in escalating an argument over a girl they had known nearly ten years ago in high school. "Well," Sugiyama stated, somewhat reservedly in spite of having to raise his voice to be heard over the raucous din, "In our defense, she was pretty hot!"
Bam-Bam!
"What?" Minami shouted, irritation and petulance clear on his face.
Sugiyama, slightly buzzed and thinking that Minami had merely asked for clarification instead of expressing his disbelief. "I said: she was pretty hot!"
"Does Zero, like, multiply our IQ or something?" Yoshida asked despondently, "I swear…sometimes we prove we're too dumb to live."
"Fuck that," Minami growled, his ammunition finally running dry. Instead of bemoaning their imminent deaths, he pursued a course of action which would rapidly pass into Black Knight's lore along with most of the exploits of that fateful night. Using the butt of his pistol, the bespectacled man broke open the glass of a nearby emergency fire case…and withdrew a fire axe.
"Holy shit!" Sugiyama squeaked, his tone unnaturally high as Minami brought the blade of the axe down on an unfortunate zombie which had managed to make it through the barricade. The strike buried the blade in it's skull with a wet-squick!-noise and a spray of black ichor. Sugiyama's face spasmed into what might, in a man's darkest and most cynical hour, have been called a grin.
"You want some, bitches?" Yoshitaka Minami cried, his eyes mad with bloodlust behind his glasses, "I spent the last three years as a fucking mail man! I'm predisposed for murder…no excuse needed! Here's Minami, motherfuckers, and he's got a special delivery!"
Yoshida twitched, "God damn axe-wielding manic."
"Shut up and help!" Inoue shouted, her own pistol having finally emptied also. The female Black Kngiht pulled free the fire hose and, turning the water to full blast, sprayed the oncoming horde of undead with a high-powered hydrated attack. She was almost immediately swept off her feet by the counter-force, but Yoshida, heeding her call, grabbed hold of the wriggling cloth and held his comrade firmly on the ground. Between the newly-mounted melee offensive, the fire hose, and the dwindling fire from Ohgi's submachine gun, the shambling horde was slowly pushed back.
"Cut the hose when I give the signal," Ohgi cried. "Yoshida! Help me! Get ready to shut the door! We'll throw those tables in front of it and make a barricade!"
"Gotcha'," Yoshida shouted.
"Three…two…one!" Ohgi counted, his rifle running down to it's last bullets before he dropped it. Sugiyama, now significantly more sober at the near-continuous threats to his life, immediately slammed the door to the room shut as the fire hose cut off. Without stopping, he helped the others by shoving every object of any considerable weight they could find up against it. When the work was done, each Black Knight held their breath as the ominous thumping and moaning worked their way up to their impromptu barricade…
Which, mercifully, held.
A united exhalation of breath made the sound of relief all the more palpable, leaving the tired mass of Knights almost limp on the floor in various states of near-unconsciousness. Ohgi, though, reached over and grabbed Sugiyama and Yoshida by the collars of their Knight's jackets, bringing them to within inches of his face. "If you two ever do something that stupid again, I'll make you pray for Britannia to catch us!"
Both flinched under the normally-quiet man's harried gaze.
"Sorry," Yoshida said quietly.
Sugiyama nodded silently.
"What…am I doing with this axe…guys?" Minami asked suddenly, staring at the blood-soaked weapon in his hands.
"Well isn't that reassuring," Sugiyama muttered. "Our leader's a turncoat to his nation, Kallen has anger management problems, two of us can't hold our alcohol worth shit, Tamaki is Tamaki,and Minami is a closet, psychopathic, axe-wielding mailman prone to fits of amnesia…let me tell you guys, I'm really feeling just great about the future of the Black Knights!"
"You didn't say anything about me or Ohgi," Inoue pointed out quietly, hiding her smile. If Sugiyama was whining this much, it must have meant he was fine.
"I'm sure I'll be able to think of something," Sugiyama dismissed with a deadpan expression, "give me a minute."
Minami, blinking, looked at Sugiyama sourly, "That's not funny, man…you shouldn't joke around like that."
"Minami," Ohgi sighed, "Can we just drop this right now? I really don't want to deal with this on top of everything else. Where are we on ammunition?"
The purple-haired man shrugged slightly and set the axe down as he, himself, took a seat. Inoue, meanwhile, sighed and took out the few magazines they had left. "We have…twenty five pistol rounds and one full mag. for one sub-machine gun."
Ohgi groaned aloud as the others muttered curses of varying intensity.
"So our only hope is Zero…" Inoue asked.
"Him, Tamaki, and Kallen," Yoshida reminded them.
"Well, Zero and Kallen, at least," Sugiyama grinned.
For a moment, the chuckles almost drowned out the relentless moaning.
Minami snorted and turned an eye towards the ceiling, "Think we should try and get back into the vent system?"
"Let's save that for a last-resort," Ohgi decided. "If they start to break through, we'll try a human ladder, but I'd honestly rather use this as a chance to get a little rest rather than being crammed inside aluminum tubes for any longer."
There was a general round of agreeing sentiment when that thought passed around the group. A silence fell over the group…well, as much of a silence as was possible with the raucous moaning behind their barricade. Still, most of them were tired to the point where none of that mattered. Most held part-time jobs as well as their duties as Black Knights, so no one was surprised when the bone-deep weariness set in after hours of unanticipated activity and adrenaline overload.
Unknown to any of the Knights, drowsy as they were, a half-destroyed zombie moved slowly through the barricade, it's size allowing it to struggle past the hastily erected fortification. As the corpse reached out with a discolored hand, Ohgi, still leaning up against a table and nodding slightly, was unaware of his impending doom. In his sleep, though, Minami's early dreams were troubled and restless. His hand reached, and found, for his trusty fire axe, bringing the red and silver weapon down on the zombie's skull. Ohgi, at the sound of the wet thunk, shot awake, startled to find the newly re-dead creature at his side.
He swallowed a scream, but turned to stutteringly thank his comrade.
Minami merely smiled, his sleep now undisturbed.
Ohgi twitched, resolved to stay awake from now until they were out of this hell-hole, and began muttering under his breath about 'somnambular psychosis.'
"Okay," Lelouch sighed, resisting the urge to wipe the sweat from his brow. He'd only needed to try that once to learn that the feeling of rubber sliding across one's skin was not the most desirous of sensations. "I think I've managed to get the main systems back online. Whoever our saboteur is, he certainly came prepred."
"Indeed," Bartley stated, his voice emerging from Lelouch's Hardsuit, which lay on the ground a few feet away, the visor pointed at the Black Prince's position. Lelouch and the other Black Knights had taken off their armor to better manipulate the fine pieces of technology they were dealing with. Simultaneously, this tactic preserved what was left of their batteries and allowed the Hardsuits to relay information back to Bartley. "I don't really want to think about the level of infiltration someone must have succeeded in to know how to disable the central computer. To think that someone managed to smuggle in an electric pulse generator…unbelievable."
"What do you expect, it's Britannia! Every last one of them has treachery in their blood." Kallen spat, resolutely not making eye contact with Lelouch.
"For the most part," Lelouch grunted, heaving the housing of the massive supercomputer closed, "I'd actually be tempted to agree with that statement, Kallen."
Tamaki frowned, watching the interplay between his leader and his comrade. Neither had really spoken to the other after the latest 'revelation' concerning their leader. Well, at least, they hadn't spoken beyond snide and sarcastic comments. Until now, he'd been too stunned to know what to make of this mess, following Zero's orders on autopilot as they tried to get the server back online. "Hey, Zero…is it true?"
"Is what true, Tamaki?" Lelouch asked, not unkindly, but not looking at his subordinate, either. "You'll have to be more specific…after all, I've had to part with much more information about my past than I would have liked to tonight."
"About…the prince thing," Tamaki muttered, as if afraid to speak the title aloud, should actually giving voice to it make it true. "Were you really…?"
"A prince?" Lelouch asked, receiving a nod in response. He sighed deeply and decided that the direct approach was perhaps the best. "Yes…my name, as my security code informed you, was Lelouch Vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince of the Empire, Seventeenth in line for the Throne. Nunnally was the Seventh Princess of the Empire, Thirty-Seventh in line for the Throne. Our mother was Empress Marianne Vi Britannia, otherwise known as-"
"-Marianne the Flash," Kallen interrupted softly, then frowning as both Tamaki and Lelouch looked at her askance. "What?"
"It's just not a fact I'd expect you to know," Lelouch stated, oddly warmed by the fact that someone else remembered his long-dead mother. "May I ask…"
Kallen hesitated, a light blush adorning her face as she nervously tapped her fingers against her leg. "I…before Britannia invaded Japan, I was…proud of my Britannian heritage, what kid wouldn't be proud to be the son or daughter of an Earl? I was…really attached to my father…I followed him to a lot of government functions, parties and stuff…and, well…I saw Marianne the Flash fight once."
"Fight?" Tamaki asked, looking between the two teens. "Huh?"
"My mother was the devicer for the Ganymede…the prototype of all current Knightmares," Lelouch stated, somewhat stunned by the idea that Kallen had seen one of his mother's arena battles. "It was what gave her the nickname 'The Flash.' She was the Emperor's Knight of One, the most powerful of his Knights of the Round…before they were married. The Ganymede was developed by Reuben Ashford and the Ashford Corporation which flaunted my mother's status as it's famous champion in order to gain funding and power. Then, when my mother was assassinated, the Ashfords were financially devastated, save for the Umbrella Corporation, which broke off to become it's own financial entity."
"So Milly knows?" Kallen asked, finally speaking directly to Lelouch, her gaze accusing.
"She's the only one," Lelouch affirmed.
Kallen nodded, too tired to be really angry. The revelations of the past few hours combined with the physical exertions of the near-constant fighting was enough to curb her ever-present temper. Instead of lashing out, a certain mellowness washed over her as endorphins attempted to massage her brain into sleep. "So you're the son of the Black Empress, huh? She was my hero, you know? Back when Japan was free…she was my idol…I remember watching her fight against…was it Bismark? She was…so fast, like a flash of light…"
There was silence as Kallen's head nodded slightly and she shook herself to wake back up, "The only thing I could think about for days after that was piloting a Knightmare….she's still what I think of when the KMF starts up. It's kind of funny, I guess, huh, Lelouch?"
"I suppose," Lelouch stated neutrally, though there was a slight twitching of his mouth. "I could let you see the Ganymede at Ashford, if you want? They managed to hold onto it; we take it out for festivals and the like."
Kallen sighed, looking at Lelouch for a long, tense moment before speaking again. "I don't know what to think, Lelouch. You're Britannian, you're a Prince, and you're fighting against what amounts to your own family. You were actually going to kill Clovis…whether or not that was actually him at Shinjuku, weren't you?"
"Yes," Lelouch stated immediately, coldly. "Clovis was committing mass murder…being my brother doesn't excuse the thousands of deaths he caused. Whether or not that was Clovis, I stand by my decision."
"See…Zero's our buddy, Kallen!" Tamaki enthused. "He's got our back and we've got his! He wants Japan free, just like us!"
Kallen scowled, her anger sparking again towards Tamaki. "Baka! We can't tell the rest of the Black Knights! Tamaki…we might understand, and Ohgi might understand, but…not the rest of them. Sugiyama, Minami, Yoshida…they won't just sit by and let a Britannian Prince lead us! Fuck!"
Tamaki withered under Kallen's assault, his enthusiasm fading with understanding. "So…what do we do?" He asked, looking first to Zero, then to Kallen.
"Ultimately," Lelouch began hesitantly, "Any decision I make for you or command I give you, in this instance, is counter-productive. If my leadership is in question, no amount of orders will reassure you." This time, Lelouch did smile, though he managed to make it look hesitant and hopeful rather than sinister. I wonder if I should feel bad doing this? They have given me their loyalty, to a certain extent, but the end result will be the same. They need to follow me, it's for their own good that they do so.
Kallen and Tamaki looked at each other, uncertainty plain on their faces.
"Listen…I'm going to boot up the computer and see if it will actually work. If this doesn't work, this whole discussion is moot and we're all going to die horrible, horrible, deaths." Lelouch offered, turning towards the control panel and selecting a few buttons.
"There is that to consider," Kallen snorted, the black humor a balm to her confusion.
Lelouch sighed, this entire thing was getting much too complicated. If only Kallen and Tamaki could get past the idealism of 'truth.' The only truths that matter are those that you allow to matter. The only justice that exists is the justice you create for yourself and those around you. One has to be willing to do anything in order to create a world that suits your needs. Our enemies will not always give us the moral high ground….there is a part of me, I suppose, that is tired of spoon-feeding them doctrine; I wanted soldiers, not paladins, when I founded the Black Knights.
"Your Highness?" Bartley asked, drawing Lelouch's attention from his internal debate.
Lelouch looked back to the computer before him, frowning as he stared at the screen. "The logic boards were burned out," He said grimly, "It's asking permission to use the backup boards. We'll have to, I suppose, if we want out of here."
"Indeed, you should have the relevant permissions to issue the command if Charles Ashford trusted you enough to allow you access to this room. I still wonder why that is, though." Bartley stated ponderously.
"Perhaps due to my position as Angela's godfather?" Lelouch posed. "I'm really not sure myself, though I wish he would have had the foresight to include my civilian persona rather than my royal identity."
"So we wouldn't find out?" Kallen asked curtly, her irritation at Lelouch shining through. After all, it was his fault that she was in this difficult position.
"Honestly?" Lelouch asked as he reset the computer to the alternate set of logic boards. "Yes. It has always been my philosophy that simple lies are infinitely better than complicated truths. People prefer the black and white ideology of 'good' and 'bad,' thought reality seldom accommodates you. Zero is a prime example of how this belief functions. As a masked man, he remains 'nothing,' in the eyes of his followers, a simple absolute rather than a contradictory, flawed, weak, person. Zero is an icon, something that can't be defamed, slandered, or crushed."
He looked at Kallen and Tamaki, his violet orbs burning holes into them. "When the average person imagines 'The Emperor of Britannia,' do you think they conjure up a greedy, self-righteous, arrogant, bloodthirsty, tyrant? No, when the idea of 'The Emperor' is invoked, the image is that of a flawless god who walks among men, stepped down from the heavens to guide their nation. Zero is meant to be his opposite…a black to his white, a good to his evil. That, more than anything, is why Zero can't have a face…because his enemy is nothing but a face…the face of Britannia."
"The mask of Zero represents the faceless, the voiceless, the impoverished, and the weak…He is meant to give them a face, give them a voice, give them standing in society, and give them strength!" Lelouch practically yelled the last of his impromptu speech, his tone growing into a cascading march of words that compelled, with every ounce of his charisma, that Kallen and Tamaki understand. After all…
The only truths that matter are those that matter to you…and this is one truth we share as Black Knights.
At that moment, Kallen and Tamaki felt as thought they could have charged the gates of Pendragon itself with little more than popguns if Lelouch had ordered them to. Such was the aura around him that, for a moment, the two Black Knights understood, with perfect clarity, how hundreds of thousands of soldiers could commit untold atrocities in the name of a single man. As the moment passed, both knew their relationships with Zero, with Lelouch Lamperouge, and with Lelouch Vi Britannia, would never be the same.
"Ah…Zero," Bartley stated, shattering the fragile moment. Still, the small speech had had a profound impact on him as well. Even given that Kallen and Tamaki knew who he was, the former General still deferred to him as Zero. "You should know…the avatar of the Red Queen is that of Angela Ashford. I believe Charles meant it as a memorial to his daughter…"
Lelouch nodded warily.
Even with the warning, though, it still tore open an old wound to see a twelve-year-old Angela…Angie as he'd called her, phase into existence in the empty, black-walled room. His eyes watered as the hologram (an extremely advanced piece of technology, he noted distantly) coalesced into a young girl wearing a dress, her hair tied back neatly. The entire image was tinted red, as if she was coated in blood…the overall picture compelling thoughts of an otherworldly creature stepped out of some novel or film. Then, his eyes widened as the girl's 'eyes' met his own.
"Uncle Lulu!"
Lelouch was fairly sure his heart stopped in that moment. His throat tightened painfully as the girl smiled. This girl wasn't a computer...
Nyarlathotep sighed within his office at the Toromo Agency. With the time difference between Cambodia and Tokyo, it was still midday in Britannian Area 3. Still, the Outer God had pulled the shades closed such that a simulated faux-night fell over his personal quarters. Normally, he would have liked to do his scheming and plotting with the moon high in the sky, but at least the lighting was proper. Before him, luminous in the dimly lit room, his scrying pool shone like a miniature sun. A small glass sphere hung above the bowl of supernatural liquid.
The Crawling Chaos smiled horribly as mist crept up, out of the dish, and into the glass orb, making it pulse with light. Finally, the tail end of the mist was swallowed up by the round crystal, leaving a perfectly smooth ball which shone with a demonic inner light of soft violet.
Nyarlathotep's smile widened, "Fourteen Souls in one night…and your first night, too, My Little Grim Reaper. I wonder what the next night will bring for you and I? Your brother is advancing his little schemes despite my little trap…"
The Outer God snorted, "But then, it was more of a test than a trap…and he passed with such flying colors! To manipulate with a lie is no challenge at all, but to wield the truth with such a silver tongue…that is art indeed. Still, boys will be boys…it is you, My Little Reaper, who holds my attention. So pained a soul! So naïve a heart! Your corruption will be one of my greatest masterpieces!"
He chuckled lowly.
"Though, I wonder how it will turn out?" Nyarlathotep considered. "Such a question…yet even I wonder. That damnable free will always makes things so interesting."
Tracing his eye over the Soul Orb, Nyarlathotep pondered the yawning and moaning faces of the damned within it, their terror-filled and stricken grimaces something truly horrific to behold. His hand reached out to caress the crystal, though, at the last moment, a shock of electricity flew off the sphere, forcing him to retract his questing hand. Curling and stretching his fingers, he frowned at the Orb, then snorted.
"Nothing to be done about it, I suppose. At least, not yet…At any rate, they aren't my souls until My Little Reaper tires of them…"
His intercom buzzed.
"Mr. Nyx?" His secretary called through the electronic device, "Your three o'clock is here."
The Outer God rolled his eyes before, with a wave of his hand, banishing the Scrying Pool and the Soul Orb back to a folded pocket dimension for storage. With another gesture the room became bright again…welcoming and inviting. Finally, with a sigh, the Crawling Chaos himself set down behind his desk with a look of resigned irritation on his face. "Would that the nations and sages of the world knew me for what I am they would condemn me…but they know not the true face of evil."
Properly readied, he pressed the locking mechanism's release to allow his guest to enter his office.
The head of his legal department walked through the door, damnation in each step.
Damn Blood-Sucking Lawyers...
Why do I always feel like my sanity's in question after I finish a chapter of this fic?
That aside, this fic is actually getting interesting now. As to those who've wondered how I was going to handle 'telling' the rest of the Black Knights...I hope I've spiced things up for everyone. One thing that's struck me is how the two Black Knights who, if anyone discovers Zero's identity, it's always Kallen and Ohgi. I like Kallen's reactions, so it's fun to keep her 'in the loop' so to speak, but Ohgi...he's always struck me as too much of a straight arrow to be able to keep a secret like that from...well, anyone.
Tamaki, on the other hand...heh. This way, Kallen, usually one to leave the thinking to someone else and put violence before anything, has to actually think rather than react. This is the thing, though...as much as Kallen hates Lelouch's deceptions, mind-games, and manipulations, Kallen deceives as much, or even more, than Lelouch. Especially at the start of the series, they're both living double (or triple) lives. Lelouch is a student, terrorist leader, and prince. Kallen is a student, terrorist, and a rebellious daughter.
I think the idea of Kallen lying to protect Lelouch, of all people...is just hilarious, particularly at this point in the anime.
In other news, we have Nemo. Regrettably, little Nunnally is receiving lukewarm reception at best. Still, I hope interest picks up after this chapter. I know she's not the most interesting aspect of the story, but, contrary to popular belief, Nemo is a necessary part of the storyline. For those of you looking forward to Alice/Nunnally interaction, you might see some of it next chapter or, barring that, the chapter afterwards. For those of you who think you know where I'm going with this whole 'plot' thing...you might be surprised.
Next chapter features...well, I'll let you guess.
Oh, and before I forget...
I've got an idea brewing for a Code Geass fic (no crossovers). The fic would feature Zero as an Imperial Knight and the pilot of the Lancelot, both very much against his will. In a sentence, that's the premise. Much of the fic would consist of a very interesting masquerade involving Kallen, Lelouch, and Suzaku fighting on the side of the Empire. Basically, I'd like to get thoughts/ideas on whether or not to pursue this idea.
So...do you want to see this into production? For a little more information, check out the 'upcoming works' section on my profile.
For all those who offered comments, thank you.
For all those who didn't, no cookie.
Slayer, Out!