Here we have a breather episode. Hooray!

Hands up if you like breathing!

[SamJaz found a wild SANDWICH]
[SamJaz used EAT on wild SANDWICH]
[It's super effective!]
[Wild SANDWICH was defeated!]
[SamJaz got 60 exp. Points!]
[SamJaz grew to level 19!]
[SamJaz wants to learn the move POOP, but can only learn four moves. Which move shall be forgotten?]
[EAT, SLEEP, BREATHE, EPIC]
[SamJaz forgot the move BREATHE. SamJaz learned POOP.]
[SamJaz fainted from oxygen deprivation!]
[SamJaz used POOP!]
[It's not very effective…]

Aren't you glad I didn't delete the move EPIC?

And yes, I'm aware I stole it from VG Cats, but some people here might not read it, so they'll find it funny.

Anyhow, reviews. WakingDreamWorld, I dreamt up Jessica. I also dreamt up the sheer nightmare fuel that will be rammed down your faces on Tuesday and Thursday of next week, and you just scared the living daylights out of me.

Also, Patch, I WILL do that chapter of Investigation Team Yo! you asked me to do, just let me get this out of the way first.

-}+{-

Situations change without regard for men's expectations. Time flows on, paying no heed to human concerns. So Lelouch is lucky indeed, for he has the power to sculpt the world to his liking, using his Geass, the power of Absolute Obedience, as his chisel.

But no-one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end.

And so it begins…

"Recently, there have been a big commotion with Chinese invaders and the Black Knights, but that's a separate matter entirely." Ms. Attenborough told the small class one night. "Recently, you five have not been meeting your minimum number of class hours!"

"Er, miss!" Rivalz asked, raising his metal right arm. "I was kinda busy being an amputee and doing my rehab and everything? Plus Kallen's sick all the time, and Suzaku's with the army." He added, then tried to think of an excuse for Lelouch.

"Despite your medical requirements, irrespective of your status as Princess Euphemia's knight, and regardless of your perfect grades, the fact is that if you do not have enough class hours then you will all be expelled!"

"Aw, man…" Rivalz sighed. "Wait, what's Misty's excuse?"

"I'm a freakin' Gym Leader!" She shouted, snapping her pencil between her fingers. "Dammit…"

"Ah well, at least the school festival is soon…" Misty sighed when they left the classroom that morning.

"Heh, you can say that." Rivalz groaned. "As for the rest of us, last night is probably the most peaceful one we'll get all week."

"Eh?" Suzaku asked, tearing his gaze from Kallen. "What do you mean?"

"He means that Milly's gonna work our asses off until the festival on Friday." Lelouch sighed. "Though I usually do three times the work he does."

"And I'm Milly's gopher." Rivalz pointed out. "So I'll be working like hell as it is." He groaned and stopped by the coffee machine. "Man Lulu, you're a freakin' machine…"

"Well, I'm looking forward to it." Misty told them. "My boyfriend's coming over-"

"AARRGGHH!"

"W-what?" Misty asked, backing off from the screaming Rivalz.

"All the good girls are getting snatched up!" Rivalz shouted. "Dammit! What's the point of this badass new look if I'm not GETTING ANY!"

"Man, you are pathetic." Misty sighed. "What about Shirley? I know her from the swimming club, but isn't she in student council too?"

"Nah, she's head over heels for Lulu, but then again, they haven't spoken for weeks…" Rivalz sighed and Lelouch lowered his head and walked past them. "Eh, Lulu?"

"I think she took the news of Lelouch's girlfriend pretty badly…" Kallen sighed, not bothering to act as tired as she felt.

"Eh?" Suzaku asked. "Lelouch has a girlfriend?"

Rivalz flinched at Kallen's mistake, but she recovered quickly. "Yeah, I've seen them together sometimes when I leave school early." She lied. "Older girl, looks pretty cold, but I think she likes him."

"Eeh… how come Lelouch hasn't told me?" Suzaku asked.

"Mate, I'm not sure Nunnally even knows." Rivalz whistled. "News to me at any rate."

"A-anyway, we've still got a few hours before first period, so I'm gonna catch some sleep." Misty said, eager to get away from these nutters. "Later!"

"Yeah, yeah." Rivalz sighed, waving the gym leader off. "I need to go oil the arm, so no such luck for me."

"I'll probably just say I'm not feeling well." Kallen yawned. "I deserve some sleep."

Rivalz glared at her. "Lucky bitch." She muttered.

A few days and some sleepless nights later, it was the day of the festival.

_\_ "SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING EVERBODY!" _\_ Milly's voice shouted from the speakers. _\_ "I'M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THE START OF THE ASHFORD ACADEMY FESTIVAL! YOU MAY BEGIN AS SOON AS YOU HEAR THE SIGNAL!" _\_

_\_ "Um… are you sure?" _\_ Nunnally asked.

_\_ "It's fine!" _\_ Milly encouraged. You could almost hear her winking.

_\_ "Well then…" _\_ Nunnally said hesitantly. _\_ "Piikaaaa!" _\_

"Pika!" the pikachu on a young boy's shoulder shouted in response.

The boy smiled under the shadow of his cap. "Next year, huh?" he asked.

"So Sawasaki was of some use to us after all." Lelouch said into his pokénav on the roof. "Now our next objective is clear." He glanced over the parapet of the roof terrace he was standing on and frowned, spotting news telecasters milling about below.

_\_ "Yeah." _\_ Silver confirmed as Lelouch ducked under the fence to hide from the reporter's cameras. _\_ "The data for some of Hoenn's more profitable businesses. Also, while I remember, the ghetto's getting solar panels. They're discussing how the extra energy's gonna be distributed now, but the majority is going to some Elevener-run pokémon centres, which is good because I am sick of those nurse Joy's." _\_ he shook his head. _\_ "Anyway, what news have you got from our underground contacts?" _\_

"I'll deal with it myself." Lelouch told him. "Anyways, I've got about ninety-two percent of the details sorted. How's Toudou?"

_\_ "He's still planning the capture of the radio tower." _\_ Silver replied. _\_ "Want me to send you the fake plans we're sending to Kyoto?" _\_

"Yeah, I'll look at 'em tomorrow." Lelouch replied.

_\_ "Diethard wrote a report for me to send you, so I'll strap them on too." _\_ he added. _\_ "Anyways, Ohgi took Squad Zero out to—" _\_

"WE'RE IN TROUBLE!" Milly shouted, running up to Lelouch. "WE'RE IN BIIIG TROUBLE!"

"Gotta go, secret identity upkeep and whatnot." Lelouch muttered before hanging up. "Aren't we on schedule?" He asked, hitting Alt+F4 and swiveling the laptop on the floor.

"IT'S THE PIZZA!" She shouted, grabbing his arm and dragging him away. He barely had time to grab the machine and fold it closed as he was led down the steps. "We're having trouble with it."

"No wonder." Lelouch sighed. "We had problems making a two-metre pizza last year, and now you're trying for a twelve-metre?"

"Isn't it amazing?" Milly asked, problems forgotten. "When we're done, it'll be the biggest pizza ever. A PIZZA FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS LULU!"

Lelouch sighed. "It was an absolute bitch just building that massive oven and gathering the ingredients." He told her, then scowled, remembering the cameras. "And for the record, why did you call the news team? You know I can't be seen."

"We have to record the pizza." Milly pointed out. "Just stay in the booth, alright?" she asked with a smile as a pikachu ran up to Lelouch. "Chairman's orders!"

"Ah, man!" one cameraman shouted, opening his camera up to find the tape tangled up and belching black smoke. "This one too?"

"Dammit James, did you tangle the film on that camera too? That's the third time since we got here!" screeched the set manager, an intimidating woman who towered menacingly above the shrinking cameraman.

"B-but Jessie, I don't know what-!" spluttered the man, nearly in tears.

"Sorry mate!" a younger boy in a pokémon league cap shouted shouted at the crew, running up to Lelouch and Milly and grabbing his pikachu. "Hey, you two are the ones running this thing, right?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right!" Milly smiled, bending her knees slightly. "How can I help you?"

"I was gonna ask about this bigass pizza." He asked her. "Where's it gonna be?"

"In the bigass metal dome, you can't miss it." Lelouch told him, pointing to behind the school.

The young man tipped his hat at Lelouch. "Thanks mate." He agreed. "Let's go Pikachu."

"Nice kid." Milly smiled as the teenage boy walked in the direction Lelouch directed, before turning to her assistant. "Anyway, you heard me. Stay in the booth, and everything will be peachy-keen."

"Yeah, sure." Lelouch sighed.

Meanwhile, Suzaku was chopping onions in the kitchen, when he heard a familiar set of footsteps behind him. "I'm glad you were able to come back to school." Suzaku smiled, not even turning around to face her.

"Why did you follow Zero's orders like that?" Kallen asked warily.

"It's like he said." Suzaku shrugged, pulling up another onion and getting to work. "You're Kallen Stadtfield right now, not Kallen Kozuki."

She pocketed her purse-knife. "Still trying to draw me in with your phoney compassion?" she asked. "I'm not a ralts you know."

"That's just a misconception, they're only attracted to people who are enjoying themselves." Suzaku laughed. "But anyway, if we meet in battle, I won't go easy on you, but I'd still like to change your mind." He turned to face her. "I know it's against regulations, but I want to try and help you, at least while we're still at school."

"You're wrong in the head." Kallen told him as the door opened behind her.

"Suzaku, another truck just arrived, this one's full of cheese!" Lelouch told him as he entered, before turning to Kallen. "We need your help in one of the classrooms, can you go?"

"Uh, sure." Kallen nodded, heading off as Lelouch's pokénav rang.

It wasn't the one plugged into his ear.

"Damn, again?" Lelouch asked, leaving the room as the theatre club president nagged into his ear.

"Found it!" the boy with the pikachu called, running over to Misty. He grinned sheepishly at her. "Yeah, you were right, it's that bigass dome over there."

Misty stuck her tongue out at him. "Told ya so. That'll teach you to question me next time," she teased, breaking into a grin.

The kid's smile grew as he rolled his eyes- not that Misty could see due to the pulled down cap, "Ha, yeah, yeah. Anyway…" he stuck his arm out to the girl. "Shall we?"

"Hey!" a third voice shouted.

The boy and Misty turned to see the red-haired Whitney tackle him and plant her face into his. "H-hey!"

"Huh?" the Normal type gym leader asked the Water type gym leader. "Misty? What're you doing here?"

"Uh, I live here?" she asked, pulling Whitney from the boy. "What're you doing with him!"

"He's my boyfriend, what's it to you?" Whitney asked as the boy stood up and dusted himself off as the pikachu jumped onto his shoulder.

"What!" Misty shouted. "He's MY boyfriend!"

The two girls opened their mouths, then slowly turned to the young man, who shrugged and smiled.

"So… threesome?" Whitney asked.

"What, like, right now?" Misty replied.

The young man groaned and walked away, slipping into the crowd before the two girls noticed.

That's when he finally spotted who he had been looking for.

'Dammit…' Lelouch thought once he was outside and got five seconds quiet. 'I should be planning my coup d'état right now…'

BONK

Lelouch looked up as a female soldier ran up to him. "Ah, sorry! The handle just broke!" she shouted, catching the rubber hammer that bounced off Lelouch's skull. "Oh, aren't you Suzaku's friend?"

'It's that woman from his division' Leouch realized. "Um, yeah, I…"

"Oi, you." C.C. asked from behind Lelouch. "Where's this biggest pizza in the world- oh, it's you." She mumbled as Lelouch turned around and began pushing her away into the crowds.

"What are you doing outside, today of all days!" Lelouch hissed.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear:" C.C. told him. "Worlds. Largest. Pizza."

He sighed. Sometimes the woman was so damned mysterious that he forgot about her obsession with cheesy dough. "Go back to the room, I'll bring you some later." He told her.

"I don't trust you, liar." C.C. told him as he opened up the door to a warehouse and shoved her in.

"We don't have any choice." He told her. "There are journalists and soldiers here, what if you get caught?"

"I want it fresh." She told him. "Bring me a disguise."

"Look, I'm stretched thin between the festival and the coup—" Lelouch stopped and turned to see Kallen leading Ohgi and a dark skinned woman- presumably his girlfriend, through the maze of shelved boxed.

"What're you doing in my school?" she asked them angrily.

"Oh, I…" the woman began

"Who are you?" Kallen interrupted. "You're not an Eleven, are you? What's your name?"

"Uh…" Ohgi began. "She's my…"

'Dammit…' Lelouch thought angrily. 'Can this get any worse!'

"Hey, if you don't mind, I'll take C.C. to see the giant pizza." The teenager from before offered Lelouch.

"That'd be a huge help, thank you." Lelouch nodded, stepping forward. "Kallen!" he shouted. "We don't need people snooping around in here!"

Then the door opened. "Ah, man, where's the fuel canister?" Shirley asked, looking around with Suzaku. "I'm sure it was around here somewhere… Kallen?"

"Uh… hi…" Kallen replied, stepping back from Ohgi and his lady friend.

"Have you seen our reserve fuel-tank anywhere?" Shirley asked, walking towards them as Lelouch was handed the fuel tank by the teenager, who put his fingers to his lips and led C.C. away. "Rivalz is looking for it."

"Here you go!" Lelouch said, popping out of the side with the canister.

"Oh, Lelouch, you're here too?" Shirley asked, taking it. "I'd like to have a word with you."

'Hm?' Lelouch thought. "Sure, later." He told her, signalling for Kallen to lead Ohgi and the woman away. "I've got work to do. Kallen, please could you escort this couple back to the public area?" he ordered, leading Shirley and Suzaku back towards the entrance.

"Why not now?" Shirley moaned. "This is the only time I get to see you!"

"We're all busy, me especially." Lelouch sighed, pushing them outside. "Come on, back to work everybody!"

With everyone gone, Lelouch sighed in relief at a job well done- until he played back what had happened back there in his mind.

'Wait…' Lelouch realised. 'Did I let that guy walk away with C.C.?'

He twisted around in sheer anger at his own stupidity.

Then he paused, smacking his forehead with his palm. 'No, I'm assuming it was stupidity, but… no-one could be stupid enough to do that, least of all me… so why…?'

Realisation came in a flash. 'That boy said C.C.…' Lelouch remembered. 'He knew her… could it be he possesses Geass?'

Lelouch snarled. "Dammit…" He hissed, sprinting towards the giant pizza.

"AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!" Rivalz roared with pride and power. "WE WILL BEGIN BAKING! THE LARGEST! PIZZA! IN THE! WOORLD!"

"You're using your Geass." C.C. told the teenage boy as Rivalz continued to work the crowd.

"Of course, I want this to go well." He replied. "Didn't you hear? Worlds. Largest. Pizza."

C.C. smiled to herself. "You haven't changed, have you?" She asked.

"Sure I have, Auntie." The boy chuckled. "It's just you're the only one my Geass won't work on."

Lelouch ran frantically through the crowd, trying to track down the familiar head of green hair, but he wasn't finding anything.

"AND NOW, THE STAR OF THE SHOW!" Rivalz shouted, throwing size pokéballs into the air to reveal six well-polished steelix. "Each one of these Steelix have been well trained for over twenty years, when they had only just been discovered!" he bragged. "And now Sir Suzaku Kururugi and myself shall guide them while making this behemoth of a pizza! There was going to be a third chef, but he's skiving somewhere so we're gonna pick up the slack and make him look very, very silly!"

"Lelouch!" Shirley shouted, grabbing him by the arm. "We really, really need to talk Now!"

"Not now dammit!" Lelouch snapped, scanning the crowd as they cheered for the steelix tossing the dough high into the air.

"No, Zero." Shirley told him, freezing him faster than her empoleon could. "Now."

The teenager stood up straight, a flash of red blinking briefly under his cap. "Hold on a sec auntie." He told C.C., meandering through the crowd. "My ariadosman senses are tingling."

Lelouch was buggered up an exeggutor by an angry slowbro. No better way to put it.

"W-what did you say?"

"I was going to talk to you about it, but for some reason I forgot." Shirley told him. "If it wasn't for the screwed up letter to you I found down my dresser, I doubt I would have ever remembered."

"Then…" Lelouch managed, before looking down. "Shirley… I'm sorry for what Mao did to you-"

"Mao?" Shirley asked. "Who's he?"

Then Lelouch's brain reacted to the new information. 'She doesn't remember a thing.' Lelouch realised. 'she just found the note and freaked out…'

"Wait, are you talking about that guy who attacked you and forgot about it, or something else?" he lied. "Because there was this psycho who kidnapped and almost raped you if I didn't run him through with a lead pipe, but you forgot everything from the shock and we didn't want to remind you about the whole thing."

"Eh?" Shirley asked. "N-no, it's about you being Zero and paralysing my dad…"

"Why would I be Zero?" Lelouch asked her. "I understand that what he did to him was unforgivable, but me?" he asked her, turning away. "Don't be ridiculous…"

She grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and kissed him deeply. Pulling away, she looked into his eyes, tears building up in her own. "I remember that." she told him, tucking her face into his chest. "I remember that I loved you…"

"Shirley..?"

"So please…" She sobbed. "Just, tell me the truth…"

"Well, if… I was Zero…" Lelouch began. "What… would you do..?"

"I… I don't know…" Shirley sobbed. "I… Lelouch…"

'She's not calling me Lulu.' Lelouch realised. 'She really doesn't remember a thing…'

WHAM!

Lelouch was knocked down to the ground by the hat-clad teenager, who picked Lelouch up from the ground and carried him off full pelt, praying to his eyes for a stroke of good luck. Shirley stared at what happened in shock, but before she could take a step to chase them…

A reporter happened to turn her head to the side and pick out a familiar face in the crowd. "Hey, isn't that Princess Euphemia!"

'YES!' both boys shouted in their mind as the crowd carried the ginger girl away. The cap-wearing teenager turned a corner and set Lelouch down, breathing a sigh of relief. "Whew. Close call there."

Then Lelouch slammed the young man to the ground, staring into both of his Geass's. "Submit unto me and follow my orders!" Lelouch ordered, his own Geass flaring with Lelouch's determination to nip this in the bud and turn this enemy into a weapon.

The boy brought his hand up into Lelouch's face and raised his middle finger between his eyes. "Nope." He told Lelouch, grinning manically.

"EVERYONE! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Euphemia's voice rang out in the school grounds. Lelouch ignored his sister's voice, staring disbelievingly at the boy, who was suddenly frowning as if something had gone wrong.

"Wait… She couldn't be…" muttered the boy, his geass flaring intermittently.

"This is Area Eleven's Deputy Vicereine, Princess Euphemia!" She announced, standing atop a Steelix as the pizza cooked in the giant oven. "I have something I would like to tell all of you! I, Euphemia De Britannia, hereby declare the establishment of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan in the Shinjo region!"

"WHAT!" Both Lelouch and the teenager shouted, turning to Euphie in shock and rage.

'Dammit!' Lelouch screamed inside his head. 'Even giving us a region to ourselves, that's nothing if it destroys our reason to fight!'

"Within this special district of Japan, the Elevens will return to their true name of Japanese!" Euphie continued. "All restrictions to Elevens and all special Britannian privileges will be annulled within this area! Britannian's and Elevens will live as equals!"

'Stop this Euphie…' Lelouch growled within his skull, slowly getting to his feet. 'I'd already thought of this…'

"It's just a dream, it'll never work…" the teenager muttered, standing next to Lelouch.

"CAN YOU HERE ME, ZERO!" Euphie shouted. "If you can, then I want you to know that we don't care about your past and identity, so please! Be a part of the new Japan! Join me, and create a new future from within Britannia!"

"LONG LIVE EUPHEMIA!" the crowd roared.

'I'm done for…' Lelouch thought. 'No matter which side I choose, the Black Knights are history… I've lost my life's pursuit- how could this happen so easily!'

'So that's how you plan to take all I have… my sanctuary included!' Lelouch realised with anger. 'If so, then you are truly blind and deaf. I am a masked terrorist, and you… No, it will NEVER be the same… EUPHEMIA!'

The Special Administrative Zone of Japan.

If we co-operate, we'll have to lay down our arms.

If we oppose it, then we'll lose the support of the people.

The Order of the Black Knights cannot survive this.

Euphemia, you stupid, simple princess with your misguided ideals will…

Your very existence is a crime against me.

-}+{-

First off, I'd like to announce how much I love writing Rivalz's character.

Thiiii-iii-iiiiiii-iiii-iiis much! He's like writing Pharos! Always crackin' me up!

Secondly, there are zero amount of OC's in this story. Seriously, I cannot stress the lack of OC's in this story. Anyone who is an OC will be a one-off character with five lines or so at most.

So a smart person could probably work out who this young man with the Geass is. We have a concept art for him, if that'd help.

Varanus: Hell, this guy has already been mentioned pretty early on, now that I think about it. But honestly, I'd be shocked if you couldn't at least guess by now who it was. Seriously.

Hell, I mentioned him in the first chapter. How's THAT for planning ahead?