Alright, bombshell last time. Let's try to keep them coming.

Wow, it's hard to believe that everything since chapter 28 has taken place in under a week story time. Hell, the Black Knights defeated China and Britannia about three days ago. Lelouch has been busy.

Blah Head, I've worked with kids traumatized by the most unimaginable things. I have seen how they see the world, how they reason, how they think, and what they can do. Trust me when I say that people like Cyrus actually exist.

Raim Hanta, I had to google your name to figure out your identity. Shameless plug, tsk tsk.

Well, I'm in no position to cast the first stone. I couldn't have used chainsaw because there were no chainsaws. You've got axes, you've got Cut, so no need for chainsaws. Which is why Mao used an axe instead of him memetic chainsaw. Same goes for firearms- rifles, pistols, desert pigeot, they all exist. Machine guns with rapid fire? Not so much.

If Cyrus died an epic death, it would have taken away from how pathetic he was. And if you decode what the abyss was saying to Cyrus, you'll forgive everything and declare me the greatest fanfic writer on the earth. Probably. Bhepin and Farla are very very very good.

Patch, I probably could if I tried.

-}+{-

Suzaku collapsed into his bed. It had been a long week, in more ways than one.

Just a week ago, he, Euphemia and Nunnally were planning the renewed SAZ of Japan. That had taken them over two weeks of planning and construction.

In one week, Zero established his own nation, fought a battle against the allied forces of China and Britannia, established a union with the Chinese Federation with himself controlling the figure heads, then had gone onto take the Ruins of Alph from Britannia's research team there.

"Lelouch…" Suzaku sighed. He was evil. He was heartless. He didn't care about the victims of any of his actions, and willingly enslaved people's hearts and minds to further his own agenda.

But even Suzaku had to admit, his former friend got things done.

Suzaku turned his head as the door opened. "Euphie?" he asked, sitting up as the former princess came into his room, covering her mouth and clutching a document. "What is it?"

She pressed the sheet of paper into his hands and Suzaku read it.

His eyes practically burst from their sockets.

"No…" he whispered. "No, he is evil, but he would never do this." He shook his head. "It's impossible, no way!"

"I-It says…" Euphie choked. "He's been sentenced to death…"

Suzaku shook his head slightly. After all he's done to her, how could Euphie find it in her heart to forgive him?

He sighed and put an arm around her. "It'll be fine." He promised her. "He'll get out of this."

"B-but what if he doesn't?" Euphie asked him. "H-he's done a lot of bad things, but he doesn't deserve to be k-killed for something he didn't do!"

Suzaku looked down. He knew how that felt, to be the scapegoat. The wanted criminal deserved death; he deserved it a thousand times over.

But not for this crime.

No one deserved to be falsely accused of this crime.

"Suzaku..?" Euphie asked him.

"I'll do it." Suzaku replied, knowing what she was going to ask. "He won't die for this sin."

He'll die for all the others he's committed.

SMASH

C.C. flew across the room before rolling back to her feet to catch Mars's next punch between her arm and elbow, then drove a kneecap through her arm, breaking it.

Mars curled over in pain, and C.C. launched a flurry of punches into her opponent's face, sending her flying into the air. Mars twisted and kicked C.C. in the head, sending her flying across the room.

The crowd quickly moved out of the way, averting their eyes for fear of getting hit by Mars's Geass, and C.C. twisted onto her shoulders and jumped into a donkey kick into Mars's face, knocking her to the ground. She landed with a foot either side of Mars's head, then grabbed her charred skull. Dragging her up between her legs, C.C. smashed down on the Galactic admin's head with a headbutt, fracturing both their skulls in her rage.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

Everyone stopped.

Lelouch strode into the room, enraged. "Why the hell are two people on fire and fighting?" he asked. "Why hasn't anyone put them out and broken this up?"

Jeremiah used his Geass Canceller to kill the flames engulfing the two women, allowing their flesh time to recover.

Lelouch recognised C.C., and covered his face with his palm in a sigh. "I'm sure that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this." He sighed. "I'm sure that there is. However, I don't want to hear it. MARS!"

The woman saluted out of instinct,, then remembered that she was naked and surrounded by enemies.

Then she remembered that the boy facing her was Zero.

And the only way he could be standing here was if Cyrus…

"IMPOSSIBLE!" she screamed, willing her Geass of Blaze to avenge her leader.

There was an explosion half way across the room.

"No, Mars." Lelouch told her, his Geass overpowering hers. "You are alone, and you have lost. You have two choices. Surrender and become our prisoner, or defect and join our ranks."

"Lelouch!" C.C. warned him.

"I'll talk with you later." Lelouch told her. "Now why are these women still not covered up?" he asked, walking away. "Silver, Come with me."

"Was that Lulu?" Rivalz asked Kallen. "He's changed a lot for three days."

"You wouldn't believe the half of it."

"Eh?" Rivalz and Kallen asked in unison, turning to the blanketed girl beside them. "Shirley?"

"Yes and no…" she sighed. "It's… complicated."

Half an hour later, Lelouch returned from the room where he was speaking with Silver alone. No one knew what they spoke of, but it was clear that they had reached an agreement.

Mars was blindfolded and in the white prison uniform of Britannia. C.C. had also donned a spare of this uniform, but had not been secured. She simply stated that she liked how it felt. No one disagreed that it suited her.

Several of the Knights set up a barrier around the ruins. This was Rakshata's latest development based on the Rocket anti-pokémon barrier and bio-engineered Electrodes, the Ruins of Alph were cut off from the outside world through any method other than the Black Knight's teleportation pads.

Well, the Ruins of Alph has been closed to the public for the past few years anyway, so it's not like anyone would know about the Black Knight's new foothold in Johto other than those in direct contact with the now exterminated Team Galactic.

So, after leaving behind a skeleton crew to handle fortifications, everyone returned to Zero City, which was currently under the ocean. Toudou, Ohgi and Diethart were currently in China discussing the UFN, so Chiba was left with Asahina's corpse.

Out of the original Holy Blades, only she and Toudou remained, and Toudou was always officially a separate entity from them. Chiba then took the decision to officially dissolve the Holy Blades.

Gold returned registeel to her, but rather than keep it, she handed the titan to Rivalz. "They all like you so far." She explained, seeing how Asahina's regice immediately went under Rivalz's command. She did, however, keep Asahina's arcanine, dewgong and girafigag for herself to remember him by.

Jasmine, as well as being the host for Marianne's soul, was Charles Zi Britannia's one hundredth and eighth wife.

It was the perfect cover really. It gave her perfect reason to come to Britannia to visit Charles, yet she was low enough in the 'pecking order' that she didn't need to remain in the palace.

Jasmine was aware of her position as the emperor's wife, but only had a few constructed memories of him.

She wasn't aware that she was merely a proxy for Marianne. No-one other than Charles, Marianne, and her killer was.

Not even Cyrus knew this fact.

So many were surprised to see the Emperor weep at her funeral. He had not even wept at Marianne's funeral, and used the Funeral of Clovis to further his Darwinian propaganda.

Only two men in the entire world knew why he wept, and one of them smiled at this fact.

'So he is human after all.' Lelouch smiled to himself. 'How interesting.'

Kallen and Red spoke with Shirley. Her… circumstances were only now beginning to sink in for her.

She wasn't human. She knew that before but after the battle, after feeling the bloodlust craved by the deoxys, by her, she was beginning to understand. But the part of her that was Shirley, her memories and her sense of self, they revolted against those thoughts. Nothing could reconcile these two halves of her new born psyche.

Kallen tried to comfort her, Rivalz tried to reassure her, yet there wasn't anything they could do, really. Shirley began to withdraw into herself, trying to shut out contact from her old school friends.

But Red wasn't having any of it.

He grabbed her by the wrist and, ignoring all protests from her, led her to the centre of the island. "Vengeance!" he shouted. "I've got a visitor for you!"

The figure above them opened an eye that glowed blue, before closing it again.

You have joined our ranks, Red

Red raised an eyebrow as he turned to the substitute of mewtwo behind him. "That's the first time you've ever called me by my name." he said.

This is the first time you have had a Name

Red raised an eyebrow. "I've been called Red for as long as we've known each other."

That was merely a title. Now you have a Name. Your Name is what you ARE

"Like your name is Vengeance?" Red asked. "But you're a mewtwo."

We are both Pokémon Masters. We may choose our own Name

"Isn't a Pokémon Master a trainer who is very good with pokémon?" Shirley asked.

Only Mew may decide who is to be a Master

"Vengeance." Red said. "This girl needs your help."

A Pokémon who believes she is human, yet knows she is not

The simulacrum of mewtwo nodded, then placed a hand on Shirley's face. Her skin exploded, revealing a mass of tentacles that slid straight out of her dress. "Shirley!" Red shouted.

Which side do you wish to live on?

"Wh-what..?" The deoxys called Shirley asked Vengeance

Human or Pokémon

Idiot Man or Wise Beast

I can only help one side of you, but that one side shall become as Red

"Wh-what do you mean?" Shirley asked.

Choose

Shirley nodded, gulping down the tentacles that served as her throat.

She made her choice

Vengeance smiled.

It was the right one.

Lelouch sat on the bed, looking across the room at C.C.

A lot had changed since they last saw each other.

He had changed. He knew it. She knew it.

His perspective on her had changed. Twice. He had seen her at her most vulnerable, at her coldest, and now when she had discarded all her barriers and defences and just charged in, ignoring her pain, thinking only of killing her foe.

It was an eye opener.

He didn't know how to react to all this.

He supposed that he would wait to see how she would treat him after all this first.

Apparently, she was going for the same tactic.

They had been at this stalemate for twelve and a half minutes already, but soon one of them would crack.

'What's to crack?' one of them thought. 'What's to hide? You know what's happened. I know what's happened. You know I know what's happened.'

'So why the cold war? Why don't I just come out and say it?'

"You called me Cera." C.C. asked Lelouch, after thirteen eternal minutes of silence. "Why?"

Lelouch smiled to himself. Time for a riddle.

"Because I brought home the wrong pizza."

The witch smiled slightly. It was a good answer.

Nunnally ignored the pokéball hidden in the cushion of her chair. More accurately, she didn't want to be aware of it.

She refused to be aware of it.

But she was. And it haunted her mind with its very presence.

She was tired too. Her head ached on many occasions, and she was beginning to suffer from malnutrition, no matter how heartily she ate.

The doctor told her she was suffering from the stress from her role as the Governor. Nunnally replied that regardless, she must work as her predecessors have done before.

Indeed, she had to work harder than those before her.

Nunnally recently managed to force through a new law that, among other things, forbade Britannians from beating Elevens in the street. She was not previously aware of such events taking place, but she had felt the hands of one noble in a meeting and learned of his violent pastimes.

Ever since she could remember, Nunnally could feel the intentions of those whose skin she touched. If she concentrated, she could even scan through their memories. She did not know why this was the case, but she believed that in taking away her sight, Shaymin had granted her a new power, one that she was thankful for in her work. She could sense more lies through touch than others could through sight.

Eventually, the nobles and others around her grew aware of this ability, and some grew to refuse the little girl's touch. Of course, as the disguised Euphemia would point out, only those with something to hide would refuse Nunnally's test, so those who recoiled from Nunnally's slender hands were instantly identified as liars, whether they were doing so or not.

Nunnally's biggest shock, however, came when she brushed Suzaku's hand by accident one day.

Lelouch looked through the digital image of the roof of the Sistine Chapel using his school's database. "Huh." He said to himself. "She really was painted in here."

C.C. came out of the bathroom and looked over Lelouch's shoulder. "Oh, that." She said. "Michelangelo was a jealous man."

"Hm?" Lelouch asked, leaning back to look at the witch.

"I had a contract with Leo at the time." C.C. explained. "He was brilliant, but he had no focus." She sighed. "A strategist like yourself won't understand, but Leonardo da Vinci was good at everything, and his Geass was that of Understanding." She smirked to herself. "He had a thirst for knowledge like your thirst for power, but his appetite was insatiable. It consumed him, and he began only to see what Could Be, blinded to what was. Michelangelo was a good twenty years younger than him, and kept telling me to leave that madman of mine and marry a sane painter." She laughed. "What kind of sane man spends four years painting a ceiling?"

"It is a very nice ceiling." Lelouch argued, before his brain catching up to this new information. "I thought Michelangelo was a homosexual."

"He was." C.C. nodded. "That didn't stop him though."

Lelouch laughed. "Geass of 'Being Loved', huh?" he asked.

C.C. furrowed her eyebrows. "You know about that then."

Lelouch turned around in his chair away from the computer. "When I was battling Cyrus, I saw certain memories of yours that he saw." He explained. "That nun was a real nutjob."

C.C. stood up. "She was also the one person who cared about me." told him angrily, before her expression softened and she leant against the wall. "No… no he didn't after all…"

Lelouch fell silent. He was aware of the scars she carried, even if he couldn't fathom the depth of them, nor how much they hurt.

He remembered his promise to Jirachi, and wondered how he could possibly fulfill it. How he could change her wish…

After a few minutes, C.C. broke the silence.

"Your computer's beeping."

Lelouch span his chair back and looked at the screen. "My student account has been deleted from the school server…" he explained, typing as he tried to work around it. "I've been expelled from Ashford Academy… but why?" he asked. "We've been friends of the Ashford's for years… even if Britannia made a personal attack on me; Milly would still let me in as a personal favour if I was in trouble…"

Red smashed the door in. "Lelouch you son of a bitch…" he growled.

Lelouch laughed, turning to face his brother. "That's no way to talk about our mothe—"

SMASH

Lelouch landed on the floor, jaw broken. "ASHFORD!" C.C. shouted, only to be knocked back by Red.

"Stay out of this auntie." Red growled, a crimson aura surrounding his body. "This bastard killed mom."

Lelouch righted his mouth. "What the hell?" he shouted, standing upright. "Who told you that?"

Red glared at his brother in hate. "How the fuck are you talking with a broken jaw?"

Silver sat around the conference table in Zero's chair, in a video conference with Toudou, Ohgi, Diethart and Xing-ke. Princess Kaguya sat at the table with him, as did Rivalz and Kallen. Empress Tianzi was here too, visiting her good friend Kaguya.

"Gentlemen." Silver told them. "I assume that you are aware of the document that has been spread across the world by now?"

_\_ "Lelouch Vi Britannia, A.K.A., Lelouch Lamperouge, Zero, is hereby wanted by the Britannian Court of Justice to be tried for the crime of murder. He is guilty for the deaths of Empress Marianne Vi Britannia, Empress Jasmine Et Britannia, Cyrus Zi Britannia, Princess Cornelia Li Britannia, Prince Clovis La Britannia, and many more deaths outside the royal family of the Holy Empire of Britannia." _\_ Ohgi read. _\_ "The face Zero revealed to us those weeks ago fits the photograph in the document, but the fact that he's Zero is surprisingly underplayed." _\_

_\_ "It's a smear campaign." _\_ Diethart sighed. _\_ "Politicians use it all the time. Lelouch, whether he is indeed Zero or not, has a lot of skeletons in his closet, and does indeed come across as the very kind of Britannian noble that Zero would kill." _\_

"What are you suggesting?" Kaguya shouted. "That we kill him because of what Britannia claims that he's done?"

"That isn't the issue that concerns me." Silver said. "The problem lies with the origin of the document itself."

_\_ "You doubt its authenticity?" Toudou asked.

Silver shook his head. "That's not what I meant by 'Origin'." He said. "The document was written and sent from Zero City itself."

"It appears that someone has taken action against this child before you could." The new Knight of One told his son, Charles Zi Britannia the Fourth.

"Indeed." Charles said. "And it would appear that this mysterious ally of mine is within the ranks of my enemies."

"Do not be so presumptuous to assume that the enemy of thy enemy is thy friend." The immortal Charles Zi Britannia the Third warned his successor. "You know nothing of this person."

Charles grunted. "We shall see, dear father." He replied. "It matters not- so long as the boy is no longer able to interfere with the summoning of Zero."

Lelouch was strapped into the white prisoners straight jacket, blindfolded and plunged into the dungeons below. "Well…" The blindfolded Mars in the cell next to him chuckled. "Fancy seeing you here."

Lelouch snarled at the only Galactic survivor, but ignored her as he heard footsteps enter the cell.

"Lelouch." The Black Prince turned on the floor to face the source of the voice. Silver Laguada stood before him in the majestic armour of Zero, glaring down at his former leader.

"Your execution shall be at dawn." He told Lelouch, donning the mask. "Zero shall live on, and you shall die by my hand, just as promised. This will keep the Black Knights from collapsing, and they shall not be betrayed by the knowledge of Zero's true identity. Britannia shall fall." The new Zero declared, turning around and walking away as C.C., strapped in her prison uniform and her eyes covered, was thrown in beside them. "I assure you that."

Lelouch knelt upright, glaring at the direction of the new Zero's footsteps despite not being able to see.

"Well, I suppose that this is your first time being executed." C.C. told the other two. "Don't worry, you get used to it after the first hundred times."

-}+{-

Gasp, mystery.

Next time is the 40th chapter. It shall be epic.

And the Deviation shall continue. Don't worry about that.

Varanus: At this point I doubt anyone doesn't think things will continue to deviate. Fun times!