Boy In The Scroll

Warning: There's a couple swear words in this chapter...

Chapter 6: Chaos at The Harbor

"Where are you guys?" Lelouch asked over the radio.

"Almost there," Ohgi said.

Both Tamaki and Ohgi could hear a sigh of irritation coming from the other end. "Be careful when you two get here. There's a bunch of cops and three knightpolice. I suggest coming in from the south and traveling between the old freights. It's the only clear area. When you two get to the south drop off, radio me so I can give you directions... oh and ditch the truck a quarter of a mile before you get there." The line went dead.

After a while, Ohgi finally asked the question which had been on his mind for a while now, "can we really trust this kid? And how was he able to get in so fast? It's like he's in league with the Britannians."

Tamaki couldn't help but snort and shake his head. "He's on our side," he said with confidence. He had a feeling that as long as he had the scroll in his possession, Lelouch would be on their side... hell even if he didn't have the scroll, he doubted that Lelouch would side with the Britannian's. The kid might be a Britannian but his hate was real.

"If you say so..." Ohgi said as he parked the truck out of sight and jumped out. It was a coincidence that he happened to see Naoto's own car and decided to park the truck right next to it.

Ten minutes later, both men were hiding behind a large freight and doing their best to stay out of sight of the lights that shined their way. "Alright, we're here. Now what?" Tamaki asked through the radio.

There was silence, then static as Lelouch spoke. "In a minute a party of two will pa-"

"I thought you said the south was clear!" Tamaki shouted.

"It's the safest route," Lelouch said simply. "Now head between the freights labeled 101 and 106b. From there you'll pass two freights before taking a right at the first blue freight you see."

"Do you know where Naoto is?" Ohgi asked, as he and Tamaki followed Lelouch's directions.

"Take another right and there should be an empty tractor. Go inside of it. The Britannia's won't be checking the area around it." There was a pause then, "no, I don't know where Naoto is. However Kallen is here."

"Is she with you?" Ohgi asked.

"No…" If Tamaki was just a tad bit smarter he would have been able to pick out the unease in Lelouch's voice about the obvious lie. However being that Tamaki is well… Tamaki, he ignored these signs and took Lelouch's words for the dictionary interpretation and not for what Lelouch actually meant; 'I'm with her, but she can't see me and I don't want Ohgi to ask if he can speak to her.'

"You left her alone?" Tamaki asked with a hint of venom in his voice.

"...Yes," Lelouch said. How was he supposed to say that he was following her without getting himself into even more trouble than he was already in? "In any case, you two are free to search the harbor. I've hidden two uniforms in the tractor, under the dashboard, change into them and if anyone questions you; there should be fake ID's labeling you as honorary Britannian's. Just make sure you keep the helmet on. I stole those ID's from other people so if they see your face and the ID, it'll spell trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," Tamaki grumbled as he began changing.

"You're name's Lelouch, right?" Ohgi questioned as he too began slipping on the grey uniform.

"Yes."

"And you're Britannian?" There was no answer, but Ohgi took that as a yes. "What's a Britannian doing helping us? We're eleven's. A mere resistance group."

"How low. How can you expect anyone to side with you if that's the attitude you got? You're Japanese not numbers, and I don't see a reason why a Britannian can't do as he pleases. If you must know, I'm simply helping due to self interest." and boredom.

"Okay, we're done changing. Should we meet up with you?" Ohgi asked, filing everything he just learned about Lelouch for later.

"No, we'll cover more space if I'm by myself."

"Alright," Ohgi agreed and quickly stuffed his radio into his breast pocket. It was a good thing they recently got some money to update from the brick sized radio, to something that was just a tad larger than a cellphone. It was much more convenient than the radio's they were forced to use only a month ago.

"Come on Tamaki, let's get go… ing… Tamaki?" Ohgi blinked at the empty seat besides him. Tamaki had been there a while ago. Don't tell him the idiot went out on his own. Again.

x~XXX~x

Lelouch sighed as the line went dead. He could only hope those two were more helpful than bothersome. Hopefully they wouldn't get caught and would alert him should anything happen.

Shaking himself from these thoughts, Lelouch continued to follow Kallen. Despite the fact she was wearing a school uniform-complete with a skirt- the girl moved quickly. It pained Lelouch to admit that he spent a complete thirty minutes staring at her skirt wondering why it never lifted up during her sprints across the harbor or when the wind picked up. It was almost like the thing was glued to Kallen's legs, but that couldn't be since it moved like natural cloth, granted wet cloth, but still. In the end, he chalked up the mystery to a girl thing.

Kallen looked around the corner and Lelouch already knew the coast was clear. The cops followed a strict pattern. Knowing this even a child would be able to avoid detection. Of course he couldn't tell Kallen of his findings, but if he could, they would be moving along much faster. Seeing that the area was clear, Kallen raced forward and reached another row of freights. These looked newer than the other's that had been siting here to rust.

It must be the new shipments.

Without missing a beat, Kallen slipped into the nearest freight. "Wow," she breathed just as Lelouch floated in.

Stacked to the roof, this freight was loaded with antiques. It would take an idiot not to realize this shipment was meant for one of the nobles and was probably worth a fortune. Any of these items would be worth several pounds of Britannian currency if sold on the black market.

For the next ten minutes, Kallen shifted through the different items with Lelouch peering over her shoulder. Most of the antiques were too large to carry but others were small enough to fit into Kallen's pockets. These items being a handheld gun, a bag of gold coins and an antique watch. As for Lelouch, he wrapped his coat around a black helmet he found. He wasn't entirely sure what he would do with it, but it reminded him of a black king chess piece.

"Lelouch?"

The spirit paused from what he was doing and snuck a look at his radio.

"Naoto?" Lelouch asked as he floated out of the freight. Kallen may not be able to see or hear him, but with Naoto over the radio he didn't want to take his chances.

"I'm picking up your radio frequency. What are you doing here?" Naoto hissed.

"Looking for you. Where are you? Do you need help?"

"No, I'm good, but if you see a detonator of any sort make sure to tell me."

"Did you find something?" Lelouch asked.

"The Britannian's are shipping some type of gas in parts. I'm not interested in the gas, the Britannian's can take it to one of their bases for all I care. As long as we have the detonator we'll be safe and have a trump over them."

"Interesting," Lelouch nodded, that sounded like an excellent plan. "What about the rest of the shipment?"

"We'll take as much of the food as we can fit into my car."

"Tamaki and Ohgi brought the truck so we could probably empty half of a freight."

"Sounds good."

"I'll tell the two of them to bring the truck arou-"

"No need, I think I just found Tamaki. I'll catch you later Lelouch."

"Wait!" Lelouch called, but it was too late. Naoto already turned off his radio. "Ohgi, come in. Where's Tamaki?"

"I'm not sure," Ohgi said. "I took my eyes off him for a second and the next he was gone."

Lelouch sighed. "Don't worry about it. Naoto's with him. Anyway I need you to drive the truck around. I'll cause a distraction as you empty one of the cooling freights with food in it."

Without wasting another second, Lelouch tied his coat and helmet over his shoulder for a makeshift bag. Then taking his radio, he slightly opened the freight Kallen was in and tossed the radio toward her. He could hear the small yelp of shock as Kallen caught the radio and raced for cover as if expecting there to be an attack. Lelouch didn't have time to ensure that she was okay, however, and quickly flew away. He needed to make that distraction and fast.

Good thing he didn't need to worry about getting caught. The first thing that caught Lelouch's eye was a steal bar. This would be almost too easy.

Rain drummed against the concrete, echoed by the sound of clanging. Lelouch smirked as he raced forward with a steel bar in hand and dragged it across the uneven walls of the freights he passed. Nearby one of the cops shouted in shock at the 'floating' steal bar heading his way.

"Night," Lelouch said, and without a second thought he hit the guy over the head. That would hurt… Spotting a radio attached to the man's suit, Lelouch picked it up and said into it, "attack near the north helipad! I rep- AAAaagrrhhhh!" Lelouch screamed and cut off his connection. "I'd say that was a big distraction…" Lelouch chuckled to himself, tapping the steal bar onto his open palm.

It would be more interesting if something really was going on at the helipad, though. Lelouch grinned as he took his time at approaching the helicopter that flew right above the helipad. The pilot was being cautious, and would have been relatively safe if he wasn't dealing with someone who could fly.

Bang!

Lelouch swung the bar at the helicopter before dropping it to clang uselessly to the ground. By now most of the cops were surrounding the area, including two of the knightpolice. The third was probably still on it's way.

Floating though the helicopter, Lelouch was tugged back. He'd forgotten about the helmet… Being a spirit would be so much easier if he could also make real world items intangible. Lelouch sighed as he untied his coat and left the sleeves to hang through the helicopter with the helmet on the other side. It would need to do for now.

Turning back to the pilot, Lelouch began by glancing at the control board. Good. The machine guns attached were still operational and had several rounds of ammunition. Flicking off the safety, Lelouch reached through the pilot and took hold of the controls over the pilot's hands. Lelouch couldn't help but snicker at the sharp intake of breath as the pilot undoubtedly felt hands wrap around his own.

"What?" the pilot hissed as the machine guns took aim and fired at the cops gathered on the dock.

A swift punch to the dashboard was all it took to ensure that the bullet's would continue firing. Lelouch released his grip on the controls and turned on the hand's free radio. "I'm defecting from Britannian!" Lelouch shouted into it with a maniacal laughter. "All hell Zero!"

Technically he was a spirit and in essence nothing, so the name Zero made sense. The name would probably be seen as something, someone made up. Without a face 'Zero' would become nothing more than a tale that someone made up.

Oh well, Lelouch's job was done here. With a scapegoat, he wouldn't need to worry about the Britannian's looking for a culprit. It would also take a while for the bullet's to run out, and once it did the pilot would have no other choice but to flee or turn himself in.

Lelouch smirked as he floated through the wall of the helicopter and grabbed his coat and helmet. Now to get back to Tamaki and Naoto. He sighed, this was going to be a long mission.

XXX

"Tamaki!" Naoto called. Crap. Naoto whipped around a freight as a few cops ran passed him. Why did that man always insist on doing things his way? Gah! Tamaki was so-so reckless! Jumping onto a Britannian ship was not a good idea. True, Naoto wanted the detonator but he didn't want it if it meant risking his life!

Once the last of the cops ran past, Naoto sprinted toward the ramp. This was soooo not a good idea.

"Come in, Tamaki," Naoto hissed through the radio, hoping that Tamaki would answer.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Tamaki didn't answer. "Damn it!" Naoto swore, raising his hand with the radio as if to slam it on the ground before thinking better of it. That idiot! Tamaki was going to get himself killed one of these days!

Naoto growled in frustration. This wouldn't be the first time Tamaki went off on his own. The fool always ignored orders. "What's going on in that head of yours?" Naoto questioned the air.

Naoto looked the freights, it was like a human sized maze on a ship. The deck was slippery from the rain, and he could see the moonlight reflected off of it's shining metal. Looking around, he couldn't find anything that looked remotely dangerous. It was different than other boat's he'd been on. This was a Britannian ship.

Weaving between the freights stacked on the sides of the ship, Naoto picked up his pace. Tamaki needed to be here somewhere. He'd been walking aimlessly for about an hour, and was beginning to think he'd never find Tamaki. A movement from his peripheral vision alerted him to another presence, and Naoto didn't give it a second thought before running in that direction.

"Tamaki," Naoto breathed, but the name caught in his throat when he saw what the red head was staring at.

A knightmare pointing it's guns at his comrade.

In Tamaki's hand, Naoto could just make out a small device. If he was right that was the detonator.

Click!

Tamaki flinched. He needed to do something now!

Naoto raced forward.

BANG! BANG! BANG! CRASH!

The pain registered and darkness took over.

XXX

Chaos, Lelouch realized that he'd been too late. Gold flames whipped up with the wind and even with the freezing rain, it still continued to spread. Lelouch neared the burning ship. The fire couldn't hurt him. He could almost feel his heart pounding against his rib cage as he scanned the ship for the scroll's owner and the owner's friend. Where? Where?! Where! The question rang in his head.

"Tch," Lelouch grunted in irritation. Eyes narrowing and teeth gritted, he dived into the fire. He barely noticed a knightmare escape hatch launch over him and into the raging waters.

"Naoto…" it was a whimper and Lelouch immediately flew toward the sound. It was Tamaki of course. Ash smeared his face and dirtied his ripped clothes as he stared at the arm that gripped his own. One arm. No body.

"Tamaki, we need to go," Lelouch stated as he neared the man. He reached over to pull the red head up.

"No, Naoto… he's…"

"We need to go now!" Lelouch shouted. The fire was spreading. It would only take a minute for it to reach the engine. Lelouch didn't wait for an answer, nor did he listen to Tamaki's protests as he dragged the man into the sky and toward safety.

A/N: Hope that answers the question about Naoto... kinda... Bwahahaha, I feel so evil. I just killed a character and swore all in the same chapter! Anyway if you read the author's note from a while ago about Naoto I wasn't lying about him 'sort of dying.' That'll be explained in the next chapter... I think... okay, I'm pretty sure it'll be explained in the next chapter but knowing me, I might end up typing up something completely different...

Special thanks to everyone who continue to read this story and extra special thanks to those who review and give their opinion! Also people who don't have an account but review anyway, thanks for taking your time to say something but I ask that you leave some sort of name, instead of just 'Guest.' That way if multiple 'Guests' have a question I'll be able to reply without needing to worry about numbering all you 'Guests.' lol. Thank you all XD

Wraith Kone: Thanks for reviewing! I would have PMed you but decided that you had an excellent question and that other's might be wondering the same thing. So to answer it, yes and no. He will get a real body, and will be able to be seen by everyone. However he'll always feel a strong connection to the scroll and will never truly be released from it. I'll be going more into his connection with the scroll in later chapters, after this whole Naoto thing is over with. Hope that answered your question! :)