Rescue Angels
Me: And so the plot thickens...
Euphemia: Do I have to go to her? She scares me!
Me: Hey, no one said this was gonna be easy. Plus you were going to run into her eventually.
Euphemia: But...! But she - and the table - and the bomb-
Me: Don't worry, you're an actual angel this time around. I think you can handle her. (pause) I think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.
Chapter 7: EMP Rebellion
If it wasn't for what had happened the previous day, Kallen probably would have had trouble keeping her eyes open.
It had been a few weeks since the Black Knights broke the JLF's hostage ploy, and since then Zero had been running them ragged, taking out street level problems that the Britannian government had been too lazy, too incompetent/corrupt, or too preoccupied to handle. One particular night had them running a drug bust, Refrain. Oddly, there hadn't been any people to receive it there; apparently all the patrons had seen them coming.
More specifically, had seen the Lady in White arrive and help them.
Kallen frowned a bit at the memory. The Lady in White was still a massive enigma; she wished they had been fast enough to get there while she had been present to those people. At least one man who had previously been on Refrain insisted that the mysterious woman had miraculously healed him of his addiction. Of course they couldn't simply take his word for it, but the implication that the Lady had that kind of power troubled Kallen. If she could do that, what else could she do? Why wasn't she doing more? What did she want out of this, involving herself in the conflict considerably but not often?
Her thoughts on the matter had been distracted the next day, when she discovered her mother had resigned suddenly and left for a new job. Going to her room had revealed horrifying phrases cut into the wall - "Get out or we'll kill you" "Filthy Eleven!", and most recently, something written by her mother's own hand.
"No more for me."
A look in the drawers had driven Kallen completely to tears. There were a few empty vials and an injection needle. Next to that, however, was a carefully folded photo of herself, Kallen and Naoto, back when they were young, carefree and happy. Written carefully – with a steady hand, no less – on the back was a series of simple sentences.
"I love you Kallen. I'm proud of you. Be safe. Be strong."
Why didn't you leave sooner?!
Kallen wished her mother had said something to her before running off. Of course, she hadn't exactly been very warm towards her...if only she'd known about the threats. Now, Kallen just wanted to see her mother again...and hopefully reconnect with her. She had an inkling where her mother had gone to get work – that new opera house, established by Princess Euphemia. It was the most obvious place, since it was new and in need of all kinds of staff.
The Nunnally Britannia Opera House.
The redhead bit her lip. That was the second time the vi Britannia siblings had surfaced prominently in her mind recently. The Princess sub viceroy had said the pair were important to her, so perhaps it was to be expected that they'd get something named after them.
But nonetheless, it was a little strange...
She had pulled Lelouch over just before first period and asked him why he and his little sister shared the same names as the vi Britannia siblings. A nagging suspicion had sunk into her; Lelouch had always been slightly aloof and had some aristocratic traits to how he worked and how he acted. Was it possible that Euphemia's half siblings weren't dead, but alive and in hiding?
Lelouch had brushed her off, explaining that his mother had named them as a way of showing her loyalty and admiration of the Royal Family. Kallen didn't miss the slight, displeased twitch of his lip, but she reluctantly accepted the explanation. She didn't have much proof, after all.
"Hey Kallen! What's the matter, you look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet!"
Kallen turned her head in Shirley's direction. She had to admit, she was coming to really like the members of the Student Council. Shirley's constantly sunny, boundless energy, which had a way of spilling over to other people; Rivalz's terribly obvious crush on Milly; Milly's obliviousness and blatant bisexual flirtation with both Lelouch and Shirley; Nina's easily flustered and pleasant nature; Lelouch's street smart and no-nonsense personality; Suzaku's puppy like earnestness; and Nunnally's inhumanely sweet nature made her feel almost like she had a family here. Each and every one of them was becoming important to her.
Though...something was a bit weird today.
Kallen blinked twice, and stared blankly at her friend. More specifically, at her friend's chosen outfit. "Hey Shir...what are you wearing?"
Shirley was dressed up in a weird, clownlike pink cat suit, with whisker facepaint and paw gloves covering her hands. It was both kind of cute and very off putting. "Oh, this? President's orders; we're setting up a party!" She reached out and tugged at Kallen's wrist. "Come on in, let's see if there's an outfit that calls to you!"
Kallen tried to get away – she really did – but Shirley's grip was surprisingly sturdy, and she found herself being hauled into the clubhouse.
"Gah! Shirley, come and help me!"
"Get off me, Suzaku! Hey, what are you doing!? ...Oh right, like you're not enjoying this!"
Kallen stared for a few seconds at the scene in front of her, before quickly pressing a hand over her mouth to strangle her snickers. Cool, composed Lelouch was throwing a hissy fit, having been tied to a chair by the other student council members – who were also dressed as cats – while Rivalz tried to apply the whisker makeup. Shirley was helping Suzaku hold the irate young man in place, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Milly noticed her coming in and waved a paw. "Good Meowrning, Kallen!"
"Dare I even ask?" The redhead ventured, watching the struggle with repressed amusement.
"Didn't we tell you?" Rivalz asked, nodding towards the cat tree that had been set up in the corner. Perched on top of it was an extremely grumpy looking dark furred cat. "It's our welcome party for Arthur! Classes are cancelled for today, we might as well have some fun!"
"You just wanted an excuse to throw another crazy party," Shirley accused, though she was also smiling at Lelouch's futile resistance. "Come on, Lulu, we'll all look equally silly! It'll be fun! You spent way too much time being all so serious!"
"Aww, trying to get him to loosen up?" Milly asked her tauntingly. Shirley glared at her indigently before quickly firing off that there were costumes in the corner for Kallen to choose from.
Kallen really had to wonder how Lelouch, who seemed so brilliant, could be so bloody oblivious to the fact that the orange haired girl had the most telegraphed crush in history on him.
"She doesn't need a mask," Lelouch hedged, smiling at her. "You're already wearing a mask, aren't you?"
Kallen stiffened for a minute, before snorting. "You're a riot. You ought to be on television."
Shirley groaned. "Please, don't mention television around here. If I see another bloody microphone getting shoved in my face, I might just have to kill a man."
Rivalz, who had been about to make that very joke, laughed nervously. "Oh come on, it's awesome isn't it?! You've been on the daily news channel!"
"You have?" Kallen asked, surprised. She had known that Shirley, Milly and Nina had been a few of the hostages who had narrowly dodged death at Lake Kawaguchi – she was glad that she had been there to protect them at the end – but she hadn't been watching the news directly afterwards, having been distracted by her work with the Black Knights.
"Don't answer that!" Shirley yelled back somewhat panickedly.
Milly of course ignored her, turning to regale both Kallen and a curious looking Suzaku with the story that had been run into the ground since the attack. "Oh, didn't you hear? Shirley's a brave little trooper! When those men opened fire in the lobby that night, she took charge right away-"
"Milly!"
"-leading Nina, me and a bunch of other people down to the basement, and hid us in a janitor's closet. But that wasn't the end, oh no-"
"Milly!" Shirley forsook her job holding Lelouch to the chair in favour of flailing her arms around, trying to stop the blonde who was just hitting her stride.
"Two men with guns come down and start to shoot out the door – Shirley rams it hard enough to knock it into them. One of them drops a flash grenade, and my brave swim team leader uses the confusion to grab one of their guns and beat them into unconsciousness with it!"
"Milly!"
Suzaku looked over at Shirley, impressed. "Is that what happened? I only got the after action report."
"Then, she turns to us and says, like a heroine out of some action movie, 'Sorry, looks like our vacation's over'. Some other guy takes the other gun, and Shirley leads us back up the stairs, intimidates the idiot at the door, and BOOM! We're all safely outside!"
Lelouch craned his neck slightly to look up at Shirley. "Really?" He asked, smiling slightly. "Wow, Shirley. I didn't know you had it in you."
If it was possible, Shirley's face went even redder, to the point of resembling a very ripe tomato, torn between flustered, angry, flattered and speechless for a few seconds. "Guuuuuys! It-it-it was mostly adrenaline! I-I just did what I could to help! Anybody would have done the same!"
"Except nobody else did, until you got up!" Milly pointed out. Mortified, Shirley melted against the wall and buried her face in her hands. "Until a few days ago, she could barely walk down town without someone recognizing her!"
"I don't want attention!" Shirley wailed. "I'm perfectly content knowing I managed to do the right thing! That I was able to help people. I don't need a medal for that!"
Kallen laughed a bit and smiled. To do the right thing, huh...maybe Shirley would make a good Black Knight. If she was so inclined. The redhead filed that away in her memory, so she could mention it the next time she spoke with Zero.
She could have sworn she saw him glance over at her when they passed by the hostages to enter the Hotel.
"I'm glad you're all okay," Suzaku admitted, tearing up a bit. "I'm glad...when the shooting started, I was afraid..." He shook his head. "I'm glad we can all be together like this!"
Rivalz tackled him to the ground, ranting that they were supposed to be unwinding. Everyone laughed, the atmosphere light and warm. Yes, Kallen thought. I'm glad you finally convinced me to go to school, Ohgi. I'm glad I got to meet these people.
The laughter was broken up by a phone ringing. Shirley let out a noise of complete surprise, quickly digging through her pocket and producing a slim black phone. Kallen was surprised; she'd seen Shirley's phone before, it was pink wasn't it?
"Hey, is that a new phone?" Rivalz asked, eyeing it with some envy. "Looks fresh off the market!"
"Um, yeah!" Shirley stammered, before getting up. "My dad got it for me. Excuse me for one minute; who in the world is calling me in the middle of school...?" The orange haired girl shot out of the room quite quickly.
Lelouch's brow furrowed slightly. Rivalz, meanwhile, got up and started walking towards the door when Milly caught up with him and grabbed him by the collar. "And where do you think you're going?"
"Ow! Hey! I just wanna hear who she's talking to!" The blue haired boy protested.
"Listening in on a girl's private conversation? Aren't you a gem, Rivalz? Why would that be any of your business who she's calling?!" Milly said with a frown.
"...yeah, see you soon! Great, bye." Shirley's voice drifted from the doorway. The young girl walked back into the doorway, looking more relaxed and a bit sheepish, slipping her phone into her pocket. "Hey guys, I'm sorry about that. I forgot that I was going to go out and have lunch with my mum today! That's what that was."
Kallen blinked. ...Really? She had a feeling Shirley was making that up, which was odd because the girl didn't seem to be the lying type. A glance over at Lelouch and his slightly narrowed eyes showed that he had seen it too.
Are you hiding something, Shirley?
**~At Lunch~**
Shirley rushed down the road to the coffee shop at the end of the road, holding her wallet. She paused at the cashier desk just long enough to buy a muffin before stepping out onto the back deck where a few tables were sitting. There weren't any other people there, since the tables had been reserved ahead of time...though throughout the day, no one else would appear to claim them. The transaction had been done by a locked credit card.
She didn't have to wait long. About five minutes later, a young woman in a grey hoodie and dark red jeans stepped out of the shop and took the seat across from her, her chest heaving from running. Her long hair was braided back and hidden under the hood, with just a few whisps of pink betraying her unique identity.
"Sorry I surprised you," Euphemia said, placing her mug of hot chocolate on the table.
"No, it's fine." Shirley responded with a small laugh, shaking her head. "I had gotten so distracted by the clubhouse's antics I nearly forgot what day it was." In a more subdued tone, she added, "How's your head?" gesturing to the long, thin scar over the princess's right eye.
"Oh, it's alright," Euphemia assured her. "Lelouch, and then the doctors, took good care of me. There hasn't been any damage to my mind."
"If they ever find out what we're discussing here, they'll probably disagree," Shirley deadpanned, prompting both girls to fall into a fit of giggles. However, after a moment they both became serious again. "Narita will be happening soon, won't it?"
Euphemia nodded, concern in her eyes as she watched Shirley stare down at her muffin. "We'll keep them safe," She promised. "Including your father."
Shirley nodded slowly, grim determination taking over her face. "We don't have much of a choice there, do we?" She bit her lip. "I'll take a train after dad leaves, and show up there in time. I think my power will allow me to protect the civilians on my own." She had already told her friend about what she had done at the docks. "If you aren't in the G1 the whole time, people will get suspicious."
"True," Euphemia sighed. "I'll order a general evacuation, but things will probably be slow. Big sister isn't likely to spare soldiers for it."
The two sat in silence for a moment, before Shirley decided to say the thing that was on both their minds. "Euphy, I know Lulu won last time, but it was a marred victory. Do you think there's some way for us to tip the scales in his favour?"
Euphemia sat back in her seat. "Big sister will be protected mostly by Sir Darlton, Sir Guilford, and Suzaku. They got split up at the battle, but the Lancelot allowed her to escape." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I won't let Suzaku get hurt; he wasn't sent out until after the landslide, but that was all the time he needed."
"Well..." Shirley slowly tapped her fingers against the desk, before saying, "What if he couldn't find her?" Light dawned in her eyes, and she started to smile. "I mean...the tracking beacons. They can be disabled, right?"
Euphemia clapped her hands together. "It's not just the beacons! The Knightmare Frames are powered by Sakuradite, but the communications channels and the heads up displays all rely on electricity! If we can shut them off, the Britannia forces will be rendered blind and deaf. They'd be easy prey!"
"Perfect!" Shirley said brightly.
"However," Euphemia added, her face falling slightly, "I'd need a powerful EMP device to take out their computers. If I try to commission one from the science labs, I'd likely get discovered. Plus, it would probably need to be unleashed from the top of the mountain, keyed to their Beacons so we don't shut down the Black Knights by accident."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that..." Shirley bit her lip. The two girls exchanged a very uneasy look; they had gotten the idea at roughly the same time, but were reluctant to voice it.
"Nina," They said simultaneously.
Euphemia frowned and lightly clenched her hands together. She didn't like the idea of manipulating Nina, and contact with her risked the creation of the bomb that had killed millions in the bad future. However, if there was a chance...
"If I hired her out of school," The princess mused, "I might be able to control anything she creates before things inevitably go down the tubes. In fact, I think I'd feel better if I could foist her into the Camelot Unit. Lord Asplund could keep an eye on her. He's eccentric, but he's wise in his own way."
Just like last time, Nina had seen and heard Euphemia give herself up to shield the hostages at Kawaguchi. While she hadn't been personally saved, Nina had grown to deeply admire the pink haired girl's heroism – Shirley had seen as much thanks to the girl's browsing history.
"I hadn't thought of that. He was the one who recognized what she was making," Shirley pondered. "But if she makes the bomb, and is under orders from Britannia-"
"I'll tell her not to," Euphemia said. "If I'm right about her, and I think I am, she won't do anything I ask her not to." There was a dull flash of gold in the other girl's eyes as she said this.
"Well, if she's going to make this, you should probably meet her today," Shirley said. "She'll need time to make it, and the clock to Narita is ticking every day..."
Euphemia leaned across the table and gently squeezed Shirley's hand. "Don't over stress yourself, Shirley. It's going to be different this time."
Shirley smiled weakly. "I'll try, Euphy. Are you going to be okay, dealing with Nina?"
"I don't know." The princess admitted. "But it's the best option we've got."
**~Later~**
Nina was walking home alone, having split with Milly a few blocks away from the apartment she called home. Her guardian was rarely home, so she had the key in her pocket and wasn't expecting any surprises. Boy, was she wrong about that.
Turning onto her street, Nina let out a startled yelp as she crashed into someone who had been jogging in the opposite direction. A hat went flying off onto the ground. "Oh my goodness!" Nina's heart jumped into her throat. She remembered that voice; she heard it frequently in her dreams. "I'm so sorry, I haven't hurt you have I?"
Nina took a step backwards and let out a kitten like squeaking noise. Standing in front of her, her pink hair carefully braided back and once again wearing casual clothes, was Euphemia li Britannia, princess, sub viceroy and the holder of Nina's currently-only-slightly unbalanced affections.
"P-P-Princess Euphemia!" The green haired girl squeaked, quickly dropping to her knees. "I'm so, so sorry, I was just turning the corner and I didn't see you-!"
"Oh, it's okay! I was the one running. Please, stand up." Euphemia said kindly. Her heart pounding, Nina did as she was told. "What's your name?"
"N-Nina, your majesty...!"
Euphemia eyed her curiously for a moment before her eyes lit up with recognition, which nearly caused Nina's heart to stop. "Hey, I've seen you before! Weren't you one of those poor people who got caught up in that mess at Lake Kawaguchi?"
"Y-Yes," Nina stammered. "I-I was with m-my friends. T-Thank you so much...y-you gave y-yourself up t-to those Elevens to p-protect us. Y-you looked like an angel of mercy..."
"Oh, you're welcome Nina. I am a princess, and my duty is to my subjects." Euphemia said with gentle confidence, causing Nina's heartbeat to speed up. "I'm glad you're alright."
The princess then crossed her arms. "Can you help me, Nina? I've been looking for someone to help me create a tool I think would be useful to Area 11's warriors, but big sister says all the important scientists are tied up in other work."
"I-I'd be happy to help you, your highness!" Nina cried, happily oblivious to the golden glow and the fragmented symbol in her Princess's eyes.
End Chapter
And now we've seen flashes of Euphy's Geass! It isn't outright, unbreakable control...more like soft charisma, making people want to put their faith in her and appear useful. Of course Nina was already like that, so who knows what Euphy can do at this point...
And yes, Nina. Unfortunately for the girls, they didn't have a lot of tech options. Lloyd's competent enough to make it, but he probably wouldn't be able to keep their secret. So they have to settle for Nina. This is gonna be interesting.
Read and Review please!