Code Geass: The Demon and the Dragon
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. If I did, then what you see below would be the show, instead of a fanfiction on the Internet. Nor do I own any of the lyrics or songs that I may or may not have used in this chapter.
Phase 3: Black Economics and Red Queens
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Kellen shuddered, clutching the jacket she'd found around her shoulders. Around her in the warehouse/shelter were other Japanese. Most of them were just normal people who'd been living in Shinjuku. The few walking around carrying old assault rifles were her comrades.
"Damn it!" She heard one of the refugees yell. "If you guys just lived quietly and didn't antagonize the Brits, this wouldn't happen!"
"Hey, shut your mouth!" Tamaki yelled. Before he could say anything more though, the warehouse's doors were blasted apart. After the smoke cleared, they saw the platoon of soldiers standing in a line, assault rifles aimed straight at the group. Behind them was an APC, its top hatch open and what she guessed was the commander sticking his head out. Raising his arm, he began to signal the troops to fire.
"All soldiers, this is your prince, Clovis La Britannia! I order you to cease hostilities and help the Elevens! Obey me!" The loudspeaker in the G1 ensured that everyone in the immediate area heard it. The commander hesitated, lowering his arm. Then, after a little discussion, he nodded and waved to the soldiers. The terrorists, most of whom had dropped their weapons, were astonished, Kallen too.
And as the Japanese were escorted outside the ghetto, she couldn't help but think of those two, the voice and the Renegade Sutherland. Are they responsible for this?
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The figure before Clovis released the switch, and began moving towards him. His companion, the one holding the pistol, moved with him, striding just behind and to the right of the main figure.
"What now?" Clovis asked jauntily, hiding the fear he felt. "A game of chess?"
"I would like that Clovis. Just like old times." The prince was visibly confused by this, and the one holding the pistol chuckled a bit. "Oh come now, you must remember us." The central figure stepped forward, out of the shadows that covered the rest of the darkened command center. Kneeling in the center, he announced.
"It is I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, seventeenth heir to the throne of Britannia." Lelouch waited for a second before rising, and frowned, glancing at his guard. "Oh come now Learme, be polite." His twin stepped forward and inclined his head, a smirk crossing his face.
'L-lelouch, Learme! Wonderful! Everyone will be so happy to know that you're alive!" Clovis stuttered, a fake grin plastering his features. Even he wasn't so much of an idiot as to actually consider the twins friendly, considering one of them was aiming a gun at him.
"Maybe. Some of them would certainly be thrilled to have their old tools back!" Lelouch grinned, drawing his own pilfered handgun. "Now...on to more important things. You remember our mother, Marianne, yes?" Clovis nodded hesitantly, his eyes switching between the two guns. "She was one of the Emperor's consorts, but born a commoner. I have no doubt the others were...displeased." Clovis was literally shaking now, the rising tone of Lelouch's voice and the evil glare of Learme....they frightened him so much more than their weapons. "So you had her killed!"
"It wasn't me!" Clovis yelled, his eyes widening. "I swear, I had nothing to do with it!"
"Answer my questions!" Lelouch roared, his eye glaring as the sigil reappeared. The twins could tell when it took effect, the red rim appearing around Clovis' irises, and the prince calming considerably. "Who killed our mother?"
"Schneizel and Cornelia. They would know." The bespelled prince replied.
"They did it?" This caused Clovis to look hesitant, despite the compulsion. "Hm. You don't know then." The effect wore off then, Lelouch no longer needing it.
Clovis blinked, then returned to his protests.
"I n-never would do anything of the sort! Believe me!" The twins grinned, and backed off, lowering their weapons.
"Alright then." Lelouch said. Learme stepped forward.
"But...." Lelouch stepped forward as well, and both brothers pressed their guns against Clovis' head.
"S-stop!! Don't do this! We may have different mothers, but I'm still your brother!"
"Sorry Clovis." Learme smirked. Then their guns went off. The bullets blasted through at an angle, meeting together in the middle of Clovis' head, shattering against one another. The fragments blasted out of the back of the skull, splattering his brains against the throne as his corpse slumped down. The two brothers moved, picking up their helmets from the corner of the room and moving out the door, proceeding through the G1.
Outside, the guards blinked as their vision blurred, everything becoming unfocused for a second. Each one shrugged, not knowing that every one of his comrades experienced the same thing, and continued with their vigil. The Lamperouge twins slipped past unseen, ensuring that their footsteps were unheard. After they left the area, they moved quicker, entering the subway system where their stolen Sutherlands were. Learme stopped while his brother mounted his, studying the sword that his Knightmare held.
"Learme, get a move on! You can admire the weapon when we're back at the facility!" Shrugging at his brother, Learme clambered into his cockpit, and started the mecha up. Not ten seconds later, the two were speeding back towards the settlement, following a route they had planned out before Lelouch had even contacted the Glasgow. After maybe an hour of travel, they arrived at a seeming dead end. Each Lamperouge pulled out his cell phone, dialing in a number.
"Alright, on three: one, two, three!" They paged the number at the same time, before switching their phones off and waiting. For about thirty seconds, nothing happened. Then, a portion of the wall in front of their frames shuddered, before splitting into two halves and folding inwards. They deactivated their Sutherland's landspinners, the wheels moving up until they were parallel to the mecha's shin. The two frames walked into the space, the wall reforming behind them.
It was an immense area, the ceiling fifteen meters above and the area about fifty square meters in total. The walls were covered with things, ranging from racks of Knightmare weapons, to entire Knightmare Frames, among their number Glasgows, Sutherlands, and the rare purple Gloucester. There was even a few Chinese Gun-Rus and Prussian Panzer-Hummels. The center of the area was dominated by what looked like military equipment lockers, two beds, two computers, and various tables littered with parts, guns, swords, textbooks, novels, a TV and video-gaming suite. It was like a living room. The southern wall had a firing range, a number of targets pinned to the wall, about half with the shots directly on the bulls-eye, while most of the other half had shots that were only somewhat less impressive
Lelouch parked his Knightmare amongst the other Sutherlands. Learme, however, moved towards a large Knightmare-sized table-like device, and set the sword in the center. Immediately, several robot arms sprang up from the edges, many of them emitting various colors of light from scanners, while others moved the blade around, allowing the scanners to observe the entire sword. After parking his Sutherland, Learme leaped out and ran towards the side of the machine, from which spat a print-out.
"Hmmm. This is interesting."
"What is it?" Lelouch said, stripping off the body armor down to his student uniform, tossing the pieces at the equipment lockers.
"It seems that this sword is made of an alloy that has an extremely high melting point while being extremely hard. And looking at this projected blueprint, it looks like there are some oscillators in the middle, next to what looks like lasers....no, they're masers."
"Wait, is it..."
"Yep. Maser Vibration Sword."
"Damn."
"Oh, don't worry Lelouch. Now that we have one....."
"I see. We can make our own."
"We can make it better!" Lelouch shook his head at his brother's enthusiasm. Walking to the center, he sat down on the couch and turned the television on. Flipping through the channels, he watched the news with interest. While his brother almost danced around the machine, hitting switches, typing in codes, checking displays, and occasionally cackling in glee. I need to make him an appointment with a therapist.... Lelouch thought, conveniently forgetting his own mad laughter when Clovis' forces were wiped out.
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About half an hour later
"I've got it!" Learme's shout startled Lelouch, causing the lost prince to look up to see his twin dancing around again, holding a sheet of paper in his hand and looking at it like any normal teen would look at a beautiful girl. Standing up, Lelouch strode over and snatched the paper away, turning around and ignoring his brother's look of woe.
"Hmm. Interesting. But how are you going to supply the power? There's no way you can fit a battery large enough to supply enough power for both the firing mechanism and the blade mechanism."
"Hmph. the power would be supplied by the Knightmare of course. The grip and the hand of the Knightmare would be made of electrically conductive materials. The Knightmare would charge the weapon's battery constantly."
"Well, good luck. We should get upstairs. They're going to start doing the budget now." Lelouch said, giving the design back before heading to the elevator. Grumbling, Learme stuck the blueprint in a folder and hid it in one of the filing cabinets before following. In the elevator, they pressed themselves to the walls next to the doors, and upon the opening of the portals, Learme ducked his head out and surveyed the area for any watchers before motioning for Lelouch to proceed.
Moving quickly, they emerged into a hallway, the windows of which showed the Ashford Academy campus.
So nice of Mr. Ashford to let us use their old Knightmare facility.. Lelouch thought. The two moved down the hall, before exiting the building and heading for another, rather more ostentatious one closer to the middle of the campus.
Learme opened the door for Lelouch, revealing what looked like a ballroom of respectable size, colored mainly in light shades. Primarily white and gold. The twins walked quickly up the stairs at the front of the room, turning right to one of many fancily-made doors. Before they could open this one however, it burst open, revealing a blond teenage girl with a somewhat wild air.
"LELOUCH! LEARME! Where have you two been? It's been hours since you were supposed to be here!" Leaning to the side, Lelouch took a quick glance at the room's clock, before staring at his twin. Learme shrugged.
"Sorry Milly, we had some errands to do." Lelouch offered as an excuse, stepping past the playfully irate President of the School council. In the room, three other people were sitting at a large table in the center, stacks of paperwork exceeding their heights dominating the poor furniture piece.
"Hoy, Lelouch, Learme, where were you guys today?" The only other guy, a blue-headed layabout named Rivalz, queried. "I thought we were supposed to go....er...."
One of the girls, Shirley, glared at him. "They were supposed to take you gambling with them, weren't they!?" Her burning gaze transferred to Lelouch. "Lulu! If you and Learme keep skipping to gamble away all your money, you'll never-"
"Mr. Ashford says hi." Learme interrupted, taking a seat at the table and starting to go through the documents. Lelouch coolly strode over, and looked over his brother's shoulder.
"Learme? This isn't part of the budget."
"It's not?"
"No. It's a love letter from someone."
".......That's a very strangely written love letter."
"It's laid out like a contract, half of which you signed."
"Shredder. Now." Grinning at his glaring twin, Lelouch took the written declaration of love (and possibly legal marriage contract) and started feeding it into the shredder by the wall. Meanwhile, a girl sitting in a desk situated in the corner with a computer, Nina Einstein, sighed in relief.
"Hey, why don't we leave this until tomorrow?" Rivalz grumbled.
"That sounds like a good idea." The twins chorused, exchanging looks.
"GUTS!!!!" Milly cried, causing everyone to jump slightly in their seats. Then Rivalz spoke again.
"That 'guts' thing again?"
"Yep, a spell to make you work harder!" One could almost hear crickets.
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Yet another half hour later
"Ugh."
"Well, well, who would have thought? The fearsome and vicious Learme, capable of taking down a dozen trained soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, is vulnerable to the wicked ministrations of a pen...."
"Shut up Lelouch. You're used to this kind of stuff. And if you don't stop, I'm afraid I'll have to recount the story of that time you used that .65 caliber magnum at the firing range....."
"You wouldn't." Learme cocked an eyebrow at this and showed a grin that had more in common with a pirahna or shark's diamond-white gape than anything resembling a human smile.
The two were walking to their history class, after finally finishing up the budget. Of course, they had managed to finish up more personal items among the redundant club budgets....
"The JLF wants more custom Glasgows eh?" Learme mumbled to Lelouch in Ersatzsprache, a recently made jibberish form of German that the Euro Universe used in a lot of its dispatches, and that the Britannian Military would (and had) killed to understand. They had bought a manual to it off of a corrupt EU spy in their black market. Which no one knew was theirs.
"At least a platoon." Lelouch hissed back, his facial expression all smile and joking mask.
"How are they paying?"
"Amazingly enough, bullion seized from a Britannian cargo hauler, at least a ton of it." That caused Learme's mask to slip a bit, showing what served as his surprised expression: a blank face with a slightly open mouth. He rearranged his features into a more socially pleasing expression, a small grin, before continuing.
"What's the going rate for precious metals these days?"
"There's a guy buying gold for three thousand pounds in India, and three times that for silver." That caused an avaricious grin to spread across Learme's features as they entered the classroom, causing Shirley to assume a stern glare.
"Shirley thinks we're talking about gambling." Learme stage-whispered to Lelouch, in English. The cast-out prince shrugged, smiling slightly as he and Learme moved to their seats, on the left side in the second-to-last row. Out of the corner of his eye, Learme saw a flash of red. Curious, he turned to look while he sat down.
And froze, seeing a red-haired teenage girl that he had last seen mounting a maroon-red Glasgow to fight a holding action against Britannian Army Sutherlands. Tilting his char on its back legs and using the table in front of him as a footrest, his usual position, he muttered quickly to Lelouch.
"That girl, right row, three tables up, is she who I think she is?" Lelouch turned his head slightly, until the girl in question came into his peripheral vision. Before he could respond, Rivalz, sitting behind them alone, butted his head in between theirs, looking at the girl.
"That's Kallen Stadtfeld. She has some kind of chronic illness. She's excused from physical activities, and isn't in school a lot because of it. Quite a looker eh?" Rivalz grinned, as the twins eyed him.
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While on the surface, Kallen appeared to be a sickly, shy, Britannian student, she was internally holding in the sonic equivalent of a three ton bomb. At the moment, the teacher was recounting the Britannian version of the conquering of Japan, seven years gone.
Argh! I shouldn't be here! I should be with Ohgi, helping get everyone back up to fighting strength! As she raged inside, a turn of her head brought into view two Britannians that seemed almost exactly alike. Same black hair, facial structure, and she'd bet her Glasgow that they had the same eye color. She couldn't tell, they were asleep, the one on her right laying back in his chair, feet on the table and head tilted slightly back while the leftward one was slumped onto his section of the table.
Mentally scoffing, she turned her head back forward, starting to fantasize about taking her Glasgow and demolishing the whole Academy........
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As Kallen turned her head back, the angle of Lelouch and Learme's heads changed slightly, while their eyelids cracked about thirty nanometers wider open.
Yep, she's faking. Lelouch thought. Being a master actor and skilled chess player, where deception was key, he could tell.
Learme's thoughts, on the other hand, ran to more straightforward things.
Hmm. Good stomach, nice legs......probably a good kicker, and I'd bet my .50 caliber Lee-Enfield that she practices weekly, if not daily. in his middle ear, on the bones collectively known as the ossicles were attached puny machines not much larger than a mote of dust. These machines, oscillators, vibrated the ossicles in specific patterns, which traveled along the bones into the inner ear, where the vibrations made their way along the lengthy (for a cell) route that eventually led to the brain.
This pattern was actually one of Learme's favorite English songs.
Another mission, the powers have called me away
Another time to carry the colors again
My motivation, an oath I've sworn to defend
To win the honor of coming back home again
No explanation will matter after we begin
Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried within
My true vocation and now my unfortunate friend
You will discover a war you're unable to win
A slight nudge from Lelouch's foot to one of the upraised legs of Learme's chair signaled Learme to switch off his music. He did so, keying in a number to his cell phone that sent the signal to the nano-earbuds. Without seeming to awaken at all, Learme glanced at Lelouch out of the corner of his eyes.
Lelouch looked at Learme for a second, before slowly shifting his gaze to the terrorist-cum-student. Then he surreptitiously tugged on his sleeve to wipe his lips.
Learme understood instantly. If she was, indeed, the terrorist that Lelouch had ordered around, that had witnessed Learme's astonishing piloting skills, then they had to make sure she stayed quiet about them.
Learme blinked his eye, brushed at it as though wiping something out of his eye before tracing a pattern on the back of Lelouch's hand. The half a degree incline of Lelouch's chin signaled his agreement. The corner of Learme's mouth turned slightly, and he switched the music back on.
I'll have you know
That I've become
Indestructible
Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around while you're alive
I'm an indestructible master of war!
0000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Author's Note - 0000000000000000000000000000000000
Alright, first off, sorry for the long absence. School sucks, although you wouldn't know it from how easy Lelouch and Learme have it.
Friggin Princes.....
Anyway, recall the Muses, who inspire the 'creation of literature and arts'?
Well, it would appear that mine up and left me for something else. At least for awhile. Now though........Well, let's just say things should move apace now.
Responses:
Crayak: Heh, it is a badass machine indeed if I do say so myself. *preen* As for the other one, let's say that it's related to Lancelot, eh? But no, no theft of second 7-gen frame.
Jaksio: I try very hard not to do that. Or, at least I try to save it for the finale. As for the Knightmare Modifications, that's actually how the Burai will come about in this story (see, Ersatzpratz conversation about Glasgows.) And, I have one of the best mecha minds I've been able to find on this website helping in the form of Velshard. So, no worries.
JNottle: Thank you. And no, neither Learme nor Lelouch will turn out to be uber-mensch. Lelouch is all things political and demagoguery, while Learme is a military otaku-slash-grease monkey, to give a short and sweet version. Romance.....I dunno, that makes uncomfortable. Possibly, Maybe, Yeah, ok, romance. Bonds, I'd say actually closer than Nunally, kinda.
Kojiro Kun: Heh, actually those situations won't really change on that much. Other ones, now, those are entirely different matters.
Infinite Freedom: I would hope so. I mean, it isn't every day a prince comes up and out of nowhere to not only bash in several Brit heads, but also shoot them to hell. Or so I hope.
exia00: You reading my mind? Or are you hacking my computer? *suspicious glare* As for the OC, I suppose I could use some good A-LAWS pilots. I'll give you a PM when I start the sequel. I will always respond to reviews. I'm just that way.
Oh, if any of you are curious, the lyrics are for the song "Indestructible" by Disturbed (correct me if I'm wrong)