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.
Phase 4: Monster's Gambit
0000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Demon and the Dragon - 0000000000000000000000000000000000
"Er.....why are we hiding in the bushes Lelouch?" Learme sweat-dropped. The twins were on their lunch break, two periods after they agreed that they had to do something about the terrorist/student. At the moment, they were indeed, hiding behind bushes, watching Kallen and two of her friends eat lunch under a tree.
"Well, we can't just up and bespell her in front of everyone. So we have to get her alone. Now, can you do it?" Lelouch growled.
"I.....don't know." Learme admitted, a bit sheepishly.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it isn't easy. I have to concentrate, and increasing either the number of senses or the number of people makes it harder. So now you want me to do two senses on three people?"
"They have to see and hear the bee. Just do it."
"Alright....but don't blame me if it doesn't work."
00000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Queen - 0000000000000000000000000000000000000
Kallen was bored stiff. Actually, it was a good thing, since it helped with her sickly persona, but still. And the talking of two of her so-called friends didn't help either, the selfish Brits.
They just want to try and get in my good graces because of my father.....
Out of nowhere, Kallen heard a buzzing sound, and looked up to see the girls panicking at the sight of a bee, of all things. Kallen slowly got up, and backed up, before turning and running behind a bush, just as she would if she really was a sick student.
Huh. I wonder where that came from.....there wasn't a hive in the tree.... When the insect came closer, she swatted at it without a thought. Wha.... She felt nothing. No satisfying impact. And when she looked, she couldn't find the bee.
"Excuse me." Kallen turned around to see one of the twins she had glanced at in history class earlier, and had a brief moment of panic. Shit, if he saw me swat that bee, he'll practically know I'm a sham!
"Can I help you?" Kallen asked cautiously, her hand slipping towards her pink purse.
"Yes, could you....." That was all Kallen heard before she noticed a red-violet glint in the Britanninan's left eye and.......
0000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Demon and the Dragon - 0000000000000000000000000000000000
"Were you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?" Lelouch asked, as the terrorist straightened, her hand falling away from her pocket where, he was certain, she had some sort of concealed weapon. Learme was the same way.
"Yes."
"Where did you get it?"
"Ohgi bought it off of an arms dealer named Ryūō."
That's why it looked familiar. Lelouch mused. That's the one with all the metal fatigue and sun rot.....well, now I know why they colored it red.
"Why are you a terrorist? By all accounts, you're the daughter of a fairly influential member of the nobility."
"I'm half Japanese. And Britannia killed my brother."
"So that's it." Lelouch practically jumped out of his skin when Learme just up and out of nowhere started speaking. "She joined a terrorist group in order to get revenge for her brother. I'm guessing he was a member of, or even the leader of it."
"I suppose so."
While they were talking, however, Kallen........
00000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Queen - 0000000000000000000000000000000000000
......wha? Kallen was confused. Last thing she remembered was faking running away from a bee, and now those twins from her history class were having an apparently engaging conversation.
"Oh yes, don't mention anything about Shinjuku."
What? "What do you know about Shinjuku?" Kallen demanded, her hand going right to her purse. The one who had spoken, the one closest to her (And therefore the best target) looked shocked, while the other looked perturbed. Then he started talking.
"Some of the guys have started going around showing videos from the terrorist attack. It's fairly gruesome, and nothing anyone with a weak stomach should see." He offered, before grabbing his brother and walking quickly away.
For the third time in as many minutes, Kallen thought: Wha?
0000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Demon and the Dragon - 0000000000000000000000000000000000
"Huh. I guess your ability has some limitations as well." Learme mused as he and Lelouch power-walked to the student council building. They had rooms in the east wing, which was a blessing, cause there were some entrances to the facility from there.
"Yes, we should start testing both of ours soon." Lelouch agreed, starting to pant from the exertion.
"You really should work out more."
"Shut up."
Entering the building, they turned at the stairs, entering through a door.
"Lelouch, Learme, welcome back!"
"Hello Nunnally." The twins chorused gladly, seeing their sister sitting at the table with Sayoko, the maid.
"Look what Sayoko's been teaching me to do!" Nunnally exclaimed happily, showing them an origami crane.
"Hmm. That's very good Nunnally." Learme complimented, nodding towards Sayoko, who bowed slightly. Lelouch noticed something then, and took Nunnally's hands in his own. A number of small band-aids criss-crossed around her fingers, hiding what the twins presumed were paper cuts.
"Oh Nunnally.....you didn't need to hurt yourself just to impress us." Lelouch said, shaking his head.
"It's no trouble, and I like doing it." Nunnally giggled, imagining the look on Lelouch's face. Learme just looked on. "Sayoko, could you take me to my room? I want to read some more of that old Japanese series, Naruto."
"Of course Nunnally." Sayoko said, getting up and holding on to Nunnally's arm while the former princess got up, and guided her towards her room. The twins watched until Nunnally's door closed behind her. Then they turned and entered their own rooms.
Their rooms were situated along a small hallway that led to a bathroom, with two doors on either side, the one to the left leading to Lelouch's Room while the right-hand door led to Learme's Room. Lelouch's Room had a computer that was connected (via an extensive series of passcode-locked servers) to the facility mainframe about a kilometer underground, while Learme's Room was festooned with all manner of weaponry and technological knick-knacks.
Instead of going to either of their rooms, the twins stepped inside the bathroom, approximately the size of a prison cell. The moment the door was closed and locked, Lelouch lifted up one of the tiles next to the light switch, revealing a keypad. This keypad was special, designed by Learme. It had pressure-sensitive biometric gel keys, and a small capacitor that unleashed enough electricity to fell an extremely large man if the fingerprints didn't match up. After keying in the correct code, a section of the mirror slid apart, revealing a retinal scanner. Learme leaned over the sink and locked his right eye onto the scanner, allowing a beam of red light to swipe over it before the apparatus withdrew back into the wall.
Behind them, the back wall of the shower slid apart, revealing an elevator. Stepping inside, they repeated the security procedure, this time with Learme keying in the code and Lelouch getting his eye scanned.
As the elevator started descending, Lelouch muttered.
"I wish our way of getting to the facility didn't resemble something out of a novel about the Secret Intelligence Service."
"Well, it's secure." Learme said lightly. He actually enjoyed the procedure.
After about a minute, the elevator doors opened, revealing the facility. Both of them exited, walking to the central area where Lelouch sat himself down at one of the computer desks while Learme started opening up one of the lockers.
"Going to practice with Double D, eh?" Lelouch said slyly. Learme blushed a bit, the words bringing to mind a certain part of the human anatomy. The female human anatomy.
"Stop calling it that."
"Well, you practically asked me to call it that when you inscribed those words along the barrel." Learme walked briskly to the firing range, his left shoulder and arm now encased in armor that resembled black scale mail, although a slight humming sound and a vague red glow from under the 'scales' hinted at far more advanced technology than simple layered pieces of metal.
"May I remind you that when you fired this weapon, you fell right on your ass and had to lay down for two hours?" Learme shot back, annoyed, before taking up his firing stance, the left leg slightly behind and to the side of his right leg while the armor-encased arm pointed straight at the target with his right hand on the butt of the magnum.
It was a deadly-looking weapon, with a 16 and a half or so millimeter-wide barrel, 30 and a half centimeters long. The entire gun was black, with a barely noticeable red finish. Below the barrel was a laser sight, which performed its task well, the red laser dot just about indicating where the bullet would go. Along the barrel was inscribed The Dark Destroyer in a golden color.
The target for this session was a man-sized statue made of high-density compressed concrete, which would prove a trouble for most rounds. Further adding to the survivability of the statue was a full set of Britannian Infantry Armor, helmet and all, proven to be resistant to most handgun rounds.
Learme fired, the resounding blam echoing around the chamber, the magnum jumping back in his hand, and the red glow under the armor's scales momentarily intensifying. The 16.51x53.17 millimeter Jacketed Hollow-Point bullet blasted through the helmet, cracking the scanning visor in half, proceeding through the entire head of concrete, expanding slightly inside the statue before exiting out the other end and being stopped by the back of the helmet, its momentum spent. Learme didn't stop there, firing twice more very quickly, in what was known as a double-tap, sending a single round into each 'eye', further demolishing the poor, broken helmet.
Over the next hour, Learme slowly devastated the target statue, which now had a blond wig resembling Clovis' hair on it over the annihilated helmet, while Lelouch continued his duties on the computer.
"Alright, the JLF has agreed to a meeting place." Lelouch announced. Learme fired his last shot, the the sixth round of his third reload, before turning and practically leaping over to Lelouch's computer. "You're to take the Glasgows to them tomorrow, meet their representative, and exchange them for the bullion."
"Huh, they want me to meet them at Saitama Ghetto. That's weird, you'd think they'd avoid drawing anymore military attention to those areas." Learme commented, scanning over the message.
The Glasgows, modified specially for Japanese insurgent groups, were actually called Burai, literally meaning 'Rascal'. Initially, Learme had meant it as a sort of signal to the JLF and other such resistances about exactly how effective their tactics were. However, they took to the custom Knightmares with great enthusiasm, with the more 'prosperous' factions practically groveling to get more. In all actuality, there was little difference between the Glasgows and the Burai, with the Burai's head modified to look like the face of an Oni, and a small machine gun attached to the torso. It was just that these Glasgows had been retuned and fixed of the many, many, problems that plagued the out-of-date frame these days.
The brothers had gotten these specific Glasgows by trading a few old Ashford Yggdrasil Drives (with the serial numbers destroyed) to France, which had seized the Glasgows from a wrecked freighter. They had gotten much of the materials for remodeling them from China, in return for several dozen kilograms worth of munitions, and those had come from the resistance in Area 18 for some of Learme's special-made Liquid Sakuradite bombs.
The twins' black market network was extensive, and had several names. In China, they were called the Fucanlong, the treasure dragon. The EU underground knew them as the Colchian Dragon, while resistances in Russia termed them the Lamja. Their favorite name however, was from here in Japan, Zennyo Ryūō, meaning 'goodness-like dragon-king'. Invariably, all the names stemmed from the reptilian mask Learme wore when conducting business.
Despite their access to markets throughout the world, their primary area of operation was Japan, which, as the area with the most Anti-Britannian Resistance (that was in any way effective) had the most demand for what they sold. There were many other, more important, reasons as well, but that was the one they said to most of the people they bartered with.
"Aw, shit." Learme muttered suddenly, glancing back at the lower-right hand corner of Lelouch's computer screen.
"What? We always skip gym, and its not like our calculus or physics grades are suffering." Lelouch said, wondering what Learme was concerned about.
"Yeah, but Milly wants us in the council building for some sort of gathering, and she used that threat this time." The twins paled.
"Well, what are we waiting for!?" Lelouch demanded, shutting down his computer as Learme hurriedly placed the armor and magnum back in the locker. They practically sprinted towards the elevator, with Lelouch regaining his breath on the way up. Once back in their bathroom, they hurriedly reset the security measures before bursting out the door and speeding towards the main area of the building. Just before the got out the door, the Lamperouge twins skidded to a halt, and brushed themselves off of some imaginary lint, straightened clothes, and, in Lelouch's case, waited a moment to get his breathing back under control again.
No matter what threat Milly Ashford used (and this one was a doozy) they wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing it had made them rush.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Queen - 000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Kallen was honestly amazed. Not only had Milly Ashford somehow gotten her into the student council building, but she had also managed to have the staff whip up an enormous feast. And the spread was impressive.
"So? How about it?" Milly asked.
"What?" Kallen hadn't caught the question.
"Do you wanna join the Student Council? Most of the other clubs are more physically inclined, so I don't think you'd be able to participate in them, so...." Milly trailed off when she noticed that Kallen's attention had drifted, when she saw those twins from earlier walk into the room. Milly seized this chance to leap in between them, throwing her arms up and out and grabbing them around their necks.
"Just in time!" The somewhat crazy-looking council president exclaimed, quite literally bringing the Lamperouge twins down. "The only two members you haven't met! Our Vice President, Lelouch Lamperouge, and the Bodyguard, Learme Lamperouge!" The latter earned Kallen's stare of confusion.
"Heh, Learme wanted to stick around with us, so Milly made the position, seeing as Shirley's the Treasurer, I'm the Secretary, and Nina's sort of the reporter." Rivalz explained, grinning. Kallen still stared at the twins, and they started shifting a bit nervously.
Finally, Learme wriggled out of Milly's grasp, and managed to tug his twin out as well before they turned their heads back towards the door they came in through.
Out came a girl with long brown hair, her eyes closed as she walked on, a Japanese maid accompanying her towards the group.
"Hello." The girl said, bowing slightly in Kallens direction, completely without any assistance from the maid, smiling. Kallen was a bit startled.
Why doesn't she open her eyes? The terrorist and part-time student wondered, all the while smiling demurely .
"This is our sister, Nunnally." Learme supplied, stepping closer to his sister, as Rivalz started some trouble with Lelouch and Shirley.
"Ah. Nice to meet you Nunnally." Kallen said, smiling a little more kindly now, even though the girl still hadn't opened her eyes.....
"She's blind." Learme said, as a flash of some emotion - Pain? Anger? - crossed his face.
Then, out of nowhere, something whacked Kallen in the ear, not hard enough to really hurt her, but hard enough to notice. Then, something splashed on her head, running over her body to soak her school uniform. Turning around, she saw Lelouch buried under Shirley, his hand upraised and holding a wine bottle, out of which sprayed a volume of the red alcohol in an arc that, very precisely, landed on her head.
"Great." Kallen grumbled.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Dragon and the Queen - 000000000000000000000000000000000000000
15 minutes later
Kallen sighed as the water rushed over her. It felt good to take a shower, even if the reason was the antics of a few Britannians.....
She jumped a little when the door opened, with that voice announcing:
"Hoy, Kallen, I got some clothes for you to change into." Learme. Again.
The twin moved quickly, embarrassed to be in the same room as a nude woman, set the clothes (a set of his personal favorites, black pants and a red shirt with a black vest that was lined in gold) on the chair and moved quickly to exit.
"Wait, could you hand me my purse?" Learme looked around, careful to avoid looking at the shower, when he spotted the pink purse on the counter. Picking it up, he shuffled over to the shower, facing away from it and reached his hand behind the curtain.
Kallen grabbed his wrist with her left hand while her right hand snatched her purse, flipping it around and hitting a hidden switch. A rather long, wicked looking blade came out, which she held very near to Learme's arm.
On his part, the Britannian was blushing an extremely deep red, and he thought he could feel a trickle of blood coming from his nose......
"What did your brother mean about Shinjuku?" Kallen snapped, tired of wondering what the heck Lelouch had meant, and unsatisfied with Learme's answer. Just then, the phone next to the shower (Why the hell do they have a phone in the bathroom?) started ringing, and Learme reached for it. Kallen tugged on his wrist, and moved the knife closer. That got him to pause.
"If I don't answer it, someone else will." Kallen relented, loosening her grip a bit, but not letting go. Learme picked up the phone and held it up to his ear, listened for about ten seconds, making 'uh-huhs' and then handed it over to Kallen. "It's for you."
Hesitantly, Kallen laid her knife on the floor of the shower, and picked the phone out from Learme's hand, before holding up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Good to hear from you again, Q-1." The Voice!? Kallen's mind raced. How does he know that I go here? "Meet me and my accomplice at the Tokyo Tower Memorial Museum, tomorrow afternoon."
"Wait, how did you call that cease-fire?" Kallen demanded, jerking the phone as she looked away from the Brit. " Hey!" Before she got an answer, the mysterious voice hung up.
"What cease-fire?" That stopped Kallen's heart for a second. Learme was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. "You play those online military games?"
"Er, yeah....."
"Cool! I dabble in them a bit myself." The twin said, grinning. Then, for no apparent reason, he flushed a bit, and looked away. "By the way, I can....you know....see." Kallen looked down. And shrieked. When she tugged on the phone, the cord had pulled the curtain open! She quickly pulled the curtain closed again, and sat down in the shower, covering herself.
"I won't tell anyone." Learme said, backing out the door, feeling a nose-bleed coming on.
When he got out and closed the door, Lelouch was waiting.
"She bought it?"
"Oh yeah." Learme replied, grinning.
Yet Later
Back in the main room, the council members crowded around Kallen, Shirley and Rivalz apologizing to her repeatedly while they forced Lelouch in between them, making him mutter a half-hearted "Wasn't my fault."
Then the TV came on, Learme having gotten bored of the spectacle, and, for some reason, it was on the news.
Learme practically gasped when he saw Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald on the podium, surrounded by microphones, lights, and reporters.
"My people, we have caught the murderer!" He announced, hands gripping the podium as though he wanted to crack it in two. "Suzaku Kururugi, an Eleven that we Britannians welcomed into our arms as an Honorary Britannian, killed His Royal Highness, Prince Clovis!"
For the twins, the world faded as their vision tunneled to focus precisely on the TV. At that moment they shared the same expression.
Angry defiance.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000 - The Author's Note - 0000000000000000000000000000000000
Alright, that's another chapter. Whew, was really hard to end that one. I think I might come back and fix it later.
Anyway, we're coming up to the reveal of Zero and Learme's alter-ego.....Although to be honest I really just want to rush past that and to the Battle of Narita. But, still, we have the Orange Incident, and boy will there be foreshadowing there!
Kojiro Kun: Legitimate Business.....Lelouch?
Nivek Beldo: Thanks for the offer, but I currently only know how to swear in spanish....and little of that. Plus, I've kinda already filled up all the KMF slots.....sorry. But still, thanks.
Infinite Freedom: From who?
Braid: Thanks, but no need for another one, at least, not that one. Specifically.
JNottle: Yeah, that pretty much sums up the Lamperouge Siblings' relationship. Well, the summary does have Lelouch/C.C.......As for skills, he's pilot, mechanic, and decent squad commander.
Jaksio: Praise to Velshard for the idea. He really gets around alot.
Exia00: Message please. And to be specific, they aren't quite like Exia or 00's weapons......
Regarding the OC offers, there are ten slots open for Zero Squadron members (the guys who, supposedly, are helping Kallen, despite the fact that I personally did not see anything special about the frames gallumphing along with her.) Keep in mind, that if you do want to do a Zero Squadron OC, have him/her have a decent Infantry-related skill (sniping, explosives, infiltration etc.) and a decent Knightmare related skill (melee combat, ECM, C&C, etc.)