Code Geass: Lelouch of the Digidestined

by Demon of Zero

Digimon were created as an artificial life, their original purpose lost to humanity with the death of their creators. And so the world gave them a purpose, horrible though it may be. Those that emerged in the human world were captured and enslaved, used as soldiers and weapons. And despite these changes, still some things remain the same. Zero will rise and the world will change.

10. Chapter 10

And here we are again boys, girls, men, women, and whatever other species of intelligent or semi intelligent creatures may be reading this story of mine. Double digits baby! We are on chapter TEN!

Goodness, isn't it a shock?

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass or Digimon. I do, however, own a copy of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and I really need to get workin' on some competitive pokemon I've been wanting to make for a while.

But clearly that can wait, as I'm writing a fanfiction.

---

At long last, the paperwork had all finally been finished. After the revelations he had given Kallen and Nina yesterday, the remaining paperwork had been left untouched.

The three of them had simply claimed that Kallen had a fainting spell, and between making certain she was alright and getting her home in one piece, the paperwork had completely slipped their minds.

It was a reasonable enough story, which was why they had gotten away with it. Kallen's sickly persona came in handy for things like that.

The council as a whole was now discussing an entirely different matter, one that was much more pleasant. While the paperwork was done, some final repairs would need to be made to the school. There was nothing else the student council needed to do to set things in motion, nor any way for them to speed up the process.

Due to this, Milly had decided that a vacation seemed like a wonderful idea after all their hard work.

"Kawaguchi, hm?" Lelouch hummed appreciatively. For a simple one day getaway, Kawaguchi was a good choice. The scenery was beautiful, the hotel itself was top notch, and there were several activities on the lake that would fill in an entire day of relaxation. On top of that, the hotel was to be hosting the annual Sakuradite Summit, and for such an important event the staff was sure to be going above and beyond.

Really, on short notice there were few better choices for such an outing.

Unfortunately, Lelouch had plans. "I'm afraid I'll be unable to attend."

"What!?" Milly's reply came in a surprised shout, slamming her hands down on the table. "You've got something else to do? Really?" She was understandably annoyed. The entire idea had been to get everyone out on a day when they wouldn't have prior engagements, and to serve as a bonding experience for the newest council members.

One of whom was currently situated in her vice president's lap. The pink haired Knight of Six had arrived at the meeting, spoken three sentences max, and then immediately plopped down into Lelouch's lap as though she had a reserved seat, which was met with varied reactions from the other members of the council.

Shirley, of course, had been gobsmacked. The idea that someone she had never met before, who she'd thought Lelouch hadn't ever met before for that matter, would just arrive one day and cuddle up with Lelouch out of the blue had never once occurred to her. And yet here was this girl two years her junior settled quaintly into her crush's lap, something which he had regarded with an exasperation that spoke of familiarity.

The most amusing part of this, Milly couldn't help but notice, was that Anya didn't even realize Shirley was directing something that looked torn between a glare and a pout at her. No, the only attention Anya gave a damn about would be that of the boy who's lap she had practically melted into.

Rivalz just could not contain his laughter. He'd actually fallen out of his chair at the sight of the scene, and had only stood up again nearly a minute later, still snickering to himself. Luckily for Lelouch, Rivalz had nothing to say to this entire fiasco. It was so bizarre that the bluenette honestly had no witty jabs or snarky comments to make on it, for the moment.

Milly was certain he'd have something to say once the novelty wore off. No one was so cuddly with Lelouch; not even Nunnally really got all touchy with him. If she wanted to, of course, Lelouch would indulge her in a heartbeat, but aside from rare moments Nunnally was not much for the snuggling and physical affection.

As such, this entire scene was completely new. Since Nunnally didn't engage in such physical acts of affection, no one got the chance to. The closest one usually got to that would be the occasional friendly hug, or the grudging acceptance of Rivalz roughhousing with him.

The girl's partner digimon, Missimon, had been entirely unsurprised by this whole ordeal. Which also led one to believe that this type of thing was common when Anya was near Lelouch, as the creature was obviously around her almost constantly. If this didn't surprise a the semi-hyper little bugger zipping about the room, who was quite vocal in his reactions to things, then it had to be normal.

Missimon was actually really adorable. The same went for Coronamon, who'd point blank refused to return to his In Training form once the secret of his existence got out. The orange digimon was currently seated on Suzaku's shoulder, with his back leaning against the boy's head, whereas the missile digimon was occupying himself by speeding around the room.

Nina and Kallen's reactions had been fairly generic; just a typical surprised expression, nothing special there at all really. Somewhat disappointing, but what could you expect?

Perhaps she would've been more confused at Nina's lack of reaction if she and Lelouch had made their relationship public knowledge, but as it stood the two of them were keeping that information under wraps for whatever reasons. There were several good reasons to do so actually, so that made a decent amount of sense.

Suzaku, the other new council member, had been almost unsurprised. If memory served correctly, he and Lelouch had been quite close in their younger years. As such it was no stretch to believe that he would know of Anya from Lelouch's tellings.

Though Milly was fairly certain Anya hadn't been quite so open in her affections when they had been younger. As close as she usually was to Lelouch, very rarely did she initiate such physical affections. Hugs were about as far as that had gone, and even those had been somewhat rare. If anything, the blonde suspected that seven years apart had simply made the girl want to savor any time she had with him to the fullest.

As an avid fan of romance novels, some steamier than others, Milly thought it was absolutely adorable.

And as someone who loved messing with Lelouch, Milly also found the situation absolutely hysterical because Lelouch seemed physically incapable of denying this girl. It was like how he acted with Nunnally in a way, and yet their interactions were still quite different. It was blatantly clear that Anya was not his little sister, whereas with Nunnally it was just as obvious that she was.

Furthermore, the Knight of Six's interactions with Lelouch also made it clear she knew she was far from being his little sister. That could be used in so many delightful ways.

Just thinking of the potential for hilarity that Anya could bring to a vacation with Lelouch had nearly brought a tear to her eye. And now it was all ruined without her target even intending to do so.

"... it's something so important you can't blow it off for a vacation with your good friends?" It was her last shot, and trying to guilt trip Lelouch very rarely worked due to all the hell she typically put him through, but damn it all Milly really wanted this to happen. It would be hysterical. All the wonderful things she could do to give Anya ideas, ideas that the girl would almost surely take to heart because that was just how she was.

Seeing his nod, accompanied by a sheepish smile that she knew was fake, Milly sighed. "Anyone else want to ruin your glorious leader's plans?" He'd probably caught on to her line of thought. Whatever he was doing wasn't important, but it provided enough of an excuse for him to ditch her without guilt.

And speaking of guilt, the guilt-stricken expressions that found their way to the faces of not one, not two, but four other council members put a rain cloud over her head.

"Uhm... I'm sorry Milly, b-but I've got something to do that day as well..." Nina couldn't help but glance briefly towards Lelouch as she said this, and all of a sudden Milly realized she'd forgotten to take something into account when making her vacation plan.

Apparently, Lelouch and Nina were dating. Which was weird, but moving on. Both of them had plans, and it made sense that the two of them could have come up with their own little getaway with just the two of them and a more romantic setting.

Considering just how hectic things had been recently, she really should have considered the possibility of the two of them taking the same window she had for a different kind of vacation.

But then, Milly just chalked it up to the idea of those two being together like that still not quite setting in. Alright, so with that she didn't really have much ground to be annoyed at Lelouch. If the two of them were going on a date, one they planned before being told of her surprise vacation, that was fine. It seemed Lelouch's plans weren't just important enough to blow her off.

Another, much deeper sigh came at this realization. Great, she couldn't even try anything to get back at Lelouch for this without feeling bad now, because he was blowing her off to go on a date with Nina. "Alright. And you, Rivalz, since you're over there looking like you killed my puppy?" It was quite clear Rivalz felt awful about having to rain on her parade like this. He was always sweet like that. Unlike Lelouch who was totally enjoying this. That little sheepish act of his wasn't going to fool her.

Grimacing, he shrugged helplessly. "I got called in to work that day. The normal guy is half past dead and I gotta fill in." From what he'd heard, the person who's shift he would be taking over was in really bad shape; he'd be taking over quite a few shifts until that guy recovered. But hey, them's the breaks. It didn't happen very often, so it wasn't like he could complain too much.

Milly released a third sigh. Alright, that was fine. Work is work and there was nothing he could do about that. It was a perfectly acceptable reason. And with the last two, she could almost certainly guess what would be keeping their attention.

The fact that one of the people she had intended this outing for specifically could not attend would have been sad even before considering the fact that four of the remaining members wouldn't be there. But for her own amusement, the only ones she had really needed were Anya, Lelouch, Shirley, and Rivalz. With only two of the four she was already seeing her plans go down the drain, especially as it was the least interesting possible combination of the four.

"Let me guess. Suzaku has military work due to his irregular station in the engineering corps, and Kallen is going to be paying a visit to the doctor again?" Those were the most reasonable explanations for the two of them to be preoccupied. If Anya, a member of the military, was free for tomorrow but Suzaku wasn't it pointed to a different schedule due to their different positions.

... well, that or Anya just doing whatever she pleased, being one of the Knights of the Round. Really, she could do just about anything and get away with it.

And Kallen was just an easy guess. If that wasn't the case, Milly would have honestly been surprised.

Seeing the increasingly sheepish look on Suzaku's face, it seemed her suspicions had been correct. A moment later, he confirmed them himself by speaking.

"Yes, I'm really sorry but I already took a day off to visit with my cousin recently. Taking another unscheduled vacation would be too much to ask for now, I'm afraid." He didn't regret his decision, though. As much as he would have liked to get to know his new classmates better, visiting Kaguya was far more important to him. So while he would've liked to go along with them, there had simply been more pressing matters to take care of.

Milly understood completely. Once again, it was work. Nothing could be done about it.

Though she would really need to harass Suzaku and get an actual schedule out of him for the sake of her event planning. This just could not become a regular issue.

Turning to Kallen, Milly saw that the redhead's face was home to an apologetic smile. "You're right about me too, sorry. After that fainting spell yesterday I'd like to be very careful with how I handle myself."

Unbeknownst to Milly, this was complete bull. She hadn't been to the doctor in ages truthfully, but her persona scheduled frequent "doctor visits" to ditch school for various excursions of the borderline illegal or entirely illegal variety.

Lelouch had to hold back his humor at seeing the wind taken so harshly from Milly's sails. It wasn't that he liked to see her distressed or anything, but seeing her plans fall apart around her because she hadn't been bothered to check other's schedules was amusing. After all the well thought out pranks she had played on him, some of which he honestly applauded her for after the fact, it was refreshing to see something other than an attempt at the world's largest pizza blow up in her face.

Especially considering she was probably doing this just to get him into more embarrassing situations with Anya. As if the pinkette wasn't doing a good enough job right now, nestled up in his lap like it was the most comfortable spot in the world.

The things Milly could have arranged somewhere like Kawaguchi sent shivers down his spine. Any number of "accidental oversights" could have led to positively mortifying situations that Anya wouldn't have cared less about.

But thankfully, he had plans. If he didn't have something to do prior then she would have easily swindled him into this, because Lelouch was unwilling to deny her without a decent reason.

Not a good reason- a decent reason. Settling the core members of his new group into their mobile headquarters was something that could be done any day and easily rescheduled, but he'd already planned it for tomorrow and as such it made a good excuse to avoid going to Kawaguchi.

At any rate, the core members were to be made up of Ohgi's group and Nina. As far as formal command structure went, he had decided to allow the Yamato Alliance to remain under operational control of their original leader, to operate as their own unit. It was clear to Lelouch that Yamato Izumi was a capable leader, and these were men familiar with him. While they would all be under his command in the end, allowing their original leader to keep operational command would smooth things along once the group became larger and more influential.

An actual legitimate command structure would need to be put in place at some point. However, there were more important things to do. They would need to be established as an organization, and that would require their name to be put out there to the public. Without doing that, recruiting would be immensely difficult.

Once their organization was recognized as a serious contender, there would be no problem getting more recruits, because Lelouch knew how to operate.

When it came to the resistance in Japan, there were usually only two extremes to choose from for citizens.

Larger, more militant groups wanted trained soldiers. The JLF, for example, was formed from the standing military of Japan after it's defeat. It wasn't a welcome environment for the little guy, surrounded by men and women who had already been established as soldiers before the fall of a nation.

As such, a civilian wishing to fight would practically be forced to join up with a smaller cell.

However, these smaller cells had a different problem. While they would accept just about anyone, they tended to lack in vision. They were fighting just for the sake of fighting, throwing themselves at Britannia in droves, just to be crushed under foot. They knew neither when nor where to strike; military knowledge of that sort simply eluded many of them. These groups tended to be the typical "terrorists" who's attacks did no harm to Britannia, but killed innocent civilians in their attempt.

While they had a very good reason to fight, to free their country, these groups went about it all wrong and innocents paid the price for their ignorance.

Thus, Lelouch would not follow these examples. His group would accept anyone who wishes to fight- be they Japanese, Britannian, or whatever else they came across.

But there would be no mindless assault against the walls of Britannia's fortress. No, they would strike where it could be felt. And in the mean time, there were other evils that needed to be stomped out.

Britannia was corrupt; nothing proved this so much as the police force who willingly turned a blind eye to illegal drug trade, human trafficking, and so on. For a price, these officers of the law could become deaf and blind for periods of time long enough to ruin lives.

What better way to gain public support than to stomp out the very crime Britannia secretly profits from?

He was broken from his thoughts by Milly stomping her foot petulantly. "Hmph. Fine, I suppose I can manage with just Shirley and Anya." While it was unfortunate that she wouldn't be getting Anya and Lelouch both on this little trip of hers, Milly could work with it.

After all, just asking how Anya got along with Lelouch would drive Shirley up the wall. Though the girl talk would suffer as it was already quite obvious just which boy Shirley and Anya had interest in, there would at least be some amusing reactions to the question "which boys do you like?" as Anya would be almost guaranteed to name Lelouch in that monotone of hers, further annoying Shirley who would be too embarrassed to actually come out and say it.

Wait... actually, now it was just herself and Kallen who weren't smitten with their prince charming, wasn't it?

Though she had honestly considered just throwing caution to the wind and taking her own shot at Lelouch just because. He wasn't a bad catch by any means.

Shaking her head, Milly glanced at Lelouch and sighed, much to his bemusement.

That boy would probably never know just how close she'd been to giving herself to him that night. As distressed as she had been about the entire situation with her arranged marriage, feeling like her parents had finally managed to find someone who she couldn't scare off... she'd very nearly rebelled in the only way she felt she could at the time.

If she couldn't choose her husband, she would at least have chosen her first time.

However, if there was one thing she could always count on, it would be Lelouch and his uncanny ability to throw a monkey wrench into anyone's plans.

Just like he'd done today. It really was one of the few constants in this world; right there with death and taxes, she mused with a small smile.

---

"I-I feel kind of bad for Milly..." Nina mumbled guiltily, seated on one of the couches on the lower level of the transport Lelouch had arranged to be their mobile base.

Said boy, garbed in the attire of Zero sans helmet, shrugged his shoulders with a small sigh. "Truthfully, I'm alright with it because she clearly intended to try and use this as an opportunity to put strange ideas in Anya's head while we were there." And knowing Milly, it would've been something terribly humiliating for him.

Like telling her she would have to share a room with him. Anya would probably have wanted that anyway if the option presented itself, and Lelouch wasn't sure he could say no to her, because she was Anya and it was usually only a matter of time before he ended up caving to her whims.

Just like with Nunnally or Euphemia. And honestly, probably Nina too at this point. She asked so little of him that when she actually did want something he would find it difficult to deny her, especially considering just how much she was doing to help him.

The girl had thrown away her normal life with hardly any hesitation. And while he was certain Nina had her reasons too, Lelouch was equally sure that he had been the catalyst that made her decide on this course of action.

Had he never been revealed to her as Zero, Nina would not have sought out a way to fight Britannia. If it wasn't him, someone she trusted, leading this rebellion, Lelouch knew for a fact Nina would have remained out of this conflict unless something drastic happened. Whatever issues she had with Britannian society, or the world, there was no way she would have involved herself... unless it was to help someone she cared for.

"Oh, y-you've got a point." Nina admitted after a moment of thought. Considering just how affectionate the girl was with him, even while keeping that stony expression of hers, she really would have been a great chance for Milly to mess with him.

Nina had to admit, she was honestly surprised by just how close Anya seemed to be to Lelouch. Even after hearing about her briefly from his explanation back in the club room, it came as a surprise to actually see the interactions firsthand.

The Knight of Six was a celebrity; it was well known just how emotionless the girl acted. Anya Alstreim was practically a robot as far as the public could tell. But that didn't seem to apply when Lelouch was involved.

After meeting the girl once, Nina could honestly believe that Lelouch was her favorite person in the world. It was really quite endearing to see such a stoic girl practically melt around Lelouch.

It didn't really show on her face, Anya's expression had hardly shifted once during that entire meeting, but anyone who had seen the Knight of Six even through the media could tell the difference.

And Lelouch himself was almost as bad. Rather than saying anything or attempting to keep Anya from doing these things, he'd simply let it slide with an exasperated air about him.

Nina was torn on just which of the two were cuter when they got like that. It was clear to anyone that Anya enjoyed the affection, but she could tell that Lelouch himself was perfectly content to give Anya all the attention she wanted. She'd managed to catch his expression shift once during the meeting yesterday, while no one else was looking. For a moment, it appeared that he just couldn't keep the warm smile off his lips as he glanced down at the girl nestled comfortably in his lap.

An amused snort escaped Lelouch, drawing her attention to him. "Is there something funny?" She asked.

With a small smirk, Lelouch replied. "Memories." He replied simply, shaking his head ruefully as he stopped reminiscing. "I'm rather surprised Suzaku told Kaguya I was alive, though it makes some sense now that I'm thinking about it."

At Nina's confused look, the former prince elaborated. "Sumeragi Kaguya is Suzaku's cousin, the one he visited recently. During said visit he revealed to her that Nunnally and I were alive." As the girl's eyes widened, so too did Lelouch's smirk. "While he assured me he hadn't told her where we were or anything of the sort, I would be surprised if she wasn't aware of our place of residence right now. The girl is resourceful and clever; it wouldn't take her long." He shrugged a bit, allowing a dramatic sigh. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't angry with him for revealing such a thing, but I completely understand his reasons. Kaguya was more like his sister than a cousin, and she adored the two of us just as much as Suzaku. Our supposed death probably hit her harder than it did most of our actual family."

Which was honestly not that hard considering said family had over one hundred members, many of whom he had never met, but it still deserved to be said. "I trust her fully not to do anything malicious with this information, so no real harm has been done... but I do wish Suzaku had at least been courteous enough to let me know beforehand." Lelouch had come closer to punching Suzaku that day than he ever had before, despite many attempts during their younger years to do just that.

That was the kind of thing you warn someone about. At the very least the fool had told him after the fact, or else he'd be completely off guard when Kaguya eventually managed to find him.

Because he was absolutely certain it was going to happen. With his luck, especially lately, there was almost no chance he would not be seeing Sumeragi Kaguya in the near future.

Especially if his suspicions about the Six Houses of Kyoto were correct.

"Man." Dokunemon spoke up from his perch on the back of the couch, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Your life is complicated as hell." Honestly, it was unreasonably weird just how absurd this guy's life was. An exiled prince from an oppressive conquering nation is sent to a different country for political reasons, before that country is brutally conquered and he's thought to be killed along with his younger sister.

But nope! He lived. And he thrived apparently, because now he was starting to fight back. On top of gaining a digital partner, he became a Digidestined. That was a myth in the Digital World that not everyone even knew of, and no one thought was true... but here it was. Some exile from a super-nation had gone and become partners with a Keramon.

A Keramon for crying out loud. That was yet another absurdity just in this Keramon's existence. This Keramon, his partner, had to be the last member of his species. Absolutely HAD to be. The species had been thought extinct for ages now; and even despite that the Empire continued to hunt them, just in case they missed any.

And they had. They did miss one. One that went on to become the partner digimon to a Digidestined.

To top it all off? He could mind control people.

He could mind control people. That was utterly ridiculous. The fact that such a power existed was not such a surprise, there were digimon who could do similar things. The surprise here came from the fact that it was a human with this power. Humans didn't get these kinds of powers, it was a part of the whole thing where they were humans.

But hey, Dokunemon had been wrong before. So the leader of their little group had mind control eyes, a tragic and complex backstory, and a partner from a line thought to be extinct.

Dokunemon had this thought before, but it really summed up the situation nicely; the current events unfolding before him were not once in a lifetime, or once in a hundred lifetimes. This was once ever. There would never be another series of events that played out in such a fashion, no matter how long the world went on. The odds at work here were astronomical, and Dokunemon could not believe that he'd get to be a part of this.

He'd just been some random digimon who'd lost his home, wandering about until he could settle elsewhere or he ended up getting deleted. It was not some special role, there were thousands of digimon who were in this same situation. But out of all of those thousands, he'd ended up being taken to the human world, ended up as the partner to one of the Digidestined.

It was utterly ludicrous to him, yet it was happening. The four of them, Lelouch and Keramon along with himself and his partner, were seated around a room in a luxurious mobile home in an empty parking building waiting on a group of freedom fighters to arrive, so they could have a meet and greet in their new mobile base of operations.

And here he was talking about how the brunette he'd caught a brief glimpse of, the guy who'd befriended Apollomon of all digimon, had let his cousin in on the secret that he was alive.

He would need to get used to the weirdness that surrounded this guy. It would save a lot of trouble more likely than not.

Lelouch replied to the digimon with a nonchalant shrug, much to Keramon's amusement. "Yes, my life has been rather convoluted. Even for someone born to royalty, the things I've been through and decided to do are all around abnormal." But normal people had normal ambitions, and his ambitions were far from normal. He wanted the world, so he could shape it into a place his loved ones deserved. A kinder, gentler world.

When your goal is the world, you need to be prepared to fight the world to achieve it. That kind of conviction didn't come from living an average life.

"Kekeke..." Keramon giggled briefly to himself from his position on the other side of the couch. "Lemme tell ya' something, Bugz. You think it's weird now? Just wait. It'll get weirder, I guarantee ya'." Dokunemon hadn't spent as much time around Lelouch as Keramon had, nor had the insect digimon been around C.C. long enough for her to really make an impact.

Keramon liked C.C., though. She was amusing. Something about that woman absolutely tickled him. It probably had a lot to do with her dry wit and rampant use of sarcasm, as well as her constant shots at his partner's libido.

"At any rate." Lelouch cut in suddenly, slipping his mask on and halting the retort from an annoyed Dokunemon. "It's about time for our friends to arrive." At that statement, the digimon calmed down.

He'd just get the jellyfish back later for the nickname.

A small shiver raced down Nina's spine as she nodded, silently marveling at Lelouch's sudden transformation. When he put on that mask, the change was instantaneous. His posture shifted, his tone changed even through the modulator, and it seemed the very atmosphere morphed into something deeper, almost intimidating, with Zero at the center of the effect.

The kind of presence he commanded was astounding.

Lelouch vi Britannia was Zero, but as similar as the two were there were very clear differences between them. If Nina hadn't already known it was the vice president behind that mask, she would never have considered the idea. "R-right." She herself did not go through any drastic changes. The clothes she'd been wearing, her old hoodie and sweats, did not paint some intimidating picture to outsiders.

Slipping her hood over her head was done more as an afterthought; she did not change from Nina Einstein, shy schoolgirl and member of Ashford Academy's Student Council.

It was much closer to the truth to say that Nina Einstein herself had changed. She was more than just a schoolgirl now, she was a member of a terrorist organization... though truthfully, to call them terrorists seemed somewhat harsh.

Perhaps it did hold merit, though. To her knowledge the members of Ohgi Kaname's group actively worked against Britannia, though she had no idea how they went about it before Lelouch had taken over. They'd stolen what was supposed to be poison gas from a man more than willing to use it on innocents, however in doing so they'd invited a massacre.

After that, the group had been operating under Lelouch's command. Saving Kururugi Suzaku from his trial, which had obviously been rigged, had posed no danger to any civilians or military personnel. The entire operation had risked no one but their own members.

Following this incident had been the battle in Saitama, where they had evacuated the civilians before the battle.

Cornelia had ordered a second massacre in order to lure Zero out of hiding, and in doing so had severely turned Nina's opinion on Britannia. In truth, had it not been for that incident she may have remained undecided on whether or not to join the fighting.

Ordering a racial purge to lure out a criminal was going too far. It was inexcusable. There was a reason the masses weren't informed of the whole truth of that incident, because even Britannia drew the line somewhere.

Technically they could be called terrorists- the base meaning of the word being to use violence and intimidation to pursue political aims. However, she supposed that there were distinctions even among terrorists. Their goals were similar, but the means were notably different.

... Lelouch really needed to give this group of his a name. It was becoming tiresome to refer to the group as "they", "them", "the group", and soforth.

The opening of a door drew her from her thoughts, as the remaining members of their main group poured into the trailer, surprised murmurs announcing their arrival.

---

After the initial surprise had worn off, the rebels had made themselves comfortable. There were plenty of places to settle in, so they did just that. The luxury vehicle very much lived up to it's name, as each and every one of them had found a comfortable place.

Zero spoke up from his position at the foot of the stairs, drawing everyone's attention. "This will be our main base of operations outside of Shinjuku. Truthfully, I hadn't expected our numbers to swell so quickly; the Yamato Alliance joining us so readily was quite the surprise. Hence the smaller, more mobile HQ I'd originally gone through the trouble of procuring." The mobile trailer he'd acquired was large enough for Ohgi's group and a few more, not the dozens of men they now had in their ranks. It had been a perfect base for a small group, being both mobile and inconspicuous.

A luxurious mobile home was not the typical place one would search for a rag-tag group of freedom fighters. These things were obscenely expensive if you actually had to manage your money at all, and no noblemen in a position to purchase one so readily would ever sink so low as to work with Eleven criminals.

Britannian criminals were much more up to their standards, however. There was no profit to be had in "terrorism", but more internal criminal activities served to line the pockets of many nobles. Those were the kind of criminals that the police turned a blind eye to more often than not.

So really, his decision to pick up this quaint little vehicle had been very well thought out. It now presented something of an issue, as he had far more men than this little thing could comfortably move. They weren't supposed to have grown so quickly, but to not accept Yamato Izumi's offer would have been foolish.

When the leader of a group fifty strong offers his full support with no strings attached, you accept. There was no alternative there. Fifty men, all of whom had seen conflict and lived to tell the tale. Experienced soldier they were not, but these men were battle-tested and could follow orders.

In other words, they were exactly what his organization needed. A blank slate to build off of.

"As of now, our organization lacks a formal command structure. I am taking the first steps to remedy that, and those of you gathered here today are going to help." Seeing their attentive gazes, he continued. "Once we've gathered enough resources to effectively organize, you will be in key positions. However, this leads to the issue at hand; we lack funding and technological support. Any formal command structure I could put into place at this stage of our expansion would need to be revised at a later date, considering this."

The thinking on that was fairly simple, really. As of now, they lacked resources for combat. The Sutherlands they had managed to salvage from Saitama were low on energy and would need refueling, and a fair few of them needed repairs. As far as infantry went, they were almost entirely barren in that department, with only enough weaponry to effectively arm a dozen troops. There were no armored vehicles of any type in their arsenal, either. Nor were there any aerial units whatsoever.

To organize and allocate resources, one must first possess said resources. If there was nothing to do in that area for now, then simply stating that everyone answered to either Zero or Ohgi was sufficient for the moment.

Speaking of Ohgi, he had something to say. "Do you intend to try and get in contact with Kyoto, then?" Every rebel group in Japan knew of the organization known as the Six Houses of Kyoto, though not all of these groups could get in contact with them. Their own group, before Zero, had not been large enough or effective enough to warrant Kyoto's support. Nor had the Yamato Alliance, for that matter.

To be involved with the Six Houses of Kyoto meant that you were the big leagues. The best that the resistance had to offer.

Zero nodded in response, before he continued. "We will need to garner a reputation before they will bother with us. Displays of competence, showing promise. As of now we are nobodies in their eyes; merely a group of upstarts led by a masked man. Before Kyoto agrees to support us, we will need to prove ourselves to them. However, that will wait." A slight shift in his demeanor made it apparent that he was finished with the important announcements for the moment, as Zero lightly clapped his hands. "Ohgi, would you do me a favor?" He continued in a light tone.

Blinking, the man stood and nodded. "Sure, what do you need?" Such a genuinely helpful person, that one. Ohgi Kaname was quite likable. It made him a good leader, because everyone could relate to someone like him.

"There is a box upstairs, I would like you to bring it down and show everyone the contents." Zero replied, stepping off the bottom stair and gesturing towards the upper level with his hand.

Shrugging slightly, Ohgi began making his way upstairs.

"S'goin' on, Zero, you buy us all gifts or somethin'?" Tamaki snorted, amused at the rather mundane chore their leader had suddenly dumped onto Ohgi.

"Perhaps." Zero replied with a shrug. "It would depend on what you consider a gift, I suppose." They could be called gifts, technically.

"Whoa." Ohgi, who was visible at the top of the stairs, mumbled in surprise. "This is... wow." In his arms was the box in question, opened so that he could inspect the contents. While the others were unable to see the items within, Ohgi's reaction had peaked their interest. Seeing the curious gaze of his friends, Ohgi chuckled sheepishly and descended the staircase, setting the box on the table in the center of the room. "Check it out." He said, holding up one of the items within.

"Uniforms?" Sugiyama mumbled, inspecting said item as Ohgi held it up. They were quite simple; he could appreciate the minimalist approach, as they looked more practical than a convoluted design would. Colored in black and shades of grey, the outfit had a rather professional look to it. On top of that, it looked as though it would be easy to move in and comfortable to wear.

All in all, Sugiyama approved.

"Fuckin' sweet!" So did Tamaki. "We get kickass uniforms? This is the shit." Yes, Tamaki very much approved. "Just so we're clear; this has made my entire fuckin' week."

Ohgi was somewhat skeptical, however. "While the gear is nice and all, did we really need something like this? We're just a rebel group." They weren't the military or anything of that sort. Uniforms seemed kind of unnecessary.

Another clap from Zero, this time much louder, drew their attention back to him. "No, Ohgi. We are not just a rebel group, not anymore." He looked around the room, and beneath his mask Zero was smiling widely, allowing some of his genuine conviction to slip into his speech as his volume rose just a bit. "What we are... what we're trying to be... you could say we're knights of a sort, Ohgi."

"Knights?" A bewildered Ohgi asked, vocalizing the question on everyone's mind. What did that have to do with anything?

Nodding firmly, Zero continued. "I intend to help those who are without the ability to help themselves. The weak and downtrodden, trampled beneath the feet of those with power, forced to bow their heads just to keep living another day. Those who need help should receive it, shouldn't they? And so, if soldiers loyal to Britannia can be considered their knights, we will serve as knights under a different flag. Our banner will be an ideal; justice. Our loyalty will be to those who deserve better. Our kingdom will be the world itself."

Swinging his arm around in a grand gesture, Zero concluded his impromptu speech. "That is why we are not mere rebels, nor terrorists. We will face Britannia as equals and prove our superiority."

For a moment everyone in the room, sans Nina, simply stared at the masked figure, who'd returned his arms beneath his cape and now stood silently, as though they simply didn't know what to make of him.

The silence was shattered by Kallen. "You're a real piece of work, Zero." She shook her head ruefully, though a grin could be seen upon her lips. "Knights huh? I guess there are worse goals to shoot for."

Good grief, Lelouch was such a ham. He made it work somehow, and for the life of her she couldn't understand how, but he managed to make the whole thing come off as charismatic. She didn't know why, but when he did this kind of thing she had to take him seriously. Anyone else and she just couldn't even begin to consider them anything but a buffoon. Something about Zero just made you want to get caught up in his performances.

Tamaki spoke up next, scratching his cheek idly. "So we beat the Brits at their own game, huh?" That sounded kind of cool actually. Heroic, even. He was pretty much cool with that. Zero hadn't led them astray yet, he'd actually accomplished more with their little group than the JLF had managed to do in seven years. All in under a month, this unknown had brought them closer to their dreams than they'd ever have gotten without him.

Maybe he was being sorta naive, trusting Zero so quickly and so completely. But after going so long just going through the motions, it felt good to hope again. To look towards the future instead of missing the past. Tamaki may have liked to play the fool, but he wasn't dense... well, not that dense. He knew they weren't event denting Britannia, that'd been why he was so pissed when Zero threw that fact in their faces back on the train.

Because Zero had been the first one to say what all of them had been too scared to admit. That their efforts really didn't mean anything in the grand scheme, that they would never free Japan. Tamaki knew that, hell they'd all known that, but none of them were willing to say it.

No one but Zero. And then, after shoving their lack of progress into their faces, he offered them a chance. A chance to fight, to win. How could they say no?

So Tamaki put all of his trust in Zero, because for the first time in seven years he could see progress being made. They were moving forward instead of backwards now.

So if Zero said to jump, Tamaki would jump. He'd jump as fucking high as he could. Because Zero could see the way to win these things, and he couldn't. So his part in this show was to do what Zero said, so that they could get their country back.

Tamaki was fine with that. Thinking too hard wasn't his thing anyway, he'd leave that to the smart ones.

A small blip caught everyone's attention as Keramon pressed the remote, turning the T.V. on to a news station. "... Britannia and the other countries. It is believed that the terrorists are using world interest in this gathering to their advantage by carrying out this violent hotel takeover."

"Er... well that's not good." An uncomfortable frown found it's way to the digimon's face as he spoke, suddenly glad he'd felt the need to break ice. What he'd intended to be a conversation starter had brought an urgent situation to their attention.

Kawaguchi, the location of the annual Sakuradite Summit, had been captured by the Japan Liberation Force according to text at the bottom of the screen. All visitors, from the corporate heads to the simple tourists, were being held hostage.

"The council..!" Kallen gasped, clenching her fists tightly at the thought. Damn it. How rotten could their luck be? The annual sakuradite summit was supposed to be one of the safest times to visit Kawaguchi, security should have been damn near impenetrable. How had the JLF managed to stage a hostile takeover so quickly that the military couldn't have reacted in time?

And now Milly and Shirley were caught up in this mess. The two of them were good people, completely innocent. They had no place in this conflict, but now it looked like they were right in the middle of it.

That was not a thought that brought her comfort.

If she was this uncomfortable, she could only imagine how Nina or even Lelouch felt right now. To her these girls were friends, but only just. Their heritage and her fight separated them from the very first moment they'd met, and so she'd kept some distance between them.

But for Lelouch and Nina, these were close knit friends they had known for years.

Looking over to the girl in question, Kallen was surprised to see her relatively calm expression. She could tell that the situation had her worried, it was clear in the way her eyes were practically glued to the screen, but she wasn't panicking or anything.

As if sensing Kallen's confusion, Nina just smiled back to her before shifting her eyes over to Zero for a brief moment, the interaction going unseen by the other members of the group who were too caught up in watching the broadcast to notice.

It then dawned on Kallen just who Lelouch was. Just what he could do, and how far he was willing to go.

All the things he had done since taking leadership of their group; Shinjuku, Kururugi, Saitama. Those things had been miracles in their own right, battles where he had risked life and limb to save himself, a distant friend, or the Japanese people.

Just what kind of hell would he unleash upon those who threatened such close, personal friends? Come to think of it, for him it wasn't just Shirley and Milly either. He was actually close to Anya too. So that made three of his friends caught in this incident.

Around that moment, Kallen came to the realization that the JLF was fucked.

"Well then." Everything stopped at Zero's voice, the man himself stepping forward purposefully. "It would appear the Japan Liberation Front's pride has been damaged, and they wanted to make a big move..." The atmosphere seemed colder now, Kallen was just short of shivering. It didn't make sense that this boy could command such a terrible and inspiring presence. "...it's a shame that they're all going to die." He concluded his sentence in a positively malicious tone.

Kallen felt her spine tingle. She didn't even want to know what was going through his head right now.

Beneath Zero's mask lay a man who's expression of cold fury would have done the devil himself proud. Lelouch would gladly slay each and every man who had dared put those he held dear in harm's way, but even without his interference the JLF's plans were doomed to fail.

However, the reason for their plan's failure was the same reason a frigid hand had gripped his heart. "Cornelia does not negotiate with terrorists." A simple statement that carried so much weight.

The JLF wanted to trade hostages for incarcerated members of their group. Cornelia would not comply. She would not even pretend to go along with their demands in hopes of locating an opening; she would flat out refuse. Perhaps she would stall for appearances sake, ask for time... but when her time ran out, when the demands were forced, she would not allow it.

In other words, the hostages were at the mercy of the JLF with no hope of rescue from Britannia.

They had to move now. Right now. This could not wait even a moment, it was only a matter of time before Cornelia made an aggressive move. The fact that she had yet to move could only be attributed to Anya's presence at Kawaguchi.

She would sooner sacrifice the hostages than give even a single concession to her enemies, but to allow one of the Knights of the Round to be killed immediately without any attempt at rescue would be far too much even for Cornelia. She would stall, but only until Kusakabe forced the issue.

Time was of the essence, plans had to be made immediately.

The icy hand grasping his heart had been banished by the flames of his fury. Fury he would direct upon any who dared harm what he held dear.

"Tell me, comrades... friends. Do you believe this," Zero's arm swept across his chest, sending his cape fluttering, to gesture to the television. "... is justice?"

---

Standing, almost frozen, behind the counter of a well decorated, low-lit bar was a blue haired boy. Without regard for anything going on around him, Rivalz quickly drew his phone and rushed into the break room, before locking the door behind him.

Consequences be damned, this conversation could not be heard by anyone. No one but the person who's number he was dialing could learn of his secret, a secret who had jumped from his hiding place in Rivalz' bag the moment he'd learned who had entered. "Rivalz. You seem distressed?" A small cotton candy blue creature blinked, tilting somewhat to the side as questioned his partner.

This was Motimon. The In Training form of Tentomon, who was now bemusedly watching his human partner curse as he seemed to have misdialed his phone in his haste. "Rivalz." Motimon spoke once more, this time more forcefully, which drew the boy's attention at last.

"Right, right, sorry, but I just.. It's, I need to call Lelouch. I need advice, Milly, she, and Shirley and Anya they're, oh God damn it, they're in trouble and I need to-" He continued to ramble, finally managing to dial the correct number, before taking a steadying breath and forcing himself to calm down. "Right. Right. I'm better now. I just gotta talk to Lelouch, he'll know what to do. He always knows these things." Lelouch was a genius in the field of strategy. He'd probably already broken down the JLF's plan, the military's response, and any little hiccups either side could experience along with the way the battle would unfold based upon whatever actions either side took.

Lelouch would know what to do.

Lelouch always knew what to do.

"Rivalz." This time it was not Motimon who's voice he heard. It was Lelouch. His tone was steady, calm, but there was an underlying tension that Rivalz could practically feel. "I know exactly how you're feeling right now, but I can't keep this call for long."

The waiter shook his head, speaking forcefully. "Lelouch, listen to me. You've probably worked out this whole situation in your head five times over, so tell me, will they be safe?" This was the most important thing. Rivalz had no idea whether or not the military would be able to save the hostages, but Lelouch would know.

After a brief silence, as though the boy on the other end was considering his words carefully, Lelouch spoke again. "Cornelia will not negotiate with terrorists, not even for Anya."

Those words hit Rivalz like a sack of bricks. Anya Alstreim was the Knight of Six. If Cornelia wouldn't negotiate for the safe release of one of the Rounds, there was no hope for the civilians.

"More so, Kusakabe is not as foolish as his actions tonight have made him out to be. Cornelia will not be able to deceive him long enough to mount a successful rescue mission."

Another powerful blow.

"If left alone, this situation will surely end with the deaths of both the hostages and all participating members of the Japan Liberation Front."

Feeling his knees go weak, Rivalz reached out to grab the sturdy table in the center of the break room to steady himself, taking a deep breath. "Lelouch, if you had a digimon partner who could reach champion level, fly, and use electrical attacks, what would you do? Tell me."

The answer he received was not what he expected. "Nothing."

A single word. A simple reply that did not satisfy Rivalz at all. "Lelouch don't play with me!" He shouted into the phone, before forcing himself calm again. "I... I can do something, Lelouch." He mumbled desperately. "That Kabuterimon, the big blue insect, that was my partner. I can do something, but I don't know what to do. Tell me Lelouch."

"Rivalz, do you trust me?"

Immediately, the reply came. "With my life, Lelouch." His answer was confident, as though he'd won. Rivalz once again did not get the answer he expected.

"That isn't enough this time, Rivalz!" For the first time in the conversation, Lelouch had raised his voice. "I don't need you to trust me with your life, we're betting with the lives of our friends and every innocent trapped at Kawaguchi. Do you trust me with their lives, Rivalz?"

Shaken, Rivalz replied carefully. "I would trust you with the lives of a nation, Lelouch." He finally answered, sounding almost exhausted. "You... Lelouch, if I asked every so called genius in the world how to save a group of people, I would judge their answers based on how close it was to yours. Do you understand me now?" If it was Lelouch, Rivalz believed he could do just about anything he put his mind to.

Another pause. "Rivalz..." Genuine surprise. "If you think so highly of me, then I will reiterate; do not do anything." Rivalz began to respond, before he stopped himself. Lelouch took the opportunity to continue speaking. "There is nothing you could do that would help them right now, Rivalz. The Japan Liberation Front has stopped each and every attempt Britannia has made, trivial as they may be, without the slightest hint of failure. They are on high alert. If it looks as though the Britannians will launch a full offensive, they will kill all of the hostages before they are slain themselves. A Kabuterimon suddenly arriving will appear to be a full offensive, considering the presence of GeoGreymon at the site"

Gulping again, considering his best friend's words, Rivalz replied. "Then... what do we do, Lelouch?" Never before had Rivalz felt so powerless, even when he had no power to call his own at all. To have such strength and still be useless, that felt worse than being powerless to start with.

"There is nothing we can do but hope for a miracle, Rivalz. I will say this once more; do not interfere with this event. You will only hasten their deaths by getting involved."

Leaning against the wall, Rivalz dropped his phone and sagged to the floor lifelessly. "... alright. I guess now all I can do is wait." The words tasted like poison in his mouth, but there was no other option. If Lelouch said that he couldn't do anything, it wasn't an exaggeration. There was just nothing that he could do.

"I'm sorry, Rivalz."

And with that, the phone call ended.

After a moment of silent sulking, Rivalz was joined by Motimon. The digimon offered no words, merely cuddling up to his side in a comforting gesture. Managing a brief smile in response, the boy positioned them in a fashion more comfortable to the digimon, allowing him to recline against the side of his leg.

The two remained like this for the rest of Rivalz' shift, waiting out the uncertainty with nothing but the other's presence.

---

There was one less hostage in the room now.

No one really knew what had happened to the man who was taken away, but no one was willing to ask lest they be next in line.

Huddled in the center of the room were the younger captives, the children. Surrounding them were their parents, hushing them quiet and whispering soothing words to them, assuring them everything would be alright, someone would save them. Negotiations were going on, that man they took was probably the first to be released. It was just a matter of time until they were safe.

Milly wasn't so certain. They weren't valuable.

Outside of Anya, who had never even made it to this room, no one here held any value to Britannia. She'd spotted no nobles or anyone irreplaceable, even Chairman James could be replaced easily enough and he had the most political value out of everyone here.

From what she knew of Cornelia, the woman did not negotiate with terrorists. At all. No matter what. It was likely that not even Anya would be getting out of this one alive, because even she was not enough to force Cornelia's hand. The only thing that would give Cornelia pause, to even briefly consider giving in, would be for Euphemia to have been captured.

After the second man was lead from the room, Milly's suspicions grew. If she was right, then the JLF was executing hostages at intervals in order to force Britannia to act.

It wasn't a bad idea. The media would be unable to censor such a thing, a princess stoically refusing to negotiate even as her subjects died before her. The negative publicity never bothered Cornelia, but she didn't realize just how much such a thing actually mattered. Or perhaps she didn't care. Either way, if this continued on then the public at large would never trust Cornelia li Britannia to protect them at all. Even if the JLF members all died here, public trust in Cornelia would plummet.

As one of the guards shifted, Shirley flinched further into Milly's arms, the blonde smiling soothingly down at her.

If only she had made plans for today. If only Sophie had called her to go shopping, or she'd gone to watch a movie, or she'd just wanted to wander the settlement. Anything. If Shirley hadn't been able to come, Milly would have just canceled the whole thing.

But it was too late for that now. Now they had to deal with the consequences of her little vacation, and the guilt was gnawing at her. She shouldn't have chosen such a sensitive time to visit. She should have known that the security could have been easily dealt with, that the event was a world viewed gathering.

One of the guards sneezed. Another flinch.

Milly wasn't sure if they were doing it on purpose or not.

Briefly, she heard some chatter in Japanese from the radio of one of their guards. Unable to catch just what was said, Milly did catch a single word that drew her attention.

Zero.

A few feet closer to the guards sat another girl, one who had caught more of the chatter. Zero was here.

Frowning to herself, Sumeragi Kaguya glanced around the room once more. Six armed guards, none of them particularly friendly looking. As a matter of fact the Sumeragi heiress was quite certain one of them had been paying at bit too much attention to the schoolgirls huddled together nearby.

However, she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she confirmed her suspicions. Yes, those girls were from Ashford Academy, the blonde at least. That was the granddaughter of the headmaster of Ashford Academy. And out of the blue, Zero had been spotted at Kawaguchi. Keeping in mind just who Zero was, she could guess where this was going.

Kaguya didn't even pity the members of the JLF who had gone and signed their death warrants here today. This was actually legitimate terrorism, not just what the Britannians claimed every action an Anti-Britannian group took to be, but actual terrorism. They'd gone and involved innocent civilians in this farce, and for what? They wanted to free some of their comrades?

She was quite willing to bet that a woman like Cornelia li Britannia thought captured soldiers were more valuable than civilians. Especially after the display of her blatant disregard for human life when she'd attempted to purge Saitama just to lure Zero out.

On top of that, Kusakabe was almost certainly acting on his own. Tohdoh would never approve of such a foolish waste of resources, even if Katase lapsed in judgement long enough to consider this for even a moment. While he wasn't the leader of the Japan Liberation Front, the amount of say Tohdoh Kyoshiro had in their affairs was immense.

But either way, it wouldn't matter. This entire ordeal was not going to end in the favor of the JLF or Britannia.

Lelouch would just manipulate events to meet his own goals, before exterminating the fools who had thrown the first stone.

As a matter of fact, if she was right then he would likely go straight to the leader of this operation and work his way down. This could be a perfect time to meet the infamous Zero.

A devious little smirk developed on her lips as she began her own plotting. One of the guards, the leader at that, had been glancing at her quite frequently. Kaguya was fairly sure it wasn't because her figure caught his eye, either, considering how uncomfortable he seemed each time he allowed himself to look at her.

It seemed like someone was beginning to realize just how badly they'd messed up and just who had gotten caught up in it.

---

Standing tall and proud atop a stolen media van, surrounded on all sides by armed infantry and knightmares, headed off directly by Cornelia li Britannia and her personal knights Gilbert G.P. Guilford and Adreas Darlton, who had even further reinforced their lines with GeoGreymon. An absolute encirclement with no chance of safe escape, facing down some of the most dangerous soldiers Britannia had to offer.

This was not a position anyone would like to be in. Anyone but him.

For Zero, this was the perfect place to be. He was in his element.

The center Gloucester's hatch opened, revealing Cornelia. The woman stood equally tall and proud, before addressing Zero as one would a child who had wandered somewhere off limits. "Well well, we meet again Zero. Are you a member of the Japan Liberation Front?" Her tone then became even more condescending as she continued. "Or perhaps you're here to help us?"

"And if I was, Cornelia li Britannia?" Zero spoke, cutting her off from saying anything further. "How would you feel if that were the case?" This garnered some bemused reactions from the visible faces in the crowd surrounding him.

A tight smile found it's way to Cornelia's face as she replied. "Regardless. Our concerns here take precedence over yours at the moment." Shedding the smile for a glare, Cornelia gracefully drew her gunblade from it's sheath and took aim at him. "And so for the death of my half brother Clovis, I will take revenge right here."

"Hmph." The distance between them was perfect. While Cornelia was confident in her aim, she would not fire a weapon like that from such a position unless guaranteed to hit her mark. He, however, had no such limitations to his own weapons. They were well within speaking distance after all. "In truth, Cornelia, I am disappointed with you."

The remark had a clear effect on the crowd of soldiers and knights, as well as noticeably kindling the anger of the Witch of Britannia. Yet still Cornelia refrained from firing, wary of any tricks. And seeing her hold her fire, the soldiers followed her example.

"You've got some nerve to say such things in this position." Cornelia growled. Where did this bastard get the idea he had any right to be disappointed in her in the first place? She didn't seek his approval nor did she desire it.

Shaking his head, Zero decided to waste no more time. "I would like you to allow me to pass through here."

This drew a bark of laughter from GeoGreymon, accompanied by a small gout of flame. "Audacious bastard." He could appreciate an enemy like this.

Cornelia lowered her weapon slightly, a brow raised. "And why should I not simply kill you now?" As much as she hated to admit it, Zero had just provided the best case scenario for her. A distraction like that would allow them to mobilize the Lancelot with no one the wiser, and she had been assured that the frame and pilot were more than capable of destroying the linear cannon the enemy had set up in the tunnels, though trusting something so important to an Eleven left a bad taste in her mouth. With the JLF distracted by Zero's arrival and whatever the man's goals were, they would have ample time to prepare.

"That you would even ask such a thing further lowers my opinion of you." Zero replied simply, unconcerned with the glare she directed at him, the many rifles trained upon his person, or the narrowed eyes of the giant reptile. "You would put your own personal vendetta above the safety and well being of your subjects, two of whom you have failed already?"

His allusion to the two men who had been dropped from the roof seemed to have some effect. Perhaps Cornelia had something of a heart left after all. She snarled angrily, slamming a fist onto the metal of her Gloucester.

After a few moments of contemplating, Cornelia spoke once more. "I'll let you pass, Zero." This drew surprised reactions from the crowd, as well as the passengers of the stolen van. "But know this; you will need a miracle to escape that island alive. I don't care what you've come here for, you will not leave. Save the hostages or join the JLF in their fool's errand, I don't care. Your end will be the same either way."

Without any further words, Cornelia entered her Gloucester and her entourage parted.

Perhaps it was pushing his luck, but Zero couldn't help but allow one last statement as he passed the woman he had once adored. "Perhaps before I die, then, you will tell me how Euphemia felt about Saitama."

And with that final parting shot, the van passed by the gathered members of the military and began crossing the bridge.

"My lady... what are we doing?" In her haze of anger, Cornelia didn't even bother to respond to Darlton's question immediately.

"That bastard... we're going to use him as bait. Get the Lancelot ready to move, this is our chance to save the hostages and wipe out Zero all at once." That Zero would dare bring Euphemia into this was all the more reason to kill him.

"Yes, your highness." Came the unanimous response.

---

"They just let him by?" Suzaku asked incredulously, watching the van begin moving across the bridge. "That's not a good idea at all." What in the world were they thinking, letting that man through to join up with the JLF?

"Oho~" Lloyd's whimsical drawl drew his attention to the man lazily leaning up against the Lancelot's transport, a plastic cup of pudding in one hand and a spoon in the other. "So the pilot thinks himself a better strategist than our lovely Lady Cornelia?" He snickered childishly. "I believe she would be rather cross with you if she were to find out. Best keep that thought to yourself, or I'll need a new devicer~" Finishing with a sing-song tone and a conspiratory grin, Lloyd popped another spoonful of his beloved pudding into his mouth.

"Er... right..." Somewhat uncomfortable, the boy explained his thinking a bit. "It's just... Zero is really unpredictable. I don't know what Princess Cornelia hopes to accomplish by allowing a variable like him to get involved with this situation." There were just too many ways this could go wrong. Introducing Zero to the already volatile situation at Kawaguchi was a recipe for disaster in his eyes.

Shrugging, spoon held firmly between his lips, Lloyd was unable to reply.

Cecile, however, was more than capable. "I believe she wants to use him as a distraction." Seeing the attention she'd drawn, the woman flushed a bit. "Ah, well, you see... considering how our side has been reacting to Zero, wouldn't it make sense to think that the rebels are just as interested, if not more so? He arrived suddenly one day and has been securing victories over Britannia left and right. First Shinjuku, where he routed the military and assassinated Prince Clovis."

Spitting his spoon out, Lloyd cut in. "And our superiors wouldn't believe us when we told them about the digimon! Hmph!" It was at this point he realized that he now lacked a utensil to enjoy his remaining pudding with. "Oh no! I need another spoon, quickly! Asap! Stat!" Panic set in. Arm flailing ensued. Pudding was safely deposited upon the table before said arm flailing, because not even Lloyd was that careless.

Sighing in exasperation, Cecile tossed a plastic spoon to the man-child who signed her paychecks before continuing her train of thought, ignoring his giddy reaction and many praises of her wonderful and merciful nature. "Right. After that he decides to rescue you from a rigged trial, managing to do so with only three people including himself, and without his digimon." By bringing up some bizarre conspiracy theory that Jeremiah Gottwald, the acting consul at the time, still refused to even mention. "And then the battle in Saitama, where he came closest to a loss, Zero still managed to force Princess Cornelia's soldiers to retreat, as well as successfully evacuating the resistance group stationed there. If that Kuwagamon hadn't arrived at the last second, Zero would have lost his digimon but the battle would still have to have been considered his win." The fact that he'd gone so long without taking any real losses despite multiple encounters with the military was quite impressive, to say the least. With a track record like his, Cecile wasn't sure if there was anyone not interested in the masked man known as Zero.

"So, then, dost thou believe that the Japan Liberation Front desires an audience with this Zero due to his combat prowess?" Coronamon chimed in curiously from his position on one of the nearby tables.

Smiling back at the Rookie, Cecile replied. "Probably. If nothing else they would want to get an idea of just what kind of person he is, since he's so clearly dangerous. I think Princess Cornelia intends to use his arrival as a distraction to prepare a rescue operation." In other words, they were going to use the Lancelot to demolish the linear cannon the enemy had fashioned to secure the bottleneck of the access tunnels before proceeding with one of the previously failed rescue operations.

Lloyd smirked around the plastic spoon in his mouth as a message popped up on the console. "And by rescue operation, of course, our dear Cecile means the Lancelot."

Allowing a small smirk of her own, the woman murmured "Something like that." before accepting the message.

Watching the byplay between these two, Suzaku couldn't help but be relieved that woman like Cecile Croomy was around to keep Lloyd in check.

But still, a small thought wormed it's way into his head as he prepared for launch. If they could so easily discern what Cornelia's plan was, couldn't... no, wouldn't Zero already have done the same?

Even if they knew what Cornelia intended to use Zero's arrival for, what had Zero originally come for in the first place? Who was using who here?

---

From his position on the loveseat he'd commandeered for himself, Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe gave the most recent upstart in Japan a once over.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe." Offering a short nod of acknowledgement, the cloaked man did not come off as being particularly threatening. "It's a pleasure to meet you." No, truthfully he seemed downright pleasant.

It rather bothered him, actually. "Zero." Returning the nod with one of his own, Kusakabe tapped his katana upon the floor idly. "I'm sure that I'm not the only one who was interested in meeting you face to face... or as close to it as you're allowing." He made his distaste for the mask known.

An apologetic gesture. "Truly, I apologize for the precaution, but I would feel uncomfortable if the world knew just who I was."

"And what of your allies, Zero?" The lieutenant colonel prodded, leaning forward to give him a hard look. "Surely if you want to go into battle with those men and women at your side, they would be given the courtesy of knowing just who it was they're fighting with?"

"Unfortunately, I believe my identity would do little to foster trust between myself and those I'm gathering to do battle with Britannia." Zero revealed calmly. "As such, for the moment at least, my face and name are not known by those under me."

Frowning slightly, Kusakabe couldn't help but feel that this man was being too forthcoming with this information. He was simply answering questions with no attempts to dodge them or change the subject.

That was somewhat disconcerting. As though the information didn't matter.

"Pardon my interest, Lieutenant Colonel..." Zero began, turning his gaze to the tied and unconscious form of Anya Alstreim in the furthest corner of the room from him. "But could I inquire as to the condition of the Knight of Six?"

Seeing no harm in giving the information as a sort of exchange for the freely given responses thus far, Kusakabe explained. "She's been drugged to knock her out for a few hours. Her pet is in another room under heavy guard."

"No permanent damage to her, then?" Zero inquired a bit further.

Kusakabe was unable to hide his bemusement at the masked man's apparent interest in the girl as he replied. "Nothing permanent. Such an important hostage has to be treated with a degree of care, you know." As much as he would have liked to just put a bullet in the little murderer's head, she was more valuable alive than dead.

"Good, good..." The information seemed to relieve the masked man, as though he had a vested interest in the girl's safety. It was another oddity to add the the list that surrounded Zero. "Then, allow me to be frank with you, Lieutenant Colonel." Zero's tone shifted as he moved on past the pleasantries. This was more like what Kusakabe had been expecting. "Your plan here is doomed to failure. As of now, you have no viable escape from this situation. If you would cooperate with me, I can secure you and your men an escape route. I cannot overstate this enough; you will not gain anything of worth from this operation, and retreat is your best option."

Snorting, Kusakabe's reply was immediate. "I refuse." Surely Zero wasn't foolish enough to believe that he was trusted here. Rather than an ally, potential or otherwise, he only viewed Zero as a moderately interesting nuisance.

Beneath his mask, Lelouch vi Britannia's smile was positively malicious. "So you have no intention of joining me?" He had to be certain, of course. They would be useful alive, and saving them would give him some sway with the JLF later on down the line when their groups began interacting more.

However, seeing the derisive look in Kusakabe's eyes, Lelouch's grin grew wider as he realized the man was not going to change his decision. That was just fine with him, though, because it had been taking a considerable amount of self control not to just kill this bastard immediately.

"Remove that mask and reveal your face to us. It's disrespectful not to." Rather than simply reiterating, Kusakabe instead began trying to order him around.

Chuckling lowly, he replied. "I understand." Calming his prey somewhat with his seeming compliance, the predator in the room felt the need to ask one final question. "But before I do, allow me to ask you one more question. Just what exactly did you intend to accomplish here today?" The Japan Liberation Front's information on Cornelia should have made it clear that she was not going to cooperate with this setup. With that in mind, either Kusakabe ignored that fact or he never intended to use the civilians as collateral at all.

"Hah." Kusakabe barked a laugh. "Isn't it obvious? Gaining attention." He tapped his katana once more on the floor, before continuing on. "I want the whole world to know that the Japanese aren't dead yet."

Unable to hold himself back, Lelouch let loose a derisive bark of laughter. "How stale..." His reply made Kusakabe's face tighten. "You people are obsolete... there's no saving you." No, rather, at this point Lelouch had tossed the idea of saving him out the window entirely. This was to get attention. He'd endangered the people Lelouch treasured and killed two innocent civilians all for a tempter tantrum to get attention.

"What!?" One of the two rank and file soldiers in the room shouted, fist raised in an aggressive gesture.

Holding a hand to calm the man, Kusakabe addressed him with a glare. "Explain just what you mean by that, Zero." His tone was that of a man who was not to be argued with.

Shaking his head, Lelouch sighed. "There is no point in doing so. Someone like you wouldn't understand. I believe that there is nothing more for us to discuss."

"Finally!" Kusakabe shouted, drawing his blade from it's sheath and lunging forward. "Something we can agree on!"

Five minutes later, a knock on the door drew Lelouch's attention. "Lieutenant Colonel sir, I've brought the hostage I radioed about earlier. It's Sumeragi Kaguya."

Brow raised beneath his mask, he couldn't help but ponder the odds of this one. Kaguya of all people ended up caught up in this mess? That was certainly something, he mused as he flicked the blood off the last of his knives before returning it to it's hiding place.

Trained soldiers or no, the three men here hadn't been much issue to take care of. Neither of the rank and file soldiers even got to their weapons, and Kusakabe had practically slit his own throat with that bull rush earlier. He'd literally vaulted over the table and tried to cut him down midair. Did the man honestly expect no retaliation? That was pathetic.

He hadn't even needed to use his Geass, or his pistol for that matter. Kusakabe had died immediately after his failed attempt at cutting him in half, and the shock had given him ample time to line up the throw to put the second soldier, the one closest to his rifle, down. The third had tried to react, but he was the furthest from his weapon and as such couldn't make it to the rifle in time to respond. Perhaps the number of knives he'd used for the last soldier was going a bit overboard, however.

Lelouch would never know what possessed these idiots to put away their rifles when meeting an unknown with the possibility of being hostile. That was a rookie mistake that could have cost them their lives, but once again he didn't honestly care as they would have died no matter what they did. He was feeling particularly malicious today, and there wasn't much one could do when they suddenly felt like killing themselves was the way to solve every problem in life.

Geass was a horrifying power.

The prolonged silence eventually brought one of the soldiers at the door to force it open. Swiftly, a bullet deposited itself in his arm. The soldier training a rifle into the room met a much worse fate, as the second bullet fired struck him in the throat before he could pull the trigger.

Any further actions the remaining two soldiers could have taken were cut off as their attention was brought to the black-clad figures who had rounded the corner, rifles trained on them.

Standing in the center of this scene was the blinking form of Sumeragi Kaguya, clad in a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey shirt decorated with copious amounts of glitter.

"My, my..." Zero spoke, breaking the tense silence. "It would seem that this ill-fated operation has more unforeseen consequences than I had originally imagined." Sumeragi Kaguya, much like Kururugi Suzaku, had a position similar to nobility among the Japanese. That she had gotten caught up in this was most assuredly not something the JLF had intended, and on top of that it was not a good thing at all. If they managed to get her killed in this mess then what support the JLF did have from the public would plummet, not to mention how Kyoto would feel about it. "Would you allow me to have a word with you in private, Sumeragi-dono?"

Seeing no real reason to decline, the Sumeragi heiress agreed immediately. Though the rather chipper response was somewhat bizarre, it was ignored as one of the girl's quirks. "Of course, Zero-san."

After a few moments to allow the door to be closed once more, and the soldiers ushered out of hearing distance, Zero and Kaguya stood alone in the room.

Zero was the first to speak. "Were you harmed at all during this incident, Sumeragi-dono?"

Smiling brightly back at him, the girl replied immediately. "No, I'm unharmed. Am I to assume you've already secured the hostages, Zero-san?"

Raising a brow beneath his mask, Lelouch's reply was made with some curiosity. "Your assumption would be correct. The captives have indeed been secured by my troops."

Smirking lopsidedly, Kaguya positioned herself closer to him with a flourish and a giggle, ending up almost uncomfortably close. "Well, well, you're quite the capable one Zero-san." She grinned up at him impishly.

Ignoring the close proximity, he replied easily. "What Kusakabe did tonight was an insult to the men and women fighting for a free Japan." It was legitimate terrorism, plain and simple. "Two innocent civilians were executed by the JLF tonight." He really felt the need to emphasize on that point. Those were normal civilians. Was it possible the two of them were involved in something worth killing them over? Yes, that possibility existed. But if you went around killing people because they "might" be this or that it was still murder.

Not moving away in the slightest, Kaguya responded with a devious smile. "You're right, of course... but I can't help but feel you had ulterior motives here..." Kaguya paused her statement just long enough to lean even closer, standing on her toes so her face was directly in front of his mask, as though she could see through the opaque lens. "Like saving you're friends, Lelou~ch."

Zero was unable to fully contain his surprise, briefly stiffening up before he regained his previous posture. The reaction was so small, it would have been incredibly difficult to notice... if one wasn't standing less than a foot away. But considering just how close the girl had gotten to him, the tell was as plain as day.

Which explained just why she had been ignoring his personal space so blatantly. She was clever, that one.

Releasing a tired sigh the moment he realized his act was up, Lelouch couldn't help but ask. "How?" How the hell could she possibly have known that? It didn't make any sense. There were no hints for her to have picked up, he hadn't seen her in seven years, and she had only just recently learned he was alive. What possible explanation was there for her to even legitimately consider him as Zero? It was getting ridiculous at this point just how many people were stumbling upon his secrets in quick succession.

"Explanations later." Kaguya announced cheerily, before grabbing him in a fierce hug. "Long overdue displays of affection now."

Deciding to just give up, Lelouch returned the hug with a sigh. "You would not believe just how much this has been happening recently..." First Suzaku, then Euphemia, then Anya, and now Kaguya. At this rate he was going to have Odysseus over for tea in a month or so.

This lovely little reunion was broken up by a sudden explosion as a white Knightmare rocketed into the air, before taking shots directly at the supports keeping the hotel from sinking into the lake.

Due to the crumbling of the hotel and it's currently sinking structure, the building shook. The sudden shaking caused many of the people standing in the building to stumble and fall.

Normally Lelouch's above average sense of balance would keep him from falling from something like this, but Kaguya tripped. And so they fell.

The two of them ended up lying on the ground, Lelouch's arms around Kaguya and the girl lying on top of him. "... you know, my fantasies about this don't usually involve explosions." Kaguya mumbled, making the best of the situation.

Ignoring the implications of that statement, Lelouch quickly stood, helping the girl to her feet as well. "Your cousin's sense of timing is atrocious as per the norm, Kaguya. We need to move now, catching up will have to be put back for a little while I'm sorry to say." Of course Suzaku was using that blasted white knightmare to jeopardize his plans again. Because what kind of operation would it be if things actually went according to plan all the way through?

Blinking, Kaguya vocalized her surprise. "That white knightmare is Suzaku's?" That explained why he wouldn't tell her just what his work entailed. It also explained just why that thing was such a menace, because if Suzaku's performance inside a knightmare frame was anything like his physical ability then he was an ace pilot easily.

Quickly rushing over to the unconscious form of Anya, Zero lifted her gently into his arms. "We need to go, Kaguya. Follow me, and watch your footing. This building is going to be taking a few more explosions today." Seeing her eyes widen, he grinned deviously and pressed the detonator he'd been hiding beneath his cloak.

"What was the point of that!?" The girl demanded as the structure shook once more, following closely behind Zero.

"It was twofold, really. The explosion will keep whatever rescue operation Cornelia planned from progressing, allowing my group to take credit for the rescue without Britannian interference." Feeling her curious gaze on his back, Lelouch elaborated upon the second reason with a malicious smile. "Secondly, it was to clear out the remaining JLF soldiers who were attempting to retake this hotel from us, as well as painting out the detonation as their final stand."

Gulping, Kaguya replied. "You really were pissed off weren't you?" Lelouch was terrifying sometimes. He was a total sweetheart normally, beneath the prickly exterior. But when you took something he loved and endangered it, he turned into a demon bent on your destruction.

Was it strange that she absolutely loved that about him?

"Let's just say that I took more satisfaction from the last half hour then I should have and leave it at that."

---

"Fear not, my dear Britannians..." A voice shattered the dreadful silence that had fallen since the hotel had gone up in flames. "I, Zero, present the hostages to you unharmed."

At least a dozen filled life boats worth of captives were floating around near a larger boat, upon which nine people stood.

In the center of these people stood Zero, surrounded by black-clad soldiers who's faces were shrouded behind dark visors. Four of these people stood at either side of him, the two nearest men bowing slightly.

"People of the world!" Zero called out. "Fear us or rally behind us as you see fit! We are the Black Knights!"

Nina shifted briefly, glancing over to Kallen who also stood behind the assembled group to further insure their identities remain hidden. Black Knights, a direct contrast to the typical white knights of Britannia. By claiming such a name, Lelouch was telling the world that he stood on equal ground with those knights, and that he fought under a different flag.

This was going to ruffle feathers. She caught sight of Shirley and Milly in one of the boats, with the still unconscious Anya nestled protectively between them. According to Lelouch she would be fine, thankfully.

If that girl had been hurt, or even killed, by the Japan Liberation Front's bumbling... Lelouch would exterminate them. Quietly, in such a way that it would never get back to him, he would decimate the JLF entirely for allowing this to happen.

She couldn't help but feel holding such strong feelings for an enemy was going to be trouble one day, but there was no helping it. There was no way he could simply stop caring for her no matter which side she fought for, so he would have to do his best to protect her as he moved forward with his plans. Turning her eyes back to Zero, who stood proudly before the entire world, Nina felt that he could do it. If anyone could, it would be Lelouch.

"We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield." Zero continued. "Regardless of their race or social status; be they "Elevens", or Britannians. The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannian civilians hostage, and executed them mercilessly. It was a wanton and meaningless act to gain attention. Therefore, they were punished... just as former Viceroy Clovis la Britannia was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed civilians."

Allowing this information to stew in the public's mind for a moment, Zero paused briefly before continuing on. "We could not stand by and allow such acts of cruelty to go unopposed, and so we made him pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field; but neither will I tolerate a one sided slaughter of the weak by the strong! The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors abuse their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again! No matter how mighty, how formidable our foe may be."

"Those of you with power..." Zero announced, raising his left arm and lifting his cape. "Fear us. Those of you without it..." His right hand mimicked the gesture of his left, briefly revealing the costume beneath his cape before his arms returned to their previous position, covering him once more. "Rally behind us. For we, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgement of this world!"

It was with these words that a war was declared. A war of the strong versus the weak, where the weak had finally received the warrior they prayed for.

On this day, history was made.

---

Alright... so Kawaguchi is done. Lelouch knows about Rivalz partner digimon, Kaguya met up with Lelouch briefly, the black knights have been introduced to the public. Next chapter is going to have some fun stuff going down... when I get around to it. So if I mucked up this chapter somewhere be sure to tell me, because I'm going to be pissed if I made another giant plothole without noticing after spending like a year procrastinating about fixing that shit.

Someone also pointed out a smaller plothole several chapters in the making that I completely missed at the time, but it's been fixed as of the addition of this chapter. Thanks guy, you know who you are but I've forgotten your name so this is kind of awkward but just always remember that you're a cool dude/dudette.

EDIT: Yeah I knew I'd fucked something obvious up, and since I'm in the mood I'm changing it before it gets mentioned. No, Suzaku is not talking about Zero joining the Justice League of America. I just made a typo. Sigh.