Chapter Nineteen: Dishonest Actors

Arc Five: Rebirth

Opening: "Sometimes the brave man" - ROOT FIVE

The atmosphere was electric, the desegregated crowd filling out the stadium at once tense and excited, a mix of strikers, working class Britannians and political commentators. The nobility sat in the higher rings of the converted arena near the foot of the mountain, looking on, as Euphemia, accompanied by her freshly minted Knight Guilford, who had been recently appointed to Cornelias bitter anger, held the stage, accompanied by Zero who had arrived shortly before the allotted time accompanied by two guards. The terrorists stood to the side, seeming to absorb the stages energy, a black hole in the centre of the stadium; moody and unignorable like an edgy teenager at a formal gathering.

The Specially Administered Zone had made waves through the political world, with an already enraged Cornelia even threatening to filibuster the idea before Schneizel tore her down. It had been a controversial bill, with rumours that Schneizel had even had to defend the idea from his Father, who had been suspected to have taken a few moments away from whatever it was he did in his free time to scorn the idea, before allowing it, an out of character move to say the least.

The participants were of course waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the Provisional Government's Delegation. Of the three negotiating parties, this was the group that the Britannian onlookers knew the least about. Euphemia was a liberal politician, the Black Knights were terrorists, but for the Provisional Government and Yuaikai, who had been interchanged in the common media as being one and the same, very little was known. Of course, it was suspected Euphemia knew more than she let on, at least enough to organise this meeting.

It was nearly midday when the first cries of excitement came up from the back, which sent the cameras of the media back towards the entrance as a brown saloon crawled into the stadium. The message was clear; this Government consisted of serious diplomats, who were professional Representatives, which intentionally contrasted the image of thuggish terrorists, rocking up in military Knightmares. It was unclear whether Zero noticed this, however it would be surprising if he didn't.

Either way, the car pulled up a third of the way in, before parking perpendicular to the stage, allowing the occupants of the rear seats to step straight out and face towards the stage. The door was opened from the outside by an appointed guard, and the tall yet vaguely muscular frame of Kaname Ohgi stepped onto the paddock, hair groomed back and dressed in his best suit. He received a smattering of applause from the Britannia parts of the crowd, which given his relative anonymity was to be expected, however his front and centre role in Yuaikai earned him raucous applause from the Japanese.

Next out was Suzaku Kururugi, complete with his arm in a sling, who received generous reception from all present. As the son of the last Prime Minister, it was not a stretch for anyone to imagine that this was how he chose to busy himself. However, the last one, a black haired, scowling Britannian teen, set the crowds wondering, as Euphemia beamed on proudly.

Then, one by one, they worked it out. Guilford was among the first, spitting out the name like an unexpected bad taste. The hisses quickly consumed the stage as a name made itself clear.

"L… Lelouch! Lelouch Vi Britannia!"

For Lelouch, things couldn't have gone more as planned. In spite of an on and off Spartan philosophy and a now realised big brother complex he was now beginning to experience fresh guilt from for being so busy and unable to see Nunnally, one of the things he enjoyed most was a reputation, when people would hush in his presence and never lose awareness of him. It was an addicting feeling. He wasn't even in denial for his attempt to cultivate it with this entrance. An aura of personality was a powerful thing for all parties.

And so, when he stood to join Euphemia and his fellow Ministers, he declined the crowd but a side glance. It projected confidence and authority, two things the Britannian crowds would gobble up. As he turned back to Euphemia, he could only chuckle mentally at Guilford, having received the shock of his life, trying to hold it together.

Euphemia took this cue to man the microphone and hush the crowd, calling out "Now that all the delegates have arrived, Zero, Lelouch and I shall begin the process of negotiating the conditions of the Zone. I thank you all for your support and enthusiasm."

The applause to this was deafening as she confirmed both Lelouch's identity and the beginning of peace. Lelouch nodded in confirmation, more than happy to take over negotiations from his technical superior, the Prime Minister Suzaku, as Zero, being well aware he would be the head of the Black Knights negotiations team, seemed unmoved. Lelouch turned away to retire to the negotiating room, followed by the terrorist and the Princess, as they ventured into a dark room lit by a computer screen occupying the back wall. The door locking behind them, they stepped round the table and stared each other down, Euphemia gleefully so, Zero passively so, and Lelouch stoically so. After a moment of exchanging glances, Euphemia drew first, leaning over the table and with a swaying hand, and explaining "So with the basic concept, I can't concede much, but in terms of land available, I really think we can come to a compromise. It's critical we get the highest amount of displaced Japanese within the Zones boundaries."

As someone who had worked in tandem with the ghettos, Lelouch understood perhaps better than any Britannian what she meant. The most densely populated zones and most impoverished zones were very particular and splotchy, with bits and pieces across South-East Tokyo, and that was just in the Capital. To this effect, Lelouch affirmed "Aye, this is critical. Ideally, we'd have Tokyo be the Zone itself, as it's a high density Region we can work with. It's a relatively small area of land, but we can start housing ethnic Japanese straight off the bat, and get them working."

Zero said nothing, which drew Lelouch's view aside briefly. What was his problem? Lelouch knew for a fact Zero had something up his sleeves, or rather two somethings, but it wasn't time for that yet, but even so he had at least expected the terrorist to grandstand or give rousing political opinion while burning time. Because that was all both Zero and Lelouch were doing; burning time.

Speaking of which, he peaked down towards his wristwatch, reading it at 12:07 in the afternoon. After a moment of some mental calculations, he looked back up, facing an awkward silence as he became distinctly aware that Euphemia was the only one fully focused. Lelouch had a fair guess at what Zero was thinking about, but there was still thirteen minutes until 12:20, when Lelouch's plan fell into motion. Zero should still be somewhat engaged, at least for a few more minutes, but he had fallen silent.

'What is this guy's problem?' Lelouch pondered, before realising he was staring as Euphemia broke the silence with "I'm not sure if we could get all of Tokyo, unless there was nothing else within the Zones area-"

"That's not going to happen."

Lelouch's eyes drew back to Zero with a certain amused surprise, his narrow gaze projecting the snarky, demeaning disdain he felt coarse through him. Even though he knew it would happen, he also what was to follow would still sting to hear. Anyone threatening Euphemia would make his blood boil, even if he held all the cards. It was a base, morose instinct that fueled the thickening veins within his wrist and neck as Zero disdainfully said "I regret that while I admit that my assumptions to the legitimacy of your concern for the Japanese cause were mistaken, neither pragmatic nor born out of… familial loyalty…", pausing briefly as he turned to Lelouch when emphasising 'familial', "...but while this is true, it does not change the very basic fact that this deal is still redundant. There was never going to be a success at the negotiations table, for the simple reason you both know as members of the Royal Family; there has never been a success at the negotiating table, only at the barrel of the guns of the just."

As Lelouch scowled at the jab at his kinship to the Royal Family, Zero went the whole hog and pulled out a pistol from a hidden holster, obviously wooden and yet very deadly. Lelouch, surprised by this turn of events, stepped back, eyes widening. This wasn't part of the plan. He had set everything up perfectly in the time since they had decided to attend the Conference, with Lelouch ensuring all would go according to his plan. If he was right, there should be no need for Zero to raise his gun. What had he missed? If Zero was seen to shoot Lelouch and Euphemia, he would lose all popular support, at the very least from the strikers. If Lelouch or Euphemia could be framed, then that was a different story, but that seemed impossible.

Euphemia was far more relaxed than her brother, lacking his intimate knowledge of the way things were supposed to go. To her, this was a first layer of dishonesty, when in fact, if one considered Lelouch's plans, it was a second. This was her first inkling that the talks were being in any way subverted, and not having any machiavellian plans of her own, was far less uptight about them going wrong. With snark Lelouch was surprisedly proud of, she responded "What are you going to do, shoot us? As if. You'll be dealing with Cornelia, who will go full scorched earth against you for killing me, with an insurgent group. Best case scenario, innocent Japanese suffer. To cut a long story short, you wouldn't dare shoot me."

Lelouch felt like his heart was about to explode with pride, having to stop himself from applauding like a parent at a sporting event. In spite of her youth, Euphemia was going places in the political world, he was in little doubt over that. She took this issue with supreme confidence, maintaining proper control like Lelouch hoped he could. However, she was wrong on two points, to no fault of her own. First, she didn't know about the plan Lelouch had hatched, which was only natural, however it was certainly not the case that Zero had only a gun at his disposal in this instance. The second issue, which Lelouch did not know the answer to, was why Zero had drawn a gun at all. There was no need.

Zero, in typical fashion, seemed to swell in dubiously righteous anger, responding "Is that so? Well I suppose you are correct, however you are mistaken in the wider sense. You grasp the situation, you mistake the motivation, as ever. I am not motivated by hate, but justice, and I am not going to be shooting anyone."

He glowered, and dropping an octave hissed "You will."

Neither Lelouch nor Euphemia, the former of whom had to stop himself from chuckling aloud at the proposition, understood what Zero meant. Euphemia, shoot anyone, under any duress? Perhaps he had overestimated Zero. Nonetheless, the terrorist continued "Ideally, I would have your brother kill you then shoot me, however I have already availed of the opportunity to use his mind. However, either way I'm afraid you two will not be leaving this room on your own terms."

"And how will you accomplish this?" Lelouch queried, not buying into either the premise nor Zero's delusions of grandeur. What was Zero's game?

"You of all people should know, Lamperouge" replied Zero demeaningly, revealing he knew his secret identity. "I open my eye slot, and say the magic words."

Turning to Euphemia, with both herself and her brother uncertain what was about to happen, as the mask slid open to reveal a blue eye, as Zero shouted "I, Zero, command you to shoot and kill your brother, then shoot me in the leg!"

And in that moment, Lelouch realised several key things.

First, he realised who Zero was. This was a bit of a layup, with the set of people with the ability Zero had demonstrated amounting to two; Zero, and Kallen Stadtfeld, and he had more than once suspected some crossover. More to the point, Zero's command to Euphemia was all but identical in format to the recording of Kallen.

Second, he realised who had ordered Villetta to kill him, and how it had been done. What seemed to be the case for the time being was that Zero, or Kallen, having interrogated the Baroness, released her to the Britannians as a sleeper agent, with the command to obey any orders received from Kallen at a later date. This explained the seemingly nonsensical release of Nu just prior to the incident at the Convention, as well as her uncharacteristic mumness following their capture of her. She had not been acting consciously.

Thirdly and most critically, he realised he had been thoroughly outplayed. He now realised her plan in its entirety, to kill the witnesses to her treachery and achieve military victory in the ensuing chaos, rather than just his surprise from the North. He was unprepared for this, not having suspected Zero of having the wherewithal to expand on the plan Lelouch had leaked her.

And so, when Lelouch's vision switched the the incapacitated Euphemia, the reflection in her glazed eyes of himself portrayed an image of desperation, a man who was about to die at the hands of his first love, her hands stained against her will.

It was, to his view, a disappointment above all else, not just in the waste of potential nor all the things he would never accomplish- never experience, that was selfish, but accomplish- but also how weak he was.

In the last few moments, he saw a pair of tears, one on his cheek, and one on his sisters.

"Euphie…"

"B… brother-"

Lelouch's eyes widened as she replied, wondering how much autonomy or awareness she really had, his pupils shrinking before her arm jerked and his eyelids scrunched shut in pain as the 7mm round punctured his breast, surgically piercing through his meaty insides, worming its red hot way through his ribs and lungs, boiling the air in his chest like a pressure cooker buried in his heart as it finally left his back, having scraped through his insides like a pig being prepared for serving. It was excruciating, like lava dropped through a narrow hole in his body that was then left to permeate.

His legs stuttered as he entered shock, before his left one gave way altogether, falling back, slamming against the wall moments before his bottom slid to the floor. He let out a gasp of air that seemed eager to escape from the bowels of his chest, bursting out like captives freed by the hole Euphemia had blown open in him.

His vision seemed somewhat more distant all of a sudden, unfocused and in a narrow frame, like a third person perspective. With the sudden numbing of his torso, it almost seemed as if he was watching a television replay of Euphemia, eyes wide in horror, turning to Kallen and shooting her leg like a marionette. To what degree was she aware of what she was doing?

To what degree was Lelouch aware? He could barely raise his hand in protest as blood spilled over his lapel. All he could do was watch disconnected in physicality as Kallen gripped the edge of her table, holding herself up to avoid leaning on her broken leg, before coming down on Euphemia with a nearby book, knocking her out cold. He gritted his teeth and braced his legs, actions which seemed to claw his vision forward to fill the frame. On this, he tensed up, and put all his effort into his elbows to push off against the wall. There was no real strategy, but it was move or slip into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, Kallen had managed to reach a hobbling state where she could navigate the room with some difficulty. Seeming eager to leave, she briefly paused as she passed his body, now lying flat for his efforts. Hearing a sigh barely register, he struggled to make out her conciliatory words above his struggling breaths.

"I admired you. I really did. Your attitude more than anything else, a silly hang up, but as you told me, that is critical. Today, the lesson has come full circle, as it is applied on its teacher. Goodbye Lelouch, and thank you for your help. If anything, I wish you a quick death, free of much more pain than you have yet experienced. I do not hate you, but you must be gone. We must cast off all shackles to win…"

As she turned to go, even in Lelouch's now delirious state he could swear he heard her choke slightly on her last sentence. Regret? He cared not. He honestly had bigger concerns as to whether Kallen regretted having to kill her inspiration. As far as he was concerned, she could rot in hell.

As Lelouch sank lower and lower, the sadness and disappointment he had earlier felt grew to anger. Damn guns, damn plots, damn Zero, all these curses laced with plenty of expletives hurtled through his consciousness, projected towards his view of the ceiling. All this work, to die for nothing? Bloody well not.

As he grew into a frothing fury, his mind seemed to focus, as resolution returned to his mind, ironically through the passion of a single emotion, where clarity was rarely sought: rage.

Come hell or high water, he was leaving this room.

Muscles strained to tensilities even Suzaku's training had failed to draw from him, he gripped a vertical railing by the entryway, and with all his might hauled his meagre weight along the ground, all the while concentrating on how much he hated Kallen Stadtfeld.

Hauling himself along the floor, Lelouch grunted and roared, keeping himself in the proper frame of mind as he left crimson stains along the hard black floor. He picked up some speed, though he very quickly began to feel significant strain on his heart and was forced to stop and pant.

Each breath hurt, even in his numbed state, as air rushed in to greet his tattered airways.

"No…"

He'd lost his momentum. All his energy was dedicated to the repetition of restoring air to his blood, ever increasing in pained difficulty. He could barely spare the air to cry out, a final complaint issued to the world at large, a last angry roar at the ceiling, emptying his lungs of spit and flecks of blood in a concluding expression of anger.

He was going to die here in this side corridor with empty lungs and a shattered dream.

"Lelouch!"

It was a distant voice, and tinny, like a desperate transmission over a bad radio, and Lelouch didn't twitch even as his heart skipped several beats in what he knew to be foolish hope. It was the last throes of his increasingly desperate psyche, he knew, that clung on, even inventing voices.

"Lelouch!"

Suddenly, there was a dull thud by his ear, and a blurred face obscured his vision, his eyes defiantly refusing to bring the interloper into focus. His lips pursed briefly as he became aware he was being lifted, blood splotching either side of his suit, smearing the cuffs of the man blocking the wound.

"Su…"

The Japanese teen silenced him as he manoeuvred him onto his back, combining the pressure of his own body weight with the acceleration of gravity to clot the blood flow, carrying him like a child for his sins.

"Ti… mme.."

Though Lelouch was far from out of the woods, he began to think a little more positive, not in outcome but in hope for the potential of others outside himself. Suzaku in a way reminded him that there were others within the cause who would fight, others than himself to rely on. But it would be nothing short of a moral failure to not, in what could be his last moments of life, warn them.

"It's 20 past 12."

Even if he didn't live, they could.

"R...run…"

Suzaku turned his head back to his passenger, uncertain of what Lelouch had meant by his statement, before the world exploded into fierce light, and Lelouch fell into uncertain sleep.

Very touch and go. Alas, we must end it here. Incidentally, for those keeping score at home in real time, this Chapter marks a noteworthy milestone; I finally made a damn header image to go with this story. At 75000 words in.

Go me.

However, today we meet the conclusion of many plot lines. Kallen's cover has been blown, and this time she can't Geass her way out. Villetta's arc, dating back to Zero's first appearance, has now been made clear, and the subterfuge of the last few Chapters has become a fight to the finish. However, while many arcs come to a close this Chapter, does Lelouch's? What was his plan? How did it go so wrong?

All that and more will be revealed in the next Chapter, The Guns of Hokkaido. See you then, wear bullet proof armour just to be safe, and please rate and review!

~Eth0