Phase XIV: Devil May Cry!
(Ashford academy)
A week after the train rescue
Rueben Ashford was in his office and on the other side of his desk Lelouch was standing with a file under his left arm.
"I have something that would interest you uncle Rueben" Lelouch said and handled him the file.
Rueben opened the file and inside it were contracts for weapons, ammunition, knightmares and spare parts for his 42bd corps.
"Those contracts could make a man very wealthy, and all they require is your signature" Lelouch said to a now eyes wide in astonishment Rueben Ashford.
"Such valuable contracts surely don't come free; you wouldn't be giving them to me unless you don't want something in return" Rueben said, his years as a business man told him that this was true.
Lelouch picked up an unsolved rubix cube from Rueben's desk and started playing with it.
"You are correct uncle! What I want is for you to stop forcing Millie to attend those arrange marriage meetings and let her bee with who she wants" Lelouch said and then after a few moves of the cubes sides he placed it back on the table.
"That's it? Done! But may I ask why that is your request?" Rueben asked curiously.
Lelouch simply got up and walked towards the door, opened it but before he exited he turn around and said.
"Millie is one of the few friends I have, I want her to be able to live her life freely and happy" he said in a tone which was calm and silent but had a murderous intonation within it, he then exited the room.
Rueben was both ashamed by the truth in Lelouch's words, and terrified by Lelouch voice, how that boy could be soft spoken, considerate and have the face off an angel one minute and then shift to a thunderous, scary and almost demonic in appearance another moment, truly made him shiver.
He them looked at the rubix cube that Lelouch had played for a few moments and noticed that it was solved.
"I've been working on this thing for months!" he said to himself.
To tell the truth Rueben despite knowing Lelouch since he was a baby realized that he may have not known him at all, and that after years of living in the shadows he was now coming to light, but he was off one thing certain.
"I am sure glad I am not his enemy!" he said while he glanced at the rubix cube.
(Governor's palace)
Suzaku's knighting ceremony was being performed and while he walked across the room to where Euphie was his highly sensitive hearing from years in the military picked up the gossip and whisper of the nobles.
"An eleven being chosen as a royal knight, what is princess Euphemia thinking?" one noble whispered to another.
"Well she does have needs like any other woman" another one said and a chuckle full of malice came out.
Meanwhile back at Ashford the whole school was watching the ceremony, and every student was shocked that their student council member was not only the 'Silver knight', but now he became a royal knight.
"You've got to be kidding! An eleven a knight!" one of the two boys from Shinjuku said.
"And with the knighthood he will have the rank of major at least, and before that he was a captain in the Black Knights!" the other boy from Shinjuku said.
"Won't there be problems at the knighting ceremony?" Rivals asked concerned.
"Don't worry! Lelouch said it's all covered."Millie said.
"Kururugi Suzaku, will you cast away your fear and become a sword and shield of the empire" Euphemia said to Suzaku who was kneeling before her.
"Yes your highness" Suzaku said and he then handed Euphie his sword.
"Then I Euphemia di Brittannia grant you the title, power and responsibility as my knight, arise Sir Kururugi" she said with a wave of the hand towards the crowd.
Suzaku then got up and faced the crowd of nobles gathered for the knighting ceremony, and despite the fact that it was considered both polite and customary to clap; none of those assembled did so.
Just then a two pairs of hands started to clap, all eyes directed themselves to were the sound was coming, and saw that it was Lloyd Asplundh and Prince Lelouch wearing his Zero costume, Darlton who was also present joined the two and soon the entire room followed and clapped.
A few minutes later the celebratory reception was held, Euphemia and Suzaku stayed for a while then exited discretely Lelouch walked to Euphie and Suzaku.
"Ah Lelouch so glad you could make it!" Euphie said happily.
"Although I admit I consider no one more qualified than you to protect Euphemia Suzaku, I have to ask you Euphie have you ever considered to ask me before you announce it to the world?" Lelouch said, his voice didn't contain anger or irritation, just a hint of disappointment.
"Well I am sorry about that" Euphie said with a chuckle which was the one she used as a little girl when she'd get caught stealing a cookie as a snack right before lunch or dinner.
"Now I have to find another captain of the guards! And they just don't have a sign slapped on their backs saying 'Captain of the guards for hire,', now all my plans for you Suzaku are derailed" Lelouch said with a breath of exasperation.
"Well or course Suzaku will remain part of the black knights, and I can let you borrow him anytime you want" Euphie said like a wife who was willing to lend her husband to another woman , this caused Suzaku to blush, but he quickly got over it and asked Lelouch a question.
"Plans for me? What do you mean?" Suzaku asked curious.
"For you to join the knights of rounds" Lelouch replied calmly.
"The! The knights of rounds! But! But that's…..!"
"The highest military power a non royal could rise to, I was planning that after the 42nd gets a major victory, I would ask for you to be elevated to that status, it is customary for princes who have won victories to be granted almost anything, but since you are now Euphemia's knight, I cannot do that anymore, and why are you so surprise, rising through the ranks was you're idea to begin with?" Lelouch replied to a now awed Suzaku.
"Yes! But I thought that it would take me decades to reach that!"Suzaku said to Lelouch.
"The game of power is one of speed, you must act face and seize power before anybody else!...But for today let us put that aside, Millie has a celebration party planed for you in an hour, if we want to make it we should go now" Lelouch replied and departed.
"Sorry Euphemia-sama, but I have to go" he tried to leave but was caught by the shoulders by Euphie's arm.
"What is it?" Suzaku asked as he turned around towards her, only for Euphie to give him a peck on the cheeks which made him blush greatly.
"I told you to call me Euphie! And have fun at the party!" Euphie said with a small scowl which at the second part of the sentence turned into a smile, and when Suzaku recovered from being flabbergasted, he bowed and quickly went on his way.
(Tokyo concession commercial center)
Jeremiah was walking towards Ashford academy, his intent was to present the report on the now finished 42nd corps towards prince Lelouch himself, he could have just faxed it, but after working so hard on the army, and being so proud with the results of their training he wanted to see his reaction first hand.
He was about to enter the campus when he saw in front of him a woman carrying a small basket with her about to enter the exit gates of the marked as well.
"You're Miss Sayoko aren't you?" he said towards her.
"Yes! I'm flattered you remembered me lord Jeremiah!" Sayoko said and gave a curtsy.
Jeremiah responded with a short bow of the torso and said.
"Are you on your way towards Ashford?" he asked at which Sayoko replied with a nod of the head.
"So am I! Let me help you with that basket"
"Oh no, I couldn't impose!" she replied bashfully.
"Nonsense! We are both going in the same direction and it would be ungentlemanly of me to let a fair lady carry it" he said and at this Sayoko blushed slightly and presented him the basket.
Jeremiah grabbed it with both hands and as soon as Sayoko let go of the basked the sheer weight of it pulled Jeremiah on his knees on the concrete.
"How could such a little basked way so much! What's in it anyway rock?" he said in his mind as he now used his full strength to raise it and himself to his feat.
"Oh! I forgot to tell , I bought some new 80 pound dumbbells , my old ones were becoming rather light for me to use to train" Sayoko said to Jeremiah with an innocent smile.
"80 pound dumbbells! Even I have trouble when training with those! What is she? Supermaid?" Jeremiah said as the shock of the information he just received was now greater than the dumbbells in the basked.
"If those are to heavy you can give them back to me!" Sayoko said with concern in her voice for Jeremiah.
"Non…..nonsense! I can carry these" he said in between puffs of air for strength Sayoko could tell that he was having a hard time and the fact that he acted so cavalier made her smile sincerely and feel weary flattered, since it was a long time a man was such a gentleman with her, and so they began their journey towards Ashford.
(Student Council Clubhouse)
"And now our student council members Kururugi Suzaku's celebratory party for his recent knighthood can commence!" Rivals shouted while he poured Suzaku a drink.
"Cheers!" the assembled students shouted.
"So are you and Lelouch still fighting Shirley?" Millie asked her.
"Were not actually fighting, it's rather me who made a mistake, I just wish Lelouch would tell me the reason why he can't date a girl" Shirley said with a sad tone.
Millie saw this, and she herself had feelings for Lelouch and she knew that since he was a prince he was expected to have an arrange marriage prepared for him by his father.
"Maybe the reason he doesn't date girls, is that he dates boys!" she pointed out to Lelouch who had his arm swanged over Suzaku's shoulder.
"You know that both of them spent a lot of time together…..Ah the forbidden romance of male lovers, can you imagine that! " Millie said and switched an seductive voice and continued with "The two of them in bed, naked and making love, their bodies linked, their mouth kissing!"
"IT….IT CAN'T BE TRUE LULU!" Shirley screamed in her head.
Kallen who was close enough to hearing the conversation was a syllable away from having nose bleed, she had originally come here to assassinate Suzaku since he was now her enemy, but after accidentally listening in on Millie's theory for Lelouch lack of a girlfriend, all assassination thought stopped and she ran out of the club room towards the girls gym locker, after hearing that she needed a long cold shower.
And so unknown to anyone Millie had saved Suzaku from an assassination attempt with the power of yaoi!
Meanwhile Lelouch silent alarm on his phone rang meaning that Mao had just entered school grounds, C.C told him three days ago that Mao was a geass user she granted power, but he lost control of it, and after telling him how they only had themselves to depend upon for survival, he knew that Mao would come back for her and kill anyone who even had remote contact with her, so he formed a plan to counter Mao.
"Suzaku I need your help for a moment" Lelouch said to him, Suzaku nodded in agreement and they both temporarily left the clubroom.
Lelouch was now inside Ashford Academy's warehouse, and the warehouse only occupant at the moment was his mothers old Ganymede, the rest of it was empty, he was with his back pressed against the frame, his arms crossed and his legs as well.
He had formulated a plan on how to defeat Mao, and despite the fact that he was very afraid of the power of telepathy which C.C informed him off, he was eager to see if he could defeat a geass user using his wits.
" Who knows maybe all that crap I told C.C about how only humans can decide the fate of the world is true if I defeat this Mao guy" he said in his mind.
"That is a big if!" Mao said as he entered the warehouse.
"So you're the face behind the mask of the Iron Prince?" Mao said, he then clapped a little and said "Congratulations, you put on quite a show! If I wasn't here to kill you I'd ask for an autograph since I am a fan of yours" he said with a chuckle.
"I don't suppose I can convince you to join me or something like that? I could use somebody like you, and I can pay you richly if you say yes" Lelouch asked sincerely with a smile on his face and chuckle in his voice.
"Sorry! Tempting offer, but all I am interest it is C.C" Mao replied with a grin.
He then pulled out a pistol from his coat and pointed it at Lelouch.
"I don't suppose I can either convince you to take the witch and just go without killing me is there?" Lelouch asked with a smile on his face.
"Sorry man, security issues, you're a general so you understand the importance of keeping a secret can't you?" Mao replied, he was almost starting to regret having to kill such an interesting guy who didn't even flinch at the prospect of death.
"Well why don't you put your plan into action, from what I can pickup, you plan is to kick my ass and then call in Suzaku to arrest me" Mao said and waited in anticipation.
"If you insist!" Lelouch said with a chuckle.
He then pulled out a magic wand which was like the one used by the fairy godmother in the Disney movie Cinderella and started waiving it.
"Bibbidi (he waived the wand to the left) Bobbidi ( he waived the wand to the right) Boo! He touched his forehead with the wand and then suddenly vanished.
"What! "Mao said in shock at what he just witnessed, and started waiving the gun around in all directions trying to find the missing prince.
"That's a real neat trick your highness, but you forget I can locate you by reading your thoughts!" he replied and tried to do just that.
"This can't be, I can't read his thought, it's like he just vanished for real!" Mao said in his mind, he then noticed that C.C was in the warehouse with her back turned towards him.
"C.C!" he said and ran towards her, he reached her and grabbed her shoulder to spin her around and when he did he saw that her face was skull.
"GwaaaaaaaaaaH" it growled demonically at him, which caused Mao to jump back in fear.
"What! What in God's name!" Mao said out loud.
"God ? He's not the one in control here, I am!"Lelouch voiced echoed trough out the warehouse.
"You said you were a fan of mine, and such you should have know that the E.U calls me the Niddhog , and guess what you just stepped into my lair! Hah ha ha ha ha ha" Lelouch demonic laughter filled the warehouse sending shivers down Mao's spine.
"Stop it! Stop the laughing!" Mao shouted.
Just then the ground began to shake and collapse, only to reveal a massive pit, Mao was now standing is a mall 10 meters in diameter circle, and saw that at the bottom of the pit there was rivers of lava, boiling cauldrons, all kinds of torture devices, and within them there where what seemed to be humans being tortured by Devils.
"What the! This…this looks like!"
"Hell?" Lelouch booming voiced echoed throughout the area cutting Mao off.
And then he saw a giant Lelouch emerge from the rivers of Lava, he towered over Mao, such a sight drove any bit of sanity and calmness away from him, he started shooting bullets into the air and the giant Lelouch's head.
Lelouch stretched his arm and picket Mao up with his big finger and his opposable thumb, like a person picks up an appetizer, he lifted him towards his mouth.
"Itadakimasu!" the giant Lelouch said and swallowed Mao.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Mao shouted and fell to his knees from sheer horror.
Looking around he saw that he was back in the warehouse and that Lelouch was still perched against the Ganymede.
Lelouch calmly left his position, walked a few feet to Mao who was in front of him and took the gun from his hand, Mao was to shaken up by what he experienced to put up a fight.
After Lelouch took his gun, Mao picked up some of his thoughts and realized what just happened.
"You…! You imagined everything from a first person perspective since you knew I would read your mind and experience it myself, and to block my attempt to find out about it, you kept repeating over and over in your head "I'll kick his ass and then Suzaku will arrest him!" Mao finished, and he also realized that he tricked him into using up his guns bullets with the fake giant Lelouch.
"Are….are you a demon?" Mao asked hesitantly.
"No, I am just a man, and the reason I defeated you is that you like 99% of this world population rely on tactics to win a fight, and a battle is won by strategy" Lelouch calmly said and then shouted for Suzaku to come in and arrest him.
"Come along now!" Suzaku said and placed a hand on Mao's shoulder.
"Take your hand of off me you father murdered!" Mao angrily shouted and got back on his feat.
"What! No….I!" Suzaku said in shock that his deep secret had been discovered.
"What do you mean? That's what you did you killed your father! He didn't want to surrender, he wanted Japan to fight to the death, and you disagreed so you killed him! What wanting to change the system, wanting to sacrifice yourself for others, you put yourself on the front lines in the hopes that some lucky shot will end the miserable existence you call you r life"
"You're not a selfless and noble knight, you're a suicidal maniac with the most powerful weapon this side of the Pacific, if there's anyone who should be looked up its you!" Mao shouted towards Suzaku, and the burden of the disclosure of his inner most thought made him fall to his knees.
"MAO! SHUT UP!" Lelouch boiling with anger at what Mao did to Suzaku shouted and quickly used his imagination again, he imagined the most terrifying monster he saw as a child, the greatest fear he experienced as a young man, and the most horrible sight and most painful pain he experienced as a soldiers, he added those up and mentally multiplied them by 10.000.
"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Mao screeched in pain, what he just saw was almost beyond description in its sheer horror and intensity.
Mao felt the pain of thousands of soldiers who were wounded on the battlefield, saw monsters and images he had not seen in the most intense horror movies, he was in a whirlwind of death, horror, pain madness, which made him scream so hard he tore up his own vocal cords, and collapsed back on the floor.
"The Horror….. The sheer horror! He's not a man,…..a devil! He is the devil himself, I have to get away, far away from him,….not Lelouch, not Lelouch, Lucifer, he is LUCIFER!"Mao mentally screamed as he dragged his body on his hands and knees towards the exit.
When he finally reached it the door opened and C.C kneeled down before Mao.
"C.C!" Mao happily and tearfully somehow managed to mutter despite the damage to his vocal cords.
"Mao, go and wait for me in the land of the dead" C.C said and shot him in the neck, Mao died instantly and an expression of f peace covered his face since in his last moments he had finally managed to reunite with his beloved C.C, Mao despite all that died a happy man.
Lelouch noticed that but quickly turned his attention towards Suzaku.
"I….I had no choice, if I hadn't…if I hadn't…." Suzaku muttered to himself in a near catatonic state.
"If you hadn't then even more blood would have been spilled, by killing your father you save thousands and possibly millions of lives" Lelouch said to his friend.
That brought Suzaku out of his state and back to reality.
"Lelouch! I…..I had no choice" Suzaku said with a tremble in his voice.
"I know that, and what you did was necessary" Lelouch calmly said and he knelt next to Suzaku "Your father refused to see that the battle was lost, so he continued to fight a losing battle, you had no choice but to do so" he then placed his hands on Suzaku's soldiers and said "You did what was necessary, and doing what is necessary means doing one evil to prevent a bigger evil from coming to fruitation, and you don't have to explain it to me, I understand completely what it means to have a father who thinks the world revolves around him" At those words of comfort, and the fact that Lelouch was a kindred spirit all Suzaku could do was brake down and start crying.
"Let it out Suzaku, let it all out, there is no shame in shame in crying, for us warriors who see the horrors of war crying is a reminder that no matter how savage and destructive our actions may be, we are still human" Lelouch said in a comforting voice and gave his friend his shoulder to cry on.
Meanwhile outside a heavy rain started to pour.
"They say that the reason rain falls after great battles is that God sheds tears because his children are shedding each other's blood, but some say that in fact the devil also sheds tears of happiness on the destruction he manipulates the humans into."
"The Devil may cry out of happiness and God probably sheds tears of sadness, but within these tidal waves of sorrow and despair those who survive the battle can drown in them… I will not let that happen to you old friend" Lelouch said to himself as he tighten his grip protectively around Suzaku.
(Tokyo concession sidewalk)
Jeremiah noticed that the rain was starting, and quickly pulled out an umbrella from within his jacked and opened it before the rain started.
Both Sayoko and Jeremiah were now under the umbrella.
Sayoko herself was blushing greatly, for in Japanese culture its usually lovers who share an umbrella in the rain, Jeremiah was not aware of this and though the bright color in her cheeks was the signs that she was catching a cold, and that is how the two of them continued on their journey towards Ashford.
(Mainland China, Pengai island military base)
"It's good to see you again Kusakabe, it is good to see a familiar face in a foreign land" Sawasaki said as he poured some sake into Kusakabe's cup.
"That bastard Todoh kicked me his superior out of the JLF!" Kusakabe said as he drank from his cup
"Not only that, but he even made a mere peasant the leader of the resistance movement!" he exclaimed.
"That is what you get when people of weak heart are given power, I admit that as a commander Todoh is brilliant, but he is lacking of the necessary skill of a leader" Sawasaki said.
"Do you know the reason Japan lost the Second Pacific war? It was because all those foreigners within the country! They weakened our once powerful country; Genbu understood that, so he conducted a policy of isolationism, he also fought to rebuilt the Empire of the Rising Sun and he would have succeeded of only he followed my advice to the letter, I recommended that the foreigners be arrested on the charges of espionage, and that all the pacifist and unpatriotic civilians be sent to labor camps as punishment, but he refuse to do that, and because of that those traitors from within, and foreigners our country is in such a sad state of affairs" Sawasaki said out loud.
"I agree, the first thing to do when we liberate the country is to get rid of the traitors within and then we can focused on the real enemy" Kusakabe said and raised his cup in a toast.
"I agree, supreme commander Kusakabe of the new Free Japan " Sawasaki said and they both toasted to that.
A few hours latter.
Kusakabe was in his room, and he prepared to go to sleep, when as he lied down he saw that he was not alone in his room.
"Who are you!" Kusakabe asked and drew his katana.
"Good evening colonel Kusakabe, my name is V.V and I have a contract to propose to you" the blond haired youth said.
(Meanwhile back at Ashford Academy)
Situated on the school roof C.C looked out into the distance, behind her was Lelouch talking on the phone.
"Yes Lloyd I want you to come to the school warehouse with a radiation wave analyzer and do s sweep of the Area" he said in the phone and then ended the conversation.
"How is Suzaku?" C.C asked while turning her head to face Lelouch.
"He is much better now, although I was a little shocked myself upon hearing what he had done" Lelouch answered her.
"To Mao I was his only friend, the only one who would love him, he was more a victim than a monster, and after thinking about it, it makes me wonder if what you said to me was right, after all how could a monster like what Mao became decided the fate of humanity" C.C said towards Lelouch, but he remained silent.
"Lelouch, I could go away, break our contract, and if I do that you would remain safe" C.C and she was dead serious about it.
"Remain safe? In a world like this were the weak are nothing but food for the strong the word 'safe' is nonexistent, I pledged to change the world and in that you are my partner in crime, we made a pact and for better or worse, until death to us part we stick to it" he said extending his hand towards her.
At this gesture C.C took his hand in her own and with a smile on her face said:
"Was that a marriage proposal boy?"
"Well I already decided to become a devil, I suppose I will need a witch as my queen after all." He said with a chuckle.
Authors note, I am going on vacation, so I won't update until mid September, until then read and review and let me know if I should continue.