Another morning, another boring lecture at the school trying to teach teens how to analyze mostly meaningless literature. But still I had my Powers back! I spent all my time today doing experiments trying to see if there were any differences. I could still feel the bugs just like back then, tell what they could do and hear and see from their senses ,even if it was a bit distorted, more so than at the height of my ability at least. That might just be a matter of getting used to it again.
As the last of my lessons for the day ended and the students began filtering out I caught sight of Kallen staring at me. The definitely not sick girl with vivid red hair wasn't leaving and the usual empty stare she wore was missing, in its place was a calculating look trying to pry open my facade and gaze at my secrets.
Hmm… Now what could have caused such a reaction? As I gathered my lesson materials I snuck discrete glances at her wondering what I could've done to make her suspicious of me? Unlike Alice she most likely didn't suspect what I know of Lelouch and Nunnally's origins. The news wouldn't let her know about what I've done and the girls were too shocked to notice what I had done, other than Alice of course.
Before I could ponder about it further she started leaving, I tagged her with a bug and left soon after. We were heading in the same direction so it was a little bit unnecessary but oh well. I better get used to tagging everyone again, since tonight I go out once again. Weaver lives once again, I live again.
My suit is already done, now that I know what I'm doing and already had a lot of healthy darwin bark spiders I kept as a hobby to make use of I was able to shorten the production time to an extremely short five days by sacrificing some of the armor plates I had on my original suits. I'll put the lenses into the mask tonight, then I'll go out and deliver a very loud and very stinging justice to whatever acceptable targets I find. I should probably get back into shape before I try to directly confront a serious military, drug dealers, corrupt police and gangsters just seem like the ideal targets.
I saw Kallen frozen at the entrance of the council room with cries begging for mercy and compassion from Lelouch. Oh… the welcoming party for Arthur, I remember Milly telling me about that. I laid my hand on the sleepy redhead's shoulder earning a sudden jerk of the head and peeked in only to see Lelouch tied down and getting makeup done on his face.
"Good morning Nya!" Milly ever the enthusiastic lunatic welcomed us with her cat persona causing every one else to turn towards us as well.
"Good…Morning." Kallen, Kallen, Kallen why did you make your mask so meek? That's definitely not the real you. The shock seems genuine though.
"Good morning my troublesome and least favorite students, how goes the payback to our dear prince?"
"Perfectly Nya! Hey Taylor… won't you also wear a costume? With all that muscle underneath you'll look really good in it." Pesky brat. I eyed the costumes, or rather the particular black leotard she was pointing at.
"The day I wear that is the day I die." I deadpanned at her knowing full well it wouldn't stop her.
"That's a very liberal choice for a funeral garb miss Hebert. I'm absolutely shocked." The sharp tongued prince just couldn't hold himself.
"Shush chess freak, I don't want to hear about my fashion sense from you. If you could get away with it you'd wear a cape to school." From the embarrassed blush on his face I might not be that much off the mark.
Kallen's soft voice filled the room immediately after my retort
"Um… What's all this?"
"Huh, didn't we mention this? It's a welcome party for Arthur"
Rivalz in his yellow cat costume replied.
"It's so peaceful here." Don't I know it Kallen, don't I know it.
I moved to where Nunnally and Alice usually stood next to Nina and silently observed the disaster unfold before my eyes.
"We have to enjoy life while we're still free to do it." Milly said came back with oddly expected wisdom.
"We've got your stuff ready as well, Kallen." And with the innocent reply of Shirley your fate is sealed Kallen. You're wearing one of these fetish costumes.
"What!? Me too?" Wow she kept character, I guess I also kept up my facade of a powerless girl for a long time as well. But what does her mask hide that she's so adamant on keeping it?
"Kallen doesn't need one. You already wear a mask." Lelouch intersected with his usual attitude. Naturally he noticed it too, or does he know more than I do? He seemed oddly sure he knew something no one else did. We'll see, for now let me enjoy the show as these entertaining students of mine played to their heart's content, for despite this peace my heart seeks violence.
"Well miss Hebert? Aren't you going to say anything?" That was Shirly apparently assuming I had listened to their conversation.
"Hmmm?"
"Seriously again? I swear you're even worse than Lulu sometimes." A cute pout and a turn that made her fake tail swish around as if it was real really made her look like a little kitten angry at their owners.
"We were talking about how you stood up for Nunnally but she went with the soldiers anyway." Milly elaborated for me.
"There isn't much to say. If one of us were to die I'd prefer it be me, she has someone to live for." From the looks on their faces they heard the 'unlike me' I couldn't voice.
Oh well… I'll most likely die an early death, I'd rather die than live like this any longer anyway. I just hope it doesn't hurt them when I do.
Oh! Suzaku broke down. Wonder what that's about…
My new costume with its gray painted silk and brownish black thick armor plates and soft soleless shoes fit me perfectly as I stared into the red lenses of my new mask. I was supposed to be a hero this time so I had removed the mandibles on my armor now replaced with a line of armor plating covering my chin and defining the mask's shape.
I felt like I could burst into a laughing fit any second now. I'm free as soon as I put on this mask, I'll be Weaver again, I'll be Skitter again… I'll be able to change things again.
I was resolved . I pulled my costume arm over my prosthetic and pulled on my right glove. Once that was done I put my mask on with only a bit of fumbling, grabbed my old Nanothorn knife, a telescopic baton and pre-prepared capsaicin powder along with all the other odds I had already stuffed into my belt and climbed out the fire escape taking care not to be seen.
Now, usually transportation to the drug warehouses near the ghettos I want to hit would be a problem with my house being pretty close to ashford thus being very far from said targets, so I stole a motorcycle. I just took it from one of the indoor garages of apartment complexes, removed the license plate and painted it black.
Now if you ask me where I learned how to hotwire things I'd have to point at my distant memories of the mercenaries I had the pleasure of hanging around with back in my younger years. Those guys sure were eager to teach me, maybe they were trying to prove their worth? Well it doesn't really matter, they are most likely dead.
I haven't really driven any motorcycles ever since Chicago let's see if I've still got it.
With a distinct roar the engine started and I begann speeding down the mostly empty roads. Turning and drifting through the many corners and lights of the city, heading towards the dens of criminals and corrupt cops. Once I was close enough I got off my bike and hid it in an alleyway.
Slowly creeping around my targets I felt them out and traced their movements through the warehouse. They had assault rifles and pistols, nothing extraordinary, just well armed drug merchants. I clogged up their guns and gathered my swarm around the building and climbed towards a window on the second floor.
Three… Two… One…Breach. The Glass window shattered but the sound was drowned out by the sudden and immense buzzing of my swarm. The dealers were too stunned to react when the first few of their number drowned under the swarm, only after the shock had worn off did they try to shoot at the swarm only for their guns to jam. I took the clicks of the jammed weapons as my signal to go and rushed in through the clouds of my swarm making sure to make decoys incase of any active firearms.
The men screamed in japanese and english, I guess when it comes to crime race isn't as important to these people. My baton found the face of one would be gangster and my metal knuckles wound another's solar plexus with all the force my shoulder and speed could muster. Those guys aren't getting up but there is a lot to fill their place, better speed this up.
The rest eventually fell to my bugs but it took longer than expected… I can't hit all my targets at this rate. I looked at the thugs I was careless with, their almost dead forms were most likely not surviving unless they got immediate medical attention. I was too eager but really does it matter? They are going to be executed anyways, right? It'll be fine if I just kill them and destroy the refrain… What's the blood of a few more wastes of human flesh?
These weren't the gangsters of my home, kids forced into violence. They were all men who willingly made everything worse for their own people and worked with their oppressors and none of them were under thirty from what I could see. It'll all be so much easier if I just kill them. Before I had even realized it my hand had crept towards the tinkertech knife I still carried. Something behind my head slithered along as the knife found one of their necks and was coated by blood.
My bugs got to work. There is no need to dirty myself, this night's schedule is full to the brim. Maybe I should also take some of the pistols, definitely not the rifles though
Kouzuki Kallen
We are doing the right thing. I need to assure myself of that. So long as I've got my path within sight I won't stray from it. I just need to forget about what Lelouch said today… AS IF IT'S THAT EASY! Damn it!
Are we hurting more people than we're helping? Is taking action just going to cause more problems for the Japanese down the line? Augh! I can't deal with this bulshit. I'll just trust Zero, he has given us victory after victory surely he knows what he's doing.
We might be hitting Japanese as well as Brittanians but the thugs we kill aren't even worth calling Japanese, they are Elevens through and through betraying us even more than the Honoraries. Still it seems like we are not the only ones that want to stop these guys, some other group has been also hitting these warehouses like crazy over the last few days. It's been getting harder and harder to find these fuckers, guess that means they are running out of men and money to keep this shit up.
That other group is kinda creepy though. Only a single entry point and many of the dead gangsters being killed by what looks like either poison or… bug bites. Some still have blunt force trauma, cuts, bullet holes and such mundane injuries but the bug bites and the poison is definitely some spooky brit cult shit I'm not touching.
"That's the signal from Zero, let's go." Ohgi waved his hands to hurry Tamaki up and grabbed a rifle from the side. Tamaki was saying something but the mechanical servos of the old Glasglow prevented me from hearing anything. God I wish I had a Sutherland, those things even have air conditioning! If Zero could get me one of those machines, I wouldn't have to sweat buckets every time I rode.
As my comrades of our 'Knightly Order' breached a thin metal garage door and began clearing out the filthy traitors with proper assault rifle fire I drifted through the mangled remains of the garage door taking joy from the terrified screams of the would-be drug dealers. I'm not proud to admit it but the joy I took from following Zero's plans and the stress I let out by cracking heads was what was carrying me through life. Is it wrong to enjoy the suffering of others if they are scum?
The 30 millimeter shells of my mulched plenty of the enemy into paste and sprayed their guts and gore far and wide, somehow I had grown used to the sight. The only thing that came to mind as I gunned the pathetic excuse of a resistance they put up was that how incredible the mechaa I was piloting was.
Though lacking in the heavy cannons old tanks use they made up for it with excellent mobility and weapons specializing in short range engagement. A perfect weapon for modern urban combat. With slash harkens a Knightmare could flank and outmaneuver any and all opponents, forcing the usage of another Knightmare if one was to fight them.
The rest of the criminals had retreated to another section with another metal door closing behind them. The worthless sacks of meat tried to stop me with another garage door of all things. I'll teach them just how pathetic their attempts are. I pushed on the gas paddle and with a terrifying screeching sound from my land spinners punched through the sheet metal door…
Into a dark room filled with people wandering or stumbling about almost drunkenly. They talked to hallucinations and screamed out into the air with fervor and passion long since extinguished. Killing themselves just to experience a past long gone, pathetic and horrifying in equal measure.
"Refrain…" I unwillingly uttered the accursed drugs name.
My face softened as I noticed the hot dog vendor from earlier today among the crowd. Screaming about how lucky he was. The constant suffering, it piles up and eventually topples you over.
Would I be like them if I were to stand idle and let the sorrows pile up? Would I also yearn for the past and give up both my present and future?
"That's why I fight, that's why I'm…" My mumbling within the confines of my cockpit halted as I heard a familiar voice.
"Careful! Careful! You'll hurt yourself if you run like that!" Mom's voice had made me forget about everything else. There she was, in a drug addled delusion wondering about in this god forsaken warehouse with a bunch of other druggies.
I caught her before she fell over and cradled her in my Glasgow's hand far gentler than I wanted to at that moment.
"Naoto, you have to keep an eye on Kallen!" Damn you mother. I hate you.
"How weak can you be? How pathetic?" My voice laced with disdain echoed around the confines of my cockpit.
"First you gave into the britannians then a man that cared nothing for you and now to drugs!? Brother is already-" Loud bangs of twenty millimeter rounds interrupted my plea as they slammed into the right arm of my knightmare eventually blowing it off.
"Shit! Knightpolice!?" I took off with my worthless mother in hand hoping to outrun the machine and lay an ambush. Weaving through the sloppy shots of the corrupt cop wasn't particularly difficult however I couldn't kill him with mom lying on my only hand.
I drifted around a particularly sharp corner and fired my ball-mount machine gun at his legs hoping to jam them. The corrupt bastard somehow managed to hit directly under my cockpit and blew apart the machine gun. Where was this kind of accuracy ten seconds ago?!
I glanced down at the pathetic woman I was still holding, and tried to drop her. My Glasgow's hand still didn't move. I don't want you… So why can't I just get rid of you! I screamed in frustration but my momentary lapse of judgment caused me to get hit and lose my balance. I fell and lost my grip on mom. Did… Is she alive? I redirected my optics at her and saw her mumbling something… I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
The gunshots started again and I felt my armor start to give way. I shouted, hoping my mother would hear me through the hallucinations.
"Run for it! I'm begging you, run you idiot!" Mom got back on her feet and smiled directly towards the head of my Glasgow.
"I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you Kallen!" Huh!? Then… I'm the reason why you keep working at that house? For me? You fool… Oh, you idiot. Tears had filled my eyes and my vision was blurry. I can't die like this, I need to live!
I heard the pistons of the repurposed Glasgow draw its knife. Tried to spin my frame around to block but I was too late. The knife was already raised high ready to kill. Still I kept struggling hoping to be just fast enough. I don't know if it was fate that saved me or some form of god, but I'm leaning towards the biblical side considering the massive, buzzing and ferocious swarm that appeared out of nowhere.
The swarm of insects surrounded the Knightpolice making the two bit cop panic and flail around trying to get them to leave. Had they been normal insects they probably would have but those things must have been possessed or something. The swarm kept getting bigger and bigger. I eventually shook off my shock and grabbed my knightmare assault rifle from my back. I blame my panic for it but I didn't aim properly and blew both the Police Glasgow's cockpit and the sealing of the warehouse apart as my shots went wide. He's finally dead… I felt the tension drain off me and relaxed.
I glanced at my Mother mumbling something to herself and Zero who was helping her and after the confirmation I leaned back into my seat. Ignoring Ohgi and the others running towards me I glanced upwards towards the sky and saw them. Two red eyes staring at me from a roof a few stories higher than the warehouse. Clouds of bugs flew around the figure concealing some of their form but letting the almost knee length curly hair fluttering in the night wind clear to see. I blinked and they were gone.
"Heh… I really do have a penchant for getting saved by figures in mysterious masks."
AN: Hello Kallen and hello first involvement with the Black Knights. I had a bit of trouble writing our favorite redhead but I think the chapter is kinda decent. Forget all that, I hope you enjoyed it. Please do review, I quite like reading them.