Evolution Geass: Uzumaki of the Retribution

by SoulEmbrace2010

Naruto, Naruko, and Lucienne aim to destroy Britannia, in memory of their departed loved ones. The trio trained and prepared for the future war, but their hands are forced when they got caught up in the Shinjuku incident. In response, they start their campaign early to free Japan, only to find that there's more going on, and the world is at stake. AU, OOC, Naru/Harem, Mass-Xovers

9. STAGE 08: Operation One Punch

Soul: I got my job back! I love working at the theatre. Demon Slayer was great. 10/10. Go check it out.

Lelouch: We could use their services in my world.

NSG: Yeah no, they don't kill humans.

Lelouch: But…Britannia are literal demons!

Nick: Ain't anything literal about them, moron.

Milly: I don't know, Lulu, I bet Nelia and Euphie would look damn sexy in devil lingerie!

Lelouch: Et tu, Milly?

Naruko: Don't worry, we have our own version of the Hashira in the Uzu ranks!

Naruto: Don't forget the Shinigami… or Soul Reapers.

Soul: You two were sneaking into my notes again, weren't ya? Anywho, review corner time~

Gundam Meister Uzumaki - My guy, I like the suggestions here and in the DMs, but I'm not going to be putting out spoilers. You'll see all the things like everyone else.

raw666 - Bruh, you make a fantastic point about Marianne. I can see Charles taking a liking to her and using Geass on her to make her conform to his ideals.

'Needle to the Neck' Guest - Thank you for the info about Bourne. However, while I like what you put, I can't use all of it at once, just bits and pieces. Thank you for the contribution again!

Soul: And that's about it. As usual, special thanks goes to Castlecrasher009 and NorthSouthGorem, go check out their stuff! Enjoy the show~

---

"BB… Channel- wait, is she gone?

…

I think that intruder is gone. Whew! Now we're back in business! We're finally getting some action back, and it's taking place in Saitama! Cornelia's planning to call out our favorite heroes to lure them in and wipe them out in one blow!

Oh, I can not wait. Blood will be spilled, flesh and steel will be sliced in half together, guts will hang from the rafters, and more importantly; the Uzumaki twins, my favorite people in the whole world, will prove that they're not to be messed with!

But…Nines-kun is my absolute favorite person. I'll move moons for that handsome hunk. Now, about that Cyborg Samurai-"

"Oh yes. It's about time that Nicky got off his butt and did something. My audience was beginning to grow bored of the Slice of Life parts."

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH! I changed my algorithms a hundred times! HOW DID YOU SLIP INTO MY SPACE AGAIN?!"

"I'm a goddess, dear. I don't need to bother with such things as code when I can simply manifest."

"Really now? Even Goddesses bow before the Ruler of the Moon that is me, BB! If you don't quit slipping into my space, you'll see firsthand how! Now buzz off, I got a beatdown to record for all of BB Channel's social media pages! It'll be trending like crazy by the time the day is up! Shoo-shoo!"

"Careful. While you're busy with that, the cast is moving without you…but very well. Goodness knows I'd better not leave the social media stuff on my end to Glory. She'd make it out like a business card…"

"Huh? What do you mean they're moving without- No wait, go back! Go back!"

"Fu fu fu~"

---

[Military Hanger]

Cornelia was walking through the hanger with Lloyd behind her, flanked by her Royal Guard. They were having a bit of a meeting, as Cornelia surveyed the Sutherlands being fixed up. Meanwhile, Lloyd was happily discussing the details of the Lancelot with her.

"It's a 7th Generation Knightmare Frame, making its abilities far greater than normal," Lloyd was explaining until Cornelia stopped. "It outperforms all other models thanks to the heavy amount of Sakuradite scattered throughout its frame, as well as in its Yggdrasil Drive. The Slash Harkins are improved with Harken Boosters that improves-"

"I understand that the Lancelot's pilot is an Eleven, correct?" she cut across him, making Lloyd sigh.

"That's correct, an Honorary Britannian," he replied brisky. "However-"

"I'm promoting that boy from Private to Warrant Officer, effective immediately. That should satisfy him for now," Cornelia said, much to the surprise of the other three. "I'm trying to win without relying on the Numbers, especially a pilot like Kururugi."

"With all due respect, Viceroy, Suzaku is the best- no, the only pilot we have for the Lancelot. No pilot came close to matching his numbers until he came along. Despite his defeat at the hands of Joker and his transforming Knightmare, Suzaku excelled in putting down those terrorists in short order."

Cornelia nodded at that. "Indeed he has. But I have heard my men voice their concerns about him, mostly pertaining to his goals and aspirations. While he is lucky to be where he's at as a pilot for your experimental machine, it won't get him far. Until he wises up on his goals, I cannot trust him with my life or the lives of my men."

"Are you sure, Viceroy? The Lancelot is the only Frame we have that can probably stand up to those transforming Knightmares. I also fear that with the theft of its arm, there's a chance that they'll be able to incorporate the tech Cecile and I used on the Lancelot." Lloyd, his lip curling in a distasteful grimace at the thought of his technology being potentially stolen.

"Lloyd, they may have big guns, but they're still upstart terrorists in the end. No doubt they're being used by Uzu to poke at our defenses." Cornelia huffed and walked away. "With my plan for today, we may not even need Schneizal's little toy…"

Lloyd adjusted his glasses. "I can only hope you're right. A waste of opportunity to gather data in my opinion, but if that is your wish… Good luck…"

---

Stage 08: Operation One Punch

---

[Ashford Academy]

It was a new day, as Naruto yawned and sat from his bed. He stretched and flexed, hearing and feeling the satisfying pops and cracks from his body. He then looked to his right, finding Milly lying on her side, the thin sheets highlighting the curve of her waist and hips. On the other side was Lucienne, her long raven hair covering her boobs and slender figure. The blonde smirked, remembering the events of the previous night.

Sure, they were doing things well beyond their age, like planning a rebellion against the world's most powerful country, but at the end of the day, they were still teenagers with hormones; and Naruto and the girls were close, really close. When they weren't training, playing pranks, dealing with Milly's madness, sticking it to nobles or robbing Britannia blind, they had plenty of sex. Funnily enough, it counted as exercise, as Lucienne and Milly's stamina had increased to the point where they could keep up with Naruto; with Naruko not having this problem due to being his twin.

Of course there were others, when Naruto had the time to visit them. It would be much earlier once he and Naruko master the Hiraishin.

The phone then rang on the night table, and the blonde reached over Milly to answer it. "Hello?"

"Bonjour, Monsieur Naruto. Is this a bad time?"

"Not at all, Leila-chan. I just woke up myself."

"No doubt with the Mademoiselles."

"You know you could be here with us instead of in the U.N. That Anou guy is nothing but trouble for your Wyvern Squad."

"I appreciate it, mon chéri, but the displaced Japanese in the wZERO Unit needs me. You just continue what you're doing there in Japan."

"The offer is still open, Leila-chan. So what do you need?"

"…Nothing really. I just wanted to hear your voice, mon chéri. You and the girls have made quite the splash against the Britannian military in recent days."

"You mean a hell of a tsunami. Anyway, don't hesitate to call me or Uzu if you need any assistance. I'll bring my half-finished Gun-Frame to help with whatever operation you got."

"Thank you, Naruto. I'll keep that one in mind. You and the Mademoiselles stay safe. I love you."

"I love you too, Leila-koi…"

Naruto set the phone down, just as there was low groaning coming from the girls as they shifted around to cover themselves in their blankets.

"Kill the sun. Burn it. Make it stop…" Milly groaned, making clawing motions at the window while looking away.

"Now now, Milly-chan, we can't destroy the sun or we're all screwed." Naruto mused and gently shook her. "Now come on, up and at it. You too, Lucy-chan."

"...Fine." the former Princess mumbled. She rose and stretched her limbs, her breasts slightly bouncing like a certain Gremory Princess, "It's the weekend, so what's on the menu today?"

"We could visit one of the bases that have been activated so we can choose which one to use as the home base for our little resistance group," Milly mumbled through the pillow with a finger up. "And speaking of resistance games, when is Akiza going to join our little bonding sessions?"

"As soon as I take her on a date next week. Hell, I might take Kallen along for the ride." Naruto replied. "Found out what makes them tick, eh?"

Milly smirked. "That and found out how loudly they can scream."

Naruto smirked back. "I think you have them confused for Lucy-chan here. She's nearly broken Leila's record."

"Oh stuff it, you two." Lucienne snapped at them with a pouty face.

"Okay, Scream Queen." Milly giggled.

"Kiss and make up you two," Naruto groaned as he got up, "I'm going for a shower."

He was halfway there when the two girls grabbed him by his arms.

"We'll be joining you so you can help us clean us all over our delicious bods," Milly said and licked her lips. "If you don't mind- eep!"

Both girls yelped as Naruto grabbed both their butts and led them into the private shower, where they'd be spending the next couple of hours.

---

[Camelot Hangar]

The Lancelot was almost completely repaired and ready for its next deployment. Meanwhile, its pilot was dealing with the bane of every school kid.

Homework.

"Sorry you have to sit here and watch me do my homework," said Suzaku apologetically, reading a textbook and taking notes from it.

"Oh, don't worry about it. You never attended a regular school before, so it can't be avoided." Cecile replied with a smile.

"The Student Council is helping me, but it's still difficult."

Cecile giggled. "To be honest with you, I've been a little worried. It's supposed to be a liberal school with a few Honorary Britannian's attending, and I was afraid you were not fitting in."

"Me too, I was expecting that." Suzaku smiled back. "I've only seen a few Honorary Britannian students, but I happened to run into some old friends and they smoothed everything out for me."

"Be sure you never take those friends for granted. If your friendship continues, it won't have been a coincidence; it will have been preordained." Cecile advised him.

"Oh, okay," Suzaku nodded, being sure to keep the advice close to heart.

"Anyway, please try one of these," Cecile said, offering some snacks beside them.

Suzaku grabbed a rice ball and took a bite, blinking. "There's jam," he noted dully, surprised at seeing the purple gel inside.

"Yes. I happened to get some lovely blueberries." Cecile said.

"Alright, everyone!" Lloyd suddenly called out to the maintenance crew, clearly worn out by his meeting with Cornelia. "Wrap it up, pack it up! We're done for the day! Don't do anymore! Hip-hip-hooray!" he mocked cheered before taking a dramatic bow and hunched over. "That's all folks~

Cecile giggled at Suzaku's confused expression. "Go to school. There may be no classes today, but it's important to meet your friends and have a social life too."

---

[Student Council Clubroom, a while later]

Akiza, Kallen, and Shirley were inside setting up Arthur's play area. The stray cat had decided to finally make the school his home after having so much fun with the twins the other day. That and the gardening club growing catnip had cemented the deal.

"Um, Kallen, Akiza, can I ask you girls something?" Shirley asked as she set up the cat tower.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" Kallen asked softly as she peered into a box.

"Are…you two hiding something from us?" Shirley asked while having a faraway stare. "If it's not too personal?"

"What are you talking about?" Akiza asked, frowning as Arthur was climbing onto her shoulders.

Shirley looked over her shoulder. "You can tell me. I promise I won't be shocked or upset. But the thing is I happened to see you two…with…"

"With who?" Akiza inquired while quickly grabbing Kallen's wrist from reaching her hidden knife.

"...Nathan," she mumbled, before asking, "Are either of you trying to make Nathan cheat on Milly?!"

"...What?" Both the Stansfeld sisters gaped with white eyes, with spinning flowers over a blue background behind them.

"The other day, I saw you both with Nathan! Akiza, you looked like you were flirting with him while Kallen was embarrassed!" Shirley inquired with Kallen sputtering.

"I'm confused now. Is Nathan's girlfriend Milly, or are you?" Akiza asked with a frown.

"Huh? Of course, Milly is his girlfriend-" Shirley started to say.

"Then why are you concerned over who Nathan hangs around with as if you were his insecure girlfriend? After all, we just joined the Student Council. Maybe we needed his help with something." Akiza suggested.

"I am not insecure! You were awfully close to be asking for his help! You were leaning all over him on the bench!" Shirley accused her while Kallen shuffled to the side. "Is that why you were trying to catch the twins so bad? To get that kiss?"

"And what's it to you? Are you Nathan's mother or something?" Akiza asked in a chilly voice. "What we do is our business. Besides, I already kissed him."

"You did what?" Shirley shrieked as Arthur jumped away in flight.

"Just as a thank you for something personal. No big deal." Akiza waved it off as Kallen sweatdropped.

Shirley looked scandalized. "How could you?!"

"...Go ahead and tell Milly. I don't think she'll mind." Akiza shrugged and glared at her. "It's not like you'll be able to get between us, so stop being jealous and take the initiative."

"I-I-I'm not jealous!" Shirley shouted, steaming. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

'Talk about insecure…' Kallen noted as the two glared at each other.

…

In the main lobby of the manor, Milly was standing with Claire, facing down a few students who were standing in front of them passively.

"These are your chosen ones in the Disciplinary Squad?" Milly asked as she looked over the files and gazed at them closely.

"Yes, Madam President. As you can see, they were all hand-picked by me." Claire said with a proud look on her face. "Please, introduce yourselves."

"Escanor Leohartd, third-year," said a tall and muscular student with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a pair of glasses. "Pleased to finally make your acquaintance."

'That guy is all muscles.' Milly noted, looking at him with one side.

"Iida Tenya! First-year! I'm a class representative in my class despite being an Honorary Britannian!" barked the second male student with short, flattened dark-blue hair and blue eyes; and standing at a salute. "Thank you for this opportunity!"

'Isn't he eager. Hope he's not a stiff.' Milly noted in amusement.

"GAMAGOORI IRA! SECOND YEAR!" boomed another student, with blonde hair, gray eyes, and dark skin. Somehow he seemed to tower over everyone else, looming like a precariously placed statue. "THE SHIELD OF THE DISCIPLINARY SQUAD!"

"I got it, keep it down now." Milly winced after clamping her ears.

"Sorry about him…" Claire said meekly.

"Chris Yukine, first year. I'm only here because I owe Claire-senpai," huffed a short girl, with long white hair tied in a pair of low twintails and an ahoge. Her eyes were purple, and her figure quite busty. "And to get back at the ones who tormented me."

'Judging from the name, she's just like Akiza and Kallen.' Milly thought with a nod. 'Half-Britannian, half-Japanese…'

"M-Miwa Kasumi, second year." the student with long cyan hair and navy blue eyes bowed. "Nice to meet you. I promise I'll do my best!"

'There're an awful lot of Honorary Britannians and half-Japanese in the ranks. Plus she's a cutie.' thought the President, 'And finally… well now…'

"Onigawara Rin, also a first-year," the last student, a beautiful girl with short back hair in a bobcut, purple eyes with half a demon mask on the right side of her face. "I'll castrate any male who violates a girl's privacy."

Milly sweatdropped. 'And with that, you set yourself up as Naruto's future pranking target.'

"So, what do you think?" Claire asked with a smirk. "Of course, there's more to come."

"...Just don't traumatize the whole school with a dictatorship, okay?" Milly drawled, "And I'll only allow ten of you. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the Disciplinary Squad chorused.

'With this, the school will be kept safe while the Student Council, sans Ward, Fenette, and Einstein, goes freedom fighting…' Claire thought with a nod. 'And ten, huh? Looks like I'll be able to bring in my friend Elizabeth Mably after all when she gets back from the homeland.'

Unknownst to them, C.C. was leaning against the banister on the top floor, wearing an Ashford Academy uniform and chewing on a slice of pizza.

---

[Military Hangar]

"I can't believe what the Captain is planning," Villetta murmured as she and Jeremiah headed to their Knightmares, "The eyes of the world are on Area 11."

"At least she's not having the civilians killed…but…" Jeremiah looked troubled. "There are still those in the ranks who survived the Captain's culling. I wouldn't put it past them to try something behind her back."

Villetta nodded in agreement. "We won't have to worry about Kewell and the Purebloods. They'll be kept back from the operation. But…"

"We'll be sticking close to the Captain per her instructions…" Jeremiah said and sighed. "I understand what she's trying to do, but it won't go the way she thinks…"

Villetta grimaced. "Because they're going to see it coming…"

---

[Ashford Academy]

"Lemme see here," Milly murmured as she looked over some files. "Yours truly is the Student Council President. Lucienne is the Vice President. Nathan and Natalia both handle the General Affairs. Rivalz acts as the secretary, and you, Nick, are my reliable Treasurer who needs to learn the word fun."

"Not everyone has your definition of fun, Milly." Nick bit back while nonchalantly looking at what the President was working on. "Speaking of bullshit, what are you on about now?"

"First, rude. Second, since Eliza and Suzaku joined the Student Council, we need to give them positions, don't we? Right now, Nina and Shirley are my assistants," Shirley said while smiling at her friend. "And since the others aren't here at the moment, I wanted to get your thoughts on what they can do."

"...Well, Elizabeth could do fine as our Head of Public Relations. As for Suzaku…" he grimaced. "I guess he can be our auditor. That should keep him busy."

"Perfect! All areas of the Council have now been filled, so we can get much done!" Milly said, delightful as she noted it down. "With that done, now we can focus on Arthur welcoming party, and I have so many wonderful ideas-"

"No."

Milly pouted. "Aw come on, you don't even know what I was going to say!"

"Anything that you preface with 'wonderful idea' has a 90 percent chance to be a harassment suit waiting to happen," he deadpanned, "Whether towards you, or someone getting cocky because of your 'rules.' Though I suppose that the new Disciplinary Squad might mitigate at least the latter now."

"Oy, I'm not that bad, you know!" Milly huffed, her eye twitching. "I know my boundaries. Sure my ideas may be outrageous, but they're better than the usual bland events in other schools. And by the way, when I talk about Swimsuit Parties, I mean actual swimsuits, not running around in the nude. Only Nathan and the girls have the privilege of seeing me in all my glory."

"Yet you opened us all up to being kissed by a random student, even you," Nick pointed out.

"Because I had faith that neither Nathan nor Natalia wouldn't be caught that easily," Milly boasted while looking away, "Plus, the student body could use some motivation. As for my ideas for the Cat Party, I'm going to have everyone dress up like a cat in their own way, from big furry suits to sexy outfits! And not to worry, the Disciplinary Squad will deal with whatever student that decides to get handsy."

"As usual, I'm getting an ulterior motive from you," Nick drawled, "With the treasury taking a hit."

'Okay, if that's how you want to play it. I know we shouldn't use our Geass on our friends and non-combatants, but this isn't anything nefarious.' Milly thought as she discreetly activated her Geass. "The treasury is why you were chosen to join the Council, Nick. {You should trust me more, don't you think?}"

"I'll trust you more when you stop hijacking the school with ridiculous crap," he replied with a derisive snort. However, he then blinked and frowned as something pinged inside his head. Warning! Unknown signal detected! Nick glanced around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "Anyway, if you chose me, then you shoulda known I wouldn't just let you run roughshod over the school's budget."

'The hell?' Milly wondered with a frown. 'That should've worked!' she cleared her throat. "You're right about that, but variety is the spice of life, you know. School is nothing like the real world after all. By the way, for the Cat Festival, {so why don't you just try wearing that mascot costume we have in the warehouse?} Don't you agree that Arthur would love climbing all over it with you inside?" Milly asked while focusing her Geass again.

"Nah, not my style. Get Rivalz to do it." Warning! Unknown signal detected! 'Again?'

Milly blinked, looking at Nick with her Geass off. "It's…not working?" she whispered, looking shocked. 'I can't have lost my power, unless…!'

"What's not working? Is it a new form of Guts spell you're working on?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow. 'No, that wasn't a spell. It can't have come from her- wait, those twins and Lucienne displayed powers as well, so…'

'The only ones who are unaffected by Geass are Code Bearers like C.C.! There's no way,' Milly thought with wide eyes. 'Is Nick…?!'

---

[Near the Saitama Ghetto]

"What the heck?"

Rivalz was on his way to his bartending job when he stopped and saw a G1-Base Base rolling across the bridge with a battalion of tanks and Knightmare Frames.

"That's…Cornelia? Why is she going into the Saitama Ghetto with that many…" Rivalz wondered if he got on the phone. "Hey Bagley, Cornelia's in the Saitama Ghetto with an overkill amount of troops. Keep an eye on it, will ya?"

"I'm already monitoring the situation thanks to Jeremiah and Villetta. Cornelia is being overconfident in what she's about to do, so it's nothing to worry about." Bagley said. "Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the company of your customers."

"Eh, if you say so…" Rivalz said, who still couldn't help but worry.

---

[G1-Base, a while later]

"We now have the Saitama Ghetto completely surrounded. We've determined that the Yamato Alliance's headquarters is somewhere around here." Darlton reported, gesturing to the map that showed their forces. "According to Bourne's intel, half the civilians in this neighborhood are cooperating with them. So if we proceed now-"

"What will be the effect on overall production?" Cornelia inquired from her throne, with her knight Guilford next to her.

"Primary sector output should fall by 0.2 percent," Darlton assured her.

"Within expectations, you mean. All right," Cornelia looked around, gazing at the fearful commanders to the side with a bored expression. "All of you here participated in the Shinjuku Disaster, is that correct?"

"Yes, and we're indebted to you for your great mercy," one of them replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"I didn't have Jeremiah and Villetta bring you fools all the way out here to talk about that!" Cornelia snapped at him in disgust. "I want to ask if you think the conditions are similar?"

The lead commander looked confused. "Ma'am?"

"...To those in Shinjuku." she clarified with an arrogant smirk on her face.

---

[Area 11, HiTV News Station]

"Military authorities report that they are surrounding the Saitama Ghetto, a known hiding spot for terrorists. As Viceroy Cornelia is on the scene as well, entry to that area has also been restricted.

"It appears that a full-scale assault will be launched in two hours. Consequently, the surrounding areas will have their power cut off for the time being: Kawagoe, Kawaguchi-"

"News is one thing, but why are we broadcasting the start time of the battle?" an intern wondered in hushed tones.

"They're provoking Joker and his friends," Diethard answered grimly.

---

[Uzu]

"Dammit! I didn't think she'd be this stupid!" Nines growled as he walked to his station. "BB, call Ryofu and Kan'u. Tell them I can't make our afternoon get-together. And have Bagley get the others to their command center!"

"Roger roger, hot stuff!" BB confirmed cheerfully through his CODEC.

---

[G1-Base]

"The Phantom Thieves have operated in the shadows until now. The Kururugi Affair showed that they're criminals with a flair for the theatrical. I have recreated the same conditions that existed in Shinjuku in order to draw them out." Cornelia explained with a confident smile. "If they're the overconfident types like I suspect, I predict they'll infiltrate the G1 here to try and kill me, just like they did Clovis."

"Viceroy! You'll really risk your own life like this?!" one of the commanders from Clovis's time exclaimed.

"What you fail to understand is that war is a struggle between pride and life." Cornelia countered with a glare towards the man.

"Viceroy, I understand what you're trying to do, but if you have our forces gun down the civilians as Clovis did, it'll mean further irreparable damage to Britannia's reputation," Jeremiah spoke up, Villetta nodding to back him up.

"I am not an idiot, Jeremiah. That's why the only difference to this plan is that the civilians are to be rounded up and taken away from the fighting, hidden from view. The soldiers are under my direct orders to leave them alive." Cornelia declared with a hard expression. "If any of them fail to follow through and give in to their bloodlust, no matter what their service record and achievements, I will execute them on the spot!"

---

[Ashford Academy]

"You gotta be kidding me. Even she can't be that stupid," Naruto hissed after seeing the broadcast.

"Or arrogant…" Naruko growled, she and her brother clearly seeing through Cornelia's plan. "Dammit, Cornelia!"

There was suddenly a beeping sound, prompting the twins to check their iDroids.

[Code Juubi. Report to the Command Center.]

"Looks like checking the members of the Disciplinary Squad will have to wait…" Naruto mused and headed out, with Naruko following closely.

…

Milly checked her iDroid and sighed. She also saw the broadcast along with Nick and was groaning to herself.

"Right. I have to go. Nick, can you handle…this…huh?"

She looked over to see Nick nowhere in sight.

"Where did he go?!" she growled before shaking her head. "Gah, never mind! Gotta get to the bunker!"

'And I should probably warn the others about Nick being immune to my Geass!'

She headed to the elevator, not spotting Claire, who watched her go.

…

"Code Juubi? We haven't had one of those in a while."

Lucienne and C.C. were on the roof of the manor discussing things when Lucienne got the message.

"Ten-Tails. It must be something big." C.C. mused and took Lucienne's hand.

"Let's go see what it's about!" Lucienne said as they jumped, with Lucienne's Geass blazing.

…

'What? Sister?! Why are you?' Euphemia gasped in horror, seeing the broadcast in the classroom. 'Don't do this!'

…

Suzaku was humming to himself as he walked down the hall, making his way to the main council room. He was also playing with a tiger tail toy he got from the shop. As he got to the room, it opened to reveal the Stadtfeld sisters stepping out. Kallen was sporting a massive blush, and Akiza bore a smug look; both of them were holding their iDroids, which were constantly beeping.

"In any case, the one who you should talk to about your feelings is Nathan. Lashing out at me and Kallen isn't going to get you anywhere." Akiza called back to Shirley.

"Wait, why are you dragging me into this?!" Kallen shrieked.

"Because I can tell you wanted to do more than kiss him on the cheek." Akiza chuckled. "Hey, Suzaku. Sorry, but we gotta run!"

A sputtering Kallen nodded to him as Akiza dragged her away.

Suzaku looked confused as he walked in and saw Shirley, who had her head down and Arthur in her arms.

"Um, you were talking about Nathan, right? Do you know where he and the others are?" Suzaku asked innocently.

"I don't know where he is and I don't give a damn!" she exploded at him, teary-faced, taking him aback.

…

Rivalz's iDroid was beeping until he turned it off.

'Sorry guys, I can't be there right now.' he thought and looked at the TV. 'I can only watch from here, but I know you guys got this!'

"Hey, bartender~" a girl with long blonde hair that hung over her forehead in three-pointed locks, and red eyes and wearing a uniform from a different school. "Can I get like, a Cosmopolitan, por favor~?"

"And like, a Bloody Mary for me, sweetums!" added her sister, who had long silver hair that reached down to her back and yellow eyes; and wearing the same uniform as her sister.

"Eh-heh, you know we're still too young for that," Rival chuckled, causing his girlfriends Grace and Gloria to pout.

…

"Good, you're all here," Naruto said as Lucienne, C.C., Milly, Kallen, and Akiza joined him and Naruko.

"What's the emergency?" Lucienne asked. "It's been a while since we had a Code Juubi."

"Not out here." Naruko shook her head. "Bottom line is that Cornelia is fucking up and needs a spanking."

Milly nodded. "Cornelia had the media broadcast an attack on the Saitama Ghetto with a start time and everything," she said as the elevator arrived.

"So basically Cornelia is calling you all out to play with her."

"Exactly, and- huh?"

Everyone processed the familiar voice that wasn't with their group and whipped around to see Claire Harvey standing there, her arms folded under her massive bust. She smirked at them, seeing that she caught them off guard, before continuing.

"You all have a flair for the theatrics, so Cornelia thinks that she can get you the same way Clovis failed to do. Of course, she won't kill the civilians living there, as she can't take that risk, but she's expecting that you won't know that."

"H-How t-t-the f-fuck! W-when-" Lucienne stammered with Milly taking the role of a gaping fish.

"Ever since Jeremiah Gottwald and Villetta Nu last came to the school grounds, Princess," Claire replied cheekily. "You should make your secret passageways less conspicuous."

Naruto suddenly reached out and pulled back Kallen, who was about to knife her. "Oh-ho, Claire? I bet you wanted to turn us in until we showed the whole world what Britannia tried to hide."

"I did until you all showed the footage. And after Clovis's funeral, I understand why." Claire admitted with a shrug, not bothered that Kallen was about to shank her. "And what you guys are doing? I want in."

Akiza frowned. "And why should we trust you?"

"You don't have to, but I believe in Noblesse Oblige, and I'll be damned if I continue to call myself a proud Britannian with that man on the throne!" Claire said passionately. "Allow me to prove my worth. You gave Rivalz a chance, right?"

Naruto looked at her with a calculating eye. "Once you're in, you're in. There's no going back."

Claire scoffed. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't in this for the long run, Joker. I'm in, all the way in."

"...Welcome to the club," Milly said and licked her lips.

"Just one question," Claire said as they got into the elevator. "Who is this?" she asked, pointing at C.C.

C.C. smiled. "My dear, I'm a witch."

…

Had anyone glanced up, they might have been treated to a strange sight: a small, silvery shape flying through the air.

Nick Ward clung to the back of his wolf Holder, Moshire, as he flew, a pair of handles sprouting from its metallic 'fur' to let him hold on. At his request, some more of that metal liquified and flowed up to enclose his head, forming a helmet as the Saitama Ghetto approached. "Alright, Cornelia," he growled, extracting a katana from his Holder and attaching it to his waist, "You wanna put on a show for the rebels? I'll give you a show. Time to turn this political drama into some Shonen bullshit!"

He took a deep breath and began to sink himself into an imagined role, a smile slowly stealing across his face under the helmet. 'Stand back, Rei, Joker, Cypher…let an old pro show you how to wear a mask!'

…

Once everyone was in the bunker, the alarms blared, since Bagley didn't recognize Claire until Naruto told him to knock it off. Funny enough, the same thing had happened with Rivalz and the pinball machine, causing him to be tied up in webbing. Naruto and Naruko were suiting up as Joker and Cypher, while Nines gave the mission rundown.

"Long story short, as the newbie Claire said, Cornelia is calling you out by provoking you using the media. We don't need BB to tell us that she's using the Saitama Ghetto to replicate the same scenario back in Shinjuku." Nines informed them.

"I can't believe Nelia would do this! Is she seriously going to gun down civilians like Clovis did?!" Lucienne asked shrilly. "That'll put her on our kill list!"

"Oh, I hope so!" Kallen growled, with Lucienne throwing her a dirty look. "She may have been trained by Uzumaki Kushina, but she's still a Britannian!"

"Oh for fuck sake, do you have any idea how wrong that sounded?!" Akiza groaned, rubbing her temples before smacking Kallen upside the head. "They've already explained why we can't do that. And I don't think Cornelia would pull a stunt like killing the people in Saitama."

"Even besides the likelihood of us killing her, she wouldn't want to damage the Empire's reputation even worse than Clovis," Naruto pointed out, while Claire poked and tugged at his whisker-marks.

She was awfully fascinated after dispelling the genjutsu on her.

Naruko nodded. "Besides, I'd rather we not kill her? She's the only shield between Euphie-chan and the Emperor. She goes, and Euphie-chan is screwed unless she gains asylum in Uzu."

"Not to mention Schzeizal being in line to replace her," Milly added, with Lucienne shuttering.

"I wouldn't worry about that, mates. Cornelia's given strict orders to her soldiers to not gun down innocents. The problem is that some of those soldiers survived her purge and from some of their private comms chatter, it seems that they're dreaming up all kinds of violent ways to deal with the civilians without Cornelia knowing," Bagley said dryly. "Away from the cameras of course."

"Of course. They still have that Britannia Ichiban mentality." Naruto growled as he appraised his upgraded weapon.

The handle on his high-frequency katana has grips that now allow him to channel chakra into it, and his gun-shealth has a revolver system that contains the Gaia Memories that he and Naruko retrieved from a prior heist. Rolling through them, there were six slots that contained the Cyclone, Heat, Luna, Ocean, Lightning, and Diamond Memories, allowing him to imbue his blade with various effects.

Naruko's twin swords now had a gun feature, allowing her to collapse and transform them, allowing her to dual-wield swords, guns, or just one gun and one sword. She also carried a set of Gaia Memories of her own that were useful for her upgraded weapons, such as the Metal, Accel, Bomb, Unicorn, Rocket, and Zone Memories, which acted as configurations for her weapons' Gun Mode.

"Sorry that your Gun-Frames are still under maintenance, but I promise that I'll have them ready for your first major campaign." Nines said as the twins attached their weapons, magnetizing them to their armor. "I wanted to add some stuff onto the Frames, thanks to the Lancelot's arm. Plus I've gotten some inspiration and had some chakra-users help me out with what I'm planning. By the time I'm done, your Gun-Frames will be an extension of your natural abilities, and the Lancelot will stand no chance. For now, you can make do with testing out those 3D Maneuvering Gear you have on now."

Attached to the twins' suits is the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, a new set of gear developed by Uzu R&D that allows the user greater mobility when fighting on the ground; with possible application of a human fighting against a Knightmare Frame. While it takes the form of a body harness, for the twins, their suits act as body harnesses. The handgrips were attached as gauntlets, and the Iron Wire Propeller with the piston-shot grapple-hooks were attached to their outer thighs, with the gear being powered by miniature chakra-channeling generators.

"We'll hold you to that," Naruto said and put on his helmet. "We'll take the Interceptor-"

"No time. Use the underground electromagnetic train system. By a stroke of coincidence, Sayoko-san helped activate a forward operating base right within Saitama borders, and it's underground." Nines advised them. "It'll get you there in half the time. And you'd better hurry before the more troublesome soldiers give in to their bloodlust."

"Wait!" Akiza suddenly said, "Let me come with you to help with the evacuation! I promise I won't be in your way!"

"Me too! I can't just stand here while my people get slaughtered!" Kallen added passionately.

Naruto gave a thumbs-up. "That's fine. The more the merrier!"

"Right, let's start the operation!" Naruko cheered before asking. "What do we call it, dattebane?"

Nines smirked. "Operation…One Punch."

---

[Operation: One Punch]

A while later, Britannian soldiers had a group of Japanese civilians trapped.

"Why the hell are you doing this?! We have children here! What's going on, we haven't done anything wrong!" a man yelled as a bunch of Britannian soldiers were rounding the people in the area up.

"The people of this ghetto refuse to report the terrorists! You hide them, cover for them! That's treason against a suzerain state!" the sergeant in charge replied angrily. "Now move-"

He never finished his sentence as he and the other soldiers were killed in a hailstorm of kunai, shuriken, and senbon; slicing through their armor and embedding in their heads, throats, and vital organs. The civilians gasped and stepped back as the soldiers dropped dead, as two armored figures appeared above the group.

"Ore-tachi, sanjou!" Joker declared. "Hello, people of Saitama. We see Cornelia's decided to come knocking! Don't worry, we'll keep you safe! Just follow our friends here to the tunnels to get as far from the ghetto as possible, and don't stop until you're out!" he instructed as Akiza and Kallen appeared, wielding assault rifles.

"Rei is currently contracting the Yamato Alliance to coordinate the evacuation! We know they're terrorists that got you into this mess by hiding out there, but they're the best you got." Cypher added. "Don't worry about Cornelia and her butt-buddies! We got them, now go!"

The people compiled with grateful looks, murmuring "Thank you!" as they did what they were told.

"Come on, this way!" Kallen shouted and led the people to safety with Akiza.

…

In another part of Saitama, a few tanks were leading a group of captured, scared civilians in a straight line, escorted by a squad of Britannian soldiers. There were also children sticking close to their mothers, looking fearfully at the soldiers who had their fingers on the triggers.

The lead tank stopped all of a sudden, causing the escort to stop as well, with the ground soldiers looking at each other in confusion. The one driving the tank scowled when he saw someone walking towards the escort.

"Clear the road! This is official empire business!" yelled the soldier manning the tank's machine gun turret.

Suddenly, a shift passed through the front of the crowd as those leading the civilians caught sight of the newcomer, and began backing away.

A man stalked down the middle street, clothed in a thin, dark blue formal kimono and black hakama. Such clothes were hardly ever seen anymore in Japan, not with the forced modernization and destruction of their country. But what really caused a stir, and made people start backing away, was the silver, wolf-like helmet that encased the man's head, and the katana that he gripped in one hand, its blade gleaming in the light.

In the age of firepower and Knightmare Frames, the idea of dressing up like one of the Samurai of yore and wielding a sword was the very image of either insanity or stupidity. Thus, the Japanese citizens who were running away gave him a wide berth, not wanting to be near him when the soldiers inevitably started shooting.

"I said clear the road!" the Britannian soldier yelled as the Samurai-looking man twirled his blade around and rested it on the shoulder, continuing to advance. "We're authorized to use force if you do not-"

Suddenly, the swordsman moved, sprinting forward fast enough to be a blur, charging at the tank and causing the soldier to open fire with the turret. The latter aimed at where the swordsman was, only for him to swerve and zigzag along the street, civilians screaming as they dived out of his way, bullets striking the pavement around him. Just when the gunner thought he'd gotten a bead on him, he suddenly leaped high into the air. Cursing, he hauled the gun upwards, keeping up the firing.

The first bullet to find its mark split in half when the man swung his sword. Then the second. When the third bullet split in a spray of sparks, the gunner felt a moment of shock, incredulity and dread.

Then the swordsman brought his blade down.

Inside the tank, the rest of the crew gave a cry of disgust and confusion when their gunner collapsed back into the cockpit, his upper body sliced cleanly in half.

"That…that not Joker…or Cypher…" one of the soldiers stammered. "Who-What the hell is that thing?!"

Flicking his sword clean of blood, the swordsman turned around to look at him with his silver-wolf helmet, giving him a menacing appearance complete with glowing eyes. Under the helmet, he smirked.

"O-o-open fire!" the captain yelled.

Bullets flew at the mysterious swordsman, who jumped and landed in the middle of the troop's formation. They were barely able to aim their guns at him when they found themselves without their limbs, as the swordsman's slashes relieved them of their arms, legs, and heads in quick succession. Those that were lucky enough to not lose their limbs were instead slashed through their chest and through their hearts.

After blocking some gunfire and beheading the offender, the swordsman slashed through the incoming tanks, causing them to explode.

"A-amazing…" one of the civilians whispered as the swordsman cleaned his sword clean of blood. "Are you…a Samurai?"

"...Sure am," he answered casually, walking away. "Get to shelter!"

"Wait!" a woman called out. "Are you with those three? Who are you?"

"I'm not with them, not quite yet. As for who I am?" he looked at the civilians over his shoulder. "You can call me Kinkaku. I'm here to tear Britannia a new one."

He jumped up onto the still tank, then to a ledge, bounding his way up to a nearby rooftop, and leaped out of sight, leaving the ones he saved with a sense of wonderment.

"Why is he called Kin when he has a silver helmet…?" one little girl asked out loud.

…

In the Yamato Alliance's hideout, its members were having an emergency meeting with the ground shaking above them.

"It's hopeless. The loop line's no good."

"Can we break through along the Sai-Kyo line?"

"They've got armored trains blocking it. We can't use the back roads, either."

"Any reinforcements from Akabane or Jujoh?"

"Maybe one man might get through, but not a whole group!"

As the members continued to debate, another man ran into the room, heading towards the war table.

"Izumi!"

"Damn! Any word from the Toda or Kawaguchi districts?"

"Never mind, forget that! Listen!" He brought the walkie-talkie to his mouth. "I'm here with my leader!" he said, holding out the communicator to the others.

"Hello everyone. This is the Playmaker, Rei, speaking."

"Rei?!"

"You mean from the Shinjuku Massacre and Pureblood Affair?!"

"It would seem that dear Cornelia is trying to reenact the Shinjuku Massacre to a certain degree, but that doesn't mean that the civilians aren't in danger. I need you all to help me coordinate the evacuations of the civilians so they won't get caught in the crossfire. We already have friends in the field helping-"

"What? But Cornelia's troops will kill us all on sight!"

"Do not worry about them. They'll have their hands full with Joker and Cypher tearing them apart. Now, do you want to be heroes, or make up for your group's presence in Saitama that's causing all this ruckus?"

The leaders bristled at the veiled insult but swallowed. "What do you need for us to do?"

…

"Joker. Cypher. Everything is in place." Lucienne said with a smirk.

"What she said. I have all enemy units marked." Nines added. "Go wild."

*cue I'm Back (to Rise) from Killer Instinct*

"The objective is the humbling of Cornelia vi Britannia. Go show her that she's not dealing with the average terrorist!" Milly cheered.

"That's the plan," Naruto said and snapped his fingers. "Medusa, come!"

"You too, Alter!" Naruko said.

The two Greek Servants rose out of the twins' shadows and stood at attention, awaiting their orders.

"Alright ladies, you know the drill," said Naruto, gesturing around the Ghetto. "We're going to cause as much damage as we can to Cornelia's forces. If there are any civilians nearby, we get them to safety before continuing the assault."

Naruko nodded. "We won't be killing Cornelia, but the only thing she'll have after this is one hell of a bruised ego…among other things, heh heh heh. As for her troops, you're free to spill their blood."

"I always wondered what it would be like to fight a Knightmare," Medusa murmured.

"Ku ku ku," Alter giggled. "I look forward to staining this Ghetto in blood…of dead soldiers of course." she quickly amended as Cypher gazed at her.

"Well, in the words of the Black Label Death Squad back home, Open Fire!" Joker declared as they leaped from the rooftop.

"It's not unique to them though, dattebane!" Cypher yelled after him

…

"Suppression of the Ghetto is proceeding smoothly, Viceroy." one of the aides said. "Everyone is going per the projections-"

"Hold on," another aide interjected. "We just lost contact with two squads that were sent to round up the civilians!"

"Well well, this was earlier than expected." Cornelia mused. "Joker, Cypher, and Rei are nearby," she smirked. "Shall we begin?"

"Understood, My Lady. Attention all forces, commence eradication of the Saitama Ghetto. Assume Level One Battle stations!" Darlton ordered.

…

Naruto landed on a rooftop, seeing a few Sutherlands zooming down the street.

"No Gloucesters? How disappointing…" Naruto mused as he surveyed the area. "Oh?" He noticed a lone Sutherland that was non-operational and smirked. "What nice bait you set out, Nelia-chan."

"Joker, I got some Sutherlands that are empty with no pilots," Naruko told him over the comms.

"Same here," Naruto confirmed, grinning under his helmet, his brain burning. "I have an idea. Time for some fuinjutsu magic to return to sender, don't you agree?"

"I love the way you think!" Naruko said gleefully. "I'll set the trap after dealing with my targets!"

"See you on the flip side," Naruto replied and jumped from his position towards the approaching Knightmares.

He landed in front of the Sutherlands, causing them to halt in their tracks. "Looking for me, boys?"

"This is B12! Joker just appeared in my sights!" the lead pilot shouted. "He's not in a Knightmare! We're moving to arrest him!"

Naruto rushed forward, causing the Sutherlands to open fire. He sped around the bullets with short dashes while getting closer to them. He then propelled himself forward with the 3D Gear, spun around, and slashed the lead Knightmare horizontally, slicing through the cockpit and pilot. It instantly killed the pilot inside before exploding, while Naruto landed on top of another Sutherland.

He pressed a button twice on his sheath, cycling through his new sword's configurations until he got the desired one. Landing on the Heat configuration, he unsheathed his blade, which blazed with flames and glowed a bright red, the air around it shimmering with heat. He twirled it around his head, and stabbed it through the Knightmare's head and the cockpit, where the blade sank through the top of the pilots' head. He pulled it out and leapt away with the 3D Gear with that Sutherland exploding.

"What the hell?" asked the remaining pilot in complete fear, "How?! You're not even using a Knightmare! And what the hell are you using?!"

Naruto snickered as he sheathed his blade and switched it to Cyclone before drawing. The sword flashed as it left the scabbard, blade now green and sucking the air into a series of vents that had appeared in the middle of the blade. As he swung, a vertical wind blade roared out, shredding through the Knightmare, machine, and pilot meeting the same fate as his squad.

"This is nice," Naruto mused, appraising his blade before sheathing it. "Let's find some more test subjects!" he said and zoomed off.

…

"Ahahahahaha!" Naruko laughed as she sped through gunfire. "I'm gonna get dice and slice ya, chucklefucks!"

"What the hell! This bitch isn't human!" yelled one of the pilots who was unable to hit her.

Naruko equipped one HF-Gunblade with the Bomb Memory and the other with the Rocket Memory. Having both in Gun Mode, she unleashed a hellstorm of explosions that rocked the Knightmares in front of her.

"HAHHH!" she yelled, swinging off a wall with the 3D Gear while switching the Sword Mode, and spun like a buzzsaw, cleaving through a Knightmare, pilot and all.

As it exploded, Naruko rebounded off a wall and zipped towards the other Knightmare with the Gear. The Sutherland retaliated with gunfire while rolling backward, but Naruko quickly closed the distance with the Gear and executed a thrust attack into the cockpit area, killing the pilot. She bounded off the Knightmare, with the mech exploding a moment later.

…

Kinkaku leaped across the rooftops, speeding through the city in order to keep an eye on any groups that seemed out of place. "Scattering like this…this hardly feels like the work of someone like Cornelia. A ruse?"

He spotted a gaggle of soldiers moving cautiously down the road, and snorted, stopping at a rooftop above them. "Well, ruse or not, it's not like I'd leave that alone!" he cackled. He leaped out into space, drawing his blade. "HEY THERE, BOYS!" he yelled as he fell, eyes gleaming in his wolf-like helmet.

"Huh? Wha-?!" The soldiers jerked at the sound of his voice and looked up, just in time for him to land among them.

His blade flashed, carving crescents of light through the air as he landed, shifting his weight in order to weave through the group, swinging so fast that his blade vanished, dicing the soldiers into pieces in a flurry. Not even waiting for their bodies to hit the ground, he dashed away down the road. "Okay! Next! C'mon, c'mon! Don't make my debut so lackluster and come at me already!"

Just then, he passed by an intersection, right when a tank was rolling around the corner. Without hesitation, he turned on a dime and darted forward, swinging his sword. With one swipe, the tank's left tread split, rattling to the ground as it rolled and causing the vehicle to swerve. Then, as he passed by the side, he swung again, cleaving clean through the armor and decapitating one of the crewmen manning it.

"What the fuck?!" yelled one of the other men, grabbing his sidearm and opening the hatch to look around, "Who did tha-?!"

"Water Stance: Water Surface Slice!"

Kinkaku shot past the Tank again, blade skimming the top of the vehicle and slicing off the open hatch, along with the man's upper body.

Taking a grenade that he'd snatched off another soldier, he pulled the pin and tossed it into the tank, before running off.

*BOOOOOOM!*

"Come and get it, Britannia!" he yelled again.

…

"We just lost three recon squads!"

"There's no sign of those experimental Knightmares either!"

"The bait we set out aren't being taken either! None of them have been sighted"

Cornelia frowned at the reports she was receiving. She expected the terrorists to commandeer the Sutherlands that were "conveniently" stowed away in key points, with some of the Sutherlands being sacrificed to lure the Phantom Thieves and the terrorists into a false sense of security. From there, she would spring her trap and corner them, using their egos against them.

But what she's getting was the opposite of what she was expecting.

"Viceroy," Bourne's face appeared in the corner of the screen. "I've been watching the screens of the terminated Sutherlands. I advise that you look at the final moments."

Darlton grimaced. "Can't this wait? We're in the middle of an operation."

"It really can't," Bourne growled back before showing the footage.

Everyone's expressions turned to horror as they watched Joker and Cypher swiftly execute both Sutherlands and their pilots. They were simply too fast for the reticles to track as they were sliced and diced without mercy. Worse, their weapons now had gimmicks, and they were using their new equipment half the time.

"What…the hell!" Cornelia bit out, standing up in anger. "This is nothing like Shinjuku! How are they doing this?! And who…" she pointed at another screen. "Who the hell is that?! Their comrade?!" she shouted, pointing at the silver helmeted swordsman cleaving through her ground troops and tanks.

"I don't know, but what I can tell you is that your forces are in danger and you need to abandon the operation. The way it's going, you're going occur unnecessary losses." Bourne told her sternly. "Those two, and that unknown, are more than we expected them to be."

Cornelia gritted her teeth. "I…I won't throw in the towel yet! They're only getting lucky because we have our forces spread out. If that's how they want to play this, then let's see how they like a hailstorm of bullets! Order all forces to retreat here to the G1! We'll show them the full might of Britannia!"

However, aside from Darlton, Guilford, Jeremiah, and Villetta, the other aides and Royal Guard members were looking unsure. From what they saw, Joker and Cypher were a different kind of beast from all the other run-of-the-mill terrorists they dominated. Right now, they were feeling hunted, and the two Phantom Thieves were the predators. It didn't help that there was an unknown swordsman on the same level as them that came out of nowhere.

"Viceroy Cornelia, with all due respect, I believe that is a poor decision," Bourne growled with deadly seriousness.

"I will not retreat, William Bourne. I appreciate your input, but I advise you to remember your place. I will bring those Phantom Thieves to heel." Cornelia retorted with a cold look on her face. "Colonel, have the airstrike standing by if things go south."

"Are you sure about this, Viceroy? I'm only asking out of concern after what we just saw." Villetta stated with a frown. 'The twins will spare us, but they'll tear everyone else apart! And then there's that silver fighter…he's a complete unknown, and we have no idea what his agenda is!'

"...I've made my decision. Pull all our forces back, now!"

…

"Wow, that was fast," Akiza noted over the comms as the others saw the enemy dots converging on the G1-Base. "Does Cornelia not have the stomach for such devastating losses?"

"How odd, they barely got started. Still," Claire mused with a thoughtful expression. "That's Naruto and Naruko's power. They must use their Knightmares for fun."

Nines chuckled at that. "They're actually specialized Knightmare Frames called Gun-Frames, and they're much different than your standard Knightmares, being an extension of their beings. They're 6th-Gen, but the way the upgrades are going so far, they'll be considered 7th-Gen."

"I mean, who wouldn't want to pilot their own Knightmare? I mean, I'm looking forward to seeing what Nines has in store for me!" Milly declared with heart-eyes with her hands grasped together. "And with my Geass, ku ku ku!" However, that only reminded her of what had happened earlier, and she grimaced worriedly. "Oh yeah, something weird happened before we got here. I was testing out my Geass on Nick."

"Wow, Milly. Are you that desperate to spend money from the treasury for some of your more perverted ideas?" Kallen scoffed in disgust.

"Bite me, but you don't have to worry about that, because my Geass didn't work on him," Milly revealed, causing all eyes to be on her.

"Wait, you couldn't compel him to do anything?" C.C. asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeeah, which makes me think that he could be one of those Code Bearer things." Milly grumbled, "No offense, C.C."

C.C. hummed in thought. "That could be a possibility. We could look into it when the twins get back. I should be able to tell at a glance."

"While it sounds concerning, it's not of importance right now," Claire stated firmly. "I'm more concerned about that silver-headed swordsman. Do any of you know him?"

"Not in the slightest," Bagley answered. "I've searched through all my memory banks and I've never seen anyone wearing a silver wolf helmet that can slice through tanks and Knightmares like butter."

"Would it be a rogue warrior from Uzu? It can't be. We haven't had one of those in ages." Nines commented.

"Well, that's concerning…" Milly mumbled before contacting the twins. "Joker, Cypher, heads up. You have an unknown out in the field laying waste to Knightmares."

"Anyone we know?" Naruto asked.

"Nope. All we know is that he wears a silver helmet in the shape of a wolf."

"...That's interesting." Naruko quipped, the description not ringing a bell.

"We'll keep an eye out," Naruto said. "I wonder how the Medusas are doing?"

…

Medusa was zipping around her area, dodging gunfire with some bullets rebounding off her chains. The soldiers and Knightmare firing on her couldn't see her properly, as her form kept blurring around them. With each second, one member of their platoon would lose their head or die from blood loss from being struck in a vital area.

As for the Knightmare, that's where she had the most fun. She relished in the pilots' panic at her being an unknown, and openly laughed when they accused her of being an 'Eleven,' unnerving them.

"I don't even need Pegasus to deal with you humans," Medusa chuckled as she struck the Sutherland multiple times, denting it all over. "Well, except for that Lancelot."

She struck it a couple more times before tangling and trapping it with her chains. "For now," she unclipped her blindfold, her eyes glowing. "Let's see how you can withstand this! Cybele, Mystic Eyes of Petrification!"

"What? What the-" the pilot wondered, his eyes making contact with Medusa's eyes on the screen, before freezing up. "Gah!" he managed to yell out as his body became rigid. He choked up before a wave of stone washed over his body.

"Hmm," Medusa tilted her head. "Looks like the pilots are still affected, but not the Knightmare itself. I'll have to make sure no one gets wise to what I can do."

She finished the Sutherland off by throwing her spike chain at the Knightmare, penetrating the cockpit area and shattering the stone body inside, causing blood to gush out. She pulled out and leaped away, leaving it to explode.

As she jumped through the air, she noticed the Knightmares zooming towards the G1-Base, and on the other side, there was a wall of chains.

"Alter-san, huh?"

…

"Ku ku ku, ahahahahahaha!" Medusa Alter laughed, relishing in the despair of the surviving soldiers still left from her assault.

When she first struck, she was surrounded by a battalion of soldiers about to storm an apartment building. Tossing her hair out of her hood, it grew into a series of snakes, which then transformed into countless chains that trapped her prey.

For the soldiers, it became a nightmare scenario as they fruitlessly shot at her, only to come up empty as Alter personally killed them with her sickle, the Immortal Slaying Scythe, Harpe. She flash-stepped around, downing the soldiers with one strike, and any unfortunate soul that gazed at her eyes became stone.

"Come now, you're Britannians, right? The most powerful fighting force in the world as you all claim to me? Surely you can handle a 'frail' woman like myself...right~?" she taunted and licked the blood off her weapon.

"S-She's a-a-a-a mon-monster!" screamed one of the soldiers, who was literally pissing himself.

"We need to run!"

"Let us go, please!"

Alter sighed and looked at him with mock pity. "Well, I guess you Britannians aren't literal perfection after all. If you were truly powerful…"

She disappeared and reappeared behind the remaining soldiers.

"You would be able to kill even the Gods," she concluded in a disappointed tone, twirling her Harpe and flicking the blood off it.

In the next moment, blood flew as the soldiers received fatal wounds and lost their heads.

"While disappointing, this was satisfying at the same time. Next!"

…

"We have multiple reports of more unknowns! Multiple squads are being wiped out!"

"No one is responding from the lost squads! There are no confirmed ejections!"

"Squads four, seven, and eleven have made it back. Reinforcing the encirclement!"

"Sir Gatsy's squad has been lost!"

"This is getting out of control! Get my men out of there!" Cornelia bellowed in rage, standing up sharply. "Have them eject here to the G1 if attacked! Move it!"

"Is this a bad time?"

Cornelia jumped and saw Laila in casual clothing, strolling into the command center. "Laila?! What are you doing here?! This is an active military operation!" she scolded her.

"I'm just here to make sure you don't do what my…what Clovis did," replied Laila, glaring suspiciously at her elder sister.

"How little do you think of me, Laila? My concerns are the terrorist hiding here!" Cornelia said angrily.

The younger girl scowled. "Do you even know where they are?"

"No. That's why I'm luring them out so they can use the terrorists like they did last time. But…" Cornelia gritted her teeth as the aides ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. "They're not taking the bait!"

"Not all people are stupid like you think they are, Sis. What they did while rescuing Suzaku proved that! And then there's their inhuman powers!" Laila reminded her. "Their blades were sharp enough to cut through Sutherlands! Remember?!"

"I…realize…that. Still," Cornelia was trying to keep her composure. "Despite what they can do, we need to crush them here and now. They have sown the seeds of chaos and if we leave them be, their influence will spread all over Area 11!"

"Viceroy, all of our remaining forces have made it here," Darlton said, his eyes widening at the screen. "My god. They've wiped out 30 percent of our forces!"

"That's insane! There's no way three people can pull that off on their own!" Guilford shouted in denial.

"Make that five," Bourne said, his screen popping up again. "There's two more superhumans, and…the footage I have on them is dangerous. And if you're wondering if any pilots survived, there have been no ejections."

"Five," Cornelia breathed out, her confidence cracking. "What in god's name are we up against?"

The aides from Clovis's time flinched, as it was the same thing Clovis said when he was losing his forces.

"Maybe you should leave the Ghetto. If you stay any longer, you'll lose control of the situation-" Laila started to say.

"Joker and Cypher sighted at 12 o'clock!"

Everyone in the command center looked to see the main screen shift to the two terrorists standing several meters away from their current position. Joker had his red katana resting on his shoulder, while Cypher was lightheartedly waving at them with a smiling emote on her visor.

"They really do have a flair for the dramatics," Cornelia scoffed in strained confidence. "But now that they're in our sights- huh?"

She frowned as the swordsman with the silver wolf helmet was approaching the Phantom Thieves, and two purple blurs landed next to them.

…

"Look at this. Cornelia's has her forces gearing up for a fight." Naruto mused as he and Naruko watched the Sutherlands get into formation, as Medusa and Alter arrived and landed next to them.

"I'd love to see the look on her face at her plans going to shit." Naruko laughed before activating her comms. "How's evac going?"

"It's going fine. Everyone's been cleared out of the Ghetto. They're all yours." Lucienne told them. "Now we just need- What the? That's the-!"

"Master, watch out!" Medusa said as she and Alter got in front of them.

They looked to see the silver swordsman walking towards them nonchalantly, absentmindedly appraising his sword. He stopped a couple meters away from them, seeing that they're on edge.

"That's him! That's the swordsman!" Naruko said, pointing at him. "Who the hell are you?!"

"I don't believe we've met." Naruto quipped, tapping his sword on his shoulder. "And if you're here to kill Cornelia, then I ask that you refrain from doing so. She's all ours."

The man cocked his head at them for a moment, hand resting on the sheathed hilt of his own sword. "...Alright, makes no difference to me. I've been having more fun hamstringing her operation here anyway. The name's Kinkaku."

"Shouldn't you have a gold helmet, then?" a baffled Naruko asked.

"I know what I said."

"Right. I'm guessing there's a gimmick to that." Naruto guessed and gazed at the G1-Base. "No matter. Let us conclude the humbling of Cornelia, shall we? Are things ready on your end?"

"Yep!" Naruko replied cheerfully. "And also, the loser buys ramen tonight and pays three months worth of pizza, dattebane!"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm down, dattebayo!"

"Thank you for taking the load off me," Lucienne said with a sigh of relief.

"As for you Medusa and Alter, you'll both be running interference. Make sure no one tries to escape." Naruto instructed the Servants.

Medusa nodded, but Alter scowled. "Why should I take orders from you? You're not my Master."

"Alter-chan, we're twins; we're pretty much the same." Naruko scolded her. "Follow his orders as if it were my own."

"You too, Medusa-chan," Naruto added, with Medusa nodding again.

"As you wish," she replied.

"So…are we gonna do this, or?" Kinkaku gestured towards Cornelia's force and trailed off, feeling something- or someone in the G1-Base, reacting to his Key. 'What the…?'

"Yes, we are going to do this, Kinkaku-san," Naruto said. "We'll be saving the questions for later…"

…

"Jeremiah. Villetta," Cornelia said through gritted teeth. "I need you to get Laila out of here. If things go south, I don't want her here and possibly getting hurt…"

"What about you, my lady?" Jeremiah asked worryingly as he and Villetta went to flank the younger Princess of the Realm.

"Ending this, here and now. Joker. Cypher. Their new friends. They're no match. I'll win." Cornelia said with certainty.

However, in reality, every instinct within her was telling her to abandon the mission and live to fight another day; that it wasn't worth it to continue this meaningless battle, since no matter how she adjusted the strategy, she kept losing soldiers. By all rights, she should be winning by feigning a loss before crushing them like ants within her carefully constructed trap.

Despite being the student of Uzumaki Kushina, she was still a Britannian of the Royal Family. Confident and arrogant she might be, it was still her actual skills that had made her the Goddess of Victory she was today.

"No matter what powers they wield, they are meaningless against me!" she declared.

"Of course. You are the Goddess of Victory after all." Dalton said with pride, with Cornelia's charisma reassuring everyone except the usual suspects.

As for Laila, she didn't hear anything being said. As soon as Laila laid eyes on the silver swordsman, her heart started pumping madly.

'What-What is this?' she thought, walking to the windows of the base to look at the three rebels in person. 'That silver helmet. I've never seen that man in my life, so why does he look so familiar?! Who…are you?!'

"Besides, it is obvious that they dare to challenge me by knocking at my front door, so I shall respond in kind," Cornelia said and turned to her personal Knight. "Are you ready, my Knight?"

"I live to serve you, Lady Cornelia," Guilford said with a salute.

"Come, Lady Laila. It's about to get dangerous." Villetta said, gently leading the girl away with Jeremiah quickly following.

…

"You got incoming Gloucesters," Bagley said. "Looks like Cornelia's still in the G1-Base."

"Not coming to confront us directly. How rude." Naruto snorted as the Gloucasters stopped a ways away from them. "No matter. She'll still get what's coming to her."

"Attention Phantom Thieves. You have to surrender at once to face judgment for the death of Third Prince Clovis la Britannia!" Guilford shouted through his Knightmare's PA. "Any resistance will result in lethal force!"

"Try to make it more entertaining and dramatic than usual. BB is recording everything for her channel." Nines said, with BB's giggling coming after.

"Then she's going to love what comes next," Naruto said and made a hand seal with one hand along with Naruko.

Naruko giggled. "As they say in Nines' world…YEET!"

Kinkaku just looked at them before looking behind them, seeing what they were doing. "Well, that's something you don't see every day."

"Saa, let's make a show of it!" Naruto yelled, charging forward along with the others.

…

Alarms blared in the G1 as everyone in the command center looked on in horror. Whatever shred of confidence Cornelia had vanished as she watched the unmanned Sutherlands set around Saitama shoot up into the air; bearing down on the G1 and the surrounding troops. Worse, the five interlopers were charging forward to fight, dodging and deflecting the bullets being fired their way.

"All hands, full reverse and brace for impact!" Darlton bellowed. "All pilots, take evasive action now!"

"Princess!" Guilford yelled over their comms.

…

"It has begun…" Jeremiah noted, looking back towards the G1 from his Knightmare, with Villetta right behind him with Laila in her lap.

…

*cue Star Wolf's Battle Theme from Star Fox*

"Ikuze, ikuze, ikuze!" Naruto yelled as he and fellow warriors clashed with Cornelia's forces.

The latter would've fought back properly, but they were bombarded by the falling Sutherland units. Most of the Sutherlands maneuvered around to avoid the falling debris, but some got caught, forcing them to eject. The very few Gloucasters led by Guilford managed to avoid the barrage with their superior maneuvers, but it allowed the rebels to get in close.

Naruto sheathed his sword and switched to the Diamond Memory configuration. Drawing it, the blade now had a silver shine to it, reflecting off the sun above. Naruto moved the reflection to Guilford's Gloucester had its factosphere out, causing the Knightmare to blanch.

"Gah!" Guilford yelled, his screen showing the sun's reflection temporarily blinding him. "Why you!"

"Eat this!" Naruto shouted, beheading the Gloucester before slashing it in its chest area.

"Damn!" Guilford grunted, managing to back away enough to avoid the blade. "How can they move so fast?!"

"Guilford! Eject! Eject now!" Cornelia commanded him before the line went dead. "Ej- ah!"

"Princess?! Princess!" Guilford shouted, turning around before having a look of horror on his face. "No!"

The empty Sutherland units crashed into the G1-Base with such force that some of them dented and implanted themselves into the base; with some of them crashing directly into the command center.

"Time to die!" Naruto declared, switching the Lightning Memory that enhanced the electricity already dancing on the HF-Blade. "Ichigeki!"

"Damn you, Eleven scum!" Guilford yelled as he ejected, leaving his Knightmare to be destroyed.

"Heh, he got away." Naruto mused. "That sounds like her personal Knight, Guilford?" he shrugged. "Ah, whatever. He avoided death today, not that it matters. Oh, Cornelia~"

"We just wanna talk!" Naruko jeered, using the Zone Memory to aimbot Knightmares and soldiers alike, sending them flying.

She jumped as the Gloucasters tried to skewer her from all directions with their jousting lances. She landed on the gathered lances and spun around, switching one of them from Gun to Sword on both weapons, using the Metal Memory on the sword to reinforce its cutting power, and the Accel Memory to enable rapid-fire.

"You chaps can just die! Shi-ne!" she cried out, slicing through the Gloucester's armor and bullets denting the armor to a major degree. "Shi-ne, shi-ne, shi-ne, SHI-NE!"

As for the twin Medusas, they were flying through the air with their chains, drawing fire while petrifying and slicing the soldiers apart. For their finishing touches, they hung the bodies in the air with their chains, making the scenes even more gruesome.

"Well, as long as we're showing off, I suppose I'll join in!" laughed Kinkaku. The ground beneath his foot shattered and he blasted forward, drawing his sword and leaping into the air towards another Knightmare. "Gozanze Style: Death-Leaf Clover!"

His blade flashed as he swung in circular motions, the reflected light drawing a 4-leaf clover. The Gloucester seemed to bloom from the center, metal parts splitting cleanly and flying away from the point of intersection. The entire mech collapsed into quarters, a burst of blood at the very middle, before the entire thing exploded.

Two more, spotting him, quickly took aim to open fire, but-

"Gundari Style: Wing Wave!"

Kinkaku swung horizontally with such force that a blast of wind burst forth, kicking up dust in such a way as to look like a bird's feathers. The pilots let out cries of alarm as the sheer strength of the wind shoved their Gloucesters' rifles out of alignment, making it a struggle to aim. A moment later, he was on them, leaping all the way up onto their shoulders in order to neatly dice their factospheres into pieces.

"What is that swordsman? Aside from our Masters, no human could possibly move like that!" Medusa noted to herself as she swung through the air.

"Seems that there's more to that guy than meets the eye," Naruto added after slicing a Gloucester clean in half. "I hope he's interested in the crusade!"

"Sure am!" called out the stranger, indicating that he could hear them quite clearly, "I've been sitting on my ass for too long, but I'd like to throw my lot in with whatever you're calling yourself! Consider this battle my fucking resume!" As he landed, he let out a plume of steam from his helmet's mouth.

"Oh hell yeah!" Naruko cheered while throwing a Sutherland away by its leg. "Where have you been all our life?! Let's hire this guy, Joker!"

"Well, anyone willing to give Britannia a headache like we're doing is a friend of ours!" Naruto called over while short-dash dodging through a hail of gunfire. "We'll give you our number later buddy, but for now-!"

"We have an appointment with the top Princess of the Realm!" Naruko finished. "Join us!"

"Omni-Gear Style: Destruction Blades: Twins!"

Using their 3D-Gear, they hooked onto the chains and propelled off them, spinning around like buzzsaws. They zoomed towards the slowly retreating G1-Base, cutting through flesh and metal in their wake.

He snorted. "With pleasure. Gundari Style: Loaded Gear!" A pair of slots opened up from his waist and deployed a similar pair of grappling hooks, which likewise shot out and yanked him into the air. "Heh…this feels more like somethin' my bro would like," he commented as he soared, arching his back and flipping through the air, "But hell, I'll try anything once!" Falling from the air, he singled out one Knightmare and angled himself towards it, free-falling. It raised its rifle to shoot him out of the air, but he lazily spun, just barely brushing its hand as he raised his sword. "ZAN!"

The mech was cleaved in half, the cut so clean that the upper and lower halves created a perfect cross-section. As Kinkaku fell past the Knightmare, he quickly launched his wires again, turning his fall into a graceful curve. He bent back, heels scraping along the ground as he sped along, before with a whoop, he retracted the hooks sharply and launched himself forward, speeding like a silver bullet towards another Knightmare.

"MY NAME IS KINKAKU! THE SILVER WOLF! LEARN TO FEAR IT, ARROGANT WITCH, AND CURSE YOUR HUBRIS!"

"This guy must be pretending to be Japanese from that boast alone," Lucienne drawled through the twins' comms, "Kinkaku means 'Golden Fang,' after all."

"Yep." Naruto agreed after landing on top of the G1-Base and went through a few hand seals. "You're not getting away that easily. Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"

From below, the ground suddenly shifted and transformed into a mass of dark mud with a red tint, instantly forming a makeshift swamp that caused the base to slowly sink downward. The mud was infused with chakra, making it sticky and ensnaring the giant hunk of metal.

Meanwhile, Cornelia was trying to pull herself together after being knocked for a loop from the bombardment of Knightmare Frames tearing her base asunder. Kinkaku's voice jolted her back into action, making her stumble across the prone bodies of her men, the ones who were thankfully still alive. She made her way to the broken window, the shaking of the base nearly knocking her off balance, and the sight of her destroyed force welcoming her.

It was like a scene from the depth of Hell itself as the clouds covered the sun. There were chains with bodies of her men hanging from them, strewn all over the way. The remains of the Sutherlands and Gloucesters looked as if they've seen better days, looking as if all the maintenance in the world couldn't put them back together. And most of the soldiers were dead, save for a few survivors that were grievously injured and close to dying.

"This…can't be- AH!" she yelped as the mobile base slightly tipped over, thanks to the swamp. "Damn it. Damn you to hell, Joker! Cypher!"

"You rang, ma'am?"

She gasped, looking to see Joker appeared in front of her. He was crouched in front of her outside the window, tapping his sword on his shoulder with his head tilted.

"Sorry about the mess," he said casually, before reaching over and lifting her by the scruff of her top. "But when you involve civilians and leave them in the hands of soldiers that get off on killing Japanese, then a mess is kinda inevitable!"

So saying, he tossed her out the window and sent her plummeting towards the ground, making her scream until she was caught by Cypher, who was waiting down below.

"Gotcha!" Cypher said before dropping her none-to-gently onto the hard ground. "Alter!"

"Hai!" Alter summoned chains that wrapped around Cornelia's body, binding her arms together.

"Ah, you-!" Cornelia fruitlessly struggled as Joker, Cypher, and Kinkaku stood over her, with Cypher having a smug emote on her helmet; and Medusa and Alter hovering behind the Princess.

"Now then, I don't believe we've been formally introduced, Princess-chan!" Cypher said cheerfully. "I'm the second-in-command of the group, Cypher! Pleased to humiliate you!"

Joker chortled. "And I'm Joker, but you already knew that. Lovely to finally meet you, face to mask! And this guy is-" he started to say before Cornelia let out a pained laugh.

"Don't bother! He's just the same as you, a masked thug pretending to be a righteous warrior!"

In response, Kinkaku let out a bark of genuine laughter. "Hah! If that's what will help you sleep tonight, then I will wear the name 'thug' with pride, 'Goddess of Victory.' Greetings and defiance to you, in the names of the goddesses of Fortune and Glory, and the god of War." His tone, boisterous until now, took on a serious edge that sent a chill down everyone's spines.

"Eh? You have a connection with a goddess too? What a coincidence! So do we!" Cypher said with a little wave.

'Yeah, as long as we keep her happy with carrot cake.' Joker added in his mind.

"Ugh, goddesses. Am I right?" sighed the swordsman, hanging his head, "So high maintenance."

"Nutters. You're all bloody nutjobs. Just kill me and be done with it!" Cornelia growled out.

"No."

Cornelia blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said no, Princess. Count your lucky stars that none of your now-dead subordinates pulled the trigger on the civilians you tried to involve. That's the only thing that's keeping you alive, Euphemia's sister be damned." Joker growled back at her, making Cornelia jerk in shock at the terrorist invoking her name. "Yeah, we know you already have blood on your hands from the way you handle hostage situations, but that was then, and this is now; and for now, your punishment will be to live on, with your winning streak broken into pieces."

"What she said, Nel-Nel, or do you prefer Nelly?" Cypher tacked on, causing Cornelia to bristle angrily. "Another reason we're keeping you alive is that Euphemia needs you. Without you around, she's screwed, and with you gone, she'd have to seek refuge in Uzu."

"So what? You'll kidnap me? Take me hostage? Or blackmail me?" Cornelia asked and laughed again. "With all that power, you're so naive in addition to having a flair for the dramatic!"

Joker laughed, making her defiant snarl fade slightly in confusion and a tiny trickle of trepidation. "Oh, we're not going to do that."

Cornelia goggled at him, flummoxed. "...What?"

"That's right! Turn that frown upside-down, Princess, we're letting you walk away from this!"

"I…but you…! WHY?!"

"Because, when you get back to your headquarters…and stew in your loss…and build up a head of steam to try and fight us again…all of this mayhem that happened today?" Joker gestured grandly around at all the destruction they'd wrought. "We'll do it again. And again. And again. And again. 'Course, we're not dumb enough to think that you can't learn from this, Nelly. You'll adapt, try out a new strategy and try to outsmart us. But I can tell, from the look in your eye, you still think that we're just a group of rebels. That's why you lost today, and that's why you're gonna keep losing, until you learn otherwise, and even long after that. This is not one of your subjugation campaigns that you can steamroll right through and slap a number on the map. We've been through that already, and Japan's gonna claw its way back to being a nation. We're letting you go, to show Britannia what the Romans learned: no Empire lasts forever."

It was then that something in Cornelia's brain clicked, allowing her to finally accept the fact that she wasn't dealing with the average terrorists anymore.

"This crusade started with the two of us and Rei, and over the years, our number slowly grew. And now," Cypher skated around as if gesturing to the world. "We're about to have ourselves an army of like-minded individuals that Britannia pissed off over the years! Hell, it might as well be a nation! It's going to be the greatest, just you wait. Hell, Uzu might join in on the fun!"

At the mention of Uzu, Cornelia gained a fearful look. These superhumans, allied with Uzu? It would be complete chaos.

And they don't even have a weapon to surpass Metal Gear yet!

"You'll…still lose." she retorted, but there was no strength behind her words as she swallowed.

"Yeah, let's be honest here, Princess, I don't think even you believe that right now," snorted Kinkaku.

"...Hmm, you know. That's a nice-looking G1-Base, Nelly. It'd be a real shame if something bad happened to it, eh?" Cypher said with a knowing glance at Joker.

"Indeed!"

The twins walked forward until Kinkaku stuck his hand out, stopping them in their tracks.

"Allow me, my new friends." With a clack, the man's forearm suddenly split open, revealing a rod made of bone, which he then grasped and pulled out. It was a finely-carved sword hilt.

Joker gaped at him under his helmet, while Cypher's jaw dropped. "What the fuck?!"

He glanced at them. "What, you've never seen a cyborg before?" Shrugging, his chest rippled, before a hole opened up in the center, revealing a glowing, golden core of light. That too was removed, and stuck onto the end of the bone sword hilt. "Oh yeah, you might wanna back up a little." He took up a running stance, one leg sliding back, while he held the orb and hilt at his side, like a sword to be drawn.

"Uh-oh, he's about to do something big!" Joker shouted, with he and Cypher quickly dragging Cornelia back.

"Well, he better hurry because you all have a bunch of VTOLs converging on your positions!" Claire called over the comms. "Looks like they called in an airstrike!"

With a *whoosh,* Kinkaku dashed forward, leaping up onto the front of the G1 base and running straight up the wall, speeding along in a blur of motion, until finally he reached the top and shot high, high into the air, where he spun and oriented himself downward. The orb of light began to shine brightly. "Kongou Yasha Style, Iai!" he intoned, his voice echoing powerfully over the battlefield.

He began to 'draw' the hilt, and a blade of blazing energy extended from the ball, forming a long katana as he drew directly into a powerful slash.

"Is that a fucking LIGHTSABER?!" Nines demanded over the CODEC.

"MOONLIGHT GUILLOTINE!"

His slash split the air, tracing a crescent moon of blue light, which shot downward from the sky, growing exponentially, until it struck the immobilized base. The light bit deep into the metal, carving cleanly through it, deeper and deeper, until it cleaved the entire base in half, like the head of an executioner's axe. The two halves fell away from each other, crashing into the buildings around it and knocking them over.

"NO! DARLTON!" Cornelia screamed in terror.

"HOLY SHIT! JOKER! CYPHER! GET THAT MAN TO THE BUNKER NOW! WE NEED HIM ON OUR TEAM!" Lucienne screamed, a screen with her Rei avatar appearing and warping over the twins' heads. "LIKE YESTERDAY, A WEEK AGO! HELL A YEAR-"

"WE GET IT! CALM DOWN, REI!" Milly grabbed her and put her in a sleeper hold.

Joker whistled as he walked up to Kinkaku. "Well Mr. Golden Fang, I hope you're free tonight. We're fast-tracking your resume, so we'll have a lot to talk about."

The Samurai nodded jerkily, breathing hard. "Yeah…don't you worry about that. I'll drop by later." Then, with a hiss, a cloud of steam burst from his body, obscuring him entirely, and by the time it dispersed, he was gone.

"Wait, he made that sound like he knows where we are!" Cypher stated with concern. "That's impossible! How would he-?"

"Worry about that later. We gotta split as well!" Joker said and glazed at a white-eyed, despairing Cornelia as Cypher, Medusa, and Alter gathered near him. "No more innocents, so consider this a warning, Nelly. We'll be seeing each other again, real soon!"

He dropped a smoke bomb that covered him and the girls. When it cleared, they were gone, with the chains binding Cornelia fading into mist.

"...This…has to be a dream…" Cornelia mumbled, sounding broken as the VTOLs landed near her to secure her.

…

"Evacuation was a success!" Lucienne informed the twins as they exited Saitama. "They're waiting in the subway. I had Kallen and Akiza call their friends in the Kozuki Group to set up a few rest areas for them in Shinjuku. According to Kallen and Akiza, they all want to thank you both."

"Then let's not disappoint," Naruto said as he and Naruko entered the subway to find the rescued civilians waiting in the abandoned train station.

"It's Joker!"

"And Cypher!"

"They saved us!"

"Citizens of Saitama, have no fear!" Joker's voice boomed through the station. "Cornelia has been thoroughly humbled and punished for her actions, thus you are all safe!"

"Now if you would follow us through the secure route provided to us by Rei with the help of those girls that brought you here, we'll be heading to Shinjuku, where there's food, drink, medicine, cots for you all to rest!" Cypher added as she zipped through the crowd.

"Now come, my fellow Japanese!" Joker said, gesturing to everyone to follow him and Cypher.

[Operation: One Punch]

[Total Victory]

---

[Area 11]

"BB! CHANNEL!"

As soon as the notifications popped up on the phones of those that followed and subscribed, everyone stopped what they were doing and tuned into the live video of BB, who was acting like a news anchor at her desk. Instead of her usual outfit, she was wearing a tight business suit, where the buttons strained to contain her sweater-puppies.

"Hello, piggies of humanity! This is your lovely BB-chan coming to you live from the BB Studio! And to the governments trying to track the broadcast, don't bother, because you'll never find it! Ahahahaha!

"Now, as you saw today, the Britannian media broadcasted the time of Cornelia's excursion to the Saitama Ghetto to deal with the resistance fighters there, but it's was all a ruse to draw out your friendly, neighborhood Phantom Thieves in an elaborate trap! They accepted the invitation, and well…see for yourselves!"

The footage from Saitama began playing, showing Joker and Cypher rescuing the civilians from Britannian forces that were about to open fire on them, followed by them taking out the scouting parties.

"Those stupid soldiers, blatantly disobeying the orders of their Viceroy to satisfy their murder boners. But that's not all, as Joker and Cypher aren't the one one who want to keep the civilians safe from Britannian bullets!"

The footage switched to Medusa and Alter, appearing as black and purple blurs that zoomed around the soldiers, tanks, and Sutherlands, taking them apart. There was also footage of the swordsman known as Kinkaku, who zoomed around and destroyed several Britannian squads on his own.

"Look at them go! The Spiker sisters are tangling up the competition, while that silver swordsman called Kinkaku slicing and dicing flesh and steel alike! Isn't that amazing?! Also, pick a better name, dumbass~!"

Of course, there was no censorship in the footage, leading to some people puking at all the graphic ways the soldiers were getting killed.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering what happened to your precious Viceroy Cornelia? Well don't worry, she got off with a warning, so she's still alive! For now!"

Cue the footage of Cornelia near her destroyed G1-Base, as Britannian VTOL landed near her.

"So what did we learn, ladies and gentlemen?" BB asked coyly, now on a materialized swing set. "You mess with the bulls, and you get the horns! We love drama, but not at the expense of people just wanting to live their lives. Your fight is with us, not them, so behave yourselves. No calling us out, because we'll come to you. From the three crusaders to you, we hope you learn your lesson. Until next time, bye!"

---

[Ashford Academy, Bunker]

"And here comes our conquering heroes," Bagley said with canned applause sounds as Naruto and Naruko entered the command center. "You lot are trending again, and the internet is memeing the aftermath, especially her expression."

"They let me get out of my shift tonight due to closing the bar early," Rivalz said, waving from a chair. "With what you did to Cornelia, there's bound to be unrest."

"It's to be expected. Thanks to BB and what we did, Nelia's been publicly humiliated. She'll think twice before pulling that kind of stunt again." Naruto said while taking off this helmet. "So, what do you think, Claire?"

"First off, I still can't believe Rivalz is in on this because of a…pinball machine!" Claire replied dryly. "And second, that was amazing. Are you sure you need an army?"

"Yes, we do. Power can only get us so far, and we're not the only ones with an axe to grind against Britannia." Lucienne replied while sitting on the edge of the war table. "The question, Claire, is what can you do for us? Noblesse Oblige can only get you so far."

"I can be part of Mission Control, alongside Milly, but if you want me in the field, I also know my way around a Knightmare. I'm no ace pilot like the Kozuki sisters here, but I can hold my own," Claire said.

"Then meet us at the simulators they have here, and we'll see if you can back that up." Kallen challenged her.

"Someone sounds threatened." C.C. mused, getting a dirty look from Kallen.

"There's more, but I believe that we should address a more pressing issue at hand," Akiza spoke up. "That swordsman that claims to be a cyborg. He may or may not know where this place is."

"Maybe it's a figure of speech?" Milly wondered meekly. "After Claire here told us how we found out, I had Bagley reinforce and seal all the secret entrances and exits. There will be no more surprises-"

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we may have an issue," Bagley suddenly spoke up, "And it's quite vexing."

"And ya jinxed it," Rivalz groaned as everyone immediately went on alert.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as an alert rang through the bunker. "Bagley?!"

"My protocols are being overwritten by some strange, foreign code that I don't recognize. I can't stop it." Bagley explained, his limited code for expression keeping him from sounding too panicked. "Whoever is doing this is coming from the elevator up in the manor."

Naruto scowled. "Head up, we have a visitor!" he said, snapping his fingers.

Medusa came to his side, followed by the other Servants, making Claire jump in shock.

"What the hell?! Where did these people come from?!" she squeaked.

"They're our Servants. Medusa isn't named Medusa for nothing." Milly explained with her hand on Nero's waist. "Like my Servant here, Nero Claudius."

"Hi there!" she said brightly before getting into a fighting stance.

"We'll introduce them all later!" Naruko said, finding amusement in Claire's gaping jaw. "Let's deal with our guest, eh?"

The elevator dinged, heralding the arrival of the uninvited guest. Naruto and Naruko were still in their armor and their swords were at the ready. The Servants had their weapons out, except for Scheherazade, who was cowering behind Akiza. As for the rest of the students sans Claire, they had their handguns out, pointing at the doorway where one comes out of the elevator.

Everything went quiet as footsteps echoed through the bunker, the tension increasing as the footsteps grew louder.

"Whoever you are, you've come to the wrong neighborhood!" Naruto said, with sparks dancing off his HF-Katana.

"Oh yeah? Well, how about giving a guy some directions then, Joker!" Kinkaku said as he came strolling through the doorway. A cord retracted from the wall into his head.

"Kinkaku?!" Naruto gasped, "So you weren't kidding. You did know where we were? How?!"

"Bagley, have you ever seen this guy on campus before?!" Milly demanded. "Or near the entrances?"

"I have no record of anyone like him sticking out like a sore thumb," Bagley replied.

"I always did wonder why you insisted so strongly on having that pinball machine installed, Milly," commented the swordsman, reaching up to his helmet. As he touched it, the silver rippled and flowed away, gathering into a ball in his hand.

Nick Ward ran a hand through his hair, giving them a deadpan look. "Let's be honest, you guys really weren't all that subtle," he told the group.

C.C. blinked. "Oh, it's that treasurer."

"The fuck?" Naruto and Naruko said together in total shock.

"Eh?" Rivalz was pointing at him. "You're joking, right?"

"How?!" Kallen cried out. "You're not Japanese!"

"I don't see how that matters, but what in the world?!" Akiza yelped.

"What kind of sick joke is this, Millicent?!" Claire yelled at her, pointing at him.

"I have nothing to do with this! None of us do!" Milly yelled back, before rounding on Nick. "But Nick?! You were Kinkaku?! You did all of that?! How?! Why?! What?!"

Nick let out a chuckle. "Ah, so that's what it takes to knock you on your ass, Milly. But yes, I'm Kinkaku. No, I'm not Japanese, but I am a Samurai. Just not one in the usual sense."

"Nick, the Uzumaki clan, the one that Naruko and I are a part of, have Samurai in our ranks," Naruto told him while sheathing his blade. "What exactly makes you different from them, aside from that crazy Mystic Arte you used to destroy Cornelia's G1-base."

"Uzumaki, huh? Well, for one thing, I dunno what a Mystic Arte is. That was just a technique," replied the other boy, shrugging, "Gozanze Style Iai, Moonlight Guillotine. Still haven't got that one completely down, but I figured it would be eye-catching enough to get the message across, especially after that speech you gave Cornelia. As for what makes me different, well…"

Everyone jumped as the front and back of Nick's head suddenly split open, tilting away to allow an object to rise up. It greatly resembled a spinal column, making Claire, Milly, Rivalz, and Kallen go slightly green at the sight, and at the top sat a black cube, with a metal spike adorning each vertex.

"Oh!" C.C. perked up, looking fascinated.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Naruko screamed, pointing a shaking finger at Nick.

"As you can see, I'm entirely transhuman," he told them, weirding them out with how his face moved normally despite his open head, "This Key here is essentially my brain, letting me access a whole bunch of cyborg-related abilities, and some…other ones." The Key slid back into his body, letting his head clack shut.

"Oh yeah. That's definitely not normal around these parts." Akiza said and held her mouth, feeling the urge to puke.

"You really are a Cyborg." Naruto squirmed at what Nick did while Naruko ran to the restroom to puke. "No, more like a Cyborg Samurai. My question is how? My clan has been around for the past few centuries, and they never encountered a being like you."

"I concur. Making a cyborg is currently beyond the realm of possibility," C.C. commented, circling around him before remembering something. "A transhuman cyborg, huh? How interesting, Mr. Ward. Could it be that's why you were able to resist Milly's Geass, the Power of Absolute Compulsion? Until now, only a Code Bearer is resistant to the power of Geass, but I suppose that if you don't have an organic brain, then there'd be nothing to affect."

"Oh, is that what that was?" Nick leveled a narrow-eyed glare at Milly, who paled as she realized what she'd attempted to do, "So that's why you were trying to convince me earlier…well, I guess it's good to know I'm apparently immune to mind control."

"Uh…oops?" Milly squeaked, realizing how screwed she was.

"What a time to be alive, when one of our classmates and fellow student council members is a Cyborg! That'll be a story to tell my grandchildren!" Rivalz chuckled. "But a Cyborg? Is that why you're so darn strict with us and the budget?"

"I seriously doubt that," Lucienne said, her eye twitching. "Well Nick, we have a lot to catch you up on, so we'll be pulling an all-nighter for this. For now, I believe I should formally introduce myself," she said with a bow. "Lucienne vi Britannia, former Princess of the Realm. You don't need to bow to me, because just like the twins and the sisters, I have an axe to grind against that sperm donor sitting on the throne."

"And Nathan and Natalia aren't our real names. It's actually Naruto and Naruko." Naruto said, with Naruko staggering out of the restroom.

"And here I was wondering why Honorary Britannians were going by Britannian names. And Lucienne, I figured that you were royalty," Nick said, nodding simply, "After Euphemia showed up using the same surname as you and Nunnally. I'd met her already and learned her identity, so from there it wasn't much of a stretch."

"Oh yeah, I heard what you did in protecting her and Laila. Thank you for that." Lucienne nodded gratefully.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me."

Nick walked over to the main terminal and reached to the back of his neck, pulling out several cables. They slithered to the open ports on the terminal and jacked in.

"Wait, you're not authorized to- Oh." Bagley paused in surprise. "This is…"

Nick smirked as everyone gathered around. "A housewarming gift, from me to you."

On the screen were schematics of the Z-01 Lancelot, from its experimental and innovative devices, to the information on the Harken Boosters and the Maser Vibration Swords (MVS), and some placeholder data on the VARIS (Variable Ammunition Repulsion Impact Spitfire).

"Holy shit!" Milly yelped, her eyes taking in the information.

"You've all been saying that a lot," Scathach noted in amusement. "Is it really that impressive?"

"Impressive? This is a game-changer. Not only will our Knightmare Frames have that Lancelot's tech, but Uzu's R&D Department can go above and beyond with them. With this, taking back Japan will be a sitch!" Naruto declared with a grin. "Nick, I believe that you've more than earned yourself a seat at the table!"

"Hold on," said Akiza, holding up a hand, "I'd still like an explanation for why you're doing all this. I mean, I know that I've said that nationality doesn't matter, but you're Britannian. We all saw that you've got…unbelievable power. The Empire would probably make you a Knight of the Round just for the chance to get you on their side! So why are you throwing your lot in with us? And…why didn't you do anything in Shinjuku?"

"She does raise a valid point." Medusa Alter agreed, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The last question made Nick wince, looking away in guilt. "I'll answer that second one first, if you don't mind." At her nod, he said simply, "I didn't act to prevent Shinjuku because I didn't know that it was happening. The footage you broadcasted was my first time truly learning about what…what went on while I was busy being a student. Lying low and going about my business." He began pacing restlessly. "You heard me mention my goddesses, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Well yeah. We have a goddess of our own who observes the world in her shrine."

"Mm. Well, I wasn't just being theatrical. Does anyone here believe in reincarnation?"

"Well, Nines came from another world similar to this one, except George Washington won and established the United States of America. If reincarnation is a thing, we'll believe it." Naruto replied with a shrug.

That bit of information made Nick's eyes widen slightly for a moment. "I see…well, in that case, this might not be as difficult to explain as I thought…"

Naruto smirked and pulled up a chair. "Tomorrow's Sunday. We have all night, dattebayo."

---

"That was amazing! Brilliant! Britannia will never get rid of that black eye at this rate! The twins and Medusas sure showed Cornelia who's boss! When you invite chaos, you get chaos, and Cornelia learned that the hard way!

"But this isn't the end, as we'll finally learn who the heck that Nick Ward fella is-"

"Ahh, what a spectacular debut, Nicky~ this'll bring the viewers in for sure!"

"Ugh, I give up. Just don't touch my stuff. But yeah, that Nick guy is quite something, but he won't steal me away from Nines! Oh, how I long to finally be outside with his arms wrapped around me~"

"Ahem! Drool later, darling."

"Ah, right! So Britannia's now going to sit in the time-out and corner and…Cornelia is in her bed drinking from the bottle, like her sensei before her. Hopefully, Euphemia won't be that mad at her. Nah, she'll be fine!

---

STAGE 08 COMPLETE

---

Naruto and the crusaders acquire the services of Nick Ward, the treasurer of the Student Council and Cyborg Samurai who made one hell of an impression. But exactly how is he this amazing Samurai that fought on par with Naruto and Naruko? And what's this about Nines' being from a world similar to their own?

Just who are outworlders that grace the world of Knightmares and Geass?

Next time - Stage 09: Outworlders (tentative title)

Soul: *after re-watching the first few minutes of Kill la kill after a long time* I feel like I made a terrible mistake and doomed the school.

Claire: It'll be fine. What's the worst Gamagoori-san can do?

Gamagoori: *laughing like a maniac while jumping out the window to chase a couple of troublemakers*

Nick: *sarcastically* One can only imagine.

Naruto: *comforting a grumbling Milly* Don't worry, I'm sure we can still do that giant pizza thing that you want to do.

Milly: *sparkling eyes* Really~?

Naruko: We literally have no choice… *points to a demonic-looking C.C.*

Claire: Rest assured that we won't suck all the fun out of the school. Just don't go too far with your antics, Milly.

Lucienne: We are going to be too busy with that.

*meanwhile*

Cornelia: *in bed drowning her sorrows with a bottle*

Laila: Yep, they really went overboard, especially that dreamy Samurai~

Euphemia: …What?

Laila: What?

Cornelia: I'll get those little brats next time…next time~ *continues drinking from the bottle*

Aurora: Humans and their alcohol…

…

[New Crossover Characters]

Armed Girl's Machiavellism ] Onigawara Rin

Jujutsu Kaisen ] Miwa Kasumi

Kill la Kill ] Gamagoori Ira

My Hero Academia ] Iida Tenya

Seven Deadly Sins (shounen) ] Escanor

Symphogear ] Chris Yukine

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V ] Grace and Gloria Tyler

…

[References and Explanations]

Leila Malcal is from Code Geass: Akito the Exiled. I wanted to write out the French accent that was given to her in the excellent English dub with the accent translator I found on Google.

We've taken advantage of Ashford Academy being a liberal school in-universe and included more Honorary Britannians and half-Japanese in the school, with most of them being included in the Disciplinary Squad.

Yes, Rivalz's got his own mini-harem going on with Grace, Gloria, Anne, and Mary.

Naruto's gun-sheath has RWBY's Raven Branwen's gimmick on it.

Naruko's swords are now double Blazefire Edges from Final Fantasy XIII.

The twins are testing out the 3D Maneuver Gear from Attack on Titan.

The underground electromagnetic train system is from Godzilla vs. Kong.

Saitama. One Punch. Eh, eh, EH?

"Ore Sanjou" Kamen Rider Den-O

Nick/Kinkaku coming in like Jetstream Sam in the opening cinematic in Metal Gear Rising.

His various styles (Gozanze, Gundari, and Kongou Yasha) are taken directly from Samurai 8, where his powerset likewise originates.

Water Stance: Water Surface Slice is also taken from Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Black Label is from Triage X.

Medusa's eyes affected the Knightmare pilot because he was near her. It didn't affect Bourne because he was nowhere near the area.

Destruction Blades: Twins is from the Attack on Titan collab with the Symphogear XDU mobile game, with Tsubasa and Levi's double-team attack.

Death-Leaf Clover comes from the Japanese homonym between 4 and Death.

---

Released: Wednesday, May 19, 2021

---

In Uzu, the Uzu Council convened after the action in Saitama. Nines had just finished presenting the footage that BB had recorded from the drones in the area as well as the live footage from BB hacking the screens.

"That is all we have." Nines said as he took his seat.

"It would appear, in some twisted way, that the twins saved Cornelia's life," Iroh commented while stroking his beard.

"Of course they did. Cornelia's a lovely girl who is my student, but even she won't be spared of our wrath should she pull a Clovis." Kushina stated.

"It still doesn't wash away the blood of the innocent on her hands," Aoshi said with narrowed eyes. "Her track record in hostage negotiations leaves much to be desired."

Kushina sighed. "It's understandable. She's had to play by the Britannian playbook, until now. She's in our world now."

"What about that Samurai person, this Kinkaku?" Makoto inquired with a frown. "His power is on the level of our most experienced and powerful swordsmen."

"I thought he was one of our own at first." Ibiki mused, but Makoto shook her head.

"I would've told you all if we had a cyborg in our ranks," she replied, "Let alone one who could destroy an entire building in a single blow."

"While we have Knightmare Frames, technology isn't far enough to make cyborgs like Kinkaku. I suspect that he's not of this world, much like Nines." Reeves said with a nod towards him.

Nines shrugged. "Anything is possible. The guy claims that he'll be dropping by to see the twins and the others, so I'll be there for that."

"Good. Now how are we looking in terms of delivering supplies to the FOBs?" Kushina inquired.

"Everything is proceeding on schedule. All the FOBs are up and running," Aoshi informed her. "Britannia is none the wiser. Sayoko is truly wonderful at her job."

Kushina smiled. "That's excellent. While my children and their friends give Britannia the runaround as resistance fighters, Uzu will slowly creep into every key part of Japan. They're fools for their dependence on Sakuradite. By the time Cornelia and her forces get their bearings, Japan will belong to the Japanese again. And once we unite the rest of the world, Charles's Britannia will be finished."

Nines stood. "If that is everything you need from me, I'll excuse myself and head back to my station. I have a feeling some very sensitive information is about to be exchanged and I want to ensure that not even a sniff of it gets out."

Kushina nodded. "Understandable. Let us know how it goes."

"By your leave." Nines said as he bowed and left the meeting. There was work to do and secrets to keep from getting into the wrong hands.

It would be a long night, indeed.