Lelouch starred down at the green-haired woman's body.
"I don't understand what it is you wanted me to do. Why did you give me this bizarre power?
"Lelouch?"
Joseph's voice halted Lelouch's thinking process as he turned to look at Joseph. He forgot that he just witnessed him command all those soldiers to kill themselves, he was sure how he was going to react.
"Joe…"
Joseph stared at him a couple of seconds before breaking out into a huge grin.
"Bro! You superhero!?" Joseph exclaimed with glee and excitement.
Lelouch mentally sighed.
"Of course that would be his response…"
"I'm not a superhero, Joseph."
That didn't seem to deter Joseph though.
"Come on bro. Professor X shit! Be no denying!" Joseph said in cheeky excitement
"But I-"
"So superpowers, get them when? Our secret, scout honor." Joseph said as he did a "Scout's honor" gesture.
Lelouch just sighed, as he realized arguing with him would lead to no avail.
"Honestly, just now. That woman gave them to me right before she died."
Joseph turned to look at the woman and his expression of excitement turned into one of sadness. He kneeled down and took the woman's body into his arms.
"What are you doing?" Lelouch asked surprise.
"Saved us. Deserves burial." Joseph said in a serious tone.
While Lelouch was surprised how Joseph's demeanor went from excited to serious in a second, taking that woman's body with them would just be an unneeded obstacle, and he was about to argue this when he heard a crash come through the opening of the hideout. It was a knightmare, a Sutherland to be exact.
…
Joseph's excitement grew again as thought he was going to see some action with this knightmare arriving on scene, and with Lelouch's new superpowers, it was definitely going to be a wild ride.
A female voice from the knightmare spoke through the intercom.
"Who are you?! What happened here!?"
The female voice brought up a good point.
If Lelouch was a superhero now, he'll need a superhero name.
"Let's see…mind control powers, and a red glowy eye…" Joseph thought to himself as he tried to decipher the perfect superhero name for his brother.
Then something clicked! A grin formed on Joseph's face.
"…Got it!"
He stepped forward as he looked at the Knightmare.
"His name!
Mind Wielder Red Glowy Eye Man!"
He turned back around to look at his brother to see how he would react to the superhero name.
Turns out, it was a big WTF face.
"Probably can't get over how cool of a name it is!" Joseph thought gleefully.
(From Lelouch's perspective: "IS HE TRYING TO GET US SHOT?!")
…
If Viletta was confused before, she was bewildered now. She came across who appeared to be a Britannian student and a homeless man among a pile of bodies, including the Royal Guard, and all of a sudden the homeless man, who has a woman in his arms, comes up to her and shouts that the boy's name is "Mind Wielder Red Glowy Eye Man".
"Is this guy on drugs?"
Whatever the cause was, she was going to get some answers for this current madness. She pushed the intercom button.
"Enough of this foolishness! Answer me or I'll-" It was then the boy interrupted her.
"I order you to come out of there at once!"
Now Viletta was getting really ticked off. First this bum and his random proclamation and now this boy was trying to give her orders!
"Who do you think you are giving me orders, boy!?" Viletta asked angrily as she readied her guns to shoot both the boy and the bum.
The boy's face faltered a bit, but remained steadfast as he put his hands up.
"Apologies, my name is Alan Spacer. My father's a duke. My ID is in my breast pocket. After you confirm my identity, I'll request your protection."
"Nobility?" Viletta thought surprised.
This intrigued her, after all, if she could get on good terms with a noble, it could definitely help her down the path to nobility herself.
However…
"And what about the bum? Is he with you?" Viletta asked suspiciously
The boy scoffed.
"Please. You honestly think I would associate myself with trash like this? You're free to kill him if you wish, just make sure to do it after I get in that knightmare of yours. I rather not get blood on my uniform."
"He certainly acts like a noble." Viletta thought annoyingly.
She looked back at the man and he looked genuinely confused about what he said.
While she was still suspicious, she wasn't going to let an opportunity like this go by. She turned off her knightmare and opened her compartment.
She came down her Sutherland and aimed her gun at the boy and the man.
"Stay where you are and keep your hands up, I'll take out your ID for you."
All of a sudden, her mind was struck by a red haze.
…
"Understood, the code is XG2-IG2D4." The female soldier said in a monotone voice as she tossed the key to Lelouch.
"Got it." Lelouch said as he caught the key and turned off his power.
"Eye contact? Downer, still cool though." Joseph said with optimism.
Lelouch just gave him a deadpan look.
"Mind Wielder Red Glowy Eye Man?" He asked with a "really?" tone in his voice.
"Yeah, superhero name." Joseph said matter-of-factly.
Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose as he started walking towards the knightmare.
"I think I'm going to need something shorter than that for future usage. And sorry about calling you trash, I had to make sure she came out of the Sutherland to use my power on her."
"All good bro…ooh, ooh, got it, Captain Red Eye!" Joseph proclaimed as he followed Lelouch from behind.
Lelouch just groaned in annoyance as he used the cable to ascend up the Sutherland.
"The Red Brain Wonder!" Joseph shouted to him.
Inside the knightmare, Lelouch deciphered how to turn it on and how to use the controls. Lelouch looked at Joseph through the screen, who was sticking his tongue out and making funny faces at the frozen woman.
Lelouch knew he needed to stop Clovis and his soldiers from inciting any more violence in this ghetto, but he also knew he couldn't babysit his brother either. Despite being one of the half-siblings in his family he actually liked, he knew he would be a nuance in this battle.
"Still, there was the incident with Suzaku…and the soldiers."
Lelouch thought back to how Joseph was able to block Suzaku's kick with ease, and he knew just how hard Suzaku could hit someone when he wanted to.
And with the soldiers, he took that girl and jumped in the air and on the walls like an acrobat, and with such speed. Lelouch had never seen anything like it. Still, this was going to be a battle of knightmares, not even Joseph could compete with that.
So while he didn't need to worry about Joseph fending for himself on the ground, the least he could do was find someplace for him to hide.
He extended the knightmare's hand towards Joseph.
"Come on, get on."
Joseph looked up in awe and excitement.
"GIANT ROBOT RIDE!"
…
"HIGH HO SILVEEEEEEERRRR!" Joseph roared with glee as he raised his arms up(the woman's body under him) and felt the wind blow in his face.
Joseph never got to ride a knightmare like this before! Well then again, he never got to ride a knightmare at all, so the experience was all the more thrilling and fun for him.
Joseph watched the buildings pass by him in excitement. Finally, he was going to see some knightmare action, and so up close too!
"Today really is a good day!" Joseph thought.
But then his excitement turned to confusion as Lelouch made a turn away from the battle field and to an abandoned building.
"Ah bro...action that way." Joseph said to his Lelouch as he pointed the other direction.
"Radio transmissions said this building was already swept. So you shouldn't have to worry about soldiers checking this area again." Lelouch said through the intercom of the knightmare.
"Huh?" Joseph asked in confusion.
"I'm sorry Joseph, but I think it's better you take that woman and just stay her for now."
Joseph looked at the knightmare in shock. He just reunited with his brother, learned he had gotten a superpower, and even gave him a ride on a knightmare. Now all of a sudden he wants to split up!
"Wha! Come on bro! Stick together! Me, sidekick!" Joseph exclaimed trying to convince his brother to let him stay.
"The situation here is too dangerous, Clovis and his men are tearing this place apart and right now, I'm the only one who can stop him. I rather you be safe than me be sorry that I got you killed. I know we have a lot of catching up to do, and I intend we make sure to do so. I promise I will come back for you, but for now just stay here. Please."
Joseph could tell Lelouch really wanted to keep him safe, and while Joseph knew he could take care of himself out there, he didn't want his little brother to worry about him. Besides, Joseph always knew Lelouch was a smart guy, ever since they were growing up together, he could see that he was the smartest one in the family.
Totally like Professor X.
So if Lelouch believed that it be best he remains here, he would do so.
"Mmmmm…okay." Joseph said sadly as he picked up the woman and stepped off the knightmare's hand.
"Good, now just remain here until I come back, and try not to get into trouble, alright."
Joseph, not wanting his brother to lose his momentum from this detour, decided to boost his motivation for the ongoing battle.
"Yeah yeah. Enough chat bro, onward and forward, superhero duties!" Joseph said with optimism in voice as he struck a pose in superhero fashion.
"…um…right…" Lelouch said as he started to move the knightmare away.
"Hey Lelouch!" Joseph called to him. Lelouch stopped the knightmare and looked back at him.
"…The Influencer!" Joseph said as he twirled his hands in presentation.
Lelouch (from his current prespective: "Shit, that's actually not bad…) just had this to say.
"I'll think about it." Lelouch said through the intercom, he then turned and left as Joseph watched him with a big grin on his face.
"Alright Hamilton!" Joseph said to himself in a surfer dude fashion.
He then looked back at the woman still in his arms and a sad frown appeared. He set her down on the ground.
"Thanks again." He said to her softly.
He turned around and got to work on digging up her grave.
With his bare hands.
Thankfully, the ground in this area was rather soft and he was able to dig with ease.
"You know, might as well sing a song." Joseph thought to himself.
No reason a burial can't be lively. That's how people at those gospel churches did it, and those were very fun for Joseph.
Oh bury me noooooooott, on the lone prairie.
Oh di oh lay he hoooooo
Where the wild coyooooooooooo…
The singing left Joseph's voice as he turned around and saw the woman who he thought was dead, looking right at him.
...
Lelouch listened to the radio transmissions, hoping to find the one that would link to the red hair girl's Glasgow that he saw earlier.
"With me at their command, and this new power. Nothing can stop me." Lelouch said out loud maniacally as he thought back to when he had those soldiers kill themselves with a simple order.
"It'll be tricky knowing I need eye contact though, I'll need to test out this power after-" Lelouch's thought process came to a sudden halt as he remembered something else.
And it was the fact that his brother was looking right at him when he gave that command.
"This power doesn't affect him!?" Lelouch thought with shock and widen eyes.
To Be Continued...
This one is shorter than the last, but I really wanted to get it uploaded. This chapter was inspired by the Shazam film where Freddy was coming up with names for Billy's alter ego! I thought it be funny Joseph would come up with all these random superhero names he thought would be cool. Curious, what name would you guys give Lelouch's alter ego besides "Zero". Please comment and let me know.