Narita Mountains
"Well this is certainly unexpected." Lloyd slipped out of nowhere.
"What is it Lloyd?" Suzaku asked, curious of his findings.
"It seems Prince Joseph has found his way here in Narita." Lloyd told him and Cecile with his signature smirk.
"What! Prince Joseph?!" Cecile said surprised.
"How!? When?!" Suzaku asked in shock.
"Apparently he hitch a ride here without anyone knowing, a sneaky one isn't he? Now it seems he's charging his way into the battlefield to help his sister Cornelia with no knightmare at all." Lloyd told them casually.
"Huh!?", "Without protection?!" Cecile and Suzaku exclaimed at the same time.
"Yes, he certainly is a plucky one. Not only that, but it seems reports are saying the Black Knights are here." Lloyd said.
"Zero! I have to go get Joseph!" Suzaku said, ready to fire up the Lancelot.
"Hold your horses, as much as I would love to launch the Lancelot, we still have to wait for orders. Given your status, the Viceroy wouldn't like it much if an Honorary Britannian were to charge in without permission." Lloyd explained.
"Do you think she would feel better if her brother were to die out there!" Suzaku argued.
"I'm sorry Suzaku, as much as I would like to help Joseph too, there isn't much we can do right now." Cecile said sympathetically.
Suzaku gritted his teeth, angry he couldn't do anything for his friend.
"However, there is someone we still haven't brown-nosed to." Lloyd said we a sly smile.
...
G1 Base
"Is there anyway we can warn the Viceroy and her royal guard about Prince Joseph coming their way?" Euphemia asked calmly.
She sent Mr. Fenette to a field hospital located a few miles away so he wouldn't be in danger. Though she would be sure to ask him a few questions about this whole "stepfather" business.
"Unfortunately, their location is too far away to get a signal." A soldier told her.
"Are the Pure Bloods holding their ground?" Another soldier asked.
"Yes sir. Under Lady Villetta's command." The same soldier told them.
"Then use the moment for the viceroy to retreat. When she gets close enough, we can tell her of Prince Joseph's status. Send air cover." The other soldier ordered.
"No wait. Something's approaching the Viceroy from behind." Euphemia told them while looking at the map down below her.
Good thing they had that, considering Joseph destroyed their primary screen.
...
A row of trucks head towards Cornelia's location. There are no drivers, it's an automatic setup.
"All units, are you ready?" A man asked.
"Yes sir." A union of soldiers answered.
"All right. Deploy the custom Burais." The man ordered.
"Deploy." The soldiers obeyed.
The trucks's roofs open, lifting up five Burais. The pilots consist of Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Nagisa Chiba, Shōgo Asahina, Ryōga Senba, and Kōsetsu Urabe. Together, they are known as the Four Holy Sword.
"Listen carefully. If this landslide was manmade, it should allow us to hit Cornelia from behind. Capture Cornelia now. Take revenge for what happened seven years ago." Tohdoh told them.
"Yes sir. By the honor of the Four Holy Sword." The Four Holy Knights say all together.
They made their move. Their Burais come out from behind.
"What?" Cornelia exclaimed, surprised by this sudden change.
The Burais attack the Glasgows with heated chainsaw-like swords, cutting them in half.
"Protect her highness!" Guiford ordered as the royal guard gather around her, ready to defend her.
"Surround them!" Tohdoh ordered.
"Japan Liberation Front?" Cornelia asked herself in realization.
The Burais charge through the soldiers.
"These are not just any Burais." Tohdoh commented.
"This reminds me of seven years ago." Asahina said nostalgically
"But it's different now. This time we have Knightmares as well." Chiba said determined.
"Your highness, leave them to us. Please you have to withdraw for now." Guilford told Cornelia as he charged towards a Burai, swords clashing.
"Very well. I know a way to turn this around. Guilford. After you drive them back, meet me over at point nine." Cornelia called out to him.
"Nine? I understand." Guilford said.
"Cornelia!" The Four Holy Swords yelled out, trying to use their cables, only to be deflected by her.
"You weaklings." Cornelia insulted as she charged her way out of there.
...
Joseph stood upon a very tall tree and looked around for Cornelia. It was hard to tell who was where, because a lot of the knightmares looked the same.
"Think Joe, what could distinguish Corn from the rest?" Joseph thought to himself.
Looking around some more, he got his answer.
He noticed a knightmare wearing a cape and holding a lance in some kind of trench.
And he remembered being in the ASEEC with Cornelia standing next to a knightmare with a cape and a lance that she said was her knightmare.
Ergo, Cornelia's knightmare!
Joseph realized he was going to need some music to up his adrenaline. He got a tape called "ENERGY MUSIC", inserted it into his walkman, and pressed play. He let out a battle cry that sounded similar to a talking sponge who was trying to capture a blue jellyfish and he jumped his way through the trees towards the trench with a determined but excited smile.
...
"Sub-viceroy Euphemia you must act now to prevent a disaster. Send in the G1!" A soldier insisted.
"No." Euphemia told him.
"But commander Guilford is completely pinned down. He can't get to Cornelia. Her life is at stake here." Another soldier insisted.
"We can't. There's a field hospital right here and civilians. They've been evacuated from all over the area and brought to this point. Besides, the G1 base is a command center. The Viceroy ordered me not to move it no matter what, that's why…I just can't. Euphemia said, having trouble getting the words out.
Her sister Cornelia was always a born leader, even Joseph didn't hesitate to go and try to help her, stupid as it may have been. But here, she felt lost, lives were on the line and she couldn't do anything. What was she suppose to do!?
And suddenly, she got her answer when communications popped up. It was Lloyd, Cecile, and Suzaku.
"Well, hello there. The ASEEC crew reporting for duty." Lloyd said with his signature snark.
"Insolence! You are irregulars. Your orders are to keep silent and observe." A soldier said.
"Yes sir, normally we would but-" Cecile tried to explain nervously before being interrupted by Lloyd.
"But all of this waiting around is boring." Lloyd finished for her.
"Sub-viceroy Euphemia, I beseech you. Please order us into the battle, let me help the Viceroy and find Prince Joseph." Suzaku asked with determination.
"How transparent. You just want the glory of rescuing the Viceroy and his majesty." A soldier argued
"Our whole army is out there. You think one unit is going to change things with an Eleven pilot?" Another soldier argued.
"Right, right. But what's the harm in trying? Since it's just one unit it won't look bad for you if we lose, right..." As Lloyd was trying to give reasons to let them use the Lancelot, Euphemia could see Suzaku mouth something slowly.
It surprised her, and made her slightly blush.
"Euphie?"
"Yes I understand. Please do it. Help my brother and sister." Euphemia ordered, surprising the soldiers.
"We got it." Lloyd said gleefully.
"Thank you very much." Cecile said with gratitude.
"Right! I won't fail!" Suzaku said with determination.
...
Tohdoh was having a challenging fight with Guilford.
"Damn it. He's fierce." Tohdoh commented.
Guilford threw out a chaos mine
Scatter!" Tohdoh ordered his Swords
They were able to move in time and dodge it.
"Lieutenant Colonel, what about Cornelia." Urabe asked.
"If Zero's the man I think he is, he's moving into position right now. We've got to trust him."
"What? Zero's on the move?" Guilford asked Villetta on the screen.
"Right. We'll keep going and come over and back you up." Villetta suggested.
"Never mind that now. Just track Zero." Guilford ordered.
"Yes sir. This is his projected course." Villetta told him as a map took over his screen, showing the course Zero was going.
"The princess was trying to trap Tohdoh. Now there's a Knightmare waiting for her. Princess Cornelia!" Guilford shouted to Cornelia trying to warn her.
But it was too late, the Guren was waiting for her.
"I got the message. Guilford." Cornelia told him quietly.
...
Suzaku inserted the key into the slot, starting up the Lancelot.
"Advanced weapon system Z01 Lancelot. Utilize sand-panels to climb liquified slope at max combat speed, find Joseph and rescue the Viceroy." Cecile told him.
"Yes, my Lord." Suzaku said.
"Suzaku, there's one thing I want to ask you." Lloyd spoke up.
"What's that?" Suzaku asked.
"More than anything, you hate when people die. Yet, you are in the military. Why is that?" Lloyd asked intrigued.
"I'm in the military to stop people from dying." Suzaku told him.
"And that self-contradiction will get you killed someday." Lloyd said casually, to which he was then roughly grabbed by Cecile in anger. "Ugh, sorry about that." Lloyd apologized.
Suzaku chose to ignore this and get his head in the game.
"Lancelot, now launching…" Suzaku said, rushing the Lancelot out of there.
...
"They're good. I can see why he's called the Miracle Worker." Guilford to himself as the battle between them waged on. "Hold steady! Don't let down your Viceroy." He told his soldiers.
"Right!" They said unison.
"Don't think it'll be that easy, it's not how it was last time!" Senba shouted.
They were about to charge each other again when they heard a faint sound that was getting closer.
"Is that...music?" Villetta thought to herself.
She got her answer in the form of a Joseph Du Britannia running towards them with an excited look on his face. He also appeared to be...dancing?
Tick-tock on the clock
But the party don't stop, no
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
"What in the Hell?" Asahina asked in astonishment.
"Joseph?" Tohdoh asked himself in surprise, not expecting to see his old pupil here out of all places.
"Prince Joseph?!" Guilford called out in shock through the speaker.
"Hi, Captain Buzzkill!" Joseph waved at him before jumping up and saluting him, spinning 360 degrees while he did so, and making his way past the knightmares. "Bye, Captain Buzzkill!"
For a moment, the knightmares just stood still, trying to comprehend what just occurred. Until a Burai took that moment to attack Villetta's knightmare, ejecting her cockpit.
"His highness!" Guilford shouted, trying to go after him. Only to be stopped by another Burai.
"I wouldn't focus too much on him if I were you!" Chiba snarked at him.
"Damn it. I can't get to him like this! Wait...the direction he was heading in..." Guilford said to himself as he calculated Joseph's moves.
...
"Cornelia!" Kallen shouted as she charged the Guren towards her.
"Lowborn scum!" Cornelia grunted as she tried to get a hit on the Guren, only for it to swiftly dodge her lance.
"What's this? That's not just a customized unit." Cornelia said, surprised by the Guren's swift movements.
She tried to gain higher ground, only to be shot back down by another knightmare.
"Can you hear me, Cornelia. This is checkmate." Zero spoke to her through the speaker of the other knightmare.
More knightmares join up behind him.
"Zero." Cornelia grunted.
"Yes. Should we cerebrate our reunion? Of course, you'll have to surrender to us first. And after that, there are a few questions I want to ask you. And in case you are wondering, your reinforcements won't get here in time. I win, Cornelia." Zero told her in spite.
Truthfully, while he didn't think she was responsible for his mother's death anymore, there were still things she could know surrounding. Like who was she meeting, what was Schneizel's involvement? The only way to found out was to capture her.
Of course, it wasn't the only reason, she may know of any military operation plans that could help his rebellion go his way in the future, which he told his fellow Black Knights.
Cornelia's knightmare stood back up.
"You are a fool, Zero. This one. If I take this one out, I'm free and clear!" Cornelia shouted, about to raise its rifle back up when suddenly she heard a noise.
Zero and his group heard it too. It sounded like someone was screaming and flicking their tongue back and forth.
"BLALALALALALALALA!" Joseph shouted as he jumped down the cliff, and landed with ease. To which he then he struck a dramatic pose.
"Yippie-Ka-Yay, FotherMuckers!"
"JOSEPH!?" Cornelia, Lelouch, and even Kallen shouted inside their knightmares.
Suddenly, Cornelia's communications came on.
"Your highness! Prince Joseph is here! He's heading in your direction!" Guilford warned her.
"Once again, your timing is impeccable Guilford." Cornelia deadpanned at him as she shut of communications.
"Hi Captain Zero!" Joseph shouted as he waved to Lelouch's knightmare. "Hi, Cherry Dynamite!" He said waving to Kallen's Guren.
"Cherry Dynamite?" Cornelia asked herself in confusion.
"WHAT THE!? THIS GUY AGAIN?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? ARRGGH!" Tamaki shouted from his knightmare.
"Ha ha! He's like sand that you can never completely get rid of after a trip to the beach!" Zero laughed.
"What! You're happy that he's here!" Tamaki questioned in exasperation.
"More of I'm becoming used to his antics." Zero answered him.
And it was true, while Lelouch was shocked at first to see his brother actually come into the battlefield like this. He realized a second later that after seeing his brother's actions over the past few weeks, this would be something he would do.
"Joseph, what the hell are you doing here!" Cornelia demanded of him.
"Came to protect. SISTER AFTER ALL!" Joseph yelled out, particularly to Lelouch.
Lelouch sighed at this.
"Do I really need to explain how war works again?" Lelouch deadpanned inside his head.
"This is a very dangerous situation, Joseph! Get out of here!" Cornelia demanded.
"Please! I am danger that flaps at night!" Joseph said dramatically.
"What?" Cornelia and a lot of other people were asking themselves.
"And you.." Joseph started with as he climbed his way up to the knightmare's eyes, surprising Cornelia. "...Have 'splaing to do." He finished with a faux-latino accent as he poked the the knightmare in its eyes.
"What on Earth are you talking about?!" Cornelia asked in exasperation.
"Having all fun without me! Even Eup came! Wanna see action too!" Joseph complained to her.
"For the love of God, I am NOT having this argument with you right now of all places!" Cornelia yelled at him, forgetting that she was trying to fight someone at that moment.
Kallen on her end, sat in her cockpit, bewildered at the fact that the Goddess of Britannia was actually getting into an argument with Joseph, who appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of a battle.
Not sure what to do, she opened communications to Zero.
"Uh, Zero..." Kallen said, not sure how to start the conversation.
"Yes, I know, this has become a strange occurrence of events. However, this may very well worked in our favor." Zero told her on her screen.
"Huh?" Kallen said in confusion, not sure where he was going to go with this.
"Joseph, I am telling you to leave right now!" Cornelia demanded.
Joseph responded by hopping on top of the knightmare's head and sitting on it. He crossed his arms and put a pout on his face.
"No." Joseph said in tone of a child who refused to follow a parent's direction.
"Joseph!" Cornelia growled at him through gritted teeth in frustration. And her sour mood turned sourer when she heard Zero laugh.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! How about that! The great Goddess of Britannia who has had flawless victories in her military history, can't even discipline her own brother!" Zero chided her.
"Zero!" Cornelia growled at him, and slightly embarrassed that he had to see this.
"Still, I commend your courage for putting yourself in harm's way just to protect your sister, Prince Joseph. Might I introduce a proposition?" Zero asked him.
"Go on!" Joseph shouted out to him as he turned himself around to look at Zero's knightmare.
"Joseph, don't-" Cornelia tried to get him to not listen to Zero, but he waved her off.
"Hush, hush, Corn. Negotiating." Joseph told her offhandedly.
Cornelia sputtered her words in disbelief that she was actually having this conversation.
Meanwhile Kallen, couldn't help but laugh inside her knightmare as Cornelia was being pushed aside.
"Well, just a few seconds before you got here. I offered Cornelia the chance to get out of here unscathed if she surrender to me. Of course, knowing your sister, she stubbornly refused. However, I'm a patient man, so I happily extend that offer to you as well, what do you say?" Zero asked him in a professional manner.
"If I could get them both out of here unscathed, it would be a win for everyone. Except for Cornelia's pride of course." Lelouch thought to himself
Joseph on his end thought about it for a moment. If he were to surrender them to Lelouch, he could continue his superhero endeavor and Cornelia would be safe from harm.
"It would be a win for everyone, except for Cornelia's pride of course." Joseph thought to himself.
Therefore, he jumped on top of the head of Cornelia's knightmare and held his hands up in the air.
"We surrenda!" Joseph yelled in a thick french accent.
"WHHHHAATT!" Cornelia exclaimed in rage and disbelief.
"Excellent! Perhaps you are the smartest one in the Britannia family after all." Zero teased.
"Why you!" Cornelia said enraged.
"Come now Cornelia, are you really going to put Joseph in danger to fuel your own pride?" Zero asked her.
That left Cornelia quiet.
Kallen was actually happy to see this happening. Because one, it became an easy victory for them, and two, she wouldn't have to hurt Joseph. While he was a prince of Britannia, he was still innocent in all this.
And maybe, just maybe, she was considering him to be a friend.
Cornelia on her end, was considering her options. She most certainly didn't want to surrender, but it was clear there was no way she was going to convince Joseph to reconsider otherwise. And the last thing she wanted was for him to get more hurt than he already has been over the years.
She was left with no choice.
She pushed her intercom button and was about to speak when suddenly they heard a rumbling.
"Huh?" Lelouch said to himself.
"What the?" Kallen said in confusion.
Then a crashing of rocks came from the side of the cliff and there was the Lancelot itself, holding the VARIS out, ready for combat.
"Viceroy,(Gasps) and Joseph! Are you two alright!? I came to help!" Suzaku asked them.
"Special Corp? Who authorized you?!" Cornelia demanded, not liking the fact that they were probably just saved by the Eleven that Joseph was friends with.
"Hey, Suzaku! How be?!" Joseph shouted to him as he waved his hand in greetings.
"It's him aga-Wait...did he just say...SUZAKU?!" Lelouch asked himself in shock.
"Suzaku? As in Suzaku Kururugi!? HE'S IN THAT KNIGHTMARE!?" Tamaki asked, also in shock and fury.
"I don't believe it..." Ohgi said in disbelief.
"Suzaku?" Kallen said to herself quietly, in utter shock that the one piloting that white knightmare from Shinjuku was her classmate and team member from the student council.
"Are you alright Joseph? As soon as I was authorized to launch, I came as quick as I can to look for you and Princess Cornelia." Suzaku told them as he readied his knightmare in front of them to protect them.
"Aww, thanks training buddy. But A-Ok! Already surrendered." Joseph told him casually.
"Huh? Surrendered?" Suzaku asked confused.
While Joseph was explaining to the confused Suzaku about their surrender, Lelouch was having his own battle in his mind.
"It was him? This whole time since Shinjuku, he was piloting that knightmare? But...he's my best friend, but also my enemy!" Lelouch thought to himself frantically, not sure what to do anymore.
Suddenly, Cornelia's knightmare grabbed Joseph, who shouted a "Hey!" and brought him in close to her. Now that she had backup, there was no reason to give up.
"There is no surrender! Fight the red knightmare, Kururugi!" Cornelia ordered.
"Hey, not cool Corn!" Joseph yelled, struggling to get out of the knightmare's grip.
"Yes, your majesty!" Suzaku said as he pointed the VARIS at Kallen's Guren.
Kallen barely reacted in time as she shielded herself from the gun's blast.
"I don't want to hurt Suzaku but he's still an enemy!" Kallen thought to herself as she dodged his attacks. "Zero, what are your orders! Zero!" Kallen shouted over her communications with Zero.
"Damn it!" Lelouch thought to himself, realizing he had no choice.
"Mk-II, Disable that unit!" Zero ordered.
"Y-Yes!" Kallen obeyed. "He didn't say destroy, so I all have to do is make sure it ejects!" Kallen thought to herself in relief.
"Your highness! You and Joseph get to someplace safe!" Suzaku told her as he battled the Guren.
While Cornelia didn't want to retreat, she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything with Joseph here.
"Fine! Take care of the 'Cherry Dynamite'! And then get Zero!" Cornelia ordered as she turned away.
"Who?" Suzaku asked confused.
"THE RED KNIGHTMARE!" Cornelia yelled back as she pushed Zero's group out of her way.
"No! Wanna see fight!" Joseph yelled.
"Zero, should we go after them?" Ohgi asked.
"No, help Q1 against Suzaku." Lelouch told them. "Damn it! I was so close!"
Suzaku had to admit, the knightmare was fast, and that claw was something to be avoided.
Kallen didn't expect Suzaku to be such a capable warrior either. The way he handled that gun and sword of his was flawless. Too bad she had to hold back.
"Damn it Joseph, why couldn't you let me be oblivious to who was piloting that thing!" Kallen thought to herself angrily.
She blocked a blast from the VARIS with her Radiant Wave Surger, however the shockwave made her fall off the cliff.
...
After finally gathering some distance away from the battlefield, Cornelia stopped her knightmare and put Joseph down.
"Guilford, I'm sending you coordinates of our location." Cornelia told Guilford on the screen.
"Understood Princess, we'll be there shortly." Guilford said on the screen before cutting communications.
"Not cool Corn! Was getting good!" Joseph told her in an unhappy mood.
"What the Hell is the matter with you! Charging into a battlefield like that with no protection at all!" Cornelia chided him as she exited her knightmare cockpit.
"Wanted to help! Big sister after all!" Joseph argued.
"I don't need your help! I could have and was handling it by myself!" Cornelia argued back.
"Then why Eup get to come?" Joseph asked.
"She asked like a person her age should, and she's perfectly safe in the G1, away from the danger. I mean, my God, she's more adult than you are!" Cornelia told him angrily.
"Can take care of self!" Joseph told her in annoyance.
"Right! That's why your body's mutilated and you've been living on the streets for the last seven and a half years! If your mother could see you-" Cornelia stopped herself, realizing she was starting to cross a line.
And based on the glare Joseph was giving her, she may have already stepped over it.
"...That's not fair of me to put her into a conversation like that. I apologize." Cornelia said quietly.
Joseph stared at her for a moment before nodding in understanding.
"Sorry for sneaking." Joseph said to her calmly.
"I already lost enough siblings Joseph, I don't need to lose another." Cornelia told him with sadness.
Joseph looked at her sympathetically and pulled her into a hug.
"Awwww, big softie Corn." Joseph said sweetly.
"Ha Ha, very funny. Don't think you're not trouble for coming here, we'll be discussing this once we're out of here." Cornelia lectured him.
"Yeah, yeah." Joseph waved off.
"By the way, why did you call that red knightmare, 'Cherry Dynamite'?" Cornelia asked curiously.
"Cause its DYN-NO-MITE! And(twitches) strawberry color." Joseph said to her with enthusiasm.
"...You mean cherry color?" Cornelia said, confused by wrong color and sudden twitch, Joseph has never done that.
"Yeah, (twitches)C-Clarie Merry." Joseph said, now confused himself.
He wasn't sure, but he felt this small sensation in his head, and it kept thumping at him, like a surge of electricity.
"Are you okay?" Cornelia asked, starting to get concerned.
"Uh yeah, A-(twitches)Aokie-Sjmokie..." Joseph said, his words starting to slur a bit. Blood was starting to come out of his nose.
Suddenly, the sensation became a wrecking ball of lighting strikes as he suddenly saw images flow past him in rapid speed.
He saw a kid Suzaku with his father.
Planets starting to collide.
A nun was praying.
Rows of children with symbols on their heads.
Silhouettes walking like they were dead.
And a mushroom cloud made out of skulls.
It was too much for Joseph's mind to comprehend. For he started to shake and convulse, his eyes rolled back into his skull and his nose bled rapidly.
"Joe!?" Cornelia said, now starting to get scared.
She went over to him, but then he started to fall over. And he said something she couldn't quite hear.
"Ragnarok..." Joseph said in a small voice.
To which he then he hit head.
Hard.
Specifically right where his stitches were, on Cornelia's knightmare, and then fell to the ground in a heap, unconscious.
"JOSEPH! Oh God!" Cornelia said. While she was starting to panic, she knew she had to keep her emotions in check if she was going to help her brother.
His head was starting to bleed faster than his nose.
Not taking any chances, she ripped her sleeve off and wrapped it around Joseph's head. She then put him on the knightmare's hand and got inside the cockpit.
She turned on communications and high-tailed out of there.
"Your highness, we're almost there!" Guilford said on the screen.
"Never mind that! Call a retreat! Have a doctor ready at the medical camp!" Cornelia ordered.
"Doctor? Is everything-" Guilford tried to ask, only to be interrupted by Cornelia.
"It's Joseph! He needs help!" Cornelia told him furiously.
"Right away your highness!" Guilford obeyed, not needing to hear anymore.
Cornelia looked down at the unconscious Joseph.
"Hang in there, little brother." Cornelia said quietly
...
"The Britannians are retreating?" Chiba asked, confused by this sudden action.
"Don't follow. Our only course of action is to get to the General and get him out of here." Tohdoh ordered.
"Yes Tohdoh!" The Four Holy Swords said together.
"Still, the way that Joseph guy ran passed us without a care in the world, talk about random." Asahina said.
"Certainly lives up to his name of being called the Dimwitted Prince." Chiba snarked.
"Chiba! Stay focus!" Tohdoh yelled at her, this surprised Chiba.
"Y-Yes sir!" Chiba replied, wondering what she did wrong.
Tohdoh on his end, just remained quiet, thinking about his old pupil.
...
A truck stops as they see someone on the road.
"Ughh… Another soldier." A scientist complained.
"No wonder our battalions fell apart." Another scientist agreed.
The pedestrian turned around to reveal himself to be Jeremiah. He was using to stick to hold himself up and was holding his hand over his left eye.
"I swear I'm not Orange. Zerooooooooooo!" Jeremiah yelled before he slipped into unconsciousness.
...
Suzaku was still shaking inside his cockpit, barely calmed down.
"What happened to him?" Euphemia asked concerned.
"We're not sure, but something spooked him good, that's for sure." Lloyd said.
Cecile tried to soothe Suzaku with words and shoulder rubbing.
Euphemia then heard her phone ring, it was Cornelia. She sighed in relief.
"Cornelia! Thank goodness you're alright! Is Joseph with you? How-...What?...Oh God..." Euphemia gasped, covering her mouth, eyes widening.
Lloyd, Cecile, and Suzaku noticed this.
"Is everything alright your majesty?" Suzaku asked her in quiet concern.
...
"Arrgh! I can't believe that stupid Suzaku is the one piloting the knightmare that's been giving us trouble since Shinjuku! Especially after we saved his life!" Tamaki complained.
"Technically, it was Zero, Kallen, and Ohgi who saved Suzaku." Sugiyama reminded him.
"Whatever!" Tamaki came back with.
"He does have a point though. Seeing how he combats in that knightmare is going to make things a lot more difficult for us in the future." Ohgi said.
"Didn't you once say Suzaku goes to the same school you go to, Kallen?" Yoshida asked.
"Uh, yeah." Kallen said, not liking where this conversation was going.
"Hey, that's it! We just get Kallen to lure that traitor to a secluded place and then take him out!" Tamaki suggested.
Before Kallen could react to that, Zero chimed in.
"No! No one will be doing such a thing!" Zero shouted, making his presence look intimidating.
"Huh! Why not!?" Tamaki questioned.
"Taking him down in the midst of battle is one thing! But killing him like a cornered rat with no defense is dishonorable! We would just legitimized people's claims that we are terrorists! If Suzaku wishes to continue fighting us, than we will give him everything we got! Until then, no one moves on him without my say so, am I clear?!" Zero questioned them, daring them to refute his statement.
They stare at him fearfully for a second, one by one they nodded.
Kallen was actually relieved, she knew how much the student council and Joseph(wait, why did he pop into mind? Focus Kallen!) cared for him and how devastated they be if he died by her hands. And to take him out while his back was turned to a person he trusted was cowardly, Zero taught her to be better than that.
Lelouch on his end just hoped he didn't have to cross that line with Suzaku, he didn't want to kill his friend, but he couldn't just stop his rebellion. He had to continue!
Still, after seeing those images from what C.C. did to him, it gave him a whole new perspective on why he is the way he is now.
"Suzaku… I finally understand. Frankly, he's at odds with himself because he used to be different. He never placed any importance on another person. It was tough enough for me to kill my half-brother. If Suzaku killed his father when he was only ten years old, he's been carrying that burden around all these years?" Lelouch thought to himself.
"Well hey, look on the bright side. We actually kept the Britannians on their toes this time, when was the last time we could say that?" Minami offered.
"Hey, yeah! We even had Cornelia running away scared from the battlefield!" Tamaki cheered.
"The only reason she ran was because of her brother, but imagine if that Suzaku hadn't arrived, we could have actually gotten her to surrender." Inoue said.
"Huh? You're actually glad he was there?" Tamaki questioned.
"I wouldn't say happy, but it's clear he was let the odds turn to our favor in that moment." Inoue reasoned.
"Yeah, but who's to say that he won't have the opposite effect next time? I swear, that kid does the most random things." Sugiyama said.
"Whatever the odds may have been, what matters is that we gained an upper hand today. Take this moment in stride, for it's only just the beginning, Japan will be ours once again!" Zero said to them with pride.
This made everyone cheer for him, for each other, because for once in their lives since the invasion, they felt like champions.
"Yeah, let's Eat The Horse!" One Black Knight soldier yelled.
Instantly, everyone stopped cheering and glared at the guy who said that.
A glare that said "Never mention that again!"
"...maybe not..." The soldier said in a small voice as shrunk away from the crowd.
"(Sighs) That's never going to go away, is it?" Lelouch thought to himself in anguish.
Meanwhile, C.C. was hiding in the cockpit of Lelouch's knightmare. Not caring to present herself to the group, she had other matters on her mind.
"When Lelouch touch me, I felt Joseph's presence there as well. There's no doubt about his aura..." C.C. thought to herself as she just confirmed something in her head.
Uh oh! What happened to Joseph?! Does it have to do with Geass? I guess we'll find out in later chapters! Anyway, the Black Knights(including Lelouch and Kallen) are now aware Suzaku is the Lancelot pilot much earlier than in Canon. How much that will affect later chapters will be remained to be seen. Also, minor spoilers, in the later chapters, I will giving more insight to Joseph's childhood and his upbringing. Probably not the next chapter, but most likely the one after that. Anyway, stay tune for more, and tell me what you think!