(A/N: In the year 2017atb, Lelouch, a young boy with ambition attends the Officer's Academy at Garreg Mach to achieve his dream of a peaceful world. After showing his might to the Violet Tigers in a sparring match, the deployment of his first mission on behalf of the Knights of Seiros now becomes inevitable…)
21st Day of the Harpstring Moon
Midday
For Lelouch, the order to scramble was given at the drop of a hat. The capsule had been discovered, thanks to an anonymous tip, in Shinjuku. Members of the Violet Tigers were to scramble and make for the airship they would be taking to Neo-Japan's Shinjuku region. Without knowing exactly where the capsule was, it was simply a matter of search and recover.
Lelouch met with Byleth, Marrybell and Oldrin in the hangar. He was a member of the away team and they were ready to meet up with the knights and head out. That was when someone unexpected showed up.
"Princess Marrybell. Professor Byleth."
Marrybell, Byleth, and even Lelouch and Oldrin turned to see Suzaku coming up to them.
Among company that vaguely knew of his situation, Lelouch asked, "Suzaku? What are you doing here? I thought you were security."
"Well…"
7th Day of the Harpstring Moon
Suzaku had not expected Rhea to call him into her office. If anything, he was concerned he'd done something wrong. However, when he showed up, she was all smiles. That put him at ease.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice," the woman said in that soft, motherly tone of voice of hers.
Suzaku bowed in a knightly fashion. "Always for you, Lady Rhea."
She smiled. "You've been very faithful to me since you arrived here in Rome. You remind me much of Cyril, yet more mature, more action put into your devotion, like Catherine."
Suzaku was taken aback, being compared not only to his superior officer but to the best knight in all of the Knights of Seiros.
Rhea chuckled. "I do not give such praise lightly. Even before you were a knight, I watched Catherine take care of you since her induction, and even how you worked together during her time at the Officer's Academy."
Suzaku stood at attention, arms crossed behind his back. "My lady, I have sworn an oath to the church. You are my liege and I will obey."
Rhea smiled. "That's what I like to hear." And then her smile faded. "I hope you don't mind, but I wish to…test that devotion of yours."
"A test, Lady Rhea?" Suzaku asked, gaze unflinching.
"I have tasked the Violet Tigers with recovering a stolen item from Neo-Japan. I…was hoping you might accompany them," Rhea said to him.
"Me? I'm just Monastery security, my lady. Hardly worth deploying," Suzaku said, being humble.
"Did you honestly think I would want you on security detail indefinitely?" Rhea asked. "You so such promise as a soldier, as a knight. I would be honored if you would one day become a proud captain, shoulder to shoulder with Catherine. Perhaps, like her, you might one day serve me directly."
Suzaku nodded his head, staying rigid rather than bowing entirely. "I would be honored, your grace."
"Then, I shall explain…"
Rhea told Suzaku about Clovis' request.
"You would be fighting your own people. I…know how much this is to ask of you, given your past, but…"
"I do not take my service to the church lightly, Lady Rhea. The Japanese people need to see the light. I admit, when I first came here, I was angry. I didn't understand why you had to be so violent, but…I know now that had you not intervened, things could have been much worse. Japan's only crime is its obstinance." He bowed. "On behalf of the Japanese, I apologize for the trouble we've caused the church."
Rhea smiled, but said nothing.
Suzaku continued. "The church's teachings have opened my eyes. And, were it not for you, a war could have erupted. Britannia against an Adrestian and Faerghus backed Japan. It would have been bloody. Results would have been catastrophic. One thing has always bothered me though, if I may," Suzaku then requested.
"What's that?" Rhea asked.
"Why were you so insistent on establishing a church in Japan? Had you not done that? Had you only claimed the nation was under your protection…"
"If I did not establish a church and push the faith, I doubted the nations of Adrestia, Faerghus and Britannia would properly accept that heretics were being kept under my watchful eye. It was a necessity to facilitate peace. It is…merely regrettable that your people chose war."
"Hmmmm," Suzaku accepted the answer, but he was not happy about it. "May I advise that next time diplomacy be chosen over bloodshed?"
"I asked both Kyoto House and your father for permission to establish my church and I was rebuked by both. Perhaps it was the wrong decision to make, but…"
"No. In the end, while lives were lost, countless more were likely saved thanks to the church. The people who died on both sides, they're with the Goddess now," Suzaku said.
Rhea's smile showcased how warmed her heart was. Suzaku, a young man from the most devoted of Japanese families, had embraced the Goddess into his heart wholeheartedly. "Does this mean you have no trouble fighting your own people?"
Suzaku bowed once again. "For you, my lady, I would cross oceans."
21st Day of the Harpstring Moon
"So, I've decided I'll be accepting Lady Rhea's request of me," Suzaku finished.
Lelouch looked annoyed, but lowered his head a little so that Suzaku couldn't see his expression. He appeared to be more focused on Byleth and Marrybell anyway.
What ridiculous drivel! Lelouch exclaimed to himself. No matter how Rhea tries to sugar coat it, I watched people get needlessly slaughtered. Place a church? She pushed her faith onto the Japanese people and killed anyone who resisted! The Church of Seiros is nothing but a superpower lurking in the shadows. The land they control may be limited only to Rome and Japan, but the people they control are far widespread, far more numerous than anyone realizes. If the church decreed it, the lands of the superpowers could be split tomorrow. If the church decreed it, the Chinese Federation would be attacked on all sides by the Seirosian Superpowers. It and Almyra could be wiped off the face of the map in an instant. They're a dangerous entity, and they must. Be. Stopped.
Ending his irritability, Lelouch, to cover his demeanor, said, "I'm glad you can find something to devote yourself to, Suzaku."
"Yes!" Oldrin agreed. "Your devotion to Lady Rhea is like mine to Mary."
"Oz," Marrybell said, blushing.
Oldrin chuckled mischievously.
"Do you have the list of pre-approved house members?" Suzaku asked of Byleth.
Byleth handed it over. She was allowed to deploy from Rome to Neo-Japan with up to eight members of her house. While Lelouch, Oldrin and Marrybell were a given—considering their prestige and skill—the rest of the members were a bit of a mixed bag, but Byleth believed she'd picked the perfect unit for the job.
After that, Shez was an obvious choice. The girl showed promise and was very close to Byleth in age and experience. Next down the list read Shirley Fennette, Sokkia Sherpa, and Marika Soresi. As the youngest member of the Violet Tigers—Nunnally was a few months older than her—Marika needed the hard life experience. Shirley showed amazing promise. Not only was her growth with the Blue Marine coming along well, but she was also starting to add Faith magic to her repertoire of being able to cast Blizzard and her rifling skills, per Byleth's homework assignments.
As for Sokkia, Byleth had recognized the shades of the "agent of chaos" that dwelled within and felt it was best to keep an eye on her. After that, Tink Lockhart made a perfect forward tank. That was her eight.
"So we're down Leonhardt today," Marrybell said, after reading off the list. She hadn't been privy to Byleth's final decision.
"I'm sure the others will compensate," Byleth said.
"You know, you might be right about that," Marrybell said.
"Milly is incredibly versatile and Shirley's rifle skills are coming along. Unless this comes down to HLKMF combat, I don't believe he'll be missed for one mission. It's not like it's a high profile matter of national security or anything," Lelouch said.
Marrybell nodded, humming in agreement.
"Right then, everything is in order, let's move out," Suzaku said.
Neo-Japan
Shinjuku Region
The loud whirring airship touched down in Shinjuku, meeting up with Clovis' own security unit, headed by Sir Bartley.
"Ah, you must be the students from Garreg Mach," the overweight, portly man said.
"That's us!" Suzaku exclaimed.
"A Japanese?" Bartley questioned, finding Suzaku's presence surprising more than disgusting.
"Sir, I am a Knight of Seiros. My nationality does not matter," Suzaku said, saluting.
"Ah, very good. Fair enough," Bartley responded.
"Could you show us the path the terrorists took to get here?"
"Sir Jeremiah was the one who chased them through the area. I'll let him explain it."
With that, a man with a very healthy skin tone and dark turquoise hair stepped forward. "My name is Jeremiah Gottwald. I am in servitude to Prince Clovis." He then spotted Oldrin and Marrybell. "Princess Marrybell! Oldrin Zevon!" he gasped.
"No need to stand on ceremony, Sir Gottwald. Today we are just students at the academy," Marrybell said.
Jeremiah cleared his throat. "Yes." He cleared it again. "Yes, of course." Despite being told he didn't have to stand on ceremony, Jeremiah stood rigidly at attention. "At 1300 hours on the 2nd day of the Harpstring Moon, a truck exited the Britannian embassy, northwest bound for Shinjuku. Within ten minutes, Prince Clovis' private guard, including myself, was dispatched to track it down by military chopper, KMF, and armed military jeep. The terrorists deployed an old Glasgow model and then went underground into the old train tunnels. We lost sight of them there after that and they have completely avoided detection, capsule and all since."
"How did you confirm they were still in Shinjuku?" Marrybell asked.
"Because we happened to capture a young Japanese fellow that lived in the area and wrung him dry of information," Jeremiah said.
In other words, they tortured him, Lelouch thought.
"What's in this capsule we've been told about anyway?" Oldrin asked.
"I'm afraid those details are completely classified," Bartley said. "I cannot say, but its contents are paramount to stay hidden. If the contents have been released, I ask that you terminate it or leave immediately."
"How will we know what to look for if you won't tell us what's inside?" Suzaku asked. "Is what's in that capsule…alive?"
Bartley didn't answer.
"So we look for whatever flees from us that doesn't look Japanese if it's already out of the capsule then," Shirley said.
"Precisely," Bartley explained.
"I hope it's some ugly weird creature," Sokkia said, making a finger gun. "Then I can mount the skull on my wall and then stich the skin to make a cool Halloween mask."
Everyone looked at her like oddly.
"What? …WHAT?!"
"My men will cover the perimeter," Suzaku asked. "I'll go with the Academy students and Professor Byleth and sweep the area."
"My men will aid as well," Jeremiah said. "Nothing that isn't supposed to is leaving Shinjuku today."
"Spread out and search people!" Marrybell exclaimed. "Let's move!"
The five search parties were as followed:
Marrybell and Oldrin
Byleth and Sokkia
Shirley and Shez
Marika and Tink
And finally Lelouch and Suzaku.
The two entered an unused subway tunnel together. "I was surprised you agreed to go with me immediately."
"I know you well enough despite having only lived with you a month," Suzaku said, aiming a military grade flashlight down the tunnel. "You started walking away without saying a word. You wanted everyone to form their own pairs. You're lucky I caught on."
The pair remembered how Sokkia yelped when Byleth grabbed her by the shoulder when she tried to sneak off with Shirley or Oldrin.
"Yeah, well, if it wasn't you, Shez would have followed me on her own," Lelouch said.
"Shez? The girl with the purple hair?" Suzaku questioned.
Lelouch nodded. "She and I went through a lot together a few years ago." He watched Suzaku leap down onto the unused railway. Suzaku then held out his hand to help Lelouch down so he wouldn't hurt himself. It was a several foot drop after all. Once on the ground, Lelouch continued. "I nursed her back to health when she passed out in a blizzard. She stayed with me and Nunnally for more than a year at Ashford as she worked to get her strength back."
"I thought you were Jeralt's kin though, on paper, I mean," Suzaku said as the two began to walk in one direction together. "What makes her so special?"
Lelouch was quiet for a minute, thinking how best to explain his decision without revealing his hand to Suzaku. Eventually, he said, "When I met Shez, I was surprised to hear she didn't have a last name. She didn't know her own birthdate. She said she didn't even really remember what ancestry she was born into. She said her adoptive mother had been raising her in Leicester, but her adoptive mother isn't even from the Alliance. When Shez inquired, she said her mother was Half-Faerghusian and Half-Britannian, but that was about all her mother would admit to. Imagine living with someone that you called Mom for years, but they never celebrated your birthday, never told you their name, and never really did anything other than feed you and give you somewhere to belong. Shez said she was tutored privately and ended up joining a PMC at an early age after her mother passed away when she was, presumably, fourteen."
"She doesn't even know her own age?" Suzaku questioned.
Lelouch nodded. "I sympathize with her, a lot. She has nowhere to belong. So…I wanted to give her somewhere to belong."
"So why are you going by Eisner while she goes by Lamperouge?" Suzaku asked.
"That's a private matter to protect my identity, but I was going by Lamperouge until I started attending Ashford. To me, the Eisners, while a good family, are still a cover. Lamperouge is the family I made for myself and Nunnally. In the end, it was a good call given Shez's seemingly brutal history with Byleth."
"Yeah, no kidding," Suzaku remarked. His light then shined on something important. "Oh. Look at that."
Dirt and gravel was disturbed alongside the left side of the tracks. Dried blood was also nearby.
Suzaku passed the flashlight to Lelouch and took out a rifle. "We must be close."
"No. We're not," Lelouch said. "Look at the blood trail." He showed Suzaku how a lot of it was gathered in one place. "Someone got out of a vehicle and administered first aid. Then they probably continued further in."
"The Glasgow the report mentioned, or the truck?" Suzaku asked.
"Could be either," Lelouch said. He handed the flashlight back to Suzaku as Suzaku put the rifle away. Suzaku shined the light where Lelouch crouched down.
"Spot something?"
"Not yet, but…ah, there we are. Intuition never fails." Lelouch stood up and held a hair follicle that had fallen into the pile of blood.
"Black hair, huh?" Suzaku questioned, shining a light on it.
"Statistically speaking, this hair probably came from a Japanese man, early 20s. It also confirms my story. Someone got out of a vehicle and began dressing their wound. They probably lost a hair or two while applying bandages." Lelouch gestured to a boot print in the blood. "The depression of the footprint is also too heavy for an athletic woman of that shoe print size, conventionally speaking of course, but any woman who can body build to the bulk of a man, probably doesn't need to resort to terrorism to get by."
"True to character, you're a walking internet search," Suzaku remarked.
Lelouch grunted in amusement at the joke.
The two kept walking, eventually coming to a stop as Lelouch put his arm up.
"What's up?" Suzaku asked. He then turned towards the wall, spotting what looked like a loading dock door.
"The architecture doesn't match," Lelouch said, pointing out the tunnel. "Combine that with the lack of rust on the door and this looks recent." He walked over to it as Suzaku shined a lock on it. Sure enough, there was a padlock attached to a notch on the underside of the door.
"They probably stopped here," he said as he fondled the chain the lock was attached to, "Radioed for someone to let down a ramp, and then drove their vehicle up it, probably with the KMF's help."
"So what now? Do we call the others?" Suzaku asked.
Lelouch thought about it. On the one hand, calling everyone here would be the safest option. On the other…
"No, let's press onward. Until we actually locate the capsule, anything I say may as well be speculation," Lelouch stated.
"Understood," Suzaku said with a nod. "So what do we do about proceeding forward?"
"Got an energy sword on you?" Lelouch asked.
"Surely you can't be serious," Suzaku remarked, getting the implication.
"I am serious. And don't call me Shirley."
Suzaku rolled his eyes and took out an energy sword, cutting the chain. Then, together with Lelouch, the two pushed the door as high as they could. With his own strength, Suzaku leapt the three to four feet up onto the platform, and then reached down to help Lelouch pull himself up.
"You're making improvements, but still out of shape, I see."
"Shut up," Lelouch complained as he got to his feet, brushing off his uniform. He stared down the dark corridor. "Now give me the flashlight," Lelouch requested.
Suzaku did so and then took out a rifle. With how dark it was compared to the subway tunnel, which at least had something resembling lighting from the natural light pouring in from destroyed ceilings, Lelouch knew Suzaku had better reflexes if something surprising happened. He was already a trained knight after all.
After traveling down the corridor, the two found themselves in a completely separate subway platform. No, this wasn't a subway platform, this was an underground maintenance hatch that led to the surface. And that was when Lelouch saw the stolen truck. It was parked in a corner in front of some fallen rubble. Sure, the terrorists had gone to lengths to hide it, but the tarp they threw over it didn't quite cover the tires. They went to good lengths too. Anyone coming down the stairs would think this was just some storage area with how many other metal crates were stacked near it.
Lelouch went over to the tarp and where it was roped down. "Can you pull out the stakes?" he asked Suzaku. His friend obliged. Lelouch then set the flashlight on the crate and the two pulled the tarp off.
Lelouch banged on the metal trailer sitting atop the truck. "Not hollow enough to be empty. The contents might still be inside."
"I'll call it in to Clovis's men," Suzaku said. However, his phone wasn't getting service. "Ugh, no signal. I'll try the landing. You try to see if you can't check the capsule and confirm it's still here."
Lelouch nodded and got into the driver side of the truck, but found no keys to open the trailer. Choosing not to be delicate, he took out an energy knife and just cut the back of the trailer wide open. He then stacked a small, sturdy crate behind the truck so that he could get into the trailer easier. He then approached the inside off the trailer.
There it lay: the chrome spherical capsule that Clovis had been worrying princely little head about.
Lelouch approached, only to feel something pulse inside his head.
It's you…
"Huh?" Lelouch looked around, shining the flashlight all around, wondering if perhaps a mage was in hiding. He immediately got on the defensive, charging magic. "I'll warn you! No funny business! This is a restricted area as decreed by the Knights of Seiros! Come out with your hands up!"
Suzaku rushed over to Lelouch. "What happened? I already called it in. Clovis's men are on their way."
"I heard a voice. Check behind the capsule. Make sure no one's there," Lelouch said.
"On it," Suzaku said and carefully manuevered around the capsule, putting his back to it so he could roll around it and take aim.
"Freeze!" he shouted as he made it behind the capsule, only to just find the wall. "Lelouch, there's no one here."
"No one there?" Lelouch asked. "Are you sure?"
As he walked towards Suzaku to get a look, he absentmindedly put his palm on what he didn't know was a handprint reader. If he had, he would have absolutely found it strange when his handprint was recognized as acceptable to open the capsule.
Purple smoke filled the trailer as Suzaku dove onto Lelouch, covering his mouth in case the smoke was toxic or something. Suzaku covered his own mouth with a piece of cloth. The two watched as the capsule retracted to its base and a girl with green hair—a few shades too dark to match Rhea, but too light to match Seteth—fell out of the capsule and onto the floor. She was tied up in a Britannian straitjacket, from her mouth to her feet.
A…girl? Lelouch was as surprised as Suzaku.
Meanwhile, halfway across Shinjuku, an alert went off to a Japanese man in his 20s with black hair. "Aw, crap! They found it before we could recover it!"
"Told ya we should have made a move sooner."
"Shut up, Tamaki!" The irate man said as he turned his head up from his phone to find none other than Shinichiro Tamaki of the Green Pheasants. "If your intel wasn't so sloppy—"
"Excuse me, it's only cause of my intel that we even found the damn thing. You should be thanking me!" Tamaki shouted at the guy.
"Bullcrap! It was Inoue's plan!" The guy shouted at him.
"Both of you knock it off!" A louder voice uttered. "Nagata! Tamaki! That's enough!"
The two men turned away from each other, backs of their shoulders facing the other. "He started it, Ohgi," Tamaki griped.
"I don't care who started it, I'm ending it. Look, the church is going to have its hands on our prize soon enough. We can either choose to fight them for it, or we can back off," Ohgi said. He gazed around the room. Members of the Green Pheasants, and others, gazed back at him. "Naoto left me in charge, but I'm not confident enough to say lets go to war with the Violet Tigers and Prince Clovis's men."
"And then what? Let Naoto have died for nothing?! We put months of blood, sweat and tears into this operation before I brought us the last piece of intel we needed!" Tamaki shouted.
Kallen, present, growled, but not because she necessarily disagreed with Tamaki.
"Empress Kaguya is still at the Monastery having tea with Claude," Sugiyama pointed out. "If something were to happen to us…"
Ohgi sighed. "Look, I don't want what happened with Naoto to go nowhere either, but at the very least we need to be smart about this."
Inoue suddenly raised her hand over the silence. She had intel.
"Find something?" Ohgi asked as he and Sugiyama crowded around her shoulders.
"Yeah, I just tapped into the student phones. I know which house was asked to cooperate," she said.
"Which one?" Kallen asked.
Inoue showed her the emblem of the Violet Tigers on her miniature computer. "Your old one," she said matter-of-factly.
Kallen could only gasp in shock. It was hard to tell if this was a happy coincidence, or a curse.
Meanwhile, above ground, and unknowingly much closer to the hideout of the Shinjuku terrorists than the main objective, Shez and Milly continued to overturn rubble and navigate through abandoned buildings.
Really wish they would have told us what we were looking for, Shez thought.
"Honestly, I doubt you would have been the one to find it, even if they had given you exact coordinates," Arval told her.
"Hey, just because you're right, doesn't mean you need to be a jerk about it," Shez responded.
"Shez, who are you talking to?" Shirley asked, walking over to her.
Arval smirked.
I know I can't see it right now because you're inside my head, but stop smirking like that.
Arval stopped doing so, but then added, "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean."
Shez turned to face Shirley. "Uh, no one. Just, you know, practicing for this manuscript I'm working on for a play." Then, with terrible acting skills, repeated her line, even adopting an accent no historian would be able to tell from where it came. "Just because you're right, doesn't mean you have to say it like that…you…jerk," Shez said awkwardly.
And yet, Shirley seemed to buy it. "I didn't know you were a writer, Shez."
"Well it sure beats cartography."
Shirley laughed. "Yeah, you do have a tendency to get lost."
"Hey, don't say that like I'm proud of it," Shez complained.
Shirley laughed more, only for the laughter to die out. "Hey, Shez, are you…close to Lulu per chance?"
"Huh? Close? What do you mean?" Shez asked.
"Well, you were staying with him back at Ashford. I know Lulu said that it was because you didn't have a place of your own and that whole blizzard story, but sometimes I see you watching Nunnally while he's nowhere to be found. He won't even let Milly watch Nunnally, or Rivalz for that matter. So I was just concerned that—"
"Slow down, Shirley," Shez said, looking concerned, holding up a hand defensively. "I get it." She smiled. "Don't worry. I see Lelouch as more like a kid brother. If you want to ask him to be your boyfriend, I won't stop you. Heck," she said, pumping her fist. "I'll help you."
"B-B-B-Boyfriend?" Shirley blurted out, blushing. "Nononononono!" She exclaimed and then shook her head violently. She looked completely flustered. "Th-that's not what this is about at all."
Shez laughed. "Shirley, come on. You're talking to a veteran PMC here. I've watched love blossom on the battlefield before. I know what to look for."
Shirley made a squeaking noise that sounded more like a leaky balloon than anything human. She fanned herself, cleared her throat and did her best to pull herself together. Blush still on her cheeks, she coughed into her hand. "S-so…do you know…stuff that…Lulu likes?"
"Well I know he likes chess," Shez said.
"Oh come on," Shirley complained. "Everyone knows he likes chess. Don't you know anything more…personal?"
"Well…" Shez started to give it some thought, but was interrupted. An announcement came over hers and Shirley's earpieces.
"This is a direct order from your employer, Prince Clovis," Clovis's own voice came over the earpieces. "The target has been located. I repeat, the target has been located. Please ensure a no witness policy. I repeat, no witnesses. All academy personnel are to withdraw immediately. That is all."
"Guess we should head back to the rendezvous point," Shez said. "I'll think of a way to help you, Shirley." The former PMC pumped her arm. "I've got your back."
Shirley blushed a little more. "Th-thanks."
Down in the maintenance platform, Lelouch and Suzaku were helping free the green haired girl from her restraints, but only managed to free her legs, arms and mouth—they hadn't finished taking the jacket off in its entirety—before Britannian soldiers showed up.
"What?! The contents have escaped?!" The bearded man in charge of the platoon that showed up exclaimed.
"Contents?" Suzaku asked. "You knew it was a woman."
"That doesn't matter!" The Britannian soldier shouted. "Prince Clovis's orders were clear, shoot that girl."
Suzaku stood up. It was true. Those were Clovis's orders per his request.
"Suzaku, wait," Lelouch said. "We don't exactly know what this is all about. Let's think this through."
"Orders are orders, Lelouch. For all you know, that could be a monster in disguise," Suzaku said as he took aim at the green haired woman's forehead.
"Yeah, but…"
"Shoot the school boy too."
That got both Lelouch and Suzaku's attention. Suzaku looked back at the peaked cap man in the Britannian soldier uniform.
"You heard the Prince's orders. All academy personnel were to withdraw immediately and there are to be no witnesses. I'll over look you, Mr. Knight, but only if you eliminate the girl and the school kid."
"That's…"
"Do it for the church! For her holiness Saint Seiros!" the man shouted, saliva spewing from his teeth as he spoke. "Do it, now!"
"Well, I would but…" Suzaku said and then smiled at Lelouch. "He's my friend. I won't follow that order."
Suzaku was then unceremoniously shot in the back.
"Men. Kill the school boy, and the woman. All hail Britannia!"
"All hail Britannia!" the soldiers repeated.
Lelouch gasped, only for an explosion to rip through the maintenance platform. The fireball took out the truck and the smoke blinded the Britannian soldiers, causing them to cough dust.
Lelouch, without even really thinking about it, grabbed the green haired woman and ran away with her to get away from the soldiers.
"Hey! They're getting away! After them!" The Britannian sergeant shouted.
"Yes, my lord!"
The soldiers chased after Lelouch, but he had a much larger head start. They lost sight of him almost immediately. He had run through where rubble had once lay in front of the now blown up truck, despite getting flames on his clothes. He was able to put them out by rolling along the ground once clear of the flames. Nobody would think to look for him having gone this direction.
Okay, don't panic. Pull up a map of the old subway and get yourself out of here, Lelouch thought. Just stay calm and meet up with the others. He looked at his phone. No signal, he couldn't let the others know what had become of him until he got above grown now it seemed. He gazed up at a nearby sign. A lot was sealed off, and he'd just come from Gate B. he'd have to go to gate C.
"Come on," he said to the green haired woman and tugged on her sleeve as they ran towards the path that would, hopefully, get them above ground.
"What? What do you mean it escaped?" Clovis responded from the bridge of his private military bunker. Only he seemed to hear this conversation. "I don't want your excuses! After them!" He groaned as he palmed his face.
"What do we do, your highness?" Bartley asked.
Clovis groaned. "I didn't want it to come to this, but action must be taken. Round up the Knights of Seiros! Kill any who resist!"
"But sir, that's the Glinda Knights!" Bartley exclaimed. "We don't stand a chance, we'll get obliterated!"
Clovis thought about this, and then nodded. "Release the DME wave!" Dark Matter Emitter, a special device that jammed the use of HLKMFs by preventing hard light from emitting in a given radius.
"Sir, that's suicide!"
"We have plenty of Sutherlands to make up for it. The Ashen Demon and the Glinda Knights are only as dangerous as we allow them to be."
"You're talking about turning your sword against our own people, my liege! Be reasonable!"
"With any luck, the Glinda Knights won't turn hostile, the others are expendable, including the Professor. Hopefully they will see that."
Bartley groaned. "I hope you know what you're doing, sir."
As Shez and the others made their way back to Byleth, Sokkia immediately used Oldrin has a personal shield.
"Oz! Help me! She's the enemy of fun!" Sokkia exclaimed.
"I didn't want her wandering off," Byleth excused.
Oldrin sighed. She wasn't getting into this.
Shirley looked around. "Lulu and Suzaku aren't back yet."
"Knowing Lelouch, he probably found the target with Suzaku," Shez said.
"Yeah, that sounds like him all right," Marrybell said.
And that was when the group became surrounded by a trio of Sutherlands. Jeremiah emerged from one of them.
"Apologies Knights of Seiros in-training, and Professor, but you are all under arrest!"
Marrybell glared at him. "On what charges?"
"Trespassing! Prince Clovis has deemed this area off-limits to anyone not of the Britannian military. If you cooperate, charges will be dropped. Resist, and we have the authority to shoot to kill."
The guns of the other two Sutherlands aimed themselves at the Violet Tigers.
"Jeremiah. You are aiming a weapon at royalty and also nobility far above your station," Marrybell said, referring to herself and Oz.
"My orders come directly from Prince Clovis," Jeremiah said. "He is the third prince. You are both…" he said as he fanned out his arm. "Beneath him."
"Oz."
Marrybell didn't need to say anything other than Oldrin's nickname to get her message across.
Right, Oldrin said as she pulled back the Velcro on her glow. "Transform!"
After a few seconds of waiting however, nothing happened.
"…Eh?"
"Prince Clovis knows how powerful the Glinda Knights are. All HLKMFs in nine-kilometer radius have been disabled. Fortunately for us, that does not affect normal Knightmare Frames. Come quietly and the charges may be dropped down to misdemeanors."
Marrybell gulped. "Professor, for now we should focus on…" Marrybell trailed off as Byleth stepped towards Jeremiah. She was frowning.
"Where's Lelouch?" she asked.
"Lelouch?"
"Don't make me ask again," Byleth said, looking mad.
"We're still missing a member of our house," Shirley said. "His name is Lelouch Eisner," she put a hand a bit above her head. "About this tall, black hair…"
"If your classmate has no returned to your rendezvous point, then I'm sorry, but my forces cannot guarantee his safety."
Byleth immediately took out a silver energy sword. "Then you leave me no choice!"
"P-P-Professor, what are you doing?!" Shirley shrieked.
"Fool! If you so much as swing that thing to blow away dust, I will open fire!" Jeremiah shouted.
"I'm with the Ashen Demon!" Shez exclaimed. "This is ridiculous!" She took out her own swords.
"Both of you stop this! We could get ourselves in serious trouble!" Marika exclaimed.
For a moment, nobody moved. Then, Marrybell, her gaze still affixed to Jeremiah, said, "No. I agree with the Professor and Shez."
"Mary?!" Sokkia and Oldrin exclaimed, having not expected that.
"The purpose of the Glinda Knights is the freedom of the Britannian people. What my brother is doing is not just. Sir Jeremiah! I will request this only once. Lower your weapons and allow me to negotiate with my brother, or I will see you and this entire army leveled until my safety is guaranteed. My brother knows what I'm capable of on a battlefield, even with a handicap." She then suddenly had an epiphany. "…You know what?"
She took out her phone and dialed Clovis's direct line. He picked up.
"Marrybell?"
"Clovis, you have about two minutes to call off your troops before I reduce it to scrap metal and repair parts," Marrybell told him.
"S-Sister," Clovis stuttered, sweating. "N-Now hang on a moment. Don't be so rash." He cleared his throat. "I have a much larger army and you don't have access to any war machines. Fighting on foot would be a bit of a fool's errand, don't you think?"
"Clovis, let me make something perfectly clear to you," Marrybell said. "You're going to lay down your arms, or so help me, Oz, the Professor and I will turn every single last one of your Knightmare Frames into a soup kitchen when the providers can't find a can opener. The streets will run black with oil. I have one entire battlefields since before I was old enough to wear a bra while you were sitting cushy in an academy learning how to write checks. Do you really want to test my patience?"
Clovis swallowed hard.
"The real enemy are the Shinjukuian Japanese lurking in the shadows. I understand that whatever you are after is top-secret, but shooting everyone to cover it up when I am here, does not help your case, or should I tell Schneizel that you're about to try shooting family?"
Clovis quickly panicked. "No, no! No, no! None of that!" He exclaimed. He took a deep breath. "New orders!" he exclaimed. "Find the Japanese and exterminate them. That is all!"
Marrybell hung up the phone.
"That was awesome, Princess!" Sokkia exclaimed.
"That's our Marrybell," Tink said with pride.
"Expertly handled," Byleth praised.
Marrybell smiled. "I just…did what he would have done." Nobody had to know that "he" referred to Lelouch. "Let's go rescue our classmate! Violet Tigers! Move out!"
As Marrybell and the Britannian forces scrambled to recover Lelouch, Lelouch himself had heard the new orders as he made to get above surface. He took a breath at the bottom of a staircase. He looked towards his traveling companion as he tried to wipe the image of Suzaku laying on the ground bleeding from his mind. She stared at Lelouch blankly, but still took his hand when offered. Together, they trotted up the stairs.
As soon as he got up the staircase, he saw a boot out of the corner of his eye and backed down a few steps. That sergeant and his goons were everywhere.
"Dammit, where is that school boy?" The sergeant shouted over the barrage of automatic gun fire against Japanese civilians.
"Sir," one of the men under his command said, coming up to him, saluting, "Should we still be looking for the school boy? Prince Clovis has ordered that we join with the academy in order to—"
The sergeant grabbed the man. "I heard what he said! I ain't deaf!" He then backed away and smiled wickedly. "But he also didn't rescind his previous order, so as far as I'm concerned, that school boy is in cahoots with the terrorist for running away with the girl. If you see either of them, shoot 'em dead, understood?"
"Yes, my lord!"
Another soldier spoke up. "Sir, are you sure those two will pop up here?" He asked as a crying child followed by more gunfire ensued.
"Every map we have about this old subway station points that this was the only way he could have come up from, even if he had to dash through fire to get here," The sergeant said.
Dammit! What now? By now they'll have a trap waiting for me from where I came. Do I go out there with my HLKMF? I could try it, but I don't know how long it'll last. And then what? If there's a truce, I'd be screwing it up! Dammit, where's the solution!
And then Lelouch's phone rang. Caller ID said Shirley. Lelouch clicked it to voicemail, but it was too late. He'd been noticed.
"Wha…HE HUNG UP ON ME?!" Shirley shouted. "Dammit, Lulu!"
"Focus!" Oldrin exclaimed. "If he had working hands to hang up, he's alive and not bleeding out."
Shirley blinked. "Oh yeah, good point." She followed her class to go rescue her crush she'd never admit to out loud.
Lelouch found himself thrown against the wall, now facing a small platoon of automatic rifles and the men holding them. Two men not in the platoon were holding the girl at gunpoint. Not all of the men in front of Lelouch had rifles, though. Some had their arms extended, glowing with magic power.
Great so if the bullets don't kill me, the sorcery will, Lelouch thought sarcastically, glaring at the Britannian soldiers. He could see the fresh bodies and blood behind and around them. Clovis! You absolute mad man!
"You did well for a student, but that's to be expected of a Britannian of the Violet Tigers," The sergeant said. He grinned. "Or were you perhaps thinking of joining the Green Pheasants?"
Lelouch winced. There were way too many and if he went to take his HLKMF crystal out of his pocket, he'd be shot before he could activate it.
"Unfortunately, I think the only house you'll be serving, young man, is a box in the ground." The sergeant pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Lelouch.
Pushing past the rifles holding her hostage, the green haired woman shouted, "He mustn't die!" only for her to be shot in the head herself.
Lelouch was surprised as she fell to the ground in a pool of her own blood. "You shot her."
"Well, we were supposed to terminate her anyway if she escaped. I know Prince Clovis was hoping she would live, but I guess nothing can be done about that now. Oh well, we'll just tell him we found her and you with these terrorists and that you'd turned on your own country. What do you think, school boy?"
Lelouch gingerly reached out for the dead woman on the floor. It was his second time ever seeing a dead body in his life.
How can this be happening? First Suzaku's killed…then this girl. …And now I'm about to die, before I've had a chance to make my dreams become reality. It's gone in a heartbeat! With a heartbroken mental voice, Lelouch cried out in his thoughts, Nunnally!
And then the dead woman grabbed his wrist.
A voice suddenly called inside his head. Her voice.
"You don't want it to end here, do you?" the woman's voice asked.
Lelouch was taken aback. Not only was a dead girl holding him firmly, but he could suddenly see the synapses of his own mind. What?
"You appear to have a reason for living."
The girl? That's impossible.
"If I grant you power, could you go on?"
Lelouch wasn't now just seeing his synapses…but the girls. They were…still functioning? What?
"I propose a deal. In exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While living in this world, you will be set upon a path you may not have wanted, but the power of the King will guide you? Are you prepared to accept it?
Suddenly, Lelouch could see…something? His father, the Emperor? But how? And why was he talking about a convergence. What convergence? No. No matter! If his father was involved, Lelouch would see it through.
"Yes! I accept the terms of your contract!"
Reality shifted and Lelouch returned to the view of the abandoned warehouse he'd emerged into, standing before the Britannian soldiers.
"Say," Lelouch said as he shambled to his feet, covering his left eye, "How should a Britannian who detests his own country live his life?"
"Are you some kind of radical?" The sergeant asked, cocking his gun.
He then saw the look on Lelouch's face and hesitated.
"What's wrong? Why not shoot?" Lelouch asked. "Your opponent is an unarmed school boy, or have you finally realized, that the only ones who should kill, are those prepared to be killed."
With his Crest of Macuil glowing, a new emblem formed in Lelouch's eye unlike any crest deferred by the Goddess, a simple symbol like the wings of a sparrow flying towards the sun.
With a flourishing gesture with his left arm, Lelouch spoke, "I, Lelouch vi Britannia command you. Now all of you…die."
In an instant, the soldiers were overtaken by Lelouch's new eye crest and pointed their weapons at themselves. "Happily, your highness!" The sergeant declared. "Fire!"
He and all of his men shot themselves in the head. Lelouch watched the bodies drop before him, surprised at first as blood splattered onto him. He gazed at all of the corpses. With his own word, he'd done the messy dead of commanding soldiers to commit suicide, and they'd done it without a single thought.
Too many thoughts rolled around in his head, most of them of the last two months, of reuniting with Marrybell, of shaking hands with Edelgard, the futures that laid out before him. So many possibilities just waiting to be snatched out of the air. He'd lived a lie as Lelouch Lamperouge, then as Lelouch Eisner, but now…now this magnificent power had come to his hands.
With a cruel smile, Lelouch uttered, "Well then."
Before Lelouch could get lost in his power trip, a Sutherland broke into the warehouse, touting a battle rifle. "Hey! You!" The pilot was a woman. "What happened here?"
Lelouch didn't answer her immediately.
"You're a member of the Violet Tigers, aren't you? Why are all of these members of Clovis' Royal Guard dead? Answer me!"
When Lelouch didn't answer, she took five warning shots around and above his head, blasting holes in the warehouse. Lelouch didn't even flinch.
Tch, Lelouch thought, sneering. Activating his new power, he declared, "I order you to come out, at once!"
"Who the hell do you think you are ordering me around?" The female pilot demanded.
So…it only works on direct eye contact, Lelouch thought. He thought about maybe tricking this woman to come out, but that wouldn't work. He would have to explain everything to Marrybell later. In the end, simple was the best.
"I only just came up from the maintenance tunnel," Lelouch said, raising his hands in surrender. "We were attacked by a terrorist down in the tunnels. I lost the others in the confusion, by the time I emerged, this was what I found."
"That story will need to be corroborated," The pilot said.
"I am a knight of Seiros in training. I don't think Lady Rhea would take well to you calling a student under her academy a liar without proof." Lelouch smirked, noticing the gun lowering. I guess sometimes it is advantageous for the people of this world to be so blinded by their faith to the church. He then looked down at the dead woman and thought of something. Oh… "This woman is the cargo we were sent to retrieve from the terrorists. As you can see, she's…"
Lelouch then noticed the head wound on the woman closing up.
"…Dead?"
"What's going on?" Even from within the Knightmare Frame, even the female pilot had noticed the girl twitching on floor as she slowly stood up and opened her eyes.
She's…alive. Lelouch was astonished. Many things were possible with magic, but self-resurrection?
The woman looked at the Knightmare Frame. "You have five seconds to leave that mechanical monstrosity," she spoke calmly to the pilot. "Five…"
The woman did not budge.
"Four…"
"Hey, what are you—"
"Three…" Lelouch was cut off.
The woman raised her rifle again.
"Two…"
"Don't you dare move!" The female pilot asked.
"One…"
The woman raised her arm to the ceiling. Nothing came out of the Knightmare, not even bullets.
"Zero." Her hair billowed above her head. "Agnea's…Arrow."
Lelouch gasped. That spell!
Suddenly from above the building a massive white arrowhead dropped down from above and punched straight through the top of the armor of the Knightmare Frame. Upon reaching the core, it expanded outward, blasting it to smithereens.
Lelouch expected to hear a bloodcurdling scream, but fortunately when the KMF exploded, it appeared the pilot had their own HLKMF. Clovis had switched off the DME after negotiations.
A standard Sutherland HLKMF, Lelouch thought. He then watched the girl float.
"Begone," she said. Then, with a gentle raise of her hand, she flung the Knightmare far, far over the horizon.
When it crashed in a crater, about a kilometer out from where the woman and Lelouch were, the HLKMF dissipated, leaving a dark skinned woman with blue hair battered and covered in bruises on the ground.
"Wah!" Sokkia exclaimed, jumping back. "It's raining women!"
Jeremiah, whose Sutherland was bringing up the rear, immediately exited his KMF. "Viletta? Viletta!"
"Nnngh!" The woman on the ground groaned.
"What happened?" Jeremiah asked, cradling her.
"Head…hurts," she groaned.
"Someone get this woman to safety!" Jeremiah called.
"I'll handle it," Shirley said as Jeremiah helped Viletta onto her back. "Swimming might be my specialty, but I'm a pretty fast runner, especially with my HLKMF."
"Take her to Prince Clovis's bunker," Jeremiah said. "Don't stop until you're there!"
"Right!" Shirley exclaimed and took off.
Back with Lelouch and the girl, she floated towards the ground. "Who are you? How did you come back to life?"
She did not immediately answer him.
"Hey!" Lelouch exclaimed, grabbing her arm. "If you could overpower a Knightmare Frame like that, why didn't you kill those Britannian soldiers when you had the chance?"
She still didn't answer him.
He shook her arm. "Hey!" he shouted again.
"It's magic, I don't have to explain it," the woman remarked calmly.
Lelouch could feel his brain short circuiting in frustration.
"I'll need to get clear of here. Can you get me to Rome?"
"Well…yeah, I mean, I think I…"
"I saw into your memories when we were linked, Lelouch," The woman said to him. "If you link up with your classmates, I'll be detained. You agreed to my contract. I doubt you want people to know that you helped unleash me."
So it's a threat then.
"It's not a threat," The woman replied as if reading Lelouch's thoughts, "I'm just telling you the consequences of your actions. It's up to you what you want to do."
Lelouch took a deep breath. "You aren't making this easy for me."
"I don't recall saying I had to," the woman remarked.
Lelouch took a deep breath. "All right then, let's search for a way back to Rome without getting caught up with Britannia." He pulled up his email. "I think I might have an idea."
Down in Abyss, Yuri Leclerc was minding his own business in a hamock in his run-down apartment, when he received an email. It was from Zero, but it read like a text message. The subject line was "Neo-Japan."
It read: In Shinjuku. Send help?
Yuri smirked. He typed back: I charge.
He got a response almost immediately: 10,000 Roman credits upon success.
Yuri replied: For real? And then he added an emoji to suggest that the price was far too low.
He got a response: I have something that may interest you.
Yuri replied back: You have my attention.
Byleth and the other Violet Tigers were heading in the direction of Lelouch's search area. On the way, Jeremiah pitched in with some news.
"I ran a cell tower search to the last known location of that phone call the young lady made," he said. "We should be approaching the warehouse now. It's also where we lost the signal to Viletta's Knightmare Frame."
Suddenly his radar beeped. 8 incoming hostiles.
Distorted voices came over the comms. "OHHHHOHOHO! It's been a while since we've been given a job!"
Suddenly, a powerful looking HLKMF came flying down from the sky and zipped across the battlefield, dropping what appeared to be lasers in their wake that turned into floating, pink mines that rained down on the landscape. Its design was royal purple with pink wing tips on the large, bird-like wings strewn across its back.
"Yeah!" Another voice went as a bulky, top heavy mecha dropped down and shook the ground. "Let's get this party started!" The HLKMF in question was pyrite colored and had very big bulky arms and legs for punching and kicking things with a rounded body that suggested the limbs could coil up and allow the mech to tumble around in ball form. "All hail the Invincible King of—"
"Don't say your usual name over comms you idiot," An impassioned female voice said. She growled. "I think I feel a sigh coming on." Suddenly a green mech dropped to the ground on all fours in the shape of a green, sabretooth cat. The pilot then sighed audibly over comms. When a whole bunch of birds and squirrels suddenly came out of the wood work and began attacking Britannian convoys and soldiers, much to their horror.
Suddenly a more humanoid, bright blue mech crawling along the floor began smashing up Knightmares like it was nobody's business, attacking anything that moved that was bigger than a couch.
This was followed by an HLKMF looking like a flying saucer as it flew down and sprouted tentacles that they zapped every electronic in the area, destabilizing it. This allowed a very fast looking HLKMF, ninja-like in appearance, given its Shuriken-shaped crest and dark purple colors. It began throwing sticky bombs, ninja stars and daggers at enemies, destabilizing every KMF it passed on the way.
"Hey! Hey! Don't hog all the fun!" Another pilot declared in a rowdy male voice. This HLKMF was orange and looked pretty standard fare except for the two heavy mounted shoulder cannons on it. It also was decked out with missile launchers right into its shoulders. And that wasn't even covering that it was carrying two energy spears, one in each hand. It opened fire at the Britannian military.
"Where are they all coming from?" Oldrin asked.
"I don't know, but scramble!" Marrybell shouted. "That's an order from your house leader!"
Each member of the Violet Tigers activated their HLKMFs.
"Lancelot Paladin!"
"Tin Giant!"
"Scarecrow King!"
"Vampire Valkyrie!"
"Flugel of Fate!"
"Saintly Witch!"
"Ashen Demon!"
The seven mecha formed upon their creators.
"We'll take care of these party crashers," Marrybell declared, putting the butt of her lance in the ground. "You all pursue the terrorists."
"Yes! Your! Highness!" Jeremiah declared. "All troops, forward!"
"Roger!" a man in a Sutherland acknowledged.
Suddenly, one more HLKMF floated down from above. It was almost white had a pinkish offset to its design. The helmet was riveted with 2 blue eyes in between the rivets. It had a float system built into a massive ring behind its main body and two blades on the feet like figure skates. The arms also looked like they had bladed edges.
"Is everyone accounted for?" A deep voice came from within the effeminate looking mech. "This is the Violent Swan checking for all allied units."
"As if you have to ask," A haughty female echoed from the purple, winged HLKMF that dropped the landmines. "Magnificent Peacock, reporting in."
A boisterous voice came from the rounded, pyrite colored mech, "Rolling Thunder, ready to roll!"
"Demonic hellcat," the impassioned voice from the green sabretooth stated, "present."
"Wyvern Revenant," the crawling, humanoid mecha pilot said stoically. "Awaiting orders."
"Cosmic Gyro," the calm pilot of the flying saucer shaped HLKMF stated, "here, I guess."
"Starlight Shinobi." The pilot of the ninja-looking HLKMF also turned out to be a woman. "On standby."
The heavily armed orange HLKMF finally answered. "Howling Timberwolf, eager for action."
"There's eight to our seven," Sokkia said. "What's the plan, Princess?"
Marrybell analyzed the situation quickly and came up with a plan. "Professor, forward, kill anything that gets in your way. Oz, the Violent Swan. If he's the leader, that's your target."
"Roger, Mary!" Oldrin exclaimed, flying up towards the Violent Swan.
"Everyone else, choose an opponent that best suits your capabilities. I'll handle the remaining three until Shirley can rejoin us."
"Are you sure, Princess?" Tink asked.
"As long as Oz maintains her field presence, I will be fine," Marrybell said. "These terrorists shall not impede our glorious mission of the Goddess!"
With that, the Tin Giant formed up against Rolling Thunder.
Flugel of Fate cut off Wyvern Revenant.
Vampire Valkyrie flew into position against the Starlight Shinobi.
The Scarecrow King began its assault on the Howling Timberwolf.
That left Marrybell to play with the Magnificent Peacock, the Demonic Hellcat, and the Cosmic Gyro by herself as Byleth's Ashen Demon sped forward.
"Remember!" The pilot of the Violet Swan declared to his team. "Don't pursue the Ashen Demon! Only death awaits you!"
"Heh," the pilot of the Cosmic Gyro said. "You don't gotta tell me twice."
They're letting me go? Byleth thought. She couldn't think about it too much for now. She had to rescue Lelouch.
The Violent Swan manifested several knifes in front of itself and flung them at the Lancelot Paladin. Oldrin cut them to shreds with her energy sword, only to have a whip chain manifest from under the arm of the Violent Swan as it grappled the sword and snapped it into several pieces.
Oldrin propelled several of her floating swords to attack the Violent Swan as it danced around the air, dodging her attacks.
From inside the HLKMF as it flew around, dodging Oldrin's strikes, Yuri Leclerc smirked. No need to go all out against the lady, just gotta keep her busy. That check better be worth it Zero. I don't stick my neck out for the promise of something grand only to be given a common, dirty old rock.
Meanwhile, Tink's Tin Giant was trying to land a hit on the now rolling around Rolling Thunder. The bulky HLKMF revved up and started sparking. "Let's play a little game. I'm the ball!" The pilot of the Rolling Thunder declared and then slammed the entire HLKMF into the back of the Tin Giant, knocking it off balance. "OH YEAH! Two points!"
Tink tried to split the now resting ball with his axe, but the pilot regrew the mechs limbs and head and grabbed the axe with one arm.
"Sorry, pal, but I'm being paid a lot of money today not to bite the big one." He then picked up Tink with tremendous strength. "This ain't personal!" He then threw Tink a good twenty meters.
"Tink!" Sokkia shouted in concern.
"Best be more concerned with yourself," The pilot of the Howling Timberwolf said. Sokkia could almost see the dickish smirk on the pilot's face. He then began to launch missiles at her. In response, Sokkia began zipping around on 360 degree landspinner wheels—like the big KMF models had—and began sidling clockwise around the enemy mecha. She started shooting at it with her machine guns.
The pilot suddenly projected a green energy shield in front of its arm and held it up. The shield did not obstruct the firing line of the shoulder cannons. "Do you really think those measly peashooters are worth anything?"
"Dunno. Can you even hit me?" Sokkia asked, sliding all over the place, dodging Missiles easily.
"Ohhhhh, a smart mouth, huh? All right! Let's see what you got!" The pilot started blasting missile after missile after missile at Sokkia, followed by two powerful laser blasts.
Oh…crud, Sokkia thought and then began zipping every which way, screeching in fright at close calls.
Meanwhile, Shez was quite surprised with the speed and adaptability of the Wyvern Revenant. It could leap and cling to walls like some kind of marsupial, rather than a human.
"It's quite fast," Arval pointed out.
"Yeah, I can tell," Shez responded aloud since comms weren't on. "Something about this bugs me though."
"What's that?" Arval asked.
As he said this, Marrybell stood stolidly, not wanting to attack unless she was attacked by her three foes.
"They took out Britannian soldiers like they were nothing," Shez said to Arval. "But against us, I can kind of tell…they're holding back."
This thought of Shez's carried itself over to Byleth who could still see the health and statuses of her allies as she left them behind to go rescue Lelouch. She was surprised how easy it was…at least at first.
However, her pursuit was cut short when she saw a familiar face round the corner of a building, appearing to be in pain. Byleth immediately exited out of the Ashen Demon, looking concerned.
"Suzaku," she stated, noting the man holding his back. "What happened?"
"I got…shot," he said.
Byleth took off her coat. "Lay down," she told him. He lay down upon her gray coat. She rolled up his shirt and took a look at the wound. Indeed, something was jammed in it, but not a bullet. It looked like a piece of gold metal. "I don't know much about extracting metallic fragments out of people."
"Can you use fire magic?" Suzaku asked her.
"I…can."
"Then just take whatever's causing me pain and sear the wound shut. I can get a proper look from Professor Manuela later."
"That's going to hurt," Byleth said.
"I don't have any other options. Britannia turned on us. I need to report this in to Lady Rhea," Suzaku said.
"Yes, we know," Byleth said. She then pulled the gold painted sprocket out of Suzaku's back with a big yank. She then seared the wound shut with fire emitting from her finger. Suzaku howled in pain, but after it settled, managed to get up. "You shouldn't move so much," Byleth told him.
"No, I'm a Knight of Seiros. I have to…do something," Suzaku said.
Byleth and Suzaku then heard screaming and noticed Britannian soldiers shooting what looked like civilians.
"Hey! What's going on there?" Suzaku shouted.
"We'd better put a stop to it," Byleth said, summoning the Ashen Demon.
"I agree," Suzaku said. He stood, upright, only to clutch his back.
"You're going to be a liability out here," Byleth told him.
"No, just…give me a second," Suzaku said and pulled out a crystal where he had a mess of a blood covered, broken pocket watch. He held the crystal close to his chest and seemed to offer a silent prayer. He then emerged in an HLKMF very similar to Oldrin's, but his HLKMF was bright white and gold rather than red and gold. It also had a few cool additional features such as padding on the shoulders and hips that resembled lacquer samurai armor.
The message on Suzaku's interface read out: Lancelot Shogun online.
"Let's save these people," Suzaku said, standing next to Byleth.
"Right behind you," Byleth said and the two took off to stop the Britannians from attacking innocent citizens.
While this was going on, Lelouch had made it pretty far northwest, and almost out of Shinjuku with his new traveling companion.
"This should be far enough," he said.
"What do you plan to do?" The woman asked.
Lelouch took out his phone and began sending a text. Jeralt Eisner was the recipient.
"A phone message?" The woman with green hair questioned.
"Just wait," Lelouch said. "All will make sense in time."
Shirley Fennette made it to Prince Clovis's bunker with the injured Viletta and helped her into sick bay. She then also decided to make her way to the bridge to report into the prince in person. As she did so, she heard shouting as she lay in the hallway.
"What do you mean you still haven't found her?" Clovis shouted, panicking.
Her? We're looking for a woman?
"Shoot anything that isn't Britannian! That's an order!" Clovis shouted, pounding his fist.
He's going to kill all the Japanese? Shirley thought. That didn't sit well with her. Should she…no, that might get her killed or worse?
Still, she took out her rifle and contemplated holding Clovis hostage. Britannia had already turned on the knights once, they might do so again. Palms sweating, fingers rapping against her rifle, Shirley was about to jump out and shout "Freeze!" when an unexpected person appeared on the comms.
"That's enough!" An irate Archbishop Rhea came over the communication line. She. Looked. Pissed.
"L-L-L-Lady Rhea, wh-what an unexpected surprise. I uh…e-everything's under control," Clovis said, sweating.
"Clovis la Britannia," Rhea said, irritably and stoically. "Lady down your arms, immediately. You are under arrest for treasonous actions taken against the Sovereign Nation of Rome. I am ending this little operation of yours."
"Now hold on just a second!" Clovis exclaimed. "Rome has extra-judiciary rights, but you can't just shut down what is essentially my operation."
"Do you wish to cause an international incident?" Rhea asked, shaking her head. "I have already spoken with Prime Minister Schneizel and if what I have heard is true, your actions are unforgivable."
Unforgivable? It was so strange to Shirley's ear to hear Rhea speak in such a manner.
"I will ask one more time and if I do not hear a yes, I will be sending the Holy Knights of Seiros to eliminate, indiscriminately, every last one of your guardsmen, and you. Lay down your arms and call off your operation. You have until the count of ten. One! Two!"
"All right! All right!" Clovis exclaimed, panicking. "A-All units pull back. We are ending the operation prematurely."
Inside the Violent Swan, Yuri smirked. "Getting Lady Rhea herself to do your dirty work for you? I knew I liked you for a reason, Zero. All units retreat. We're done here."
"Don't have to tell me twice," The pilot of the Demonic Hellcat said.
"How disappointing," the pilot of the Howling Timberwolf said. "And just when things were getting exciting. Well little lady, I guess today you get let off with a warning."
The mysterious unit led by the Violent Swan retreated.
"You think we're just going to let you walk away after you slaughtered my countrymen?!" Marrybell shouted. "I'm not letting you get away!" She began firing off drill missiles into the air at an alarming rate.
They were all cut down or dodged by the members of the mysterious unit.
Rhea's face appeared on Marrybell's screen. "Princess Marrybell, stand down! That's an order!"
"But…Lady Rhea! They're terrorists!"
"This situation is far more complicated than mere terrorism. And as long as you are studying under my roof, you will obey my rules," Rhea told her.
Marrybell gripped her controls tightly, teeth gnashed with hatred, but ultimately relented. "Yes, Lady Rhea. Understood, your grace."
"Man that lady is cah-razy," The pilot of the Rolling Thunder said.
"No kidding. Glad we didn't actually have to fight her this time," the pilot of the Demonic Hellcat said. "So, when do we get paid?"
"Patience now," Yuri said. "All things in good time. I imagine things have to blow over for our dear Zero first. Let's meet back in Abyss and wait patiently."
"Oh, all right," the pilot said, disappointed. "But if I sigh on the way back, it's your fault."
The Knights of Seiros actually ended up arresting Prince Clovis. Jeralt did the honors himself in fact. Lelouch managed to slip his traveling companion into the return party as a refugee. Nobody had to know that she was the target inside the capsule. And nobody even knew the truth except for Suzaku. Shirley had her suspicions, but she wasn't going to ask Lelouch directly in front of the others.
When the matter settled, as the sun began to set, Clovis was presented to an angry Rhea, and Seteth, in handcuffs and other shackles. Knights in very flashy looking robes flanked him.
"Please, Lady Rhea, I can explain!" Clovis pleaded.
"Enough!" Rhea's angry voice thundered in the closed off audience hall. "Prince Clovis, you are charged with treason against the Sovereign Nation of Rome. You betrayed my own students, and your men attacked one of my most faithful knights. And then you started butchering citizens as I hear it all to cover up your own incompetence." Rhea's anger reached a tranquil whisper, but the venom she spat with only increased. "When I sent my knights to help you, it was to oust terrorists lurking in Shinjuku, not to butcher innocents. I have Empress Kaguya now upset and angry because many of her own house graduates were caught up in your sloppy mistake. I don't know what corrupted your soul to rot in the manner that it has, Prince Clovis, but I am having none of it."
"W-wait, Lady Rhea! You don't understand!" Clovis pleaded in terror.
"What I understand is that I have eyewitness accounts to your atrocities and while some of the men under your command died in all of this foolishness, many of your own troops swear that you were the one who ultimately gave the orders." Rhea continued to speak in a calm, but barely contained rage. "Your sentencing will be decided at a later date. I need to speak with your father about how best to handle your incompetence and your bloodshed."
"No! Please! Don't involve his majesty in this!" Clovis pleaded.
"I grow tired of your inane pleading. Knights, see this man to our least comfortable prison cell."
The two knights flanking Clovis began to drag him away. "NO! You can't do this!" Clovis shouted, terrified. "I'm royalty! Royaltyyyyyyyyyyy!"
The doors slammed shut.
"Was that wise, Lady Rhea?" Seteth asked her.
"Seteth, I must set a proper example," Rhea said much more calmly and without a hint of anger. "Suzaku has served us faithfully and I will not have another Zanado on my hands whilst I can stop it. The Japanese need not suffer the same fate as the Nabatea. I am hoping in that showing them my mercy that they might come to see our side of things."
Seteth nodded, understanding Rhea's behavior. "I understand. Still, it will be difficult to keep the dear prince in chains."
"You allow me to worry about that," Rhea said. "Your focus should be on the students."
Seteth bowed and prepared to excuse himself. "Understood."
That night…
In the Green Pheasant classroom, Tamaki was kicking back in the chair. "Maaaaan that was close," he exclaimed. "Who would have thought Lady Rhea would bail us out though?"
"It did seem rather strange though," Inoue said. "Almost as if someone clued her in anonymously."
"Wasn't any of us," Ohgi said.
"Then it had to have been someone from the Violet Tigers, right?" Kaguya questioned.
"Not necessarily, but likely," Kallen said. "I'll look into it."
"Kallen, are you sure?" Ohgi asked.
"I used to be a Violet Tiger and I have a few connections. I'm the best suited for the job," she argued.
"Girl's got a point," Tamaki said.
Ohgi sighed. "All right, but if you need help, just ask. Naoto would kill me if something happened to you."
"Don't worry," Kallen said. "I know my limits."
"Still, I wonder what happened to the contents of that capsule you all went to such great lengths to steal," Kaguya said.
"We'll probably never know now," Tamaki said. "It either got returned to Britannia or Rhea's probably put it in a vault somewhere."
"Unless it was alive," Inoue stated.
"Oh, please, what kind of ultimate government secret can walk around and has sentience?" Tamaki asked.
"Achoo!"
Lelouch turned to the green haired woman. She had just sneezed. They were in the elevator heading downward into Abyss. For all her faults, at least she had the courtesy to cover her mouth. After hiding out with his refugee friend in the shadows of the monastery all day, Lelouch was now bringing her down to Abyss under cover of darkness. Upon arriving in the main plaza, the Abyss Keeper greeted him outright.
"Hey! You! I got something to report!" he declared. "The whole of the Ashen Wolves just scrambled for some big operation. Everything's in a bit of a frenzy right now."
I see, so Yuri sent the Ashen Wolves. Interesting.
"Thank you for the warning," Lelouch said. "But I won't be long."
Lelouch went and hid out in the same alleyway where Yuri had first met him, wearing the same disguising cloak that he had when he first showed up.
"Well, so you showed. I already got my money, so what's this thing that may interest me?" Yuri asked.
Lelouch pushed the green haired woman forward. "This," he said. "Britannia had her locked up in a chrome capsule. She can self-resurrect and can use telekinetic magic to send a Britannian Knightmare flying. She can also cast Agnea's Arrow without so much as a bead of sweat."
"Well, well, well," Yuri said. "You were right, this does catch my interest. So, mysterious lady, do you have a name?"
"C.C," The woman replied, pronouncing it C2.
"My, how unusual, going by only your initials. "You're even more protective of your identity than I am."
C.C. looked at Zero. "Am I being punished?"
"Negative. This is the best place to hide you from the Britannians," Zero told her. "Stay here and listen to your Uncle Yuri."
C.C. frowned. "I am not a child that needs to be babysat I'll have you know."
"Oh, don't worry, Abyss is great. Just mind the nightly dripping water and the constant stench of sewage and you'll be fine," Yuri told her.
C.C. rolled her eyes.
"Can I count on you to investigate her and come back to me with more information?" Zero asked.
"I take it I also have to keep her from Britannia's eyes?" Yuri inquired.
"Yes."
"Well, normally I say I charge, but until further notice, I'll take her in as part of my flock. C.C., welcome to the Ashen Wolves."
C.C. looked back at Zero.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten our promise, but Yuri will keep you safe. Abyss is for people that don't want to deal with the real world. This is probably the best place for you until further notice," Zero pointed out to her.
C.C. nodded. "Very well. I trust you will still hold up your end of the bargain."
Zero nodded.
"Very well," C.C. said and walked away. "I suppose I'll see what passes for edible around here." She left the two men to their own devices.
"You keep odd company," Yuri said to Zero.
"I could say the same of you," Zero responded.
Yuri chuckled. "The girl's safe with me."
Zero nodded. "In that case, I leave it to you." He began to leave.
"By the way, merchants selling rare gifts are rarely a trojan horse," Yuri said.
Zero stopped briefly and stated, "I'll keep that in mind," and then left Abyss.
Afternoon of the 22nd Day of the Harpstring Moon
After afternoon lectures, Lelouch excused himself from his allies and classmates and made for the market. He was a man on a mission. As he passed through the main gate, he was greeted with a chipper, "Greetings, Lelouch! Nothing to report! Hey, did you hear? Apparently Prince Clovis was imprisoned at Garreg Mach and is awaiting a harsh sentence. The rumors say Emperor Charles isn't even going to bargain for his life. That's awfully cold if you ask me."
Cold? Maybe, but it's what his majesty is best known for.
"Thank you for the information," Lelouch said, passing the man some money. "Keep it up."
"Yes, sir!" The Gatekeeper exclaimed.
Lelouch wandered into Anna's area. "Welcome! Oh! It's you again, sir. Have you made a decision on my fine merchandise?"
Lelouch slipped Anna a check for 500,000 Roman credits.
"Ah, I see, so you did make a decision. I'm always happy to serve my customers. It's all yours." She handed Lelouch the key to the display case.
Lelouch clicked it open and took the rare HLKMF model. A wicked grin crossed across his face. Between this HLKMF and his new power, his successful rebellion against Britannia was all but assured.
Pocketing the item, Lelouch made his way to Abyss, finding a quiet spot to try out the new threads. The HLKMF came with a cape, violet blue body armor, a helmet with a circular blue visor, leather-like gloves and boots, but did not seem to carry with it any armaments or special abilities, at least at first. However, if style was a weapon, the new HLKMF had that in spades. Its functions could be determined later. For now, it was christened with a name, the Zero Matrix.
With this, Zero stormed proudly into Abyss, marching past the Abyss Keeper without so much as a wave and to where the Ashen Wolves classroom was supposed to be. Eight people, including Yuri sat around the classroom to varying degrees of bored. However, one kid gazing up from his handheld game console smirked at him.
"Nice threads, dork," he said. Three of his buddies laughed.
"I can understand if my fashion sense is too mighty for mere lambs to understand," Zero said, raising his hands to the ceiling. "But that is unimportant! You stand in the presence of your latest employer, the man who will free Abyss and all the modern world from the tyranny of the Church of Seiros, Britannia, and any nation oppressing its people!"
"Oooooh!" A woman with blonde and purple hair exclaimed with a smile. "I like the sound of that. Zero's now my hero."
"You only say that because you believe you can get your house back, Shady Lady," Yuri said.
"Ah!" She yelped, feeling accosted. "Rude! And I have specifically told you not to call me that."
"So, you're Zero, hmm?" a girl with dark skin and red hair asked. "Thanks for the paycheck by the way. I ate like a king the other day."
"There will be more where that came from," Zero said, "So long as you all agree to my terms."
"Yeah, Yuri kind of clued us in," the kid with the game console said. "You want us to take up arms in your name or whatever, right? Help you with this grand ambition? You really think you of all people can pull that off?"
"I ask for your time and your patience," Zero said, covering himself with his cape. "On some days it will be small tasks, on others, quite large ones. I only ask that, in return, you show me loyalty in exchange for your commission."
"Well, can't say I'm completely sold, in a manner of speaking," the game playing kid said, "Buuuuuut it's not like society cares about us anyway, so it could be good for a laugh."
"Then I implore you," Zero said, throwing his right arm out to his side, fanning his cape out. "I beseech you," he said, doing the same with the other side. "Allow me to become the teacher of the Ashen Wolves and together nothing will stop us!"
(A/N: *Yuukyou Seishunka plays*
Ikedomo kemonomichi shishi yo tora yo To hoe. Akane sasu sora no kanata ni mahoroba.
*Record needle scratch*
I said we're not doing this! Christ!
…Sorry folks, won't happen again. ...Maybe.
But yes, now our status quo has firmly been established. I know it feels like the original Black Knights suddenly feel…less impactful than the original, but I do have a plan…once I figure it out at least. These past six chapters have basically been playing things by ear and now that I have a story direction, I think I need to sit down and really think about what I want to do next so that I can figure out the twists and turns. Several things I wanted to do this chapter got dropped on the cutting room floor—such as an upgrade to Lelouch's Dark Beast—so in the interest of bringing you bigger and more awesome chapters, this is going to be where the story holds…for now. I don't know. If I get such loving feedback from all of you, I might just go ahead with a few more chapters through at least Byleth getting the Sword of the Creator. Yes. That's still going to be a thing. Anyway, that's all from me for right now. Until next time, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)