HOME | DD

Description
Britannian prison, 11:37 a.m. A guard was guiding a Black Knight prisoner back to their cell.

Black Knight: Wait until Zero gets here! Then, you'll be sorry!
Asahina Chiba: Can you not mention that name, right now? I'm not in the mood for reliving the wounds, all those months ago.
Kaname Ohgi: Look, Zero didn't betray us. He said that someone important got kidnapped-
Chiba: I know. I'm just pissed that these guys got the drop on us. I'm not mad at Zero, I'm mad at myself.
Ohgi: Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong, and there's no way we could've seen it coming.
Chiba: We got hit with EMPs. Hard. They specifically targeted us, and not the Mavericks. And, now they've disappeared. There's no way out, from our position.
Ohgi: Someone will rescue us.
Chiba: How idealistic.

Immediately, gunshots rang out, as the guards fell to the floor, dead. Chiba saw Tamaki go up to one of the guards and take their key.

Shinichiro Tamaki: Didn't leave you hanging, did I?
Chiba: Note to self, be more idealistic.

Meanwhile, at Babel Tower, Lelouch woke up, finding himself on some sort of plastic material.

Lelouch: Huh. What do you know? He was right. How far did I fall? (opens cell phone) No reception. Dammit. (puts away cell phone) Better look around. Maybe Rolo got out. Need to find an exit.

Lelouch quickly traversed through the ruined terrain of the inside of the skyscraper, thinking to himself.

Lelouch: (thinking) This is literally bad. I picked the worst time to check this place out. The Britannian military is willing to sacrifice their own citizens... Rolo's right, this is repulsive. And, that guy... Who is that? Couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Too many questions, so little time. I have to find-

Lelouch stopped in front of a corridor filled with dead bodies.

Lelouch: God... Britannia did this? The smell... I think I'm gonna puke...

Lelouch noticed someone alive, in the corner, a girl, clutching a piece of paper.

Lelouch: Hey, are you alright?
Girl: I'm scared... They just took me, from my parents... The only hope I've ever known...

Lelouch looked at the paper the girl was holding, and saw that it had a picture of Zero on it.

Lelouch: Zero? Listen, there's an exit, over there. Get to safety. For your parents' sake.
Girl: Okay... I'll try my best! (runs off)
Lelouch: Huh. That felt good. Helping people is...actually pretty fun.

Lelouch looked up and saw Zero's Burai, standing right in front of him.

Lelouch: Oh, shit! (falls backwards) Listen! I'm on your side! You gotta believe me! Britannia's filled with assholes, I get it! Huh? Why...does that sound so familiar?

The cockpit of Zero's Burai opened, and the Knightmare turned around, revealing the pilot to be a girl with long green hair.

C.C.: Hi.
Lelouch: Uh... Hi.
C.C.: How are you doing?
Lelouch: Good...ish. Things...just went to shit, real fast. It wasn't supposed to be like this.
C.C.: That sucks.
Lelouch: Yeah. So, you're a Black Knight, huh? Pretty cute, I'll give you that.
C.C.: Thanks. You look good, yourself.
Lelouch: Really? I mean, I'm pretty sure I look average...
C.C.: You look fantastic.
Lelouch: (chuckles) This just turned into a flirting contest, didn't it?
C.C.: It certainly makes me feel better. What about you?
Lelouch: Well... Yeah. I feel better. Words can mean so much.
C.C.: Learned that lesson a long time ago.
Lelouch: Pretty important lesson. ...I miss my family.
C.C.: And, I miss having friends that would actually miss me. Nobody's perfect.
Lelouch: So...you don't want to kill me?
C.C.: Hell no. I'm here to get you out of here.
Lelouch: Me, specifically? Why?
C.C.: (sighs) Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.
Lelouch: My brother wants to be a revolutionary and I'm having the shittiest luck, right now. I think I can take it.
C.C.: I'll take the slow approach, then. What do you know about your own memories?
Lelouch: ...Less than I should. I keep hearing these things that seem familiar, yet I don't remember ever doing anything remotely similar. I mean, I'm a normal high school student. Right?
C.C.: Your memories have been tampered with. Whatever memories were put in there aren't real.
Lelouch: Sounds about right. So, what do you know about me?

C.C. took a breath to start her explanation, but a gunshot rang out, and C.C. fell off of the Burai.

C.C.: Ow...
Lelouch: Hey! (holds C.C.) Are you alright?
C.C.: Hurting... Mostly...
Lelouch: Who-?!

Lelouch saw a Sutherland, accompanied by strange soldiers, in front of him.

Lelouch: Who the hell are you guys?

One of the soldiers used a flamethrower to set the surrounding corpses on fire, igniting them with a purple flame. Lelouch heard a scream coming from the dead bodies, and a soldier shot the person dead.

Lelouch: What is your problem?! What the hell is this?!

The pilot of the Sutherland opened the cockpit, revealing himself to be the commander.

Commander: We're with the O.S.I.
Lelouch: The what?!
O.S.I. Commander: It won't matter to you, Lelouch Lamperouge. You served your function well enough.
Lelouch: What the hell are you talking about?!
O.S.I. Commander: (opens journal) 6:59 a.m., wakes up. 7:12 a.m., watches the news, while eating breakfast with brother. 8:45 a.m., goes to class. Doesn't attend homeroom or first period classes, instead choosing to read, on the roof.
Lelouch: How the hell do you know all that?!
O.S.I. Commander: I think of this as a pet diary. Perhaps bait journal would be a better name for it.
Lelouch: Bait journal?! Have you been stalking me?! Why?! Why me?!
O.S.I. Commander: We're after that girl, C.C.
Lelouch: What do you want, out of all this!? Why'd you target me, of all people!?
O.S.I. Commander: I am a baron, boy. I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you.
Lelouch: Rolo's right... You're all nothing but a bunch of assholes!
O.S.I. Commander: Hmph. "Asshole". Such a brutish, vulgar, American word. It's time you died, boy.

The O.S.I. agents aimed their guns at Lelouch, as the fire lit up the entire tunnel.

Lelouch: This can't be happening... I don't want this to end... Not by them...
C.C.: Lelouch...
Lelouch: Huh?

C.C. rested her head on Lelouch's shoulder, her face looking at his ear.

C.C.: (whispers) Paragon.

The word "paragon" echoed through Lelouch's thoughts, and he was overwhelmed with memories.

Lelouch: (thinking) These memories...are mine... The other ones...they were fake. But...I can choose which ones to make reality... But, now... I remember... I...
Familiar Voice: RUUUUUN!
Lelouch: I...am...ZERO!

When the memories faded, Lelouch stood up, glaring angrily at the O.S.I. agents, C.C. getting up as well.

O.S.I. Agent: She's still alive! We shot her, and she's still alive!
Lelouch: You guys...really are assholes. You think you're in the right, day after day. Take over this country, enslave these people. You think that life is a toy. Then, you preach on and on about power, justice, you claim whatever you don't like to be evil.
O.S.I. Commander: There is no justice or evil. The only truth that's left for you is the simple reality of death, bait.
Lelouch: Really? You buy into that bullshit? You're only partially right, though. There's evil, that's a given. And, I'm looking right at it.
O.S.I. Commander: How dare you!
Lelouch: Let me give you a little lesson, you militaristic shits. All my life, I've been taught the same things you have. Britannia's the best, it's okay to take over the world, it's a good thing to enslave people. It only took the biggest asshole, in the universe, to snap me into morality. 'Cause, that's not who I wanted to become. Then, my mom dies, for no reason, and my dad proved himself to be an asshole. He called my sister "weak". How wrong he was. I bet you were there, too, when I told him to shove that cape up his ass.
O.S.I. Commander: What? Wait, you can't be-!
Lelouch: I took Nunnally to Japan, just to be safe. Then, you took the only real home we had and made it into your utopian image. All the while, just getting more and more pissed. I made friends, unlike you. And, my friends? They're what make me a badass. In short... There is no "strong", there is no "weak", there is no "justice"... (Geass activates) JUST US! I am the one who brought fear into your nihilistic lives! I am the one who defined rebellion! I am the one who ended Japan's fear of constant utopia! I am not Lelouch vi Britannia! I am Zero! My name is Lelouch Lamperouge! Now...BOW!

Lelouch's Geass reached the commander's eyes, as well as the other agents.

O.S.I. Commander: Understood. (jumps down, kneels down)

The other O.S.I. agents got on their knees, bowing before Lelouch.

Lelouch: Now, you're going to take your guns and end yourselves. When you get to Hell, tell Hawking that he's still a douche!

All of the O.S.I. agents, and the commander aimed their guns at each other, and ended their lives. The Guren and Urabe's Gekka dropped down in front of Lelouch, bowing.

Urabe: We've been waiting, Master Zero-
Lelouch: Don't you ever call me that, again! Stand up!

The Knightmares stand up, the pilots honestly scared of Lelouch.

Lelouch: You get out there...and you make them pay. You're going to promise me...that heads will roll.