9 「Allure of the Court」
「Area 11: Tokyo Settlement. August 18, 2017」
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Lelouch as Zero was standing beside his friend Graham who was still in the guise of his alter-ego. He used the internal communications he had planted in both their helmets.
Graham nodded when his friend had inquired of the plan he had shared. The idea was the manipulate the Britannian leader of the Purists Faction into clearing Suzaku's name. He wasn't going to do the same thing Lelouch had done. Instead, he was going to use the power of Lelouch's voice and his secret identity as Lelouch vi Britannia.
Jeremiah Gottwald was loyal to his, Lelouch's, mother to the point that he would do anything to prove his loyalty. He would even betray the main body of the Britannian Military.
Lelouch had already given his plan to Graham, the plan to use his mind control to the fullest. Yet, it seemed that either one would give results. The difference was, Jeremiah wouldn't become obsessed in catching Zero, but secretly working with him.
The scheme included using telepathy to inform Jeremiah of Lelouch's survival and the share his story and motivations of what he is going to do. What he wanted to do. It was a one hundred percent chance that this was going to succeed. At the same time, Lelouch wanted to have his best friend whom they hadn't seen in so long, join him against the Britannian Empire.
Even though Graham had told him that it wouldn't work, he was still adamant about it. The only thing which silenced him on the subject was when he asked if he would be able to reveal his identity to Suzaku.
Lelouch didn't necessarily believe that was the right thing to do, especially if he should fail to coerce his friend into joining hands.
Graham had also asked if he would allow him to use his Geass to make Suzaku susceptible to the idea of joining the Resistance. This almost made Lelouch blow his lid, he didn't want to have his friend manipulate another friend in that manner. Let alone, he wouldn't want to do that himself either unless he himself had no other choice.
Just like when in the mainstream timeline when he was forced to order Suzaku to survive by any means necessary. The ultimate order which destroyed their relationship and made an enemy of the Honorary Britannian; Euphy's Knight.
...
Hours later, Prince Clovis la Britannia's personal vehicle would advance towards the parading forces which were heading down one of the main highways lined with prejudice groups of Britannian loyalists.
The convoy began to slow down. "What's going on?" Jeremiah asked for a status report.
"Sir, the Prince's royal transport is heading right for us."
"Stop, all forces, stop!" Jeremiah called out over the comms as the vehicle was moving at a casual speed towards their location. It wasn't in a rush. People were talking amongst themselves. Confusion was spreading throughout this instance.
"What is this..." He muttered quietly to himself as he looked over the data which was coming from his Sunderland's sensor nodes. There was a total of three individuals on board the vehicle according to the heat signatures.
Sazuka narrowed his sights forward as everyone around him seemed to be on alert all of a sudden. It appeared that someone was coming for him? Terrorists? Japanese Radicals?
His eyes narrowed on the vehicle which was coming into view. He recognized it and became rather puzzled "Wha–" he was electrocuted the moment he tried to speak and lulled his head forward as he gritted his teeth.
'Jeremiah,' a voice echoed within the purist's mind which caused him to suddenly gasp at the sound which felt like an independent thought. One thought that he didn't control on his own. He could very well tell this wasn't an auditory hallucination.
"Sir! Something else is approaching... It's a small drone!" Kewell Soresi announced to his commanding officer.
"Oh?" Jeremiah looked up towards the drone for a few moments and raised a brow, his eyes detailing the float system which kept it floating seamlessly. On the rims of the little wings, were the words Lel vi Bri. He almost immediately froze, his eyes felt as if they were glossening, obscuring his vision.
Opening his cockpit, "Hold your fire." This was a simple order as he opened his cockpit and stood up, looking over the object which hovered there, looking at him through a cold dark lense.
'I am Lelouch vi Britannia! Abandoned, betrayed and disavowed by the Empire in which murdered my mother! I am very much alive! I swear Vengeance! Do you swear Loyalty to me?'
Jeremiah rubbed a thumb right below his right eye as he heard this, hiding his tears from sight as the cameras were focused mainly on the approaching vehicle. He didn't know how, but it appeared as if he was being spoken to by the spirit of Marianne's child.
He clenched his fists and stood at the ready, answering the question with his bodily expressions. He had failed to save Lelouch's mother from being assassinated. While he was confused as to why he was hearing this voice in his head, he could only believe it was because he was truly alive.
He was ready to swear loyalty to Lelouch vi Britannia.
'Good. Now follow my instructions...'
...
Like in the mainstream timeline, there was a Britannian banner flag which hid Zero from sight. The fake gas bomb was also planted behind him in the false white box of the car. Once it was burn, it would reveal both Zero and the man known as the Lost One. Kallen was in the driver's seat, panicked as ever, doubting the plan.
They came within several meters of the convoy and came to an easy stop.
"Get out, you who dare to spoil his Highness' transport!" Kewell demanded over the loudspeaker with an angry tone. The drone would have disappeared by now, having gone under the highway's bridge structure.
As he stood outside of the cockpit, Jeremiah raised a hand to cease hostilities.
"Identify yourself!" He seemed rather cool headed, confident and his tone was filled with passion. It was as if his true duty had been realized once more. He had a pistol in hand, he was ready for almost anything.
At that moment, the flag was burned.
Suzaku almost immediately recognized the armor which Graham was wearing from childhood drawings he had shared. His mouth opened slowly, his eyes stuck on the emblems planted on the shoulders. He was left speechless.
"I am... Zero!"
With a confused expression, within her cockpit, Villetta Nu repeated his name with a brow raised. This was a strange occurrence, she didn't quite understand the meaning behind the name.
"Wh-who is this person!?" The news caster called out in surprise, astonished by the sudden appearance of the extravagantly dressed man. "This man calling himself Zero, who stands in front of the convoy!"
Thanks to the voice in his head, Jeremiah could tell he was looking at Lelouch behind that mask.
Reinforcements landed in from above, all weapons pointed at the false transport of the Prince. A smug smirk across the man's lips as he saw everything transpire. "Now, first you can take off that mask. Show us who you really are..."
Slyly Zero reached for his mask, before putting his hand into the air and snapping his fingers once. The fake box fell apart and revealed the capsule that one could only assume was filled with poison gas.
The crowd grasped at the theatrics, the bluff, in which everyone present thought was very real.
Villetta Nu immediately popped out of her cockpit and shouted, "Lord Jeremiah, that's...!"
"What!?" The noble went wide eyed as if in revelation at the fact they had a chemical bomb at the ready. Though it was really just fake harmless colored vapors.
"No, that's jus–" Suzaku was electrocuted before he could warn them of the placebo dud.
"Can all of you watching TV now see this? Some sort of device with an unclear nature... Will the presumed terrorists explain what it is? Is it some sort of bomb!?" It seemed like the news reporters were having a field day over this.
Jeremiah drew his weapon and pointed it at the assumed mastermind of this scenario, Lelouch. For whatever reason, it seems Marianna's son had chosen to side with the Elevens.
"You don't want to do that... You know what will happen if you shoot, don't you?"
Grunting in a facade of defeat, lowered his weapon. "What are your demands.
"An exchange, for Suzaku Kururugi."
"ABSURD!" He spat back in response. "This man is charged with High Treason, for the attempted Coup d'etat of Area 11 and murder of the Viceroy, Prince Clovis la Britannia!"
"No... You're Mistaken Jeremiah. He isn't the murderer, and he didn't attempt a coup d'etat. The man who killed Clovis... WAS ME!"
It was yet another piece of shock and awe for the audience. They began to speculate that Private Kururugi was innocent.
Jeremiah grinned at this however, rather than being shocked. "Just as planned," he licked his lips of a savoried victory. "The true murderer has come to claim his credit!" He laughed hysterically.
"For a single Eleven, you'll save the lives of many precious Britannians. I don't think it's such a bad deal for you." Zero was still attempting to negotiate. In that immediate moment, the acting became more intense.
"He's mad, I tell you!" Jeremiah spat as he went to raise his weapon again. "Disguising this truck as his Highness's to mock us, using a bomb as a shield!"
The people gasped out in horror as they heard there was a bomb present. Not only that, but it seemed that it made the military even more deterred from opening fire. Just one shot could cause it to explode, causing meaningless casualties as all those watching and lined the streets were Britannians.
It would be a slaughter...
Tapping his booted foot against the metallic surface of the vehicle, the truck moved forward several yards. Being extremely close to the armored convoy now.
"If I die, if even a single bullet rains upon us, this bomb will destroy everyone here. Countless civilians losing their lives because negotiations have broken down, because a single aristocrat couldn't hold his trigger finger steady." He pointed out, causing everyone to tense up on the Britannian side. "I know you don't want that to happen.. Hand over the man you wrongfully imprisoned to draw me out here!"
After a brief silence, Jeremiah nodded.
"Don't give a fuss," Graham's distorted voice was given out for the first time. His mental ability temporarily taking over the minds of the convoy members present. He held the stance of an honorable knight, but with his hands folded in front, warning his adversaries against taking action.
"Understood..." He turned his head and looked to the two guards as he gave the order to release Suzaku.
Just after he was released into their custody, Zero had taken hold of Suzaku in one arm while holding a dead man's switch in the other hand. The four of them were then launched into the air as their great escape began.
Once they landed on the emergency trampoline and bounced off to safety after going over the edge. The convoy was released from their control, but since everyone was preoccupied by the sudden explosion of colored gases from the bomb which was released upon Zero letting go of the switch, no one knew where they had disappeared to.
Panic began to ensue, the reinforcements began to scatter.
...
Having made it quite the distance, into a Ghetto. The trio stood there in the ruins of a stone building, metal beams exposed within the walls. Suzaku was positioned closest to the opening which gave a grand view of the open sky spotted by stars that had defeated the light pollution.
"Is it true you killed Prince Clovis?"
Graham stepped forward as Zero said he had.
"Graham..." Suzaku's attention immediately snapped to the man in the armor, the Oda emblems on either side of his shoulder. "I would have expected better."
The black visor would retreat back, revealing Graham's face below the brow. "No, Suzaku, you didn't. As I didn't expect much when you killed your father in order to put an end to the war, and chose everyone else's fate."
Both Zero and Suzaku paused, both of them in surprise. This simple sentence almost crushed Suzaku beneath several tones of metaphorical weight. He had killed his father, decided the outcome. Before he could even argue about the relationship between results and the means to get them, he shuddered and took a step back.
"H-how did you know about that...?"
Placing a hand under his chin, Zero would speak up. "So you actually... Killed your father?"
"You want to change a nation from the inside..." Graham spoke out with a detestable laugh, "I wish you good luck. Maybe one day, you and I, will be reunited under the same banner should your way be triumphrat. Until then, you may go."
Zero lowered his head as he turned it to Graham's direction. 'What the hell Graham... Why didn't you tell me that? I could have used it to–'
Graham was looking at Zero blankly as their childhood friend slowly backed away and stumbled out and into the darkness. Returning to his court martial. Shaken that his own friend betrayed him and gave terrorists a way to blackmail him into joining them, but stopped them in a wayward fashion by letting him go almost immediately. This wasn't what he wanted, but he was being given a chance to prove he was right, to rationalize and justify his actions.
