Chapter 14

"I am… Zero!"

Villeta is shocked and confused. "Zero?"

"Wh-Who is this person?!"

"This man is calling himself zero who stands infront of the convoy...!"

"What is all this?" Rivalz exclaimed, as he, Milly, Shirley and Nina listened closely.

Nunnally in her room shifted at the sound of Zero's voice.

"What's he doing?" Tamaki is confused by what is zero planning.

"Who is this man calling himself zero?!"

"Zero? As in nothing?" Diethard said the name again with the roll of his tongue, not taking his eyes off the figure on the screen.

JLF Headquarters

"Could he be a terrorist? But if he is, what a foolish move to make!"

The JLF watched closely to the news, as Tohdoh looked with suspicion.

'Is he an Eleven?' Suzaku thought.

'Suzaku... now to return the favor!' Zero thought.

"Had enough, zero? You're little show is at an end!" Jeremiah yelled. He lifted up his gun and fired. Many sutherlands begun to drop from the ship surrounding him. "Now, first you can remove that mask."

Zero looked as though he was going to comply to the Margrave's demand. But just as everyone expected him to remove the mask, he quickly raised his hand to the air and snapped his fingers. The cover at the back of the personal transport collapsed, and a gas container was revealed.

"What the...!" Jeremiah stared at the gas container in shock.

"Lord Gottwald! That's…" Villetta stood up from the cockpit of her Sutherland and tried to warn Jeremiah.

'That's right, Jeremiah,' Zero smirked underneath the mask, 'since you have not seen its contents before, you will think that this is a poison gas container.'

Suzaku suddenly jerked forward and tried to shout out. "That's not it! That thing is!..." however, before he could finish his sentence, the neck restraint device shocked Suzaku into submission and prevented him from speaking further.

The TV announcer continued to report what he saw to his audience. "Can all of you watching at home see this? It's some sort of device, although its purpose is unclear. Stay with us and we'll see if this so-called terrorist has anything to say."

"That… that bastard!" Jeremiah still couldn't believe what he saw, "He's taken every Britannian here hostage, and he's done it without them even knowing it!"

Jeremiah raised his gun and pointed towards Zero, however the masked man wasn't fazed by even a bit.

Inside the TV studio, Diethard was dissatisfied with his crew's performance. "Unit six, bring up the sound and get that camera right in his face!" he instructed.

"But sir, it's too 'hairy' out here!" the crew replied.

"Tch, amateurs!" Diethard decided to ditch his men and do it on his own, rushing out the studio with a hand-carried video camera.

Back at the standoff between Jeremiah and Zero, Jeremiah realized Zero wasn't going to back off despite being at gun point. Knowing he has no other better options at the moment to save the Britannian crowd from a potential poison gas attack, Jeremiah lowered his gun and conceded, "Fine, what are your demands?"

"An exchange," Zero answered, "This, for Suzaku Kururugi."

"Like hell! He's charged with high treason for murdering Prince Clovis. I can't hand him over just like that!" Jeremiah shouted.

"No, you're mistaken, Jeremiah. He's no murderer," Zero continued nonchalantly even being pointed by guns by several Sutherlands. At the same time, Diethard made it to the scene and aimed his video camera towards the masked man.

"The one who killed Clovis," Zero slowly turned and faced Diethard's camera, "was myself!"

The crowd exploded; they couldn't believe the man to have claimed himself having murdered a Britannian Prince!

"He's going overboard!" Ohgi exclaimed, "There is no way out of this!"

Kallen fared even worse: she was trembling in fear, "We are so screwed...!"

Neglecting the shocked crowd, Zero continued. "For a single Eleven, you'll save scores of precious Britannians. I find that to be a bargain."

'This guy… is he trying to make it one big show of his?' Diethard felt excited upon seeing this happening in his otherwise routine life as a sucked-up journalist to the Government of Area 11.

The Executor

The Imperials see this is interested about the individual name zero, it was a surprise he will use the gas and held the britannians as hostages. This plan if his is genius, but the three kainand, starkiller, and arkainus are not buying it.

"I don't trust what zsro said!" Starkiller watch the show on the screen.

"I agree, something is wrong." Kainand could see this is fake.

"I agree with you admiral. Zero might be preparing a biochemical weapon but its is not a bio weapon inside them." Arkainus explained to them.

"So if the bomb does not contain any gas, what is inside the bomb?" Kainand ask.

"Patience admiral. We will see what is zero will give us." Arkainus said. Although he already knew the plot he still wants to see the real show in real life. He also might make an entrance of the empire to the whole world.

Jeremiah couldn't believe he was being threatened by such an imbecile. "He is mad, I tell you. Disguising this truck as His Highness'!" Jeremiah bellowed in a shaky voice, "He'll pay the price for mocking His Highness!" All the surrounding Sutherlands re-aimed their guns to the masked man.

"Careful. You don't wish the public to learn of Orange, do you?" Zero suddenly announced. Everyone, Jeremiah included, was confused about what "Orange" meant.

Zero tapped the car slightly twice to signal Kallen to slowly drive towards Jeremiah's cavalcade.

"If I die, it'll all go public. If you don't want that to happen…" Zero continued as his mask partially opened to reveal his left eye.

"What are you talking about? What is this?" Jeremiah demanded, still not understanding what Zero was talking about.

Zero ignored Jeremiah and continued, "…you'll do everything in your power to let us go, your prisoner as well!" a red sigil flew into Jeremiah's eyes and rewired his neural network.

"Right, understood," the geassed Jeremiah answered in a monotone, before turning back to his subordinates, "You there, release the prisoner."

"Huh?" Kallen couldn't believe what'd just happened.

All the purist faction officers were confused at Jeremiah's order and questioned him why they should release Suzaku, but Jeremiah offered no explanation to his order other than just insisting that it was his order and his subordinates should obey. In the midst of confusion, the two soldiers guarding Suzaku eventually acquiesced and released the Honorary Britannian, sending him walking slowly towards an approaching Zero. While being released, Suzaku didn't look happy; instead, he looked wary at the masked man and demanded to know his identity, only to be stopped again by the neck restraint device.

"As I thought, they didn't allow you to speak," Zero muttered.

"If they get away, we'll lose everything!" Villetta realized how serious the situation would become if they really let Suzaku go, and she swiftly got back into her Sutherland, ready to stop Zero and Suzaku from escaping.

Kallen slowly walked towards Zero and whispered, "Zero, it's time."

"Right, until next time." Zero suddenly took out a remote control and pressed the button; the gas container started to release coloured gas, sending the crowd into panic mode.

"You cowardly Eleven!" Villetta screamed as she had her Sutherland pointed its machine gun towards Zero, only to be blocked by Jeremiah's Sutherland. "Lord Gottwald, why?" Villetta demanded.

"You heard me! Stand down now!" Jeremiah barked.

"Hahahahaha!" Zero let out an evil laugh as he carried Suzaku and jumped off the bridge with Kallen, falling to a large black canvas that allowed them to land safely into a cargo.

"It works! Now we can…" Ohgi said with a hyped tone, only being brought back to reality when Kewell shot Ohgi's machine down. "You imbecile!? There's nowhere for you to run!" Kewell hissed.

"Lord Soresi!" Jeremiah bellowed, his Sutherland pointing its gun towards Kewell's machine.

"Huh?"

"Are you going to follow orders or not? And believe me, there will be repercussions. All units, do I make myself clear? Do everything in your power to help them get away!" The geassed Margrave shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Executor

"Wait, why is Jeremiah order his men to release suzaku and let them go? Wait, don't tell me..." kainand is surprised of what Jeremiah did, so he makes a guess.

"Yes, admiral. It is the geass zero used on Jeremiah." Arkainus said.

"So he has the confidence because he use geass, bet he wouldn't be this brave or the guts to do it if he doesn't have a geass." Starkiller said.

Back at their hideout, Ohgi, Kallen, Tamaki and the other resistance cell members gathered and talked about the whole operation. They still couldn't believe they had actually rescued Suzaku from the heavily armed Britannian army, yet Tamaki was still not entirely convinced by Zero's ability. "That's crap! How many times can a bluff like that work, anyway?"

"You have got to give the guy some credit though," Ohgi interjected.

"Huh?"

"We've got to admit it, nobody else could've pulled that off. Not the Japanese Liberation Front (JLF), certainly not me," Ohgi reasoned, "We've always thought that a full-on war with Britannian wasn't a possibility at all. But maybe with him, it is."

Kallen's eyes widened as she heard what Ohgi said, and she turned her face towards the other side, where Zero and Suzaku were behind closed doors and having a private discussion.

Inside an abandoned theatre stood Zero and a Suzaku freed of the neck restraint device. "It looks like they have treated you rather roughly. Now you know what they're really like. Britannia is rotten. If you wish to bring change to this world, then join me," Zero extended his invitation to Suzaku to join him in his crusade against Britannia.

However, Suzaku was more concerned about another matter. "So, was it true? Were you really the one who killed Prince Clovis?" He demanded.

"This is war," Zero explained. "Do I really need a reason to kill an enemy commander?"

Suzaku realized he couldn't argue against that, and so he switched his ground. "How about the poison gas? You are taking the civilians as hostages…"

"You need a bluff to negotiate," Lelouch shot back, "The result: no one died!"

"The result?" Suzaku questioned before he turned down his face and mutters, "I see, so that's all that matters to you. Huh…" he gave a tired smile.

Zero once again reached out to Suzaku with his right hand, this time with a noticeably softer voice. "Come join me. The Britannia you serve is a worthless dominion."

"Maybe that's true, but…" Suzaku responded, before raising his head once again and looked at Zero with determination in his eyes, "but this nation, it can be changed for the better, and from within."

"Change…?" Zero couldn't believe what Suzaku had just said.

Suzaku turned and started to walk away. "Any ends gained through contemptible means aren't worth anything, you know."

"Wait!" Zero exclaimed, "Where you are going?"

"My court-martial begins in an hour."

"Damn, are you mad? The only reason they're giving you a trial is to find you guilty! The judge, the prosecution, and defence!" Zero exclaimed while clenching his fist, still couldn't believe what he saw before his very eyes.

"Be that as it may, rules are rules," was Suzaku's simple response.

"But you'll die!"

"It doesn't matter."

"Don't be an idiot!" Zero couldn't contain his anger any longer: why was his friend so willingly throwing away his life?

"An old friend of mine always used to tell me that. He'd say I was a fool. It's my weakness, I guess," Suzaku calmly replied. He then turned back and faced the masked man, "I'd try to bring you in, but you'd just end up killing me. And If I'm going to die, I'd like it to be in the service of the people," he once again turned and walked away, before finally saying, "Even so, I thank you… for saving me."

None of them know they were being watched by a probe droid.

The Executor

"I don't know what to say about suzaku." Kainand is in disbelief of what he see. "Either he is loyal or idiotic."

"I do not know what to say but it is rare to see a man like kururugi. Although he is not a britannian he is loyal to britannia and follow their rules." Starkiller is impressed by suzaku

Loyalty to britain even he knows he will be accused and get executed.

Arkainus meanwhile didn't talk and still look at the holographic screens. 'Idiot' he shake his head.

Lamperouge Residence

Back in the dark living room where Nunnally was in, the young blind girl was still listening to the radio intently. "…yes, apparently. Private Kururugi has made contact with the authorities. It would seem the Zero has released him," the announcer said, "However now that the original charges against him have been thrown into question, it's very possible that Private Kururugi would be found innocent and acquitted."

"Thank goodness!" Nunnally was happy for Suzaku, hearing that her friend would likely be acquitted from the murder charges he faced.

Click.

Nunnally heard the door opened, and she turned back and greeted, "Sayako?"

However, it was not the Japanese maid, but a lime-haired woman wearing a white straight jacket emerging from the shadows, standing right behind Nunnally.