L is not for Lelouch - a Death Note-CG mix [PG-13]

[lloyd]

Prologue

Tokyo Settlement, Area 11
Ghetto

The Mitsumi Ghetto was falling apart. Already shoddy and outdated equipment, already slowly crumbling, was now helped in its deterioration by machine guns and grenades. “Where the hell are our reinforcements?!” Shinichiro Tamaki yelled above the din to the other men and women around him. “We’ve lost contact with Yoshida and Ougi’s company,” purple-haired and bespectacled Yoshitaka Minami replied grimly. “But Todoh’s in no position to assist us, they’re busy fighting off Guilford’s Britannian reinforcements…where the hell is Zero?!” Tamaki looked around. His whole company had been decimated by the sudden arrival of reinforcements from Mainland Britannia, and the survivors were now with him fighting a desperate struggle in the ghettos. Not one of the knightmare frames that they had steered into battle remained, and Minami’s Radio was the only communication with the rest of the black knights that remained. A few civilians remained with them. Minami turned to them. “Get out of here! The Britannian forces are going to get here!” When the civilians didn’t budge, Minami closed his eyes. “Damn it, there’s nothing heroic about dying here! Leave!” One of the civilians, though, a fairly old man, looked at Minami. “Leave…to where? I’m not trying to be a hero, it’s just that there’s nowhere to go anyway…it’ll be just as bad in ANY Britannian territory.” At that moment, the ceiling suddenly seemed to collapse as the bright, sterile glow of searchlights illuminated the ground and several knightmares rappelled to the ground. Tamaki looked around at the knightmares. They were older-design glasgows, but they would still be more than a match for people armed with nothing more powerful than a shotgun. “This is the Britannian Military! Drop your weapons and put your arms to your head!” Minami and Tamaki stared up at what they knew was a hopeless battle. “Keh…”

Sacramento, Holy Empire of Britannia
King Henry Hotel

The old, moustached man knocked on the door of the hotel room once. “Come in, Watari,” the half-bored, half interested voice said from behind the door. Watari quietly opened the door into the dark room, lit only by the blue glow of a laptop screen. “Were there any updates, young master?” The raven-haired man at the center looked like some kind of hobbit—dressed in a white, slightly-oversized sweater and jeans, he crouched like some kind of primordial caveman transplanted straight out of a Geico commercial. “Watari…it appears I am not needed at all. Zero overstretched this time around…it seems like his forces fell apart at Tokyo.” “Is that an unfortunate event, Young master?” “…I suppose not for us Britannians…but I would have liked to tested out his skill…based on his performance in other battles, this is the first time he’s met a serious defeat or even made a major mistake such as this…what was it that allowed him to be defeate—” the raven-haired man stopped for a moment as he gnawed at his thumbnail. “What is it, young master?” “It’s all over the nets now—Zero has been captured.” Watari walked forwards, his aged, usually tranquil face now crinkled in an expression of interest. “By who?” “Doesn’t say…there IS something odd, though.” “What is it?” “We get all our updates straight from the Britannian Military—but even though the Order of the Black Knights were being defeated in Tokyo, there was no sign of Zero. And the origin of the announcement came straight from Pendragon, the Imperial Capital…the generals in Area 11 seem just as shocked as we are…how did Zero managed to somehow appear in Pendragon when he was leading the battle only an hour or so before?” The man gnawed his thumb again. “Something is afoot here…ah well, the case is closed. There is no joy to be derived from picking up the crumbs of a cake that has already been eaten. Let’s go home, Watari.” “Yes…Young master L.”

Area 11

In the murky, muted silence of the sea, two behemoths of steel, both entangled in a death grip, slowly sank towards the bottom of the sea. The Green-haired woman in the cockpit of the more humanoid of the two knightmare frames looked around with a bored sigh. A few lights remained dimly lit inside the cockpit of the Gawain. However, it would not last forever—already, the sound of twisting metal announced that the water pressure was slowly overpowering the knightmare frame’s external structure. “Marianne…it seems like we failed.” Despite speaking, the woman known as C.C. knew that physically, she was alone. “…your son chooses the worst possible times to get overemotional…fine, he was emotional the whole way through, but this was the only time it became a fatal mistake for him…he’s with Charles now…” suddenly, though, with a loud crash, another piece of metal crumpled. C.C. looked around at one of the few monitors left. Ignoring the blinking red light that said “External Framework Failure Imminent, Eject now,” she continued to stare at the ceiling. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up on him…he IS Charles’ son after all…” without warning, the last monitor went out as the whole cockpit entered total darkness. Just as the final sheet of metal shattered, C.C. muttered, “Like a phoenix from the ashes—” and then, with the abrupt equalizing of pressure, the Gawain crumpled into a hulk of twisted metal with a last defiant groan.

Knight of Twelve Monica Kruzewski, a gentle-looking woman of Polish birth, turned around and quickly bowed as the ridiculously curly-haired and yet imposingly tall form of Emperor Charles li Britannia strode in with his usual powerful stride. “How was the battle in Area 11?” “Very good, your majesty…Guilford and the Glaston Knights have captured Ryoga Senba and Urabe of the four holy swords. Most of the logistic teams were massacred by Sir Kururugi, and we’ve captured Kaname Ohgi, the former leader before Zero took over—” “Nevermind that, was C.C. captured?” Kruzewski shook her head. “I’m sorry, your majesty, she and the Gawain went down with the Siegfried.” The Emperor shook his head. “What a pity…well, make sure you check the site…and retrieve the Siegfried. Leave everything else to Schneizel.” Kruzewski immediately saluted. “Yes, your highness.” Before she left the room, though, she could distinctly hear the emperor mutter, “and yet again, C.C., you elude me.”

[lloyd]

Chapter 1
Area 11

With a roar, three Jet Fighters, identifiable as Spitfire CR-86’s hissed through the sky. Outside of the apartment, cheering could be heard as well as raucous chants of “All Hail Britannia!”. But in the Yagami household, there was no such revelry. Yagami Light ate silently, idly fiddling with his chopsticks. According to the laws of Britannia, even things such as using chopsticks could not be done, but even in the strict Holy Empire of Britannia, there were some rules nobody would be anal enough to enforce anyway. Moments later, a frustrated sigh and loud footsteps announced his sister, Sayu. “Nothing on except parades.” Light’s mother sighed. “I guess you can’t blame the Britannians…I’m just glad that your father is alive.” Light sighed. “Mom, I told you. Dad’s probably one of the best Devicers in Area 11.” “What disturbs me is the side he was fighting for,” Sayu said, still grouchy about the lack of anything on TV. “Now now, your father is a respected member of Britannian Society—” “—and he’s also cursed by every Japanese—” “Elevens,” Light’s mother interjected sharply, but Sayu continued. “—Japanese here. We’re not Britannians, we’re Japanese, I’d rather be under the Chinese Federation than under white people!” “You just wait till your father hears that,” Sayu contented herself with grumbling. Sayu looked at Light. “You agree with me, right?” Light sighed. “Yes, but…” thankfully, he was saved by the electronic clock beeping. “It’s six o’clock…I need to get back to my apartment. I have to study for an exam tomorrow.” “See you then, Honey,” Light’s mother remarked offhandedly, and Light pulled on his jacket and went outside. Physically, he resembled Britannians to some extent as well, with brown hair combed and oiled neatly and an expression that wouldn’t seem out of place on an Aristocrat’s face. That was probably why he wasn’t forced to bow to every Britannian noble like most Elevens. Instead of heading to his apartment in the settlement, Light headed to the beach—he indeed needed to study, but ten minutes before bed would be more than sufficient. It was still light, and the bay was filled by the Britannian 7th Fleet, flags flapping proudly as nearby salvage crews rescued downed Knightmares on the beach. Light sighed as he sat down on a more deserted portion of the coast, on top of the humanoid shell of a destroyed Japanese Burai Knightmare frame, already stripped of all its weaponry and its engines. A few months ago, the Order of the Black Knights and their mysterious leader, the masked figure known as Zero, had appeared, eclipsing the Japanese Liberation Front and miscellaneous Resistance Groups and finally forming a cohesive force capable of defeating Britannia in open battle, even killing the 3rd Prince of Britannia Clovis Li Britannia and 3rd Princess Euphemia Li Britannia (known as the Massacre Princess because of her order to kill all Japanese under the ruse of the Administrative Area of Japan). With Zero, the Black Knights had rarely lost. Without him, the Black Knights had collapsed. Light sighed. You can’t change the world with pretty worlds…the only person who did that, Prince Clovis, only made himself look stupid. You change the world with your hands…Zero understood that…but he still lost. Overhead, a Britannian helicopter flew by—just as something hissed overhead. One moment, the helicopter was banking away, and then it was a fireball as sudden gunfire erupted in the distance. Not all the Black Knights had been flushed out, apparently. Sighing, Light began to head down the wharf towards the middle class settlements. While the Yagami household was in the homes of the Upper Class in Tokyo settlement, apartments there were far too expensive. Light himself lived in a middle-class apartment in Tokyo Bay. The wharf had been relatively unscathed, a testament to Lord G.P. Guilford’s skill in holding the area. Here, Elevens were working to rescue the living and retrieve dead, watched by Britannian overseers. The Elevens looked quite miserable over the fact that most of the dead were Black Knights whose Knightmares had floundered in the water and who had then been picked off. Light abruptly stopped. A cloud of bubbles, unnoticed by the workers, was coming up to the surface of the water. Hurrying down the stone steps, he reached the bottom just in time to see a body float up. Though it retained some semblance of a human shape, it seemed mangled beyond any possible chance of survival. Reaching out, Light pulled it over towards the dock—by the almost completely destroyed hair, it had probably been a woman. Pulling out a mirror, Light looked around before holding it to the woman’s lips. Her hair had been some light shade, which meant she had probably been a Britannian—however, she was wearing the Uniform of a Black Knight. Light blinked as he looked at the mirror and the thin covering of mist. The mist meant that the woman was still breathing. This woman’s still alive? He needed to get her somewhere—but there was no way any Britannian-run hospital would help a Black Knight. There were many people lugging around bodies as well as survivors, so Light idly slung the woman over his shoulder and walked in the direction of his house. “Err…sir?” Light turned towards the Britannian Overseer, his heart beating loudly. “Sir, you don’t need to work yourself throwing out these bodies…I can get one of my men to do it.” “No…it’s fine…shouldn’t we be glad that we’re not the ones hauling around Britannian bodies?” The overseer thought about it, and then nodded. “Of course. All Hail Britannia!” Light had trouble returning the salute while holding a body, but he did so awkwardly as he walked towards the corpse dump—and then abruptly shifted into an alley. As soon as he had moved in, Light had made sure to check the surrounding streets in the case that he needed to get away from something, be it overzealous black Knights or the Britannian authorities. Honestly, his family was in a rather uncomfortable position—not valued as much more than a propaganda tool to the Britannians, a traitor to the Elevens. Walking up the emergency stairs (to avoid the elevators and the cameras on them), Light looked around. There was nobody in the hallway and there were no cameras (it was a rather old building, the reason why the rent was fairly low), so he quickly lumbered over to his door, unlocked the door and went in. He immediately put the body on his table (something told him that putting her on his bed would be messy). “I’ll be right back, hang on.”He knew the woman probably couldn’t hear, but he felt slightly compelled to do it. He charged down the stairs as he tried to ignore the bloodstains on his jacket. At the foyer, a security guard was dozing. “Sir, are there medical supplies in that cabinet?” The urgency in Light’s voice woke the guard up, and he gaped at the blood on Light’s shirt. “Good lord, are you alright?” “Are there medical supplies?” Light repeated in a voice of forced patience and calm. “Yes.” ‘Can I get the box?” fumbling, the guard pulled a large cardboard box out. “Are you sure you don’t need help?” “I’m Fine,” Light muttered as he grabbed the box and went for the elevator—he probably wouldn’t be able to lug the box up several floors. For a moment, he felt a bit of annoying calm as the elevator’s soothing and simultaneously annoying music flowed over him. Finally, with a cheerful ding, the door opened as Light tried to balance the box on his knee as he fumbled with his key. Propping his knee against the door, Light finally extricated his keys from his pocket and quickly stuffed it into the keyhole, turning it. Immediately, the door gave way, and Light tumbled in with a heap and several curses. “Godf-ckingdammit—” “You sure are clumsy.” “I don’t want to hear this from a half dead—” Light stopped as he looked up. The woman looked at him. She was fairly young, and the green hair made it quite obvious who she was. Despite the fact that she still looked badly wounded, she now seemed capable of sitting up. “Y-you’re C.C. of the Black Knights.” The woman glanced at him. “…and?” Light felt a shiver and felt like pissing in his pants. Thank god I brought her upstairs by the emergency stairs! Helping a Black Knight carried the same punishments as being a Black Knight, nevermind one of the most prominent leaders of the Black Knights. To hide his confusion, he immediately began taking out bandages and antiseptic. “hang on a second, don’t move around too much—” “Just leave it, boy,” C.C. said impatiently. “I’m better already, see?” Light didn’t see, but he nodded anyway. “To live like this, you must assist the Britannian Government—a traitor to your own race, as Le—Zero would say.” For a moment, C.C.’s expression looked abstract and a little sad. “My father is head of the Knight Police.” “Ah, I see…so you don’t even need to dial the police number? It’s like having the police on speed dial.” Light shrugged. “If I wanted to, I would have just dumped you at the feet of the military when I found you on the wharf. I support the Black Knights.” “…It’s easy to say that when you seem completely unaffected by the rebellion, living in an expensive apartment and dressed in good clothes.” Light felt a tick of annoyance. “Well, what are you planning to do now? Now that Zero’s eliminated, now that the Black Knights are almost completely destroyed?” C.C. shrugged. “I’ll gather together the survivors…this struggle is far from over.” Light looked outside. “You’ll never be able to destroy Tokyo like you did this time around…not to mention that Britannian forces will be even more wary than before.” C.C. said nothing. “Anyhow, please stay here until you have managed to contact the Black Knight survivors,” Light finished. “I’ll sleep on the couch.” C.C. shrugged. “As you wish…but you’re just bringing unnecessary risk on yourself.” Light shrugged. “Whatever.” He looked outside and smiled. Maybe this will be the way I can make a mark on the world.

“…How did it come to this?” Kyoushiro Todou looked outside the Edo Hotel’s massive suite at the smoldering ruins of the battle of Tokyo. Behind him, his two trusted subordinates, Shogo Asahina and Nagisa Chiba, watched nearby. Asahina looked particularly bruised—his knightmare had been downed fairly early on, and he had engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. Chiba looked angry as well as depressed. “The question more being, where was Zero?! When we were in our very moment of need, he vanished!” “It’s hard to believe he was captured,” Asahina agreed. Todou shook his head resignedly. “The question is no longer what happened, it’s what we do now. Uribe and Ryoga Senba have been taken, and most of Kyoto house has already been implicated save for lord Kirihara and Lady Kaguya. Our men have been decimated, and save for a few of our old Burais, we have no Knightmares.” “Kouzuki’s found her way to lady Kaguya’s estate with Sugiyama,” Asahina noted with a hint of hopefulness. “Yes, but there’s no way she’ll be able to leave on the Guren with all of Kyoto house now under guard.” “It seems like the dream of liberating Japan in my lifetime has flown away,” Todou muttered with quietly. Suddenly, though, all three jumped at a cheerful voice. “Don’t worry…our cause isn’t over yet…” they turned to see the diminutive (but formidable, as Todou knew) young girl who was Lady Kaguya, the owner of the hotel at the moment. “The Eunuchs in China have agreed to shelter us…and we’ve made contact with C.C.”

[lloyd]

Chapter 2

“New Orders from the Interrogation department, Lord Guilford.” Blonde-haired Alfred Darlton, one of the five Glaston Knights, noted cheerfully as he put a sheaf of handwritten notes of papers onto the table. Guilford looked up. “28 people hiding in a warehouse at Misaki Ghetto…2 knightmare frames, a stolen Sutherland and a modified Glasgow. 18 men, 4 women and 6 children…these assignments are ridiculously specific, aren’t they?” Alfred nodded. The most sociable of the knights, Guilford liked the young man. “Not to mention how we never get told anything about the people giving us orders apart from the fact that they’re ‘up above’. I asked Acting Governor-General Lee, but he said ‘y’all ain’t getting orders from me,’” Alfred said in an imitation of Governor-General Nathaniel Lee (a Britannian officer who had been raised in the southeast coast)’s southern drawl. Guilford looked at the orders. “Every order, they want us to ask any CO’s on the location of C.C. and, in the case of any suspicion at all, give them over to…them, whoever they are.” ‘Well, she was #3 after Kaname Ohgi and Zero himself, innit? Makes sense that they’d want to get her now…but it’s the fact we have to kill everyone else that’s unreasonable.” Guilford shrugged. “Are you scared of blood now, Alfred?” Alfred laughed. “Of course not…we’re soldiers, after all. It’s just a bit over-the-top…I mean, in Area 6, they didn’t do that kind of thing much…heck, did Governor-General Corne—” Alfred suddenly stopped as Guilford’s mug of tea crashed to the floor. “Errr…sorry, Milord…” Guilford had a faraway look for a moment before he looked at Alfred. “No, it’s alright…” in lieu of changing the subject, Alfred quickly looked at the assignment again. “I wonder how they get such specific information…” Guilford continued to look a bit off, but he now seemed less pained than he seemed previously. “It’s got something to do with that new girl here…the Eleven with the dyed hair.” “The Amane girl? She’s cute,” Alfred immediately said. When Guilford looked at him, he turned slightly pink. “Well, yeah! Believe it or not, I like members of the other gender too! I mean, I wouldn’t mind settling down—” “No.” “Errr…milord?” “Not with that Misa girl. Firstly, she’s an Eleven…and you don’t know how much you can trust them. Secondly, she’s attached to the Irregulars.” “Irregulars…?” Guilford looked outside. “I once knew one…they’re not people you want to get involved with.” Alfred sighed as he poured milk into his tea, something he had gotten to like during his time in Saigon. Is the desertion of Princess Cornelia maybe pushing Guilford a little over the edge?

The first thing that woke Yagami Light up was a knock on the door. He immediately froze. Have they found out about C.C. already? However, his fears were dispelled when he heard, “Pizza Hut!” Light opened the door to the deliveryman—he did not recall ordering Pizza. “Three Large Pizzas, Hawaiian style?” “Errr…are you sure you didn’t get the wrong address?” “No, 35 Elysburg Lane, Apartment 4-C, right?.” “Those are mine,” C.C. called. Light closed his eyes. “Alright, then…” taking out his wallet, Light forked over the money to the delivery man. “Monsters, aren’t they? You think they want a lot when you’re dating, but once they move in, you wish you were gay.” Light laughed nervously as he took the pizza and then quickly closed the door. “You know, there’s a new cool thing around, I think it’s called asking.” C.C. shrugged as she walked out of the bedroom and Light turned red. “Don’t walk around in just your underwear!” C.C. didn’t look particularly perturbed. “My clothes were wet.” “And for that matter, can you not use my money to order pizza! Not for breakfast!” C.C. immediately pried the Pizza box open and offered Light a slice. “Want one?” “No thank you!” C.C. shrugged. “As you wish. What do you usually do in the mornings?” “I have a test today,” Light replied grumpily as he took out a textbook. “Quite the studious student there. What do you want to be? A doctor? A lawyer?” “Well, something high up…I want to become known for something.” “Ambitious boy…sounds like you’d resort to pretty unscrupulous measures too if you ask me,” C.C. noted through a mouthful of pineapple. “Was that a compliment?” “In a way. Zero’s like that.” “Zero WAS like that,” Kira pointed out. “Believe me, Zero isn’t done with…” “Are you sure? He was caught,” Light noted skeptically. C.C. laughed. “Believe what you want…hm, despite refusing early on, you’re eating the pizza now…so you have some pride, but it won’t get in the way of your needs.” Light looked down at the slice of pizza he had been eating and closed his eyes. damn it, this woman’s sharp. He closed his textbook. “I’m heading to school. Don’t go outside.” C.C. yawned. “Alright…and by the way, what’s your name, boy?” Light stopped himself from closing the door for a moment. “Yagami Light,” Light said before he closed the door.

Light’s professor had a tendency to drone on and on, and his words had become nothing more than a dull hum long ago. He aced every test anyway, it hardly seemed to matter. Light looked outside at the still-smoking settlement. A lot of the students had been disappointed that the Black Knights hadn’t attacked the school districts. Light had more important things to think about. Do I really want to enter on the side of the Black Knights? He saw Kazuya, the eleven janitor who, on the janitor hierarchy, was at the very bottom. The other janitors, all former students working for extra money, simply had the old fellow clean the hallways. This is how it is all over Japan—and Zero’s rebellion was even more cruel in that, while it gave hope to all Elevens, it shattered it all, to be replaced with an existence that is worse even than it was BEFORE Zero was around. If he were to join any movement, he’d have to make sure it was absolutely sure to succeed, or else not only the hope of him, but that of the world would be crushed, and he would lose his chance of being anything more than a failure in history. And that was worse than not appearing in history at all. The Black Knights were on the downswing—but that was why they’d be more willing to take in help. A drowning man will grab onto a snake to survive, while a proud man will not even shake the hands of his enemy. At the moment, he would have no luck with Britannia. But will they take me? That was the question. His motives were reasonably suspicious, and for good reason—he was fairly well-off even for a Britannian, and it was undeniable that there would be questions about his true loyalties. He would need to first gain their trust without them knowing who he was beforehand. Light sighed. Though it was not a major drag, it was difficult to both think and do work simultaneously, no matter how easy it was to him. He prayed that C.C. wasn’t spending the credit card he had left on the dresser on Pizza. But then again, why did you purposely leave it there?

Alfred Darlton felt sweat beading onto his forehead as he quickly shifted the control stick of the Knightmare Frame. The Sutherland responded to his touch instantly, ducking to the side as the enemy Slash Harken flew overhead. Raising his jousting lance and entangling the Harkin with his lance, Alfred’s knightmare dragged the enemy knightmare forwards as he shot a slash harkin into the cockpit. Immediately, the screen turned blue as the Britannian flag appeared along with his statistics. “Awwww…81.4%?” Alfred groaned to himself as he looked at the stats of the simulation. Every Devicer/Knightmare Frame Pilot had a synchronizing ratio on how well the user was able to integrate his own reflexes and motor functions with that of his knightmare. While Training was a factor, there was always a point, called the Absolute Limit, at which a devicer would be incapable of exceeding even if he/she trained for a century. While Alfred was a talented pilot, he was not a brilliant one such as Lord Guilford and the White Knight of the Elevens, Suzaku Kururugi (who, at 94%, was of a level that was Knights of Rounds Level). Alfred, despite his best efforts, could not exceed his Absolute Limit of 82%. Wiping his sweaty hair, Alfred exited the simulator as the lights came back on and the hatch opened. In his spare time, the simulator was the best way to hone his skills. Alfred liked Knightmare Frame Combat—it didn’t matter whether you were a Black Belt or a couch potato, you could be a good Devicer if you had the reflexes. Alfred, unlike his brothers, was not a prodigy at physical strength, but he had good reflexes and an approachability that his brothers lacked. He looked at the simulator next to him. Its pistons seemed to be strained to the limit, shaking wildly. Whoever was driving inside had no idea how to drive a Knightmare. The simulator abruptly stopped and lowered itself. “Damn,” a loud, painfully girlish voice yelled from inside. The seat ejected and the hatch opened as a sweaty-looking blonde-haired girl climbed out—the cute Eleven girl who Guilford had seemed so nervous of. Alfred took a peek inside. “Synchronization Ratio: 3%” blinked in cheerful red. Alfred hadn’t heard of even the most worthless rookies in the Academy in Sacramento getting anything lower than a 10%. The girl saw Alfred looking at the screen and glared at him. “It was my first time, alright?” “Don’t worry, rookies get ratings like that…for a first time, it wasn’t so bad,” Alfred lied. The girl still looked a bit angry, but also a little mollified. “Well, how’d you do?” without waiting for an answer, she looked at Alfred’s rating, and her expression darkened. “Well, I’ve practiced for years,” Alfred tried to say in lieu of consolation, but the girl had already stomped away. “Good try, Alfred…” Alfred turned as one of his stepbrothers, Edgar, waved. “Yeah, just like all Eleven Girls…cute from a distance, but they’re all teeth once you get nearby. Let’s go get a drink. Bros before Hoes, eh?” Alfred laughed, but he watched the receding back of the eleven before turning away.

Light idly kicked aside his shoes as he reentered his apartment. The smell of pizza was obvious. “How much of it did you spe—” he froze as he saw C.C. hunched over his laptop. “Ummm…” “do you want me to say ‘welcome home, Light, how was your day?’” Light looked at the laptop. “Errr…didn’t I have a password on it?” C.C. shrugged. “You did. The new password is ‘Pepperoni.’” Light looked at the screen. C.C. apparently was on some kind of Chinese Online Game, judging by the massive amount of Kanji that went by way faster than any Eleven could read. From the speaker, a voice emanated, a (Light found) ridiculously cheerful and girlish voice that was reminiscent of Sayu. “Is someone else there, C.C.?” “No, just my current Landlord.” A man’s voice, heavily layered with an accent, spoke. “I assume that since you are letting him see this, he can be trusted?” C.C. shrugged. “He can’t be trusted…but it seems like he keeps secrets well at least.” Another female voice, layered with the musical up-and-down tone characteristic of middle easterners or Indians spoke. “The question still remains…how are we going to pick you up and get you and the rest of us onto the docks. Once we get onto the Chinese Battleship there, we can move straight on to Shanghai and then to Luoyang. Here in the Chinese Embassy, there are enough Britannian soldiers outside to fight the Battle of Tokyo all over again.” “All the Kyoto House facilities are being watched too,” the girly voice said. “You might have to come to us, C.C.” The man now spoke. “We could have Kallen and Sugiyama make a distraction—” “and lose our best pilot and our best cook? Let’s try to keep a low profile at least.” “What other ways can we get in then? There are Britannian Air Force Fighters over the skies…” Light blinked and then looked at C.C. “Can you ask both of the other two people to ask the people there when the trash is collected.” C.C. looked confused, but she immediately spoke into the microphone. “Oy, Kaguya, when do the authorities collect the garbage at your place? Same with you, Diethard and Laksharta.” The man’s voice spoke first. “I don’t speak Chinese very well, but I’m pretty sure they said that they collect at 3 AM.” “4:30 AM,” the girly voice (who was presumably Sumeragi Kaguya, one of the members of Kyoto house, announced. Light immediately pushed C.C. off the bed as he immediately opened up his browser. “IE sucks, you ought to switch to firefox,” C.C. said as she clambered over the bed, “but nevermind that, what are you doing?” “Looking up the garbage collection schedule in Tokyo Settlement…trash is collected here at 4:20 AM or so, and it usually goes straight to the outskirts of the city one the other side of Tokyo Bay…” “…Where the Docks are,” C.C. finished. The Man’s voice spoke. “I get it…you’re suggesting that we use a Garbage Truck to carry each of us and then get picked up by the Chinese Forces there.” “Yes,” C.C. finished. “Since the Chinese Embassy’s garbage pickup is earliest, you could have people take over the garbage truck and then pick me up at…where I am. Next, you can pick up Kaguya and then finally take a detour at the bay and have the Black Knights there transport you to the Chinese Frigate.” There was silence on the speaker, and then the voice of Laksharta spoke. “A bit messy, but I like the idea…I don’t think there’d be anything else they’re not watching well apart from the Garbage, in any case…” Diethard’s voice responded. “I’ll have one of my men deliver the message to the Chinese—all communications to and from the Chinese Frigate are probably being monitored, it’s safer to send a lone operative…I’ll talk to them about it.” “Sure.” C.C. said shortly. “The Chinese Frigate commander will get in touch with you tonight.” “Alright,” C.C. said as she immediately turned off the program. “Good thinking, kid.” “I could think of more for the Black Knights,” Light suggested, but immediately, C.C. cut in. “No.” Light blinked and looked at C.C., who looked back calmly. “You’re too young, kid.” “I’m Seventeen!” “That’s too young.” “You don’t look much younger,” Light shot at C.C., who shrugged. “Not going to argue with that, but…well, we’re fine as it is. Live your happy, rich life, kid…you don’t know the reality of what you’re doing.” Light glared at C.C. “I helped you out—” “I didn’t ask you to…and you should be thanking me for keeping you out this. Boy, you’re staying right here…I’ll make sure of it tomorrow.”

Misaki Ghetto, 8:24 PM

“…Long live Japan,” Masaki Kanda said to each other half-sardonically, half-seriously as they raised cans of emergency ration caffeine shots. “Or what’s left of it anyway…we’re pretty much doomed now, aren’t we? It’s nice to have a guest for dinner…” Yuu Nakajima laughed. “If you call it such…you people are lucky to still be in one group…” Masaki shrugged. “Not really…we’re slowly losing people. I know Miyuki deserted…she was looking down once Zero was captured anyway. And Hikida hasn’t come back either…which makes me wonder, Yuu. Now that Zero is gone, what’s this message you’re transmitting?” Yuu grinned. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you. But I’ll tell you one thing, it’s from C.C..” Masaki shrugged. “What can it lead to anyway? But if there’s any hope from Japan now that Zero’s gone, it’s not with C.C…I’d put my bet on Todou and his men.” Yuu shrugged. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I got to go now…have to deliver this to the Chinese—” without warning, though, the lookout on the floor above in the warehouse suddenly seemed to slump. “What—” and then a beam of white light smashed through the windows as the massive doors blew open and Grey-armored Britannian troops flooded in. “Put your hands on your head and drop your weapons!”

10:54 PM

Yuu would have cursed if he hadn’t been doing so for the last hour and his mouth was dryer than the Sahara. For the umpteenth time, he shrugged his shoulders and tried to move his arms—no luck. He was still strapped to whatever he had been in before the Britannians had put a blindfold over his eyes. I will not betray the Black Knights…I will not betray the Black Knights… he repeated the chant to himself mentally. Surprisingly, after the first few beatings, the Britannians had left him alone. That was odd in itself. He had feared torture, but nothing had happened at all. Maybe I can still get out and deliver my message to the Frigate…it was not likely, but it could happen—but then he heard a small voice in his head speak. But do you even remember what you were supposed to say? Yuu felt indignant. Of course I will, he told himself mentally. I have Photographic Memory, how can I not? Just to be sure, Yuu recounted it to himself. The Message was ‘Prepare to receive a garbage truck on Wharf 2A at 6:10 PM. The truck will carry Mr. Reid, C.C. and Mr. Laksharta. They will be…

“…They will be picked up from the Chinese Embassy and the Edo Hotel at 3 AM and 4:30 Am respectively. C.C. will be picked up from a local business,” Misa Amane finished as her eyes opened again. For a moment, a V-shaped symbol glowed on her forehead before it faded back into the regular tone of her skin. “Am I done?” “Yes, you may go now,” the uniformed man standing next to her said as he looked across the pane of glass at the prisoner, still not knowing that he had already disgorged his deepest secrets. It was an added plus, the Handler realized, that the Irregulars could obtain answers so humanely. Nevertheless, the Irregulars were a dangerous bunch. Each one of them was more than a match for a mere geass user such as himself. He had disliked the Irregular project from the beginning—the idea that there was something above him as a geass user was insane. Something above a king? He would make sure that the Irregulars were removed. He turned to his superior. “Sir Duvall, this is the report.” Sir Eric Duvall examined the text. “Hmmm…this appears to have been what Lord V.V. was looking for.” The Handler immediately nodded. “Should I order the men to immediately guard the garbage trucks?” Duvall laughed. “No…we ARE trying to catch C.C., after all…get rid of this messenger, but make sure the message gets through to the Chinese Frigate. We’ll arrest them there and get rewarded by Lord V.V.. Contact Lord Guilford…we’re pulling out all the stops for this one.” The Handler Blinked. “What about the Knight Police?” “Under Soichiro Yagami? I’m not letting any credit that could go to a Britannian get claimed by an Eleven, Honorary Knight or not.”

[Zane Burnlight]

A great concept, to be sure. The only improvements that could be made are on the subject of grammar, which could easily be rectified through the use of an editor/beta. As a person that experiences great fulfillment in that line of work, I'd be more than happy to offer my services, assuming of course, that you would like them.
To clarify: this is a great story and I really do like it, and as a member of this community, I would like to help you.

[lloyd]

Actually, this project of mine was on hiatus for a while now, but since the poll suggests that there IS some desire for this to continue, help is welcome and desired. As you may have surmised, I don't especially look very highly on microsoft Office's Spelling and Grammar check due to the times I have to ignore the words that MS word claims to be mispelled, and so I also inadvertently miss any grammar errors I would make. Please PM me (my username is lloyd) when you get the chance.