Chapter 19: Interference and Interlopers – Part 2

V.V. was an immortal, and while he hadn't faced direct threats in decades, that didn't mean he didn't understand pain. He had been shot, stabbed, riddled with shrapnel, poisoned, and on one occasion, been targeted and caught in an explosion which left his body recognisable till he could regenerate.

And yet, nothing felt as painful as this moment. That pain, which seemed to start in his forehead as little more than a pinch, clawed its way towards the back of his neck, feeling like it was twisting and ripping apart his flesh and bones as it slowly migrated to the mark of his code. But when it got there, that pain exploded into an entirely new level he had never felt possible.

The pressure swelled, like someone trying to stab you with a simultaneously dull and piercing jagged blade. He couldn't see it, but he could feel his code starting to shine as hot liquid metal poured into it, flowing into the rest of his body. It proved too great for him to stand, and he fell to his knees, hissing in fury and pain as he tried to keep awareness through the agony. His people weren't so lucky, as while he had Clara for this mission, she wasn't the only one he had grifted geass to present.

She and the other three agents gasped, moaned, and screamed as they fell over, their geass violently reacting to whatever was happening. Clara yelled for the power to cease, for it to fade, but it was no longer under her control. Now, it shone so bright that even as she covered her eye, its light could be seen through her clenched fingers, piercing through.

V.V. ignored that and focused on the gate as it opened. It was finally doing what he needed, as he could just barely see it. The visage awaiting him on the other side wasn't the bright light of C's World, but…'

'Yes, it's like the report.' He smiled, even as blood started to pour out of his nose and eyes from the damage being done to his body. He was too happy to care as he could see the glowing rings, the same ones which swallowed up Marriane's spawn, he could finally-

A generator exploded, catching several of his mechanics in the blast so fast that none could say they even heard those men scream.

"Director, there is something wrong! The connection—it's unstable!" one of the researchers yelled, turning his back on the crumbling experiment.

“We can’t keep it open; it's proving too much for the generators!” another called out, trying to increase the power the generators could provide, but it was just not enough, and each was being taxed far past its limit. One started to smoke while another caught fire.

“The Thought Elevator is registering possible failure points.” A third informed them, keeping an eye on the readings of the ancient gateway, but V.V. was insistent.

Even as it felt like rusty nails were being tumbled and forced through his veins, and his mark of code was burning hotter than the desert sun, he refused to give up. “No, no, don’t you dare, not when I-Clara, get moving!” He yelled at Clara, only to spot the girl rolling about on the floor, suffering from muscle spasms as she screamed in agony. V.V. growled, his anger rising at the sight. “Useless!”

“Director, it’s too dangerous, please step back!” The same person pleaded with him to leave as they tried to minimise things.

“I’m not about to-!” V.V.’s stubborn refusal was upended as the already burning generator blew up, sending fiery shrapnel all over the place, much of it hitting other pieces of equipment, damaging them. Feedback shot down the wires, electricity dancing around them, short-circuiting monitoring equipment as the door to Zero, to his goal, slammed shut.

“Fire suppression, we need the fire suppression!” V.V. heard someone scream, but he was too focused on the door, which was as solid as it seemed to be, nothing to elude it opened, nothing to pass through…he had failed.

“D-director, are you okay?” One of his assistants hesitantly asked him, helping the immortal to his feet. V.V. was just realizing that the blast had thrown him onto his back.

“Get your hands off me, you buffoon.” V.V. shook the man's hand off him, uncaring for the dirt or the blood from his already rapidly healing wounds. He looked around the place at the destruction before it looked to another of his people. "What is the status of the gate project?"

“Director,” the woman paused, gulping down spit. She needed to word this right, as when the director looked this displeased, earning his ire’s attention was a short trip to an early grave. "Three of the four generators failed, and two caught fire and suffered catastrophic failure. We must look over every piece of equipment and wiring for damage before we can even make a second attempt."

"We'll also need to revise the plans, and possible bring in an additional 4 generators in conjunction with the 3 replacements we'll need." She quickly added, though she was already nervous about getting such equipment shipped over, as quickly as the director would surely want.

V.V. took a deep breath, but couldn’t dispel the sense of betrayal and fury in his heart. ‘Naga…did he lie to me? He thinks he can play me like a fool?’ He’ll show that damned voice that he wasn't to be humiliated like-

“I would advise you to watch your thoughts, boy.” His fury vanished almost instantly, replaced with a bone-chilling terror as he heard the voice in question speak. “I did not lie. This fault is squarely on your shoulders, human. Had you followed my directions, this wouldn't have happened.”

“I did-!” V.V. tried to speak up.

“Silence! If I wished to speak with human children, I would. You will listen and speak when I say you can.” Naga silenced him, leaving V.V. whimpering like a scolded dog, nodding to this, he wasn’t sure if Naga could see it, but he seemed to carry on like he did. “You are to fix everything, and make sure you follow my directions to the letter, for I will not repeat myself. Your little blunder has already caused problems for both of us, which I expect you to handle.”

Problems? Oh yes, Clara. She was connected to geass and looked like she had been through the wringer. Maybe it was just those he had given geass to, but if not, he would need to worry about his brother having questions.

Again, he nodded to the voice, Naga seemingly satisfied but far from happy with him. “Don’t make you waste my time calling you again, else I’ll ensure you live with the pain of having a blade in your every orifice for the next year.” With that, the demon in his head vanished to whatever pit of hell it typically resided in.

“Director? Do you need to see the medical team?” V.V. blinked, looking at his assistant, who looked as terrified as he was concerned. V.V., realizing that, unlike their first conversation, Naga hadn't given them the privacy of a paused world, so now he had to worry about his pawns suspecting he was losing his mind.

He knew this was part of Naga's means to demean him, but he wouldn't satisfy him.

"How long until the repairs are done?" V.V. ignored the question, his tone making it clear that they weren't contradicting him on this.

It was the woman from before who responded. Being put on the spot, she was quick to give an answer: "Oh, well, it shouldn't take long. We'll cycle our crews, but it should be done by tonight."

“Get it done,” He ordered, before V.V looked to where Clara lay. The girl wasn't dead; he could still feel her clinging to life, but she wasn't going to get up anytime soon. “And get her to the medical team. She needs to be ready for this when you’re ready.”

“Understood.”

Line Break

As morning came to New Vestroia, the weather outside on the open water remained stormy. Even from within his cabin, Lelouch only needed to turn on his computer and look out via the cameras to see that it looked worse out there than it had when he and the rest had gone to bed.

Such weather would only further delay them, but he had other things on his mind as he had barely slept. Since he woke up with his geass feeling like it was on fire, he had struggled to return to sleep once more, the pain remaining, moving at a snail’s pace when it came to fading so when the alarm went off for him to replace Ace at the realm to give the Darkus brawler a chance to catch some sleep, he had already been up for a while now was not in the best of moods.

“Are you finally going to tell us what that was all about?” Sirenoid asked, as no one was on the bridge except him.

"It's not that I'm keeping secrets, but more that I don't have answers to give.” Zero replied, his mask secure around his head as he held onto the control, his attention split between the dials and screens, and the world outside the mobile base as it rose and fell on the turbulent waves

“Well, if you say it out loud, perhaps we can offer you some insights into it.” Elfin gave a cheery suggestion, though one could hear the undercurrent of concern in her words.

Zero certainly understood her concern and appreciated it, but it was…hard to put it into words, an oddity for him. “Being frank, it felt like a dream.”

Elfin jumped onto the dashboard, drawing his attention. "Oh no, that was real. Unless you suddenly developed a bad case of sleepwalking, and cursing…and moaning in pain." She couldn't see it, nor could Sirenoid, but she and Sirenoid were sure he wasn’t happy about the reminder of how his little spasm had gone.

It's a good thing the rooms were properly insulated; otherwise, they'll need to worry about the others being worried and demanding answers he wouldn’t want to give.

Zero had to take a breath, trying to find a good way to put it into words. “It was like my geass just misfired, but like something was forcing it to activate.”

"Didn't you say a similar feeling happened when you first came to New Vestroia? Was it Wavern’s doing?” Elfin asked, but he shook his head.

"No, she claimed it was someone else at first, an unseen enemy trying to harm me, but she never gave details." Zero suspected she didn’t have details to give, as despite everything, or perhaps because of his encounters with her, Lelouch couldn’t see Wavern lying or keeping needless secrets.

“You think it’s the same one?” Sirenoid asked.

“Not likely, besides this felt…different, close to Wavern’s touch but completely different from hers in almost every way," Zero replied, as that sensation was…violent, crude, and malicious. Akin to a hostile invasion of his bodily autonomy. It was part of why he couldn’t sleep as he had slept sore before, but the idea that…something could violate him like that, and he couldn't even name it, unnerved him.

“Hmmm,” Sirenoid hummed, before turning away to face the storm-covered ocean. "Well, that's a tricky one, isn't it?"

"Agreed, but if this force reminds you of the divine, then it can't be good, Lelouch," Elfin added, as this seemed more dangerous than the typical stuff.

Zero agreed, and he would prefer that they take a moment to think about it, possibly postpone their trip, but they didn't have the luxury. "But with how little we know, or can even do about it, the best we can do is move with caution. We'll be arriving by evening, we'll find Preyas, and we'll try to make contact with Wavern again.”

Line Break

 “Interesting,” Professor Clay mused as he studied the card under an electron microscope. Pulling up another side, he placed them side by side and saw something he had seen many times already: “It’s an extract match.”

“Is that important?” Gus, who had accompanied Spectra to Gamma City to speak with the professor, asked.

“Very,” the professor shut down his equipment, holding up one of the cards the two Vexos had brought for him to study. "Despite their appearances, the Gate Cards we know are each unique, even if only slightly. But along with those you brought me, I've studied over 30 others, and they're all identical."

Spectra looked to the side and saw others, some he imagined had been collected in the area or perhaps had been brought in by other members of the Vexos; he didn't know.

"What could that mean? I've never had such a card before, " the masked leader of the Vexos asked, though where someone like his highness would be angry or annoying, he was more intrigued. It wasn't often that such puzzles landed in one's lap.

The professor didn't immediately respond, choosing to cross his arms in thought. Both brawlers could tell that he had something on his mind, and he seemed to be comparing the pros and cons of whatever move he was considering.

Neither interrupted him, even if they wished for a speedy answer. Their patience would be rewarded when the man spoke for perhaps a minute.

"I have a theory that it's because these are…what you could call fragments. They were not created the same way as typical cards are. These ones, in contrast, seemed to have been created the moment the sky was cracked, and as such are something akin to pieces to a primordial aspect of Bakugan power, or some element of the building blocks of New Vestroia itself.” He explained, holding up a card for Spectra to take, the Pryus brawler was much more interested after hearing that.

However, for all his interests, he had to focus on the importance of the meeting. "And yet, that doesn't answer why they're here."

The professor was getting to that. "This is mere speculation on my part, and I've not had the appropriate time to gather stronger evidence, but I theorise it's because something…or someone is trying to cross through the dimensional gap into New Vestroia and did the equivalent of missing the turn and slamming into the brick wall.”

“Dimensional travel? Like this? It’s far too crude.” Gus stated, almost dismissing the possibility out of hand.

“Agreed, which tells us that if my theory is close to the truth, then this isn’t being done by a particularly advanced society or party. It could very well be a one-in-a-trillion oddity of the universe. But…" The professor paused, which didn’t go unnoticed.

“But?” Spectra asked.

The man brought up screens showing…weather reports from the regions that housed Beta City. Spectra wouldn't say he was a master at reading the charts, but he knew enough to know that such lines and pressure readings couldn't be good; in fact, that had to be a storm, and a big one at that. "There've been severe storms around Beta City, well outside the norm, and it seems that there is a disturbance in the Silent Core.”

"The Silent Core, you say?" He asked, and when the professor nodded, Spectra grew silent for a moment, thinking about something before he smiled. Turning on his heel, he walked towards the door, leaving a surprised Professor and Gus awake. "Well, we'll let you return to work, good doctor. I apologise for the interruptions, especially when you already have so much on your plate."

Leaving the lab, Bis's right-hand man was quick to get out of his stupor and give chase, catching up with his master as he strolled down the halls towards the teleporters.

“Master Spectra, forgive my impudence, but I don't understand why we didn't ask further questions," Gus asked, as they hadn't learned much, only heard theories that couldn't be proven.

Spectra, on the other hand, believed that they had learned plenty. “Tell me, Gus, did you know that there was an unusual disturbance in the Infinity Core a little over a month ago?”

Gun was confused by the question, but he answered the same way: “I recall reading the report about.”

“Well, about a week after that occurrence, we have the first confirmed case of Alban Ganymede making his brawling appearance. However, when we looked around, we learned that he had been spotted first less than 12 hours afterwards.” He looked at his master in shock, as it took only a moment for him to realise what Spectra was suggesting.

Spectre wasn’t done, as he had more to converse about, almost like they were discussing mundane topics of little importance. "And in his first official brawl, and those he's been a part of against us since, he's given off an energy that shouldn't be coming off a Vestal, or even the typical Bakugan, but instead, being closer to what we've seen from the 6 Legendary Bakugan."

“You believe Zero has something to do with this? But how? Why?” Gus could see the line of reasoning, as one could expect from master Spectra, but at the same time, there were still missing pieces.

Spectra nodded, as he didn't have the answers. "That is the question, isn't it? Well, either way, we don't have much in the way of proof of any of that, but…"

He looked to his right-hand man with a devious smile. "Gus, let's see how bad things are in Beta. I believe that we could find some good fortune there."

Gus bowed to him, hand to his chest as always. “As you command, Master Spectra.”

With their travel plans changed, he would need to contact their destroyer, have it change course, and start the journey before they arrived. As he thought about that, he thought about Zero. How could he not, as there was something about the masked brawler, something unusually familiar to Spectra. He could tell that he wasn't like the rest, no, a person like that had greater ambitions and goals, and if he was good with his cards, he could recruit him to his cause.

It would certainly be a good way to monitor Mira Fermin and the rest of her little resistance.

‘Zero, you’re a real mystery, one whose had my interest for a while, perhaps this will help me uncover who you truly are, beneath the mask…’ Spectra couldn’t wait for this meeting, as it was time he saw the masked man for himself.

Line break

Kallen wondered if she was cut out for leadership. Not because she froze, was indecisive, or even made bad calls. She rarely did any of those, but one thing she found to be a particular issue she couldn't shake was handling her temper. You would think dealing with Tamaki would give her a greater sense of control, but C.C. was a different beast.

It was bad enough when she burst into her room at night, demanding that she get dressed and turn the submarine around. Still, she hadn't been any easier to deal with through the day, even when it was clear she wasn't the most well-liked person on the bridge.

Seriously, C.C. had gone and woken up everyone, and it was not a smart move for people who already didn’t trust her all that much.  "C.C., this is a bit much…" Ohgi tried to play peacemaker and keep the more angry members of the Black Knight’s command from acting on that aggression.

“Maybe, but we need to get there.” If only C.C. were willing to play ball, Kallen guessed it came from being immortal. Not like a bullet to the head would mean much for her…damned witch.

“And we are going, but it’s not like we can teleport, or not be careful. For all we know, this was a trap-” Minami tried to speak up.

“It’s not.”

“And how do you know that?” Kallen asked, her patience wearing thin with C.C.'s cryptic responses.

"Because this is far beyond what Cornelia would even be capable of, much less do," C.C. replied, focusing on their real-time map showing their location and Kamine Island. Sadly for her, even if they booked it, it would be hours before they arrived, and that was if they were complete idiots and remained on the surface. Britannia didn't know they had a submarine, so being brazen about it would only invite trouble.

"Are you Interested in sharing more?" Ashahina hissed, to which C.C. remained quiet. This only angered the spectacled member of the holy swords further as Urabe sighed into his hand.

"God, how did the masked bastard not lose his cool with her?" At this point, he was hoping they would find the masked man so he could serve as the lightning rod for C.C.'s blasé and almost antagonistic personality. God, he hoped Tamaki had just been talking out of his ass when he called C.C. Zero's mistress, as he knew some guys liked complicated girls. Still, C.C. was to women what Differential Equations was to basic middle school Trig.

“You say you felt a disturbance in your code? Isn’t that how you know Zero’s still alive? Wouldn’t it only be related to him?” Sugiyama asked.

C.C. turned to him, a frown on her face. She looked annoyed that she had to answer, but she could see she was being too forceful with them, so she couldn't remain silent. “Code doesn’t work like that. I have a link to C's World, meaning I can sense when things happen."

Tohdoh wasn't pleased with any of this. Still, unlike many of their ranks, he had experience dealing with government officials and politicians before Japan fell, and was well accustomed to difficult people. “How regularly does that happen?” He asked.

C.C.'s frown grew as she recalled that feeling, how her code had lit up with pain she had rarely felt before. Best she could compare it to was mixing the agony of several of the more painful deaths she's had into one, and focusing that on her code, which then spread across her body, slowly like molluscs but thick and slow to fade.

“Rarely, C’s World is a strange realm, one I doubt anyone understands, but it's nearly entirely separate from this world. Only the Thought Elevators serve as a direct means of access, and because you need geass or a code to access them, few can enter.”

"What about this mysterious enemy? The one who got Kozuki and Zero onto that damned island to start? Couldn't they have managed this?" Nagisa asked, emphasizing the mysterious part, as even now, C.C. refused to divulge all of what she knew.

“Possibly…” C.C.’s face grew tenser, biting her lip, she wondered what could drive V.V. to make such an insane move, but then again, this was the same brat who killed his sister-in-law and fellow conspirator in deicide out of petty jealousy. At this point, she couldn't say he wouldn't make such a big gamble if someone had slighted…

Or he thought he could get something out of it, and who's to say he wasn't trying to find that dragon and subjugate it to their will. "Well, it's a moot point; we need to get there and get into C's World before they can do anything else. Whatever they’re doing…it’s not sustainable.”

"All right, but does it really involve us? It's a separate plane of existence from what I gather. They could be dropping bombs for all we know." Inoue asked, as this C's world, immortality and magic talk, felt well above their pay grade.

“Because while separate, it is linked and ‘dropping bombs’ as you elegantly put it,” C.C. gave her an annoyed look, but didn’t linger. "Could result in millions of deaths, or impact the souls of millions at random. It could be worse, but I can't say how much because I never thought this could be done, much less that someone would."

Tohdoh didn't like this, but he couldn't dismiss it either. They couldn't just stand by if this was as important as C.C. claimed. Besides, perhaps they could use this to their advantage.

With that in mind, he gave his orders. "Kozuki, the same as before, you'll handle her protection when we get to Kamine Island. We'll keep our distance and watch for the Britannians."

Line Break

“Cornelia, report.”

No matter how many battles she survived, the times she faced death and didn't flinch, Cornelia could never fully suppress the chill that raced down her spine when she so much as heard her father speak. And when he addressed her, that feeling was only stronger, throwing her back to when she was first introduced to him.

She didn't see her father; she didn't see any love or affection in his gaze. She saw a man analysing her worth, just as her mother had analyzed the jewellery she was considering purchasing. And she could never tell if she was found worthy in his eyes.

But she was now older, an accomplished empire general, responsible for its most recent expansions, and now the Viceroy of Area 11. When she was addressed, something as small as fear could not factor into her response.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Cornelia didn't dare call him 'father'. Rising from her bow, she kept the cold mask in place, while her sister, Euphemia, also rose but kept silent, doing her best not to draw his attention. "With the disappearance of Zero, terrorist activity within Area 11 has become subdued, down to but a 5th of what it was before I was dispatched to the troubled region of the empire. The Black Knights have become little more than a nuisance, carrying out minor raids on small outposts and vigilante work.”

Cornelia wouldn't say it, but she was displeased that such a pathetic group of numbers and turncoats had managed to hand her two separate defeats. Her displeasure was all the more pungent considering that in both cases, they were beaten back not by the Britannian but by the Lancelot and its Honorary Britannian pilot.

That same pilot, Major Suzaku Kururugi, was in attendance at this meeting, as was the requirement for her younger sister's knight of honour. However, like her knight, Guilford, both remained near out of view of his Majesty, standing guard at the Viceroy's throne room entrance. Neither had released their salute of the emperor if, while she could trust Guilford to do so, she wasn't so sure about Kururugi, but speaking of him,

"Prime Minister's support has continued as we investigate the strange incident from Kamine Island, but I am sad to report that we have since found nothing that can point us in any real direction as to what happened that day; however, we have ensured that no information of the incident has leaked." Cornelia continued. Her father’s typically hardened stone visage didn't relax, despite the fact that she would have believed him incredibly interested in this.

But then again, while she had been flabbergasted by the report, including the appearance of a dragon, when Schneizel spoke with her after the fact about how he requested permission to use imperial assets to investigate this mind-boggling event, he claimed their father was unmoved—not sceptical but apathetic to it, though Schneizel seemed to think it was because the Emperor didn't think they'd find anything.

“However, as the Area has become much more stabilized, it stands to reason that it can be elevated to satellite status, and that I would no longer be required to remain here as Viceroy, freeing me up to continue our offensives against the E.U.”

The emperor, the man who rules the strongest superpower on the planet, kept his cold purple eyes on her, his face unmoved. When he spoke, it was with the same ruthless, strong, and yet uncaring tone she had grown used to. "As long as Area 11 is settled, I couldn't care less about what you do with the E.U. That country is dead and only waits for us to carve it up.”

“However," That word, that single word, seized her heart, and to her side, she could hear her sister let out a tiny whimper. "I have yet to see results from your investigation into Zero and Kamine Island. This is not the first report you’ve given when you have nothing to share, nothing to justify the effort. Or do you have a body which you mean to present to me?”

Cornelia knew better than to point out the impossibility of the task or remind him that it was not she but Schneizel who was managing the investigation. This was, as it always was with the emperor, a test—a means to see how she would act, what she would say, and what she wouldn't say.

“Your Majesty, this is an entirely new field of science; it pains me to say it, but it takes time for us to grasp the forces at work. We have done several extensive scans of Kamine Island's ruins, and gone through the footage even more, but we're still moving slowly.” The emperor’s gaze hardened ever so slightly, a sign that he was considering her words, or was plotting her punishment for failure? She didn’t know, but she could only speak the truth, though not the blunt facts.

“So you say," Charles stated, his gaze keeping her on her toes before he changed the topic. What of Zero's forces? You claim them to be little more than a nuisance, but have you captured any high-ranking individuals? Their collaborators?" And just her luck, it wasn't to one which she would have much good to report, either.

"N-no, your Majesty. We have only managed to capture or eliminate foot soldiers and rabble." Cornelia had to bite out the admission, knowing how bad it made her look. "Their more prominent figures, as well as their ace, have practically vanished. Over the last month, they've only had 2 appearances and scurried off before we could mobilise in force to handle them."

Cornelia would give Zero one thing: When he was directly leading those so-called 'knights', they didn't just commit hit-and-runs; they stayed long enough to fight her and tried to take pot shots at her.

“So tell me that you've neither crushed the head of the snake, nor managed to destroy its body's vital organs, and you claim that the area is worthy of an elevation in status, and that you wish to be replaced?” The emperor asked, though only a fool would think there was any answer to that which wouldn’t further displease the emperor. Euphemia certainly felt the weight of his gaze on her, it taking all she had not to wilt.

“But I will forgive this failure if you can handle one task. I care not for the Black Knights' high command and so-called ace, but I wish to see one of them in particular captured.” Cornelia couldn’t hide the momentary flash of shock at her father’s words, not the blatant insult to her capacity to handle things, but his admission of how he didn’t care about a terrorist group in such a vital region of the empire.

Euphemia wasn't nearly as fast on the uptake to iron out her expression, but their father didn't care to call her for it.

"If I may assume, Your Majesty, are you referring to Tohdoh?" Cornelia asked, Suzaku suppressing the wince at how his former mentor was no doubt about being ordered, captured, or killed by the emperor himself. It was…harsh, but Suzaku couldn't say it was unfair or illogical. Tohdoh-sensei was the obvious next in line to lead the BK, and he knew the man would not have an issue with his fate.

Part of him believed his old mentor would think it a compliment that he was seen as so dangerous that the strongest man in Britannia demanded he be removed from the board.

“You’ll do well not to assume what I am thinking, Cornelia.” Charles rebuked her. “I am interested in whether you can capture a young woman with long green hair and amber eyes.”

Now, the entire group was confused. Euphemia and Cornelia looked at each other, confused and scared, as they had never seen such a woman with the Black Knights. Guilford was also concerned, as this report was already not going well, and this could be what set the emperor off, as the emperor did not play favorites with his children; he did not show lenience.

That was a lesson the entire court learned when the emperor exiled his young son to Japan, a death sentence in all but name for the crime of acting out after his mother, the emperor’s favoured consort, was slain in her own home.

Suzaku, on the other hand, felt concern for entirely different reasons, as he recalled seeing a woman who could match that description on 2 occasions. The last being a memory he didn't like to think about.

"Apologies, Your Majesty," Cornelia again got herself under control. "But I've never seen such a woman in any of the Black Knight's appearances, nor does such ring any bells from those within our files of known or suspect members of collaborators of the Black Knights. 

"That is not my concern, Cornelia, but yours," Charles reminded her she was to act, not ask. "You're to locate her within the next 30 days. Search Area 11 if necessary, but she is now your priority."

"Pardon, Your Majesty. Please forgive me for speaking when I have no right," All eyes shot towards Suzaku, who dared to speak. Having taken a step forward, the soldier bowed low to his Majesty, so they couldn't see his face.

Cornelia snarled at his actions, almost reaching for her gun blade to shoot him for the arrogance of believing he could speak when it was lucky he could even be in the same room.

“Speak, but first, introduce yourself, boy. ” But her fury vanished, in its place, confusion at how the Emperor entertained this…this Eleven speaking.

Suzaku didn't rise just a little from his bow, keeping it as formal as possible. He managed to meet the emperor's gaze and did not, as was required for a man so long in rank. "Major Suzaku Kururugi, your Majesty." Suzaku started. "The devicer for Camelot’s prototype knightmare, the Lancelot and knight of honour to Princess Euphemia li Britannia.”

“An eleven as a knight, and to royalty…” Charles mused, not amused, but also not angered by this slight against the notion of a knight. However, his gaze did go to his young daughter, as they all knew she was the one who picked the Eleven, but he didn’t say more on the issue.

“The Lancelot has been a good source of data for advancements in our military technology, but I assume even a lowly Eleven like you would not have spoken up to state such pointless things?" Suzaku already knew he didn't like the man, but he was becoming more confused by him and his words. How can someone claim something useful and pointless in the same sentence?

Well, that wasn't for him to figure out. He spoke up for Princess Euphemia's sake, and he would sooner die than hurt her position with her father.

"No, you Majesty. I spoke because I have seen a girl with that description. She was at Narita and came to Zero's defence." Suzaku started, and while he hated to bring it up, he recounted the events the best he could. How he gave chase to Zero and managed to disable his Burai, and was about to capture him, only for this mysterious green-haired girl to appear, one whom he recognised from Shinjuku as being in the truck that the terrorists stole.

He didn't mention Lelouch, as he wasn't important, and he would never forgive him if he did something that could put Nunnally back on their father's radar.

From there, he testified how she seemed unbothered by Lancelot and approached his unit as if she could stand a chance on foot. Still, then she touched it and to his shame, she did…something to him, he couldn't say what or how, all he could recall was one moment, he was there, the next he was trapped in some personalised hell of noise and memories which sent him into a madness induced rampage, one which necessitated that they wait till he burned though his energy filler before he could be recovered else he could have injured or killed someone.

When he finished, the room was silent. Euphemia looked on in shock and naked worry, as she had been worried that day, but Suzaku had never spoken about it. Hearing it for herself, how he had been essentially placed under a traumatic trance, it was horrifying.

On the other hand, Cornelia didn't believe a word of it. Some girl touched his unit, not even him directly, and drove him mad? It was nonsense, comparable to the garbage that Jeremiah had insisted on after he colluded with Zero to let him go-

"That was her." Again, the emperor turned heads with his actions. With the room looking at him in naked confusion and amazement that he would entertain such talk, he continued, "This is a secret known only to a few people, but that woman does indeed possess such…unnatural powers."

"It was why she was supposed to be kept under the strict supervision of Clovis, but your foolish brother failed to keep her contained, and she was stolen by the Black Knights. If Zero could perform such acts as summoning a dragon, she could be your link to learning how and where he ended up." Charles continued, his words making sense only with the context they all had.

The 98th emperor then turned his gaze back onto Suzaku, who remained stiff as steel. “Kururugi, you’re lucky to be sane after your encounter with the witch, and you have proven yourself useful and loyal to Britannia. Continue as you are, and you’ll go far.” Suzaku didn't dare move or react to the praise from the man. He did, if only because this was proof his ideals weren't just that, but he was wise enough to know how precarious his position was.

“Major, you’re to provide Cornelia with any and everything you know which could lead to the girl’s capture, am I clear?” Charles ordered, to which Suzaku bowed, his hand pressed to his chest even harder.

“Yes, your majesty!” 

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When the call ended, Charles was left in his office, taking the call there instead of the throne room. “Was that really necessary?” a voice asked, sounding amused despite trying to scold him. Nelly is going to be all wound up now."

He looked to the side, where the Knight of 6, Anya Alstreim, stood. It wasn't Anya in control at the moment, but not when he could see familiar signs of geass influence over her.

"She needs to understand the importance of this, but I can't think she has any room to wiggle about." Charles could speak freely with this person. After all, in he entire world, there was no one he could trust more than his favoured consort, Marriane. She didn't have her true body thanks to his scheming brother's hand.

Marriane raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips, as she was still unhappy about having to pretend she wasn't in the room during his call. “And sicking them after C.C.?”

At this, Charles' face hardened, not like when speaking with his daughter, but from real, pure anger. "V.V. is hiding. I don't know what it is this time, but it's related to that pain we both felt." Marriane frowned as she recalled that 'wonderful' experience quite well. Still, for V.V. to be the cause, he said he was doing something stupid in C's world, which…she should have expected.

“So, we're thinking C.C. would know something about this and our son's disappearance?" she asked, walking up to the desk to play with some of the things Charles kept around. The man did not care enough to stop her.

He nodded. "As slim a chance as it is, she's arguably the only person who could explain what happened then." Charles hoped that she could be of use. Still, if not, they could perhaps convince her to work with them again if their son were unreachable…wherever Lelouch ended up. He knew it wasn't on earth, or the boy would have made a ruckus by now or returned to Ashford for Nunnally's sake. "And with V.V. acting behind my back again, it could be time he's…handled."

“Fucking finally!” Marriane cheered, jumping around in joy at the prospect that she could finally make the troll pay for tricking and murdering her. “I swear, I nearly stabbed you when you said we couldn’t move against him after he killed me.”

Yes, Charles recalled the meeting. It was quite odd to be threatened by a child about finding painful and creative ways to end your life. Weirder still, despite her child-like form, Charles believed his not-so-deceased consort could find a means to do it. “If you like, you can lead the strike against him and stab as many swords as you wish into him.”

Marriane's chuckle was as demented, twisted, and familiar to the ones she would let out in battle as she tore through men and machine. "I doubt there are enough swords in the empire, and places on that little brat's body for me to stab, but I can figure something out."

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Welcome, we're in a fresh new month, which always brings a sense of 'I can do this' which immediately fizzles out by the mid-way point…really, there are days when I miss being a dumb kid with too much energy to burn. Still, I realized that I was tired of them- we all were, each time we had to attend class.

This chapter was a continuation of the previous chapter, if the names weren't enough of an indication. V.V. has an antagonistic force that is pretty interesting to me, considering the entire plot of the story wouldn't exist as we know it if not for him.

He killed Marianne out of jealousy and lied about it, leading to Lelouch and Nunnally's banishment and sparking Lelouch's hatred. He engineered Lelouch's and Euphemia's meeting on Kamine, unknowingly steering Euphemia toward founding the SAZ. He exposed geass to Suzaku, leading to his rampage. Finally, V.V. seized Nunnally and took her to Kamine Island— defeating the first Black Rebellion, Zero's capture, and Suzaku's elevation to Knight of Seven.

He's such an interesting and petty antagonist that I'm contemplating making him more of a player in another story, but for this, we have other things to worry about. I sat on this chapter's notes and ideas for a couple of days, so I hope you like it.

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Yup, that was…long, and it was all just set up to boot. As you can tell, a lot needs to happen. I need to set up the characters and the scene for when V.V. makes his second attempt to punch through dimensions, or as Clay put it, smash a car through the wall like he’s the fucking Kool-Aid man.

We also have different sides forming, as there’s the Vexos, Spectre, Zero, the Resistance, the Black Knights, Cornelia, V.V., and Charles. Each is interested in this coming event for one reason or another, and we haven't even gotten to Preyas and Draco. I had some stuff I wanted them to do this chapter, but it's already stupidly long, and I'm past my typical upload time, so yeah.

Also, yes, Charles already knew all that, but he couldn't very well act on it. Sure, he could just imply his spies learned it, but that'll get Cornelia paranoid, and while he's not soft, he's not stupid either. He's not wrong to assume the centuries-old witch would know something about the 'dragon and my vanished son'. Even if she doesn't, she could serve as a means to find the answer, which…is true, as we saw, C.C. and Rakshata have found a means to track Zero through the gate.