44This fic was inspired by Thanathos' 'More than just a Man'. That fic was unfortunately abandoned way too early and I found that I really needed to at least tell my own interpretation of a vampire Lelouch and C.C.
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. Many of the Vampiric characteristics were inspired by 'More than just a Man'.
Also to note, I am Australian so I will be using a lot of Australian spelling for many words. Aka, expect to see a lot of 'u's and replacement of 'z's with 's's.
Welcome back to chapter 1 of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Night. Now we finally get to Lelouch's POV and the events of episode 2 of the Anime.
"Hello" - Speech
'Hello' - Thought/Mental Communication
"Hello" - Radio/phone/walkie talkie
"Hello" - Speaker
Chapter 1: Same Day, A New Man
August 2017 a.t.b
The first thing that came to Lelouch's mind as he regained his consciousness was how weird he felt, like that of being sick with a mild fever, yet also completely different. Like something had entered his body and the after-effects were mildly present. It made him feel very groggy and unfocused, at least initially.
As he opened his eyes, he began to remember what had happened; coming back from a chess match, falling into that truck, seeing Suzaku for the first time since the invasion, witnessing the green-haired woman emerge from that shell and Suzaku being shot by the Britannian Royal Guard and finally being questioned by the woman about giving up his humanity and then…
He immediately jolted up, hand already on the move to his neck, where she had bitten him.
"You won't find anything there." an amused voice came from the side.
He turned to face his side and glared at the green-haired woman, C.C. who was sitting on a piece of broken debris, having somehow unshackled her hands in the time when he was unconscious. Her amber eyes looked him in the eyes, piercing right through him as if everything about him was visible to her. He shivered at the thought, both from discomfort as well as excitement about it. He pushed aside his feelings and decided to focus on other details.
"How long was I out for?" he asked, not yet willing to go into what she was yet while still being out of it.
"Ten minutes." C.C. answered succinctly. "Not the fastest awakening I've seen, but not slow by any means."
"Well, I will be sure to please you in the future," Lelouch sarcastically replied, getting back onto his feet, stumbling a bit. Weirdly, his limbs felt really…different. Actually, thinking about it, he did feel different overall. For one, he felt unusually stronger physically, not by much, but still by a noticeable amount. Another change Lelouch noticed was that his reaction time was a bit faster, something that he noticed when a piece of ceiling came loose and he noticed and moved out of the way much quicker than his normal speed.
"What did you do to me?" he asked C.C., who was still sitting there with an indecipherable expression on her face.
"Oh come now, you can easily figure it out." she replied with a sigh of slight disappointment.
"... You bit me and…" Lelouch once again touched his neck, "sucked my blood, turning me into a vampire."
"Almost correct." C.C. smiled. "Just sucking your blood, which was delicious by the way, and converting you are two different things, not one being the consequence of the other." She looked to the side for a moment. "If it was, I believe more than half of the world's population would be vampires just from me alone over the centuries."
Lelouch deadpanned at her mini explanation, as he had thrown the vampire thing as a rough guide for her to dismiss, rather than confirm it like she did. The fangs should have been a giveaway, but the mere existence of vampires was very much anathema for someone very logical like Lelouch. Yet he couldn't deny what he saw and how he feels now.
"Is it permanent?" he decided to ask for the sake of it, though he already suspected what her answer would be.
"Yes. Once you have been converted, there is no going back," C.C. answered. "What did you think I meant when I asked you if you would sacrifice your human existence?"
"Anything I should know about being an undead vampire, now that I am one?"
"First off, you are not undead," C.C.'s smile disappeared, her expression with one of weariness as if she dealt with this topic more than she would have liked. "You're still breathing, you need sustenance to live, not limited to blood. You will still die if you get beheaded, your body obliterated or poisoned with certain substances, but other than that, you're still alive."
"...I assume that with how you are starting to refute many of the legends and myths about vampires that we can still go in the sun?"
"Of course!" C.C. seemed happy that Lelouch was catching on. "UV lights can be painful and burn you quite quickly if you aren't protected and being exposed over long periods of time. Nothing some good sunscreen lotion can't handle."
Lelouch nodded, making a mental note to buy some sunscreen as soon as he could after getting out of here alive. Speaking of which…
"As much as I would love to continue asking you about my new reborn existence as a vampire," he looked around, "We should move. Those Royal Guards won't stop trying to find us, even after that explosion."
"If they haven't tracked us down already." C.C. agreed, standing up with a single graceful motion. As they made their way out of the collapsing tunnel, Lelouch couldn't help but ask one more question. "As I am now a vampire, are there any abilities that I have access to now that can help us get out of here alive?"
"You've started to become a vampire." C.C. corrected, causing Lelouch to raise an eyebrow at her as they ran. She sighed before beginning her explanation. "Did you think a mere ten minutes would be enough to change you completely? No, you are no longer human, but the closest you will be at least genetically. After at least eight months, your genetics would be altered enough to be considered a proper vampire. Right now you are a new convert, a fledgeling so to speak, nothing more."
They entered a new tunnel, one that Lelouch could feel the air flow through, thus the only real choice they had for getting above ground. As they entered the new tunnel, C.C. continued her explanation.
"While we have access to many supernatural abilities, when we are first converted we only have access to one power, and what it is is random depending on each individual, though it will always be your strongest even after developing new ones."
"So as you mature as a vampire, more abilities appear." Lelouch deduced. "How do you find out what it is and what was your first power?" he asked.
Before C.C. could respond, they found an exit through a cellar, just as they heard guns firing and the screams of the victims. The two leaned against the broken wall as the firing ceased, with just the crying of a baby for company. It didn't even take five seconds before that too was silenced by a single gunshot. Lelouch winced while C.C. closed her eyes, otherwise they showed no other signs of being angered or horrified . Internally, Lelouch felt sick at the thought of the massacre that was occurring. He had to stop it.
Creeping up the stairs, Lelouch poked his head out and saw the remains of the Japanese civilians having been killed, as well as their murderers, who were the Royal Guard they had escaped from before. Great.
They were checking the building for entrances to the underground, which meant that they would find the place where Lelouch and C.C. were hiding. Lelouch gestured to C.C. to move back, with her nodding in understanding, but before he could take a step, his phone began to ring.
He immediately turns it off, but the damage has been done. The Royal Guard had heard and descended upon them like vipers. Five appeared at the top of the stairs, pointing their rifles at the two vampires, who stood there, knowing that they could not descend fast enough before the bullets would hit them. One guard motioned for the two of them to come up and they complied with little choice. Well, at least that is what it seemed to Lelouch. He stole a quick glance towards C.C., who had a ghost of a smirk on her face. He immediately felt chills. She was about to unleash hell on all of them.
They were led to the wall, a distance away from where the scarred captain that had shot Suzaku stood, along with the rest of the Guard squad, sneering at them as they were checked for any weapons.
"Well, well. Looks like our student terrorist has decided to grace us with his presence," the Captain sarcastically said, causing the guards to give a small chuckle and for Lelouch to glare hatefully at the Britannian. If there was anything that encapsulated the corrupt and evil side of the Britannian military, it was this person.
"Now that we have caught the girl like we were ordered to, it appears that you are the final loose end that we need to get rid of." The sounds of violence and death in the background showed the 'other loose ends' were being dealt with. The guard continued to monologue about how great Britannia is, etc, but Lelouch stopped paying attention.
Instead, he was focused on the corpses behind the guards, or rather the blood pooling besides them. Lelouch had seen massacres before, along with all of the blood and gore, when Britannia had invaded seven years ago. Yet, he had no reaction to seeing blood other than disgust back then. Now, he was mesmerised by it. If there was any time that Lelouch finally accepted what C.C. had done to him, it was right then.
He shook his head, clearing his mind, just as the Guard finished monologuing. Good, he doubted that the Guard said anything constructive at all. He took a quick glance at C.C. and saw her roll her eyes at him before smiling.
"But really schoolboy, you put up a good chase, but it is all over now. You should have stayed in class."
'No shit.' Lelouch thought before closing his eyes. 'C.C. isn't making a move, maybe waiting for me to do so. Yet I don't know how to use my new vampire nature to defeat them. Another possibility is that she wants to see how durable I am…'
As Lelouch watched the guards raise their rifles at him and C.C., his mind flashed to those he cared about, both from his past life in Royalty, Japan and Ashford Academy. Nina, the xenophobic yet genius level student in the council. Rivalz, his best friend at Ashford and also brother in crime when it came to gambling. Sayako, the most reliable maid/ ninja bodyguard in existence, who was as much a part of his family as one could be. Shirley, the passionate and caring friend that nothing seemed to hold her down for long. Cornelia, his third favourite sister, cunning yet ruthless, though prioritised her family over everything. Euphemia, his second favourite sister, his first love and one of the kindest souls in existence. Milly, the mischievous vixen and trusted childhood friend who has been helping both him and Nunnally since the invasion. Suzaku, his best friend who gave his life for Lelouch not even an hour ago, naive yet dependable and chivalrous. And finally Nunnally, his true sister, the one person who meant the world to him, the one he would protect and wished to change the world for. A tear ran down his cheek as he realised that he would leave her alone in this world once these guardsmen pulled the triggers…
No! Not like this! He would NOT leave Nunnally alone! Not like this! He will find a way to…
Suddenly, like a switch was flipped in his mind, the solution clicked. His eyes widened at the possibility as he suddenly became aware of something. Then his mouth crawled up into a smile as he started to laugh quietly. C.C. smirked as she looked on, intrigued at what her newly sired partner was going to do while the Guards suddenly looked uneasy, taking a step back as Lelouch's laughter increased in a crescendo of intensity, becoming louder.
"Hahahaha, What type of murderous beings are you?!" Lelouch laughed even harder as he witnessed their reaction. "One second you are all bloodthirsty and sure of victory, and now I have made you so unsure of yourselves!"
He took a step forward, his eyes blazing with fierce hatred and power, the latter of which unseen by all, only felt by C.C., who smirked.
"Say, how should a Brittanian who detests his country live his own life?" he asked.
The captain gulped before counter asking, "What are you? some kind of radical?"
Lelouch sneered. "I am so much more than that. Yet to you I am a simple schoolboy. So why haven't you shot me yet? Is it because you have finally realised…" He took a breath before closing his eyes, the image of his mother's corpse over Nunnally flashing in his mind. "...that the only ones that should kill are those that are prepared to be killed!"
He raised his hand and pointed directly at the Royal Guard, eyes still closed. "I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command all of you!" His eyes opened, causing all the Royal Guard to freeze, as if a spell was cast upon them.
"Now all of you. Die!"
Immediately, his superior will overwhelmed the guardsmen, their eyes dulling as they slumped before straightening up, the Captain being the only exception as he stiffened, eyes wide for a moment as he tried to fight off the power compelling him until he too joined the flock, looking up with a grin on his face. "Happily, your highness." They all raised their pistols to their necks and with a single command from the captain, pulled the triggers.
Lelouch couldn't help but be captivated by the blood that shot out of all of the Royal Guard, painting the floor like a demented flood. Yet while a newfound voice in the back of his mind seemed to urge him for more blood, the rest of his brain went silent from shock at what had happened. At least until it finally hit him.
This, this is what he had been waiting for. The lie he had been living, the sacrifices he had made or had to bear witness to had been for this. Now that he had this power, his revenge and the avenging of Japan, his mother and Nunnally could finally begin.
"Well then…!" he said with an evil grin.
"You know," a voice cut through his revelation, "if I wasn't so used to insanity nor creating it myself, I would be shivering in fear at the sight of your expression right now."
He turned around and looked at C.C, getting rid of his grin in favour of a neutral expression. He wouldn't mention that he was so swept up in the moment he actually forgot she was with him. Instead he focused on the middle of her statement.
"What do you mean creating insanity?"
"A good question, for another day," she brushed the question off before looking around. "Instead, I suggest we find a way out of here. Clovis will undoubtedly catch on to the lack of communication from his guard…"
"And will send reinforcements to check it out," Lelouch finished for her, his mind already racing for strategies to use. But before they would move, he did need something answered. "What exactly happened? Was it what you were talking about earlier, the access to a specific power?"
"Yes, that is exactly what happened." C.C. turned around to face the bodies, as if admiring his handiwork. "It seems that you developed the power to suppress the free will of any victim you so desire. As long as your will power is greater than their own, they will not be able to resist you in any capability. Though I must note that as you have only just developed it, you will undoubtedly rely on a certain medium to create a connection to crush their will, in this case being either sound or sight. That is the first limitation you will come across."
After a moment of silence, Lelouch realised she wasn't going to continue her explanation. "Are there any other notable limitations or workarounds I should know about?"
C.C. hummed before nodding.
"To begin with, you can only suppress most individuals' will with absolute ease once. As soon as you lift your suppression up, and it will always happen, the person will have a higher resistance to being affected by your superior will again, with some cases being totally uncontrollable after being affected the first time. This is an inevitability, at least until your body finishes undergoing the changes and you get experience with your power. However, a good work around for now that has been proven to work multiple times is in your initial usage on your 'victim', you program into them an activation code word that when spoken causes them to revert to their submissive, obedient self."
"So turn them into sleeper agents…" Lelouch frowned. On the one hand, he didn't want an army of slaves, as that did go against his morals, and slaves were much more incapable than free thinking and active subordinates. But on the other hand, that would be perfect for infiltrating the Britannian military, or other groups that he deemed noteworthy. A way to gather intelligence or create chaos within the Britannian lines as a last resort or an easy method of victory. Something to think about later.
"Another weakness or strength is the command/s you give your victim," C.C. continued. "In this case, your will was strong enough to bypass the inherent instinct of survival that all humans and vampires have. However, there will be those who will find a command you give them to do something they would normally despise, or that goes against their nature. In that case, they will resist much harder and sometimes shake off your control over them if the order is too much for them. The reverse is also true; if a victim is naturally inclined in a certain way, let's say a serial killer is commanded to kill someone, they will instantly fall under your sway and obey your commands."
"It's a two-sided coin with this power, I admit, and not the norm for the first power that a new vampire develops." C.C. shrugged as she walked past Lelouch. "But I am impressed with how well you handled your power for the first time, and your strength of will." She turned to look at him. "Don't let it get to your head, though. You will find that sometimes you will not have the superior will compared to your adversary. Especially against an experienced and powerful vampire."
"Like yourself?" Lelouch tilted his head slightly.
"Yes," C.C. nodded. "Though I won't need to suppress your will to control you, if I need to."
"What?!" Lelouch deadpanned, his expression now blank but his skin paled slightly. He could already hear Milly claiming Karma on him now.
C.C.'s head turned to the side, enough for Lelouch to see her smirk.
"I'm your Sire, the vampire that turned you." she began to explain once more, the obvious recital that has been practised dozens of times being underscored by a tone of humour. "That means that while you are still a developing vampire, or your will power is less than my own, I shall have influence over you." She pivoted on the spot, allowing Lelouch to fully witness her grinning expression, as if she was a sadist. "Don't worry, unlike what you did to those Royal Guards, you will never be a mindless slave of mine. You just won't be able to resist my commands if I insist on it."
She moved a bit closer to him. "Speaking of which, I will at least give you the benefit to inform you that I will be ordering you to allow me to drink your blood at least every night from now on."
"Wouldn't that be cannibalism?" Lelouch asked, suddenly very afraid. "And shouldn't vampires only drink the blood of humans or animals?"
"No, we can very much drink the blood of other vampires." C.C. corrected him firmly. "Granted, it doesn't taste as good as human blood, but in a way it is still very nutritious for us. Also it will only count as cannibalism if I eat your flesh, not your blood alone, and that is something I will never do."
"Good to know." Lelouch deadpanned. "On the topic of drinking blood, is that the only thing I will be able to consume to survive?"
"Oh god no." now C.C. actually looked horrified. "As I said before, while blood will be the best thing for us to have, water and human food will still be the same for you as when you were human, except we can survive without them as long as we have blood. But it won't be pretty and the effects can be...interesting if we don't have any water over a long period of time. Also it will take a lot more of eating unhealthy foods to make us unhealthy. Thank god for that as I love pizza…" She shuddered as if the thought of a world without pizza horrified her.
"...ignoring your apparent pizza addiction, it seems that common knowledge on vampires appears to be grossly inaccurate if you and what you say are anything to go by," Lelouch noted. "I assume garlic has no effect and that we don't sleep in coffins."
"Bingo." C.C. nodded. "You're catching on."
Any other questions Lelouch had would be swept to the back of his mind when the far wall suddenly shattered as a Knightmare Frame, a Sutherland, burst through. Its Factsphere Sensor opened up as the KMF scanned the hangar before focusing on Lelouch, C.C. and the dead bodies surrounding them.
"Prince Clovis' Royal Guard…all dead?" A female voice rang out from the loudspeakers of the KMF. "What happened here?!" The Knightmare fired its battle Rifle around the two individuals, yet they didn't even flinch. "Boy?!"
"I order you to come out!" Lelouch declared, looking right at the Factsphere.
"Who the hell do you think you are to order me?" the voice replied.
'So it seems that I can't control others if I can't directly see them or more specifically their eyes,' Lelouch thought to himself, confirming what C.C. had told him. He took a deep breath before trying a new approach. "My name is Alan Spacer! My Father is a duke!"
"Nobility?"
"My ID Card is in my breast pocket." the new vampire said, stopping himself from smirking as he weaved an inescapable trap for the Britannian pilot. "After you confirm who I am, I'll request your protection."
Inside the Knightmare, Dame Villetta Nu swore under her breath. While she greatly didn't appreciate the attitude of this boy, if he truly was the son of a duke, she would get in a lot of trouble if she didn't take him seriously or get him hurt.
So she decided to play it safe and opened up her Knightmare, the cockpit releasing a boarding wire which she used to descend to the ground, pistol raised and aimed at the teen. As she touched the ground, she noticed the clothes that the female next to the teen were something much closer to that of an asylum inmate, making her feel like something was really off about the situation, and yet she couldn't risk taking the both of them out.
"Keep your hands in the air." she said with a confident facade. "I'll take your ID Card out."
Now Lelouch allowed himself to smile as he looked Villetta directly in her eyes and clashed his will against hers, which collapsed almost immediately. This led to Villetta's eyes dulling, hands falling to her side, her posture relaxing as she seemed to shut down and become an automaton.
"Hand over your Knightmare activation key and number to me," he ordered, with Villetta obeying, her emotionless face being slightly unnerving, which made Lelouch focus on her body. Her very beautiful and voluptuous body…
'Where did that come from?' Lelouch asked himself, yet he couldn't stop gazing at the woman, his eyes never straying far from her exposed neck and her chest with those large breasts. It didn't help that there was an itch within his jaw that was developing.
Still, he did his best to ignore it and decided to question her.
"What is your name, rank and unit?"
"Villetta Nu, Knight of the 17th Mobile Battalion, aligned with the Purist movement," the Knight answered swiftly.
"The Purebloods…" Lelouch gritted his teeth. Fanatics who believed in the supremacy of the Britannian people even more radically than many of the nobles and brainwashed commoners of Britannian society. They were willing to murder countless innocents if it meant Britannia's or a member of the Royal Family's interests were in jeopardy. If Clovis had sent a team of them in, it meant that he really didn't want any witnesses now, nor for C.C to possibly feed on.
"What position within the Mobile Battalion's hierarchy do you encompass?"
"For all intent and purposes, I am the third in command of the battalion, as well as the Purist hierarchy, behind Kewell Soresi and Jeremiah Gottwald."
Lelouch frowned, the last name sounding familiar. He shrugged it off, while making up his mind on what to do with Villetta.
"You will kneel down beside these dead bodies for ten minutes. Once those minutes are up, you will forget the two of us here and everything that has transpired since your Sutherland broke the wall. However, you will subconsciously recognise me as your master and every time I command you, you will obey and offer no resistance to my will."
"Understood." she droned out before making way to follow her orders.
"Impressive," C.C. congratulated as she looked upon Lelouch's latest victim. "This one was easier to dominate, wasn't she?"
"Yes, she was." Lelouch noted before resuming his attention to the sounds of fighting outside. "While I hope my final command will make it even easier to take control of her later, we need to get out of here."
The two of them ran to the Sutherland. A minute later, the Knightmare exited the way it came and sped across the broken road of the Ghetto. While beforehand the buildings and environment around them had already been broken, desolate and forgotten, left untouched by Britannian authorities since the surrender of Japan, they were now further destroyed in the current campaign of genocide by Clovis and the Purebloods. Bodies now littered the space, the innocent Japanese having been killed on the spot for no crime other than being alive.
Lelouch's blood boiled as he piloted the Sutherland to a nearby building and started to climb it to a higher vantage point, his mind focused on the ongoing massacre. He may not be the most empathetic person in the world and he definitely could be ruthless and efficient, but he knew where to draw the line. As his mother taught him, only those who should kill are those willing to be killed. And these innocent civilians were definitely not willing to kill or be killed.
He reached a suitable location and began surveying the chaos that was ongoing, the Factsphere allowing Lelouch to acquire as much information as he could, while hacking into the IFF tags to locate all Britannia controlled units. As he did so, he realised that there was something he had forgotten about until now. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a radio, the one that the red haired Terrorist who was oddly familiar to him had dropped as she entered her Glasgow. He fiddled with it before deciding to make a call.
It only took a second of dialling on his cell phone for it to be answered.
"Ah, Lulu!" the voice of Shirley Fenette came through. "What in the world have you been doing!" Lelouch couldn't help but wince at her tone. She sounded mad. Behind him, C.C. raised her eyebrow at the girl's voice. "Where are you now?! You better not be skipping class, otherwise you will be held back!"
Before Shirley could berate him more, Lelouch cut her off.
"Are you near a TV?"
"A TV?"
"It's important, Shirley," he assured her.
"Alright, give me a moment." There was a pause. "What do you need?"
"The news, specifically anything involving Shinjuku."
"The news…so far nothing…wait, while there is nothing major being shown, there are traffic restrictions for the area."
"Any reason?"
"None so far."
'Once they finish everything off, they'll release news that'll favour the military.' Lelouch reasoned as he pondered what to do next. Then he spotted on the ground a chessboard along with a few scattered pieces.
"Oh, you're gambling again, aren't you!?" Shirley began to accuse him, not totally incorrectly. "I warned you more than once about how dangerous that is!"
Lelouch rolled his eyes at her words, but a part of him did appreciate her concern, as he knew she genuinely didn't want him or Nunnally to get hurt either directly or indirectly.
"Yep, you caught me." he partially lied to her, even as his mind began to focus back to Shinjuku, "By the way, tell Nunnally that I'm going to be late home tonight, would you? Thanks." he said before hanging up on her.
Behind him, C.C. raised an eyebrow. "That was rude." she commented archly.
"I'll make it up to her later." Lelouch absently said, as he opened up the Sutherland. He stood up on his seat, looking at a rocket shooting into the air. 'Clovis wants to keep this quiet, so that means he can't call in any additional reinforcements. But I am still caught in this crossfire and I can't get both C.C and myself out, even with our vampiric abilities.' he thought back to the radio, 'Alright, I want payback for being caught in your fight, no matter how sympathetic I am to your cause nor how much I agree with you.'
Getting out of the Sutherland, he quickly picked up the chessboard and all of the pieces before re-boarding the Knightmare. C.C. looking at him with that eyebrow still raised, her expression clearly showing 'Really?'. He ignored her as he sealed the cockpit and began looking for the Red Glasgow.
It didn't take any time at all to find her, much to his surprise. It was running away from two Sutherlands just a few blocks away, missing its left arm. Lelouch shook off his surprise and focused on the area as well as the IFF tags being broadcasted across the Britannian Net. Here, he noticed that he could act, absorb information react and think much faster than what he was previously capable of, which was already impressive by human standards, thus allowing him to discover the train full of Sutherlands and Knightmare supplies close by, redirect it to the train line near the Glasgow, cover up his trail and come up with a plan of action not only for the Glasgow but also it's resistance allies all within the span of less than a minute.
"Got a plan coming along?" C.C. asked rhetorically. "I assume one involving that Red Glasgow?"
Lelouch nodded before activating the radio and contacting the Glasgow directly.
Kallen Kozuki, also known as Kallen Stadtfelt in her Britannian identity, was shaking with fear, anger, hate, horror and stress all at once as she attempted to divert as many Britannian troops away from the struggling Japanese in the slumps. Her plan had only drawn out two Sutherlands, one of which was the one that had first engaged her on the highway. They have been chasing her for the past couple of minutes, with no chance for her to either disengage or fight them back. All around her, she could hear the screams of her people being slaughtered and to top it all off, she only had 30 minutes left on her Energy Filler.
As she turned the corner, her radio activated.
"The West Entrance!" an unfamiliar male voice spoke out, shocking her. "Use the tracks to move to the West Entrance."
Her shock made way for suspicion. "Who is this? How do you know this frequency?" Her mind raced to figure out what was going on, and how this unknown individual had figured out what radio frequency her group was using.
"That doesn't matter!" the voice replied. "If you want to win, you're going to have to trust me!"
Kallen's head perked up, her suspicion now being replaced by disbelief…and hope. "To win?"
She didn't even think of going against his instructions now, as what else could she do? Even if this was a trap, she was screwed regardless. Might as well try her luck and if he's genuine, then maybe they'll have a chance to stop this massacre.
She quickly made her way to the train tracks and jumped on, heading west.
"OK, I'm here. What am I supposed to do now?"
"Since you trusted me, you're going to win. Now jump onto that train."
As soon as he said it, Kallen spotted the train encroaching fast upon her. As it was about to collide with her, she jumped on and sped down it. She felt the train screech to a stop and took a quick glance behind her. The Veteran Sutherland had stopped it and the other one jumped into the air to chase her, until two Slash Harkins pierced its head and sent the Knightmare flying off the side of the track.
She slid to a halt, looking back at the origin of the Slash Harkins, spotting a Sutherland hiding in the ruins of an apartment block. The Veteran Sutherland also turned to face the attacker.
"Friendly Fire? What's your Name and Unit?" the Britannian Sutherland's Pilot's voice boomed out of its speaker, his tone very much angry at his comrade being taken out by what seemed to be a friendly unit. "We are after the one-armed Glasgow…"
Immediately, the hidden Sutherland fired its Battle Rifle at the Britannian Sutherland, cutting off the pilot's speech, the first few shots taking out its arm. As the Knightmare tried to retreat, the left leg and Landspinner were crippled, causing the Knightmare to drop to its knees.
Seeing her chance and with a wordless battle cry, Kallen rushed towards the Sutherland, even as it tried to raise its own Rifle at the attacker. Fortunately, her charge caused the pilot to manually eject to escape her strike, sending the pilot safely away from the combat area.
She caught her breath as she finally realised that her two pursuers had finally been dealt with, and all thanks to that voice.
"You saved me!" she said. "But how did you get hold of a Sutherland?" She turned to look where the Sutherland was, but found that it had vanished. "What? Where did he go?"
She would have gone to look for him, but a familiar voice shouted across the tracks.
"Kallen!" Kaname Ohgi, an old friend of her deceased older brother and the leader of her Resistance Cell, came running to her, followed by three others; Naomi Inoue, Yoshitaka Minami and finally the resident delinquent Shinichirō Tamaki. All four were armed with captured Britannian rifles, most likely taken from the few dead Britannian soldiers they could find or kill themselves. "What the hell was that radio message earlier?"
"What? He contacted you, too?" She asked over the speakers.
"Sure did, and Yoshida's group as well. They should be here soon…" Ohgi started to say before his own radio warbled as someone connected to it.
"Are you in charge?" the same voice from before said.
"Ah, yeah," Ohgi answered, his voice subdued.
"I present to you the cargo in that train over there." Everyone turned to look at the aforementioned train. "They are tools for your victory. If you want to use them for your victory, then follow my orders."
Quickly the resistance members began opening up the train doors, with Kallen helping out with her Glasgow on the larger, heavier doors. This meant that she was the first to see that the carriage she opened up had in fact two Sutherlands inside. Her eyes widened in shock as her mind processed what she was seeing.
She was still in shock as her friends began to cry out with their own discoveries of more equipment and Knightmares, just staring at the inside yet not actually seeing what was there. 'All this? But how?'
"Woman in the Glasgow." She was quickly brought out of her trance. "Y-yes?" She replied with a stammer.
"Stay where you are." the voice commanded. "Your unit is going to run decoy. You got that?"
"Understood!"
"Energy Filler Status?"
She did a quick check of her instruments. "About fifteen minutes worth," she answered.
"Then swap it out for a fresh one. In ten minutes I'll contact you with your next instructions."
"Wait a minute." Ohgi quickly cut in before the voice would disconnect. He had only been listening in partially as his attention had been on organising the activation and sorting of all of the equipment in the train, until the last statement where he realised that he made a slight mistake with how he had reacted to the voice and wished to correct it. "Who are you and how can we contact you?"
"Who I am is irrelevant right now, as this signal could be intercepted by the Britannian authorities, as this frequency is unencrypted." the voice admonished. "But for now, you can call me K-1. And as for how to contact me, I will be listening in on this radio channel."
With that, the radio clicked off and Kallen went ahead with swapping out her Energy Filler, all the while wondering who this mysterious K-1 really was. Yet he may be the key to saving all of the people here in the Ghetto, so for now, she would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Lelouch clicked the radio off, looking at it for a moment. The pilot of the Glasgow's voice was very familiar to him, yet not at the same time, as if he had heard her a fair number of times before but never really interacted with the person. And he also recognised her red hair as well. Maybe someone from Ashford…
He filed the thoughts away for later, he had to focus on making a plan for the rebels to follow.
C.C. couldn't help but smirk as she watched Lelouch get to work, bringing up multiple views of the area, plans from both pre-invasion Shinjuku and Ghetto Shinjuku, as well as the markers and IDs of all Britannian units in the area. His mind was really adapting well to the slight changes made by becoming a vampire, and this would be only the tip of the iceberg. It would be scary seeing how his brain would function after fully developing into a full vampire.
She also noted how it was one of the more 'mind control'-esque powers that Lelouch awoke almost instantly, while much less 'troubled' individuals would unlock more general powers. It seemed that Lelouch unconsciously wished to be in total control of every situation. Now, she knew that that would never be the case all the time, but it would be interesting to see how he would either flounder or adapt to those circumstances, if he could that is. But she had confidence that he could.
So she simply watched on as he contacted the rebels again, and began organising the counter-attack against that bastard Clovis' forces present within the Ghetto. Oh, she had not forgotten him at all. Her time for vengeance would be soon, she could feel it, as Clovis was nearby. While she did agree with Lelouch's obvious goal of getting out of the Ghetto, she will kill Clovis today, no matter if she had to force him to help her along.
Until then, she was simply content to let Lelouch be the main conductor of this operation. Though she will ask questions or act as a sounding board for him if she feels like he needs it.
Suzaku Kuruguri winced as he exited the simulator, his bruises flaring with slight pain, which he ignored as he focused on the large screen nearby, which showed his personal score. The Japanese-turned-Honorary Britannian was currently in the special Simulator Room dedicated to ASEEC Military Unit of the Camelot Research Division, surprised that he was even allowed to be in this room, much less use one of the machines, as even Honorary Britannians were very limited in what they could use.
Yet, he was not complaining about it now as he had been asked by the Head Scientist, Earl Lloyd Asplund, a very eccentric person that he could already tell would be… interesting to work under. Though that didn't matter much to Suzaku at all. Here, if his score was anything to go by, had a chance to actually make a difference if Earl Asplund's words had any truth to them.
Suzaku couldn't help but also get excited. A new Knightmare Prototype, the first of its kind. If Earl Asplund and Ms Croomy are impressed with his score on the simulator, then he would be its pilot. That would be a huge step for any Honorary Britannian, who aren't even allowed weapons unless they have served for decades.
'The right way to make a change.' he thought to himself. 'Not through violence, that only leads to death and chaos.'
He couldn't help but think about what was happening in Shinjuku right now, civilians being massacred because the terrorists decided to hide among the populace to escape. To Suzaku, that was all the proof he needed that the terrorists were only making things worse, not better for the Elevens, rather than working through the system like he himself was. 'All the more reason for me to work for Camelot to pilot the Knightmare and end the fighting!' Suzaku thought to himself.
Though as he walked through the exit door and towards where Ms Croomy had instructed him to go, he couldn't help but think about one specific person.
'Lelouch, I hope you and that girl got out of there alive and are with Nunnally right now.' His face shifted into a determined expression. 'If you're still there, I will find you and get you out.'
He just managed to reach the door to the trailer's control centre when the door opened and the blue headed Captain came out in a rush.
"Oh, Mr Suzaku!" Cécile Croomy said with a smile. "Perfect timing, I was about to come get you!"
"What's the situation, Ma'am?" Suzaku asked.
"Please follow me." she said and the two of them strided towards the changing room next to where the Knightmare resided.
"First off, congratulations on getting both the highest score for the simulator and the compatibility score as well." Croomy began. "We're very lucky that we found you, as you're one of the very few who could potentially pilot the Lancelot."
"Thank you." Suzaku couldn't help but blush. He didn't feel like he did much, but he couldn't help but get his spirit up with the praise.
"Unfortunately, that is the main good news." Croomy's tone immediately fell. "As we speak, Prince Clovis' forces are being destroyed one by one."
"Destroyed?" A shocked Suzaku repeated. No way the terrorists could do that much damage.
"They've acquired our equipment, using Sutherlands to destroy whole squads. All done as if orchestrated by a conductor of strategy."
They finally reached the change rooms, where Croomy handed Suzaku a very large manual.
"We believe that His Highness will soon command the Lancelot to be deployed, so please read this as best you can. Inside is the 'Devicer Uniform' developed specifically for the Lancelot to better protect yourself when piloting. Please suit up and get ready."
Suzaku took the manual, grimacing internally at the size, but nodded to her.
"Thank you miss Croomy, I won't let you down."
She gave a small but genuine smile. "Just do your best, and I'm sure you will."
Ten minutes later, he had finished reading the manual and was putting on his suit when Croomy's voice came through his headset.
"Have you read the manual?"
"Pretty much." Suzaku answered as zipped up and left the change rooms.
He had to admit, while Honorary Britannians weren't allowed to pilot Knightmares, he had read up on them a fair bit, as some sort of morbid fascination with the machines that took away his homeland's independence. Yet even the Sutherlands, as advanced as they are compared to the Glasgows of the invasion, were overshadowed both technologically and spec wise by the Lancelot, at least that was what Suzaku had gathered from the parts of the manual that he did read.
While it didn't have any ranged weapons for now (something that Suzaku didn't mind all too much) and no ejection system (something he did mind a lot more, yet a part of him seemed to like the chance of no escape), it was an exceptional machine, one that he is honoured to pilot.
"Hey, look. About what I said earlier," he asked as he walked towards the Knightmare, currently covered by a sheet.
"Huh…ah, it could be," Ms Croomy answered honestly. "But the possibility is nearly zero."
"But it is still a chance."
"That is true, just don't do anything reckless. There isn't an ejection system installed yet in the new system."
"Ok, I understand," Suzaku said, slightly irked at the low possibility of Lelouch surviving, but still remaining hopeful.
He stopped in front of the Lancelot as the sheet was released and blown off by the wind, revealing the majestic sight of the white and gold machine. Suzaku was definitely not proud enough to deny that he fell in love with the machine, or at least formed a meaningful connection to it immediately.
"That's it?" he whispered in awe.
"Yes." Croomy answered. "The advanced weapon developed by us in the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps, Lancelot, the world's first Seventh Generation Knightmare Frame."
Lelouch couldn't help but let off an 'evil' laugh, cackling with joy as he watched all of Clovis' main forces get swallowed by the collapsing ground that Q-1 had created. A fitting final act for this battle against Clovis, who had made the stupidest decision he could within the circumstances. And now he was defenceless.
'I can do it! I can crush Britannia!' he congratulated himself in his head.
"Well done." C.C. congratulated him. "Now what do we do?"
"First off, we…" Lelouch was about to explain when suddenly the radio interrupted.
"This is B-Group, reporting enemy presence."
Lelouch frowned. This was unexpected, but then again, real battles had a reputation of being so. Taking a quick breath, he picked up the radio and answered "Status?"
"Everyone ejected, but they took down four units in nothing flat."
Now Lelouch was starting to get anxious. "Enemy Numbers?"
"Just one!" N-Group leader's answer shocked Lelouch. "But it's like nothing we've ever seen before. I think it's a new model."
"Describe it now!" Lelouch ordered. If it was an entirely new model, then there was a chance that every single Knightmare under the rebel control, including his own, were now outmatched. He needed more info now in order to quickly think up a counter to this new development. Vampire or not, as C.C. stated earlier, he was not invincible.
"Tall as a Sutherland, much more streamlined." N-Group answered quickly, though Lelouch could hear weapon fire in the background of the radio call. "Stands out with its white and gold paint job, yet it's completely unarmed, no rifle whatsoever. Yet it's still kicking our asses, that bast-ARGH!"
The radio suddenly went silent. "What's happening out there?" he tried to reconnect to N-Group Leader, but failed.
It was now obvious that the new Knightmare had taken him and probably more out. Lelouch sighed before activating the radio again. "P-1, begin evacuating the area, prioritise the civilians first."
"Evacuate…?" There was a slight pause before P-1 came back. "Got it, but what should we do about that Knightmare?"
"We aren't equipped to deal with it." Lelouch admitted, a bad taste in his mouth. "Fall back, abandon the Sutherlands if you have to."
"Conceding defeat so quickly?" C.C. asked. "That must be a hit to your pride."
"It is, unless you have any vampiric power that can take on that thing?" Lelouch half-asked seriously, but more so rhetorically.
"Unfortunately, no," C.C. admitted. "Not personally at least."
Lelouch gently massaged his temples, coming up with many plans, but all of them he predicted failing. 'One machine and the game is lost… for now,' he lamented before jumping back onto the radio. "All units, do not, I repeat, do NOT engage the new Knightmare. If it does attack you and you can't escape without a fight, try to gather as much intel on it as possible and relay to me before ejecting. The information is important, but not worth your lives today."
A chorus of acknowledgements answered him and he put away the radio.
"I would have thought that you would believe getting the information would be worth their deaths." C.C. noted.
"Are you constantly going to backseat drive me?" Lelouch asked in mild exasperation, but then relented. "In some ways, yes, it is. But I have an inkling I will work with this same group later. If so, then I want to have as good of a relationship as I can."
Just as he finished, the radio went alive with small amounts of reports of the terrorists engaging the Knightmare. He noted the skill of the pilot, how fast and reactive it is, and the ability to deflect bullets before they got taken out. Lelouch mentally thanked all the terrorists' sacrifices, until he got reports from those who he thought were destroyed. Turns out, the Knightmare was forcing them to eject, not killing the pilots themselves. 'Interesting.'
Finally, after almost all of the terrorists were forced to eject, Lelouch decided it was time for the two of them to evacuate themselves. However, just as he was about to move, a Slash Harkin embedded itself into the broken ceiling right at the hole in the wall. Lelouch immediately turned to retreat, racing down a gap in the floor, dropping down three floors, just avoiding the white Knightmare.
Yet despite his fast reaction, the Knightmare followed through. It landed behind him, sending a Slash Harkin at him, which he managed to avoid. He twisted to aim at the Knightmare, but his rifle was grabbed. It pulled it to point to the side, all of his shots missing by a large margin.
Lelouch snarled in frustration as he unsuccessfully tried to break his rifle free of the Knightmare's grip. However, fortunately for him, help arrived not a moment too soon with the appearance of Q-1.
"Hey, I'm returning the favour!" she shouted out, her Glasgow grabbing the hand that was about to punch Lelouch's Knightmare. With that, the Knightmare's attention was diverted and let Lelouch go. She launched her remaining Slash Harken, but the now free hand of the enemy grabbed it like it was nothing. As Lelouch fled, jumping off the building, he took a quick glance back and saw Q-1 eject, her Glasgow wasted. He landed not as gracefully as he would have liked, but continued moving forwards, as far away from that Knightmare as he could.
'Never forget the Human element is the most important in any battle,' Lelouch vowed to memorise, grateful for Q-1's intervention. Yet, his relief was short lived as his radar started beeping. He took another look behind him. The Knightmare was already there, quickly gaining on him.
He began firing backwards, hoping to use his newly acquired precision skills to hit it this time. Again, he failed, the Knightmare dancing around his shots and the falling debris of the buildings Lelouch was hitting.
"That monster's unstoppable!" he exclaimed.
C.C. said nothing, as right now she was in no position to help at all. She was still weak from her captivity. But she also believed that this was Lelouch's show, not hers yet. He had to get them out of this. She did have faith that he could.
A scream to the side caught both Knightmares' attention. Both heads turned and saw a mother clutching her infant child falling down from one of the buildings. Immediately, the enemy Knightmare disengaged from Lelouch, skidding to slow down. As soon as it was at the right speed, it leapt into the air, catching the two civilians.
Lelouch, still retreating, looked on. 'In the midst of battle, he rescued someone?' He hmphed, gaining a sliver of respect for the pilot. 'I'll concede to you the tactical victory.' He then activated the ejection mechanism and soon enough they were flying far away from the Knightmare.
"I have a feeling that I'm going to have to deal with that thing again in the future," Lelouch admitted to C.C.
"Most likely," she agreed. "Now that you've lost, what's the plan?"
"I conceded the victory for the battle between us and him, not against Clovis," Lelouch corrected. "I managed to find the perfect direction for our next move, which we are now headed towards."
C.C. narrowed her eyes, "And where is that?"
"Prince Clovis' command centre," Lelouch's face shifted into a determined expression, his eyes narrowing. "We're ending this fight now."
Prince Clovis la Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11, clenched his fist as he looked at the screen that displayed the current efforts to wipe out Shinjuku. He sat on his throne, flanked by two Royal Guards, within the control booth of the G-1 Mobile Command Base, in the rear of what was left of his forces after this debacle.
'Damn those Elevens,' he cursed, ignoring that some of the events from the past hour were his own fault.
At first, everything had been going well for him, despite the terrorists having taken the girl from his secret lab. Then, the terrorists became organised, their coordination and tactics wiping out his units from the field. Worse off, the Royal Guard detachment tasked with finding the vampire haven't responded to his hails. They were most likely dead, food for the girl to use to get stronger. He had hoped that the death of the local populace would prevent her from feeding, but it seemed to be too late now. And it was almost guaranteed that she would be coming to kill him at some point or the other. Security would have to be increased and the OSS contacted.
Thankfully, the ASEEC prototype Knightmare cleaned up most of the terrorists. He didn't like owing Schneizel a favour as ASEEC belonged to him, but as he told himself earlier, it was for the best. It saved him the trouble of bringing in a lot more reinforcements than was feasible. He didn't want to risk more of his forces being destroyed in another trap by those terrorists. At least now he could safely bring in a few more troops to finish off killing the local Elevens.
General Bartley had left the room in order to personally organise the local Code-R presence, without risking any one finding out. So that left him and his two guards. For once, he was glad that only a few were present, he was that embarrassed and scared. Though he probably should enlist more guards to be with him constantly, if only to serve as a distraction for when the vampiress eventually confronts him. His only chance was to run away or hope either Code-R or the OSS finds another way to subdue her.
The door slid open, and an ordinary trooper walked in. Odd, he's not supposed to be allowed in here, especially with his helmet on. His two guards agreed, drawing their pistols, but not aiming at the soldier yet.
"The Control Centre is a restricted area," one of them declared, "Identify your business!"
The soldier remained silent, simply walking into the shadows. Clovis frowned before his two guards cried out in agony. He turned to look at the one to his left quickly enough to see the blood spurt out of the newly made bullet hole in his chest before collapsing. Clovis quickly looked back at the newcomer, now noticing the pistol in his hands. He definitely didn't have that raised before.
In the seconds that Clovis realised that the 'soldier' had aimed the pistol directly at him, the laser activated and offering a perfect line of sight to his forehead. Clovis internally slumped in defeat, there was no way he could even move without the intruder shooting him. However, his pride as a Prince made him straighten up and put up a facade of dignity and strength.
"How did you get past my forces?" he started off.
"They were quite…amenable to my interests," the intruder answered. Clovis narrowed his eyes, both at the answer, but also because the intruder's voice, while young, did sound slightly familiar. Though there was also the relief that it was a male voice, so it definitely wasn't the girl.
"And what are your interests in being here, if I may so kindly ask?" Clovis added some sarcasm to the end.
"I want you to call a ceasefire for all of your forces within and around the Ghetto, as well as allowing the local populace to leave unscathed." The gun cemented this as a demand, not a request.
So Clovis, though finding the situation utterly humiliating, followed through, activating his communication unit to the side of his throne and broadcasted to the whole Ghetto, both Britannians and Elevens hearing his call for a Cease-Fire.
"Are you satisfied?" Clovis gritted out.
"Very, thank you." the Intruder said, throwing his helmet to the side, though his face and upper body was still obscured by shadows.
"And what shall we do now?" Clovis asked, hoping that he could buy more time for himself, though he couldn't help himself, sarcastically adding, "Sing a few lively ballads, or perhaps a nice game of chess?"
The intruder chuckled. "That has a familiar ring."
Now Clovis perked up, his fear overcome with curiosity. "Hmm?"
"Don't you recall? We used to play chess as boys. Of course, I would always win!"
"What?"
The Intruder took a few steps forwards, how only his head was covered by the dark shadow.
"Remember? At the Aries Villa? You would always challenge me and Euphie to see who was better. Of course, both of us were."
Now that intrigue had evolved into full on intrigue, his full attention now centred on the intruder. "Who are you?"
Then the figure finally stepped fully out of the darkness. Clovis' eyes widened to their fullest, his mouth falling open as his brain struggled with the fact that the intruder was none other than an older Lelouch, his younger half-brother thought dead seven years ago. He could never forget that raven hair, nor those purple eyes.
"It's been a long time, Clovis."
"L..L..Lelouch?" This is impossible, it can't be happening, as much as he would like it. Those bastard Elevens killed him and Nunnally! Took them from him! And yet, here Lelouch stood. "H...H...How?" he couldn't help but whisper that much out as his voice failed him.
"You would be surprised." Lelouch answered.
That's a wrap for Chapter 1. Here Lelouch awakens as a vampire, gains his canon power but as a vampiric ability, leads the resistance against Clovis and confronts him, just like canon. This chapter mainly follows the canon events and some of the dialogue, though it is also the start of the deviations I have in mind. We also get some explanation on vampires and their powers/traits.
While it was mainly Lelouch's perspective this chapter, I hope I did well with the others such as Kallen and Suzaku as well. Both of them will be major side perspectives other than Lelouch and C.C. in the future. Though if you feel like I have not done them the justice they deserve, please let me know respectfully, as well as tips on how to be better if I need to.
Thank you so much for the support for the prologue! I didn't expect to see it get over 800 views within two weeks. I'm glad that there are plenty of you who were also fans of 'More than just a Man' and wanted something similar, so I hope I'll be able to fulfil that expectation. Also I have heard all of your comments and suggestions on what to do with the Harems for both Lelouch and Suzaku! Please continue to add more suggestions or changes. I won't promise any of the definite ones being changed, but I just want to hear your opinions.
I'll be honest, it may take a bit for the next chapter to come out compared to this one, but I will strive to finish it as soon as I can. Also, I am desperate for a Beta reader, so if anyone is interested, could you please pm me?
Also would you guys like me to reply to your reviews in this authors note section next chapter?
Until next time, where we focus on Episode three of the anime and some extras as well.
Regards,
dalek117
Edit 07/03/2023 - Thank you Seerking for beta-reading this chapter and finding a few things that needed fixing!