Code Geass

Fixing Mistakes

Ok, I am really sorry for the amount of time it took to get this chapter published. All I can say is that I was having a LOT of trouble getting my ideas together to write this fic. I will welcome any and all help and suggestions for the future, but know that I have a basic outline for how things are to go, so some ideas won't be implemented.

With that said, let's begin.

Note: thank you to sonofcreation for help with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass, otherwise Euphemia wouldn't have died and would end up with Suzaku.

Chapter 11: Facing An Old Foe

xXOrange Pawn, White Bishop, Silver KingXx

"So, you say that your dear brother, who happens to be the masked man Zero, is not a terrorist?" scoffed Mao.

"Yes," said Nunnally firmly, "a terrorist uses fear and panic to meet their goals. Zero gains the support of the people to invoke a change in Britannian policies and politics, ergo he's a revolutionary."

"It's not going to matter soon regardless," said Mao with a smile, "your brother will come to rescue you and I'll put a bullet through his skull, ending that meddlesome contract he has with my lovely CC."

"I'm not sure I understand," said Shirley, "what's all this talk about having been through this before Nunna? Do you know this creep from somewhere?"

"It's a bit complicated," said Nunnally.

"Then let me make things clear," said Mao with a grin, "she and her brother are from the future and have lived through all of this before. In fact, they're from a future where your precious Lulu became a martyr, taking on all of the world's hate before committing assisted suicide thanks to Suzaku. Also, you died."

"You sick bastard," spat Nunnally.

"Oh, what a mouth this one has," sneered Mao, "little girls should mind their manners, lest they get their tongues cut out."

"You lay one finger on me and my brother will hunt you to the ends of the earth," said Nunnally, causing Mao to laugh and leave the two girls alone, knowing that they wouldn't be able to escape.

"Nunna," said Shirley, "why are you antagonizing him? He has a Gun!"

"And he knows that if he kills either of us, then he will never get what he really wants," said Nunnally as she leveled a glare at their captor.

"But what was he talking about when he said that you and Lulu are from the future?" asked Shirley, "He can't be serious, can he?"

"I'm afraid he is," sighed Nunnally, "I'm really sorry Shirley, but we didn't want to pull you into this. Big brother, Kallen, Suzaku and I are all from an alternate timeline where Britannia was defeated and peace was attained, but at a heavy cost. Apparently, Lelouch was given a second chance and was sent back to Shinjuku, where it all began, and we were pulled along as well."

"So Lelouch is really Zero?" said Shirley, "He's really the one that killed Prince Clovis, his own brother?"

"It's not as simple as that," sighed Nunnally, "the Shinjuku incident was a result of Clovis ordering the deaths of all the Japanese living in the ghetto to cover up him losing a human subject he had been performing inhumane experiments on. Lelouch killed him because of that after forcing a cease fire."

Seeing that her friend from both timelines was becoming distraught, Nunnally reached around the pillar and gripped Shirley's hand, "Don't worry, everything will be alright. Big Brother will storm the gates of Hell if it meant rescuing us."

"Are you sure?" asked Shirley.

Nunnally smiled, "I would bet my life on it."

"Isn't that sweet," laughed Mao as he walked in, "but you know it's futile. I can read your mind and I see the doubt and fear."

"You seem to think you know everything Mao," said Nunnally as she glared at him and activated her Geass, "how about answering a few truths of your own."

"You…how…?!" stammered Mao in surprise as he saw the crest of Geass flash across Nunnally's eye.

"Mao," said Nunnally, "do you know CC's favorite food?"

"What?" said Mao in surprise as the Geass took hold, "I…don't."

"Do you know her true wish?" Nunnally asked.

"N-no," ground out Mao as he tried to fight her Geass.

"Where was she born?" asked Nunnally.

"I…d-don't know!" growled Mao.

"Mao, what is her name?" asked Nunnally as she drove the nail home.

"I DON'T KNOW!" yelled Mao as he backhanded Nunnally across the face, "Shut your mouth you little bitch or your friend won't live to be rescued by her prince."

Mao then stormed out of the room, turning up the volume of the recordings he listened to through his headphones, letting CC's calming words of encouragement wash over him, soothing his rage.

xXBlack King, Red QueenXx

"Are you sure about this Lelouch?" asked Kallen, "I mean, this plan of yours if pretty risky."

"It has to be," said Lelouch, "I can't take Mao lightly, considering he already knows that I'm from an alternate timeline where he was defeated simply by reading Nunnally's memories. Luckily, I have a pretty good idea of how his Geass works from facing him in the previous timeline, so my plan should work. Just be ready on your end."

"Don't worry," said Kallen, "I won't mess up, just bring Nunna home safe. Maybe then we can continue our meal where we left off."

Lelouch nodded and activated his Geass, "One last thing."

Lelouch picked up a hand mirror and gazed into his reflected eyes, the Geass sigil emblazoned across one iris, "Lelouch vi Britannia, I order you…"

xXSilver King, Black King, Orange Pawn, White BishopXx

About an hour later, Lelouch walked up to the entrance of Clovisland, having taken a taxi to get from Ashford to the Amusement Park, and looked around at the place that, in the current situation, felt so cold and sinister.

"Mao!" called Lelouch, "I know you can hear me. I'm here."

"Excellent," said Mao as he stepped out of the shadows, "but I don't see my lovely CC anywhere? I guess you don't care for your sister as much as you thought."

"We both know that's not true," said Lelouch, "read my mind and you'll know that she's waiting at the Pizza Hut down the street. Give me my sister, and you can have her. We'll both go our separate ways. Kill me or take too long, and she'll leave, and you'll spend the rest of your natural life looking in vain for her."

Mao ground his teeth, but could see in Lelouch's mind the truth that was there was no trick and CC would leave if they didn't contact her, so he put aside shooting CC's current contract bearer for the moment.

"Follow me," said Mao, "I'll show you to your friends."

"Friends?" asked Lelouch suspiciously. This hadn't happened last time.

"Oh, so it was only your sister last time?" smirked Mao as he led Lelouch into the park and to the building where, "Well this time around, I managed to snag a bit more."

As Mao pushed open the metal door of a supply room, Lelouch's eyes widened as he saw, not only his sister, but Shirley tied to a concrete post. What filled Lelouch with rage though was the darkening bruise on the side of Nunnally's face.

"I see you're getting upset," said Mao, "well the girl needed to learn to not mouth off about things she knew nothing about."

"Damn you!" growled Lelouch, but Mao stopped him by pointing a gun at Shirley's head.

"Since you and your sister have obviously contracted with my precious CC, I can't kill you without tipping her off, as that would make her leave thanks to your little plan," said Mao, "but she holds no such luxury, so here's what will happen. You will call CC and arrange a time for the two of us to be reunited. If you try to warn her off or relay a secret message, and I'll know if you do, I'll shoot them, starting with the orange haired one."

Lelouch growled but cooperated and pulled out his cellphone, but before he could dial, a projectile shot through a window that happened to be directly behind the mind reader, shattering the glass before embedding itself into Mao's back, injecting a paralytic agent into his body that caused him to drop the gun and fall to his knees. A light seemed to return to Lelouch's eyes and he walked over, picking up the gun and leveling it between Mao's eyes.

"Now," said Lelouch, "I believe we were negotiating terms of surrender."

"H-how…" Mao manage to make out through the paralysis.

"How was I able to hide my plan from your Geass?" Lelouch finished for him, "Well it wasn't easy…"

xXBlack King, Red Queen, Black KnightXx

Flash back to when Lelouch had received the call from Mao, and we find Kallen and Lelouch planning as they waited for Sayoko to arrive with CC.

"Mao is dangerous," said Lelouch, "and any plan I conceive will be revealed to him once he uses his Geass on me."

"What exactly does his Geass do?" asked Kallen.

"It grants him the ability to read the thoughts of anyone and everyone within a certain radius," said Lelouch, "and not only does it not require eye contact, but he cannot turn it off, so there is no way to surprise him. Also, if he suspects something, then he won't hesitate to kill Nunnally in retaliation."

"How did you beat him last time?" asked Kallen as she looked over at her boyfriend in concern.

"With help," said Lelouch, "Suzaku was able to help me take him down and I used my Geass to silence him before CC ended his life. This time, he'll be prepared for something like that, and I can't risk Nunnally's life."

"So it sounds like we'll need to neutralize him without his Geass catching on," said Kallen.

"Easier than it sounds," said Lelouch, "unless…"

"I see you're coming up with a plan," said Kallen with a smile.

"Indeed," said Lelouch, "I'll need the plans for Clovisland, a sniper rifle with a long-range scope, a magazine with paralytic rounds, and a gunner with excellent aim."

"I believe I shall be able to help with that," said Sayoko as the Kunoichi walked in with CC, with the immortal Witch munching on a slice of pizza, "I believe I'll be able to acquire the items you need, and I am a rather good shot as well, Master Lelouch."

"So, what's your plan Lelouch?" asked Kallen as she pulled up plans for Clovisland on Lelouch's laptop and showing them to Lelouch.

"Ok," said Lelouch, "if Mao is holding Nunnally hostage, then the best place to hide her would be the ride control room in the center of the park, however, that is also the most obvious choice, and therefore the place that he'd expect me to scope out and plan for, therefore his next best option, and the one I'd bet he'd take, would be this supply room near the entrance. It has one window facing outwards, and that is what we will use."

Lelouch pulled up a map of the park and the surrounding area, "CC, do you know the maximum range of Mao's Geass?"

"And why should I tell you any of this?" asked CC with a raised eyebrow.

"Because in this plan I give you one of my credit cards and you get to spend several hours enjoying yourself at Pizza Hut," said Lelouch in a deadpan.

"…I think I like this plan," said CC, "his Geass has a maximum range of 500 meters when he isn't focusing on one person. When doing so, its range decreases. Because he can't turn it off, he needs to rely audio recordings from headphones to drown out the thoughts of others."

"Right," said Lelouch as he brought up an abandoned building that was a good 510 meters away from the park, "This building it in a direct line from the window in the supply room. Sayoko, you'll be stationed here with a sniper rifle and when you see me take out my phone, you'll need to fire a paralytic round through the glass into Mao, which should subdue him long enough for me to neutralize him."

"It's a sound plan," said Sayoko, "but how will you keep your opponent from discerning the plan from your mind?"

"I have a plan for that as well," said Lelouch, "I'll use my Geass to block off my memories of this entire conversation and planning session until Sayoko shoots Mao. That will keep him from finding out our plan."

"I shall head out then," said Sayoko as she and CC headed out of the room. CC to get her Pizza, and Sayoko to ger the things they needed.

"Are you sure about this Lelouch?" asked Kallen, "I mean, this plan of yours if pretty risky…"

xXCheckmateXx

"So, you see that you cannot win," said Lelouch, "the paralytic agent will wear off in three hours, but until then, you will obey my commands."

Mao's eyes widened in horror before glazing over as Lelouch's Geass took hold over his mind.

"I was going to be merciful," said Lelouch, "but you hurt Nunnally and threatened Shirley. Because of that you will suffer. When the paralysis wears off, you will leave this place and never return. You will wander the earth endlessly. Each step you take will feel like a thousand burning needles are stabbing into your skin. Every breath you take will burn your lungs. Food and drink will taste like ash and dust, but you will not be allowed to take your own life by any means. You will live your life in eternal torment knowing that it is because you dared to hurt the ones I care about."

Lelouch deactivated his Geass and cut Nunnally and Shirley free from their bonds, before helping his long-time admirer to her feet.

"Can you walk Shirley?" asked Lelouch.

Said orangette nodded, "Lulu, he said all sorts of things about you. Is it true that you're Zero?"

"That's a long and complicated answer," said Lelouch, "let's head back to Ashford and I can fill you in."

Shirley picked up Nunnally, as Lelouch didn't have the strength or stamina to do so, and the three of them headed to meet up with Sayoko and get back to Ashford.

xXOrange PawnXx

After she was escorted to her dorm room by Sayoko, the orangette found herself lying in bed thinking about what she had just went through and the things that Mao had told her while she was in his captivity. Was any of it true, or was the madman raving on in order to hurt her with his lies. As she rolled over in her bed, she wondered what tomorrow would be like, considering that she had gained a deeper understanding of the World beyond the settlement.

As she fell to Morpheus's power, her last thought was wondering what she would say when she ran into Lelouch again. As she slept, disjointed images flashed through her mind, causing her to toss and turn as her subconscious continued to dwell on the mountain of revelations that had been thrust upon her.

xXOrange Pawn, Black KingXx

Shirley would get her answers the next day, for as it so happened, it was her and Lelouch's turn to clean up the classroom and thus she found herself in a somewhat awkward situation as they worked to tidy things up after school. She didn't know what to say or if she should even say anything, and so the silence stretched on. Luckily, Lelouch seemed to notice her distress and decided to address the elephant in the room.

"You're thinking about what Mao said, aren't you," he said, more stating a fact than asking a question.

"Yeah," said Shirley softly, "I mean, a few days ago, you were just Lelouch, but according to that man, you're a Prince and a time traveler? It all seems rather unbelievable."

"Unfortunately, he was telling the truth," sighed Lelouch, "but this isn't really the best place to talk. Maybe we could head to my place after finishing up here and we'll go over it more?"

Shirley blushed, considering her crush (she was still working on getting over it) just asked her to come to his home, but shook it off, knowing that, not only was it not anything like what she was fantasizing about, her feelings were unrequited.

"I…I think I'd like to know the truth," said Shirley.

xXPawn to BishopXx

"So where to begin?" asked Lelouch as he and Shirley sat in the living room of the residence that the Ashford family allowed him and Nunnally to use during their time at the Academy.

"Are you really a prince?" asked Shirley nervously.

"Yes," said Lelouch, "my name, is Lelouch vi Britannia, former Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire."

"But that man said you're Zero," said Shirley in disbelief, "the man trying to destroy Britannia and the one who killed Prince Clovis."

"It's true that I am Zero and that Clovis died by my hand," said Lelouch, "but there is more to the story. It began with the death of my mother, the night Nunnally was crippled and lost the use of her legs. After hearing of the event, I stormed into the throne room and demanded that the Emperor find out who was responsible for an attack on Royalty, but instead, Nunnally were disowned and cast aside to be used as political bargaining chips. We were sent to Japan and barely survived the beginning of the war as a result. I swore on that day that I would change the world and build a future for Nunnally to smile in. Because of that, and several other things, I became the one known as Zero in order to change things."

"He also said that you and Nunnally were from the future," said Shirley in a nervous tone, "a future where I was dead…"

Lelouch sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I really didn't want you to find out like this. Hell, I didn't want anyone to find out about this. Damn Mao."

"So it's true," said Shirley sadly, "how though? How can you be from the future?"

"It's a long story," said Lelouch, "and once you hear it, things will never be the same again. Are you sure you want to go down this rabbit hole?"

Shirley hesitated for a moment, but nodded her head, "I want to know. Please help me understand."

And he did. Lelouch explained to her about the truth behind Britannia's plans and how he vanquished his father and mother when they attempted to enact Ragnarök by killing the gods, by using his Geass to force the continued march of time, as opposed to their wish to halt it. He explained about how a mistake caused the SAZ tragedy and how it drove him to take the pain and hatred of the world upon himself before committing assisted suicide. He was taking a leap of faith in telling her all this, but she had been through a lot both times because of her connection to him, so maybe he shouldn't keep her in the dark anymore. Not after all that has happened to her.

"And that leads us to now," said Lelouch calmly, "apparently, the gods decided that they owed me a favor and brought me back to the beginning."

"That's incredible," breathed Shirley, her mind reeling from the information she had just been given.

"Now we've reached a point where you have to choose," said Lelouch somberly, knowing that he had to bring this up, "obviously the knowledge you now hold is too dangerous to let run around freely, so I offer you a choice. Either I use my Geass to erase the memories of what has happened and what you learned, allowing you to continue to life your life as if nothing happened, or, you could join my revolution as a member of the Black Knights."

"But I'm Britannian?" said Shirley, but she was cut off by Lelouch shaking his head

"And that won't matter," said Lelouch, "the Black Knights fight for the good of all people, be they Britannian, Japanese, or anything else."

"But I'm no good with fighting or tactics," protested Shirley, "I can barely keep Milly in line and help balance the budget. What good could I do in the Black Knights?"

"Shirley," said Lelouch, "there was one time in the previous timeline, when I was faced with an important decision that would play a big factor in deciding the fate of the Chinese Federation and a potential alliance between them and the Black Knights. No matter who I asked, I didn't find the answer I needed, so do you know who I called?"

Shirley shook her head and Lelouch smiled kindly, "I called you. Your advice helped me make the right decision and seal a victory for our cause. What I'm saying is, that there is always something you could bring to the table. Heck, you're an excellent cook, if the lunches you brought to me a few times were any indication, and we're kind of lacking a good galley officer right at the moment. If you join up, the job's yours."

"I," began Shirley before she steeled herself, making a decision that would alter the course of destiny, "I'd like to help you achieve your dream of making a better world, Lulu. I want to help you in whatever way I can."

Lelouch smiled kindly and extended a hand to his classmate and long-time admirer, "Then I welcome you to the Black Knights."