This story is a work of fanfiction. Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead in your world are purely coincidental. Code Geass and Persona 5 belong to their respective owners. Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of partaking in this story.

xXx

The world is distorted. Ragnarok is imminent.

Yet there are those in the world who desire change.

Though they lack the Power of the King, they challenge fate.

Those who do so are sometimes referred to as Tricksters.

Rise up, Trickster.

A new destiny lies before you.

Confront the abyss of distortion, and stop Ragnarok.

xXx

The boy came to in a dimly lit room, his vision swimming, and his body aching all over. Memories of happier times flashed through his mind, but most were so jumbled, he could hardly make sense of them. He could clearly recall his taking care of his sister, back at Ashford Academy… that was clear at least. There were others who he saw, but their features were blurred. He tried to bring them into focus too, but all he earned for the trouble was a headache that got worse the harder he tried.

But there was another question at hand: where was he?

"He's awake," said a voice. "Looks like you used too much Refrain on him."

He tried to move, but he found he was restrained by a straitjacket. Even this feeble effort felt exhausting to him, and he felt his consciousness slipping away once again.

The men splashed a bucket of icy cold water over him.

"No dozing off!"

He blinked, a measure of strength and alertness returning to him. Then men were Britannian intelligence officers! He had been captured! Where was Nunnally, and…

"Let me go!" With renewed vigor, he began fighting against his bonds, but physical strength had never been his forte, so his effort was futile from the start.

"And why would we do that? You've got yourself quite a record," one of them said, reading from a clipboard. "Obstruction of justice, possession of weapons, defamation, blackmail, murder, terrorism, sedition, and treason. "It's hard to think that a Britannian schoolboy could be the mastermind behind all of those crimes, yet you were enjoying every second of it."

That jogged his memories a bit. There had been a thrill of rebellion in his earlier drug-induced flashbacks… the charges certainly sounded like something he would do if he had the power to fight back against Britannia. But the specifics still eluded him. Had he really done all of those things?

"You'll sign this confession," the officer said, freeing one of his hands, and handing him a pen and the clipboard.

The boy put the pen down. "I don't think so."

He received a vicious kick in the leg from the officer, knocking him from his chair.

"What makes you think you have any rights, terrorist?" the officer yelled at him. "Look where you are!. No one is going to help you. Your friends abandoned you! One of them even sold you out! So we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. But you will sign that confession, and no one is going to care if we have to break a few bones to make that happen."

The boy grimaced. It seemed he didn't have a choice, not if he wanted to live long enough to find a way out of captivity. There was no point in putting a false name on the confession either; the Viceroy would know who he was.

Lelouch vi Britannia.

"vi Britannia…. Yes… the Eleventh Prince, killed during the invasion of Japan. I must admit, I was surprised. But do you know what that means, schoolboy? As far as the public is concerned, you do not exist. The penalty for your crimes is of course execution, but since you are already dead, I wonder if our emperor will find another use for you."

The officers left, laughing, and left Lelouch alone in the soundproofed room.

Lelouch didn't know how much time had passed, but soon the door opened once again, and someone entered, one of his half-sisters, Cornelia li Britannia.

"To think you were Zero all along, Lelouch," she said contemptuously. "It's hardly the reunion I hoped for."

He stared back at her in silence.

"Say something!" Cornelia demanded. "Where is Nunnally? Did you get Euphemia involved in this? And why would you sink to becoming a thief? Do you hate us that much?"

Cornelia's eyes flicked to the ground. "So they used Refrain," she said distastefully. Her eyes returned to Lelouch, her words more forceful now. "Listen, Lelouch! Unless you cooperate to the fullest, there's nothing that I will be able to do to help you. I may be the Viceroy, but this is out of my hands. Do you understand the gravity of what you've done?"

"Of course. I rebelled, didn't I? But can you say the same, Cornelia?"

Anger flashed across Cornelia's features. "You will address me as Viceroy. But it seems you're lucid at least." She took a seat across from him. "Let's start from the beginning, Lelouch. Or should I call you Zero? For almost half a year, you led a terrorist group that called themselves the Black Knights. They targeted several high-profile individuals in the Tokyo Settlement, and last month caused a major international incident. The official story is that you blackmailed your victims. But that doesn't add up. They really did have changes of heart, didn't they? And then there are all of those other incidents…. As Viceroy, maintaining order in Area 11 is my responsibility, and I'm sure you have valuable information. So how did you do it? Answer me!"

In spite of his earlier bravado, Lelouch couldn't answer that question right now. His recollections were still too foggy, so he didn't know what to tell Cornelia, whether it be the truth or a convincing lie. But then, a shining blue butterfly seemed to flutter before Lelouch's eyes, though Cornelia clearly could not see it. Was it another hallucination from the Refrain?

"Hmmm… it seems your luck has just about run out," an oddly familiar female voice said into his mind. "Like me, you are shackled to an unjust fate. Your chances of winning this game are nearly none, for you have been in check from the start. But if you can still hear my voice, you may yet find a way. Remember our contract, and the bonds you forged, and you may yet claim victory from the jaws of defeat. And when this is all over, you had better get me a pizza."

That was right…. His thoughts were getting clearer now…. At last, he could remember.

"I'll tell you," he said, meeting Cornelia's gaze once again. "It's been nearly eight years since we last talked like this, but as you said, it really began nearly half a year ago…"

A/N: One day, I was struck by how similar P5's Joker and Lelouch were. They are both black-haired, criminal vigilantes who obtain a supernatural power somehow related to the collective consciousness, rebel against their societies with the goal of making a better world, have quirky friends and a number of potential love interests, and in Japan they are both voiced by Jun Fukuyama. From that idea, this story was born, casting Lelouch into Joker's role, and his friends and allies as phantom thieves or confidants.

I have started very similarly to Persona 5 in this first chapter, and the plot will progress roughly in parallel to the game as well, as I realized that a number of Code Geass antagonists paralleled the targets in P5. That said, the casts of Code Geass and Persona 5 have distinct characterizations, even with parallels as close as Joker and Lelouch, which will present different relationship dynamics and subtly alter events as the story goes, such as causing the Palaces to manifest differently than their original P5 counterparts, (mostly) different Personas for the supporting thieves, and some other twists that I won't spoil here.

Edit: I had noticed that I previously had some inconsistencies between eight and seven years through the story. Conferring with one of my reviewer in a PM, they told me this: "According to the novelization, Lelouch and Nunnally arrived to Japan in September, 2009. They were born in December 5, 1999 and October 25, 2002 - making them nine and just short of seven year old at the time, respectively." I have seen other sources claim that Lelouch was about 10 when he was exiled, which would place it a few months later. However, the Invasion of Japan canonically occurred on August 10, 2010. That places the invasion itself a bit more than seven years before the events of the interrogation, and between seven to eight years between the story and Lelouch's exile. I will be going through what I have already written and make sure to bring the stated years into line with this.