Chapter Text
“Completed!” An 18-year-old woman with long, raven hair, bright blue eyes behind glasses and fair skin underneath a black shirt and blue trousers, chirped, jumping a bit in her leather chair as she heard a click next to her.
“Literally 2 hours and 1 minute.” A woman of similar age commented next to her in an impressed tone, her eyes green, brunette, bobbed hair, and equally fair and bright skin as the woman next to her, but wore a green shirt and blue trousers, while the other woman pumped her fist excitedly.
“Yes!” She cheered with a wide smile, making the green-eyed woman chuckle,
“Well, it is a small zoid, Jackie, what’s its name again?” she asked Jackie before turning her gaze to the mechanical, metallic gold scorpion with a cockpit for a face. Jackie merely deadpanned at her.
“It’s also, currently, the last zoid of my collection, so thanks for killing my current achievement, Michele, and it’s called a Guysak,” Jackie said with annoyance while grabbing the Guysak, while Michele did a surrender pose.
“Right, sorry,” Michele said, knowing well this was sort of a big moment. Jackie, who gently took the Guysak to a very, very large diorama and placed it in the desert diorama section, it was the diorama at the bottom, between the Helic Republic base replica and the Imperial Empire base replica, where different dioramas, from top to bottom: mountain, forest/jungle, water, sky and desert, were in the middle of the large diorama piece.
There were many different zoids, some even custom-made by Jackie thanks to the 3D printer that she keeps in the same room and kept next to the diorama and next to it was a bookshelf on Zoid lore, which Jackie learned Japanese specifically to read.
“So how’s your Gundam collection going along, sis?” Jackie asks, turning and looking at her with a tired smile. Michele chuckles again and rubs the back of her head.
“Ever damn growing, I chose the wrong hobby to spend money on.” Michele laughed before walking out of Jackie’s room alongside Jackie, who gasped in mock horror,
“Heresy! The Gunpla will sentence you to death.” Jackie mocked ordered, and Michele laughed even more as the two went downstairs and turned into the living room to the kitchen since it was dinner time.
“Uh huh. You know what a real shame is? Code Geass model kits, there aren’t so many of them.” Michele said with a chuckle, grabbing two slices of bread from the bag of bread that’s kept in a loaf container, putting them in a toaster and turning to see Jackie putting butter on her bread on the other side.
“Agreed.” She heard Jackie sigh in agreement as she began to place jam on the bread.
“There are a lot of Knightmare Frames in the anime and Manga that looked damn cool and would’ve been cooler in a Diorama,” Jackie added, her tone casual as she cut the bread in half, grabbed a plate from a plate holder and placed the bread on it.
“Definitely-“ Michele began, but paused upon hearing a buzzing noise, like a static of a TV, frowning deeply, Michele tilted her body to look into the living room and saw that the flatscreen TV was on but showing nothing but static.
“… Jackie, did you turn on the TV?” Michele asked, looking to her sister, who had made a drink pause, looking at her and shook her head, as if hearing it for the first time herself.
Intruder.
Michele thought quickly and went into the drawers, opening them quickly and grabbing a long tea towel, having watched and self-taught many self-defence techniques with it before turning to Jackie, who looked worried but serious, both feelings Michele was feeling right now.
“Stay here,” Michele whispered. Jackie nodded back at her but grabbed a saucepan and held it tightly. Michele gave a nod, approving of her sister’s choice, a defence and offence in one item, like hers.
Michele quietly and slowly crept into the spacious living room, watching for any sign of movement, her gaze watchfully going from the sofa, the chair, the room under the stairs and even the TV, but she saw the screen had now written words on it which were in Japanese.
Michele couldn’t read them quickly enough till she felt her body go limp and darkness claimed her quite quickly, as a sea of warm darkness enveloped her, her mind drifting endlessly till she saw white, jagged written words before her that were something she understood yet didn’t.
It was asking her something, as time grew on and the darkness stayed, Michele eventually felt her mind understand the words despite them changing rapidly and fast.
It was asking her if she’d like to be a holder of power, the power to create and destroy, to protect and kill with a simple flick of her hand or a pull of a trigger, to command with a voice of mouth and mind, which confused her greatly, till images flooded her mind.
Images of Mobile suits and other vehicles from the Gundam franchise appeared in her mind, from the original Gundam to the latest, from a tank to the largest spaceship.
Yes
Michele thought, voicelessly and absently, was it truly her thought as she felt her body become weightless in the darkness? It didn’t matter as a flash of light enveloped her, making her wince and wake up.
But she woke up to unfamiliar surroundings that were definitely not her home. Michele saw she was in an alleyway of broken buildings. Michele blinked and looked about, confusion and bewilderment were in her eyes and expression, her movement frantic as she stood up straight quickly.
“Ow!” Michele jumped a bit and looked down to see Jackie on the floor, wide awake and on her elbows now, as Michele’s foot was on her hand!
“Shit! Sorry,” Michele apologised while pulling her leg away and knelt next to her sister with concern as Jackie held her hand with a wince.
“Jesus, sis! Were you trying to break my hand?” Jackie chuckled painfully with a smile that Michele shared after a sigh,
“Shame you woke up before I could.” Michele joked with a smirk before looking about, her smirk disappearing.
“Where are we?” Jackie asked, getting up and looking about as well. Michele merely shrugged; she had no idea herself.
“Ask around?” Michele suggested, Jackie gave a nod at that before jumping when they heard gunshots and then explosions,
“Never mind!” Michele added quickly as she saw her sister dash for a set of stairs that led underground, which Michele followed with zero hesitation when she heard the explosions closing in.
She felt a blast of heat behind her and then a tremor,
“Ah!” Michele yelled and leapt forward, leaping over the 10 steps before her and landing next to Jackie and tackling her away as she heard a crashing noise behind her and then dust settling over them.
“Well, we’re gonna have to find another exit,” Michele said, looking back to see that her suspicion was correct; the entrance had caved in, thanks to whatever happened on top, thanks to the explosion.
“We'd better stay down here for a bit; they won’t look to places they just blew up,” Jackie explained to her with a serious look. Michele understood the logic, but also understood the possibility she might be wrong too.
Just then, footsteps were heard, echoing around them as Jackie saw a splitting off path ahead of them, going left or right. Michele stood up, and Jackie followed suit, and the two stood ten feet away from the path, close enough for whoever it is to miss their first shot and not close enough for them to see them immediately.
The footsteps came closer, each step increasing tension till it became discernible which direction it was coming from,
Left!
Michele thought of turning her head and getting ready to dodge and weave when she saw a young man with light black hair, violet eyes and formal wear. She might have even considered him handsome, but then she noticed the green-haired young woman next to him, wearing a loose-restraint jacket and trousers, but her mind was nagging her about something.
Why did these two feel so familiar to her?
The four watched each other tensely till the young man spoke,
“Are you two with Britannian forces?” He asks, his voice firm and powerful despite his young appearance, like that of a future king in Michele’s opinion,
“If you mean the people that’re blowing up the city, nope,” Jackie answers before Michele could even muster an answer. Michele turns to see that Jackie has lowered her head slightly with slouched shoulders, her shy nature coming out. Jackie has always been shy of strangers.
“Then I suggest you two get as far away as possible; they won’t hesitate to kill you two here if they find you two here.” The man explains and tells before moving to leave.
“Can we follow you? We don’t know our way around here, or anywhere for that matter, we’re new here.” Michele explained, knowing full well she made them sound like tourists, even though it might as well be partially true since they didn’t belong wherever they are now.
The man looked at them, his eyes regarding them each. Michele wasn’t sure why, but she felt like she was being weighed on a scale alongside Jackie as he stood silent, while the woman regarded them as well, but not as much as the man did.
“Alright, you both can come with, but don’t even think about slowing down for any reason, be as quick and as quiet, understand?” he asked them. Michele gave a nod and turned to her sister just to see her do the same.
“Alright, now follow her, she knows a way out, but we'd better be quick.” The man said before leading the way, Michele quickly followed him down the corridor, her steps fast but light, but she noticed the man wasn’t as quick, so she slowed down a bit.
After what felt like a mile for Michele, they rounded another corner they saw another set of stairs leading up, but the young man lowered himself till he was crawling. Michele raised a brow at this, but did the same alongside the green-haired woman and Jackie.
The young man looked back at them with a serious look,
“Stay here. Stay quiet.” He said, his voice quiet but firm once more as he slowly climbed up, gunshots came just as he was about to peek, Michele tensed greatly at that, realising how close he was to giving them away.
“Report.” She heard a man say, a military man, Michele could not mistake it, especially since she saw many movies of them and real-life examples on documentaries.
“We found only Elevens here, sir.” A soldier replied,
“You’re sure of it? That exit comes out here?” the leader asks, sounding annoyed but serious as well.
“Yes, sir. It matches up with our map of the old city.” The soldier responded again, just as a child's cries are heard… before being silenced by machine gunfire.
Bastards!
Michele thought with absolute fury, they just did a war crime and were gonna get away with it!
But that fury dropped to a pit of dread when she heard a phone go off as Lelouch quickly turned it off, but Michele knew the damage was done as the soldiers rushed over and pointed their guns at them.
Michele raised her arms in surrender, but the group were soon tossed against the wall, but the green-haired girl was kept away from them.
“What an appropriate location for terrorists to meet their end.” The leader, who is looking smug, said,
“You scum/scumbag,” Michele said at the same time as the young man. She briefly looked at him, but back at the leader when he kept on talking.
“Still, you did well for a student, but it is to be expected, you’re Britannian. Unfortunately, my clever young friend, you have no future along with these two.” The leader said, drawing the gun on him!
Michele’s body seized and moved on its own, getting in front of the man, but was surprised when the green-haired woman got in front of her.
“They mustn’t die!” she cried out
Bang!
The woman fell backwards into Michele, who fell to her knees, holding her, feeling the woman’s blood run down her hands and legs as Michele saw the bullet pierce the forehead where a bird symbol was.
“You shot her!” the man said, kneeling next to her in shock, while Jackie kneeled to the right of Michele, who looked up, glaring hard at the shocked leader, who became annoyed.
“You cold-blooded bastards!” Michele cried out with rage.
“Our orders were to bring her back alive if possible”, the leader grumbled before shutting his eyes briefly before opening as if deciding on something.
“Oh well, nothing can be done about it now. We’ll tell our superiors we found the terrorist hideout and killed them all; regrettably, the female hostage was already tortured to death. What do you three think?” he asks. Michele growls at his condescension.
“That we’ll be seeing you in hell fucker.” Michele growled in defiance, feeling a flood of hot, boiling warmth flood through her; it wasn’t rage, for it hurt as it flowed, but not as much as it would hurt for her to let them live another second!
“Say, how should a Britannian who detests his country live his life?” the young man asked, standing up as he did. There was a hint of smugness in his voice now. Michele frowned and looked at him, seeing that he was covering his left eye. Why? And why was he so smug? Michele couldn’t figure it out as she felt the boiling feeling fade slightly.
“Are you some kind of radical?” the leader questioned with amusement, before looking confused at the man as well.
“What’s wrong? Why not just shoot? Your opponent is just a school boy, or have you finally realised the ones that should kill are those that are prepared to be killed.” The young man said, uncovering his eye to reveal a bird symbol on it.
“W-what’s happening here!?” the leader uttered fearfully, his gun trembling while his men looked very unsure.
“I, Lelouch Vi Britannia, now command you, now all of you… die.” The young man, Lelouch, ordered, and for a second, everything was still,
“Are you freaking serious right-“ Michele began with annoyance before hearing the leader chuckle and look back, glaring, but only to go wide when she saw their eyes had gained a red hue around them.
“Happily, your highness!” the leader said cheerfully, drawing the pistol to his own neck, and his men holstered their machine guns and drew their pistols, doing the same thing!
“Fire!” the man said, and they… fired, blood spilling and splattering as Michele watched with stunned horror, how did this man, no, Lelouch do it!
Michele slowly turned her gaze to him, seeing his shocked and disgusted expression before it slowly turned to a smug expression,
“Well then.” He said and turned to them. Michele felt worry for a second, but saw his expression turn to one of a gentle smile.
“A path lies before you: one leads to normalcy and compliancy while ignoring the injustice of this world, the other leads to you aiding me in my quest to obliterate an oppressive system that has scarred this world for too long,” Lelouch spoke, his voice gentle and yet firm, like a king once more. Michele sat silent.
“Hell yeah!” Jackie's voice suddenly rang out, and Michele went wide-eyed and looked at her sister in surprise, seeing her determined and seething look.
“Jackie!” Michele said in alarm, shocked at her sister’s willingness to join a man who had just killed with just a command. Jackie looked down at her with a frown.
“What?! You really wanna leave an oppressive system like this about, with bastards willing to commit war crimes!?” Jackie said, her expression and voice stern, and Michele flinched at that. She knew her sister wasn’t wrong, but she couldn’t just take Lelouch’s words that it was oppressive. What if they were being tricked?
“Your sister is spirited.” Lelouch suddenly spoke up, kneeling to her and offering a hand,
“But maybe there is a third path for you, how about you watch and see, and if your doubts are quilled then you can join or not. How does that sound?” Lelouch offered. Michele looked at his hand, then back at him, a frown on her face, but her sister willingly just jumped in like a reckless idiot.
“… fine,” Michele said carefully and shook his hand, and Lelouch gave her a nod.
“Good choice.” He says with a smile still.