Code Geass > 16. Nunnally Held Hostage

In this world, evil can arise from the best of intentions.
And there is good which can come from evil intentions.
How then should Lelouch's actions be taken?
Every man has his day of judgment, does he not?
Geass: he who uses this inhuman power will find his hearts isolated, whether he wants it that way or not.
Thus he plummets into the abyss that lies between good and evil.
But if a man can climb out of that abyss into the light, then that man has the soul of a king.



STAGE 16: NUNNALLY HELD HOSTAGE



Yes, that's right. The training for the post-refit Guren Mk-II is proceeding on schedule.
Kyoto and the Military District of India have finally come to terms, so we're just waiting for Rakshata and her team to arrive.
And the organization's changeover to a cell-based structure is now 92% complete.
The members have also been ranked into 14 tiers.
As you directed, we've infiltrated all Britannian warehouses.
Within the Kanto block, combat personnel have been dispersed to 564 separate locations.
32 of our positions have been uncovered; 11 of those were dummies.
47 members have been apprehended, but since information is now firewalled above class 8 members, the Britanninans aren't getting anything out of them.
And now that we have the unreserved support of the Kyoto group, we're seeing almost no more cases of citizens tipping off the authorities.
On that list of Britannian supporters... Yes, it's the group you made arrangements with.
Oh, and we're still looking for information about Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords.

Understood. Continue with the work, all right?

Are you sure you want me to be the messenger?

If you look humble, they'll look down on you. That's how it works with the Chinese Federation.

I don't know about that, but unlike you, I do have some humility.

Good, now you can put it to use. How's your passport?

Not a bad forgery. I'm all set.


Where are we going? Are we getting moved to another place again?

It's one of the Kururugi's homes.
This time, it's the main house, okay?
Keep on walking, Suzaku.

But...

Keep walking.

Where are we? It smells really bad here...

We're going by a garbage dump. Right, Suzaku?

What's wrong, Suzaku?

I... I...
Nunnally...

My mother taught me that a warm touch is good for tears.
Do you think it's true?

I will... overcome this.


Hey! Lelouch!

Hm?

What's up? Y'know, we're gonna hold you back, if you don't start coming to class.

I could say the same about you, right?

I have work to do. It's just that the Black Knights have really been on the move lately.

Hey, I thought you were in the engineering.

Uh... we're shorthanded, so they move me around.

Hmm... Still, how about dropping by for dinner more often?
Nunnally misses you. Are you free this evening?

Yeah, I could come tonight. But are you sure it's okay? I don't want to cause any--

Hey, Lelouch!

What's wrong?

I hear that the president's out doing a blind date thing again!

Yeah. Today.

Today?! Why didn't you tell me about it?!

Because it'd make you cry.

Boys don't cry!

It's okay. I didn't know about it either.

Don't give me your emo routine!

Emo?

I guess compassion is not in fashion these days.
So anyways, are we on for dinner tonight with Nunnally?

Sure. What about school?!

Don't worry, I'll be right back! I'm just gonna go tell her about it!

My life is over and he's worried about dinner?


My classes don't start till second period, Sayoko.
Huh?


Are you surprised?

Uh...

Matchmaking dates are usually in hotels or restaurants.

I--I suppose that's true, but I'd heard you were very unique person, Lord Asplund.

Unique! What a delightfully artful way to put it!

I'm surprised you're interested in a girl from the downgraded Ashford family after it lost its rank.

Oh ho, but I couldn't care less about a loss of rank.

Excuse me.

I'm sorry to trouble you.

Not at all. Take your time.

No need for that. Why draw it out? Let's get married.

Huh?! That's it?!

Getting cold feet?


Nunnally! Suzaku's gonna--
Yes?

Lelouch!

Nunnally?! Where are you right now?!

I don't know, but I can't move.

Nunnally!

It's me, Lulu.

It can't be!

You dropped your guard, Lelouch. Just 'cause you thought I was dead?

Mao, listen. C.C. isn't here right now.

That's why I came. Someone immune to my Geass would be troublesome now.
I'll save my encounter with her for a later date.
First I'm going to pay you back for that little session the other day.

You're somewhere within 500 meters of me.

Of course. Want to try and find me?
Your time limit is five hours.
Oh, by the way, since the game is just between you and me, no using the cops as pawns this time.
I don't really wanna get shot up again
Although Britannian medical science is amazing. You can thank them for my return!
You know, Lulu, when you used your Geass on those cops, you should've told them to kill me, not just shoot me!
You left off the finishing touch, and now your sister's in a bind!
What a quandary! What a quagmire! What a crunch!

Nunnally has nothing to do with this!

It's not a very nice way to play a game, you know...

Hmmm?

If you do something to make my brother sad, I'll never forgive you!

What a pair you are! I love this brother-sister thing.


Hi, everyone! It's lunch time. Are you all eating--

A fight? Shirley and Lelouch?

Right! She's pretending she doesn't know him, and the president said we're supposed to play along.
Ohh, right! What's up with her blind date?!

Never mind that. If Shirley and Lelouch are fighting--

Leave them alone. It's just a little lovers' spat, that's all.

Uh... but you--

Don't even think that way. I've got nothing to do with him.

So, he hasn't taken the plunge yet, huh?

The plunge?

Well, Lelouch is good with theories, but he's not so good with the real thing.

Real thing?

I mean he doesn't have experience.

Experience?!

Ah!

Huh?

What's the matter? Don't you like your food?

Arthur, why do you always do this?!

Hey, Lelouch! What happened with you and Shirley, huh?

Huh? What?

Just give her some flowers!

And what about classes? You'd better go to-- Uh...

Excuse me. Oh, and I'll talk to you later about dinner.

You think he's going gambling again, huh, Arthur?
Uh?

Lulu, if you do a handstand for searching for me, I'll extend your time limit an hour.

He anticipated this. He wants to see me squirm.
But what do I do?
He must be within 500 meters if he's reading my mind, but...

Lelouch.

That's...
I thought so. Something's happened to Nunnally.


Welcome back.

Uh, uh... R--right.

Good timing. The meal's almost ready.

Meal? You mean... did you go out shopping somewhere?

No, I just used what you had around.
Some people here are afraid of Britannians, so...

Have you been able to remember anything yet?

Sorry, nothing at all yet...

That's okay. Don't push it.
You're still healing. It's all right if it takes time to remember.

Okay, it's ready. I sure hope you like it!

Uh...


Who kidnapped Nunnally? It can't be a Britannian or someone from the royal family.

No, this has nothing to do with our blood line.
Just a psychopath who wants to keep a girl all to himself.

So is he threatening you?

Yes.
An investigation could reveal who we are.
That's why I can't go to the army or the police.

Then there's no choice. We'll have to do it on our own.
This isn't about your gambling though, is it?

It has nothing to do with that.

Okay. Do you have any leads?

Just this photo. And I know that he's somewhere very close by, watching me.

And now that I think of it, I heard the sound of running water too!

Water...
The circulation system!

The lower levels?

Something's still off though.

What?

Normally, you'd home in right on that.
What is it?

He changed the codes. We'll have to hack into the system.

But... that's against school rules.

I'll change it back later.

Then let me do it.

Too late. I got it.

That was fast. You're a little too good at that.

The student council has partial access to these areas.

Lelouch, I see. This is how you've been getting off campus, isn't it? Your little escape route.

Huh? Uh yeah, sometimes.

How's it look?

You were right. The door's guarded.
There's a machine gun linked to the security camera.
The lag on these systems is tight: 0.05 seconds.

That means we can't access it this way.
We'll head back up and disable the--
W--wait!
Of all the reckless moves.

Come on, let's go. Nunnally's waiting for us.

Nunnally!

L--Lelouch and Suzaku, is that you?

I'm so sorry! I'll cut you loose!

Wait! Wait! Up there!

A bomb...

That's right, Lulu.
I'll play along since Kururugi came on his own. Can't wait to see how you two deal with this!

Nunnally, we're going to defuse the bomb.
It's okay. Don't worry.
Lelouch and I can do anything together. You know that.

That's right.

It's motion sensitive.
A solenoid inside supplies energy that keeps it constantly moving.
If an external force interferes with the motion, then the bomb--

--explodes. Moving Nunnally even an inch will trigger it.
That's the way it's set up.

Can you calculate its range?

It'd wipe out everything within five or six hundred meters, minimum.

Now what?
We're beyond the reach of his Geass...
Is he trying to mislead me?

You think you know how to disarm it?

Theoretically.
The power line to the detonator would need to be severed.
Since he's not a pro at this, I'm sure I could figure out which lines are dummies.
Still, we need to find another way to do it.

Why? If we choose the right one...

Because you'd have to cut the line without disrupting the motion; which is impossible.

I'll do it. There's no choice.

No, Suzaku! We don't have enough information to pull it off!

There's a time limit here; we can't afford to play it safe.
As for information, it's staring you right in the face.
I'm a soldier, Lelouch. Can't you use that information?



We still have toilet tissue?
Hm? Huh?

Stuck up little brats! No wonder I hate schools so much!
Huh?

What now? What's he got planned for me next?
That camera trained on Nunnally is transmitting to Mao.
Is he here? I can't believe he'd still be here at the school.
What a whack-job.
I told Suzaku to stay with Nunnally, but that leaves me with only one option.

Well, if it isn't Casanova!
No weapons, no strategy.
You didn't defuse the bomb, didn't deploy the Black Knights or your friend.
What's wrong, Lulu?

I'm not explaining anything to you.
The final game -- is it ready?

Hmm, let's put an end to this... with your specialty.

Hm?


It's been a while since we could spend time like this.
There've been so many unexpected events since we came here.
All of that desk work... it's making you fat.

Hey, cut it out! That's not funny!
Cornelia, don't you think this garden looks familiar? It's like Lady Marianne's.

Now that you mention it.

I heard Clovis ordered them to build it like this.

I'm surprised he liked her villa that much since he was always fighting with her son, Lelouch, there.

He must have thought of Lelouch as his rival.

Even though Lelouch was younger?

Well, he kept paintings of Lelouch and the others.
We've found them after he was killed.

I see...
We need to stabilize this area and capture Zero fast... to avenge Clovis, as well as Lelouch and Nunnally.
This land has taken the lives of three of our siblings. It's soaked in our family's blood.


You see, the scale is the bomb's detonator and its cancellation switch.
The chess pieces we capture will go here.
If the needle swings all the way towards me, the bomb goes off.
If it stings towards you, the bomb will be disarmed.
In short, if you win the game, your sister's life will be saved.

Your mind is twisted. No wonder C.C. left you.

Provoking me won't work. I can read your thought, so I know what you're trying to do.
I'm afraid you're not the type of person who can keep your mind empty.
There's the part of you that's a critic, constantly watching your own moves... and there's another part that's an observer watching the critic -- watching you.
You're that kind of person.
But I know all your thoughts, so I'm always a step ahead.
You can't win.
Bravo!
Your plan is to think of seven things at once to confuse me and trip me up!
But you see, if I focus my Geass directly on you, it's easy to tell which one is your true thought.
Ah, your last plan is failing as well.
You underestimated me, that's why your sister is...
"What do I do? I'm out of strategies. I can't call for backup as long as Nunnally is being held hostage."
Sorry, sorry, I dropped it.
Your turn. Better hurry.
Looky, looky, time is running out.
Your little sister's not going to make it.
Ah, is that the right move?
Are you sure you wanna do that?

Isn't this enough...?

Huh?

Please stop it, Mao...

I can't hear you very well.

You've gotten everything you wanted! Let Nunnally go!

Huh?

I admit it... you have beaten me.

Very well said!
You're finally speaking the thoughts from the deepest part of your soul, huh?
That feels great! Fantastic!
But no.
This is... checkmate.

NO!!!
Nunnally...

Hmm, let me see if she's burst into little pieces.
Hum? Ah?!
What the? What?! Why is she--?!
How did you?! You kept me focused on you!

I am Warrant Officer Suzaku Kururugi of the Britannian military, and you are under arrest.

Suzaku...

You disarmed the bomb?!
Impossible! You'd have to match your speed to the pendulum!

That's right. After Lelouch showed me which line to cut.

I showed you?

What are you saying?
It was your plan: cut the line then bust in here when I heard your scream.

My plan?
So that's it... right.
Mao, it seems like it's my checkmate.
Lelouch, don't tell me that you--

Yes.
I gave Suzaku his instructions then used Geass on myself to forget so you couldn't find out.
You believe that if you know a person's thoughts you know everything.
That's why you narrowed your range and focused your all power on my mind.
That was your mistake.

That's ridiculous!
You bet everything on one friend?! What if he'd failed you?!

Good point. To execute this plan, I had to trust Suzaku completely.

Sayoko, everything's fine now. Right, go ahead.

Sayoko?

I'll have you free in a second.

Hmph.

You think you beat me, huh?!

Stop it!

Get your hands off of me, father killer!
You killed your own father seven years ago.
Humph. He called for do-or-die resistance, and you thought stopping him would end the war.
What a childish idea.
The fact is, you're a murderer!

That's not true! I just...! I--

How lucky for you that no one ever found out.
All the adults lied to protect you.

But all the reports said his suicide was a protest against the military action.

A big, fat lie. All of it.

A lie...

I didn't have any choice! If I didn't, Japan would have--

That's how you justify it in retrospect? Well it explains your death wish!
You want to save people's lives?
It's your own wretched soul you're trying to save.
That's why you're always charging into danger, placing yourself on the edge of death!
You're no hero; you're just trying to wash the blood off your hands!
A little brat begging to be punished!

MAO!
NEVER SPEAK AGAIN!

No!

Mao!

I did love you, Mao.
Mao... I want you to go and wait for me. In C's world.

I just... I just...



I'm a fool.
In the end, I never asked the terms of the contract she made with Mao.
And Suzaku...
When we were reunited, why didn't I...? No...
He's been trying to tell me for a long time now.
I should have confronted him right from the start.