Disclaimer: If I actually owned Code Geass, I highly doubt I'd be here writing fanfiction, neh?

Summary: In a world where truths are so painful and in them, lie only lies, join me in the masquerade and let us dance a dance of madness. My dear dead ones, we will spin the world into chaos and revenge shall finally be ours. AU

Warning: Nothing really, besides the bouts of insanity. Yup. The protagonist snapped. So please excuse his slight OOCness.

Masquerade

A one, a two, a one two three.

Music, a funeral march please. A dance of fairies. Come, let us honour the dead! Samhain is here and my companions thirst for blood. Dear countess, noble duke, would it not please you to be gifted with the very same display you gifted them oh-so-many years ago?

Tut tut! Do not be afraid. A wondrous world awaits you.

Nunnally has ever been so fond of peace. But music is what we need at the moment; an orchestral symphony to accompany you into your long voyage.

Come, come!

This is a masquerade ball. No need to be shy. Lies are all there is in this world! Hide behind a mask, let sweet poison slip from your lips, but this time, a new stage has been set. A new opponent awaits you! Me!

Aren't you honoured?

Come, you unsuspecting parasites. Let us dance, dance – and let me plunge you into the abyss, where your lies and hypocrisy shall no longer cloud my vision.

My dear ones, I present you a brilliant world!

"The lights!"

"What?"

"I – I!"

How very pathetic. That his so-called councillors would panic at such a mundane loss of power was the most pathetic sight to have ever greeted his eyes. His expression stony though unnoticed in the darkness, his fingers impatiently tapped the long conference table's marble surface.

Around him, the nobles were floundering around like headless chickens, cackling at each other in their agitation. A few had even gotten up – as though that would do any good. Impatient, unamused, Charles paid no attention to their antics.

Until – until he felt the gun cocked at his temple.

His heart skipped a beat, and then another, but he showed no sign of his initial unsettlement. Instead, he simply raised an authoritative eyebrow at his would-be attacker.

And froze at the sight of the red outlining the irises.

Geass. Geass.

He was so caught up in his shock that by the time he reacted, it was already too late. His hands were bound, he was bound to his seat and a needle was awkwardly being inserted into his carotid. Before he knew it, his vision became blurry and his eyes burned. Burned like they were on fire while their very nerves sizzled inside his skull.

Damn it.

Charles struggled against his bindings but they would not budge. The knots had not been tied by an expert, but in his weakened state, he did not have the strength to do anything about it. Not now at least.

But he would be sure to rectify the situation. He was not Charles di Britannia for nothing. He would not let this worm make a fool out of him more than he already had.

Through his indistinct vision, he saw that all his men were impassively watching the scene, eyes empty and delineated by the red of Geass. Completely helpless, mere puppets to their master's whim. Charles was alone, powerless, without allies or minions. But that meant nothing. He would not be beaten.

Mind control – for surely that was what his enemy's Geass was –, like any other power, had its own weakness, its own set of limitations. Now, if only he could figure them out before this little showdown came to its end.

And then, he would be certain to make that foolish, impudent upstart pay.

Immobile, head bowed down in thought, he made the perfect picture of a defeated leader. Surely his adversary would come and gloat. Surely…

Ah. And there he was.

From the end of the table, a figure dressed in drab grey, rose from his seat and slowly clapped his gloved hands together three times. Charles could not make out his features but he did not need to.

Suzaku Kururugi. He snarled the traitorous Eleven's name in his mind.

The pilot of the Lancelot and a brilliant strategist. He was a silent one, a cold one, who – from what he had heard – completed his duties efficiently and unquestioningly. Easily dismissed, the Emperor had paid his subordinate no mind, hadn't even given him a second thought, despite the nobles' many complaints about the Number's rapid ascension in rank.

After all, the ruler of Britannia had much more important concerns. Why should he care about a mere insect? If he was capable and loyal, then he might as well make use of him.

His body tensing at the traitor's approach, he now knew his swift dismissal had been a mistake. He should have paid more attention to worldly matters. That one of his subordinates had such a powerful Geass without his knowledge –!

He ground his teeth together in anger.

"My! My! How the mighty have fallen!" The tone was mocking, so very different from his normally quiet, low tenor. The brown-haired youth grabbed the Emperor's white curls and jerked his head up, to better stare into his enemy's green-red-brown eyes. With the Eleven's long bangs now brushed aside and his true sight finally revealed, his genuine self was at last unleashed. Even his face mask has been pushed down to fully expose his sadistic, satisfied, smug grin.

To Kururugi, this was nothing but a game.

Charles' heart burned with fury and humiliation.

"Oh great Emperor! How goes the preaching down there?" A gloved finger lightly tapped the side of his cheek. "Now…," The Eleven paused for a moment, as though to think. "I believe if we examine our situation carefully, we must all conclude that you are the weak one here, Charles." He grinned, leaning down and looming over his ruler. "I guess this means I won the power to control your life. Isn't that interesting, hm?"

The Emperor did not give him the pleasure of rising to his bait. Seeing as his captor was so chatty, he might as well wring out as much information out of the fool as possible and find a way to escape.

"Now now, my friend." He cocked his head to a side. "No need to be impatient."

Who is he addressing?

"We have waited quite long for this moment. A little gloating will not make a difference. The Japanese deserve this at the very least, no? And we still have a solid," he checked his watch, "twenty minutes before the light show that visited once visited dear old Japan makes its appearance here."

There – there's no one. Has he gone insane? Driven insane by the power of his Geass?

That was not good. The mad will always be too unpredictable.

"Ah, but so sorry." He shook his head. "I see I've been neglecting you, Charles. So very sorry. But you see, my father has never really been there for me. Blame him for my lack of manners. Or maybe the Academy? Ah yes, the academy. How very fun their orders were. Too bad I have never been what you would call 'a good subordinate'."

Suddenly letting go of his captive's white hair, Kururugi smiled brightly at the ceiling. With his hands clasped behind him, he turned his back from his enemy. "No. I was meant to lead. I guess you would say I am just like my father. But he is no leader. I doubt anyone would have commended the way he had handled the invasion if they knew the truth.

"But then the truth is overrated. Isn't it power that matters, eh Charles? Power – well, aren't you jealous of my Geass then?"

He twisted his head around to give him a pleasant grin. "Absolute Obedience. Nice little tool, neh? I wonder if yours is any better." He pouted. "But I don't think you would tell. Not that I care.

"We all have our own little secrets… and mine is big! But I will tell you. After all, wouldn't want you to miss out on the intricacy of my little show, would I now?"

He pressed both hands on the table and leaned backwards against it. His smile was both casual and feral as his gaze slowly perused the bound Emperor. Like a cat waiting to pounce on its prey.

"It is so very easy to hide covert operations when you have a power like mine. And a mind like mine, of course. It is easy to defeat and help an enemy when you can see all the moves, set up the entire situation and erase all the evidence, should anything ever go wrong. Not that it ever really happened.

"So let's look at the situation now. On one hand, I, as the unknown informant and spy Zero, control your opposition. Meanwhile – no, I mean on the other hand, as a member of your court and the wielder of this particular Geass, I have brainwashed every single one of your subjects.

"And this all leads to today. None of those bigoted fools will be able to escape, for none of them will have seen or will even know its coming. It shall be glorious! The entire city annihilated, bombed, destroyed through your former victims' might! Will there ever be a more wondrous sight?"

His smile widened to show off his teeth. His long chocolate strands messily framed eyes imbued by madness. "An eye for an eye," the pilot singsang, "isn't it great, my dear ones? Your fate will finally be revisited upon your aggressors!"

Charles was uncertain whether the chill that ran through his back was because of Kururugi's apparent insanity or the massacre he had planned for him.

Damn. Damn.

There was no use reasoning with the madman, but perhaps, he could unsettle him, if only to win some time. The father. The father. The father must have held a considerable influence on his wayward child for such hatred to fester and grow.

"And what would your father say if he ever knew of your plans? I remember Prime Minister Kururugi to be a reasonable man." Not exactly, the former politician had not known the meaning of the word surrender until it was too late – and had then opted for the easy way out.

"Oh! Father?" The voice was suddenly laced with glee and the youth laughed delightfully, much to Charles' surprise. "You still do not know?! Oh! But he is so very displeased. But then, lies and manipulations are the way to go in this world," he lowered his voice conspiringly. "That is the only truth."

"After all, how else would I have been able to sneak my way into your fortress if not for lies?" The cell phone hanging by the Eleven's belt suddenly beeped. Frowning, Kururugi removed it and checked its small screen. The message must have been what he had been waiting for, because his eyes widened and a pleased smile formed on his lips. Without losing any of his smugness, he replaced the electronic back at his side.

"Well, it seems V.V. has been captured. Your brother would make a fun, fun hostage, don't you think? Yes, I think it is time to proceed with the rest of the show." With deliberately slow movements, his right hand moved up to his face and passed over his two eyes.

Charles froze once again in shock.

They were violet. Violet. The same shade as his own.

And now that he thought about it, that hair, had it been shorter, black; had he truly looked at the cheekbones, the face…

"Le –" He managed to rasp out before a sickening force invaded his mind and twisted it around for its own perverted pleasure. He felt a fierce stab pierce through his being and immediately, his grip to his power, to his Geass, was lost, forever severed. And within these cavernous confines, two words repeated themselves.

Survive and suffer.

Survive, survive, survive…

Alone, without power, without your kingdom, without your kin – your brother.

Survive.

Dazed, the Emperor sat on his throne, bound, eyes unfocused.

"Goodbye Father." The speaker looked up to the ceiling for a moment, as though listening to some unknown entity. "Ahhh…," he nodded in understanding. "Nunnally and Suzaku wish you a pleasant show."

With great flourish, the imp executed a quick mocking bow and slipped out unnoticed from the throne room.

A/N: Just a little something I had to get out of my mind. I could have dove deeper into Lelouch's history but it isn't exactly necessary.

For the curious though, here it is. Suzaku and Nunnally have both died in the invasion and Lelouch, grief-stricken decides to honour his friend's memory by assuming his identity. Later, he meets C.C.. With the help of his Geass, he manages to become the pilot of Lancelot and slowly gains rank within the military, thanks to his 'piloting skills' and his brilliant strategies. He also covertly helps the rebels on the side. What we see here is the fruition of his plans and of his madness.

Yay?

Anyway, I'll get back to my other writing now that one of my Code Geass urges has been satisfied. Hopefully, the wait wouldn't be too long.

So yeah, any thoughts are welcome. This entire thing was pretty much experimental and would serve as a basis for my two, as of yet, unwritten fics.

And finally, let me extend my thanks to Recipe for Insanity for bearing with my lack of update and this unexpected, unplanned one-shot. You're the best!

Edited by Recipe for Insanity (8/17/08)